JPH0344556A - Separate injection apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the precision of separate injection, safety and reliability by a simple structure wherein a cup detector is made to slide vertically, the vertical position of a nozzle is detected by a photocoupler accommodated in a nozzle holder and thereby the presence or absence of a vessel is determined. CONSTITUTION:A nozzle 1 is accommodated in and protected by a cyclindrical cup detector and led to a syringe element 10 by a leading tube piercing through a nozzle support 12. The detector 4 is retained at the nozzle support 12 by a spring 14 and a stopper 15 through the intermediary of a cup detector fastener 15. The detector 4 slides vertically and the vertical position of the nozzle is detected by a photocoupler 13 accommodated in a nozzle holder 2, whereby the presence or absence of a vessel 6 is determined. A liquid detector 3 is constructed of a thermistor 17 as a sensor and of a thermistor control circuit 18. The nozzle 1 is positioned and inserted into the vessel 6 by a control element 7, sucking a sample through a tube by the syringe element 10 and transferring it to a vessel of a rack 5' after movement.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a dispensing device that serves as a cup detection mechanism for detecting the presence or absence of a sample container or a reaction container, and a holder for protecting a nozzle.

[Conventional technology]

In conventional devices, the nozzle for dispensing the liquid to be dispensed is simply held by an arm mechanism or the like, making it difficult to handle because it is easily bent or broken. Especially when it comes to safety and performance protection,
It wasn't given much consideration.

Furthermore, nozzles equipped with thermistors that detect whether a sample is present in a container on the side to be sampled do not have a thermistor protection structure for the nozzles in parallel.

In addition, in a dispenser that has a function of determining the presence or absence of a sample container and controlling the discharge or suction operation, the cup detection mechanism is attached to the nozzle instead of a protected structure.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned conventional technology, no consideration was given to safety and performance protection, and there were problems such as nozzle damage.

The present invention aims to protect performance and improve safety, and further aims to simplify the structure. Furthermore, it is possible to improve the degree of dispensing by one level, resulting in improved reliability (including data).

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the cup detector 4 of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, has a simple structure, nozzle protection, and safety.

Further, in order to slide the cup detector 4 quickly and smoothly, a cup detection toe 16 is used.

Furthermore, the stopper 15 is used to fix the cup detector 4 and determines the position of the cup detector 4 in the lowered state by the cup detection toe 16.

In summary, the above means can be said to be a mechanism in which a container is provided and a nozzle protrudes to aspirate or discharge a sample only when dispensing conditions are met.

[Effect]

The cup detector 4 of the present invention slides up and down, can detect the vertical position by a photocoupler 13 housed in the nozzle holder 2, and operates to determine the presence or absence of a container 6. As a result, the shape of the nozzle tip of the cup sensor 4 is protected from troubles such as contact, and the quantitative performance when sucking and discharging liquid is improved compared to when the nozzle is bent.

〔Example〕

An example in which the present invention is applied to an XY sampler will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows a main configuration diagram of a dispensing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a specific example where the present invention is applied to an XY sampler and a fixed amount of sample is transferred to another container.

The nozzle l that sucks the sample or reagent is attached to the nozzle support 12.
The nozzle holder 2 further supports the nozzle holder 2 . The nozzle l includes a liquid detector 3 and a cup detector 4.
', it is possible to determine whether there is a sample in the container 6 set on the rack 5, and whether or not the container 6 itself is set. The nozzle 1 is moved by the control section 7 and its position in the X direction is determined. Further, the position in the Y direction is determined by the Y direction drive unit 8, and the rack 5 is stopped directly above the container 6. Next, the sample is inserted into the container 6 by the Z-direction drive part 9, and the sample is aspirated by the syringe part 10 through the sample introduction tube. The aspirated sample is transferred to the container of the rack 5' by the same XYZ movement operation as described above.

Now, here, the nozzle 1 sucks and discharges a minute amount of a specimen (for example, blood) or an expensive reagent.

It is unavoidable that the structure will be thin and mechanically weak, with an inner diameter of about 0.3 nn or less (suction volume of 10 μm).

Further, the sample needs to be completely free from contamination with other samples, and the amount of insertion (contact amount) of the nozzle 1 into the sample needs to be as small as possible. Therefore, the liquid detection 3 is essential for maintaining accuracy.

Furthermore, the cup detection section 4' controls the operation of the syringe section 10 depending on the presence or absence of the container 6 to prevent troubles such as air bubbles from entering and leaking.

The nozzle 1 of the dispenser of the present invention has the above-mentioned sample inhalation function as a primary function, and also has a liquid detection function and a cup detection function,
Furthermore, it is also possible to move quickly and smoothly in the x, y, and z directions.

For these reasons, the nozzle configuration of the present invention has made great progress in terms of device functionality, such as improved reliability and improved operability.

The rack 5 is approximately 50 x 25 to 20 depending on the shape of the container 6.
50 normal containers 6 having a size of 0x100 [III] are stored in each space of the rack 5. The performance required for sample collection is the basic performance of accuracy and non-contamination, as well as throughput. Movement in the XYZ directions must be as fast as possible.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the present invention, the nozzle 1 is protected and housed inside a cylindrical cup detector 4, connected to an introduction tube 11 passing through a nozzle support 12, and guided to the syringe section 0. The cup detector 4 is held on the nozzle support 12 by a spring 14 and a stopper 15 via a cup detection claw 15. Further, the cup detector 4 can slide up and down, and can detect the vertical position by a photocoupler 13 housed in the nozzle holder 2, thereby determining the presence or absence of the cup rt6. In other words, Yong! When there is no a6, it is in a lowered state, and when there is a container 6, it slides upward.

Photocoupler 13 is activated.

The liquid detector 3 also includes a thermistor 17 as a sensor.
and a thermistor control circuit 18.

In a dispensing device consisting of a syringe part, a nozzle sliding part, and a nozzle part, the nozzle is protected by the cup detector 4 when inserted into a container, and this embodiment has a safety effect.

〔Effect of the invention〕

(1) According to the present invention, the shape of the nozzle tip is protected from troubles such as contact, and the shape of the nozzle tip is not deformed, and the suction and discharge of liquid is performed stably, so that the quantitative performance is improved.

(2) The sharp nozzle tip is hidden inside the structure and is safe.

(3) The nozzle part has a rod-like shape and is simple without any convex parts.

(4) The entire nozzle part has a strong rod shape and is highly reliable as it does not deform due to external contact.6 (5) The nozzle part has a cylindrical shape and has a good appearance.

(6) No damage due to external contact.

High mechanical strength.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(a) is a main configuration diagram of a dispensing device which is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) is a detailed diagram of part A. FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional view when the present invention is applied to an XY sampler and a fixed amount of sample is transferred to another container. 1... Nozzle, 2... Nozzle holder, 3... Liquid detector, 4... Cup detector, 5... Rack, 5'.
... Rack, 6... Container, 7... Control section and X direction drive section, 8... Y direction drive section, 9... Z direction drive section, 10... Syringe section, 11...・Introduction tube, 1
2... Nozzle support. 13...Photocoupler, 14...Spring, 15
...Stopper, 16...Cup detection toe, 17.
・・Sa figure (α) figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A dispensing mechanism that sucks and discharges a sample liquid into a container through a nozzle, and a nozzle moving mechanism that moves the nozzle in three-dimensional space;
In a dispensing device consisting of a sensor mechanism that detects the presence or absence of a container by contacting the container and detecting its movement stroke, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a container by providing the shape of a nozzle protection cover to the part that contacts the container. A dispensing device characterized by having both a detection function for detecting a container and a function for dispensing liquid by causing the nozzle tip to pop out from the nozzle protection cover by the movement stroke of the contact part when detecting a container.