JPH07122606B2 - Liquid sampling and delivery device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention provides a sample for sampling various liquid substances in a manufacturing process of a chemical factory, a food factory, a pharmaceutical factory, etc. and using them for analysis. The present invention relates to a liquid sample collecting and delivering apparatus which is preferably applicable to a system for pneumatically conveying a liquid from a sampling position to an analysis position (analysis room or inspection room).

[Background of the Invention and Problems of Prior Art]

In order to accurately grasp the component composition of the liquid flowing in the pipe or the liquid in the container at that time, it is necessary to sample and provide for analysis. And, in order to use the analysis results for control of the production line, ideally real-time analysis is required. Recently, instrumental analysis has been developed, and along with this, the analysis time has become extremely short and accurate analysis values can be obtained. However, unless accurate sampling operations and sample liquids can be quickly transported to the analyzer, the requirements for accuracy and speed cannot be satisfied.

Especially in a complex manufacturing plant, there are many sampling positions, and the analysis room is generally located away from the sampling positions. Therefore, accurate sampling at each sampling position and analysis from each sampling position are performed. Rapid transfer to the room is an important requirement for line control.

As the most advanced conventional transport system for sample liquid, it has been proposed to store the collected sample liquid in a capsule, set the capsule in a protective container, and then transport it by air to the analysis chamber.

However, in the conventional air transfer method, it is necessary to store the sample solution in a capsule, cover it, set it in a protective container for air transfer, and put this protective container in the air transfer path. However, this kind of operation was difficult to automate and required the skill of a sampling man. The analysis room side also needed to take out the capsules from the protective container that was sent and return the used protective container to the sampling position, requiring careful human consideration. Also, although it is covered with a protective container,
Depending on the state of the lid of the capsule, there is a problem that the lid may come off due to an impact in the process of air transportation, causing not only a transportation error but also a contamination of the transportation pipeline to cause an analysis error.

Moreover, it was not easy to mechanize and automate by combining the sampling operation and the sending operation to the air carrying pipe after sampling. Especially when there are a large number of sampling positions, a certain amount of sampling liquid is surely collected and sent from each of these positions,
It becomes necessary to convey these one after another, and the more the number of sampling positions increases, the more the sampling and delivery device is required to be a device that functions simply and accurately and is easy to automate. However, it was not easy to make it economically advantageous.

The present invention simplifies the operation of collecting the sample liquid at that point in an intended place of a factory production line, for example, at each pipe position in the pipeline, and conveys the collected sample liquid to an analysis room (inspection room). The purpose of the present invention is to provide a device having a simple structure for accurately and safely delivering to a pipe.

[Structure of Invention]

The present invention provides, as a sample liquid collecting and delivering device for achieving the above-mentioned object, a sample container delivering chamber having a bottom opening to a delivery starting point of an air delivery tube and an opening at an upper portion,
A lid that opens and closes the opening of the delivery chamber and a sample container whose inside is depressurized and has an injection needle permeable cap at the opening of the delivery chamber are pushed up one by one, and the opening of the delivery chamber is closed by the lid. Push-up member for holding the sample container pushed up between the lid body and the lid in a state, an injection needle inserted into the cap of the sample container held between the lid body and the push-up member, and a process from the injection needle The present invention provides a liquid sample collecting and delivering device including a sampling pipe that communicates with the internal liquid and a valve mechanism interposed in the sampling pipe.

[Detailed Description of the Invention]

The apparatus of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the embodiments of the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically an example of an air transfer system for applying the sampling and delivery device according to the invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a process pipe installed in a factory. A sampling pipe 2 is attached to sample the liquid in the process pipe 1 from a predetermined position. This sampling tube 2 is attached to each of the pipes 1 at that position depending on the number of sampling positions required. Reference numeral 3 represents a sample container delivery mechanism according to the present invention, the details of which will be described later, and 4 represents a sample liquid collecting mechanism, the details of which will be described later.

Sample liquid collection and delivery devices 4 and 3 according to the invention
Are installed near the sampling positions at various locations. Then, the sample container is air-transported to the vicinity of the analyzer 5 in the analysis room (inspection room) located farther from this. The transfer pipes provided for this purpose are, in the illustrated example, a main transfer pipe 6 and a tributary transfer pipe 8 connected from each sample container delivery device 3 to the main transfer pipe 6 at a connection point 7.
It consists of The main carrier pipe 6 is the analyzer 5 in the analysis room.
The sample container receiving device 9 is installed at the end (transport end point) of the sample container. An exhaust pipe 11 having an exhaust valve 10 is attached slightly upstream of the sample container receiving device 9. Reference numeral 12 is a compressed air source, and the compressed air source 12 sends the compressed air for transportation to each sample container delivery mechanism 3 via a conduit 13. In the illustrated example, each pipeline 13 is branched from a main compressed air passage 14 and connected. A compressed air start / stop valve 15 is provided in each compressed air conduit 13. The compressed air from the compressed air source 12 is used as a power source for operating parts such as the sample container delivery mechanism 3 and the sample container receiving device 9, and pipes (16, 17 etc.) for this are provided.

18 is a central supervisory control panel, 19 is a terminal control panel on the sample sending side, and 20 is a terminal control panel on the sample receiving side. The terminal control panels 19 and 20 are under the control of the central supervisory control panel 18. .

Note that FIG. 1 shows an example in which four series of sample collection mechanisms 4 and sample container delivery mechanisms 3 and associated equipment are connected in parallel between the main compressed air pipeline 14 and the main carrier pipe 6. The series without reference numbers also have exactly the same device configuration as those with reference numbers. Further, the number of series can be freely increased or decreased according to the required number of sampling positions. For example, if there are 20 sampling positions, the same device can be provided in 20 series.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the apparatus near the sample container delivery mechanism 3 in FIG. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the sampling pipe 2 is attached to the process pipe 1.
And the liquid in the pipe 1 is taken into the sampling pipe 2. A valve mechanism 21 (for example, an electromagnetic valve or a pinch valve) that causes the liquid in the tube to flow out and stop is interposed in the middle of the sampling tube 2, and an injection needle 22 is attached to the tip of the sample container. In the following description, an example in which the solenoid valve 21 is used as the valve mechanism 21 will be described, but this may be a pinch valve. The sampling pipe from the solenoid valve 21 to the injection needle 22 is made of a flexible pipe, and the holder 23 holding the injection needle 22 reciprocates on the guide plate 24 by the operation of the cylinder 25. As described above, the sample liquid injection device according to the present invention has a sampling pipe 2 having one end communicating with the liquid in the pipe 1 and an injection needle 22 at the other end, and a valve mechanism 21 interposed in the middle of the sampling pipe 2. And a cylinder piston mechanism for reciprocating the injection needle 22.

On the other hand, in the device of the present invention, a decompression container having an injection needle permeable cap (for example, a rubber cap) can be used as a sample container. For example, as shown in the upper right of FIG. Cylinder container body with one end opening
27 is a rubber cap 28 covered. The rubber cap 28 covered with the main body 27 will be referred to as a sample container 30 in the following description. In the present invention, an empty sample container whose inside pressure is reduced to a predetermined pressure is used as a container before liquid collection.

The sample container delivery device 3 shifts only one sample container stacker unit 31 in which the sample containers 30 are laid down in a substantially horizontal direction and stacked in a line, and the sample container existing at the bottom of the sample container stacker unit 31 to the injection position. A mechanism for setting, and the injection needle 22 is inserted into the rubber cap 28 at this setting position (in FIG. 2, the injection needle 22 is inserted).
A mechanism is provided for injecting this sampling-completed container into the transfer pipe 8 with the rubber cap 28 provided after being sucked into the inside. The details of these mechanisms will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6, but as shown in FIG. 2, with respect to the transport pipe 8 whose discharge direction is slightly upward with respect to the horizontal (horizontal With respect to the transfer tube 8 having a slight upward angle with respect to the transfer tube 8), the delivery chamber 32 of the sample container 30, which is a part of the sample container delivery device 3, is connected to the transfer tube 8. The sample container stacker part 31, which is a part of the sample container delivery device 3, should be slightly slanted rather than vertically. A compressed air conduit 13 communicating with the compressed air source 12 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the carrier pipe 8 downstream of the position where the sample container delivery device 3 is connected, and the compressed air conduit 13 is compressed. An air stop valve 15 is installed. The compressed air start / stop valve 15 is a solenoid valve. The second
In the figure, 34 is a cylinder for shifting the sample container to the injection position, and 35 is a cylinder for opening and closing the pressure-feeding lid for holding the sample container in the shift position and inserting it into the transfer tube 8. These operation modes will be described below.

3 to 6 each show a vertical sectional view of the sample container delivery device 3, and the operation process thereof is shown in the order of the figure numbers. In these figures, 31 is a sample container stacker portion which is installed at a slight angle as described in FIG. 2, and a plurality of sample containers 30 are mounted in a line in this stacker 31. An actuator unit 37 is connected below the stacker unit 31. A pedestal 37 'for receiving the lowermost sample container of the stacker unit 31 is installed in the actuator unit 37 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis of the stacker unit 31. The upper edge of this pedestal 37 'communicates with the upper end of the delivery chamber 32 for dropping the sample container 30 into the transfer tube. 38 is a member for pushing up one sample container on the pedestal 37 'toward the delivery chamber 32, and this pushing up member 38 is connected to a piston rod 39 which reciprocates by a cylinder 34. On the other hand, a lid 40 that opens and closes the upper opening of the delivery chamber 32 is attached to the actuator portion 37. The lid 40 reciprocates on another pedestal 42 by another piston rod 41 that reciprocates in the same direction as the push-up member 38, thereby opening and closing the upper opening of the delivery chamber 32. The piston rod 41 performing this operation is performed by press-fitting and depressurizing the working fluid into the cylinder 35. As working fluid for the cylinders 34 and 35, compressed air having the same source as compressed air for transportation can be used. The lid 40 is provided with a sample container locking portion 43 so that one sample container pushed up by the pushing member 38 can be temporarily locked on the lid 40.

The operation mode of the sample container delivery device configured as described above will be described in the order of FIGS. 3 to 6. FIG. 3 shows a state before starting, and the lid 40 closes the upper end opening of the delivery chamber 32. In addition, the sample container is located at the lowermost position of the pedestal 37 '(position of the stacker portion 31). That is, the piston rod 41 of the lid 40 is in the extended position, and the piston rod 39 of the push-up member 38 is in the retracted position.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the position of the lid 40 is kept at the position shown in FIG. 3 and the piston rod 39 is extended and the push-up member 38 is shifted. In this state, one sample container is covered. Shifted over body 40. That is, one sample container is placed on the lid 40 that closes the delivery chamber 32.
It is shifted with its axis almost horizontal. In this shift position, the rubber cap of the sample container is positioned so as to receive the injection needle 22 shown in FIG.
At this position, the injection needle 22 is inserted into the rubber cap, and the solenoid valve
21 is opened and the sample solution is sucked into the depressurized container using the depressurized pressure, and when the suction is finished, the injection needle 22 is pulled out from the rubber cap.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the sample container after the injection of the sample solution is dropped into the delivery chamber 32. That is,
The upper end opening of the delivery chamber 32 is opened by pulling the piston rod 41 of the lid 40 into the cylinder 35, and the lid body is opened.
The container containing the sample liquid, which was on the 40, is dropped into the delivery chamber 32 by its own weight. When the lid 40 is open, the push-up member 38 is preferably held at the shift position. This is because the compressed air remaining in the delivery chamber 32 is prevented from flowing back to the stacker portion side. The container that has dropped into the delivery chamber 32 continues to drop into the transfer tube 8 and is set at the firing position.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the lid 37 is closed while the pedestal 37 'is held in the shift position after the operation of FIG. In this state, the sample container housed at the firing position in the carrier tube 8 is fired. This is done by opening the compressed air start / stop valve 15 in the compressed air line 13. After the operation of FIG. 6, the operation returns to that of FIG. 3 and is repeated thereafter.

FIGS. 7 and 8 schematically show the operation of operating the sample liquid injector with respect to the sample container in the shift position described in FIG. FIG. 7 shows a reduced pressure sample container in the shift position in the sample container delivery device.
The injection needle 22 is coaxially opposed to the rubber cap 28 side with respect to 30. FIG. 8 shows a state in which the injection needle 22 is inserted into the rubber cap 28 to inject the sample liquid. In this operation, as explained in FIG. 2, the holder 23 holding the injection needle 22 is slid on the guide plate 24 by the operation of the cylinder 25 and its piston rod 45. When the injection needle 22 penetrates the rubber cap 28,
Open the solenoid valve 21. As a result, the liquid in the sampling tube 2 is sucked into the decompression container due to the decompression. And
When this suction operation is completed, the solenoid valve 21 is closed and the valve returns to the position shown in FIG.

If real-time sampling is required, the inside of the sampling tube 2 (especially from the solenoid valve 21 to the injection needle)
Before the sampling operation, the operation of discharging the residual liquid in the previous stage existing in the pipe line reaching 22) is performed. This is done by directing the injection needle 22 to the waste liquid container 47 shown in FIG. 2 and then opening the solenoid valve 21 to remove the waste liquid remaining in the sampling pipe 2.
By throwing away at 47. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the waste liquid container 47 is supported by the piston rod 48, and the piston rod 48 is reciprocated by the cylinder 49 to move the waste liquid container 47 to the tip of the injection needle 22 in the return position. You can do it like this.

As explained in the above example, the liquid sample collecting and delivering apparatus according to the present invention for application to the air carrying equipment comprises a sample container delivering chamber 32 having a bottom opening to the carrying starting point of the air carrying tube and an opening at the top. The lid 40 that opens and closes the upper opening of the delivery chamber 32 and the depressurized sample containers 30 that have the injection needle permeable cap 28 at the opening of the delivery chamber 32 are pushed up one by one and delivered by the lid 40. A push-up member 38 for holding the sample container 32 pushed up between the chamber 32 and the lid 40 in a state where the opening of the chamber 32 is closed, and a sample container 30 holding the lid 40 between the push-up member 38. Injection needle 22 inserted into the cap 28 of the sampling pipe 2, the sampling pipe 2 that connects the injection needle 22 to the in-process liquid, and the valve mechanism (front of the sampling pipe 2) In the example described above, the solenoid valve21) and are configured as essential components, and this configuration achieves the above-mentioned object.

In addition, FIG. 9 shows a sample container 30 containing a sample liquid.
It is the reference drawing which showed the state of carrying air by air. Delivery chamber 32 of the sample container delivery device, which is the starting point of transfer
Then, the sample container 30 that falls to the platform 50 of the transport tube 8 by its own weight is stationary on the platform 50 with the rubber cap 28 facing the transport side. In this state, the compressed air start / stop valve 15 is opened. As a result, the sample container 30 enters the main transfer pipe 6 from the transfer pipe 8 through the connection point 7 with the rubber cap 28 facing the front, and is air-transferred toward the end point.
An exhaust pipe 11 is branched to the main transfer pipe 6 near the end point, and an exhaust valve 10 is provided in this exhaust pipe 11. By adjusting the opening of the exhaust valve 10, the transfer speed of the sample container can be adjusted. You can A sample container receiving device 9 which is an end point is provided slightly downstream from the exhaust pipe 11. Exhaust pipe
From the position 11 to the sample container receiving device 9, the sample container moves by inertia while decelerating. The transport pipe between them may be provided with a slight descending inclination so that gravity acts in addition to the inertia force. The sample container receiving device 9 is provided with a catch box 53 formed of a cylindrical body having an opening at one end, and the opening 54 of the catch box 53 is located at an end opening position (sample container receiving position) of the main transport pipe 6 and a vertically downward position (sample container). The bottom side of the catch box 53 is rotatably supported by a support member 55 so as to perform a swinging motion between the catch box 53 and the discharge position. The sample container received in the catch box 53 with the rubber cap as the bottom at the receiving position passes through the guide 56 with the rubber cap facing up when the catch box 53 is rotated to the discharging position (vertical position). It falls on the pedestal 57, and the holder at this pedestal 57
Backed by 58. After that, the rubber cap is removed while being held by the holder 58, and the holder enters the analyzer.

10 and 11 are external views showing the state of the connection point 7 between the carrier pipe 8 and the main carrier pipe 6. As can be seen in these figures, the main carrier pipe 6 installed in a substantially horizontal direction
Is connected to the transfer pipe 8 which is a tributary pipe from above (No. 10
(Fig.) Or at least horizontally (Fig. 11). However, in this connection, the carrier pipe 8 is connected to the main carrier pipe 6 at an acute angle. As a result, the sample container moves smoothly even at the connection point.
Further, since the rubber cap is at the top, even if there is a slight impact, the rubber cap may be further pushed into the container but prevented from coming off. This phenomenon also occurs when it comes into contact with the catch box 53, and in this case as well, the rubber cap is more strongly pushed into the container, and the rubber cap itself acts as a cushioning material that softens the impact of collision.

The amount of sample liquid collected can be adjusted by adjusting the degree of pressure reduction in the sample container used in the device of the present invention. That is, in a depressurized state where some air or gas remains in the container, the amount of the sample liquid to be stored is determined according to the amount of the remaining gas (when the hydraulic pressure in the pipeline and the pressure in the container reach equilibrium). The inhalation volume will be saturated), and the valve opening / closing time of the sampling pipe and the diameter of the sampling pipe will not be a factor of the sampling amount. Therefore, the sampling amount can be regulated accurately. Further, the apparatus of the present invention can be easily improved to a modified line having a sampling operation and a transfer operation even in an existing process line without changing the line itself.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a systematic diagram schematically showing an example of an air transfer system for applying a sample collection and delivery device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an embodiment device according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 to 6 are schematic cross-sectional views showing the operating state of the device of the present invention, FIGS. 7 and 8 are side views showing the sample liquid injection operation of the device of the present invention, and FIG. A device layout system diagram schematically showing a transfer system in which a sample liquid is pneumatically transferred by applying the invented device,
FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are both external views showing the state of the connection points of the transfer pipe. 1 …… Process pipe, 2 …… Sampling pipe, 3 …… Sample container delivery device, 4 …… Sample liquid injection device, 6 …… Main transfer pipe, 7 …… Connection point, 8 …… Tributary transfer pipe, 9… … Sample container receiving device, 10 …… Exhaust valve, 11 …… Exhaust pipe, 12 …… Compressed air source, 13 …… Compressed air line, 15 …… Compressed air start / stop valve, 18
...... Central monitoring and control panel, 21 …… Solenoid valve or pinch valve, 22…
… Injection needle, 27 …… Sample container body, 28 …… Rubber cap, 30 …… Sample container, 31 …… Stacker part, 32 …… Sending chamber, 38 …… Pushing member, 40 …… Lid body, 53 …… Catch box.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sample container delivery chamber having a bottom portion which communicates with a delivery start point of an air delivery tube and which has an opening in an upper portion, a lid for opening and closing the delivery chamber, and a cap permeable to an injection needle in the delivery chamber opening. And a push-up member for pushing up the sample vessels whose inside is depressurized one by one, and holding the pushed up sample vessels with the lid body in a state where the opening of the delivery chamber is closed by the lid body, and these lids. An injection needle to be inserted into the cap of the sample container held between the body and the pushing member, a sampling tube for connecting the injection needle to the in-process liquid, and a valve mechanism interposed in the sampling tube. A liquid sampling and delivery device comprising.