JPH0718265U - Blood collection tube opening device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a capping device for a blood collection tube which can be capped at a high speed and which is unlikely to cause a blood sample to adhere to the device. A capping member (7) provided with a gripping part having gripping arms (10a, 10b) for gripping an outer peripheral surface of a head (2b) of a plug (2) of a blood collection tube (1) and a capping member engaged with the capping member (7). The driving means 8 is provided, a pin 11 is fixed to the opening member 7, and an elongated hole 12 extending in the up-down direction for receiving the pin 11 is formed in the plate 8 to move the opening member 8 horizontally. By moving the stopper 2 in the horizontal direction, the stopper 2
An opening device for removing the plug 2 from the blood collection tube 1 by inclining the opening member 7 around the plug gripping portion fixed to the.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a blood collection tube opening device for removing a blood collection tube plug used in clinical examinations, etc., and in particular, has a structure capable of reducing the possibility of blood sample adhesion to the device. The present invention relates to a blood collection tube opening device.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 In the pretreatment of a clinical test, the following three pretreatment steps are performed before the blood sample collected in the blood collection tube is provided to the testing device. That is, a centrifugation step for separating blood into serum or plasma and solid contents such as blood clots, a step for removing the stopper of the blood collection tube, and a step for removing the blood collection tube depending on the test contents. Dispensing into one or more containers.

Of the above-mentioned steps, the opening step is the step of which the automation is the most delayed, and even now, in most facilities, it is the actual situation that the stopper is manually removed from the blood collection tube. However, in recent years, automation of inspection work has been desired for the following reasons. In other words, it is required to reduce the risk of infection with diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS at the inspection site as much as possible. Therefore, it is desired to carry out the operation without touching the blood sample. In addition, in order to notify the treatment results to the treatment site as soon as possible, it is required to shorten the examination time. In addition, there is a need to be able to perform many tests with fewer personnel.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to satisfy the above demands, various opening devices have been proposed. For example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-128949, a pressing head that is pressed from the side is used against the outer peripheral surface of a rubber stopper of a blood collection tube that is fixed almost vertically. An apparatus for removing a stopper by pressing it in a direction inclined upward with respect to a plane orthogonal to the axis is disclosed.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-263558 proposes a device for removing a plug from a blood collection tube by repeating an operation of increasing the distance between the blood collection tube and the stopper holding portion.

Further, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-38704, the blood collection tubes arranged in a matrix-shaped test tube rack are taken out one row at a time, and the blood collection tubes and stoppers are held separately and the two are separated. A device has been proposed that opens the tube and returns the blood collection tube to the test tube rack.

[0007]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, the above-mentioned conventional opening devices are not well balanced in terms of both safety and processing speed.

[0008] In Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-128949, since the stopper is removed by bringing the pressing head into contact with the stopper from the side and applying pressure, the stopper can be opened at high speed. However, when opening the stopper, the pressing head comes into contact with the lower portion of the stopper to which the blood sample may be attached. Therefore, there is a high possibility that the blood sample will adhere to the pressing head. If a blood sample adheres to the pressing head, it may cause contamination of the blood collection tube that is to be opened next. There is.

On the other hand, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-263558, the lower portion of the stopper to which the blood sample may adhere does not come into contact with the device. Therefore, there is an advantage that the blood sample is unlikely to adhere to the device. However, the opening mechanism of this device is quite complicated, and it is necessary to repeat the operation of increasing the distance between the blood collection tube and the stopper holding portion, which has a drawback that the opening speed becomes slow.

In the cap opening device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-38704, although the cap opening operation can be efficiently performed using the matrix rack, the cap opening mechanism itself is complicated and the cap opening operation itself is accelerated. Not a thing.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the related art, to provide a blood collection tube opening device capable of opening a blood sample at a low speed with a low possibility of a blood sample adhering to the device.

[0012]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The present invention is a cap opening device for removing a plug from a blood collection tube containing a blood sample, and having a plug gripping portion for gripping the outer peripheral surface of the head of the plug whose lower portion is inserted into the blood collection tube. A cap opening member, a pin fixed above the plug gripping portion in the cap opening member, and an opening having a long hole that extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the blood collection tube and into which the pin is inserted. The stopper member driving means and the horizontal movement means connected to the opening member driving means for moving the opening member driving means in the horizontal direction are provided, and the length of the long hole is the opening member. The size is selected so that the drive means can be moved in the horizontal direction and the pin can be moved downward in the slot so that the cap opening member can be tilted about the cap gripping portion to open the cap. It is an opening device for blood collection tubes.

[0013]

[Action]

 In the blood collection tube opening device of the present invention, the head outer peripheral surface of the plug attached to the blood collection tube is held by the plug holding portion of the opening member. Therefore, in the plug opening member, the position of the plug gripping portion is fixed when the plug gripping portion grips the plug.

On the other hand, the opening member and the opening member driving means are engaged with each other by the pin fixed to the opening member and the elongated hole provided in the opening member driving means. Then, the opening member driving means is moved in the horizontal direction by the horizontal movement means. Therefore, when the opening moving member driving means is moved in the horizontal direction by the horizontal movement means while the stopper gripping portion of the opening cap member holds the stopper, the long hole provided in the opening cap driving means also moves in the horizontal direction. Will be moved to. In this case, the pin engaged with the long hole moves in the long hole as the long hole moves in the horizontal direction. Since this pin is provided above the stopper gripping part, the pin moves downward in the elongated hole, and as a result, the opening stopper member to which the pin is fixed has the stopper gripper holding the stopper. It will be inclined around the section. Therefore, since the plug gripping portion is also tilted together with the plug opening member, the plug inserted into the blood collection tube is unplugged from the blood collection tube by the tilting of the plug gripping portion.

[0015]

[Effect of device]

 According to the blood collection tube opening device of the present invention, the blood collection tube can be moved by horizontally moving the opening member having the stopper grip and the pin by moving the opening member driving means having the long hole for receiving the pin. Is opened. Therefore, since a mechanism for moving a relatively long distance to separate the stopper and the blood collection tube is not required, it is possible to open the stopper at high speed without requiring a complicated mechanism.

Moreover, since the plug gripping part only grips the outer peripheral surface of the head of the plug, it does not contact the lower part of the plug, that is, the part inserted into the blood collection tube. Therefore, the risk of the blood sample inside adhering to the opening device is very low.

Therefore, when opening a plurality of blood collection tubes, it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of contamination due to the adhesion of the blood sample to the device, and to simplify the maintenance and cleaning work of the opening device. Can be converted.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the opening is provided with a relatively simple mechanism that is excellent in safety, can simplify the work such as maintenance, and can perform the opening operation at high speed. It is possible to provide a stopper device.

[0019]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings to clarify the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view for explaining a blood collection tube to be opened by the opening device of an embodiment of the present invention. The blood collection tube 1 is composed of a bottomed cylindrical container, and a blood sample (not shown) collected therein is stored therein.

On the other hand, a stopper 2 is press-fitted into the upper opening of the blood collection tube 1. The stopper 2 has a lower portion 2 a that is inserted into the blood collection tube 1 and a head portion 2 b that is exposed above the blood collection tube 1. The stopper 2 is fixed to the blood collection tube 1 in a liquid-tight manner, and is therefore usually made of rubber or a synthetic resin material having rubber elasticity.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are a front view and a plan view schematically showing the whole of the opening device for opening the stopper 2 from the blood collection tube 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The device 3 is constructed on a base 4, on which a large number of blood collection tubes 1 to be opened are arranged. Above the blood collection tube 1, there is provided an opening section 5 which will be described in detail later. The opening portion 5 is moved from the position A shown in FIG. 3 to the positions indicated by arrows B, C and D by the driving means described later, and performs the opening operation. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 6 denotes a plug discarding unit, and the plug removed in the plug discarding unit 6 is discharged.

The opening operation of the opening section 5 is performed by gripping the opening at the position indicated by the arrow A and moving the opening 5 to the position indicated by the arrow B. After completion of opening the stopper, the stopper is positioned above the stopper discarding unit 6 by moving it from the position indicated by the arrow B to the position indicated by the arrow C, and the stopper discarding unit 6 is positioned at the position indicated by the arrow C. Throw out. Then, the opening portion is moved to the original position indicated by the arrow A through the position indicated by the arrow D, and the next opening operation is performed.

Details of the opening section 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7. The cap opening unit 5 has a cap opening member 7 and a plate 8 as a cap opening member driving means. A horizontal moving means 9 is connected to the plate 8, and the horizontal moving means 9 is composed of an appropriate reciprocating driving source, and moves the plate 8 as the opening-opening member driving means in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. Is configured to get.

On the other hand, below the uncapping member 7, gripping arms 10a and 10b forming a gripping portion are provided. The upper portions of the gripping arms 10a and 10b are housed in the main body 7a of the opening member 7. The gripping arms 10a and 10b will be described later in detail. However, it has a partially cylindrical curved shape so as to follow the outer peripheral surface of the head portion 2b of the stopper 2 inserted into the blood collection tube 1. Further, the gripping arms 10a and 10b are configured so as to be able to approach and separate from each other, and by approaching each other, the gripping arms 10a and 10b are configured to be able to grip the outer peripheral surface of the head 2a of the plug 2 as illustrated. Has been done.

On the other hand, a pin 11 protruding outward is fixed to the outer surface of the main body 7 a of the opening member 7. Although the pin 11 is configured as a columnar pin in the illustrated embodiment, it may have a prismatic shape or another shape. The pin 11 may be formed integrally with the main body 7a, or may be formed by connecting the pin 11 which is a separate member to the main body 7a.

On the other hand, a connecting member 13 is connected via a pin 12 on the upper end side of the main body 7a. A rod 14 is fixed to the upper end of the connecting member 13. As will be described later, the connecting member 13 is connected to return the inclined opening member 7 to the upright state shown in FIG.

A long hole 12 is formed in the plate 8 so as to extend in the vertical direction. The above-mentioned pin 11 is inserted into the long hole 12, and the opening member 7 and the plate 8 are engaged by the engagement of the pin 11 and the long hole 12.

The opening operation of the opening section 5 will be described with reference to FIG. In the initial state, first, the grasping arms 10a and 10b are brought close to each other to grasp the outer peripheral surface of the head 2b of the stopper 2 of the blood collection tube 1. Therefore, in this state, the lower portion of the opening member 7 is fixed to the head 2b of the stopper 2.

Next, the horizontal moving means 9 shown in FIG. 4 is driven to move the plate 8 horizontally, that is, to the right in FIG. In this case, the pin 11 is pushed to the right by the inner peripheral edge of the elongated hole 12 as the plate 8 moves to the right, as sequentially shown on the side of the arrow E in FIG. However, the opening member 7 is fixed to the head 2b of the stopper 2 of the blood collection tube 1 at its lower end side. Therefore, the opening member 7 is tilted as shown around the contact portion between the grip portions 10a and 10b and the head portion 2b of the stopper 2. As a result, as the pin 11 moves downward in the elongated hole 12, the inclination angle of the opening member 7 increases, and the plug 2 is removed from the blood collection tube 1.

As described above, in the opening portion 5 of the opening device of this embodiment, the stopper 2 is opened without increasing the distance between the stopper 2 and the blood collection tube 1. Therefore, the opening speed can be increased as compared with the conventional example. Moreover, the gripping arms 10a and 10b contacting the stopper only contact the outer peripheral surface of the head 2b and do not contact the lower portion of the stopper 2. Therefore, the blood sample is unlikely to adhere to the device side.

The above-mentioned connecting member 13 is rotatably connected to the opening member 7 about the pin 12. Therefore, after the stopper is opened, the connecting member 13 can be pulled up by driving an air cylinder or the like, which will be described later, to return the stopper member 7 to the upright state shown in FIG.

Next, a structure for driving the gripping arms 10a and 10b will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the inside of the above-mentioned opening member 7 is seen through. Although the gripping arms 10a and 10b are illustrated as members having a partially cylindrical curved surface along the outer peripheral surface of the head 2b of the stopper 2 as described above, in the opening member 7, a flat plate-shaped portion 10c, With 10d. The upper portions of the flat plate-shaped portions 10c and 10d are fixed to the pins 15 and 16 so that they can rotate together with the pins 15 and 16. Gears 17 and 18 are provided concentrically with the pins 15 and 16 so as to rotate together with the pins 15 and 16. The gears 17 and 18 are meshed with each other, so that by rotating one gear 17 or 18, the other gear 17 or 18 is also rotated.

A substantially L-shaped plate 19 is fixed to the upper end of the flat plate-shaped portion 10d above one gripping arm 10b. The plate 19 is connected to the cylinder rod 20a of the air cylinder 20, and the upper part of the plate 19 can be moved to the left side in the drawing by extending the cylinder rod 20a forward, as shown in FIG. Is configured. By thus extending the cylinder rod 20a, the upper part of the plate 19 is moved to the left, whereby the gripping arm 10b is rotated about the pin 16. In this case, since the gear 16 is provided so as to rotate together with the gripping arm 10b, the gear 15 is rotated in the opposite direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the tips of the gripping arms 10a and 10b are separated from each other.

On the other hand, by returning the cylinder rod 20a from the state shown in FIG. 7 to the state shown in FIG. 6, the gripping arms 10a and 10b are brought close to each other, and the head 2b of the stopper 2 is moved, contrary to the above operation. The gripping state is restored.

As described above, the gripping arms 10 a and 10 b forming the gripping portion can perform the gripping operation of the stopper 2 and the opening operation of the stopper 2 by driving the cylinder 20. Is configured. However, the structure for bringing the gripping arms 10a and 10b close to and away from each other is not limited to the structure shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and one of the gripping arms 10a and 10b may be connected to the other gripping arm by the reciprocating drive source. You may comprise so that it may adjoin and separate.

Next, a specific structure for moving the opening section 5 between the positions of arrows A to D shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 is a side view for explaining the structure for moving the opening portion 5 from the position shown by the arrow A in FIG. 2 to the position shown by the arrow B, and from the lined arrow C to the position shown by the arrow D. is there. The plate 8 as the above-mentioned opening member driving means of the opening portion 5 is fixed to the connecting plate 21. The connecting plate 21 is fixed to the shaft 22 and the connecting member 23. On the other hand, the connecting member 23 has a through hole formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof with a female screw that meshes with the male screw of the drive rod 24 also having a male screw, and the drive rod 24 is inserted into the through hole. ing. The drive rod 24 is supported by bearings 25 and 26. Further, the other end portion of the drive rod 24 is fixed to the roller 27 and is configured to be rotatable together with the roller 27. A belt 29 is stretched between the roller 27 and the roller 28, and the roller 28 is configured to be rotationally driven by the motor 30.

Therefore, by rotating the motor 30, the drive rod 24 is rotated via the rollers 27 and 28 and the belt 29. As a result, the connecting member 23 engaged with the drive rod 24 is configured to be able to move from the state shown in FIG. 8 to the state away from the bearing 26. That is, from the state shown in FIG. 3 (the state shown in the arrow A in FIG. 3), the opening portion 5 is moved away from the bearing 26 (that is, in the position shown in the arrow B in FIG. 3). State).

On the contrary, when moving the opening portion 5 from the arrow C to the arrow D in FIG. 3, the opening portion 5 is moved to the bearing 26 side in FIG. 8 by reversing the motor 30. Then, it is moved to the state shown in FIG.

The rod 14 shown in FIG. 4 is a cylinder rod of the cylinder 14A as is apparent from FIG. 8, and by driving the cylinder 14A, the opening member is returned to the upright state as described above. Can be done.

Next, a structure for moving the opening portion 5 from the position shown by the arrow B in FIG. 3 to the position shown by the arrow C and from the position shown by the arrow D to the position shown by the arrow A is shown in FIG. This will be described with reference to the plan view of FIG. Although not clear in FIG. 9, the opening section 5 is configured to move in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 9 together with the structure shown in FIG. 8 described above. The movement in the arrow G direction corresponds to the movement from the arrow B to the position indicated by the arrow C and the movement direction from the arrow D to the position indicated by the arrow A in FIG.

The opening portion 5 is connected by a connecting plate 31 to a connecting plate 33 provided at the tip of the cylinder rod 32 a of the air cylinder 32. Therefore, by reciprocally driving the air cylinder 32, the cap 5 and the above-described drive structure shown in FIG. 8 are reciprocally driven between the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 9 and the position shown by the imaginary line. . Reference numerals 34 and 35 denote guide rails, which are provided to stabilize the movement in the direction of arrow G described above.

In the cap opening device of the present embodiment, as shown schematically in FIG. 2, a large number of blood collection tubes 1 are lined up and used for the cap opening operation in the cap opening section 5. Then, the blood collection tube to be opened is lifted upward. A mechanism for lifting the blood collection tube 1 upward will be described with reference to FIG.

The blood collection tubes 1 are prepared by leaning against the rack 41 and lined up. Through holes 42 are formed below the respective blood collection tubes 1 on the bottom surface of the rack 41, as shown in the figure. Then, when opening the blood collection tube 1A located immediately below the opening portion 5, the push-up rod 43 is inserted from the through hole 42 and pushes up the blood collection tube 1A. In this way, the stopper 2 of the blood collection tube 1 is inserted between the grasping arms 10a and 10b of the opening portion 5. A rack 43a is formed in the lower portion of the push-up rod 43 as shown in the drawing, and a pinion 44 that engages with the rack 43a is arranged. Therefore, it is possible to push up the push-up rod 43 upward by rotating the pinion 44 by a motor (not shown).

When the push-up rod 43 is moved upward to open the blood collection tube 1A, the above-mentioned grasping arms 10a and 10b are in an initial state in which they are separated from each other, and the stopper 2 is in between. It is possible to grasp the stopper 2 by bringing the grasping arms 10a and 10b close to each other after being positioned at.

Further, the removed plug 2 is discharged to the plug discarding portion 6 shown in FIG. 3, and this discharge is performed by moving the gripping arms 10a and 10b away from each other. However, when the stopper 2 is in close contact with the gripping arms 10a and 10b, the stopper 2 cannot be dropped downward simply by separating the gripping arms 10a and 10b. A cylinder 45 shown in FIG. 8 is provided to surely drop the stopper 2 into the stopper discarding unit 6. That is, the cylinder rod 46 of the cylinder 45 is connected to the push-down rod 47 as shown in FIG. The thrusting rod 47 is extended so as to extend between the gripping arms 10a and 10b. Therefore, by driving the cylinder 45 and moving the push-down rod 47 downward, the stopper closely attached to the gripping arm 10a or 10b can be surely dropped downward.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing a blood collection tube.

FIG. 2 is a front view schematically showing the whole opening device of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing the entire uncapping device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view for explaining a cap opening portion of the cap opening device of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a front view for explaining the operation of the opening portion in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic front view for explaining the structure for driving the gripping arm in the opening section.

FIG. 7 is a schematic front view showing a state where the gripping arms are separated from each other.

FIG. 8 is a side view for explaining a structure for moving the opening portion in the horizontal direction.

9 is a plan view for explaining the structure for moving the opening portion in a direction orthogonal to the drive mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway front view for explaining a structure for supplying a blood collection tube between gripping arms.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Blood collection tube 2 ... Stopper 2a ... Lower part of stopper 2b ... Head of stopper 3 ... Opening device 5 ... Opening part 7 ... Opening member 8 ... Plate as opening member driving means 9 ... Horizontal moving means 10a , 10b ... Gripping arm 11 ... Pin 12 ... Long hole

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plug opening device for removing a plug from a blood collection tube containing a blood sample, comprising a plug gripping part for gripping an outer peripheral surface of a head of a plug having a lower part inserted into the blood collection tube. An opening member having, a pin fixed above the plug holding portion in the opening member, and a long hole extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the blood collection tube and into which the pin is inserted An opening member driving means having, and a horizontal moving means connected to the opening member driving means and for moving the opening member driving means in a horizontal direction, the length of the long hole is A dimension that allows the cap opening member to be tilted about the plug gripping portion and to be opened by moving the cap opening member driving means horizontally to move the pin downward in the elongated hole. A blood collection tube opening device selected for.