JPH0354790B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a support discharging device in an electrophoresis apparatus, and in particular, when two or more supports are overlapped and sent out at the same time, this is detected and the support is discharged from the apparatus. Relating to a device for discharging.

Background technology Electrophoresis is used to test serum proteins in clinical tests at medical institutions. In this electrophoresis method, as is well known, serum to be tested is coated on a support such as a cellulose acetate membrane, and then electricity is applied to form a separate image (migrating pattern) of the serum. This fractionated sample is stained, and the portion other than the fractionated serum is further decolorized.
This method uses a densitometer to quantify the fractional concentration of the decolorized product.

By the way, when each of these processes is automated and performed one after another in one device, if two or more supports overlap and are sent out at the same time, not only will it not be possible to perform smooth feeding operations, but the subsequent steps will be delayed. A problem arises that makes it impossible to do so. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate the overlapping of the supports so that they can be reliably fed one by one.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has an object to detect when two or more supports are fed out in an overlapping manner, and to remove this from the feeding path so that one support can always be fed one by one. purpose.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention detects the number of sheets of the support being fed, and detects the number of sheets of the support being fed, and When two or more supports overlap,
an optical detection means that detects this and sends out a signal; an actuator that operates upon receiving the signal from the optical detection means; and an actuator that is rotationally driven by the actuator and sends out the overlapping supports to a predetermined position. The main component is a discharge plate that is removed to one side from the feed path and placed along the discharge path to the outside of the device.

Function In the above configuration, the support body sent out from the paper feeding mechanism such as the cassette mechanism is
If more than one sheet overlaps, this is detected by an optical detection means, a so-called optical sensor. The actuator operates in response to the detection signal. Then,
The discharge plate is rotationally driven, and the overlapping supports are thereby expelled from a predetermined feeding path to one side along the surface of the discharge plate and discharged out of the apparatus. Therefore, it is ensured that the supports are always sent one by one to the various electrophoretic steps.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, each pair of feed rollers 11 and 11 are provided at the upper part of the casing 10 on one side.
and feed rollers 12, 12 are rotatably supported by shafts 13, 14 at intervals in the left and right directions (in the front and back directions of the paper in FIG. 1), respectively. The feed rollers 11 and 12 are in contact with each other to form a pair, and the shafts 13 and
14 in the feeding direction of the support (electrophoretic membrane) A. Feed rollers 11, 11 and 12, 1
Guide plates 15 and 16 for the support are arranged on the upper part of the paper feed mechanism (not shown) to guide the support A sent out from the paper feed mechanism (not shown) between the feed rollers 11 and 12. There is. Feed rollers 11, 12
The supporting body A that has been guided and fed in is held between the supporting body A and is sent downward by its rotational action.

At a lower position a predetermined distance away from the feed rollers 11, 12, a pair of feed rollers 17, 17 and a feed roller 18, 18 having the same configuration are spaced apart from each other in the left and right directions by shafts 19, 20, respectively. It is rotatably supported. Feed roller 17,1
8 are in mutual contact with each other and are rotated via shafts 19 and 20 in the direction in which the support is fed out.

The feed roller 11 and the feed roller 17 are connected to the same drive source via a transmission system, and are rotationally driven in conjunction with each other.

Feed rollers 11, 12 and feed rollers 17, 18
A feed path for the support is formed between the feed rollers 11 and 12, and the support sent out from the feed rollers 11 and 12 is sent between the lower feed rollers 17 and 18 along this path. It is fed into a wetting device (not shown) provided below.

Feed rollers 11, 12 and feed rollers 17, 18
A support discharge mechanism is provided in the feeding path formed between the support body and the support body, and when two or more supports are fed out in an overlapping manner, this is detected and the support body is discharged from the apparatus. ing.

This discharge mechanism is disposed on one side of the support body being sent out by the feed rollers 11 and 12, and detects the number of support bodies and sends out a signal when two or more of the support bodies are overlapped. Optical detection means 2
1, a rotary actuator 22 that operates upon receiving the signal from the optical detection means 21, and a drive shaft 221 of the rotary actuator 22 on one side.
A support discharge plate 24 is supported by a rotating shaft 23 connected to the support body, and rotates and tilts at a predetermined angle from a downwardly hanging position along the support feed path to a laterally upper support discharge position by its operation. It is roughly composed of:

A support discharge port 100 is formed on one side of the casing 10 facing the above-mentioned feeding path, from which the support removed from the feeding path by the discharge plate 24 is discharged. . Ejection guide 1 along the lower side of the ejection port 100
01 is integrally formed and inclined inward. The support is discharged along this discharge guide 101.

The optical detection means 21 is composed of an optical sensor having a light emitting element and a light receiving element such as a photocoupler, and the support sent out by the feed rollers 11 and 12 first detects the light emitting element and the light receiving element of the optical sensor 21. It has come to pass between. and,
The light from the light-emitting element that has passed through the support is received and detected by the light-receiving element, and when the amount of received light fluctuates from the reference value (the amount of received light that passes through one support), a signal is sent from the optical sensor 21. is served.

The rotary actuator 22 is composed of, for example, a rotary solenoid, and operates in response to a signal from the optical sensor 21 to move the discharge plate 24 to the rotation shaft 2.
Rotate and tilt at a predetermined angle around 3.

The discharge plate 24 is formed into a substantially rectangular flat plate shape,
One side of the machine frame 102, 1 inside the casing 10
It is supported so as to be able to rotate integrally with a rotating shaft 23 supported between 02 and 23. One end of the rotating shaft 23 passes through one machine frame 102 and is connected to the drive shaft 221 of the rotary actuator 22, which is attached to the outside thereof.

Next, the operation of the embodiment device having the above configuration will be explained.

The feed roller 1 is guided by guide plates 15 and 16.
The support A sent between the rollers 1 and 12 is sandwiched between the rollers 11 and 12 as they rotate, and is sent out downward, and first passes between the light receiving element and the light emitting element of the optical sensor 21. , and then sent downward along the surface of the discharge plate 24. At this time, if only one support is correctly fed out from the paper feeding mechanism, the signal from the optical sensor 21 is at O level, and the rotary actuator 22 does not operate. Therefore, the discharge plate 24 does not move, and the support A is sent downward as it is, inserted between the feed rollers 17, 18, and sent to the wetting device below as they rotate. Thereafter, various steps of electrophoresis are performed sequentially.

On the other hand, if two or more of the supports A sent out from the paper feeding mechanism overlap due to a paper feeding error, the light passes through the support A and is received when passing through the feed rollers 11 and 12 and the optical sensor 21. The amount of light received by the element fluctuates (in this case, it becomes smaller than the reference value). Then, the level of the signal from the optical sensor 21 fluctuates to the side. The rotary actuator 22 is actuated by this signal, and the discharge plate 24 is moved toward the rotating shaft 22 as shown by the imaginary line in FIG.
It is rotated and tilted laterally and diagonally upward at a predetermined angle about 3. Then, the support body A is sent out from the feeding rollers 11 and 12, passes through the optical sensor 21, and is sent out obliquely downward from the above-mentioned feeding path along the surface of the discharge plate 24. Next, the support body A is discharged out of the apparatus from the discharge port 100 along the slope of the discharge guide 101.

As described above, when two or more supports are sent out from the paper feeding mechanism in an overlapping manner, the overlapping objects are removed from the feeding path to the outside of the apparatus by the operation of the ejection mechanism. Therefore, the supports are reliably fed one by one in the subsequent electrophoresis steps.

Note that in the above embodiment, the discharge plate 24
Although a rotary actuator is used as an example of a means for driving, this can be replaced with various known drive mechanisms.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, when two or more supports are sent out overlapping each other, they can be removed from the feeding path to the outside of the apparatus without error at the electrophoresis process inlet side of the apparatus. Therefore, the supports can be reliably sent one by one to the subsequent steps, and smoother electrophoresis processing is possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view thereof. A... Support body, 21... Optical sensor (optical) detection means, 22... Actuator, 24... Ejection plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. At the entrance side of the support feeding route for cellulose acetate membranes, etc., detect the number of supports, and when two or more of the fed supports overlap,
an optical detection means that sends out a signal; an actuator that operates in response to a signal from the optical detection means; and an actuator that is rotationally driven by the actuator and that separates the overlapping support bodies from a predetermined feeding path. A support discharging device for an electrophoresis device, comprising a discharging plate for discharging to the side and along a discharging path to the outside of the device.