JPH07311202A - Device for moisture prevention/outer-air buffer for reagent - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the moisture absorption of a test piece by providing a diaphragm on the partition wall between a test-piece chamber and a driving-system chamber, and by driving a turntable so as to be apart from the top dead center, and also by cutting off the inflow of the outside air from the delivery opening of the test piece into the test-piece chamber. CONSTITUTION: A test piece 1 placed on a turntable 20 is transferred to a chuck from the top dead center through the bottom dead center directly before the point where the turntable 20 turns by 90deg., and is returned to the initial top dead center through the reverse process. In accordance with this transfer cycle, when the table 20 is in the top dead center and the test piece 1 is not situated on the table 20, the pressure inside a test-piece chamber becomes negative, and the thin film 24 contracts to the position μ. When the test piece 1 is on the table 20, the pressure inside the chamber becomes positive, and the thin film 24 expands to the position κ. As the table 20 leaves from the top dead center so as to be lowered, it is returned to the position λ. Thus, even if the outside air flows suddenly inside the test-piece chamber, this is buffered by the thin film 24, and the moisture of the test piece 1 can be prevented for preventing the deterioration.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to medical examinations,
A continuous automatic liquid sample analyzer that automatically takes out a test piece that has several test pads used for testing liquid samples, especially urine, dips it into a test solution, performs photometry, calculation, discarding, etc. Concerning the above, regarding a bottle driving mechanism for vertically moving and vertically rotating and rotating a test strip bottle containing a plurality of test strips, a pick-up mechanism for taking out one test strip from the test strip bottle, and a front and back side of the taken out test strip. The airtight test strip chamber that has a built-in front and back reversing mechanism that always aligns the pad surface to the upper side, a turntable mechanism that sends one test strip to the next analyzer, and six drive chambers that drive these mechanisms. The present invention relates to a test-piece take-out section which is composed of a stepping motor, five solenoid valves, and a drive system chamber at a normal atmospheric pressure, which incorporates one vacuum pump.

In the test piece take-out portion, a stretchable diaphragm is arranged in the partition wall between the test piece chamber and the drive system chamber, so that abrupt outside air flowing into the test piece chamber from the test piece delivery opening of the turntable mechanism is provided. The present invention relates to a reagent moisture prevention / outside air cushioning device capable of buffering by expansion and contraction of a diaphragm to prevent moisture absorption of a test piece.

In the generally known urine diagnostic method, p of urine
So-called multiple urine test strips can be used to measure H, protein, glucose, ketone bodies (acetoacetic acid), pyrilvin, occult blood, nitrite, urobilinogen, specific gravity, and white blood cells. Test strips of this type have several test pads in which reagents suitable for carrying out specific tests are used.

At present, the test piece 1 most often used for analyzing liquid samples such as blood and urine is provided with a test pad 3 from one end of a transparent or opaque plastic strip 2 as shown in FIG. Is used as the grip portion 4.
The test pads 3 are provided in the number corresponding to the number of measurement items,
As the test pad 3, a small piece of filter paper impregnated with various reagents is attached with a double-sided adhesive tape, but there is also one in which other reagents are attached together with the base material 5 to form a film. A side region 6 is formed between the pad 3 and the base material 5.

[0005]

These test pieces absorb the moisture in the air before the measurement of the liquid sample, and the reagent impregnated in the test pad reacts with the absorbed moisture, and the reagent impregnated in the test pad is absorbed. Changes in the liquid tended to significantly reduce the accuracy of analysis of the test liquid.

The test strip take-out section includes a bottle drive mechanism for vertically moving and / or vertically rotating a test strip bottle containing a plurality of test strips, and a pickup mechanism for taking out one test strip from the test strip bottle. It is composed of a front / back reversing mechanism that discriminates between the front and back of the taken-out test piece and constantly aligns the pad surface to the upper side, and a turntable mechanism that sends one test piece to the next analyzer.

[0007] Conventionally, in order to immerse and analyze a test piece in a test solution in a sample container, the outside air flows in from a reagent delivery opening of a turntable mechanism that dips the test solution in the sample container from the front / back reversing mechanism and transfers it to an excess urine suction device. Was. This outside air
It contains fine water vapor in the air, which disturbs the air flow in the test strip chamber and causes the% humidity to rise rapidly, wetting the test pad of the test strip in the test strip chamber. In order to prevent the test pad of the test piece from absorbing moisture, it is necessary to provide the test piece with an environment in which moisture is not absorbed until the test piece is immersed in the test liquid in the sample container.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to mount a test strip bottle containing a plurality of test strips on a bottle drive mechanism of an apparatus so that the test pad of the test strip does not absorb moisture as much as possible. , The step of immersing the test piece in the test solution of the sample container is configured as close as possible to a closed system that does not allow the test piece to come into contact with the outside air, and the test piece must be delivered outside this closed system area. A double outside air closing means is provided at the test piece delivery opening of the table mechanism, and a diaphragm that shields and buffers sudden air flow and atmospheric pressure changes is placed on the partition between the test piece chamber and the drive system chamber. To provide a device.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention analyzes a component in a liquid sample by adhering a liquid sample to a test piece and optically measuring a portion developed by a reaction between the liquid sample and a reagent. In the test strip take-out section of the continuous automatic liquid sample analyzer, a bottle drive mechanism, a pickup mechanism, a test strip chamber in which a front / back reversing mechanism is hermetically sealed, and a plurality of units for driving each mechanism in the test strip chamber and a turntable mechanism are provided. A diaphragm is installed in the partition of the normal pressure drive system chamber containing a stepping motor, solenoid valve, and vacuum pump, and a half-rotating shutter plate and the above-mentioned test on the test-piece chamber side above the test-piece delivery opening of the turntable mechanism. A packing is arranged on the stage on the drive system chamber side at the bottom of the one-sided delivery opening, and the turntable mechanism is It is moving at the same time the turntable is separated from the top end point, cut off the sharp outside air flowing into the specimen chamber from the specimen dispensing opening, characterized by a buffer.

[0010]

EXAMPLE FIG. 1 is an overall side view of a test piece take-out portion of the present invention. The part surrounded by the broken line indicates that the inside is airtight. The other part is normal atmospheric pressure. In FIG. 1, a bottle drive mechanism 9 for vertically / rotatably moving a test strip bottle 8 inside a test strip chamber 7,
A pickup mechanism 10 for taking out one test piece, a front / back reversing mechanism with the pad surface of the test piece facing up (located between the pickup mechanism and the test piece delivery opening), and a desiccant 11 such as a molecular sieve are arranged. ing. Airtight test piece chamber 7 and normal pressure drive system chamber 1
The test piece 1 is delivered to the reagent handling chuck outside the reagent chamber by the turntable mechanism 14 through the test piece delivery opening 13 at the boundary of 2.

Test piece chamber 7 and drive system chamber 1
The diaphragm 15 is disposed on the partition wall with the diaphragm 2. Further, in the drive system chamber 12, a stepping motor 16,
A solenoid valve 17, a pressure sensor 18, and a vacuum pump 19 are arranged. In the test strip chamber 7, the test strip 1
Is detected and held by the suction force of air. The air in the test strip chamber 7 circulates and is designed so that the exchange with the outside air is minimized. In order to further prevent deterioration of the test pad on the test piece 1, a desiccant 11 such as a molecular sieve contained in the test piece bottle 8 is taken out from the inside of the test piece chamber 7 to remove the test material.
It is kept inside to keep the humidity lower.

2 (a), 2 (b) to 4 (a),
(B) illustrates an operation of transferring the test piece in the turntable mechanism 14. 2A and 2B show that the test piece 1 is placed on the turntable 20 and the turntable 20 is located at the uppermost point. The reverser inverts the front and back of the test piece, and the push bar transfers the test piece to the turntable 20. The shutter plate 21 is erected on the inner wall surface of the test strip chamber 7. At the bottom of the test strip delivery opening 13, a packing 22 is arranged on the stage 23 of the turntable, and since the packing 22 surely closes the bottom of the test strip delivery opening 13, the inflow of outside air is sufficiently prevented. The test strip chamber 7 is kept airtight.

3 (a) and 3 (b) show a turntable 2
0 indicates a middle point at which the shutter plate 21 starts to descend and tilts half a turn around the axis γ to start to shield the upper part of the test piece delivery opening. The opening / closing time of the shutter plate 21 is set to be as short as possible to prevent the inflow of outside air, and is preferably set within several seconds. Packing 2
2 and the bottom of the test strip delivery opening 13 are separated from each other, and the outside air is tested from the gap δ between the bottom of the test strip delivery opening 13 and the packing 22 through the gap between the top of the test strip delivery opening 13 and the shutter plate 21 as indicated by an arrow. It flows into the one-sided chamber 7.

4A and 4B show the turntable 2
When 0 reaches the lowermost point, the turntable 20 rotates 90 ° about the axis φ after a predetermined time, and the test piece 1 mounted on the turntable 20 is delivered to a chuck (not shown). Although the upper part of the test piece delivery opening 13 is shielded by the shutter plate 21, the outside air slightly flows into the reagent chamber 7 through the gap ε as shown by the arrow. However, the sudden outside airflow is blocked by the shutter plate 21. The transfer process of the test piece 1 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, that is, the turntable 20 arrives at the lowermost point from the uppermost point where the testpiece 1 is placed on the turntable 20 and rotates 90 ° after a predetermined time. , The test piece 1 is delivered to the chuck, and the next test piece 1 is turned to the turntable 2 through the reverse process.
The cycle set at 0 can be freely set by a control device (not shown).

FIG. 5 shows a diaphragm arranged in a partition wall between the test strip chamber 7 and the drive system chamber 12.
The diaphragm 15 has a disk shape in which a thin film 24 is fixed by a diaphragm fixing plate 25. The disk elastically deforms in proportion to the pressure difference between the one surface and the other surface of the disk. The material of the thin film 24 is, for example, a non-metal material such as silicon rubber or fluororubber, and the diaphragm fixing plate 25 is not particularly limited in material. In the present embodiment, the shape of the thin film is elliptical, but circular is most preferable.

[0016]

2 (a), (b) to 4 (a), (b), just before the turntable 20 rotates 90 ° from the uppermost point where the test piece 1 is placed on the turntable 20. The test piece 1 is delivered to the chuck after passing through the bottom solstice, and further, through the reverse process, the turntable of the thin film 24 is at the top solstice according to the transfer cycle in which the test piece 1 is returned to the first top solstice. When not on the table, the inside of the test piece chamber becomes negative pressure and contracts to the μ position, and when the test piece is on this table, the chamber becomes positive pressure and expands to the κ position. . The turntable moves away from the uppermost point and descends, and gradually returns to the position of λ.

Usually, 100 test pieces are contained in the test piece bottle, and various steps such as picking up, front and back, transfer, delivery, excess urine suction, optical measurement, analysis and disposal are usually performed within 30 minutes. Ends with. Therefore, it is preferable that the run cycle of the inflow of outside air by the raising / lowering operation of the turntable and the expansion / contraction operation of the diaphragm be, for example, within 10 seconds / one.

Experimental data using the prototype of the present invention are shown below. Dehumidification performance The dehumidification rate in the test piece chamber after the reagent was replaced, the low humidity maintenance performance after dehumidification, and the moisture absorption amount during actual operation were measured. Experimental results: 1 molecular sieve (7 g) or other desiccant in a test piece chamber having an internal volume of 4 l for 20 hours for 16 hours.
It was confirmed that it was maintained below% RH. Here, RH is relative humidity.

[0019]

Since the diaphragm is provided in the partition between the airtight test strip chamber and the normal pressure drive system chamber, even if the outside air suddenly flows into the test strip chamber, the thin film of the diaphragm changes the air flow. To prevent the hygroscopic test piece in the test piece chamber from becoming damp and prevent deterioration of the test pad.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view of a test piece take-out section of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a test piece transfer process diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a test piece transfer process diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a test piece transfer process diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the diaphragm of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a test piece of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Test piece 2 Strip 3 Test pad 4 Grip part 5 Base material 6 Side area 7 Test piece chamber 8 Test piece bottle 9 Bottle drive mechanism 10 Pickup mechanism 11 Drying agent 12 Drive system chamber 13 Test piece delivery opening 14 Turntable mechanism 15 Diaphragm 16 Stepping motor 17 Solenoid valve 18 Pressure sensor 19 Vacuum pump 20 Turntable 21 Shutter plate 22 Packing 23 Stage 24 Thin film 25 Diaphragm fixing plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A test piece of a continuous automatic liquid sample analyzer for analyzing a component in a liquid sample by adhering a liquid sample to the test piece and optically measuring a portion developed by a reaction between the liquid sample and a reagent. In the take-out section, a bottle drive mechanism, a pickup mechanism, a test piece chamber in which a front / back reversing mechanism is hermetically sealed, and a plurality of stepping motors, solenoid valves, and vacuum pumps that drive each mechanism in the test piece chamber and the turntable mechanism are installed. A semi-rotating shutter plate on the upper side of the test piece delivery opening of the turntable mechanism between the built-in normal atmospheric pressure drive system chamber and a packing on the stage on the drive system chamber side at the bottom of the test piece delivery opening. And the turntable mechanism is driven to separate the turntable from the uppermost point. The abrupt outside air flowing into the specimen chamber from the specimen dispensing opening shielded, moisture protection to ambient dampener buffering reagents.