JPH075397Y2 - Sample holder - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an analytical sample holder used for cooling a large number of samples analyzed by an analytical instrument.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the fields such as medical and chemical industries, various analytical instruments are used because of the necessity of analyzing chemicals, blood or various raw materials and products. For example, a high-performance liquid chromatograph that can be analyzed in a short time is used for analysis of drugs, blood, and the like. Many of these analyzers are capable of automatically analyzing a large number of samples one after another, but these samples are usually pre-packed in a sample bottle for analysis and placed in a sample holder that can be loaded and unloaded from above. It is housed and prepared. Some samples, such as chemicals, whose components do not change with temperature are good,
When a subject such as blood, which is deteriorated unless it is kept at a low temperature (for example, 0 to 1 ° C.) and the analysis result cannot be effectively used, is to be analyzed, it is necessary to cool it to a predetermined temperature. For this reason, conventionally, many devices have been employed in which a sample holder containing a large number of sample bottles for analysis is immersed in a cooling water (for example, a mixed liquid of water and ethylene glycol) container at its lower portion for cooling.

[0003]

However, in the conventional cooling device using such cooling water, the cooling rate is slow and a large amount of water adheres to the upper part of the sample bottle for analysis, which is inserted for analysis. There is a problem that water mixes in the sample together with the suction needle and the component fluctuates, or a position detection sensor (for example, an optical detector) provided for automatic loading and unloading of the analysis sample bottle malfunctions due to dew condensation. There was such a problem as Furthermore, the device for handling the liquid that is always in contact with the analysis sample bottle 15 is complicated, and the handling is complicated. As one method of avoiding such a problem, a cooling base whose surface is cooled by a cooling source is used, an analysis sample holder is mounted on the base, and an analysis sample bottle accommodated in the holder is used. It is conceivable to cool the bottom surface from the bottom. Then, this invention aims at providing the novel sample holder for analysis suitable for using for such a method.

[0004]

The analytical sample holder of the present invention for achieving the above object is an analytical sample holder designed to be cooled from the bottom by being mounted on a cooling base. A holder main body and a plurality of accommodating portions for accommodating the analysis sample bottles provided in the main body, and the main body and the side wall of the accommodating portion are made of a synthetic resin molded body A drainage hole for the drain smaller than the bottom surface of the sample bottle is formed at the bottom of the sample bottle, and the sample bottle is configured to be placed on the bottom surface of the housing portion by its own weight. It is characterized in that the sample bottle is cooled by the cooling base through the condensed water held between them.

[0005]

The plurality of analysis sample bottles are accommodated in the holder of the holder body while being vertically supported so as to be vertically movable.
By mounting the holder body 1 accommodating a plurality of analysis sample bottles on the cooling base 8 in this manner, the bottom 7 of the accommodating portion 4 comes into contact with or close to the surface (cooling surface) of the cooling base 8. And the bottom surface of each analysis sample bottle is placed on the bottom surface of the container. The bottom portion 7 of the housing portion 4
Has a drain drain hole smaller than the bottom surface of the sample bottle, and the condensed water is held between the drain hole and the bottom surface of the sample bottle. Therefore, the analysis sample bottle comes into contact with the surface of the cooling base through the condensed water. Usually, a small amount of sample liquid is stored in the sample bottle for analysis, so by cooling the bottom surface of the bottle from the surface of the cooling base through dew condensation water, the sample bottle can be cooled very efficiently and quickly. . At this time, since the holder main body and the side wall of the accommodating portion are molded products of synthetic resin, it is possible to provide a highly accurate product with high mass productivity and to reduce the weight of the holder.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a sample holder for analysis of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing a part thereof. The holder body 1 has a disc 2 and a peripheral wall 3 extending vertically from the periphery thereof, and a plurality of accommodating portions 4 are provided along the peripheral wall 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the accommodating portion 4 is composed of a cylindrical space portion having a diameter capable of accommodating the sample holder for analysis in a vertically movable manner, and its side wall 5 is composed of an inner side wall 5a and an outer side wall 5b. The inner side wall 5a is formed integrally with the peripheral wall 3. On the outer side wall 5b, a vertical slit 6 is provided for each of the housing portions 4 from the upper end to the middle thereof, if necessary. This slit 6 is effective when the cooling gas is blown from the outer peripheral direction of the holder body 1 to further increase the cooling capacity.

The disk 2, the peripheral wall 3 and the accommodating portion 4 of the holder body are integrally or adhered by a hard synthetic resin such as polyvinyl chloride, polyamide (nylon) or polyester by injection molding or cutting. be able to. The bottom portion 7 of the housing portion 4 is formed of a metal material having good thermal conductivity, for example, a metal material such as aluminum or copper, and the inner side wall 5a and the outer side wall 5 are formed by an adhesive or insert molding.
It is connected with b. The holder body 1 is mounted on the cooling base 8. The cooling base 8 has a cooling surface 9 that is an upper surface thereof formed into a circular shape having a size that fits the outer circumference of the holder body 1, and has an annular frame 10 at the peripheral edge.
The holder body 1 is placed on the annular frame 10. Cooling surface 9
The annular frame 10 and the annular frame 10 are both made of a metal material having good thermal conductivity. Further, a drain hole 11 for discharging condensed water is provided in the bottom portion 7 of the accommodating portion. This drain hole 11
The area of the bottom 7 is extremely small compared to the area of the bottom 7. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, when the analysis sample bottle 15 is placed on the bottom portion 7 by its own weight, the drain hole 11 is closed by the analysis sample bottle. A drainage groove 12 is provided on the annular frame 10 facing the drainage hole 11. The drainage channel 12 is connected to the outside by a conduit (not shown) from below at an appropriate position.

At the center of the disc 2 of the holder body, there is provided a coupling portion 13 to which a drive shaft (not shown) for rotating the holder body 1 is coupled. The coupling portion 13 has a cylindrical body extending downward from the disc 2 and a polygonal peripheral wall portion provided on the inner periphery of the lower portion for fitting the drive shaft. A drive source such as a step motor is housed inside the cooling base 8, and its drive shaft extends through the cooling surface 9 and extends upward, and is coupled to the above-mentioned coupling portion 13. The two holes 14 of the disc 2 are provided so as to be convenient for inserting a finger or the like when the holder body 1 is attached to or detached from the cooling base 8. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where the sample bottle for analysis is housed in each housing part of the holder body. The analysis sample bottle 15 is composed of a bottle main body 16 made of glass or the like and a sealing cap 17 inserted into the upper opening thereof. Sealing cap
Reference numeral 17 is a synthetic resin such as polypropylene or polyamide (nylon), which is integrally formed of an elastic material. A sample liquid 19 is stored in the bottle body 16, and when the sample liquid 19 is taken out, a suction needle is penetrated from above into the sealing cap 17.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view showing another example of the sample holder for analysis of the present invention according to FIG. The example of FIG. 4 is different from that of FIG. 2 only in that the inner side wall 5a and the outer side wall 5b in the housing portion of FIG. 2 are the integrally formed side wall 5 in FIG. It is the same. By doing so, there is an advantage that the manufacturing process can be simplified. Next, the operation of the sample holder for analysis of the above embodiment will be described. The sample bottle 15 for analysis is housed in each housing portion 4 of the holder body 1 as shown in FIG. 3, and the holder body 1 is mounted on the cooling base 8. The sample liquid 19 in the analysis sample bottle 15 is cooled by the cooling base 8 at the bottom portion 7 of the containing portion which is in contact with the bottom surface of the bottle body 16. At the same time, dew condensation water is held in the drain holes 11 closed by the bottom of the analysis sample bottle 15, and the bottom surface of the analysis sample bottle 15 is efficiently cooled by the cooling base 8 via this condensation water. If the dew condensation water is abnormally accumulated on the bottom portion 7 due to the cooling, it is discharged to the outside through the drain hole 11 and the drain groove 12. However, during use, at least the drain holes 11 are always filled with condensed water. Further, during cooling, the heat conduction around the bottle body 16 is suppressed by the side wall 5 of the accommodating portion, and the bottle body 16 is kept cool.

A drive source (not shown) is driven by a sample take-out command from the analytical instrument, whereby the holder main body is rotated and stops when the desired sample comes to the position of the suction needle. Next, the suction needle descends and penetrates the seal material 18, sucks out the sample liquid in the bottle body, and then rises again to prepare for the next sample suction. Since a series of methods for sucking out the sample and the apparatus itself are known, the details thereof will be omitted. In the above embodiment, the holder main body 1 is circular and a large number of accommodating portions 4 are provided on the peripheral wall portion thereof. However, the holder main body 1 is rectangular and the accommodating portions are arranged in a plurality of linear rows. Good. As a sample selection method in that case, a method of moving the suction needle along the accommodating portion is mechanically advantageous.

[0011]

Since the sample holder for analysis of the present invention is constructed as described above, it does not have the wet defect that the sample bottle for analysis comes into contact with the cooling water like the holder in the conventional apparatus, and the structure is simple. Easy to handle. Further, since the bottom surface of the sample bottle for analysis is cooled by the cooling base through the drain hole 11 and the condensed water held between the bottom portion and the sample bottle, the cooling efficiency is high and the sample is cooled quickly. be able to. Further, since the holder main body and the side wall of the accommodating portion are formed of lightweight synthetic resin with good heat insulation, the sample can be kept cool and the overall weight can be reduced. This weight reduction has an advantage that the inertia is reduced and the selection speed can be improved when the sample is selected by rotating the holder body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a sample holder for analysis of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing a part of FIG. 1 cut away.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which an analysis sample bottle is stored in each storage portion of the holder main body of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view showing another example of the sample holder for analysis of the present invention according to FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Holder main body 2 Disc 3 Circular wall 4 Storage part 5 Side wall 5a Inner side wall 5b Outer side wall 6 Slit 7 Bottom part 8 Cooling base 9 Cooling surface 10 Annular frame 11 Drain hole 12 Drain groove 13 Coupling part 14 Hole 15 Analysis sample Bottle 16 Bottle body 17 Sealing cap 18 Sealant 19 Sample solution

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A sample holder for analysis, which is designed to be cooled by being detachably mounted on a cooling base (8), the holder body (1) and the sample body provided on the body (1). The main body (1) is provided with a plurality of storage parts (4) for storing analysis sample bottles (15).
And the accommodating portion (4) is formed of a synthetic resin molded body, and the drainage hole (11) for drain smaller than the bottom surface of the sample bottle (15) is formed at the bottom of the accommodating portion (4) to obtain the sample. The bottle (15) has the accommodation section (4) due to its own weight.
The drain hole (11) is configured to be placed on the bottom surface of the
A sample holder characterized in that the sample bottle (15) is cooled by the cooling base through condensed water held between the sample bottle (15) and the bottom surface of the sample bottle (15).