JPH09211007A - Distribution device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the lateral scattering of a specimen from the tip of a nozzle by providing a recessed part to a shutter and providing a proper cooperation mechanism of the rising of a nozzle part and the rotary.rising motion of the shaft having the shutter attached thereto. SOLUTION: A shutter 30 is raised in succession to rotary horizontal motion by the rising of a nozzle part 12 and the tip of the nozzle part is inserted into the recessed part of the shutter 30. The rotation of the shaft 32 is braked by a cam lever and the spring urging the same and the rising thereof is braked by a link lever 52 and the spring 50 urging the same. When the braking of the rotation and rising of the shaft is released by a cam mechanism containing a slope and an upward projection 26 and a link mechanism, the shutter 30 is horizontally moved in connection with the rotation and rising of the shaft to be raised. The rotation and rising of the shutter 30 are performed by using the elastic force of the spring 38 provided in the shaft 32 as drive force.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dispensing device for sucking and discharging a sample, and more particularly to prevention of scattering of a sample from a nozzle portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A dispensing apparatus has a nozzle, and a liquid sample in one container can be sucked from an opening at the tip of the nozzle to transfer the sample to a plurality of other containers. In the unlikely event that the sample is scattered from the nozzle portion after the sample is sucked, there is a problem that the sample is mixed into a container other than the intended transfer destination container or the device is contaminated. Therefore, conventionally, as a safety measure against such a situation of force majeure,
A tray serving as a shutter was slid just below the nozzle portion except when sucking and discharging. FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a conventional dripping prevention mechanism as viewed from the horizontal direction. Shutter tray 2
When the nozzle portion 4 performs suction or discharge, the nozzle portion 4 is retracted from a position below the tip opening of the nozzle portion 4 to a position d, and when the suction or discharge operation is completed, the nozzle portion 4 immediately below the opening of the nozzle portion 4 is opened. Move to position e. As a result, the sample that is unintentionally dropped from the nozzle portion 4 can be received. In addition, in the multiple nozzle type dispensing device in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged, a large saucer common to the plurality of nozzles is used.

[0003]

However, it is also conceivable that the sample is scattered laterally. For example, when the nozzle unit 4 is transported for transferring the sample, the movement start
It is not impossible to imagine that the tip of the nozzle vibrates due to impact or the like at the time of stop, and the sample sucked and held in the nozzle or the sample attached to the nozzle surface or the like is laterally ejected. In order to prevent such a case with the conventional configuration, the area of the shutter tray 2 must be increased, the stroke of the shutter operation is increased, and the operation time is increased. Also, there is a problem that the speed of the dispensing process becomes slow. In addition, the conventional configuration with respect to the multiple nozzle type dispensing device cannot cope with the contamination between the adjacent nozzles, and the nozzle interval cannot be reduced, which is a limitation in reducing the size of the dispensing device. There was also.

The present invention has a shutter mechanism that has a high effect of preventing scattering from the nozzle portion without increasing the area of the shutter tray, prevents the contamination of other samples and devices, and performs various biological tests using these samples. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing device that improves the accuracy and reliability of the above.

[0005]

A dispensing device according to the present invention comprises a nozzle portion for sucking a sample, a shutter having a recessed portion, and the shutter is moved from a standby position after suctioning the sample so that the tip of the nozzle portion is recessed. And a shutter driving mechanism to be inserted inside. According to the present invention, the tip of the nozzle portion is basically inserted into the concave portion of the shutter except when the dispensing operation of the nozzle portion such as suction / discharge is performed. As a result, the tip of the nozzle portion is surrounded not only by the lower portion but also by the side portion by the inner wall of the recess. In this case, the inner wall of the recess is not in contact with the tip of the nozzle.

In the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, the shutter drive mechanism moves the shutter from the standby position to a shielding position immediately below the tip of the nozzle portion, and a shutter horizontal moving device from the shielding position to the shielding position. Shutter vertical moving means for moving the nozzle tip to an insertion position where the nozzle tip enters the inside of the recess.

The dispensing apparatus according to the present invention has a nozzle vertical moving means for moving the nozzle portion up and down, and the shutter horizontal moving means causes the nozzle portion to move to the first height and There is a horizontal interlocking mechanism that interlocks with the movement movement of the shutter to the shielding position, and the shutter vertical movement means moves the nozzle portion upward to the second height higher than the first height, and to the second movement. It has a vertical interlocking mechanism for interlocking with the movement of the shutter to the insertion position. According to the present invention, the operation of inserting the tip of the nozzle portion into the recess is performed by a two-step operation of horizontal movement and vertical movement of the shutter according to the vertical movement of the nozzle portion. The operation of the shutter is mechanically interlocked with the operation of the nozzle portion, which is the target of its movement, that is, the operation of these two components is surely synchronized, and the matching of the relative positions between them is ensured. It

The dispensing apparatus according to the present invention has a vertical shaft to which the shutter is attached, and the shutter horizontal moving means horizontally moves the shutter by rotating the shaft, and the shutter vertical moving means. But,
The shutter is vertically moved by vertically moving the shaft.

A dispensing apparatus according to the present invention includes a vertically movable lift holding a nozzle portion, wherein the horizontal interlocking mechanism utilizes a cam lever for applying a rotational force to the shaft and an ascending motion of the lift. And a slope for rotating the shaft by displacing the cam lever in the horizontal direction. According to the present invention, for example, the slope is an upward surface provided on the lift, and as the lift rises, the slope contacts the cam lever and pushes the gum lever horizontally while sliding on the surface. The cam lever exerts its horizontal displacement in the tangential direction of the circumference of the shaft, which causes the shaft to rotate. The slope and the cam lever, and the cam lever and the shaft exert pressure on each other, but they can be configured to be separable.

In the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, the shutter horizontal movement means applies forward rotation biasing means for exerting forward biasing force on the shaft, and the forward rotation of the shaft via the cam lever. Reverse rotation biasing means exerting a biasing force in the reverse rotation direction stronger than the biasing force in the reverse direction, the slope moves the cam lever when the nozzle portion is raised, and biases the reverse rotation biasing means. It is characterized by retracting the bias position. According to the present invention, the reverse rotation urging means brakes the forward rotation urging means at a predetermined position, and the horizontal interlocking mechanism releases or relaxes the predetermined position, whereby the shaft rotates in the normal direction. , The shutter is moved horizontally. The cam lever and the shaft are separable, and the biasing force in the forward rotation direction is relatively weak.If a force in the reverse rotation direction corresponding to this force acts on the shutter, the shaft will move away from the braking position determined by the cam lever. , The shutter is easily moved horizontally from the blocking position.

In the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, the shutter vertical moving means applies an upward biasing force to the shaft and an upward biasing force to the shaft, and a downward direction stronger than the upward biasing force to the shaft. Downwardly urging means for exerting the urging force, and urging releasing means for releasing the downwardly urging means by raising the nozzle portion. According to the present invention, the downward biasing means brakes the upward biasing means at a predetermined position, and the vertical interlocking mechanism releases or relaxes the predetermined position, whereby the shaft moves upward. , The shutter is moved up. The downward biasing means and the shaft are configured to be separable, and the upward biasing force is relatively weak. If a downward force corresponding to this force is applied to the shutter, the shaft will be braked by the downward biasing means. Away from the position, the shutter is easily moved down from the insertion position.

[0012]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of a dispensing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a left side view for explaining the mechanism of the dispensing device according to the present invention. The nozzle portion 12 has a removable nozzle tip 14 at its tip.
The sample is sucked and discharged through the opening 16 provided at the tip of the nozzle tip 14. Note that the nozzle portion 12 is not shown in FIG.

The nozzle portion 12 is fixed to the lift 18.
The lift 18 receives a driving force from a wire or the like (not shown) and can move up and down along a rail 22 provided on the frame 20. These constitute nozzle vertical moving means, that is, the nozzle portion 12 can be moved vertically by this. The lift 18 has a lateral projection 24 with an upward slope on its side and an upper projection 2 on its top.
6 is provided.

The shutter 30 is attached to the lower end of a vertical shaft 32. The shaft 32 is supported by shaft support arms 34 and 36 provided on the frame 20 so as to be rotatable about its vertical axis and movable up and down. The spring 38 has one end fixed to the shaft 32 by a member 40 and the other end fixed to a shaft support arm 34 provided on the frame 20. The spring 38 urges the shaft 32 in the upward direction and clockwise when viewed from above. That is, the spring 38 is an elastic body that functions as a biasing means for the shutter drive shaft 32 in both the vertical and rotational directions. In addition, clockwise and counterclockwise as viewed from the upper part of the apparatus are hereinafter referred to as horizontal clockwise and horizontal counterclockwise, respectively.

On the other hand, the spring 50 is stretched between a shaft 54 provided on the link lever 52 and a fulcrum 56 fixed to the frame 20. The link lever 52 is rotatable around the support shaft 58 and is urged downward by the spring 50. The tip of the link lever 52 is the upper end 6 of the shaft 32.
Upon reaching 0, the shaft 32 is urged downward. The downward urging force of the link lever 52 is configured to be stronger than the upward urging force of the spring 38, and the shaft 32 is consequently urged downward in the state of receiving both of these forces. The link lever 52 is stopped by a stopper 62 that abuts on its tip. Therefore, the vertical stop position of the shaft 32 is determined by this. The stopper 64 provided on the shaft 32 hits the shaft support arm 36, and
Gives the upper limit of the movable position of.

Another spring, not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, exerts a force on an action point 72 at one end of the cam lever 70. The direction of this force is configured to be backward in FIG. Therefore, the cam lever 70 is biased horizontally clockwise about the support shaft 74. The other end of the cam lever 70 hits an arm 76 provided on the shaft 32 and biases the shaft 32 counterclockwise in the horizontal direction. This cam lever 7
The horizontal leftward biasing force of 0 is configured to be stronger than the horizontal rightward biasing force of the spring 38, and in a state where both of these forces are received, the shaft 32 is consequently biased horizontally counterclockwise. . The cam lever 70 has its action point 7
The second side is stopped by hitting the edge of the frame 20. Therefore, the stop position of the rotation of the shaft 32 is also determined by this.

Next, as the shutter 30 moves in conjunction with the vertical movement of the nozzle portion 12, the nozzle opening portion 16 is formed.
The shutter opening / closing operation for will be described. The shutter opening / closing operation has two steps. The first step is the shutter 3 between the retracted position, which is the position of the shutter 30 at the time of nozzle suction, and the shield position immediately below the tip of the nozzle portion.
It is a horizontal movement of 0. The second step is vertical movement of the shutter 30 between the shielding position and the insertion position where the tip of the nozzle portion is inserted into the recess of the shutter 30 to prevent the reagent from scattering. Since the first and second steps are reversible in the opening operation and the closing operation, only the closing operation will be described below.

The first shutter closing operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
The steps will be described. FIG. 3 is a front view (corresponding to the upper left portion of FIG. 1) of the main part relating to this first step. FIG. 4 is a schematic top view (a view looking downward from the position I in FIG. 1) showing a mechanical portion related to the first step. The lateral projection 24 of the lift 18 has an upwardly inclined surface 80 at its upper portion. The cam lever 70 has a slide wheel 82 on the same side as the spring action point 72 with respect to the support shaft 74 thereof. Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 4 shows that a spring 86 is stretched between an action point 72 at one end of the cam lever 70 and a fulcrum 84 provided on the frame 20. There is.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the slope 80 is located below the slide wheel 82, the cam lever 70 moves the spring 86.
It is rotated to the right by the urging force of and is in the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. Now, when the lift 18 rises in the direction of the arrow 88, the slope 80 becomes the slide wheel 82 provided on the cam lever 70.
Hit. When the lift 18 further rises, the slope 80 pushes the slide wheel 82 in the direction of arrow 90, and rotates the cam lever 70 horizontally counterclockwise (in the direction of arrow 92) against the urging force of the spring 86 to move the cam lever 70 to the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown by the solid line. In conjunction with this, the shaft 32 biased via the arm 76 is rotated by the horizontal clockwise biasing force of the spring 38, and the shutter 30 moves in the direction of arrow 94 in FIG. 4, that is, from position a to position b. Is moved horizontally. Here, the position a is the retracted position of the shutter 30, and the position b is the closed position.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing the above-mentioned first step. When the nozzle tip 14 at the tip of the nozzle portion rises from the position shown by the dotted line to the position shown by the solid line in conjunction with the movement of the lift 18, the shaft 3 is moved by the above-mentioned mechanism.
2 rotates horizontally clockwise, and the shutter 30 horizontally moves from the retracted position (position a) shown by the dotted line to the shielding position (position b) shown by the solid line.

The second shutter closing operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.
The steps will be described. FIG. 6 is a left side view (corresponding to the upper portion of FIG. 2) of the main part relating to this second step. FIG. 7 is a schematic top view (a view looking down from the position II in FIG. 1) showing the mechanical portion related to the second step. The slide wheel 100 has a lift 1 at the link lever 52.
8 is provided at a position where the upper protrusions 26 of the eight hit. As a result, the contact point between the upper protrusion 26 and the link lever 52 moves smoothly. For the same reason, the slide wheel 102 is provided at the position where the upper end 60 of the shaft 32 comes into contact with the link lever 52.

The lift 18 is located below as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 6, and its upper protrusion 26 has a link lever 52.
In a state where the link lever 52 does not hit, the link lever 52 rotates downward about the support shaft 58 by the urging force of the spring 50 received by the shaft 54, and its tip is braked by the stopper 62 (the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. 6). )It is in. Well, lift 1
8 rises as indicated by arrow 110, the upper projection 26
Hits the sheave 100 provided on the link lever 52. When the lift 18 further rises, the upper protrusion 26
The link lever 52 is pushed up against the biasing force of the spring 50, rotated upward (in the direction of arrow 112), and moved to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. In conjunction with this, the shaft 32 is raised by the upward biasing force of the spring 38. The rising of the shaft 32 is stopped by the stopper 64 provided on the shaft 32 hitting the shaft support arm 36 as shown in FIG.

The slide wheel 100 is attached to the shaft 54, and the distance from the tip of the link lever 52 to the support shaft 58 is set to about three times the distance from the shaft 54 to the support shaft 58. This is the ratio of the distance from the blocking position of the shutter 30 to the insertion position and the rising distance of the nozzle portion 12 that causes the movement of the shutter 30. By thus amplifying the movement distance of the shutter 30 from that of the nozzle portion 12, the shutter 30 catches up with the tip of the nozzle portion,
The tip of the nozzle portion is inserted into the recess of the shutter 30.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the above-mentioned second step. When the nozzle tip 14 at the tip of the nozzle portion rises from the position indicated by the dotted line to the position indicated by the solid line (arrow 120) in conjunction with the movement of the lift 18, the shaft 32 moves three times as much as the preceding nozzle tip 14 by the mechanism described above. As the distance increases, the shutter 30 moves vertically from the shielding position (position b) shown by the dotted line to the insertion position (position c) shown by the solid line (arrow 12).
2) Then, the tip of the nozzle portion is inserted into the concave portion of the shutter 30. After that, the nozzle unit 12 is conveyed right above the container to which it is transferred together with the frame 20, and then the dispensing apparatus starts the descent of the nozzle unit and the shutter opening operation for sample ejection.

The shutter opening operation starts from a state where the tip of the nozzle portion 12 is inserted into the recess of the shutter 30,
When the nozzle portion 12 descends from the position, the shutter 30 performs the second step and the first step in reverse to the closing operation thereof, and the insertion position c, the shielding position b, and the retracted position a are in this order. This is an operation to be moved.

As described above, the tip of the nozzle portion is surrounded by the shutter 30 except when the sample is sucked and discharged, so that the sample is reliably prevented from scattering from the tip of the nozzle portion due to vibration during transportation of the nozzle portion 12. To be done.

In this dispensing device, the nozzle portion is inserted into, for example, a test tube, and after aspirating the reagent or the like in the test tube, the aspirated reagent is withdrawn from the test tube for transfer to another test tube. When the tip of the nozzle portion is pulled out from the test tube, the shutter closing operation is executed. The distance between the tip of the nozzle and the upper end of the test tube when the shutter closing operation is started is, for example, about 1 cm. The nozzle tip 14 at the tip of the nozzle portion may be replaced depending on the required reagent suction amount and the like, and its length may change, but in that case, it is usually handled by adjusting the mounting position of the nozzle portion 12 with respect to the lift 18. Yes, lift 18 and shaft 32
No adjustment is required for the mechanism such as interlocking with. But,
Since the shaft 32 merely contacts the cam lever 70 and the link lever 52 and is not closely connected, it is easy to remove the shaft 32 and replace it with one having a different length, or to adjust the position of the stopper 64. It is also easy to adjust the vertical displacement amount of the shutter 30.

The width of the shutter 30 is 9 mm here. By the way, the conventional width was 15 mm. The effect of preventing the reagent from scattering according to the present invention is not impaired by reducing the width of the shutter. Therefore, the factors that determine the width of the shutter in this device are the thickness of the tip portion of the nozzle tip inserted in the shutter, the accuracy of the mechanism operation for making the nozzle tip and the concave portion non-contact, and the nozzle tip when moving the nozzle. Displacement due to vibration of the
The reagent scattering is not a constraint for further reducing the shutter width. In a multi-nozzle dispensing device, it is desirable to provide the recesses of the shutter 30 individually for each nozzle in order to prevent contamination due to scattering between the nozzles.

In the embodiment described above, the shaft 3
2 is provided with a spring 38, and the displacement caused by the urging force of the spring 5
The configuration is such that braking is performed by the urging force of 0 and 86, and as described above, the shaft 32 is only in contact with the cam lever 70 and the link lever 52 and is not densely coupled. With this configuration, even when the shutter 30 is at the insertion position, the shutter 30 can be displaced from the insertion position without changing the position of the nozzle portion 12 by pulling the shutter 30 downward by hand or the like.
Maintenance such as replacement and cleaning is easily performed.

The operation of the present invention for storing the tip of the nozzle portion in the recess of the shutter by interlocking the shutter with the movement of the nozzle portion as described above can be performed by various other mechanisms. For example, the closing operation of the shutter 30 is not performed by the elastic force of the spring 38 provided on the shaft 32, but the cam lever 70 and the shaft 32 are connected, the link lever 52 and the shaft 32 are connected, and the shaft 32 is connected to the cam lever 70, It is also possible to drive by the force itself for moving the link lever 52.

Further, in the above-mentioned shutter operation, the horizontal movement is generated by the rotation of the shaft, but the shutter may be slid just below the nozzle portion by causing the linear movement by another mechanism.

[0033]

According to the dispensing apparatus of the present invention, the scattering of the sample from the tip of the nozzle portion is surely prevented by the small shutter, and the contamination of other samples and apparatuses is prevented, and various living bodies using these samples are prevented. This has the effect of improving the accuracy and reliability of inspections and the like. Also, by making the shutter smaller, the stroke of the shutter operation can be reduced,
The effect that the dispensing device is downsized and that the dispensing process is speeded up are obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of a dispensing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a left side view for explaining the mechanism of the dispensing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a main part relating to horizontal movement.

FIG. 4 is a schematic top view showing a mechanical portion related to horizontal movement.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing horizontal movement.

FIG. 6 is a left side view of a main part related to vertical movement.

FIG. 7 is a schematic top view showing a mechanical portion related to vertical movement.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing vertical movement.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a conventional dripping prevention mechanism as viewed from the horizontal direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 nozzles, 14 nozzle tips, 16 openings,
18 lifts, 24 side protrusions, 26 upper protrusions, 30
Shutter, 32 shaft, 38 spring, 50 spring,
52 link lever, 70 cam lever, 76 arm, 80 bevel, 86 spring.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A nozzle unit for sucking a sample, a shutter having a recess, and a shutter which is moved from a standby position after the sample is sucked,
A shutter drive mechanism for inserting the tip of the nozzle portion into the recess, and a dispensing device. 2. The dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein the shutter drive mechanism moves the shutter from the standby position to a shield position immediately below the tip of the nozzle portion, and a horizontal shutter unit that moves the shutter to the shield position. From the nozzle to an insertion position where the tip of the nozzle enters the inside of the recess. 3. The dispensing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a nozzle vertical moving unit that moves the nozzle unit up and down, wherein the shutter horizontal moving unit moves the nozzle unit to a first height. A horizontal interlocking mechanism that interlocks the movement with the movement of the shutter to move to the blocking position; and the shutter vertical movement means includes the first portion of the nozzle portion.
And a vertical interlocking mechanism for interlocking the upward movement of the shutter to a second height and the movement of the shutter to the insertion position. 4. The dispensing device according to claim 3, further comprising a vertical shaft to which the shutter is attached, wherein the shutter horizontal moving means horizontally moves the shutter by rotating the shaft. The shutter vertical moving means vertically moves the shutter by vertically moving the shaft. 5. The dispensing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a vertically movable lift holding a nozzle portion, wherein the horizontal interlocking mechanism uses a cam lever that applies a rotational force to the shaft, and a lift movement of the lift. And a sloping surface that rotates the shaft by displacing the cam lever in the horizontal direction. 6. The dispensing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the shutter horizontal movement means applies forward rotation biasing means that applies forward biasing force to the shaft, and the cam lever moves the shutter to the shaft. Reverse rotation biasing means exerting a biasing force in the reverse rotation direction which is stronger than the biasing force in the normal rotation direction, and the inclined surface moves the cam lever when the nozzle portion is raised to move the reverse rotation biasing force. A dispensing device, characterized in that the biasing position of the means is retracted. 7. The dispensing device according to claim 4, wherein the shutter vertical movement means applies an upward biasing force to the shaft and an upward biasing means to the shaft. Dispensing characterized by having a downward biasing means for exerting a downward biasing force that is stronger than an upward biasing force, and a biasing release means for releasing the downward biasing means by raising the nozzle portion. apparatus.