JPH06211296A - Stopper-remover for closed housing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive to remove a stopper body made of aluminum foil, which seals a vacuum blood-collecting tube, etc., automatically and surely without touching the stopper with the hand. CONSTITUTION:A needle member 5 having a detent part 5a at the tip is moved up and down by a needle-raising and -lowering cylinder 6. A hollow shaft 9 is arranged in the outer peripheral part of the needle member 5 and the hollow shaft 9 is attached to a rise and fall plate 10 by a bearing 11. The rise and fall plate 11 is moved up and down by a cutter-raising and -lowering cylinder 17. A cutter 12 is attached to the lower end of the hollow shaft 9. A pinion gear 13 meshing with a rack 14 is attached to the upper end of the hollow shaft 9. The rack 14 is moved by a rack-driving cylinder 15 to rotate the hollow shaft 9. The detent part 5a of the needle member 5 is inserted in a rubber part 3 in the central part, of a stopper body 2. The rise and fall plate 10 is lowered so that the tip of the cutter 12 is inserted in the stopper body 2. The hollow shaft 9 is rotated. Then, the cutter 12 makes one revolution or more so that the stopper body 2 is cut off. When the needle member 5 and cutter 12 are raised simultaneously, the cut stopper body 2 also rises at the same time to be removed from a vacuum blood-collecting tube 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sealed container opening device, and more particularly to a sample container in which a sample such as blood is stored and whose opening is sealed with an aluminum foil stopper having a rubber portion. The present invention relates to a sealed container opening device suitable for opening.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a specimen such as blood collected from a human body is inserted into a vacuum blood collection tube whose opening is pre-sealed with a stopper made of an aluminum foil with a rubber part, by inserting an injection needle into the rubber part. Will be enclosed. Then, at the time of inspection, the plug of the vacuum blood collection tube is opened and sampling is performed.

By the way, in recent years, in order to prevent infectious diseases, since it is necessary to handle the stopper with great care, it has been desired to develop an opening device for treating the stopper without touching it. Various types of opening devices have been proposed and put into practical use for press-fitting type stoppers such as rubber stoppers.

[0004]

However, in the case of the sealing type plug body as used in the above-mentioned vacuum blood collection tube, the plug body must be peeled from the opening to open the plug. Difficult and no opening device for this type of closure has been developed so far.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and can easily and surely open the stopper that seals the opening of the hermetically sealed container, and the stopper after opening. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device capable of disposing the body in place.

[0006]

As a means for achieving the above object, the present invention provides a stopper for holding a stopper by relatively moving in a perspective direction with respect to a hermetically sealed container whose opening is sealed with a stopper. A holding mechanism; a distal end is inserted into the stopper body by relatively moving in a perspective direction with respect to the stopper body held by the stopper body holding mechanism,
And a cutting mechanism for cutting the stopper along the inner peripheral edge of the opening.

Further, according to the present invention, the stopper member is inserted into the stopper body by moving the stopper body forward and backward in the perspective direction, and by moving the stopper body forward and backward in the perspective direction to vacuum the stopper body. It is preferable to provide a suction cup member for adsorbing, and an adhesive member for adhering and holding the plug body by advancing and retracting in the perspective direction with respect to the plug body.

Further, the cutting mechanism is composed of a cutter that moves forward and backward with respect to the plug body and has its tip inserted into the plug body, and a cutter drive mechanism that moves the cutter along the inner peripheral edge of the opening. Or, it is preferable to configure a cylindrical cutter that advances and retreats in the perspective direction with respect to the plug body, and the periphery of the tip is inserted into the plug body. In the case of a cylindrical cutter, at least one position of the blade edge is provided. More preferably, the pointed portion is formed.

[0009]

In the device for opening the sealed container according to the present invention,
After holding the plug body by the plug body holding mechanism, the cutting mechanism cuts the plug body along the inner peripheral edge of the opening of the sealed container in the holding state. For this reason, it is possible to stably open the plug, and there is no risk that the plug body after opening will fall inside or around the sealed container.

In the present invention, by providing the stopper member with a needle member which is inserted into the stopper member, the stopper member having a rubber portion such as a vacuum blood collection tube has a simple structure and is stable. It becomes possible to hold the plug body in.

Further, by providing the stopper holding mechanism with a suction cup member for vacuum-sucking the stopper, it is possible to reliably hold the stopper even if the stopper has a smooth surface and a relatively large area. Become.

Further, by providing the plug holding mechanism with an adhesive member for adhesively holding the plug, it is possible to securely hold the plug even if the sucker member cannot be used due to unevenness on the surface. Is possible.

Further, the cutting mechanism is provided with a cutter whose tip is inserted into the plug body, and a cutter driving mechanism for moving the cutter along the inner peripheral edge of the opening, so that only the movement locus of the cutter is changed. Thus, it becomes possible to cope with various sealed containers having different opening dimensions.

Further, by providing the cutting mechanism with a cylindrical cutter, it is possible to open the plug only by moving the cutter forward and backward, the drive mechanism can be simplified, and the opening time can be shortened. At this time, by providing a pointed portion at least at one location around the tip of the cutter, the cutter can be reliably inserted into the plug body with a small pressing force.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a cap opening device for a sealed container according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The cap opening device 1 is a cap body 2 made of an aluminum foil having a rubber portion 3 in a central portion and having an upper end opening portion. Is moved up and down with respect to the sealed vacuum blood collection tube 4, and the plug 2 is cut and opened.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the opening device 1 is provided with a needle-shaped needle member 5 having a diamond-shaped retaining portion 5a at the tip, and the upper end of the needle member 5 is The needle lifting cylinder 6 is detachably attached to the rod 6a, and together with the needle lifting cylinder 6, constitutes a stopper body holding mechanism 7. Then, the needle member 5 moves up and down (arrow A) by the expansion and contraction operation of the needle lifting cylinder 6, and the retaining portion 5a at the tip thereof is inserted into the rubber portion 3 to hold the plug body 2. The plug body 2 is held by the needle member 5 and separated by the cutting mechanism 8.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cutting mechanism 8 is provided with a hollow shaft 9 which has the same axis as the needle member 5 and is arranged on the outer peripheral portion thereof.
It is rotatably fixed to 0 via a bearing 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, a knife-shaped cutter 12 is detachably attached to the outer surface of the lower end of the hollow shaft 9 as will be described later.
The position is set so that when the elevating plate 10 is lowered, it is inserted into the inner peripheral edge position immediately adjacent to the upper end opening of the plug body 2 that seals the upper end opening of the vacuum blood collection tube 4.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a pinion gear 13 is fixedly provided on the outer peripheral portion of the upper end of the hollow shaft 9,
The pinion gear 13 is meshed with a rack 14 installed on the elevating plate 10 and is reciprocally rotated by the reciprocating motion of the rack 14 to rotate the hollow shaft 9 and the cutter 12 integrated with the hollow shaft 9. .

The rack 14 is, as shown in FIG. 1, a rod 1 of a rack drive cylinder 15 installed on an elevating plate 10.
The rack drive cylinder 15 is connected to the tip of 5a.
Reciprocating (arrow B) by the expansion and contraction operation of the rack drive cylinder 15 to convert the drive force of the rack drive cylinder 15 into a rotational force, and the cutter 12
It is designed to be transmitted to. That is, the rack drive cylinder 15, the rack 14, the pinion gear 13, and the hollow shaft 9 constitute a cutter drive mechanism 16.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lifting plate 10 on which the cutter driving mechanism 16 is mounted is provided with a cutter lifting cylinder 17 as shown in FIG.
The rod 17a is attached to the lower end of the rod 17a, and when the cutter elevating cylinder 17 expands and contracts, the cutter elevates and lowers independently of the needle member 5 to move the cutter 12 up and down (arrow C).

As shown in FIG. 1, the cutter lifting / lowering cylinder 17 is fixed to the lifting / lowering block 18 together with the needle lifting / lowering cylinder 6.
8 is attached to the tip of the rod 19a of the unit elevating cylinder 19 and is moved up and down by the expansion and contraction operation of the unit elevating cylinder 19 to move the needle member 5 and the cutter 12 up and down at the same time (arrow D). As shown in FIG. 1, the unit elevating cylinder 19 is fixedly mounted on a lateral movement block 20, and the lateral movement block 20 moves horizontally along a lateral movement rail 21 so that the entire cap opening device 1 is opened. Can be moved from the opening position above the vacuum blood collection tube 4 to the plug disposal position apart from the opening position.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When opening the cap, first open the cap opening device 1 and the lateral movement block 20.
1 is moved to the opening position shown in FIG. 1 by lateral movement, and the vacuum blood collection tube 4 is conveyed to a position directly below the opening device 1 so that the axis of the needle member 5 and the axis of the vacuum blood collection tube 4 coincide with each other. At that point, the vacuum blood collection tube 4 is stopped. At this time, the vacuum blood collection tube 4 is clamped and fixed from both sides by a fixing clamp (not shown),
It is preferable that the displacement of the stop position of the vacuum blood collection tube 4 is forcibly corrected by a fixed clamp and that the vacuum blood collection tube 4 is prevented from being shaken during the opening operation.

Next, the needle lifting cylinder 6 is extended and the needle member 5 is lowered. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the retaining portion 5a at the tip of the needle member 5 is inserted into the rubber portion 3 at the center of the plug body 2. Since the rubber portion 3 has sufficient elasticity, the retaining portion 5a can be inserted without any problem, and after passing through the retaining portion 5a, the needle member 5 is tightened with a large force. The needle member 5 enables the plug body 2 to be stably held.

Then, when the cutter elevating cylinder 17 is extended, the elevating plate 10 descends as shown in FIG.
The tip of the cutter 12 is inserted into the plug body 2. Therefore, in this state, the rack drive cylinder 15 is expanded and then contracted. Then, the rack 14 moves backward after the forward movement, and the pinion gear 13 meshing with the rack 14 rotates forward for one rotation or more and then reverses. Since the pinion gear 13 and the cutter 12 are connected by the hollow shaft 9, when the pinion gear 13 rotates in the normal and reverse directions, the cutter 12 also rotates in the normal and reverse directions for one rotation or more.

When the cutter 12 rotates in the normal direction, the cutter 12 moves along the inner peripheral edge of the upper opening of the vacuum blood collection tube 4 in the state shown in FIG. 3, so that the plug 2 is cut by this operation. become. Therefore, as long as this is the case, it is not necessary to reverse the cutter 12, but for some reason, even if a part of the plug body 2 is not cut at the time of normal rotation, the cutter 12 is reversed, and The cutter 12 is reversed in this sense because it may be cut if it is cut.

When the plug 2 is cut, the unit elevating cylinder 19 is contracted to raise the needle member 5 and the cutter 12 at the same time. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, since the separated plug body 2 is held by the needle member 5, it rises together with the needle member 5 and the vacuum blood collection tube 4 is opened. The stopper 2 held by the needle member 5 is carried to the stopper discarding position together with the stopper opening device 1 by the movement of the lateral movement block 20.

When the needle lifting cylinder 6 is contracted after reaching the plug discarding position, as shown in FIG. 5, the needle member 5 rises and the retaining portion 5a thereof is retracted into the hollow shaft 9. At this time, since the stopper 2 does not rise further after coming into contact with the lower end surface of the hollow shaft 9, as a result, the retaining portion 5a is pulled out from the rubber portion 3, and the stopper 2 It falls under its own weight and is discarded at the disposal position. After discarding the stopper body 2, the opening device 1 returns to the initial state shown in FIG. 1, and the above-described operation is repeated thereafter.

The above-mentioned operation is automatically controlled by a computer program, a sequence, etc., so that it is easy to make a fully automatic robot.

Since the aluminum foil stopper is cut open and opened, the stopper 2 can be separated by a simple operation of vertical movement and rotation, and the device configuration of the automatic opening device 1 is greatly improved. Can be simplified.

Further, the cutting of the plug 2 is performed while the plug 2 is held by the needle member 5, so that the cutting operation can be stabilized, and the plug 2 after cutting is the vacuum blood collection tube 4 It can be reliably stored in a predetermined disposal position without falling inside or around.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which a suction cup member 31 for vacuum-sucking the plug 2 is used instead of the needle member 5 in the first embodiment. The suction cup member 31 is connected to a suction source (not shown) via a drive pipe 32 that drives the suction cup member 31 to move up and down. Regarding other points, the first
The structure is the same as that of the embodiment, and the operation is the same.

However, by using the suction cup member 31, it is possible to stably hold the plug even if it is a plug that seals an opening having a large diameter, such as a plug of a pudding container. .

FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in which the needle member 5 in the first embodiment is replaced by an adhesive member 41 for adhesively holding the plug 2. The adhesive member 41 is attached to a base 43 that is driven up and down by a drive rod 42. In other respects, the structure is the same as that of the first embodiment and the operation is the same.

Therefore, by using the adhesive member 41, even if the suction cup member 31 cannot be used because the surface of the plug is uneven, the plug can be held.

FIG. 8 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which a cylindrical cutter 51 is used in place of the cutter 12 in the first embodiment, and the tip of the cutter 51 is used. The part has a pointed head 51 that is pointed in a triangular shape.
For example, four a are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The pointed heads 51a allow the cutter 51 to be inserted into the plug body 2 with a small pressing force. In other respects, the structure is the same as that of the first embodiment and the operation is the same.

However, by using the cutter 51, the plug body can be cut only by the vertical movement without rotating the cutter 51, and the apparatus structure can be further simplified.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, while the stopper body is held by the stopper body holding mechanism, the stopper mechanism cuts the stopper body to open the stopper body. In addition, there is no risk that the plug body after opening will fall inside or around the closed container.

Further, in the present invention, by providing the stopper member with the needle member which is inserted into the stopper body, in the case of a stopper body with a rubber portion such as a vacuum blood collection tube, the structure is simple and stable. It becomes possible to hold the plug body in.

Further, by providing the stopper body ring with a suction cup member for vacuum-sucking the stopper body, the stopper body can be reliably held even when the stopper body has a smooth surface and a relatively large area. Becomes

Further, by providing the plug holding mechanism with an adhesive member for adhering and holding the plug, the plug can be held even in the case where the sucker member cannot be used due to unevenness on the surface. It becomes possible to do.

Further, the cutting mechanism is provided with a cutter whose tip is inserted into the plug body, and a cutter driving mechanism for moving the cutter along the inner peripheral edge of the opening, so that only the movement trajectory of the cutter is changed. Thus, it becomes possible to cope with various sealed containers having different opening dimensions.

Further, by providing the cutting mechanism with a cylindrical cutter, it is possible to open the plug simply by advancing and retracting the cutter, the drive mechanism can be simplified, and the opening time can be shortened. At this time, by providing a pointed portion at at least one position in the circumferential direction of the tip of the cutter, the cutter can be reliably inserted into the plug body with a small pressing force.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a sealed container opening apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main part configuration diagram showing a state in which a plug member is held by a needle member.

FIG. 3 is a main part configuration diagram showing a state in which a tip of a cutter is inserted into a plug body.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of essential parts showing a state immediately after opening the cap.

FIG. 5 is a main part configuration diagram showing a state in which the stopper body after being opened is discarded at a disposal position.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view around a suction cup member showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram around an adhesive member showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a cutter tip end portion showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Opening device, 2 ... Plug body, 3 ... Rubber part, 4 ... Vacuum blood collection tube, 5 ... Needle member, 5a ... Withdrawal prevention part, 6
... Needle lifting cylinder, 7 ... Plug holding mechanism, 8 ...
Cutting mechanism, 9 ... Hollow shaft, 10 ... Elevating plate, 12, 51
… Cutter, 13… Pinion gear, 14… Rack,
15 ... Rack drive cylinder, 16 ... Cutter drive mechanism,
17 ... Cutter lifting cylinder, 18 ... Lifting block,
19 ... Unit lifting cylinder, 20 ... Lateral movement block, 31 ... Sucker member, 41 ... Adhesive member, 51a ...
Pointed head.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A stopper body holding mechanism for holding a stopper body by moving relative to a hermetically sealed container whose opening is sealed by a stopper body; and a stopper body held by the stopper body holding mechanism. On the other hand, a cutting mechanism that relatively moves in the perspective direction, the tip is inserted into the plug body, and cuts the plug body along the inner peripheral edge of the opening.
An opening device for a sealed container, comprising: 2. The stopper opening device for a hermetically sealed container according to claim 1, wherein the stopper body holding mechanism includes a needle member that moves forward and backward with respect to the stopper body and is inserted into the stopper body. 3. The cap opening apparatus for a hermetically sealed container according to claim 1, wherein the stopper body holding mechanism includes a suction cup member that moves forward and backward with respect to the stopper body to vacuum-suck the stopper body. 4. The cap opening device for a hermetically sealed container according to claim 1, wherein the stopper body holding mechanism includes an adhesive member that moves forward and backward with respect to the stopper body to adhere and retain the stopper body. 5. The cutting mechanism includes a cutter that moves forward and backward with respect to the plug body and is inserted into the plug body at the tip, and a cutter drive mechanism that moves the cutter along the inner peripheral edge of the opening. Claim 1, 2, 3, or 4 characterized in that
A device for opening a sealed container as described. 6. The cutting mechanism includes a cylindrical cutter that moves forward and backward with respect to the plug body and has a tip inserted into the plug body, and the cutter has a pointed portion at at least one position of a cutting edge. The opening device for a sealed container according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4.