JPH03170046A - Method for stirring specimen liquid for chemical analysis - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve analysis efficiency by sucking and discharging the specimen liquid in a measuring vessel housing an ion selecting electrode and a reference electrode by means of a nozzle which sucks and discharges the specimen liquid in the measuring vessel. CONSTITUTION:A set volume of a liquid sample 1 is sucked into the nozzle 3 and after the nozzle 3 is moved upward, the nozzle is transferred to a measuring position (c). A piston 18a rises and injects the sample 1 in the nozzle 3 and the fixed volume of a diluting liquid 15 stored till then in a syringe 18 is injected into the measuring vessel 6 to prepare the specimen liquid. The nozzle 3 repeatedly makes the suction and discharge actions of the specimen liquid in the vessel 6 by repeating the vertical movements of the piston 18a a specified number of times, by which the specimen liquid can be sufficiently stirred in a short period of time. The specimen liquid injected into the vessel 6 is thereafter measured by the ion selective electrode 8a and the reference electrode 8b and the measured value is displayed on a display device 10 via a signal processing circuit 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a method for stirring a test solution for chemical analysis.

Conventionally, in a chemical analyzer, a liquid sample to be separated is stored in a container, a small amount of this limb sample is sucked into a nozzle, and the nozzle is moved to discharge it together with a diluent into a measurement container to perform chemical analysis measurements. There is. However, in the case of a highly concentrated sample, a sample that reacts slowly, or a small amount of sample, mixing may be incomplete with only the jetting force ejected from the nozzle tip, and accurate measurement values may not be obtained. At this time, a stirring mechanism is generally used to sufficiently mix the sample and diluent to obtain correct measured values. Conventional methods of stirring the test liquid used in such chemical spectrometers include attaching a stirring rod to the motor and rotating it within the measurement container, and placing a magnetic stirrer in the measurement container and moving it to the bottom of the container. Various methods are used depending on the purpose, such as a method of rotating a stirrer using magnetic force, a method of stirring by pumping air into the measuring container and causing bubbles to rise in the liquid, and a method of stirring by vibrating or rotating the measuring container itself. There is. For example, in the example disclosed in JP-A-53-111786, a stirring bar is used as the stirring mechanism.

However, the method using a stirring column requires a rotating device for the stirring bar, a device for moving the stirring bar up and down, a device for moving the stirring bar from the stirring position to the cleaning position, etc., making the entire device complicated and large, and the manufacturing cost high. There are some drawbacks. In addition, in the method using a magnetic stirrer, a function to rotate the magnetic field must always be installed on the bottom surface of the measuring container, and care must be taken when inserting and cleaning the stirrer, which may be a disadvantage in that it can be troublesome to handle. be. Furthermore, with the method of pumping air into the test liquid in the measurement container, depending on the way the air is discharged, small air bubbles may be mixed into the test liquid, adversely affecting the measured value, and it is difficult to stir sufficiently in a short time. There is. Furthermore, the method of rotating or rocking the measuring container itself also has the disadvantage that it cannot produce a very large stirring effect.

In any case, the above-mentioned conventional stirring method has disadvantages in that the stirring effect is not sufficient and it takes a long time for stirring, which inevitably takes a long time for analysis, resulting in low analysis efficiency. Especially in analyzers that measure ion concentration,
If the test solution is stirred using the conventional stirring method, there is a drawback that the analytical efficiency is significantly reduced.

An object of the present invention is to enable an analyzer for measuring ion concentration to effectively stir a test solution consisting of a sample and at least a diluent in a short time with a simple configuration, thereby improving analysis efficiency. The purpose of this invention is to provide a method for stirring a test solution for chemical analysis.

The present invention uses a nozzle for aspirating and discharging a liquid sample in a measurement container containing an ion-selective electrode and a reference electrode for measuring ion concentration. There are some that are characterized by

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an analyzer that implements an example of the method of stirring a test solution for chemical analysis according to the present invention. Using a turntable, an endless chain, or the like, sample containers 2 containing a liquid sample 1 are sequentially positioned at a sample suction position a and transported. A nozzle transfer mechanism 4 is provided that reciprocates a nozzle 3 for sucking and discharging a liquid sample l through a sample suction position a and a measurement position C. The measurement container 6 is placed at the measurement position C. This measurement container 6 is rotated by a motor 7. This measurement container 6 contains an ion selection electrode 8a.
, a reference voltage tffi8b are inserted, and these electrodes are connected to the signal processing circuit 9 and the display device IO. Also, measurement container 6
The correction liquid dispensing nozzle l1 faces the correction liquid container l3.
The correction liquid l2 contained in the liquid is dispensed into the measurement container 6 by the pump l4. A diluent container l6 containing a diluent 15 is connected to a syringe 18 via a valve l7, and this syringe is connected to a nozzle 3 via a valve 19.

The piston 18a of the syringe 18 is moved up and down in the directions of both arrows by a suitable drive mechanism. The waste liquid pump 20 is a straining bomb that is interposed between a waste liquid nozzle 22 and a waste liquid container 23 disposed in the measurement container 6, and is rotated in the direction of the arrow to drain the waste liquid in the measurement container 6. container 2
3 can be discharged.

Next, the operation of this example device will be explained. First, the valve 17 is opened, and a fixed amount of the diluent 15 is sucked into the upper part of the syringe 18, whose piston 18a is lowered in the downward direction of the double arrow. The nozzle 3 is located at the sample suction position a;
The liquid sample l contained in the sample container 2 stopped at
The nozzle 3 is inserted into the nozzle 3, and then the valve 19 is opened and the piston 18a is further lowered to suck a set amount of the liquid sample l into the nozzle 3.

Next, the nozzle 3 is moved upward and then transferred to the measurement position C. The piston 18a rises and injects the liquid sample l in the nozzle 3 and the above-mentioned fixed amount of diluent l5, which has been stored in the syringe l8, into the measurement container 6 to prepare a test liquid. At this time, valve l7 is kept closed.

By moving the piston 18a up and down a certain number of times, the nozzle 3 repeatedly sucks and discharges the test liquid in the measurement container 6, thereby making it possible to sufficiently stir the test liquid in a short period of time. . After completing a certain number of stirrings, the valve 19 is closed. The motor 7 is constantly rotating to rotate the measurement container 6. This is effective for stirring the test liquid in the measurement container 6 in a short time and also for stirring the cleaning with the correction liquid 12 described later, or is not necessarily necessary. Measuring container 6
The test solution injected into the ion selective electrode 8a and the reference voltage f
measured by fi8b and sent to display device IO via signal processing circuit 9
The measured value is displayed. Next, the waste liquid pump 20 is pushed in the direction of the arrow, and the test liquid that has been measured is discharged from the waste liquid nozzle 22 into the waste liquid container 23.

After injecting the test liquid into the measurement container 6, the nozzle 3 washes the inside and outer wall of the nozzle at a cleaning position (not shown), and is further conveyed to the sample suction position a in preparation for suctioning the next sample.

After discharging the test liquid, drive the bomb 14 and inject the correction liquid 12 into the measurement container 6 through the correction liquid nozzle 11, and connect the measurement container 6 and the electric h
l8a. 8b, the part in contact with the test liquid 24 is filled with the correction liquid 12, and then the waste liquid pump 20 is operated to open the waste liquid nozzle 22.
The liquid is discharged into the waste liquid container 23. By repeating this a certain number of times, the measuring container 6 and the electrode 8a. Perform the washing step 8b. As mentioned above, since the motor 7 constantly rotates the measurement container 6, the cleaning of the electrodes 8a, 8b and the measurement container 6 with the correction liquid 12 is performed effectively and quickly.

After cleaning, the bomb 14 is driven to inject a new correction liquid 2 into the measuring container 6, and the electrodes 8a and 8b inject the correction liquid 1 into the measurement container 6.
Measure 2. The signal processing circuit 9 subtracts the measured value of the correction liquid 12 from the previously measured measured value of the test liquid 24, and the result is displayed on the display device l.
Display the corrected measurement value of the liquid sample l using O.

As mentioned above, since the sample liquid and diluent are stirred by suction and discharge using the dispensing nozzle, it is possible to effectively stir the sample liquid and the diluent in a very short period of time.

As described above, in the method of stirring a test solution for chemical analysis of the present invention, effective stirring can be achieved in a short time by using a nozzle for sucking and discharging a liquid sample to stir the sample and diluent. Since there is no need to provide a , the entire device is simplified and downsized, which has the effect of reducing manufacturing costs.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned examples, but can be modified and modified in many ways. For example, in the example described above the measuring container was rotated by a motor, but this is not absolutely necessary.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an analyzer that implements an example of the method of stirring a test liquid for chemical analysis according to the present invention. 1...Liquid sample 2...Sample container 3...
Nozzle 4... Nozzle transfer rock 6... Measurement container 7... Motor 8a, 8b... Ion measurement electrode 9... Signal processing circuit 10... Display device 11.
... Nozzle l2 ... Correction liquid 13 ... Correction liquid container 14 ... Pump l5 ... Dilution liquid
l6... Diluent container l7... Valve 18a... Piston 20... Bomb 23... Waste liquid container l8... Syringe l9... Valve 22... Nozzle

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a measurement container containing an ion selective electrode and a reference electrode for measuring ion concentration, a nozzle for sucking and discharging a liquid sample is used to aspirate, discharge, and stir the detected waves in the measurement container. How to stir a test solution for chemical analysis.