JPH08313426A - Analyser - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the mixing of air bubbles into a flow cell by starting the emission of a sample before a pipetter comes into contact with a sample injection part. CONSTITUTION: After a sample probe 7 sucks the sample of a sample container 4, the probe 7 is raised and rotated by motors 5, 6 to be moved to the region above a flow cell port 9. A pipetter 3 emits the sample soln. sucked by a pump 1 before falls to come into contact with a sample injection port to form the film of the sample soln. at the leading end thereof. When a solenoid valve 12 is closed and a pump 2 sends a sheath soln. into a flow cell 11, the sheath soln. fills the cell 11 to overflow to the port 9 through a flow cell nozzle 10 and the sample injection port to form a water film. When the valve 12 is opened, the flow of the sheath soln. is generated in the cell 11 but, since the nozzle 10 is small in its diameter, the water film stops on the sample injection port and, in this state, the sample injection port and the cell 11 are filled with the sheath soln. Therefore, when the pipetter 3 sends the sample soln. to the cell 11, the mixing of air bubbles into the cell can be prevented by the films of the sample soln. and the sheath soln.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to classify and analyze sediment components of biological samples such as urine, it is common to centrifuge and concentrate the sample on a slide glass in advance and observe it. However, because it takes time and effort to prepare,
A flow cytometer method has been proposed in which a sample is allowed to flow in a flow cell while being left to stand in a liquid, and then optically analyzed. In the flow cell device, the sample liquid was transported from the final pretreatment means to the flow cell by sandwiching the sample liquid before and after with a liquid for exclusive use for transporting the sample liquid to the flow cell. At that time, it takes time to pass through the tube, but it also takes a considerable amount of time for the sample with a truly uniform concentration to reach the flow cell due to diffusion with the liquid for transporting before and after the sample liquid. In addition, since the sample processing capacity cannot be further increased because the entire transportation route has to be washed, and because the washing amount is large and the running cost is high, the pretreatment at another place is disclosed in JP-A No. 2-80937. A direct sampling method is proposed in which the finished sample is carried immediately before the flow cell. As a result, in the measurement system, the sample flows after the flow cell, and cleaning can be achieved by cleaning the inside of the flow cell and the direct sampling separately, and a significant improvement in processing capacity can be realized.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In the flow cell device,
Considering the size of the sediment component to be measured, the degree of image analysis, and the position of the optical system, the sample flow must always be stable. However, a steady sample flow cannot be realized if minute bubbles are present in the channel.

In the direct sampling method, no measures were taken against the inclusion of air bubbles when injecting the sample liquid into the flow cell.

An object of the present invention is a direct sampling system in which a sample liquid sampled at a certain location is moved to a sheath flow flowing in a flow cell, and a system in which bubbles do not enter when the sample liquid joins the sheath flow is provided. Especially.

[0006]

A method for injecting a sample into an apparatus equipped with a flow cell according to the present invention includes a pipettor which can be driven vertically and rotationally, and which is directly connected to a pump and whose suction and discharge can be controlled. , A pump for flowing a sheath flow from the pump to the flow cell, and a liquid flow blocking valve downstream of the flow cell.

[0007]

Function: The sample liquid starts to be discharged from the pipetter before the pipettor comes into contact with the flow cell port, whereby a water film is formed at the tip of the pipettor to eliminate air bubbles carried by the pipetter. In addition, the sheath liquid overflows into the flow cell port before the pipettor comes into contact with the flow cell port, thereby filling the space into which bubbles can enter when the sample is injected from the pipettor with the liquid.

[0008]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

A sample probe 7 including a pipetter 3 capable of sucking and discharging a sample through a tube by a pump 1 and vertically movable by a motor 5 and rotationally movable by a motor 6 is located at a position shown by a solid line in FIG. After sucking the sample in the sample container 4, the sample probe 7 is lifted by the motor 5 and rotationally moved to the upper part of the flow cell port 9 by the motor 6. The motor 5 causes the pipettor 3 to move down to discharge the sample liquid sucked by the pump 1 before reaching the sample inlet, and as shown in FIG. 2, a water film is formed on the tip of the pipette by the sample. Further, the pump 2 sends the sheath liquid from the sheath liquid bottle 13 into the flow cell 11, and the pump 2 sends the sheath liquid to the flow cell unit 8. However, by closing the solenoid valve 12 downstream of the flow cell 11, the inside of the flow cell is filled with the sheath. If so, the sheath liquid overflows on the flow cell port 9 through the flow cell nozzle 10 and the sample injection port, and if the inside of the flow cell 11 is not filled with the sheath liquid, the sheath liquid is filled on the flow cell port 9 similarly. The water film overflows to form a water film as shown in FIG. After the water film is formed, the solenoid valve 12 is opened to form a sheath flow in the flow cell. However, if the diameter of the flow cell nozzle 10 is sufficiently small, the water film formed on the flow cell port will not enter the flow cell. Moreover, the water film is still formed on the sample injection port due to the surface tension, and the inside of the sample injection port, the flow cell nozzle, and the flow cell is filled with the sheath liquid.

The water film on the flow cell port 9 and the pipettor 3
The timing at which the water film at the tip is formed may be such that the water film is formed at the tip of the pipette before the pipette contacts the water film on the flow cell port 9.

In this way, at the sample injection port on the flow cell port 9, the sheath liquid overflowing from the flow cell nozzle 10 forms a water film, and also at the tip of the pipettor 3 a water film of the sample liquid is formed. Therefore, when the pipette is in contact with the sample inlet and the sample is fed into the flow cell through the flow cell nozzle, a water film is formed between the pipette and the sample inlet with the sample or sheath as shown in Fig. 4. Completely prevent air bubbles from entering the inside of 5.

[0013]

The present invention is constructed as described above and has the following effects.

(1) The pipette ejects the sample before it comes into contact with the sample injection port on the flow cell port and forms a water film on the tip of the pipette, and the sheath overflowing from the sample injection port has a water film. Since it is formed, when it comes into contact with the pipette and the sample injection port, it is covered with a water film, and air bubbles do not enter from the outside into the flow cell.

(2) Due to the phenomenon that the sheath overflows from the sample inlet, all the bubbles in the channel are discharged to the outside of the channel, and a stable sample flow required for measurement can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which a water film is formed on the tip of a pipette.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a water film is formed on a flow cell port.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state immediately before a pipette comes into contact with a flow cell port.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sample suction / delivery pump, 2 ... Sheath suction / delivery pump, 3 ... Pipette, 4 ... Sample container, 5 ... Sample probe vertical movement motor, 6 ... Sample probe rotation movement motor, 7 ... Sample probe, 8 ... Flow cell unit, 9 ... Flow cell port, 10 ... Flow cell nozzle, 11 ... Flow cell, 12 ... Electromagnetic valve, 13 ... Sheath liquid bottle.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hidetoshi Sugiyama 882 Ichige, Oita, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture Hitachi Ltd. Measuring Instruments Division

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pipette is used to collect a certain amount of a sample liquid containing a sediment from a sample container, and the sample liquid is moved to a position above a flow cell port in an upper portion of a flow cell unit in which a sheath liquid is flowing, and then the sample liquid is injected on the sample inlet. In the analyzer in which the pipettor descends, flows the sample into the flow cell from the sample inlet, and measures the physical information based on the sample, the pipette starts discharging the sample before contacting the sample inlet. Characteristic analysis device. 2. The analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the sheath liquid in the flow cell overflows from the sample injection port to the flow cell port before the pipettor comes into contact with the sample injection port.