JPH0363540A - Pressure switching mechanism for sample sealing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent resin which is expanded on a card from protruding from the card by quitting expanding the resin on the card at nearby a card end. CONSTITUTION:When the card 30 is mounted to a receiving plate 3, a control circuit 100 begins to clamp and convey the card 30 by a conveyor roller 22 and a pressure roller 25 while dripping resin 40. When the rear end of the card 30 nearly reaches the conveyor roller 22 and pressure roller 25, the control circuit 100 begins to rotate a motor 4. This motor 4 rotates a cam 7 engaged with an arm 8 which supports the pressure roller 25 to lift the other end of the arm 8 and releases the pressure roller 25 from being pressed against the conveyor roller 22. Thus, the conveyor roller 22 is released from being pressed by the pressure roller 25 to quit expanding to resin 40 on the card 30, quitting expanding excessive resin 40.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a pressure switching mechanism of a specimen enclosing device, and is particularly capable of preventing stains caused by extrusion of resin enclosing a card smeared with a sample such as blood. The present invention relates to a pressure switching mechanism for a specimen encapsulation device.

[Prior Art] Generally, in hospitals, etc., various body fluids such as blood and urine, as well as pathological tissue tests, are performed by smearing samples of the body fluids, etc., onto a slide glass, and observing this sample by a clinical laboratory technician using a microscope, etc. This is done by

In the conventional technology, a cover glass is placed over the sample and a mounting medium is injected between the sample and the slide glass in order to prevent the spread of disease bacteria from the exposed sample to the examiner during the microscopic examination and to protect the sample. and created specimens.

This method of manufacturing specimens using slide glass involves the use of thin glass and adhesive work to prevent air bubbles from entering, which poses problems in that the work is complicated and there is a risk of injury to the operator. Ta.

In order to solve this problem, a specimen enclosing device shown in FIG. 7 has been proposed as a prior art. The basic configuration of this device is a dropping mechanism (not shown) that drops a resin 40 that is cured by ultraviolet irradiation onto a thin card 30 on which a sample 31 such as blood is smeared, and a mechanism that rotationally holds the card 30. A conveying roller 22 and a pressure roller 25 that stretch and coat (seal) the resin 40 on the sample 31, and a conveying belt 24 that adheres and conveys the card 30 using the adhesive force of the resin 40. , an ultraviolet lamp 26 for curing the resin 40 by irradiating ultraviolet rays from below onto the card 30 being conveyed by the conveyor belt 24, and an ultraviolet lamp 26 for curing the resin 40 by irradiating the card 30 being conveyed by the conveyor belt 24 with ultraviolet rays from below. The resin 40 is cured.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The specimen encapsulation device according to the prior art requires a relatively large amount of resin 40 to be dropped in order to cover the irregularities of the sample 31 such as blood, and in this case, as shown in FIG. The rear end of the stretched resin 40 protrudes from the card 40,
There was a problem that the rollers 22, 25 and the conveyor belt 24 were contaminated.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the problems caused by the prior art, and to provide a pressure switching mechanism for a specimen encapsulation device that can prevent the resin stretched on the card from protruding from the card.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the pressure switching mechanism of the specimen encapsulating device according to the present invention is such that one of the rollers of a pair of rollers that rotationally clamps a card onto which resin has been dropped is provided. A pressing mechanism section that presses one roller against the other roller, and a release mechanism section that releases the pressing of one roller by the pressing mechanism section are provided.

[Operation] In the pressure switching mechanism configured in this manner, when the pair of rollers rotationally clamps the vicinity of the end of the card, the release mechanism releases the pressing of the pressure mechanism.

Therefore, in the pressure switching mechanism according to the present invention, the release mechanism part releases the pressing force of the pressing mechanism part when the card reaches the vicinity of the card end, so that the pushing and spreading of the resin on the card is interrupted at the card end, and the resin is transferred to other parts. It is possible to prevent it from adhering to and contaminating the mechanism, etc.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the pressure switching mechanism of the specimen encapsulating device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a specimen encapsulating device equipped with a pressure switching mechanism according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the device shown in FIG. 1.

This device includes an elevating plate 42 that is moved up and down by driving a solenoid 10 when a sensor 20 detects that a card 30 on which a sample has been smeared is placed, and a card 30 on the elevating plate 42.
a roller 17 that rotates and conveys the card onto the receiving plate 3; a resin dripping mechanism 19 that drips an ultraviolet curable resin 40 for encapsulation onto the card 30 placed on the receiving plate 3; A transparent conveyance belt 24 that adheres and conveys the card 30 by the adhesive force of the conveyance belt 24, a conveyance roller 22 and a discharge roller 23 on which the conveyance belt 24 is hung, and the roller 2.
A motor 1 rotatably drives 2 and 23 in synchronization with a drive belt 2, a pressure roller 25 supported by one end of the arm 8 via a fulcrum 9, and a pressure roller 25 connected to the other end of the arm 8. A spring 6 that generates a pressing force that presses the pressure roller 25 against the conveyance roller 22, a cam 7 that raises and lowers the other end of the arm 8 by rotation of the motor 4 to switch the pressing force of the pressure roller 25, and the roller 22. , 23, a discharge roller 43 that applies a pressing force to the discharge roller 23 by a spring 27, and the operation of the rotation and dripping mechanism 19 such as the motors 1 and 4. and a control circuit 100 for controlling.

Further, the conveyance roller 22 and the pressure roller 25 are
A mechanism for sealing the sample by stretching the resin 40 by rotationally holding the card 30 on which 0 has been dropped is constituted, and the pressure roller 25° and the arm supporting the roller 25 via the fulcrum 9 constitute a mechanism. 8. The features of this embodiment include a spring 6 connected to the other end of the arm 8, and a cam 7 disposed between the fulcrum 9 of the arm 8 and the spring 6 and lifting the arm 8 by rotation of the motor 4. This constitutes a pressure switching mechanism. That is, the arm 8 supporting the roller 25 at one end. A spring 6 connected to the other end of the arm 8 constitutes a pressing mechanism, and a cam 7 that lifts the rear arm 8 by rotation of the motor 4 constitutes a release mechanism.

Further, timing marks 41 are provided on the conveyor belt 24 at predetermined intervals, and a sensor 5 for detecting the marks 41 is arranged on the conveyor belt 24 near the conveyor roller 22.

Now, the sample encapsulating device configured as described above operates as follows. First, when the motor 1 starts rotating by turning on the power (not shown), the transport roller 22, the discharge roller 23. While the rollers 25 and 43 in contact with these rollers 22 and 23 rotate, the roller 17 is rotated by a motor (not shown).

When the card 30 is placed on the lift plate 42 in this state, the sensor 20 detects this and reports it to the control circuit 100. The control circuit 100 synchronizes the detection of this card 30 with the detection of the timing mark 41 of the belt 24, and controls the solenoid 1.
0 to raise the elevating plate 42 as shown in FIG. As the plate 42 rises, the card 30 comes into contact with the roller 17, and its rotation causes the card 30 to be conveyed to the right in the drawing.

When the card 30 is placed on the receiving plate 3 at a predetermined position by this conveyance, the control circuit 100 +;t□♂ drives the lowering mechanism 19 to transport the card 30 to the conveyor roller 22. Nipping and conveyance by the pressure rollers 25 is started.

At this time, the pressure roller 25 is pressed against the conveyance roller 22 by the restoring force applied by the spring 6 via the fulcrum 9 because the cam 7 and the arm 8 are not in contact with each other, as shown in FIG. The resin 40 on the card 30 is spread out to seal the sample.

When a predetermined period of time has elapsed for the card 30 on the elevating plate 42 to finish moving to the receiving plate 3, the control circuit 100 detects this based on the count of an internal timer, operates the solenoid 10, and lowers the elevating plate 42. Next, when the vicinity of the rear end of the card 30 reaches the rollers 22 and 25, the control circuit 100 starts rotating the motor 4 by counting the timer as described above. This motor 4 lifts the other end of the arm 8 by rotating a cam 7 that engages with the arm 8 that supports the pressure roller 25, as shown in FIG. Release the pressure on.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, when the pressure of the pressure roller 25 is released, the spreading of the resin 40 on the card 30 is stopped, and the spreading of the excess resin 40 is stopped, and the resin 40 is removed from the card 30. This prevents it from falling off and adhering to other mechanisms 2, such as the pressure roller 25, and contaminating it. Note that if there is a large amount of resin 40 remaining on the card 30, the rear end of the card 30 may be bent as shown in FIG.
Since the card 30 itself is made of thin plastic or other soft material, there is no problem.

The card 30 attached to the conveyor belt 24 is moved by the ultraviolet lamp 2 while moving according to the rotation of the conveyor roller 22 and the like.
The resin 40 is gradually hardened by ultraviolet irradiation, and when it reaches the discharge rollers 23 and 43, it is peeled off from the discharge belt 24 by the reversal of the belt 24 and discharged to the outside. Since the ultraviolet rays are applied to the entire surface of the resin 40 by the ultraviolet lamp 26 via the transparent belt 26, the entire resin can be uniformly cured.

In this way, the pressure switching mechanism of the specimen encapsulation device according to this embodiment allows the pressure roller 25 to press and spread the resin 40 on the card 30.
By providing the cam 7 or the like that stops the pressing force near the end of the card, it is possible to prevent the resin stretched on the card 30 from protruding from the card, and to prevent stains caused by the protruding resin.

Incidentally, each motor etc. of the control circuit 100 is controlled by the sensor 5.
Although this is performed by counting a predetermined period of time from the detection of the card 30 and 20, it may be configured such that the operation is performed after the movement of the card 30 or the like is detected by another sensor. Further, in this embodiment, an example in which the pressing mechanism section is constituted by the arm 8 and the spring 6 is explained, and an example is shown in which the releasing mechanism section is constituted by the cam 7, but the present invention is not limited to these mechanisms.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention provides a method of pressing the specimen encapsulating device that prevents the resin stretched on the card from protruding from the card by stopping the stretching of the resin on the card near the end of the card. A switching mechanism can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a specimen encapsulating device equipped with a pressure switching mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the device shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 to 6 are FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the pressure switching mechanism of the specimen encapsulation device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the principle of a conventionally proposed specimen encapsulation device, and FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a specimen prepared by the conventional specimen encapsulation device. 1: motor, 3: receiving plate, 4: motor, 5: sensor, 6: spring, 7: cam, 8: arm,
9: fulcrum, 10: solenoid, 17: roller, 20: sensor, 22: conveyance roller, 23: discharge roller, 24: conveyance belt, 25: pressure roller, 26: ultraviolet lamp, 30: card, 40: resin.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A pressure switching mechanism of a specimen encapsulation device that seals the sample with resin by dropping resin onto a sample smeared on a card and rotationally sandwiching the card between a pair of rollers,
A pressing mechanism section that presses one roller of the pair of rollers against the other roller, and a release mechanism section that releases the pressing of one roller by the pressing mechanism section, and the pair of rollers presses the near end of the card. 1. A pressure switching mechanism for a specimen encapsulating device, characterized in that a release mechanism releases the pressing of a pressing mechanism when rotationally clamped by the specimen encapsulating device.