JPH0686870B2 - Reagent dispenser - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a reagent dispensing apparatus suitable for an automatic analyzer for performing biochemical analysis or immunological analysis, and particularly to cross contamination and reagent The present invention relates to a reagent dispensing device capable of significantly reducing waste.

[Prior art]

A general configuration of a conventional reagent dispensing device of this type will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In this reagent dispensing device, a substantially box-shaped reagent container B'containing a reagent corresponding to a measurement item is looped. A plurality of reagent container holders H, and a drive device (not shown) for controlling the reagent container holders H to rotate in the forward and reverse directions to transfer the reagent container B ′ containing the reagent corresponding to the measurement item to the reagent suction position. ) And a pipette P'for aspirating a required amount of a reagent corresponding to a measurement item from the reagent container B'at the reagent aspirating position and dispensing the reagent into another container such as a reaction container. .

[Problems of conventional technology]

However, in the above-described conventional reagent dispensing apparatus, since a required amount of reagent must be sucked from the reagent container B ′ at the reagent dispensing position with the pipette P ′,
Since the pipette P'becomes an indispensable constituent element and a washing device for washing the pipette P'is also required, there is a problem that the configuration of the automatic analyzer becomes significantly complicated and large. Furthermore, since one pipette P'suctions a plurality of types of reagents, there is a problem that cross-contamination of reagents is likely to occur, and when aspirating a reagent with a pipette P ', more than the required amount is required. However, there is a problem that reagent loss is likely to occur because the above reagent must be aspirated.

As a means for solving such a problem, it is conceivable to integrate a reagent container and a pump, and as a technique for integrating such a container and a pump, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No.
The technology disclosed in JP-A-50911 and the technology described in JP-A-59-158387 are known, but the technology disclosed therein is
Both are technologies related to a large-sized liquid feeding device and cannot be applied to a reagent container that is not so large, and there is no disclosure regarding switching of piston rods at the reagent dispensing position and liquid suction / discharge mechanism. Not,
Presently, there are many problems to be solved when providing such a technique to an automatic analyzer.

The present invention has been made in view of the present situation, and an object thereof is to integrate a small reagent container mounted in a reagent container holder with a pump, and to provide a piston rod of the pump. Switching and forward / backward operation
The conventional pipette device can be abolished by configuring it so that it can be performed by each one mechanism arranged at the reagent dispensing position, and as a result, the automatic analyzer is greatly downsized and simplified. An object of the present invention is to provide a reagent dispensing apparatus which can be reduced in price, reduces reagent loss, and has a simple structure without fear of mutual contamination of reagents.

[Structure for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a plurality of reagent containers are detachably arranged in a holder, and a reagent container containing a reagent corresponding to a measurement item is transferred to a reagent dispensing position. As a technical premise, a reagent dispensing device configured to dispense a reagent aspirated from the reagent container to another container at the reagent dispensing position is used as the removable reagent container for storing the reagent. The chamber section and a pump section for sucking and dispensing a required amount of the reagent in the chamber section are integrally formed with a container, and the pump section advances and retracts a piston rod having a flow channel groove. A valve chamber which is fitted as much as possible, and a reagent dispensing flow channel whose one end is connected to the valve chamber and the other end is connected to a discharge pipe. Piston rod pressing body that moves the piston rod up and down at the pouring position An engaging and disengageable engaging body is provided, and gears are provided at predetermined positions above and below the piston rod, and each of these gears has a piston rod rising stop position or a descending position at the reagent dispensing position. In the stop position, the rotation of the piston rod rotation switching device is controlled by meshing with the gear.

[Action]

Therefore, in the reagent dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, the chamber for accommodating the reagent and the pump unit are integrated, the reagent container holder is detachably held, and the reagent dispensing position is not changed. A piston rod rotation switching device and a piston rod pressing body, and the piston rod engaging body of the reagent container transferred to the reagent dispensing position is the piston arranged at the reagent dispensing position. By engaging with the rod pressing body and engaging one of the gears arranged on the piston rod with the gear of the piston rod rotation switching device for rotation switching operation, the reagent suction and discharge operation is performed, and the required It is characterized by accurately dispensing an amount of a reagent from a chamber of a reagent container to another container.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 to 4 show a reagent container B used in the reagent dispensing apparatus according to this embodiment, a piston rod rotation switching device A for activating the piston rod 5 of the reagent container B, and a piston rod pressing body 14. It is shown. Incidentally, other configurations and operations of the reagent dispensing apparatus in this embodiment are the same as those of the conventional reagent dispensing apparatus, unless otherwise described below.
Since the operation is similar, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the reagent container B, a chamber 2 containing the reagent 1 and a pump 3 for sucking and dispensing a required amount of the reagent 1 in the chamber 2 are integrally formed, and the upper part of the chamber 2 is formed. A liquid injection port is formed in the liquid injection port, and a cap C is detachably attached to the liquid injection port. In the figure, reference numeral 9 is an air hole formed through the cap C.

The pump portion 3 has a bottomed cylindrical valve chamber 6 into which a piston rod 5 having a single channel groove 4 vertically formed can be moved back and forth, and which is fitted in a liquid-tight manner, and one end of which is provided with the valve chamber 6. A single line of reagent suction passage 7 connected to the chamber 6 and the other end of which is connected to the chamber 2 and a line of one end connected to the upper chamber 2 and the other end connected to the discharge pipe P. A reagent dispensing flow path 8 is provided, and one of the reagent suction flow path 7 and the flow path groove 4 is formed by switching the rotation of the piston rod 5 by a piston rod rotation switching device A described later every 180 degrees. When communicating, the reagent dispensing channel 8 is liquid-tightly closed by the peripheral surface 5a of the piston rod 5, and when the reagent dispensing channel 8 and the channel groove 4 are communicating, Suction channel 7 is piston rod 5
It is configured to be liquid-tightly closed by the peripheral surface 5a.

Further, the discharge pipe P is detachably screwed to the lower end of the pump portion 3, and the flow path of the discharge pipe P and the reagent dispensing flow path 8 are connected in communication with each other.

On the other hand, the piston rod rotation switching device A includes an upper gear 10 arranged at the upper end of the piston rod 5 and an upper gear 10
A lower gear 11 which is arranged under a predetermined distance and at a predetermined interval, and an engagement body 12 which is rotatably attached to the upper end of the piston rod 5 and has a substantially U-shaped cross section. A piston rod pressing body 14 formed in a substantially L shape is configured to engage with the engaging groove 13 at a predetermined position.

Further, both gears 10 arranged on the piston rod 5 are
The piston rod 5 meshes with the spur gear 16 of the motor 15 that constitutes the piston rod rotation switching device A at the stop position, and the gear 11 meshes with the spur gear 16 of the motor 15 at the piston rod 5 ascend stop position. Is configured to.
The arrangement interval between the gears 10 and 11 is determined by the relative relationship with the amount of liquid to be dispensed.

Further, the piston rod pressing body 14 is configured to be vertically moved within an appropriate stroke range by a well-known elevator drive device (not shown). Of course, the stroke amount of the piston rod pressing body 14 is determined by the relative relationship with the dispensed liquid amount.

Next, a case will be described in which the reagent container B configured as described above dispenses a required amount of the reagent 1 from the reagent container B.

First, when the reagent container holder reaches the reagent dispensing position, as shown in FIG. 1, the piston rod pressing body 14 engages with the engaging body 12 of the piston rod 5, and thereafter the piston rod 5 is raised. Let In this case, the spur gear 16 of the motor 15
The lower gear 11 meshes with the lower gear 11, and the reagent suction passage 7 and the passage groove 4 communicate with each other, while the reagent dispensing passage 8 is liquid-tight by the peripheral surface 5a of the piston rod 5. Since it is closed, the reagent 1 in the chamber 2 flows into the valve chamber 6 from the reagent suction flow passage 7 through the flow passage groove 4 as the piston rod 5 rises.

When the piston rod 5 rises to the position shown in FIG. 3 in this way, the valve chamber 6 is filled with a certain amount of the reagent 1 and the spur gear 16 of the motor 15 and the upper gear 10 mesh with each other.

From the above state, when the motor 15 is driven to rotate and the piston rod 5 is rotated 180 degrees as shown in FIG. 4, the reagent dispensing channel 8 and the channel groove 4 communicate with each other, On the other hand, since the reagent suction flow path 7 is liquid-tightly closed by the peripheral surface 5a of the piston rod 5, when the piston rod 5 is thereafter pressed by the piston rod pressing body 14 and descends, the reagent 1 in the valve chamber 6
Is dispensed from the flow channel 4 through the reagent dispensing channel 8 to the other container (not shown) from the discharge pipe P.

After this dispensing work is completed, the upper gear 10 is rotationally controlled again by the spur gear 16 of the motor 15, and the reagent suction flow passage 7 and the flow passage groove 4 are set to communicate with each other.

After the reagent dispensing work is completed in this way, the reagent container holder rotates, and accordingly, the engagement state between the piston rod pressing body 14 and the engagement body 12 of the piston rod 5, and The engagement state between the upper gear 10 and the spur gear 16 of the motor 15 is released, the reagent container B containing the reagent corresponding to the next measurement item is transferred to the reagent dispensing position, and the reagent is transferred according to the above procedure. Dispensing work is performed continuously.

In the above embodiment, the case where the piston rod is rotated 180 degrees to switch the flow path is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this.

〔The invention's effect〕

The reagent dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, as described above,
A chamber for accommodating a reagent is integrated with a pump unit, which is detachably held by a reagent container holder, and a piston rod rotation switching device and a piston rod pressing body are provided at a reagent dispensing position. Engaging the piston rod engagement body of the reagent container transferred to the reagent dispensing position with the piston rod pressing body disposed at the reagent dispensing position, and disposing on the piston rod One of the gears is engaged with the gear of the piston rod rotation switching device to perform rotation switching operation, so that the reagent suction / discharge operation is performed. Since it is not necessary to dispose, and it is sufficient to dispose only one piston rod rotation switching device and piston rod pressing body at the reagent dispensing position, the automatic analyzer is significantly downsized. It can be simplified and low cost.

Further, according to the present invention, the flow path groove formed in the piston rod and the peripheral wall surface of the piston rod are used to perform suction and discharge of the reagent, so that the valve element and the non-return valve as in the conventional case. As a result, the valve can be eliminated, and as a result, the number of parts can be greatly reduced, the configuration can be simplified, reagent loss does not occur, and there is no risk of mutual contamination of reagents.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of a container which is detachably attached to a reagent dispensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a liquid suction operation state by a container, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a liquid discharge operation state by the container, and FIG. 5 is a plan explanatory view showing a configuration of a conventional reagent dispensing apparatus. [Description of symbols] A ... Piston rod rotation switching device B ... Reagent container, P ... Discharge pipe 1 ... Reagent, 2 ... Chamber part 3 ... Pump part, 4 ... Flow path groove 5 ... Piston Rod, 6 ... Valve chamber 7 ... Reagent suction channel, 8 ... Reagent dispensing channel 14 ... Piston rod pressing body

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of reagent containers are removably arranged in a holder, a reagent container containing a reagent corresponding to a measurement item is transferred to a reagent dispensing position, and the reagent container is placed at the reagent dispensing position. In a reagent dispensing device configured to dispense a reagent aspirated from inside into another container, the removable reagent container is provided with a chamber containing the reagent and a reagent in the chamber. A pump part for sucking and dispensing a quantity and a pump part are integrally formed, and the pump part has a valve chamber in which a piston rod having a flow channel groove is fitted so as to be able to move forward and backward, and one end is A piston pipe for pushing and lowering the piston rod at the reagent pipetting position is formed on the upper end portion of the piston rod, which is composed of a reagent pipe passage connected to the valve chamber and the other end of the pipe to communicate with the discharge pipe. When the engagement and disengagement body that engages with the body is arranged , Gears are respectively arranged at predetermined positions above and below the piston rod, and these gears mesh with the gears of the piston rod rotation switching device at the piston rod ascending stop position or the descending stop position of the reagent dispensing position. A reagent dispensing apparatus characterized in that the rotation is controlled by the following.