JPH081471Y2 - Dispensing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a dispensing device for dispensing a target liquid such as a blood sample or a reagent.

(Prior art) The dispensing device not only has many types of liquids to be dispensed but also can freely respond to changes in the dispensed amount to improve efficiency and shorten the time required for dispensing. It is essential.

The conventional dispensing device, each time the type of liquid to be dispensed is different,
In addition, each time a dispensing unit amount changes, a cylinder and piston of a capacity suitable for inhaling / dispensing the liquid to be dispensed, a dispensing nozzle, etc. are assembled in each case, and the necessary piping etc. Was connected and used each time.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in the above-mentioned conventional dispensing device, since a cylinder and a piston, etc., each of which has a suitable capacity is assembled and a pipe is connected each time, it takes a long time before starting the dispensing. In addition, there is a drawback that work efficiency is poor.

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional dispensing device, the present invention assembles the components necessary for dispensing into a common frame, integrates them, and detachably attaches them to a robot or the like as a unit to dispense in a short time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing device which can start the dispensing operation and has a good dispensing work efficiency.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the dispensing device according to the present invention is
From between the cylinder and the cylinder that accommodates the piston in a slidable manner, the driving motor for the piston, the dispensing nozzle that communicates with the cylinder, and to which the pipette can be detachably attached, and between the cylinder and the dispensing nozzle. The motor, the cylinder, the nozzle, and the sensor are attached to a common frame to be integrated into a unit, which is composed of a sensor for detecting the air pressure in the cylinder, and the unit is detachably attached to the moving machine.

(Operation) According to the dispenser according to the present invention, the piston slidably housed in the cylinder is slid by the drive motor, and the amount of suction liquid for dispensing is detected by the sensor by the change in the air pressure in the cylinder. In addition, the liquid to be dispensed is sucked into a pipette that is detachably attached to the tip of the dispensing nozzle that is in communication with the cylinder, and a predetermined amount of liquid is discharged and dispensed. The nozzle and sensor can be attached to a common frame, and the whole unit can be attached to a moving machine such as a robot as an integrated unit to automatically dispense with high efficiency.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing a main part of a dispensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing its appearance, and FIG.
The figure is a front view thereof.

The dispensing device 1 includes a drive motor 2 having a rotating shaft 3 that can freely move in and out, a cylinder 5 that slidably accommodates a piston 8 connected to the rotating shaft 3, a pipette that detects the pressure in the cylinder 5. A sensor 13 for detecting the change of the air pressure in the cylinder 5 is provided for the amount of the liquid to be dispensed sucked and held in the cylinder 12, and the dispensing nozzle 11 is connected to the tip of the cylinder 5. The motor 2, the cylinder 5, the nozzle 11, and the sensor 13 are attached to the mount 4 as a common frame of the motor 2 and integrated, and the second arm of the robot 24 is used as a moving machine as shown in FIG. The whole of the vertical member 28 at the tip of 27 is detachably attached to a predetermined position of a vertically moving body (not shown) for use.

The motor 2 includes a rotating shaft 3 that can freely move in and out, and a mount 4 that forms a common frame and is fixed to the lower surface side with bolts 30.
It has and. A male screw 3a is engraved on the outer circumference of the rotary shaft 3, and the motor 2 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction and to rotate in the forward direction to perform a vertical ascending / descending operation in FIG.

In the cylinder 5, a joint member 6 is airtightly fitted and fixed to the lower end of a cavity that slidably accommodates a piston 8 connected to a rotary shaft 3 of a motor 2. The joint member 6 has a funnel-shaped conical hole 6a at the upper end, which fits airtightly to the inner periphery of the lower part of the cylinder 5, and a central hole 6b which communicates with the lower end of the conical hole 6a and extends downward. And a circumferential lower part, which is provided with a lateral narrow hole 6c communicating with the middle of the central hole 6b and communicating with the outside. An internal pressure lead-out pipe 7 communicating with the narrow hole 6c and projecting laterally is fixed. There is a nozzle on the inner circumference of the cylindrical lower part
The upper end of 11 is airtightly fitted and fixedly connected. The upper end of the cylinder 5 is fitted into the blind hole 4a of the mount 4 and is fixed to the mount 4.

The piston 8 has a tapered conical portion 8a corresponding to the conical hole 6a of the joint member 6 at the lower end, and a retainer 9 fixed to the lower end of the rotary shaft 3 inserted in the cylindrical upper part and this retainer 9 It is attached to the rotary shaft 3 via a bearing 10 fitted and assembled to the outer periphery of the cylinder. When the rotary shaft 3 moves in and out, it linearly moves vertically in the cylinder 5, but the bearing 10 Since it is intervening, it does not rotate.

The upper end of the nozzle 11 is airtightly fitted and fixed to the inner circumference of the joint member 6, and the central hole 11a that is continuous over the entire length has the joint member 6.
The pipette 12 communicates with the central hole 6a, and the replaceable pipette 12 shown in FIG. 1 is airtightly fitted to the outer periphery of the tapered lower end portion, and the liquid to be dispensed is sucked and used in the pipette 12.

The sensor 13 has an upper end fixed to the mount 4 with an adhesive, and the downward introduction pipe 13a has an internal pressure lead-out pipe 7 of the joint member 6.
A pipe 14 is connected to the pipe 5, and the pressure of the air in the cylinder 5 is detected to detect the liquid level and to detect the penetration length when the suction tip 12a of the pipette 12 penetrates into the liquid to be dispensed. The purpose is to detect the liquid amount of the liquid to be dispensed that is sucked into the pipette 12, and maintain the penetration length and the liquid amount at predetermined values to ensure the dispensing accuracy. This is because if the permeation length changes, the amount of the liquid to be dispensed that adheres to the pipette 12 changes and the dispensing accuracy is reduced.

Further, without using the pipe 14 and the internal pressure outlet pipe 7, the inlet pipe 13a
By directly connecting the small hole 6c with each other, the volume of the air chamber around the cylinder 5 is reduced, which is further effective in improving the responsiveness of air pressure.

As described above, the dispensing device 1 includes the motor 2 and the cylinder 5.
The sensor 13 and the sensor 13 are attached to and integrated with the mount 4 as a common frame 1.

The dispensing device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a rod 16 used for supporting the entire bracket 15 in FIG. This rod 16 has a blind hole on the top of the mount 4
4b is fitted and fixed to the nozzle 11, and the lower end is fixed to the nozzle 11. The connecting member 19 is connected to the nozzle 11, and the cylinder 5 and the nozzle 11 are arranged in parallel, and the spring retainer 17 is fixed at an appropriate position in the middle of the longitudinal direction. A compression spring 18 whose one end abuts on this spring retainer 17.
Is wrapped around the outer circumference.

The bracket 15 is mounted by loosely inserting the nozzle 11 into the lower main hole 15a and inserting the rod 16 into the pair of upper and lower auxiliary holes 15b, and screwing holes 15c and 15c at two vertical portions.
The upper end of the compression spring 18 abuts on the lower surface of the upper part, and is biased upward by the compression spring 18 with respect to the main body of the dispensing device 1.

Then, in the dispensing device 1, the connector 19 is fixed to the nozzle 11 at a position where a predetermined gap is provided on the lower end surface of the bracket 15, and the bracket 15 is fixed to the robot 24 shown in FIG. At this time, the entire device is urged downward by the compression spring 18 and supported by the bracket 15, and the entire device escapes upward against the urging force of the compression spring 18, and the compression spring 18 acts as a buffer. Fulfill

Limiters 20 and 21 are provided at mutually corresponding ends of the bracket 15 and the connector 19, and when the entire device abnormally rises with respect to the bracket 15 due to hitting an obstacle, the action of the limiters 20 and 21 is provided. The whole device comes to an emergency stop.

In addition, the dispensing device 1 includes the motor 2, the cylinder 5, the sensor, and the cover 22 which are shown by the two-dot chain line in FIGS. 2 and 3.
The entire 13 and the rod 16 and a part of the nozzle and the bracket 15 are covered, and a power supply connector 23 for the motor 2 is provided on the top of the cover 22.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention is attached to a robot for use.

The robot 24 as a moving machine includes a first arm 26 rotatably mounted on a main pillar 25 erected on a base 24a, and a second arm connected to the first arm 26 via a joint 24b. 27 and a vertical member 28 fixed to the tip of the second arm 27, the flat plate-like cover 29 on the back side of the vertical member 28 is removed, and a vertical moving body (not shown) provided on the vertical member 28 The bracket 15 shown in FIG. 1 is detachably fixed with screws that are screwed into the screw holes 15c, 15c, and the plate A and the plate B are mounted within the reach of the vertical member 28 on the base 24a. A large number of cells (not shown) are arranged in a matrix.

Next, the operation of the dispensing apparatus 1 will be described by taking as an example the case where a sample in a predetermined cell on the plate A side is dispensed into a large number of cells on the plate B.

The piston 8 is moved to the fully lowered position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1 and the dispensing device 1 is moved up to be positioned directly above a predetermined cell on the plate A side by the operation of the robot 24.

Dispense device 1 with a pipette 24 until a tip of a pipette 12 fitted in a nozzle 11 reaches a sample in a cell directly below
To lower.

By rotating the motor 2 in the reverse direction, the piston 8
And a predetermined amount of the sample is sucked into the pipette 12 while the pressure in the cylinder 5 is detected by the sensor 13.

By the operation of the robot 24, the dispensing apparatus 1 is lifted right above and then positioned right above a predetermined cell on the plate B side.

By the operation of the robot 24, the pipetting device 12 is lowered to a position where the pipette 12 reaches a predetermined position in the cell, the motor 8 is normally rotated to lower the piston 8, and the sensor 13 detects the pressure in the cylinder 5. A predetermined amount of liquid is discharged while detecting.

The robot 24 raises the dispensing device 1 right above and moves it to a position just above another predetermined cell on the plate B side.

The above operation is repeated to dispense the sample into a predetermined number of cells on the plate B side.

Each operation described above is performed by a computer (not shown) according to a predetermined program.

It should be noted that different types of specimens can be dealt with by replacing the pipette 12, and a large change in the dispensing amount can be easily dealt with by replacing the unit of the dispensing device 1.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and instead of mounting the piston on the rotating shaft of the motor which moves up and down, it is equipped with a male screw that is screwed into a male screw that is rotationally driven via a gear. It is also possible to provide another screw rod that does the above and attach the piston to this, and instead of the sensor that detects the pressure in the cylinder, you can use a sensor that directly detects the amount of liquid in the pipette, without using a pipette. The liquid to be dispensed can be sucked into the tip of the nozzle, the moving machine can be replaced with a robot and an XY plotter can be used, and a hook-shaped hooking piece can be used as a bracket instead of the screw hole of the bracket. The projection may be provided and locked to the moving machine, and various modifications can be made without changing the gist of the invention.

(Effects of the Invention) As is apparent from the above description, the dispensing device according to the present invention includes a cylinder in which a piston is slidably accommodated and a piston driving motor, and the cylinder has a dispensing nozzle. By installing a sensor that detects the intake flow rate for dispensing by driving the cylinder and piston by changing the air in the cylinder, the sensor always detects and the accurate liquid amount is sucked and discharged. Note that the motor, cylinder, piston, and sensor are mounted on a common frame and integrated, and the entire unit can be attached to and detached from the moving machine.
Dispensing can be started in a short time, and the dispensing work efficiency is good and very convenient.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing a main part of a dispensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing its appearance, FIG. 3 is its front view, and FIG. 4 is the present invention. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an example of a case where the dispensing device according to the present invention is attached to a robot and used. 1 ... Dispensing device, 2 ... Motor, 3 ... Rotation axis, 4 ...
Mount (constituting a common frame), 5 ... Cylinder, 8 ... Piston, 11 ... Nozzle, 13 ... Sensor.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-61-68564 (JP, A) JP-A-60-21434 (JP, A) JP-A-64-29770 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A cylinder in which a piston is slidably accommodated, a motor for driving the piston, a dispensing nozzle which is in communication with the cylinder and in which a pipette can be detachably attached, and the cylinder and the dispensing. It is composed of a sensor for detecting the air pressure in the cylinder from between the nozzle and the motor, the cylinder, the dispensing nozzle and the sensor are mounted on a common frame to be integrated into a unit, which can be attached to and detached from the moving machine. Dispensing device characterized by being attached to.