JPH061427A - Inspected material conveyance direction changing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change the direction of rack conveyance by utilizing two conveyers and a rotating disc. CONSTITUTION:Between a conveyer 63 before direction change and a conveyer 64 after direction change, a rotating disc 73 is arranged so as to come into contact with the inside of the conveyers, and the sliding guide of a rack is installed on them. It is thus possible to provide a direction changing device whose structure is simple at a low cost and with high reliability.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to automatic transfer of a sample in a clinical laboratory, and relates to a direction changer for connecting two points required for the transfer in a non-linear manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of clinical chemistry, in order to quickly and safely transport a sample container containing urine or blood, a rack into which a plurality of sample containers can be inserted is placed on a conveyor line so that it can be used between analyzers. Means are provided for moving between the sample input section and the sample output section. This conveyor line is not necessarily required to move linearly, but it is necessary to change the direction at a certain angle depending on the configuration of the destination such as a right angle direction.

[0003]

The above-mentioned prior art requires a rotating table on which the rack itself is placed to rotate when the direction of the conveyor line is changed, and an auxiliary belt with a profile attached to the conveyor, which makes the structure complicated. There was a problem in terms of reliability. An object of the present invention is to provide a unit that easily changes direction without using these complicated auxiliary belts and rotary bases.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, a rotating disk which rotates in synchronism with the traveling direction is used between two direction changing conveyors, and a rack passes through the conveyor and the disk. It has a guide.

[0005]

The rack, which has reached the conveyor before the direction change, goes straight on the conveyor and tries to change the direction by the guide provided in advance. At this time, the tip moves on the rotating disk, the rack side is pulled in by the frictional force of the disk, and the rack moves completely to the disk, and when it reaches the conveyor after the direction is changed by the action of the guide, the driving force of the next belt. This changes the direction of the rack.

[0006]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows an example of a clinical chemistry test sample transport system configuration, and FIG. 3 shows an example of conventional rack direction conversion.

In FIG. 2, the parent sample container rack 52 in which the parent sample container 51 is inserted is carried by the parent sample conveyor 53 and is suspended by the suspending device 54.
No. 5 centrifugal rotor 56. The centrifugally separated parent sample container rack 52 is taken out from the centrifugal rotor 56 by the suspending device 54, placed on the pre-direction changing parent sample conveyor 57, moved to the dispensing device 58, and the dispensing position 5
Reach 9 On the other hand, the sample sample container rack 61 in which the sample sample container 60 is inserted rides on the sample sample container conveyor 62 and reaches the dispensing position 59 ′. The dispensing device 58, based on a request from a control unit (not shown) that separately issues a dispensing command,
The required amount of the sample in the parent sample container 51 'is dispensed into the sample sample container 60'. The racks for which the dispensing process has been completed are the conveyors 63, 63 'and the direction changers 64, 6 before the direction change.
It is transferred to the conveyors 65, 65 'whose direction has been changed via 4'. Each rack has a rack accommodating portion 66 for the master inspection container.
Then, it is guided to the sample container rack storage section 68 via the analyzer 67. Here, the direction changers 64 and 64 'are not always necessary elements, but in order to effectively utilize the installation area in constructing the sample transport system, it is often necessary to change the direction of the conveyor. An example of this direction changer is shown in FIG. The rack that has passed through the conveyor 63 before the direction change is placed on the direction changer 64, then the direction changer rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the rack 70 is sent out at a position where it can be transferred to the conveyor 65 after the direction change. . Here, the number of sample containers is usually 5 to 12, but the larger the number of sample containers, the larger the size of the turntable of the direction changer. Therefore, the distance between the conveyors after the direction change is large. It has to be wide. In addition, a large number of complicated rotation mechanisms and position control sensors (not shown) are required, which is a problem in terms of configuration.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a direction changer which eliminates the above drawbacks. The conveyor 63 before the direction change driven by the conveyor drive motor 71 and the conveyor 65 after the direction change driven by the conveyor drive motor 72 are arranged at an angle, and the rotary disk 73 rotates in the same plane as this conveyor. It is installed to the extent that the circumference part touches. On the conveyor and the disk, a straight line guide 73, a curved line guide 74, and a straight line guide 75 at the outer peripheral portion are arranged, and a straight line guide 76, a curved line guide 77, and a straight line guide 78 are also arranged inside thereof. Here conveyor 6 before changing direction
When the rack 70 is transferred to the rack 3, the rack is conveyed in the direction of the arrow by this conveyor.
The rack is bent along 4 and the head is transferred to the rotating disk 73. At this time, the rotating disk 73 is also rotated in the direction of the arrow, so that the rack 70 'is attached to the curved guide 7
It rides on the disk between 4,77 and reaches the conveyor 65 after the next direction change. The rack 70 ″, which has reached the conveyor 65 after the direction change, which is rotated by the rotation of the conveyor drive motor 72, is acted by the pulling force of the conveyer 65 after the direction change and the pushing force of the rotating disk 73, and the linear guide 75,
Along the line 78, the conveyor 65 is changed in direction.

As described above, by providing the rotating disk between the two types of conveyors and the guide on the disk, it is possible to smoothly change the direction of the rack transfer.

[0010]

In general, the direction of movement of the rack is often changed by setting it to 90 ° in view of its functional structure, but according to the present invention, the angle of the conveyor after the direction is changed is limited to 90 °. No need.

Further, since the disk in the conveyor may be kept rotating at all times, the sensors for subordinate control are unnecessary, the structure is simplified, the cost is reduced, and the reliability is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional diagram showing details of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a clinical chemistry test sample transport system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of conventional rack direction conversion.

[Explanation of symbols]

63 ... Conveyor before direction change, 65 ... Conveyor after direction change, 70 ... Rack, 73 ... Rotating disk, 74, 77 ... Curve guide.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A means for transporting a rack for transporting a sample container incorporating a sample container of a clinical chemistry testing apparatus, wherein a first rack transfer conveyor and a second rack transfer conveyor are provided, and these conveyors are set at arbitrary angles. , The rack transfer discs are placed close to each other inside the conveyors, and the guides necessary for passing the racks through the first and second conveyors and the discs are provided. A sample transport direction changing device configured to transfer a rack in the order of a disk and a second conveyor.