JPH0322189Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Technical field to which the invention pertains) The present invention relates to a thin plate feeding device, and is particularly applicable to an automatic specimen encapsulation device, and is used to adjust the size of a cover glass to be attached to a slide glass to which a specimen is attached. This invention relates to a thin plate supply device which is adapted to be drawn out according to the size of the sheet.

(Prior art and its problems) Tissue specimens for microscopy, which are generally used for pathological and cell tissue examinations, are first cut out to the same size from the material, and then dehydrated with alcohol or the like. After embedding in paraffin, slicing, and slicing, a thin section of this specimen is attached onto a slide glass, and after undergoing treatment steps such as staining, it is stored in a bath such as a xylene bath. Generally, these specimens are taken out of the xylene tank in bulk and sealed with adhesive and a cover glass of about 0.09 to 0.1 mm, and are in a condition suitable for preservation.

When creating such specimens, it is necessary to prevent tissue destruction and the inclusion of air bubbles, which could lead to erroneous judgments, and to ensure that they are created quickly and accurately. However, in the past, most of the steps were done manually.

In recent years, each of these processing steps has become automated, but most of the coverslipping equipment, which encapsulates specimens attached to glass slides using adhesive and cover glasses, is fully automated. However, even those that have been developed still have various problems.

In particular, when attaching a cover glass, the cover glass used for encapsulation is expensive when conventional manual methods are used, and in general, cover glasses of comparable size have been used depending on the size of the specimen. but,
When using an automatic specimen enclosing device, it is desirable to have a device that selects thin plate pieces according to the size of the specimen and transports them to the bonding position, especially when specimens are prepared in units of several hundred sheets. Considering this, it is not economically advisable to use cover glasses of the same size for all of these specimens, so there is a need for an apparatus that can supply cover glasses according to the size of such specimens.

(Purpose of the invention) The purpose of the invention is to develop a thin plate that can hold cover glasses of multiple sizes and provide cover glasses according to the size of the specimen, in order to achieve complete automation in such an automatic specimen enclosing device. The object of the present invention is to provide a one-piece feeding device.

(Key Points of the Invention) In other words, the present invention includes sorting units 511 arranged in parallel that sort thin plate pieces 518 of different sizes selectively supplied onto the flat plate piece 110 by size and store them in a stacked manner on the floor. 511A-511D
, a drawer opening 509 for the thin plate pieces 518 provided on the floor surface of each sorting section 511 in the same direction, and only one of the thin plate pieces 518 stacked from the drawer opening 509 at the lowest position. Weir plates 516, 516A to 51 provided above each of the drawer openings 509 so as to be able to be drawn out along the floor surface.
6D, and a parallel groove 5 provided on the lower surface side of each of the thin plate pieces at the lowest position, from which the thin plate pieces can be pulled out.
19, 519A to 519D, and is capable of reciprocating along a rail 502 provided in a direction intersecting each of the sorting sections 511 arranged in parallel, and corresponds to each of the sorting sections 511 near the rail 502. The sorter 510 has position detection pins 520, 520A to 520D arranged parallel to the rail 502 at respective positions, and each sorting section 511 selects the flat plate piece 1 from among the sorted thin plate pieces 518.
a discriminating means 300 for discriminating conditions for selecting thin plate pieces to be supplied on the rail 502; and a discriminator 51 that is provided at a position along the rail 502 and moves.
a selection switch 521 that can be stopped by contact with a position detection pin 520 corresponding to a position where the thin plate piece 518 selected based on the determination by the determining means 300 is housed, and the selected thin plate piece 518
It is characterized in that it is provided with an extraction port 522 for sending out the liquid from the corresponding parallel groove 519.

(Embodiment of the invention) An embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an automatic specimen enclosing device to which the thin plate supply device of the present invention is applied. Here, 100 is a slide glass shooter that supplies slide glasses 110 as flat plate pieces one by one to the conveying device 200 at predetermined time intervals.
The slide glass 110 supplied from the storage device 200 is transported from the right to the left in the figure by the transport device 200.

300 is a discrimination device, and the slide glass 110 on the conveyance device 200 is first transferred to the discrimination device 30.
0, the size of the specimen (not shown) attached to the top surface is determined. FIG. 2 shows an overview of the discrimination device 300. Here, 310 is a sensor array in which a plurality of photo sensors (not shown) are arranged, and 320 is a printed circuit board to which the sensors are connected.

The sensor array 310, the printed circuit board 320, and the lens box 330 containing the lens assembly are all fixed above the transport device 200 and set toward the transport path 210 below. 340 is a light projection box provided on the lower surface side of the conveyance path 210, and the light projection box 340 has a slit 341 on the side in contact with the conveyance path 210;
There is a vertical plate 342 at the bottom position directly below 41.
A light shielding member 342 having A and a line filament lamp 343 arranged before and after the vertical plate 342A.
There is a

Therefore, the slit 34 of this vertical plate 342A
The upper surface 342B facing the lens 1 is finished in black to absorb light and not reflect it. Since the configuration is such that only the black top surface 342B is visible and the lamps 343 are not visible, the light emitted directly upward from each lamp 343 is directed upward from the light shielding member 342, as shown by the broken line in the figure. and slit 3
41, and the light is not received by the sensor group of the sensor array 310 via the lens box 330.

Therefore, if the slide glass 110 is transported along the transport path 210 and there is no specimen on its upper surface, the sensor array 310 will not be exposed to any light due to the transparency of the glass. is never detected.

However, if specimen pieces 111A and 111B are placed on slide glass 110 as shown in FIG. 3, when slide glass 110 passes over slit 341, these specimen pieces 111A and 111B are attached. range of
S1 and S2 receive light from the lamp 343 and generate scattered light.

This scattered light is received by the sensor disposed in this part of the sensor array 310 via the lens group, so that the specimen piece 11
The entire range to which the specimen pieces 1A and 111B are attached, that is, the limit length S3 to which the specimen pieces 111A and 111B are attached in the longitudinal direction of the slide glass 110 is detected. The detected length S3 is compared and determined with lengths of a plurality of set types, so that a determination signal corresponding to the type can be supplied via a control section to be described later.

When the size of the specimen on the slide glass 110 is detected by such a discrimination device 300, the adhesive liquid is dropped in an amount corresponding to the size of the specimen during the process of being transported to the subsequent liquid injection device 400. be done.

500 is a cover glass sorting and supplying device that sorts and supplies cover glasses as thin plate pieces. 510
is the sorter, and the sorter 510 has multiple types,
This example has a sorting section 511 that stores four types of cover glasses of different sizes stacked up and down,
Only one cover glass of a size corresponding to the size of the specimen can be selectively pulled out from the sorting section 511 by the extracting mechanism 530. Furthermore, the pulled-out cover glass is guided by the mounting change mechanism 550 onto the slide glass that has finished dropping the adhesive liquid and has been transported to the bonding position.

Below the slide glass 110 at this adhesion position, slide glass 11 is moved up and down at appropriate timing.
Adhesive device 6 for adhering 0 and the cover glass
00 is provided. Therefore, slide glass 110
is placed on the pedestal of the adhesive device 600, and
The cover glass is gently dropped from above and a slight pressing force is applied to complete the adhesive encapsulation.

The glass slides 110 that have been completely encapsulated are pushed out one after another into the product reservoir 710 of the storage device 700. When a predetermined number of glass slides 110 have been sealed in this manner and accumulate in the product reservoir 710 (in this example,
10 sheets) are automatically pushed out to a tray (saucer, etc.) 750 by an extrusion mechanism 730, and one gigantic slide glass encapsulation is completed with a total of 40 products stored in the tray.

Furthermore, 800 is a control unit that controls these series of enclosing operations by a microcomputer (CPU) not shown, and 810 is an operation panel thereof. The operation panel 810 is provided with a display, switches, various display means when an abnormality occurs, etc., and the enclosing device can be operated and its operation can be monitored via the operation panel 810. Note that 820 is a switch box equipped with a button switch for starting and stopping the enclosing device.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a cover glass sorting and supplying apparatus 500 equipped with a thin plate piece sorter according to the present invention.
Show details. Here, is a substrate of the cover glass sorting and supplying device 500, and the sorter 510 is allowed to reciprocate along a rail 502 on this substrate 501. 512 is a rack carved on the upper surface of the sorter 510, and 513 is a pinion gear operated by a drive motor (not shown). let

515A and 515B are each rack 51
These limit switches 515A or 5 are provided at either end of the sorter 510.
15B, it is detected that the selector 510 is at the starting position or the ending position, and the motor is stopped.

516A, 516B, 516C, and 516
D is a weir plate, and in this example, the size is a thin plate piece,
i.e. 4 with lengths of 24mm, 32mm, 40mm and 50mm
These types of cover glasses 518 are connected to the dam plate 516,
516A, 516B, 516C, and 516D
and a surrounding pin 517 provided on the back side of these
A, 517B, 517C, and 517D are stored in a stacked state. 5 in Figure 5
18A, 518B, 518C, and 518D indicate each cover glass housed in this manner. Incidentally, 510 example A is a groove provided to make it easier to pull up the cover glass 518 from the surface of the sorter 510 when collecting the cover glass 518 from the sorter 510.

Furthermore, these cover glasses 518A, 518
Sorting sections 511, 511A, 511 where B, 518C, and 518D are stored by sorting
Parallel grooves 519 of the same shape are provided on the floor surface of the sorter 510, which is the lower surface of B, 511C, and 511D.
519A, 519B, 519C, and 519D
are provided, and each weir plate 516A, 516B, 51
Between the lower surfaces of 6C and 516D and the upper surface of the sorter 510, a gap 509 (drawing opening for thin plate pieces) is provided through which only one cover glass 518A to 518D (thickness and width are the same) can pass through. .

520, 520A, 520B, 520C, and 520D are each parallel groove 519A, 519B, 51
9C and 519D are position detection pins disposed on the outside of each sorting section 511 on the center line near the rack 512, and 521 is a selection switch consisting of a limit switch that selects and operates the sorting section 511.

The selection switch 521 receives a selection signal for selecting the slide glass 518 to be conveyed based on the determination by the discriminating device 300 and supplies it to a drive motor (not shown) that drives the pinion gear 513.
The position detection pins 520A to 520D are detected by moving the sorter 510 through the position detection pins 520A to 520D. That is, when the selector 510 is driven by the drive motor via the pinion gear 513 and the rack 512 and moves from the starting position detected by the operation of the limit switch 515, the selection switch 5
The position detection pin 520 is attached to the contact roller 521A of No. 21.
A to 520D are pins 520D, 520C, 520
B, touch 520A in this order to select the selection switch 521
works. Therefore, depending on the number of operations of the selection switch 521, the position detection pin (that is, the sorting section 5
11A to 511D) can be detected. As a result, the position detection pin 520 corresponding to the sorting section 511 in which the selected cover glass 518 is stored is located on the contact roller 5 of the selection switch 521.
When it comes into contact with 21A, the drive motor can be stopped and the sorter 510 can be stopped on the spot.

522 is an extraction port provided by cutting out the rail 502 on the near side, and in this example, the sorter 510 is shown stopped at a position where the cover glass 518D is pulled out. 531 is a suction plate of the extraction mechanism 530 that pulls out the cover glass 518 when the sorter 510 is stopped, and the suction plate 531 is provided with a plurality of suction holes 532, and when the sorter 510 is stopped, The lowest layer of the cover glasses 518 stored in a stacked state can be sucked through the suction hole 532 using a vacuum pump.

Furthermore, the suction disk 531 has an arm (not shown),
The suction disc 531 is connected to the parallel groove 519 through this arm.
(519D in this example), and can be made to protrude to the transfer position 533 outside the rail 502. 534A and 534B are operated by pins 5311 connected to the arms to move the suction disk 531 to the suction position and to the transfer position 533.
This is a limit switch for positioning.

551 is an arm of the transfer mechanism 550;
It has a suction disc 552 at its tip for repositioning.
The arm 551 having the suction disc 552 constitutes a parallelogram-shaped four-bar mechanism connected with other link members in a circumferential manner as shown in the figure, and the rotation axis 55
5, the suction disk 552 is moved in the clockwise direction shown by the arrow from the position of the transfer portion 533, and stopped when it reaches a cover glass adhesion position (not shown).

To explain the operation of the cover glass sorting and supplying apparatus configured in this way, first, when the sorter 510 is started by the drive motor, the selection switch 5 is turned on.
The position detection pin 520 is attached to the contact roller 521A of No. 21.
A to 520D are pins 520D, 520C, 520
B and 520A come into contact in this order. As a result, the contact roller 521A is placed on the position detection pins 520A to 520D corresponding to the selected sorting section 511.
The sorter 510 is stopped at the time when it comes into contact with the screen.

At the same time, the suction disk 531, which was waiting at the transfer position 533, is moved to the pin 531 connected to the arm.
1, the arm moves until the limit switch 534A is activated, leading to the suction position shown in FIG. Original position (i.e. the position where limit switch 534B is operated by pin 5311)
When it returns to , the suction disk 531 returns to its original position 5.
It will be returned to 33. At this time, a gap 509 is provided between the weir plate 516 and the top surface of the sorter 510, allowing only one cover glass 518 to pass through.
The other cover glass groups stacked above the other cover glass 518 to be pulled out are blocked from being pulled out by the dam plate 516, and when one cover glass group is pulled out, the cover glass group Due to the weight, they settle in a stacked state along the surrounding pins 517 to the lower side of the sorting section 511.

In this way, the cover glass 518 is carried to the transfer position 533 by the suction plate 531 and its arm. By switching to the changing suction disk 552, it is attracted to the suction disk 552 side, and is conveyed by the arm 551 onto the slide glass 110 (not shown) that has been guided to a predetermined bonding position. .

(Effects of the invention) As explained above, according to the invention, thin plate pieces of different sizes are selectively supplied onto a flat plate piece and are sorted by size and arranged in parallel to be stacked and stored on the floor surface. Each sorting section, a drawer opening for the thin plate pieces in the same direction provided on the floor surface of each sorting section, and only one of the thin plate pieces stacked from the drawer opening at the lowest level. A weir plate provided above each of the drawer openings so that the drawer can be pulled out along the floor surface, and a parallel groove provided on the lower surface side of each of the lowermost thin plate pieces to allow the thin plate pieces to be drawn out. reciprocating along a rail provided in a direction intersecting each of the sorting sections arranged in parallel, and parallel to the rail at each position corresponding to each of the sorting sections near the rail. a sorter having position detection pins disposed in such a manner as to be arranged in the sorting section; a discriminating means for determining conditions for selecting a thin plate piece to be supplied onto the flat plate piece from among the thin plate pieces sorted in each of the sorting sections; Located along the rail. a selection switch capable of stopping the moving sorter by contact with a position detection pin corresponding to a position where the thin plate piece selected based on the discrimination by the discrimination means is stored; Since an extraction port is provided for feeding out from the groove, the parallel groove of the sorting section in which the selected thin plate piece is stored can be aligned with the fixed position related to the selection switch and stopped. A single piece of sheet metal can be pulled out of the gap on the floor via the parallel grooves.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of an automatic specimen enclosing device to which the thin plate feeding device of the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the discrimination device of the automatic specimen enclosing device, and Fig. 3 is a specimen FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the thin plate feeding device of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a plan view thereof. 100... Shooter, 110... Slide glass, 111A, 111B... Specimen piece, 200...
Transport device, 210...Transport path, 300...Discrimination device, 310...Sensor array, 320...Printed circuit board, 330...Lens box, 340...Light emitter, 341...Slit, 342...Light blocking member,
342A...Vertical plate, 342B...Top surface, 343
... Lamp, 400 ... Liquid injection device, 500 ... Cover glass sorting and supply device, 501 ... Substrate, 50
2...Rail, 509...Gap, 510...Selector, 510A...Groove, 511, 511A~511
D... Sorting department, 512... Rack, 513...
Pinion gear, 515A, 515B... Limit switch, 516, 516A-516D... Weir plate, 517, 517A-517D... Surrounding pin,
518, 518A to 518D...Cover glass,
519, 519A to 519D...Parallel groove, 52
0,520A~520D...Position detection pin, 52
1...Selection switch, 521A...Contact roller,
522...extraction port, 530...extraction mechanism, 531
... Suction board, 532 ... Suction hole, 533 ... Transfer section, 534A, 534B ... Limit switch, 550 ... Transfer mechanism, 551 ... Arm, 552 ... Suction disk, 555 ... Rotation shaft, 60
0... Adhesive device, 700... Storage device, 710...
...Product reservoir, 730...Extrusion mechanism, 750...
saucer, 800...control unit, 810...operation panel, 8
20...Switch box.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] Each sorting unit 5 arranged in parallel sorts the thin plate pieces 518 of different sizes selectively supplied onto the flat plate piece 110 by size and stores them in layers on the floor surface.
11,511A to 511D, the drawer opening 509 of the thin plate piece 518 in the same direction provided on the floor surface of each sorting section 511, and the thin plate piece 5 laminated from the drawer opening 509.
The drawer opening 5 is arranged so that only one of the thin plate pieces at the lowest level among the thin plate pieces 18 can be pulled out along the floor surface.
Weir plates 516, 516A provided above each of 09
- 516D, parallel grooves 519 provided on the lower surface side of each of the thin plate pieces at the lowest position and from which the thin plate pieces can be drawn out;
519A to 519D, and is capable of reciprocating along a rail 502 provided in a direction intersecting with each of the sorting sections 511 arranged in parallel, so that each of the sorting sections 51 near the rail 502
Position detection pins 520, 520A to 1 are parallel to the rail 502 at respective positions corresponding to 1.
520D, and the thin plate pieces 5 sorted into each of the sorting sections 511.
a discriminating means 300 for discriminating conditions for selecting a thin plate piece to be supplied onto the flat plate piece 110 from among the 18 thin plate pieces; a selection switch 521 that can be stopped by contact with a position detection pin 520 corresponding to a position where the thin plate piece 518 selected based on the determination of the thin plate piece 518 is stored; A thin plate feeding device characterized in that it is equipped with an extraction port 522 for feeding.