JPH08131725A - Filter-feeding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a filter-feeding apparatus wherein a filter can be surely taken out by preventing a filter from falling down and bounding back when the filter is descending during taking out. CONSTITUTION: A filter feeding apparatus has a constitution wherein a cartridge filter is fed from a filter storing part by providing a shooter 4 below a filter storing part 1 wherein a plurality of cartridge filters are stored. This shooter 4 is constituted of a supporting stage 41 which is formed of two pieces of plate materials and a stopper provided at the front end part of these plate materials and is slidable forth and back for a definite distance, a guide 42 which is formed of two pieces of wide plate materials and is positioned below the cartridge filter storing part and on the end part of the channel part of the supporting stage, and a lever 43 which is formed of a standing plate part for pushing the cartridge filter and a transverse plate part entered into the channel part of the supporting stage and is slidable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filter supply device for filtering a sample, which is mainly used for analyzing a liquid sample by an analytical instrument such as a liquid chromatograph or a reagent elution test device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a sample is analyzed by an analytical instrument such as a liquid chromatograph or a dissolution tester for reagents, impurities such as fine particles and fixed substances in the sample which adversely affect the measurement are introduced before the instrument is introduced. Need to be removed. For removing impurities, a replaceable cartridge filter (disposable filter) including a disc-shaped filter holding portion containing a filter material such as filter paper, a short sample solution introducing tube, and an outflow tube is used. As shown in FIG. 7, such a cartridge filter (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as a filter) is supplied from a filter supply device configured to accommodate a large number. That is, the filters 5 are vertically stacked with their axes being stored in the filter storage portion 1 and are taken out one by one from the passage holes 2b provided in the rotating plate 2 arranged in the lower portion. A stopper plate 3 for temporarily stopping the filter 5 is provided below the rotary plate 2, and a shutter 14 for discharging the filter 5 is provided below the stopper plate 3.

[0003]

In the filter accommodating device shown in FIG. 7, since the filter support portions on both sides of the filter discharging shooter 14 are narrow, the stopper at the front part of the shooter 14 when the filter 5 falls. There is a problem that it strongly hits 14a and falls in the middle of the shooter 14 or retracts from a position where it should be stopped and the filter cannot be taken out, which causes a problem in cooperation with the robot hand for picking up the filter. Further, there is a problem that the size of the filter is large and small, and the size cannot be detected when the filter is taken out, which is a little inconvenient for automation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to prevent the filter from falling or bouncing when it is lowered when it is taken out, and to reliably take out the filter, and to detect the presence and size of the filter. It is an object of the present invention to provide a filter supply device which can be used and which is convenient in automating the analyzer.

[0005]

That is, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by providing a flat plate-shaped filter holding portion containing a filtering material, a sample liquid introducing tube provided on one of the filter holding portions, and the other. In a filter supply device in which a shutter is provided at the lower part of a filter storage part that stores a plurality of cartridge filters each of which is provided with a sample outflow tube, and the cartridge filter is supplied from the filter storage part,
The shutter is formed by two plate members on which a groove for inserting the sample liquid introduction pipe or the outflow pipe of the cartridge filter is inserted and the filter holding portion is placed on the surface, and a stopper provided at the front end of these plate members. A support base formed so as to be slidable back and forth by a certain distance by a driving mechanism and two wide plate members are formed at the upper end of one of them, and the space between these plate members is the space of the filter falling portion of the cartridge filter storage unit. The other end is curved so that the space between them is located at the end of the groove of the support and is substantially flush with the surfaces on both sides of the support. Of the guide, a standing plate portion for pushing the cartridge filter mounted on the support base, and a horizontal plate portion having a slidable width to enter the groove portion of the support base, and can be slid back and forth by a predetermined distance by a drive mechanism. Done lever , In characterized in that it is configured.

[0006]

The operation when the filter supply device is used as the above means will be described with reference to the reference numerals in the accompanying drawings. First, when the rotating plate 2 is rotated by the means (1), the shaft of the filter 5 stored in the lowermost stage of the filter storage portion 1 passes through the notch 3a of the stopper 3 and falls into the shooter 4, Shu
It stops at the stopper 41c position of the support base 41 of the printer 4. The dropped filter 5 is picked up by the robot hand or the like as follows. (1) The filter 5 taken out from the filter storage unit 1 falls along the guide 42, and the stopper 41 of the support base 41.
Stop at c. In this case, since the guide 42 of the filter 5 is formed in an arc shape, its axis (the sample liquid introduction pipe 5b and the outflow pipe 5c) is rotated by 90 ° and becomes vertical (FIG. 4 (A)). (2) When the filter 5 is stopped, the lever 43 is pushed out to press the filter 5 against the stopper 41c of the support base 41. At this time, the diameter of the filter holding portion 5a of the filter 5 can be measured as described later (FIG. 4 (B)). (3) The filter 5 is further pushed forward by the lever 43. In this case, the lever 43 and the support base 41 are pushed out by their own drive mechanisms (not shown) (FIG. 4 (C)). (4) The lever 43 is returned to its original position or halfway by its drive mechanism. In this case, the filter 5 and the support base 41 are pushed forward, and in this state, the robot hand (not shown) picks up the filter 5. Then, the support base 41 operates the drive mechanism to return it to the original position (FIG. 4 (D)). In this case, the groove 41a of the support base 41
Inside, the lever 43 can be slid to the position of the stopper 41c to check whether the filter 5 is reliably picked up by the robot hand.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a filter supply device of the present invention, FIG. 2 (A) is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 (B) is a view taken along arrow P of FIG. 2 (A), 2 (C)
2 is a plan view of FIG. 2B viewed from above. This filter supply device is mainly composed of a filter housing portion 1, a rotating disc 2, a stopper plate 3, a shooter 4, and the like.
The filter 5 is composed of a flat plate-shaped filter holding portion 5a containing a filter medium such as a filter paper, a sample solution introducing pipe 5b provided on one side of the filter holding portion 5a, and a sample outflow pipe 5c provided on the other side. As shown in FIG. 2 (A), the filter housing portion 1 has six pieces (the number can be increased or decreased) around the shaft 1a.
The filters 5 are stacked and housed in the vertical direction such that the axes of the filters 5 (that is, the sample liquid introducing tube 5b and the sample outflow tube 5c) are in the horizontal direction.

A rotary disk 2 is arranged below the filter housing 1 so as to be rotatable around a shaft 1a via bearings 6,6. A gear 2a is provided around the rotary disc 2 and is engaged with a pinion 8 fitted on the shaft of the motor 7 to be rotationally driven. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2A, the rotary disc 2 is provided with a passage hole 2b through which only one filter 5 can pass.

A stopper plate 3 is provided below the rotary disc 2 in parallel with the rotary disc 2. The stopper plate 3
Is fixed to the shaft 1a, and therefore, the position is fixed with respect to the filter housing portion 1. In this case, the gap t between the rotating disc 2 and the stopper plate 3 is equal to the filter 5
The diameter of the shaft (sample liquid introduction pipe 5b and outflow pipe 5c) is set to be smaller. The stopper plate 3 is provided with a notch 3a through which the sample liquid introduction tube 5b or the outflow tube 5c of the filter 5 can pass, and the position is not located directly under any of the six filter accommodating portions 1. Is set. A shooter 4 is arranged directly below the stopper plate 3.

Next, FIG. 3 (A) is a perspective view of the guide 42 constituting the shooter 4, and FIG. 3 (B) is an overall perspective view of the shooter 4. The shooter 4 comprises a support base 41 having a groove 41a, smooth curved guides 42 and 42 arranged in parallel with a constant space 42a, and a lever 43 for pushing out the dropped filter 5. Has been done.

The support base 41 includes two plate members 41b and 41b.
b and the stopper 41c at the front end, the width of the groove 41a formed between these two plate members is equal to the width of the filter 5
The width is such that the shaft (sample liquid introducing pipe 5b or outflow pipe 5c) enters and the filter holding portion 5a of the filter 5 is placed on the surfaces of the plate members 41b and 41b on both sides. The support 41
Can be slid back and forth by a certain distance by a drive mechanism (not shown). The curved guide 42 is formed of a wide plate material, and one upper end portion is arranged such that a space 42a between the guides 42, 42 is located directly below the stopper plate 3 and the other end portion is formed. The space 42a is located at the end of the groove 41a of the support base 41, and the support base 41a
It is installed so as to be substantially flush with the surfaces 41d, 41d on both sides of. The lever 43 is for pushing the filter 5 forward, and has a width that allows it to slide into the standing plate portion 43a for pushing the filter 5 placed on the support base and the groove portion 41a of the support base 41. It is formed by the plate portion 43b. A protrusion 43c is provided at the front end of the lever 43 to prevent the filter 5 from falling when pushing the filter holding portion 5a of the filter 5. The lever
43 is also slidable forward and backward by a drive mechanism (not shown).

The operation when a filter is supplied by the filter supply device configured as described above will be described. First, the filter 5 is placed in the filter housing 1 of the filter supply device
To store. When the rotating disc 2 is rotated, the filter 5 at the lowermost stage enters the passage hole 2b of the rotating disc 2 on the way, and the filter 5 that enters the passage hole 2b is, as shown in FIG. The plate 3 is stopped while it has entered the passage hole 2b. Next, the rotary disc 2 is rotated until the passage hole 2b reaches the position of the notch 3a of the stopper plate 3. As a result, the shaft of the filter 5 stored in the lowermost stage of the filter storage unit 1 passes through the notch 3a and falls into the shooter 4, and at the position of the stopper 41c of the support base 41 of the shooter 4. Stop.

Next, the filter 5 dropped on the shooter 4
An operation for picking up the robot hand or the like will be described with reference to FIG. (1) The filter 5 taken out from the filter storage unit 1 falls along the guide 42, and the stopper 41 of the support base 41.
Stop at c. In this case, since the guide 42 of the filter 5 is formed in an arc shape, its axis (the sample liquid introduction pipe 5b and the outflow pipe 5c) is rotated by 90 ° and becomes vertical (FIG. 4 (A)). (2) When the filter 5 is stopped, the lever 43 is pushed out to press the filter 5 against the support base 41 stopper 41c. At this time, the diameter of the filter holding portion 5a of the filter 5 can be measured as described later (FIG. 4 (B)). (3) The filter 5 is further pushed forward by the lever 43. In this case, the lever 43 and the support base 41 are pushed out by their own drive mechanisms (not shown) (FIG. 4 (C)). (4) The lever 43 is returned to its original position or halfway by its drive mechanism. In this case, the filter 5 and the support base 41 are pushed forward, and in this state, the robot hand (not shown) picks up the filter 5. Then, the support base 41 operates the drive mechanism to return it to the original position (FIG. 4 (D)). In this case, the groove 41a of the support base 41
Inside, the lever 43 can be slid to the position of the stopper 41c to check whether the filter 5 is reliably picked up by the robot hand.

As described above, the filter 5 dropped from the shooter 4 is pushed forward by the lever 43 while being mounted on the support base 41. At this time, the diameter of the filter holding portion 5a of the filter 5 is changed. Can be measured. That is, FIG. 5A shows the filter 5 that has dropped onto the support base 41.
The state in which the lever 43 is pressed is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5B, a sensor 10 is provided near the upper portion of the lever 43, and a scale 43d is provided on the surface of the lever 43. Then, the lever 43 can be slid to press the filter 5 against the stopper 41c of the support base 41, and the diameter of the filter holding portion 5a of the filter 5 can be measured depending on which position of the scale 43d the sensor 10 detects. it can. In order to measure the diameter of the filter sandwiching portion 5a of the filter 5, as shown in FIG. 5 (C), the lever 43 is provided with unevenness 43e on the surface end portion and is composed of the light emitting element 11a and the light receiving element 11b. The sensor 11 may be used to measure the stop position of the lever 43.

Although the shooter 4 for dropping the filter 5 is made of a wide plate material, if it is necessary to further improve the stability when dropping, as shown in FIG. The separate guides 42 'may be juxtaposed in parallel with each other so that the shafts (the sample liquid introducing tube 5b or the outflow tube 5c) are provided with the grooves 42a' to the extent that they do not come into contact with each other from both sides and the drops are dropped.

[0016]

As described in detail above, according to the filter supply device of the present invention, since the width of the supporting portion when the filter is dropped can be widened by the wide guide, it is possible to filter the filter during or after dropping. It is possible to prevent falling. Also, when the filter was only allowed to fall naturally, it could not be stopped at a fixed position because the filter bounced off the stopper and stopped before hitting the stopper. Since the filter is pushed by the rear lever, the stop position of the filter can be made constant. Furthermore, since the diameter of the disk portion of the filter can be measured, it can be appropriately handled when operating the robot hand.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a filter supply device according to the present invention.

2 (A) is a sectional view taken along the line XX in FIG.
2 (B) is a view taken in the direction of arrow P of FIG. 2 (A), and FIG.
2 is a plan view of FIG. 2B viewed from above.

FIG. 3 (A) is a perspective view of a shooter, and FIG.
(B) is an overall perspective view of the shooter.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a series of operations for pushing a dropped filter forward, and FIG. 4 (A) is a diagram showing a state in which the filter is dropped from a guide and is placed on a support base; ) Is a view of the filter being pressed against the stopper of the support, FIG. 4 (C) is a view of the city itself and the filter being pushed forward by the lever, and FIG. 4 (D) is a view of pushing the support filter forward. It is a figure of the state where only a lever returned to the original position in the state where it was.

FIG. 5 (A) is a diagram showing a state in which a lever is pressed against a filter that has fallen on a support table, and FIG. 5 (B) shows a scale and a lever provided with a sensor for detecting the scale. FIG. 5C is a perspective view of a lever provided with another scale and a sensor for detecting this scale.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another embodiment of a shooter used in the filter supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a conventional filter supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Filter Storage 2 Rotating Disc 3 Stopper Plate 4 Shooter 41 Support 42 Guide 43 Lever 5 Filter 10, 11 Sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of cartridge filters each comprising a flat plate-shaped filter holding portion containing a filter medium, a sample liquid introducing pipe provided on one side of the filter holding portion, and a sample outflow pipe provided on the other side. A filter supply device in which a shooter is provided at a lower portion of a filter storage part to supply a cartridge filter from the filter storage part.
The cartridge filter is formed by two plate members each having a groove enough to receive the sample liquid introduction pipe or the outflow pipe of the cartridge filter and having the filter medium holding portion mounted on the surface thereof, and a stopper provided at the front end portion of these plate members. It is made up of two wide plates that are slidable back and forth by a drive mechanism, and the upper end of one plate has a space between these plates below the filter drop part of the cartridge filter storage part. The curved guides are arranged so that the space between them is located at the end of the groove of the support and is substantially flush with the surfaces on both sides of the support. And a lever that is formed by a vertical plate portion that pushes the cartridge filter mounted on the support table and a horizontal plate portion that has a width that can be slid into the groove of the support table and that can be slid back and forth by a predetermined distance by a drive mechanism. − And consist of Filter feed device.