JPH05172830A - Liquid various specimen spectroscopic analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten a specimen passage including a flow cell thereby decreasing a dead volume by an automatic analysis of a very small amount of various kind of liquid specimens with a spectrophotometer. CONSTITUTION:A series connection consisting of a specimen suction pump 2, a flow cell 4, and a nozzle 8 for sucking a specimen, a specimen stack 5 for holding a vessel containing various kind of specimens, and a specimen changing mechanism 7 are mounted on a base 1 which can be inserted and pulled out in a specimen chamber of a spectrophotometer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer for a variety of liquid samples using a spectrophotometer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to carry out a spectroscopic analysis of a liquid sample, the sample is passed through a flow cell, light emitted from a spectroscope of a spectrophotometer is transmitted through this flow cell, and the transmitted light is measured. When analyzing various samples by this method, conventionally, a flow cell and a sample suction pump were installed in the sample chamber of the spectrophotometer, and a sample exchange device equipped with various sample containers was placed outside the sample chamber of the spectrophotometer. In addition, the sample exchanging device and the sample suction pump are connected by a pipe, and various samples are sequentially sucked from the sample exchanging device for spectroscopic measurement.

In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, various kinds of samples are mounted on the sample exchange apparatus outside the sample chamber of the spectrophotometer,
Since the sample is sent from there to the flow cell in the sample chamber, the conduit from the sample container to the flow cell becomes long, and the volume of this conduit becomes a dead volume, which hinders the measurement of a small amount of sample. Was becoming.

[0004]

The present invention reduces the dead volume of the conduit from the sample container to the flow cell in the case of performing spectroscopic analysis of various liquid samples so that even a small amount of sample can be analyzed without sample mixing or loss. Is what you are trying to do.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A sample exchange mechanism that holds a large number of samples on a base that can be inserted into and removed from a sample chamber of a spectrophotometer, and a series connection of a sample suction nozzle, a flow cell, and a sample suction pump. Equipped with.

[0006]

In the above structure, since the sample suction tube connecting the flow cell and the sample container is both inside the sample chamber of the spectrophotometer, the sample container is placed outside the sample chamber of the spectrophotometer. It is shorter than the above, and therefore the dead volume is small, and even small amounts of sample can be mixed,
Allows spectroscopic analysis without loss.

[0007]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a base that can be inserted into and removed from the sample chamber of the spectrophotometer. A sample suction pump 2 is attached to the outside of the front panel 1a of the base. A peristaltic pump is used for this pump. A motor 3 for driving the pump is attached inside the front panel 1a. Reference numeral 4 denotes a flow cell installed on the base 1, which is positioned so that the sample light flux emitted from the spectroscope is transmitted when the base 1 is set in the sample chamber of the spectrophotometer. Reference numeral 5 denotes a sample stack in which a large number of sample containers 6 are positioned and arranged side by side. Reference numeral 7 is a sample exchange mechanism, and in this embodiment, a nozzle holder 9 holding a sample suction nozzle 8 is placed on the sample stack 5 at x, y, z3.
The nozzle holder 9 is slidable in the y-direction on the y-direction guide 7y, and is driven by the pulse motor 10y for driving the y-direction via the wire 71.
The direction guide 7y is held on the x direction guide 7x slidably in the x direction, and is driven by the x direction driving pulse motor 10x via the wire 72. The nozzle holder 9 has an electromagnet 10 for driving the nozzle in the z direction, that is, in the vertical direction by a predetermined amount.
z is attached. Reference numeral 11 denotes a connector for connecting the electric system of the motors 10x to 10z and the motor 3 described above of the base 1 to a control device (not shown).

FIG. 2 shows the apparatus of the present invention set in a spectrophotometer. In the figure, M is a spectrophotometer, S is a sample chamber, and in the figure, the front panel 1a of the base 1 inserted and set in the sample chamber is visible. C is a control device for controlling the spectrophotometer M and data processing of the measurement result, and CRT is a display device for displaying the measurement result and the like.

In the above embodiments, each sample container is located on the sample stack. For automatic analysis, the controller activates the pump 2 and moves the nozzle holder onto the first sample container to lower the nozzle 8. Then, the first sample is sucked and sent to the drainage bottle (12 in FIG. 2) via the flow cell 4. The control device counts the timing at which the sucked sample passes through the flow cell counting from the time when the nozzle 8 is lowered, takes in the photometric data, and raises the nozzle 8 after the end of the data taking-in. Therefore, all the sucked sample is discharged to the drainage bottle, and air is sucked into the flow cell. Since the timing when the flow cell becomes empty is predetermined, the nozzle is moved to the next sample position at that timing, and the same operation as above is performed. In the same manner, the measurement of all the samples is completed.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the sample exchange mechanism.
The sample exchange mechanism circulates in one direction a sample stack 5 having a narrow corridor-shaped groove 51 with a narrow bottom, a sample suction nozzle 8 that is movable only up and down at a fixed position, and a sample container arranged in the groove 51. Driven pushers 13a, 13b, 13
c, 13d, etc.

The sample containers 6 are arranged in the groove 51 so as to be in contact with each other in a fixed order as shown in FIG. P is the measurement position, and the position of P is initially empty and the sample container is loaded into the stack 5. In operation, the pusher 13a operates to push the upper container row to the left by one container in FIG. Then, the first sample container comes to the measurement position P. The operation until the nozzle 8 is lowered, the sample is sucked, the spectroscopic measurement is performed, and the sample is discarded is the same as in the above-described embodiment. When the measurement of the first sample is completed, the nozzle 8 is pulled up and the pusher 13b operates to push the sample container at the right end of the lower row in FIG. 4 to the empty space at the right end of the upper row, after which the pusher 13c operates. Then, the entire container in the lower row is pushed to the right by one container, and finally the pusher 13d is actuated to move the first container at the measurement position P to the empty space at the left end of the lower row. Put in. This completes the measurement operation of one sample, and the pusher 13a operates again to bring the second container to the measurement position. In this way, the sample containers on the stack are circulated, and when one cycle is completed, the measurement of all samples is completed. In this embodiment, the nozzle 8 has a fixed position,
The distance from the nozzle to the flow cell can be made shorter than in the previous embodiment, and the dead volume can be made smaller. If the number of pushers is increased, the sample containers can be arranged in multiple rows.

[0012]

According to the present invention, since the sample exchange mechanism is located in the sample chamber of the spectrophotometer, the length of the conduit connecting the sample container and the flow cell is shortened, and the dead volume is reduced. Since the analysis can be performed and a dedicated device for multiple samples does not have to be placed outside the sample chamber, the device of the present invention can be used even for an existing spectrophotometer without worrying about where to wake up.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a spectrophotometer to which the device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an essential part of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram of the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 base 2 sample suction pump 3 motor 4 flow cell 5 sample stack 6 sample container 7 sample exchange mechanism 8 sample suction nozzle

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sample exchange mechanism for holding a large number of samples on a base that can be inserted into and removed from a sample chamber of a spectrophotometer, and a sample suction nozzle for sucking samples from a sample container loaded on the mechanism. A liquid multi-species sample spectroscopic analysis apparatus comprising a flow cell connected to the same tube and a sample suction pump connected to the flow cell.