JPH07833A - Insertion of chip for micropipet into rack - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To insert chips for a micropipet into a chip insertion hole securely and rapidly using an automatic device when packing the chips in a rack. CONSTITUTION:A chip 10 is fed to a transport device 31 from a parts feeder 21 and so many chips are aligned by holding the chips using the groove part 35 of the transport device 31. Then the chips are moved to a position above a rack 15 after matching the interval between the chip 10 in a fixed direction to the interval between chip insertion holes using a pitch determining device 41. Further, the chips are once allowed to fall into the inverse conical through hole of a fixture with this through hole, and then are dropped into the chip insertion holes of the rack 15 by opening the fixture.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tip of a micropipette for collecting various reagents and the like in minute quantities, and more particularly to a method of inserting the tip into a rack when trading the tip as a product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, in biotechnology related laboratories and many other laboratories and test centers, micro pipettes are used to quantitatively dispense minute amounts of reagents, samples or specimens into test tubes, microplates, petri dishes, etc. Is being done. This micropipette is generally used to take a fixed amount of several microliters to several hundreds of microliters and dispense it into another container. A disposable tip called a tip is used. Has a conical shape as shown in FIG.

The chip 10 for this micropipette has two
Several standards are available, such as one for 0 microliters or less, one for 200 microliters or less, and one for 1000 microliters or less, but the material is synthetic resin and its shape is generally conical. ing.
Then, in the field of biotechnology, as shown in FIG. 11, the base portion 11 of the tip 10 to be inserted into the tip of the micropipette is erected with the rack 15 in an upright state, and sterilized together with the rack 15.
Often, pipetting is performed under sterile conditions.

This is because if the tip 10 is set up in the rack 15 as described above, when the tip 10 is attached to the tip of the pipette, it is possible to work without touching it directly, so that the sample is contaminated. It is possible to perform safe pipette operation without any problems. For example, 96 chips can be placed in a rack 15 having chip insertion holes 17 of 8 rows and 12 columns as shown in FIG.
There is a thing which arranges 10 and is stored.

By the way, when the chip 10 is inserted into the chip insertion hole 17 provided in the rack 15, in most cases, the work is still done manually today.
In some cases, mechanical insertion is attempted, and the chips 10 are aligned in a fixed direction, and then the chips 10 are dropped into the racks 15 in alignment with the chip insertion holes 17.

[0006]

Since the manual insertion of the tip into the rack as described above is extremely inefficient, mechanical automation is strongly desired today. However, even in the automatic insertion by a machine, since the tip for micropipette is used in a large amount, the unit price of the tip is set low, and a complicated and expensive device cannot be used. Despite its low directional stability when handling due to the light weight of the chips, a large number of conical chips must be packed in a rack in a fixed direction, making it possible to use the machine accurately even when using a machine. It was difficult to move the chips to a predetermined position at high speed, and it was not possible to efficiently store them in the rack.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a parts feeder feeds a chip into a groove having a predetermined width, and the tip of the chip is dropped into the groove to align the chips in a certain direction. When the chips are dropped from the pitch determining device into the chip insertion hole by positioning the number of chips according to the number of rows of chip insertion holes provided in the rack on the rack in line with the spacing of the insertion holes,
Use a jig that has an inverted conical concave groove corresponding to the outer shape of the chip on the dividing surface, put this jig into the reverse conical through hole formed by the concave groove, and hold the chip once. After that, the jig is opened and the chips are dropped into the chip insertion holes of the rack.

[0008]

[Operation] The present invention adopts the method of feeding the tip to the groove by the parts feeder and dropping the tip of the conical tip into the groove. Therefore, it is extremely easy to align the tip of the tip downward in a certain direction. Is. Further, since the chips aligned in a certain direction are sent to the pitch determining device and are transferred onto the rack in accordance with the intervals and the number of the chip insertion holes, the chips are respectively placed on the row of chip insertion holes provided in the rack. It is easy to position each chip with the tip down.

When the chip is dropped from the pitch determining device, the tip of the chip is placed at the position of the chip insertion hole because the jig having the inverted conical groove is dropped into the groove of the jig so as to hold it once. The chips can be properly aligned, and by opening the jig, the chips can be simultaneously dropped into the chip insertion holes arranged in a line.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, a device for packing chips according to the present invention is a chip loaded in a hopper 19.
10 is dropped near the central part of the parts feeder 21, the chip 10 inserted in the parts feeder 21 is sent to the transfer device 31 having the groove part 35, and the chip 10 which is not held in the groove part 35 is returned to the parts feeder 21 by the groove part 35. The chips 10 are aligned and sent to the pitch determining device 41. In the pitch determining device 41, the intervals between the chip insertion holes 17 provided in the rack 15 are set, and at least the number of recesses of the chip insertion holes 17 forming at least one row is formed. While supporting the vicinity of the base 11 of the chip 10 by the comb part 45 having the 46 formed therein, the chips 10 are inserted into the respective recesses 46 and transferred onto the rack 15, and the chip insertion holes formed in the rack 15.
Each of the chips 10 is positioned directly above each chip insertion hole 17 forming one row of 17 to drop the chip 10.At this time, the chip 10 dropped from the comb portion 45 is once held by a jig 61. After that, the chip 10 is dropped into the chip insertion hole 17 of the rack 15, and the rack 15 is fed from the empty rack loading section 71 to the positioning device 75 by the rack feeding device 73, and the positioning device 75 is operated by a pulse motor. Position the rack 15 with the worm nut so that the chip insertion hole 17 provided in the rack 15 is correctly positioned under the jig 61, and position each row under the jig 61 in sequence to insert the chips 10. After inserting the chips into the chip insertion holes 17, the rack transfer device 77 sends the racks 15 to the stocker 79, and the racks 15 filled with the chips 10 are loaded by sequentially pushing up the racks 15 in the stockers 79.

The parts feeder 21 has a cylindrical shape or an inverted conical shape for accommodating the chips 10 therein. A spiral shelf 24 is provided along the peripheral wall 23 from the bottom 22 upward. , The chips 10 put into the bottom portion 22 by the combined vibration of the vertical vibration and the circumferential vibration are placed on the shelf 24 and lifted along the peripheral wall 23 of the parts feeder 21, and the end portion of the transfer device 31 is moved. To send to.

In this carrying device 31, two wall portions 33 are parallel to each other and a groove portion 35 is formed between the wall portions 33, and the distance between the wall portions 33 is slightly smaller than the maximum outer diameter of the chip base 11. Then, the tip 12 of the chip 10 can be dropped so as to support the vicinity of the base 11 with the tip 12 of the chip 10 facing downward, and one end of the wall portion 33 is raised to make the peripheral wall 23 of the parts feeder 21 The height is near the upper end, the wall 33 is inclined so that the other end of the wall 33 is lower than the one end, and the horizontal vibration is performed while supporting the vicinity of the base 11 of the chip 10 dropped in the groove 35. The chip 10 supported by is sent to the pitch determining device 41.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transporting device 31 locates the end of the peripheral wall 23 inside the peripheral wall 23 of the parts feeder 21, and has a notch 29 provided in the shelf 24 or the peripheral wall 23. Align the top of the end with the height of the shelf 24 by aligning the end of the transport device 31 with the
The chips 10 that have risen from 24 are collected in the groove portion 35 of the transfer device 31, and the chips 10 that have passed the groove portion 35 of the transfer device 31 are returned to the bottom portion 22 of the parts feeder 21 through the drop opening 26, and the tip 12 has dropped into the groove portion 35. The chips 10 are sequentially sent to the pitch determining device 41.

The pitch deciding device 41 for receiving the chips 10 from the carrying device 31 has a stopper 42 for stopping the chips 10 sent by the carrying device 31, as shown in FIG.
And a comb part 45 that moves in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the transfer device 31, and the comb part 45 has a large number of recesses 46 at its tip. , The concave portion 46 is formed from the groove portion 35 of the transfer device 31 to the chip.
The positioning device 75 is provided along the rail part 52 while supporting the chips 10 by receiving each one of the ten parts in the concave part 46 and cooperating with the fixing part 53 provided in conformity with the end position of the transfer device 31.
The chip 10 is moved onto the rack 15 which is fixed to the fixture of FIG. 1, and the intervals of the recesses 46 are formed so as to match the intervals of the chip insertion holes 17 provided in the rack 15.
The number of 46 is at least more than the number of rows of the chip insertion holes 17 provided in the rack 15, and at the time of operation, the number of chips 10 in the rack 15 equal to the number of rows of the chip insertion holes 17 provided in the rack 15 is provided. It sends it upwards.

The comb portion 45 moves along the rail portion 52 integrally with the mounting portion 47 by rotating a worm nut incorporated in the rail portion 52 by a pulse motor incorporated in the driving portion 51. In this pitch determining device 41, the conveying device 31
Detecting that the chip 10 has been inserted from the groove portion 35 into the concave portion 46 of the comb portion 45, the comb portion 45 is moved intermittently, and thus the chip 10 is surely inserted into each concave portion 46. When the chip 10 is supported by the respective recesses 46, the stopper 42 is operated to prevent the chip 10 from falling off the end of the transfer device 31, while the comb part 45 is fixed to the positioning device 75, and the rack 15 and the rack 15. The comb portion 45 is moved to the position of the jig 61 arranged above, and the comb portion 45 is retracted in the direction of the mounting portion by the air cylinder to widen the gap between the fixed portion 53 and the recessed portion 46 of the pitch determining device 41 and to insert the chip. 10 is dropped on the jig 61.

This jig 61, as shown in FIG.
It is formed by two blocks having a thickness of about two-thirds of the length of 10, and one block is a fixed piece 62 and the other block is a movable piece 63. A semi-conical concave groove portion 65 matching the chip 10 is formed on the mating surface of the movable piece 63 and the movable piece 63, and when the fixed piece 62 and the movable piece 63 are combined, the concave portion provided on the fixed piece 62 is formed. The interval between the plurality of inverted conical through holes formed by the groove portion 65 and the concave groove portion 65 provided in the movable piece 63 is equal to the interval between the chip insertion holes 17 provided in the rack 15. Jig 61 is used.

As shown in FIG. 5, the fixing piece 62 of the jig 61 is fixed so that its dividing surface is substantially flush with the front surface of the fixing portion 53 of the pitch determining device 41. As shown in FIG. 6, the fixing piece 62 is fixed as the height at which the tip 12 of the chip 10 suspended by the comb portion 45 is slightly inserted into the concave groove portion 65, and is adjusted to the height of the fixing piece 62. The movable piece 63 is adjusted, and the movable piece 63 can be moved forward and backward in the horizontal direction by an air cylinder.

Therefore, when the movable piece 63 is moved forward so as to align with the fixed piece 62 when the chip 10 is transferred to the upper side of the rack 15 by the comb section 45 of the pitch determining device 41, the concave groove portion 65 provided in the fixed piece 62 is formed. An inverted conical through hole is formed by the concave groove portion 65 provided in the movable piece 63, and since the through hole is an inverted conical shape having a large upper diameter, the tip 10 moves together with the comb portion 45 and the tip of the tip 10 moves. Even if the 12 shakes a little, the tip 12 of the chip 10 can be surely positioned inside the through hole, and when the comb portion 45 is retracted by the air cylinder, the chips 10 are simultaneously put into the through holes of the jig 61. Insert the jig with the jig 61
Can support 10.

The height of the fixed piece 62 and the movable piece 63 of the jig 61 is such that the upper surface of the jig 61 is hung on the comb portion 45.
If you want to set the height so that it is close to the tip 12 of 10, moveable piece 63
The fixed groove 62 of the fixed piece 62 and the groove 65 of the movable piece 63 form an inverted conical through hole by setting the fixed piece 62 and the fixed piece 62 together, and a pitch determining device is provided to this through hole position.
The comb 45 of 41 may be moved to drop the chip 10 into the through hole of the jig 61.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the tip 12 of the chip 10 supported by the jig 61 is slightly inserted into the chip insertion hole 17 or at a height immediately above the chip insertion hole 17. If the rack 15 is supported by the fixture of the positioning device 75, the through hole formed in the jig 61 has an inverted conical shape, and the tip 10 has an inverted conical shape. The fixed groove 62 so that the
Since the chip 10 can be temporarily supported by the concave groove portion 65 of the movable piece 63 and the chip insertion hole 17 of the rack 15 is located at this position, the chip 10 can be securely held when the movable piece 63 is retracted. Can be dropped into the chip insertion hole 17.

As described above, in this embodiment, the parts feeder 21
The chip 10 is sequentially sent to the end of the carrier device 31 by the
10 are aligned in a certain direction, and the aligned chips 10 are sent to above the rack 15 with a pitch determining device 41 at an interval equal to the interval of the chip insertion holes 17, and an inverted cone formed on the divided surface of the jig 61. Tip 10 is dropped into the through hole of
Support 10 and then open jig 61 to rack chip 10
Since the method of dropping into the chip insertion hole 17 of 15 is adopted, when the chip 10 is dropped into the through hole of the jig 61, the through hole has an inverted conical shape and its upper end diameter is relatively large,
Even if the tip 12 of the tip 10 hung on the comb portion 45 is rocking, the tip 10 can be dropped into the through hole, and the tip 61 is once supported by the jig 61 so that the tip 12 of the tip 10 is correctly positioned at a predetermined position. In addition, it will be dropped into the chip insertion hole 17 of the rack 15, so that the chips 10 can be easily and reliably stored in the rack 15 in a dense state, and a row of chips 10 can be inserted all at once. Since it is dropped into the rack 17, it can be quickly stored in the rack 15.

Then, the empty rack 15 is fed from the empty rack loading section 71 to the positioning device 75 by the rack feeding device 73, and the chip insertion hole 17 is fixed at an appropriate position under the jig 61 by the fixing device of the positioning device 75. Then, the pitch determining device 41 and the jig 61
Drop the single row of chips 10 into the chip insertion hole 17,
While the chip 10 is once supported by the jig 61, the comb portion 45
Is returned to the initial position of the pitch determining device 41, the jig 61 is opened while the chips 10 are being inserted into the recesses 46 and the chips 10 are dropped into the chip insertion holes 17 of the rack 15, and then the rack is moved by the positioning device 75. When 15 is moved by one row, the combs 45 in which the chips 10 are inserted in all the recesses 46 can be moved onto the jig 61 to drop the chips 10 into the next row all together, and the rack 15 When the chips 10 are dropped into all the chip insertion holes 17 of the rack 15, the rack 15 filled by the positioning device 75 while the chips 10 are inserted into the recesses 46 of the jig 61 in the pitch determining device 41 is moved to the rack transfer device. After moving to 77, return the fixture of the positioning device 75 to the initial position, place the empty rack 15 sent by the rack feeding device 73 on the fixture and position it under the jig 61, and repeat this work. Sequentially inserts chips into rack 15 10 could be filled, and in the present embodiment, the chips 10 could be stored in the rack 15 having the chip insertion holes 17 in 8 rows and 12 rows in about 2 minutes.

Although the above embodiment uses the comb portion 45 in the pitch determining device 41, as shown in FIG. 8, a chain for supporting the chips 10 at intervals equal to the intervals of the chip insertion holes 17.
Using the 55, the chain 55 and the fixed portion 53 support the chip 10 from the transfer device 31 to move it above the jig 61, and the photo sensor 57 detects that the chip 10 has reached a predetermined position and moves. The part 54 is retracted, and the fixed piece 62 and the movable piece 63 of the jig 61 are
In some cases, a required number of chips 10, such as eight chips, may be dropped into the through holes formed on the divided surfaces of and.

As described above, the method of moving the chips 10 aligned in a certain direction by the transfer device 31 by the pitch determining device 41 using the chain 55 above the jig 61 is to continuously move the chips 10 to the jig 61. Therefore, the chips 10 can be packed more quickly in the rack. Even in the case of movement by the chain 55, not only the case where the chain 55 is intermittently driven to continuously move the chips 10 above the rack 15 and the jig 61 at a constant interval, but also in the transfer device 31. A stopper 42 is provided at the end, and the required number of chips 10 is supported by the chain 55 at an interval equal to the intervals of the chip insertion holes 17, and the stopper 42 temporarily stops the chips 10 supported by the chain 55 from the carrier device 31 to stop the chips 10. After providing a section to widen the distance between each other, the required number of chips 10
In some cases, the required number of pieces, such as eight pieces, may be moved as a set to be moved above the jig 61 by the chain 55 so that they are supported by the chain 55 at regular intervals.

[0025]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is arranged in a fixed direction, and
When dropping chips with a predetermined interval into the chip insertion hole of the rack, once drop them into the inverted conical through hole provided on the dividing surface of the jig, open the jig and drop the chip into the chip insertion hole of the rack Therefore, it is possible to make the tip of the tip temporarily stop at a fixed position by the jig and drop the tip into the tip insertion hole, and to reliably insert the tip into the rack.

Then, the parts feeder sends the chips to the carrying device, and after the chips are aligned in a certain direction by the carrying device, the pitch deciding device moves the chips to the upper side of the rack and the jig at predetermined intervals and drops them on the jig. Because it is a method to
It is a method that can be efficiently performed by a combination of relatively simple devices, and is a method that can be easily automated.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is an overall schematic view of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing a connecting portion between a parts feeder and a conveying device.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing a pitch determining device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a jig used in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view showing a mounting state of a jig used in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a state before dropping a chip on a jig.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which a chip is supported by a jig.

FIG. 8 is a top view showing another example of a pitch determining device for carrying out the method of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view and a perspective view showing an example of a micropipette tip.

FIG. 10 is a top view showing an example of a rack.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a state in which a micropipette tip is inserted into a rack.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 chip 11 chip base 12 chip tip 15 rack 17 chip insertion hole 21 parts feeder 22 bottom 24 shelf 26 drop port 31 transfer device 33 groove 41 pitch determining device 42 stopper 45 comb 46 recess 51 driving part 52 rail part 53 fixing part 55 Chain 57 Sensor 61 Jig 62 Fixed piece 63 Movable piece 65 Recessed groove portion 71 Empty rack loading portion 75 Positioning device 79 Stocker

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When inserting a chip for a micropipette into a rack in which a large number of rows of chip insertion holes are formed at predetermined intervals, the chip is fed by a parts feeder to a transfer device and aligned in a fixed direction with the tip of the chip facing downward. , The chips arranged in a certain direction are moved to the upper side of the rack by a pitching device at an interval equal to the interval of the chip insertion holes, and the chips are pitched in the inverted conical through holes formed on the divided surface of the jig. A method for inserting a tip into a rack for a micropipette, which comprises dropping the jig into the tip insertion hole provided in the rack after dropping the tip from the device.