JPH0552854A - Automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve an optimization of an analysis measurement with a smaller size of the apparatus and a higher analysis capacity. CONSTITUTION:A cuvette chain 6 having a cuvette 1 fixed thereon for conveying is so arranged to be movable within a horizontal plane and within a vertical plane and a reaction liquid is oscillated in the cuvette 1 during the movement within the verical plane to perform an agitation in a non-contact manner. This eliminates the needs for a stirring operation with no fear of any carryover. In addition, the cuvette chain is provided in a minimum plane area thereby achieving a smaller size of the apparatus.

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 automatically analyzing various test liquids that are continuously conveyed by using photometric means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic analyzer continuously dispenses a sample into a reaction container, agitates a reagent, and then dispenses and agitates a reagent, followed by a photometric means for photometrically analyzing the components of a test solution. And it is an automatic device. In this automatic analyzer, reaction vessels are arranged in a large turntable, and the sample probe and reagent probe are moved to individual reaction vessels when stopped while step-feeding the turntable. Dispense samples and reagents. Furthermore, the stirring bar is moved to perform stirring.

Further, a sample and a reagent are dispensed into a reaction container.
When stirring, a reaction container, a nozzle, a stirring rod, etc. are used, but these are used while being appropriately washed for proper analysis and measurement. The test liquid in the reaction vessel is in a constant temperature state in which the temperature state is kept as constant as possible. In this way, in the automatic analyzer, sample dispensing and reagent dispensing are continuously performed, and after photometry, the reaction container and the test liquid are discarded.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional automatic analyzer requires a stirring device in order to stir the sample / reagent using the stirring rod. Therefore,
The stirrer must be provided in the vicinity of the transport path of the reaction container, which is an obstacle to downsizing the apparatus. Further, in the case of stirring with a stirring rod, it is necessary to wash the stirring rod every time different samples and reagents are stirred. However, there is a problem that this cleaning work is an obstacle to speeding up the analysis process, and if insufficient cleaning is performed, a carry bar is generated by the stirring rod.

Further, in the conventional automatic analyzer, since a series of analytical processing operations are performed while the reaction container is mainly moved in the horizontal plane by using a large reaction table, the plane area of the device is reduced. There is a problem in that the device becomes large and the device becomes large. Further, there is a problem that the photometry cannot be performed during the dispensing / stirring because the positions of the sample / reagent dispensing / stirring work and the photometric position are not separated.

The present invention is proposed in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides an automatic analyzer capable of downsizing the device, further improving the analysis processing capacity and optimizing the analysis measurement. It is intended for.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a means for continuously transporting a reaction container, a means for dispensing reagents, samples and the like into a reaction container, and a test solution. In an automatic analyzer having a means for measuring light, a chain that moves at least in a horizontal plane and in a vertical plane is used as the transport means of the reaction container, and the test liquid is fed during the transport of the reaction container fixed to the chain. The automatic analyzer was characterized by being agitated.

[0008]

As described above, the test liquid is swung in the reaction container during the process of being conveyed for performing the analysis processing work, and the stirring effect is produced. Therefore, a stirrer is not necessary and there is no fear of a carry bar by a stirrer. Further, since the conveying means for the reaction container is provided using the smallest plane area, it is possible to realize the downsizing of the apparatus.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The cuvette (reaction vessel) 1 used in the present invention has a flat capsule shape as shown in FIG. 1, and a dispensing hole 2 is formed at a substantially central position of one flat surface portion in the thickness direction. .. The flat portion in the width direction is formed as a photometric surface. It should be noted that both surfaces in the length direction are formed into curved surfaces. The internal volume of the cuvette 1 is
It is formed so as to have a sufficient margin as compared with the amount of the reaction liquid to be dispensed, and the reaction liquid moves inside the cuvette 1 and strikes the inner wall of the curved surface portion in particular, so that sufficient stirring is performed. ..

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the automatic analyzer. FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the main part of the automatic analyzer. The cuvettes 1 are stored, for example, in units of 100 in a cuvette pack 5 arranged on the upper part of the main body of the apparatus 4, and the cuvettes 1 sent out from the cuvette pack 5 one by one are stored in the cuvette chain 6. The dispensing hole 2 is fixed to the cuvette fixing portion so that the dispensing hole 2 faces upward. A cuvette fixing portion for fixing the cuvette 1 is attached to the cuvette chain 6 at a constant pitch, and the fixed cuvette 1 is intermittently transferred at intervals of 9 seconds. As described above, since a large reaction table as in the conventional case is not used, the device does not become large.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the cuvette loader 7. The cuvette pack 5 is aligned and extruded along the cuvette guide 8. When the cuvette 1 pushed out reaches the upper part of the cuvette chain 6, the cuvette chuck 9 movably provided in the vicinity of the cuvette chain 6 rises and moves in the direction of the cuvette guide 8, The front cuvette 1 is sandwiched and held. Next, the cuvette chuck 9 moves away from the cuvette guide 8 and descends (dashed line) to the cuvette fixing part attached to the cuvette chain 6.
The cuvette 1 is fixed to 10.

In this way, the cuvette 1 fixed to the cuvette chain 6 is transported (first transport) in the horizontal plane by the diluting liquid dispensing unit 45 provided near the transport path. Then, a diluent is dispensed to dilute each reagent to be dispensed. Dispensing is performed by sucking a diluent from a diluent tank (not shown) by a syringe suction operation and then sequentially pushing the diluent into the cuvette 1. Note that the amount to be dispensed is determined based on the test items entered in advance in the data processing device, so it is dispensed based on it.However, when using a general reagent without using a high-concentration reagent, a diluent is used. Needless to say, the dispensing of is unnecessary.

A reagent storage 11 is provided in the direction in which the cuvette 1 into which the diluting liquid has been dispensed is conveyed through the cuvette chain 6. In the reagent storage 11, a first reagent and a second reagent are set in a turntable for each analysis item (for example, 40 items), and the first reagent is placed at the first reagent dispensing position 12.
As for the reagent, the second reagent is positioned at the second reagent dispensing position 13. Then, the first reagent is dispensed into the cuvette 1, and the second reagent is dispensed through a predetermined process. The reagent storage 11 is cooled by a Peltier element, that is, an electronic heat exchange device, and the temperature of the reagent is constantly controlled at 12 ° C ± 4 ° C.
The form of the bottle of the first reagent and the bottle of the second reagent may be integrated or independent. In any case, since they are arranged in the same turntable, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a bar code 14 for reagent ID is attached to one side and identified by a bar code reader (not shown). In this case, it is attached to the other side. Needless to say, it is not necessary.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of the reagent bottle. The reagent bottle 15 is formed so that the bottle body 16 and the dispenser 17 can be separated and combined, and the dispenser 17 has a nozzle 18
Is provided. And, this nozzle 18
The reagent in the bottle body 16 is guided to the nozzle 18 by inserting it into the film surface 19 formed at the bottom of the bottle 16. A piezoelectric element 20 is provided on the outer periphery of the nozzle 18, and the piezoelectric element 20 is further provided with a contact 21 for applying a voltage from the outside. Then, at the first reagent dispensing position and the second reagent dispensing position, a voltage generator 22 applies a control voltage of a constant frequency, and by controlling the time, it becomes possible to control the dispensing amount of the dispensing amount according to the analysis conditions. ing. In this case, it is also possible to control the dispensing amount by changing the applied frequency while keeping the time constant. Further, inside the reagent storage 11, a cooler is provided in order to prevent deterioration of the reagent. Furthermore, the first
A shutter 23 is provided at the outlet of the reagent and the second reagent so as to be opened through a driving mechanism 24 at the time of discharging the reagent, and a heater 25 is incorporated in this portion to form dew condensation. We are trying to prevent it.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the reagent bottle. An air hole 26 is formed on the upper surface of the bottle body 16. Dispensing is performed by pushing a piston 27 provided on the dispenser 17 with a solenoid 28. Figure 6A
The reagent suction valve side ball 29, the reagent discharge valve side ball 30 and each of them are urged upward in the bottle body 16 direction. The springs 31 and 32 are provided to seal the first pipeline 33a extending in the vertical direction. Further, a second pipe line 33b is continuously formed in a direction orthogonal to the center of the first pipe line 33a, and a piston 34 described later is formed in the second pipe line 33a.
A floating member 34b that moves together with the floating member is provided. In addition, the dispenser 17 has a piston 34 along the central axis of the second conduit 33b.
The piston 34 is urged toward the outside of the dispenser 17 by a spring 35, and the piston end surface 34a can change its fixed position as shown in FIG. 6B (bottom view of the dispenser 17). It is adapted to be locked by a stopper 36 provided on the.

With this structure, when the solenoid 28 is operated in the direction of the arrow, the end face 34a of the piston 34 is
Is pushed, the piston 34 moves by the stroke S. Then, pressure is generated in the first conduit 33a, and the discharge valve side ball 30
Press to create a gap with the first conduit 33a,
It is possible to discharge only the reagent for S. On the other hand, when the solenoid 28 returns in the direction opposite to the arrow, the piston 34 is returned by the force of the spring 35 until it is locked by the stopper 36. Then, the first conduit
The inside of 33a becomes negative pressure, and a gap is created between the suction valve side ball 29 and the conduit 33, and the reagent for the stroke S is sucked. Dispensing is performed by such an operation. When the reagent dispensing amount is adjusted according to the analysis item, etc., it is adjusted by changing the stroke amount or changing the dispensing frequency. The stroke amount is changed by moving the stopper 36.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the reagent bottle. In this embodiment, a piezoelectric element generally used in an ink jet printer or the like is used for the dispenser. The dispenser 17 is provided with a suction side valve ball 29, a discharge side valve ball 30, and springs 31 and 32 for urging them upward, respectively, as in the above-described embodiment. The pipe 37 extending upward is sealed. Also, the pipe 37
A cylindrical piezoelectric element 38 is fixed to the outer periphery of the device by adhesion or the like. A lead wire 39 is connected to the inner cylinder side and the outer cylinder side of the piezoelectric element 38, and the other end of the lead wire 39 is connected to the dispenser 17
It is connected to a terminal 40 provided on the outside. Then, by applying a voltage to the inside and outside of the piezoelectric element 38, the pipe 37 is contracted to cause a volume change in the pipe 37 to perform the dispensing.

A reagent remaining amount detection terminal 41 is provided at a position above the dispenser 17 where the reagent flows from the bottle body 16.
A lead wire 42 is connected to this terminal, and the other end of the lead wire 42 is connected to a terminal 40 provided outside the dispenser 17.
Further, a contact probe 44 is provided on the moving table 43 arranged outside the reagent bottle, and the contact probe 44 is configured to be detachable from the terminal 40 of the dispenser 17. Has been done. Therefore, to dispense the reagent, first, the contact probe 44 is connected to the terminal 40, and a pulse voltage of several tens of kilohertz is applied to the piezoelectric element 38. Then the pipe
The volume inside 37 decreases, the discharge valve side ball 30 is pushed, the discharge valve is opened, and the reagent corresponding to the contraction of the pipe 37 is discharged.

On the other hand, when the inner diameter of the piezoelectric element 38 returns to the original state, the inside of the pipe 37 becomes a negative pressure, the suction side valve ball 29 is lowered, the suction valve is opened, and the reagent corresponding to the volume change of the pipe 37 is sucked.
Thus, the reagent is dispensed and aspirated by the volume change of the pipe 37, but since the volume change of the pipe 37 is small, it is suitable for discharging a very small amount. Although the reagent is dispensed by the above operation, if the reagent dispensing amount is changed depending on the analysis item, etc., the dispensing amount according to the analysis item is changed by changing the number of voltage pulses applied to the piezoelectric element 38. The adjustment method of discharging may be used. In this embodiment, the presence or absence of the reagent in the bottle body 16 can be detected by applying a voltage between the reagent remaining amount detection terminals 41 and observing the change in the resistance value.

When the first reagent is dispensed from the reagent bottle in this way, the cuvette chain 6 is changed from the first transfer (transfer in the horizontal plane) to the transfer in the vertical plane (second transfer).
In this way, the cuvette chain 6 is in the second transport state for a plurality of times until the photometric stage. As the cuvette chain 6 is changed from the first transfer to the second transfer, the orientation of the cuvette 1 is changed at the same time, and the reaction solution moves inside the cuvette 1 and the diluent and the first reagent are stirred. In this case, the reaction solution moves along the bottom surface and the curved surface of the cuvette 1 which do not have the dispensing hole 2, so that effective stirring can be performed and the reaction solution can be prevented from leaking from the dispensing hole 2. it can.

A reagent blank photometric position 46 is provided in the vicinity of the second transport path, and the cuvette 1 is photometrically measured by the reagent blank photometric position 46 to measure the reagent blank.
At the reagent blank photometric position 46, an optical path is formed by a fiber, and one end of the optical path is incorporated in the scanning optical system after the second reagent dispensing described later.

In the second conveyance in which the cuvette chain 6 conveys in the vertical plane, the reaction solution in the cuvette 1 is stirred each time while descending and ascending, and the sample is dispensed after such stirring. .. A sample probe 47 for dispensing the sample is provided between the reagent storage 11 and a sampler 48 described later. The sampler 48 has six small turntables 50 capable of accommodating ten sample cups 49 arranged on the circumference of a large table 51. A bar code is attached to each sample cup 49 to enable automatic ID reading. The small table 50 and the large table 51 are rotatable, and the large table 51 is first rotated by computer control to select the small table 50, and then the small table 50 is selected. ---
The sample 50 to be inspected can be set at the sample suction position by rotating the bull 50. In addition,
It goes without saying that one of the small turntables 50 can be used for special inspection such as emergency inspection.

The sample probe 47 is movable between the sample suction position 52 and the sample discharge position 53 on the sampler 48, and the sample dispensing nozzle 54 can be moved up and down at each position. It has become. The actual suction and discharge by the sample probe 47 is performed through a sample pipettor (not shown). The sample dispensing nozzle 54 is adapted to suck the sample and discharge it into the cuvette 1 after being cleaned by a sample cleaning unit (not shown) provided in the moving path of the sample dispensing nozzle 54. There is.

The cuvette 1 into which the sample has been dispensed is secondly conveyed again, whereby the first reagent and the sample are agitated. In addition, a constant temperature (4.2 minutes) is maintained by circulating hot air around the cuvette 1. A self-blank photometric position 55 is provided in the conveyance direction of the cuvette 1, and the cuvette 1 is photometrically measured in the same manner as the reagent blank photometry to measure the self-blank. At the self-blank photometry position 55, an optical path is formed by a fiber, and one of the optical path ends is incorporated in the scanning optical system after the second reagent is dispensed.

Cuvette 1 with self-blank measurement
Advances to the second reagent dispensing position, where the reagent is dispensed in the same manner as the first reagent and is agitated by the second transport. A cuvette transfer section 56 is provided near the second reagent dispensing position. The cuvette transfer section 56 will be described with reference to FIG. 8. A cuvette transfer chuck 57 is provided in the direction in which the cuvette 1 into which the second reagent has been dispensed is conveyed through the cuvette chain 6. The cuvette transfer chuck 57 has a cuvette chucking portion 58.
The chuck rotation mechanism 59 can rotate in a horizontal plane, and the chuck transfer mechanism 60 can move in a vertical plane.

When the cuvette 1 is transported to the cuvette transfer location, the cuvette chucking 58 is performed.
The cuvette 1 is pulled out from the cuvette fixing portion 10 of the cuvette chain 6 by sandwiching the cuvette 1 and rotating 90 ° in the direction of the arrow as it is (dashed line). In addition,
This cuvette transfer is completed within 9 seconds which is the cuvette transportation cycle. After that, the cuvette 1 is transferred downward by the chuck transfer mechanism 60. A cuvette column transfer unit 61 is provided below the transfer of the cuvettes 1, and the cuvettes 1 are vertically transferred in a straight line (third transfer) while holding the transferred cuvettes 1. A cuvette column transfer unit for transferring the cuvette 1 in a column
61, the cuvette transport zone 63 in which the cuvette holders 62 are formed at equal intervals is configured to be movable in a straight line in the horizontal plane, and a photometric cuvette guide 64 is provided on the side surface of the cuvette transport zone 63. There is.

In the third conveyance, the cuvettes 1 are conveyed in series as shown in FIG. 8. In this case, a portion near the curved surface of the cuvette 1 is the surface to be measured, and the light is sequentially measured by the light measuring section described later. In this case also, cuvette 1
Is intermittently transferred at intervals of 9 seconds. A photometric unit 65 is provided near the cuvette column transfer unit 61.
The photometric unit 65 uses a post-spectral scanning optical system that performs photometric light through a photometric surface near the curved surface of the cuvette 1.
In the photometric unit 65, the lamp of the light source, the spectroscope, and the photometer are fixed, and the cuvette 1 is located between the lamp and the spectroscope. Then, the photometer is linearly scanned to measure the reaction state in the cuvette 1. As described above, photometry of the self blank and the reagent blank is also performed. In this way, since the photometric unit is provided separately from the sample and reagent dispensing / stirring work positions, dispensing / stirring and photometry can be performed simultaneously.

A sheet heater is attached to the photometric cuvette guide 64, and the temperature of the reaction solution in the cuvette 1 is kept constant by controlling the temperature. After the photometry is performed in this manner, the cuvette 1 is pushed out from the third transport and then dropped to be stored in the waste box. The device is equipped with a processing device for analysis conditions, a photometric data process, an emergency process, an automatic re-inspection process, a DPR for performing processes such as communication with a host computer, and further the data of the analysis result. Liquid crystal graphic panel for displaying, reaction curve graph, and device status
66, a membrane keyboard 67 for inputting analysis items, analysis conditions, changes in device status, etc., and a printer for printing out analysis results and printing out analysis conditions. ing.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the reaction solution can be swung in the cuvette by changing the movement in the horizontal plane to the movement in the vertical plane in the course of transporting the cuvette. Therefore, the reaction liquid can be agitated in a non-contact state, and the agitation device and the agitation tool cleaning operation can be eliminated. Further, the cuvette chain for transporting the cuvette can be installed by using the minimum plane area, so that the device can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cuvette.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an automatic analyzer.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of a cuvette load mechanism.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of a reagent bottle.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of a reagent bottle according to another embodiment.

6 is a vertical cross-sectional view and a bottom view of the reagent bottle according to FIG.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of a reagent bottle according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a cuvette transfer section.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the main part of the automatic analyzer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 cuvette 4 device 5 cuvette pack 6 cuvette chain 11 reagent storage 12 first reagent dispensing position 13 second reagent dispensing position 45 diluting liquid dispensing unit 46 reagent blank photometric position 47 sample probe 48 sampler 49 sample Cup 50 Small turn table 51 Large table 52 Sample suction position 54 Sample dispensing nozzle 55 Self blank position 56 Cuvette transfer section 61 Cuvette column transfer section 65 Photometric section 66 LCD graphic panel 67 Membrane keyboard

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Masao Ushikubo 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Within Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuo Mori 2-43 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic analyzer having a means for continuously transporting a reaction container, a means for dispensing a reagent, a sample, and the like into the reaction vessel, and a means for photometrically measuring a test solution, the means for transporting the reaction container. An automatic analyzer, characterized in that a chain moving at least in a horizontal plane and a vertical plane is used, and the test liquid is agitated during the transportation of the reaction vessel fixed to the chain.