JPH06102281A - Cleaning system for biochemical autoanalyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a highly reliable cleaning system by disposing a three-way solenoid valve between a detergent branch pipe and a detergent mixer and setting the height of a pipe opened to the atmosphere equal to the height at the tip of a detergent delivery nozzle. CONSTITUTION:Sample and reagent are pipetted into a reaction chamber 31 where chemical reaction takes place and the reaction result is measured. Eventually, the reacted liquid is sucked and the container 31 is cleaned to be used repeatedly. A three-way solenoid valve 100 is disposed between a detergent mixer 49 and a detergent branch pipe 42. The valve 100 has IN side coupled with a branch pipe 42, N.C side coupled with the mixer 49, and N.O side coupled with a pipe 101 opened to the atmosphere. The pipe 101 is set at same height as the tip of a detergent delivery nozzle 86. Since the branch pipe 42 is communicated with the pipe 101 upon closure of the valve 100 after finish of delivery of detergent, detergent in four nozzles 86 is returned simultaneously and discharged from a drain pipe 65 through the pipe 100. This constitution realizes a highly reliable cleaning system in which the detergent does not drop into the sample during measurement.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus for a biochemical automatic analyzer for cleaning a reaction cell after completion of a reaction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The analysis operation and flow path configuration in a conventional biochemical automatic analyzer are known, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-127065.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of the detergent flow path in the conventional cleaning apparatus.
Will be explained.

In the reaction vessel 31, a sample and a reagent are discharged by a dispensing mechanism (not shown) to cause a chemical reaction, and after measurement with an absorptiometer (not shown), the reaction solution is sucked in a reaction solution (not shown). The cleaning mechanism is used for cleaning and repeatedly used. The detergent discharge flow path system of the cleaning device will be described.

The detergent is manufactured in the detergent mixing device 49,
Detergent nozzle 86 through the two-way solenoid valve 102 and the branch pipe 42.
From the above, about 500 μl is discharged into each reaction container 31. Since four detergent nozzles 86 are arranged in the cleaning mechanism, the branch pipe 42 has four detergent nozzles. The internal volume of the branch pipe 42 is about 4 ml. As described above, the cleaning apparatus for the conventional biochemical automatic analyzer is as described above.

[0006]

The problems of the above-mentioned prior art will be described below.

As the size of the automatic analyzer increases, the processing capacity increases, and it is necessary to follow the reliability as well. However, there has been a big problem in the flow path structure of the cleaning device.

Although there is no problem with the method of cleaning the inside of the reaction container itself, no consideration is given to the slight drop of liquid droplets from the tip of the water supply nozzle after the detergent is discharged, and the sample is kept in the reaction cell during the operation of the apparatus. If the detergent drops during the chemical reaction of the reagent, the regular chemical reaction cannot be performed, and the reaction container 31 may be washed poorly, resulting in incorrect analysis of the apparatus.

Problems of the prior art will be described with reference to FIG.

The longest tube length between the branch pipe 42 and the detergent nozzle 86 of the cleaning mechanism is 600 mm. The drop of the droplet from the detergent nozzle 86 after the problem detergent is discharged is caused by the branch pipe 4.
2 and the detergent nozzle 86 have a delicate height relationship.

Due to the height of the branch pipe 42, the internal pressures of the four tubes are unbalanced, and the four tubes are in communication with each other.
It falls inside.

In order to prevent this, the height of the branch pipe 42 may be precisely determined. However, as the apparatus is used for many years and the number of samples to be processed increases, the inner wall of the tube may be slightly contaminated with dirt such as detergent crystals. The resistance in the tube changes, the pressure balance is lost, and the same phenomenon as described above occurs, which is basically a problem.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device for a biochemical automatic analyzer which is highly reliable even in a large-scale analyzer.

[0014]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the flow path is constructed so that the detergent is slightly returned after being discharged. A three-way solenoid valve is provided between the detergent branch pipe and the detergent mixing device. A pipe for opening to the atmosphere (for returning liquid) is provided on the O side.

[0015]

[Function] A three-way solenoid valve is provided between the detergent branch pipe and the detergent mixing device. By providing the atmosphere opening pipe on the O side, the solenoid valve is closed immediately after the detergent is discharged, the flow path is in communication with the branch pipe and the atmosphere opening pipe, and the detergent in the four detergent nozzles is pulled back at the same time. The detergent that is pulled back is discharged.

The position of the air open pipe is set lower than the tip of the detergent nozzle so that the detergent can be reliably pulled back.

As a result, the detergent dripping into the reaction vessel, which has been a problem in the past, is eliminated, and the reliability of the apparatus can be greatly improved.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
Will be described.

The analysis operation of the automatic analyzer will be described with reference to FIG. The sample in the sample container 30 moves through the sampler 1 to the position of the sampling mechanism 6 because the sample container 30 is placed on the rack 26. Here, the sample is dispensed in a fixed amount by the quantitative dispensing mechanism 5 of the sampling mechanism 6 and discharged into the reaction container 31 on the reaction disk 2. The reaction vessels 31 are arranged and fixed on the outer edge of the reaction disk 2 in a line on the circumference, and the reaction vessels 31 fixed to the reaction disk by a rotary drive mechanism (not shown) are placed in a constant temperature water tank (not shown). It moves on a circular orbit while being immersed. The reaction container 31 moves to the position of the reagent ejection mechanism 10 as the reaction disk 2 rotates. A reagent container 20 is connected to the reagent discharge mechanism 10 via a multiple dispensing device 16, and the reagent in the reagent container 20 is discharged by the multiple dispensing device 16 into a reaction container 31 containing a certain amount of sample. To be done. In mixing the reagent with the sample, the first reagent and the second reagent are mixed according to the analysis items of the sample and the like. The mixed liquid of the sample and the reagent in the reaction container 31 is rotated by the reaction disk 2 to generate the stirring mechanism 1.
Stir with 3 to facilitate mixing. The coloring reaction between the sample and the reagent is performed by the series of operations, and the reaction container 31 is rotated by the light source and the absorptiometer 1 by the rotation of the reaction disk 2.
The optical density is measured across the optical axis between 5 and the data is digitized by the A / D converter 22 and then sent to the computer 25.

Thereafter, the operations of sample dispensing, reagent injection, and rotation of the reaction disk 2 are repeated at regular time intervals. In the meantime, the reaction container 31 keeps the absorptiometer 1 at regular time intervals.
Since it crosses the optical axis of 5, the absorbance change in the chemical reaction process of the reaction solution is intermittently recorded in the tracking computer 22. The absorbance change is processed by the computer 22 to calculate various component concentrations in the sample, and the operator of the apparatus operates the operation unit 25 to obtain various measurement results in the printer.
It is output from a CRT or written to a floppy disk (not shown).

The reaction container 3 whose absorbance has been measured is washed by the reaction container washing mechanism 14 at a predetermined position. When the reaction container 31 is being washed, the component analysis of the sample is being performed in parallel in the other reaction container 31, so that the cleaning of the reaction container does not reduce the processing capacity. The washed reaction container is used for the next analysis. FIG. 2 shows a cleaning mechanism flow path system for the reaction container 31.

Reference numeral 31 is a reaction vessel, which is a sectional view taken along the circumference. Reference numeral 86 is a detergent nozzle for cleaning, which is located at the upper position of the cell as shown in the figure. 81 and 82 are waste liquid suction nozzles. A series of cleaning operations will be described below.

First, the sample in the reaction container 53, for which the measurement has been completed, is sucked by the suction nozzle 81 through the vacuum flow path described below, and then water is supplied by the detergent nozzle 86. Next 82
Is sucked at the position No., and water is supplied by the nozzle 87, and water droplets adhering to the wall surface of the reaction container 31 are sucked by the nozzle No. 83. In order to suck the liquid on the wall surface, the G tip of the suction nozzle 83 has the same shape as the reaction container. The water supply nozzle 88 is water for cell blank for absorbance measurement. The cell blank water is sucked by the suction nozzle 85, and the reaction container 31 is sucked by the suction nozzle 89.
Aspirate water drops on the inner wall.

Next, the vacuum flow path will be described. The flow path has two flow paths of sample suction and wash water suction, the drain pipe is also divided into a sample drain pipe 64 and a wash water drain pipe 65, and the vacuum bottle is also the waste liquid buffer bottle 5.
8 and the washing liquid buffer bottle 59. 50-5
Reference numeral 2 is a branch pipe for a flow path that is piped to each nozzle.
Reference numerals 55 to 57 and 60 to 63 are vacuum system control solenoid valves. 66 is a vacuum pump, which is connected to a vacuum tank 90 for a vacuum buffer. 67 is a detector for detecting the degree of vacuum. The structure inside the vacuum tank 90 is divided into three chambers, and one and two chambers are used for waste liquid so that there is no problem even if waste liquid is collected.

The flow path system of the detergent discharged from the detergent nozzle 86 will be described.

The deionized water from the water supply pump 50 (water pressure of about 80 kPa) is once deaerated in the deaeration device 48,
The detergent connected from the detergent bottle 102 becomes a detergent having a constant concentration in the detergent mixing device 49. Reference numeral 46 is a solenoid valve for controlling detergent discharge. Reference numeral 42 denotes a detergent branch pipe, which is piped from here to the detergent nozzle 86. This pipe has an inner diameter of 1
It is a silicon tube with a diameter of 3 mm and an outer diameter of 3 mm.

A series of operations of the cleaning mechanism will be described.

When the vacuum pump 66 operates and the degree of vacuum in the vacuum tank is maintained at about -80 kPa with the solenoid valve 62 closed, the cleaning mechanism 14 descends into the reaction vessel 31 and simultaneously the solenoid valve is operated. 55 and 62 are opened, the sample is sucked, and once stored in the waste liquid buffer bottle.

Immediately after that, the solenoid valves 55 and 60 are closed.

Next, the solenoid valve 100 is opened, and the detergent from the detergent mixing device 49 is discharged from the detergent nozzle 86 by about 500 μl. At the same time, the ion-exchanged water from the water supply pump 50 passes through the solenoid valves 43 and 45, the branch pipes 40 and 41, and is supplied from the water supply nozzle 87 and the cell blank water supply nozzle 88 to about 70.
About 0 μl is ejected. After the end of discharge, the solenoid valves 43, 45, 100 are closed. The water supply nozzle 89 is a nozzle for tip cleaning attached to the tip of the suction nozzle 85, which is executed in the operation before sample measurement, and is not used during normal measurement. The solenoid valve 44 is for supplying water to the nozzle 89.

After the end, the electromagnetic valves 55 and 60 are opened again, and the cleaning liquid is once stored in the waste liquid buffer bottle 58 also here. Further, when the solenoid valves 55 and 62 are closed, the solenoid valve 60
Is opened, and the sample and the cleaning liquid stored in the waste liquid buffer bottle 58 are discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the sample drain pipe 64. By the end of the steps so far, the cleaning mechanism 14 has risen above the reaction vessel 31 and is on standby. These series of operations are repeated.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the construction of a cleaning device and a detergent flow path.

The structure of this cleaning device is that the structure of the detergent flow path is greatly different.

A three-way solenoid valve 100 is provided between the detergent mixing device 49 and the detergent branch pipe 42. If the IN side of the solenoid valve 100 is connected to the detergent branch pipe 42, the N.V. C side to the detergent mixing device 49, N.
On the O side, each is connected to a nozzle provided with an atmosphere opening pipe 101. The discharge portion of the atmosphere open pipe 101 is connected to the drain pipe 65.

The height of the atmosphere opening pipe 101 is the same as the position P with the tip of the detergent nozzle 86, or even if the detergent is pulled back, it is not affected by the next discharge amount (about 20 μl).
Position).

With the above structure, after the solenoid valve is closed after the detergent is discharged, the detergent branch pipe 42 and the atmosphere opening pipe 101 are communicated with each other, and the detergent nozzles 86 and the detergent in the four bottles are simultaneously withdrawn and returned. Cleaned air is pipe 1 open to the atmosphere
01 and discharged from the drain pipe 65.

As described above, the above is the detergent flow channel,
The present invention also applies a cleaning flow path using ion-exchanged water.

According to the present invention, the dropping of the detergent into the reaction container during the measurement of the sample, which has been a problem in the related art, is eliminated, and the correct reaction container cleaning and sample measurement are continuously performed, so that multiple items and multiple samples can be collected. The cleaning device is suitable for large-scale automatic analyzers to be processed.

[0039]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a stable cleaning device can be realized without any harmful effect such as detergent dripping into a reaction container during sample measurement, and the reliability of a large automatic analyzer can be realized. Significantly improved. Further, conventionally, the worst case of re-examination due to data abnormality caused by dropping the detergent into the reaction container during the measurement is eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a detergent channel of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a flow path of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of a biochemical automatic analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a detergent channel of a conventional cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

14 ... Washing device, 31 ... Reaction container, 40, 41 ... Branch pipe, 42 ... Detergent branch pipe, 48 ... Degassing device, 49 ... Detergent mixing device, 50 ... Water supply pump, 65 ... Drain pipe, 8
1 ... Suction nozzle, 82, 83, 84, 85 ... Suction nozzle, 86 ... Detergent nozzle, 87, 88 ... Washing nozzle, 89
... tip washing nozzle, 100 ... 3-way solenoid valve, 101 ... atmosphere open pipe, 102 ... 2-way solenoid valve, 103 ... detergent.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A reaction container for chemically reacting a sample with a reagent, and a cleaning mechanism for discharging the sample in the reaction container, in which the chemical reaction is completed within a certain time and the absorbance is measured, to the outside of the apparatus to wash the inside of the reaction container. In the equipped biochemical automatic analyzer, a three-way solenoid valve was installed between the detergent branch pipe of the flow path system that uses the discharge pressure of the water supply pump to discharge the detergent, and the height of the pipe for atmospheric release The position is located at the same height as the tip of the detergent discharge nozzle, and after the detergent has been discharged from the detergent discharge nozzle, the detergent in the pipe between the detergent branch pipe and the detergent discharge nozzle is returned to the raw material. Cleaning equipment for chemical automatic analyzers.