JPH09250972A - Sample sucking tube and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a low-cost sample sucking tube which has easy manufacture, relatively large strength and long use life and can prevent trouble such as clogging of tailings or leakage of sample and a method for manufacturing the tube. SOLUTION: The sample sucking tube P sucks to collect blood contained in a sample vessel 60 via a rubber cap 61, and comprises a sucking capillary tube 10, a ventilating capillary tube 20 and a holder 30. The tubes 10, 20 are formed of stainless steel of the same material. The holder 30 is formed of polyacetal resin. The tubes 10, 20 are disposed in parallel with one another, then welded along the end sides of the positions in contact with the peripheral walls and hence integrated. A sucking opening 13 and a ventilating opening 23 are respectively opened at the peripheral walls of the tubes 10, 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sample suction tube for sucking a liquid sample in a container and a method for manufacturing the same, and more specifically, to a sample suction device constituting a part of a blood analyzer, for example. The present invention relates to a sample suction tube for sucking and collecting a liquid sample housed in a sealed container and used for a predetermined analysis, and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sample suction tube for sucking a liquid sample in a sample container sealed with a rubber cap or a stopper, a suction thin tube for sucking the sample and a vent for performing the suction at the time of suction are used. It is known that a ventilating thin tube is provided and both thin tubes are pierced into the rubber cap or the like for use.

That is, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-76765, it is a main constituent element of a sample supply device,
It has a coaxial tube structure in which a suction thin tube (a tube with a central through hole) and an aeration thin tube (a tube with a second through hole) are provided coaxially, and the sample is sucked through the central through hole. A sample suction tube (suction needle) that vents through the second through hole is known.

Further, as a sample dispensing pipe for dispensing a liquid sample into a sample container sealed by a rubber cap, a stopper or the like, a dispensing thin tube for dispensing a sample and an aeration at the time of dispensing are used. It is known that a ventilating thin tube for carrying out is provided and both thin tubes are pierced into the rubber cap or the like for use.

That is, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-30203, a thin pipe for dispensing (a pipe portion provided with a liquid feeding hole) and a thin pipe for aeration (a pipe portion provided with an air vent hole) are made of resin. A sample dispensing tube (liquid dispensing needle) integrally formed with a rod-shaped body is known.

[0006]

In the former sample suction tube, since the two thin tubes are coaxially provided, it is difficult to manufacture and disadvantageous in cost. The latter sample dispensing tube is integrally molded with resin, and therefore has a strength lower than that of metal.

Further, both have the following problems. In other words, since the outside diameter of the entire pipe is large in all cases, when piercing a rubber cap or plug, there is a large friction between the rubber cap and the like, which may cause abrasion of the outer surface of the pipe and also a large force for piercing. Is required and the pipe is overwhelmed. When these tubes are used for sample aspiration of the sample analyzer, rubber caps and the like are pierced many times, so the tubes must be durable, but the latter sample dispensing tubes are made of resin in particular. Therefore, there is a problem that the wear is severe and the service life is short. Furthermore, since the outer diameter of the entire tube is large in all cases, there is a lot of debris such as rubber caps when piercing and the tube is easily clogged, and after the tube is pulled out, holes remain in the rubber cap etc. and the sample leaks. There is.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its problems are that it is easy to manufacture and is advantageous in terms of cost, its strength is relatively large, its service life is long, and it is a scrap. An object of the present invention is to provide a sample suction tube capable of preventing troubles such as clogging and sample leakage, and a method for manufacturing such a sample suction tube at low cost.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a metal suction thin tube is used as a sample passage for sucking a sample by a pipe, and a pipe for sucking a sample. Provided is a sample suction tube which comprises a metal ventilation thin tube which is used as a ventilation passage for performing ventilation, and in which both thin tubes are arranged parallel to each other and integrated by laser welding.

As the suction thin tube and the ventilation thin tube, those made of metal such as stainless steel or nickel-titanium alloy are used. The cross-sectional shape of these capillaries is usually circular or elliptical in consideration of the ease of piercing a rubber cap, stopper, etc., which is a sealing member of a sample container, but it may be rectangular or other shape. Good.

Both thin tubes may be made of the same material,
Different metals may be used. This is because laser welding has a wide range of combinations of dissimilar metals and has the feature that it enables even a combination where good welding cannot be expected by conventional methods. However, from the viewpoint of preventing electrolytic corrosion, it is preferable that both thin tubes are made of the same material. The location to be joined by laser welding is not particularly limited, but at least the tip portion is preferably joined in consideration of the strength of the sample suction tube.

The type of laser welding is not particularly limited,
A YAG (yttrium-aluminum-garnet) laser, a carbon dioxide laser, or the like, which can stably obtain a high output and has a high conversion efficiency from light energy to heat energy, is preferably used.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a metal suction thin tube whose pipe line serves as a sample passage for sucking a sample, and a ventilation pipe for carrying out aeration during sample suction The metal aeration thin tube to be used as a passage is placed in parallel with each other so as to bring the peripheral wall surfaces into close contact with each other, and laser welding is applied to the close contact portion of both thin tubes formed by this close contact step to form both thin tubes. Provided is a method for manufacturing a sample suction tube, which comprises a welding step of joining.

The method for manufacturing a sample suction tube according to the second aspect of the present invention may include various steps for obtaining a desired sample suction tube in addition to the contacting step and the welding step.

For example, in order to obtain a sample suction tube which has a relatively high strength, has a long service life, and can prevent the occurrence of troubles such as clogging of dust and sample leakage, after the adhesion step and the welding step, the suction step is performed. An opening step for opening a suction opening communicating with the sample passage on the peripheral wall surface of the capillary tube and an opening step for communicating a ventilation passage on the peripheral wall surface of the aeration capillary tube, respectively, and a metal linear member not blocked. Inserting the tip of each thin tube to seal the tip of each thin tube, polishing step to make the closed part of each thin tube a sharp tip by polishing, and the circumference including the sharp tip of each thin tube. It is more preferable to further include a film forming step of forming an abrasion resistant film on the wall surface.

As the opening method in the opening step, drilling with a drill, drilling with a laser, or the like is appropriately selected and used.

As a method of performing the tip end sealing of the conduit in the sealing step, in consideration of workability and strength of the sealing, a linear member made of the same material as each capillary is inserted into the tip conduit of each unsealed capillary. It is more preferable to join them. Various methods such as welding, brazing, and bonding with an adhesive may be used as the method of blocking the tip, but in order to carry out a simple and reliable sealing, sealing by cold fitting the linear member can be used. Further, from the viewpoint of preventing the generation of rust due to electrolytic corrosion, it is most preferable that the sample suction tube is made of one kind of metal by using the same material for both the thin tubes and the linear member.

The polishing in the polishing step is performed with a polishing cloth or a polishing grindstone provided with fine polishing particles. Although various methods can be considered for forming the abrasion resistant film in the film forming step, it is preferable to form a titanium film such as a titanium carbide film or a titanium nitride film by an ion plating method.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited by this.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural explanatory view of a sample suction device D using a sample suction tube P according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the sample suction device D includes a sample suction pipe P, a ventilation pipe 40, a connection pipe 42, a suction pipe 44, and a quantification device 4.
6, a suction syringe 48, a cleaning liquid supply pump 50, an air pressure source 52, and a cleaning tank 54. The ventilation pipe 40, the connection pipe 42, and the suction pipe 44 are all made of flexible plastic. The sample suction tube P and the suction tube 44 are connected by screwing the holder 30 and the holder 31.

The sample suction tube P is for sucking and collecting blood as a liquid sample contained in the sample container 60 through a rubber cap 61 mounted on the sample container 60, and is also shown in FIGS. As described above, the suction thin tube 10 for sucking blood, the ventilation thin tube 20 for performing ventilation when sucking blood, and the holder 30 for holding these two thin tubes 10, 20 are provided.

The thin tubes 10 and 20 are made of the same metal material, stainless steel in this example, and have a circular cross section. The holder 30 is a rectangular parallelepiped member made of polyacetal resin. Thin tube 10 and thin tube 20
Are placed parallel to each other with their tips (left ends) aligned, and then welded along the tip side part of the points where the peripheral wall surfaces are in contact with each other to be integrated, and the base ends (right ends) ) And a portion near the base end are arranged in the holder 30 in an embedded manner. Each of the thin tube 10 and the thin tube 20 has an outer diameter of about 0.8 mm, an inner diameter of about 0.5 mm, and a length of a portion protruding from the holder 30 to the tip side is about 50.0 mm.
It is.

As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 5, each of the thin tubes 10 and 20 is provided with a closed portion 11/21 by tip closing of the pipeline on the tip side, and each unsealed pipeline is a sample. Sample passage 12 for aspirating certain blood,
An aeration passage 22 is provided for aeration when a sample is sucked.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, one circular suction opening 13 communicating with the sample passage 12 is formed in the peripheral wall surface of the thin tube 10. On the peripheral wall surface of the thin tube 20, one circular ventilation opening 23 communicating with the ventilation passage 22 is opened. In addition, 58 shown in FIG.
It is a portion produced by the above-mentioned welding.

The closed portions 11 and 21 of the thin tubes 10 and 20 are two long and short linear members (pins) 56 and 56 made of stainless steel, which is the same material as the thin tubes 10 and 20.
It is formed by inserting and joining to the edge of the openings 13 and 23 in the tip pipe line of 0 and 20.

This joining was performed by cold fitting the linear members 56, 56. That is, first, the linear members 56, 56 were put in industrial alcohol, and dry ice was crushed and put in the alcohol. Then, within a few minutes, -40 ° C to -70
Since the temperature decreased to ° C and the diameters of the linear members 56, 56 were reduced, the linear members 56, 56 could be easily inserted into the tip pipe lines of the unsealed thin tubes 10, 20. At room temperature, the diameter of the linear members 56, 56 tries to return to the initial size, and pressure is generated on the wall surface of the tip end conduit of the thin tube 10, 20.
The linear members 56, 56 are joined together.

The closed portions 11 and 21 of the thin tubes 10 and 20 are provided with substantially elliptical slanting cut surfaces 14 and 24 for piercing the thin tubes 10 and 20, respectively. These two diagonal cut surfaces 14 and 24 have the same shape and size,
Back-to-back shape-the tip of both thin tubes (diagonal cut surface 14,
The leading ends of the capillaries 24 and 20 are arranged in a state where they are in a positional relationship of forming an angle of 180 degrees with each other, and the tips of the thin tubes 10 and 20 are formed into a sharp shape.

These oblique cut surfaces 14 and 24 are shown in FIG.
Assuming that it is an elliptical shape having a major axis 1 and a minor axis s, the centers of the suction opening 13 and the ventilation opening 23 are the bus lines 15 that intersect the ends of the major axis 1 of the thin tubes 10 and 20.
It is provided at a position outside 25. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, these openings 13 and 23 are busbars 16 that intersect the ends of the short diameters s of the thin tubes 10 and 20, respectively.
It is provided so that the center of the opening is located above 26.

The reason is that the sample suction tube P is connected to the sample container 60.
When piercing the rubber cap 61 of the
Back-to-back diagonal cut faces 14 and 2 at 0
Since the scraps of the rubber cap 61, which are more frequently generated at the four locations, move backward along the generatrixes 15 and 25 of the thin tubes 10 and 20 as the sample suction tube P moves forward, the suction opening 13 and the ventilation are provided. The opening 23 is for each thin tube 10.2
This is because if it is provided on the busbars 16 and 26 of 0, it is possible to reliably prevent the dust from being blocked in the openings 13 and 23.

Of the peripheral wall surfaces of the thin tubes 10 and 20, a coating having excellent wear resistance and corrosion resistance is formed at the tip portion indicated by the length L in FIG. That is, the titanium film is formed by the ion plating method. With such a coating, the portion of the peripheral wall surface of the thin tubes 10 and 20 having the length L has a higher hardness than the other portions, and is less likely to be worn when the rubber cap 61 is pierced.

Next, a method of manufacturing the sample suction tube P will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 14. This manufacturing method is mainly the adhesion step as described below,
It includes a welding process, an opening process, a closing process, a polishing process and a film forming process.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic structure of a laser beam machine Q for welding the two thin tubes 10 and 20 in the sample suction tube P to the above-mentioned welding. This laser processing machine Q includes a YAG laser oscillator 71, a processing head 73, a bend mirror 76, a beam duct 77, a gas storage cylinder 78, a processing table 81,
The jig 83, two servo motors 84 and 85, and a numerical controller 86 are mainly included.

The YAG laser oscillator 71 oscillates the YAG laser light 72. The processing head 73 has a condenser lens 74 and a gas supply nozzle 75. Bend mirror 76
Changes the direction of the laser light 72 passing through the beam duct 77 and makes it enter the processing head 73. Gas storage cylinder 78
Stores the processing gas and supplies the gas to the gas supply nozzle 75 via the regulator 79 and the electromagnetic valve 80.

A jig 83 is placed on the processing table 81. A straight groove-shaped recess 83a extending in the longitudinal direction is formed in the center of the upper surface of the jig 83. One servo motor 85 moves the processing table 81 in the X-axis direction (horizontal direction). The other servo motor 84 is the processing table 8
1 is moved in the Y-axis direction (front-back direction). The numerical controller 86 outputs operation signals for the servo motors 84 and 85.

Contacting Step The unsealed capillaries 10 and 20 were first placed parallel to each other with their tips aligned, and then adhered to each other on their peripheral wall surfaces. The close work of the thin tubes 10 and 20 was performed by setting them in the recess 83a of the jig 83.

Welding process (the capillaries 10 and 20 are temporarily fastened) As shown in FIG. 9, the YAG laser light 72 focused by the focusing lens 74 in the laser beam machine Q is recessed in the jig 83. Pulse irradiation was performed along the location where the peripheral wall surfaces of the two thin tubes 10 and 20 set in 83a contacted each other. That is, the jig 8 is moved by moving the processing table 81 forward.
3 also moves forward and the thin tube 10 set on the jig 83.
20 from the distal end to the proximal end side, as shown in FIG.
Only 0 mm was laser welded. With such work,
Part of the peripheral wall surface of each thin tube 10/20 is melted
20 pieces were joined (temporary fastening). The voltage set at that time was 230V.

Opening process In this way, the thin tube 10 that has been welded and integrated
・ 12, by drilling with the laser processing machine Q,
The openings 13 and 23 were opened as shown in FIG.

The blockade Step Next, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, is inserted to the vicinity of the opening 13, 23 of the linear member (pin) 56 - 56 of said unblocked capillaries 10 and 20 to the distal end conduit Joined. This joining was done by cold fitting as described above.

After this cold fitting, laser welding was performed again. The voltage set at that time is 250 V from the tip of the thin tubes 10 and 20 to the point in front of the opening 23 (point a in FIG. 13), and about 24.0 mm from point a to the base end side (FIG. 13). The voltage up to point b) was 230V. It was confirmed that similar welding results could be obtained if the former value was within the range of 250V to 270V.

Here, welding between the tip of the thin tube 10 and 20 and the point a at a relatively high voltage is performed by the thin tube 10 and 2.
Strengthening the joint between 0 and each thin tube 10.2
This is to make the joint between 0 and the linear members 56, 56 more reliable and strong.

Polishing Step After that, the closed portions 11 and 21 of the thin tubes 10 and 20 are each polished with a polishing cloth having fine polishing particles and provided with the oblique cut surfaces 14 and 24 as described above. The tips of 10 and 20 were made into a sharp shape as shown in FIG.

Film Forming Step Next, the tip end portion indicated by the length L in FIG. 5 among the peripheral wall surfaces of the thin tubes 10 and 20 is excellent in wear resistance and corrosion resistance by the ion plating method. Was formed.

After passing through the above-mentioned steps, the thin tube 20 was bent at a position near the base end thereof in the direction of the front end at a substantially right angle. Next, the holder 30 was formed by molding the polyacetal resin, so that the base end of the thin tube 10 and the portion near the base end of the thin tube 20 were embedded in the holder 30.

[0044]

Since the sample suction device according to the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following remarkable effects.

That is, in the sample suction tube according to the first aspect, both the metal suction thin tube and the ventilation thin tube are arranged parallel to each other and integrated by laser welding. Therefore, it is easy to manufacture and advantageous in terms of cost, and the outer diameter of the entire tube can be made smaller than that of the conventional one, so that the strength is relatively large and it can be pierced into the rubber cap or stopper of the sample container. In this way, the frictional force with the rubber cap etc. can be reduced and the service life is extended, and the piercing hole that occurs in the rubber cap etc. can be made smaller than before, and problems such as clogging of dust and sample leakage can be solved. Can be prevented.

In the method for manufacturing a sample suction tube according to the second aspect, a contact step of arranging a metal suction thin tube and a metal ventilation thin tube in parallel with each other to bring the peripheral wall surfaces into close contact with each other, And a welding step of joining both thin tubes by performing laser welding on the closely contacted portions of the both thin tubes formed by this closely attaching step. Therefore, according to this manufacturing method, the manufacturing is easy and advantageous in cost, and since the outer diameter of the entire tube can be made smaller than that of the conventional one, the strength is relatively large and the sample container The frictional force with the rubber cap, etc., when piercing a rubber cap or stopper, etc. can be reduced, resulting in a longer service life, and the puncture hole generated in the rubber cap, etc. can be made smaller than before. It is possible to obtain a sample suction tube capable of preventing the occurrence of troubles such as clogging and sample leakage.

In the method for manufacturing a sample suction tube according to a third aspect of the present invention, after the contacting step and the welding step, a suction opening communicating with the sample passage is formed in the peripheral wall surface of the suction thin tube, and the circumference of the aeration thin tube is closed. An opening step of opening a ventilation opening that communicates with the ventilation passage on the wall surface, and a sealing step of inserting a metal linear member into the tip end channel of each unsealed thin tube to seal the tip of each thin tube, The method further comprises a polishing step of making the closed portion of the thin tube a sharp tip by polishing, and a film forming step of forming an abrasion resistant film on the peripheral wall surface including the sharp tip of each thin tube. Therefore, the effect of the method for manufacturing a sample suction tube according to the second aspect can be more remarkably achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration explanatory view of a sample suction device using a sample suction tube according to one embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a bottom view of the sample suction tube of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the sample suction tube of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a left side view of the sample suction tube in FIG.

5 is an enlarged front view of the tip portion of the sample suction tube in FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged front view of the tip of each thin tube that constitutes the sample suction tube of FIG.

8 is a schematic configuration explanatory view of a laser processing machine used for manufacturing the sample suction tube of FIG.

9 is a perspective view showing two unsealed capillaries set on a jig in the laser processing machine of FIG. 8. FIG.

10 is a perspective view showing two unsealed capillaries welded by the laser beam machine of FIG. 8. FIG.

11 is a perspective view showing a state in which openings are provided in the two thin tubes of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state in which two linear members for blocking the tips are inserted into the two thin tubes shown in FIG. 11 and joined to each other.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing two capillaries with their ends sealed after the joining of FIG. 12 is completed.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a state in which the tips of the two closed capillaries in FIG. 13 are polished.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Suction thin tube 11 Block part 12 Sample passage 13 Suction opening 14 Slanting cut surface 20 Venting thin tube 21 Blocking part 22 Ventilation passage 23 Venting opening 24 Slanted cut surface 56 Linear member 71 Laser oscillator 72 YAG laser light 73 Processing head 74 Condenser lens 83 Jig

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Norihisa Futa No. 37, Takahashi-cho, Karahashi, Minami-ku, Kyoto City, inside T-Nine Japan Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shuichi Tanaka 7-2 Minatojima-nakacho, Chuo-ku, Kobe No. 1 Toa Medical Electronics Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A suction tube made of metal, the pipe line of which serves as a sample passage for sucking a sample, and a metal ventilation of which the pipe line serves as a ventilation passage for performing aeration during sample suction. A sample suction tube, which comprises a working thin tube, and both thin tubes are arranged parallel to each other and integrated by laser welding. 2. A metal suction thin tube whose pipe line serves as a sample passage for sucking a sample, and a metal aeration whose pipe line serves as a ventilation passage for performing aeration during sample suction. And a welding step of arranging the thin tubes in parallel with each other so as to bring the peripheral wall surfaces into close contact with each other, and a welding step of joining the both thin tubes by performing laser welding on the close contact portion of both thin tubes formed by this contacting step. Method for manufacturing sample suction tube. 3. After the contacting step and the welding step, a suction opening communicating with the sample passage is formed on the peripheral wall surface of the suction thin tube, and a ventilation opening communicating with the ventilation passage is formed on the peripheral wall surface of the ventilation thin tube. An opening step, a sealing step of inserting a metal linear member into the tip pipe line of each unsealed thin tube to seal the tip of each thin tube, and a closed portion of each thin tube is polished to a sharp tip. 3. The method for producing a sample suction tube according to claim 2, further comprising a polishing step for forming the film, and a film forming step for forming an abrasion resistant film on a peripheral wall surface including a sharp tip of each thin tube.