JPH0515941Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] This invention relates to a stirring device that stirs and mixes a sample such as blood by rotating a container containing the sample.

[Conventional technology and its issues]

Conventional stirring devices include one that mixes and stirs the sample by immersing a stirrer in the sample and rotating it, and one that mixes and stirs the sample by rotating and shaking a container. A method is known in which a stirrer is brought into contact with the upper end of a container containing a sample and rotated to mix and stir the sample.

However, the former stirring method requires a cleaning mechanism to clean the stirring bar after stirring, which not only makes the device extremely complicated and expensive, but also makes it difficult to clean the stirring bar. In the complete case, there is a problem in that an adverse effect (cross contamination) due to the previous sample is likely to occur.

Two stirring methods, the former and the latter, have been known as methods that solve these problems, but among these conventional stirring methods, the one in which the container is stirred by rotation and rocking is However, after the stirring operation is completed, the container has to be re-installed into, for example, a sampling device, which has the problem that the operation is complicated and inefficient.

In addition, among the conventional stirring methods, in the case of a method in which a stirrer is placed in contact with the upper end of the container containing the sample and rotated to stir it, if the container is of the same type, Although this is not a problem, the containers used for this type of blood test vary in size (length), so if the downward stroke of the stirrer is constant, the stirrer and container may not match. There is a problem in that the container may not come into contact with the container, or the contact pressure may be applied excessively, causing damage to the container.

This invention was devised in view of the current situation, and its purpose is to provide a stirrer that stirs a sample without immersing the stirrer into the sample. The object of the present invention is to provide a stirring device that can always bring the stirring bar into elastic contact with an appropriate pressing force even when the stirring bar and the container are rotated in an optimal state.

[Configuration to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the stirring device according to this invention includes a stirrer that comes into elastic contact with the upper part of the container, a long groove formed at the upper end of the stirrer, and a vertically slidable idler in the long groove. A stirring motor shaft having a protruding protrusion to be fitted therein; a stirring motor for rotating the motor shaft; a spring member for biasing the stirring bar downward in a normal state; and a stirring motor for rotating the stirring bar. and a support member that holds a stirrer, a stirrer lifting device that guides the support member up and down, and a pressurization sensor that is attached to the support member and controls rotation of the stirrer, and the above-mentioned The pressurization sensor is characterized in that it is configured to detect the position of the stirring bar being lowered by the stirring bar lifting device and to stop the driving of the stirring bar lifting device.

[Effect]

Therefore, in the stirring device according to this invention,
The support member holding the stirrer is lowered by the stirrer lifting device, and after the tip of the stirrer comes into contact with the upper end of the container, the support member is further lowered. At this time, since the stirrer is in contact with the upper end of the container, it does not move even when the support member further descends, and as a result, the stirrer moves along the long groove formed in the upper end of the stirrer. The protrusion loosely fitted on the motor shaft descends against the urging force of the spring member, and the pressurization sensor also descends accordingly, so that the pressurization sensor detects the position of the upper end of the stirrer. After the pressurization sensor detects the position at the upper end of the stirrer in this way, the pressurization sensor stops the operation of the stirrer lifting device and adjusts the pressing force appropriately when the stirrer and the container are in contact with each other. set it to the correct state.

〔Example〕

This invention will be described in detail below based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a stirring device 1 according to this embodiment includes a stirring bar 3 that comes into elastic contact with the upper part of a container 2 containing a sample such as serum, and a vertically long a stirring motor shaft 5 protruding from a protrusion 6 that is loosely fitted into the long groove 4 so as to be slidable up and down; a stirrer rotation motor 7 that rotates the stirring motor shaft 5; a coil spring 8 that normally biases the stirrer 3 downward;
A support member 9 that holds the stirrer rotation motor 7 and the stirrer 3; a stirrer lifting device 10 that guides the support member 9 up and down; and a stirrer lifting device 10 that is attached to the support member 9 and controls the rotation of the stirrer 3. It is composed of a pressurization sensor 11. In addition, in Figure 1,
Reference numeral 12 denotes a suction tube that aspirates the sample in sample suction position c, and reference numeral 13 denotes this suction tube 1.
Reference numeral 14 indicates a motor for the elevating device 13, and reference numeral 15 indicates an elevating device for guiding the elevating device 13 up and down, and a reference numeral 15 indicates an elevating device that guides the elevating device 13 up and down together with the suction pipe 12 to make the vacuum pressure inside the container 2 equal to the atmospheric pressure at position a. The vacuum break needles are shown respectively.

In this embodiment, the container 2 is composed of a test tube, and a rubber stopper 2a is press-fitted into the upper end of the container 2.

The requisite number of containers 2 configured in this manner are placed upright on the rack 16, and are intermittently transferred one pitch at a time from the right to the left in FIG. 1 by a drive device (not shown) until the vacuum break position a The liquid is transferred from the agitation position b to the suction position c.

The stirrer 3 is formed in such a shape that its lower end is in close elastic contact with the upper recess (not shown) of the rubber stopper 2a, and the cylindrical body connected to the lower end contains the A coil spring 8 is housed therein, and the vertically long groove 4 is formed at the upper end of the cylindrical body.

The stirring motor shaft 5 has an upper end connected to the stirrer rotation motor 7, and a protrusion 6 protruding from the lower end that is loosely fitted into the long groove 4 so as to be vertically slidable. has been done. Further, the coil spring 8 is attached to the lower end of the stirring motor shaft 5.
The upper end of the stirrer 3 is fixed, so that the coil spring 8 is arranged to bias the stirrer 3 downward in this state.

The support member 9 holds the stirrer rotation motor 7 and the stirrer 3 configured as described above at the left end in FIG. 1, and holds the stirrer lifting device 10 at its right end. are doing.

This stirrer lifting device 10 is composed of a support member lifting motor 17 and a mounting member 19 that is threadedly engaged with a rotating shaft 18 of the support member lifting motor 17. It is fixed to 9.

That is, on the surface of the rotating shaft 18 of the motor 17 for lifting and lowering the supporting member, a male screw groove is formed to engage with a female screw formed in the inner cylindrical hole (not shown) of the mounting member 19. Therefore, the support member 9 is raised or lowered by rotating the rotating shaft 18 of the motor 17 for raising and lowering the support member in forward and reverse directions. As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, an upper limit switch 20 and a lower limit switch 2 are installed near the support member 9.
1, and the highest position and lowest position of the support member 9 are determined. Of course, the upper limit switch 20 and the lower limit switch 21 are constructed from known limit switches, optical sensors, and the like.

The pressurization sensor 11 is disposed close to the stirrer 3 and attached to the support member 9, and is positioned at the upper end 3a of the stirrer 3 that is lowered by the stirrer lifting device 10. It is comprised of a well-known reflection type optical sensor so as to detect this and stop the drive of the stirrer lifting device 10. Of course, a known limit switch, optical sensor, etc. having other configurations may also be used.

Next, based on FIG. 2, the operation of stirring the container 2 using the stirring device 1 configured as described above will be explained.

After the support member 9 holding the stirrer 3 is lowered by the stirrer lifting device 10 and the lower end of the stirrer 3 comes into elastic contact with the rubber stopper 2a of the container 2, the support member 9 is still at the lower limit. Since the position has not been reached, it descends further. At this time, the stirrer 3 is connected to the container 2.
Since the support member 9 remains in elastic contact with the rubber stopper 2a, the lowering of the support member 9 after the elastic contact is prevented, and as a result, the protrusion 6 of the stirring motor shaft 5 resists the biasing force of the coil spring 8. The stirring bar 3 descends along the long groove 4, and along with this, the pressurization sensor 11 also descends together with the support member 9, and at a predetermined position, the pressurization sensor 11 touches the upper end 3a of the stirring bar 3.
Detect the position of. After the pressurization sensor 11 detects the position of the upper end 3a of the stirrer 3 in this way, the pressurization sensor 11 uses this detection signal to control the drive of the support member lifting motor 17 or each motor. to a device (not shown), thereby stopping the operation of the stirrer lifting device 10,
The pressing force when the stirrer 3 and the container 2 are in elastic contact is maintained at an appropriate level.

Thereafter, the stirrer rotating motor 7 is activated to rotate the container 2, and the sample contained in the container 2 is rotated and stirred.

Further, after this stirring work is completed, the control device operates to reversely rotate the support member lifting motor 17, whereby the support member 9 starts to rise. As the support member 9 rises, the pressurization sensor 11 and stirring motor shaft 5 also rise. At this time, since the stirrer 3 is urged downward by the coil spring 8, it remains in elastic contact with the rubber stopper 2a of the container 2.

In this way, the pressurized sensor 11 and stirring motor shaft 5 rise, and after the protrusion 6 abuts against the upper end of the long groove 4, the protrusion 6 rises while engaging the stirring bar 3. Therefore, after the lower end of the stirrer 3 separates from the rubber stopper 2a of the container 2 and returns to its original position, the operation of the support member lifting motor 17 is stopped.

In the above embodiment, the case where the operation of the motor for lifting and lowering the support member is controlled by the pressurization sensor was explained as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a similar effect can be obtained by using a limit switch.
Further, in the above embodiment, the region detected by the pressurization sensor is the upper end of the stirrer, but it goes without saying that the region detected by the pressurization sensor may be the lower end or other region.

[Effect of idea]

Since this device is configured as explained above, in a stirring device that stirs a sample without immersing the stirring body into the sample, the stirring bar is always kept in place even if the length of the container is different. Elastic contact can be made with an appropriate pressing force, and as a result, the sample in the container can always be rotated and stirred in an optimal state, and damage to the container can be reliably prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the general structure of a stirring device according to an embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the operating state of the main parts of the stirring device. Explanation of symbols, 1... Stirring device, 2... Container, 3
...Stirring bar, 4... Long groove, 5... Stirring motor shaft, 6... Protrusion, 7... Stirring bar rotation motor, 8
... Spring member (coil spring), 9 ... Support member, 10 ... Stirrer lifting device, 11 ... Pressure sensor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A stirrer that comes into elastic contact with the top of the container, a long groove formed at the upper end of the stirrer, a stirring motor shaft protruding from a protrusion that is loosely fitted into the long groove so as to be able to slide vertically, and the motor shaft. a spring member that normally biases the stirrer downward; a support member that holds the stirrer rotation motor and the stirrer; and a stirrer that guides the support member up and down. a child lifting device; a pressurization sensor attached to the support member and controlling rotation of the stirrer;
The pressurization sensor is configured to detect the position of the stirring bar being lowered by the stirring bar lifting device and stop driving the stirring bar lifting device. stirring device.