JPH09274046A - Rack carrying method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the carrying efficiency by excluding the loss time in replacement of racks in a system for carrying the racks holding a plurality of test tubes. SOLUTION: In an automatic dispenser 12, a dispensing area 30 and a buffer area 32 are provided on a carrying line 18. After the dispense into each test tube in a rack 34 located in the dispensing area 30 is completed, the rack is moved to the dispensing area from the buffer area 32. Then, this operation is repeated. After the dispensing to the last test tube in the rack 34 is performed, the rack replacement is not immediately performed as in the conventional method, but the rack is replaced after the suction for the first test tube of the rack 36 in the buffer area 32 is performed. Thus the stopping of the dispensing operation at the replacing time of the racks is prevented. When the dispensing error occurs, the secondary dispensing is performed for the rack held in the dispensing area 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rack transportation method, and more particularly to a rack transportation method synchronized with sample dispensing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when analyzing a blood sample,
The blood sample (sample) after blood collection is first set in the centrifuge. Next, the sample after centrifugation is unplugged with a cap opener or the like, transferred to an automatic pipetting device, and distributed to a plurality of sample containers. Then, each sample after dispensing is applied to the automatic analyzer to perform a predetermined analysis. Conventionally, the setting of samples in each device was done artificially, but in recent years, a centrifugal separator, an automatic capping machine, an automatic pipetting device, an automatic analyzer, etc. have been combined, and a belt conveyor etc. Sample analysis systems incorporating such rack transport devices are becoming widespread. Here, the rack transport device transports a rack in which a plurality of sample containers are aligned and held.

In the conventional rack transport method, a dispensing area is set on the rack transport line, the rack to be dispensed is first positioned in the dispensing area, and the sample is sucked by the nozzle in this state. After the suction, the nozzle is moved, and a predetermined amount is ejected to each of the plurality of sample containers. Then, when this dispensing is repeated and the dispensing is completed for all the samples in the rack, the rack is transported for the next processing, and instead, the next rack is positioned in the dispensing area, Similar dispensing is done. In addition, dispensing
It is performed for each one sample or for each of a plurality of samples depending on the number of nozzles that are simultaneously driven.

In the analysis system, in order to improve the number of processed samples per unit time, it is necessary to improve the processing speed in each step and to carry out rack transportation at high speed and efficiently.

[0005]

Usually, racks have five to five.
About 10 test tubes are held, and a dispensing time of, for example, 10 to 15 seconds is required for each test tube. Each dispensing time itself depends on the capacity of the automatic dispensing apparatus, but from the viewpoint of rack transportation, the rack replacement time should be as short as possible. Essentially, immediately after the final dispensing of the previous rack has been aspirated, the previous rack is discharged, the next rack is set in the dispensing area, and the subsequent dispensing is performed. By performing a part of the pouring operation and the rack exchange in parallel, the processing capacity of the automatic pipetting device can be increased.

However, in reality, the rack cannot be ejected until the final dispensing is completed in order to deal with an error during dispensing. That is, if some trouble (error) such as a short sample is confirmed after sample aspiration, it may be necessary to discharge the sample back to the original test tube and perform re-aspiration (re-dispensing). In order to deal with such a case, it is necessary to perform transport control for ejecting the rack after the final dispensing is completed and the normality of the dispensing is confirmed.

However, if such transport control is performed,
Dispensing cannot be performed from the time when normal dispensing is confirmed until the rack is ejected and the next rack is installed. For example, the dispensing operation must be interrupted for about 10 seconds, which leads to an increase in efficiency. There was a problem that it was not possible to carry out a regular transfer. By the way, if the number of test tubes held in the rack is set to 5 and the interruption time is divided, a loss time of 2 seconds is calculated per one, and if the dispensing time per one is 10 seconds,
The processing efficiency is reduced by 20%. This decrease in efficiency is a major problem in a system that processes a large amount of samples.

In order to reduce this loss time to some extent,
A method has also been proposed in which a buffer area is provided in the vicinity (immediately before) of the dispensing area and a next rack is kept waiting so that the rack transport distance at the time of rack replacement can be minimized to reduce the loss time. According to this method, the rack replacement time can be reduced to, for example, about 5 seconds, but still, 10% loss time is inevitably generated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to eliminate a loss time at the time of rack replacement and improve transport efficiency on the premise of rack standby for re-dispensing. It is to provide a rack transportation method capable of performing the above.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a dispensing step of dispensing a sample of each rack, and a transporting step of transporting the rack in synchronization with the dispensing. , And a dispensing area and a buffer area adjacent to the preceding stage are set on the transfer line, and the rack is stopped in the dispensing area until the final dispensing for each rack is completed in preparation for dispensing error processing. In the rack transport method, the dispensing step is performed at least once prior to the (n + 1) th rack in the buffer area after the final dispensing for the nth rack in the dispensing area is completed. And a main dispensing step for dispensing to the rack transferred from the buffer area to the dispensing area after the preceding suction step. The introduction step of introducing the (n + 1) th rack into the buffer area before the final dispensing for the eye rack is completed, and the completion of the final dispensing for the nth rack after completion of the final dispensing from the dispensing area. And a transfer step of transferring the (n + 1) th rack from the buffer area to the dispensing area after the discharging step and after the preceding suction step.

According to the above construction, the dispensing area and the buffer area (previous buffer area) are set on the transfer line, and basically, the sample of each rack is dispensed in the dispensing area and the buffer area is provided. Will wait for the next rack to dispense. In the present invention, in order to eliminate the loss time at the time of rack replacement, when the first dispensing (suction) to the next rack is completed after the dispensing to the nth rack is completely completed, the dispensing from the buffer area is performed. The dispensing operation is continued without waiting for the rack to be transferred to the area, and the preceding suction is performed on the rack existing in the buffer area. Then, the rack transfer from the buffer area to the dispensing area is performed by utilizing the period during which the ejection is performed after the preceding suction. In this case, it is also possible to carry out rack transfer between the areas, that is, rack exchange, after suctioning the second dispensing for the rack on the buffer area.

According to such control, the dispensing operation can be continued, the time during dispensing can be utilized for rack transportation, and as a result, the time only for transportation can be reduced to zero. Of course, when a dispensing error occurs during the final dispensing and the dispensing needs to be redone, the rack has not been ejected yet, and the dispensing can be performed again.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to surely deal with the dispensing error, and it is possible to eliminate the waste of time when the rack is replaced.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the transfer step is performed after the preceding suction and before the start of the next suction. Further, in a preferred aspect of the present invention, re-dispensing is performed in the dispensing error processing.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a dispensing step of dispensing a sample to each rack, and a transporting step of transporting the racks in synchronization with the dispensing. A rack transport method in which a dispensing area and a buffer area adjacent to the latter stage are set on the transport line, and the rack is stopped in the buffer area until the final dispensing for each rack is completed in preparation for dispensing error processing. In the carrying step, after the final suction for the nth rack is completed, the step of retracting the nth rack to the buffer area and the final dispensing for the nth rack are completed. It is characterized by including a step of discharging the nth rack from the buffer area and a step of introducing the (n + 1) th rack into the dispensing area after the evacuation.

According to the above configuration, a dispensing area and a buffer area (rear buffer area) are set on the rack transport line, and all dispensing is performed in the dispensing area,
The buffer area is used as an area where the rack after the final dispensing is temporarily retracted in order to deal with the dispensing error. That is, after the final suction is performed on the rack, the rack is transferred to the buffer area and the next rack is introduced to the dispensing area in preparation for the next dispensing. Here, if no dispensing error occurs, dispensing is performed on the rack in the dispensing area as it is, and the rack in the buffer area is ejected.

Therefore, also in this method, the rack can be secured for the re-dispensing, and the loss time at the time of rack replacement can be eliminated. In this method, in order to quickly introduce the next rack into the dispensing area, it is recommended to set a rack standby buffer area in the front of the dispensing area in addition to the buffer area in the latter stage of the dispensing area. desirable.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an analysis system to which the rack transportation method according to the present invention is applied. This analysis system includes a centrifugal separator 10 and an automatic opening machine 1.
1, an automatic pipetting device 12, an automatic analyzer 14, and a rack carrying device 16. Rack carrier 1
6 has a transport line 18, a rack supply section 20 connected to the preceding stage thereof, and a rack discharge section 22 connected to the subsequent stage of the transport line 18.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the structure of the automatic dispensing device 12. The automatic pipetting device 12 includes a nozzle (not shown) that sucks and discharges a sample (sample), and a nozzle moving mechanism (not shown) that moves the nozzle. Is composed of a metal nozzle base and a resin nozzle tip that is detachably attached to the nozzle base. The tip rack portion 24 shown in FIG. 2 holds a plurality of disposable nozzle tips mounted on the nozzle base portion. The nozzle tip is automatically replaced. The sub-sample rack unit 26 includes
A plurality of sample containers that hold the samples after dispensing are held upright. The nozzle tip remover 28 is a portion where the nozzle tip after dispensing is discarded.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the automatic dispensing apparatus 12 according to this embodiment, a dispensing area 30 and a buffer area 32 are set on the transfer line 18. The dispensing area 30 has a rack 34 for dispensing.
Is the area to be positioned, and the buffer area 3
Reference numeral 2 is an area in which the rack 36 as the next dispensing target to be placed in the dispensing area 30 stands by. Although the buffer area 32 itself was provided in the conventional system,
The present embodiment is characterized in that the rack on the buffer area 32 is also partially dispensed, which will be described in detail later.

In this automatic pipetting device 12, when one nozzle is provided, for example, pipetting is sequentially performed on each test tube of the rack positioned on the pipetting area 30. In each dispensing, first, the nozzle tip held by the tip rack portion 24 is automatically attached to the nozzle base, and then the sample in the test tube is suctioned,
After the nozzle is moved to the sub-sample rack 26 and a predetermined amount of sample is discharged into a predetermined sample container, the nozzle tip attached to the nozzle base is removed by the nozzle tip remover 28, and this series of steps is repeated. . After the dispensing of all the samples in the rack 34 on the dispensing area 30 is completed, the rack 34 is ejected forward, and the next rack 36 waiting in the buffer area 32 is placed in the dispensing area 30. Positioned. Then, such a series of operations is repeated.

In the present embodiment, five test tubes are erected and held on the rack, but the number of test tubes is not limited to this. In addition, when a plurality of nozzles are prepared, a plurality of samples may be dispensed simultaneously. Even in that case, the present invention can be applied.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the rack carrying method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing rack transport and pipe dispensing for each rack. FIG. 4 shows the state of each rack at the timings shown in FIGS.

First, at a timing (A), the first rack in which dispensing is first performed is introduced into the dispensing area 30. This is shown at 100 in FIG. next,
As shown by 102 in FIG. 3, dispensing is sequentially performed on the five test tubes of the rack positioned in the dispensing area 30. Each dispense basically consists of four steps. a is a tip mounting step, b is a suction step for sucking a sample, c is a discharging step for discharging a sample from a nozzle to a sample container, and d is a chip discarding step for removing a chip from a nozzle base and discarding it. Is. Although the respective steps a to d have different required times, in FIG. 3, the steps are illustrated as being performed in equal time for understanding the invention.

While performing the dispensing for each test tube, the second rack is introduced into the buffer area 32 at least during the period 107 before performing the dispensing for the last test tube. This is 106 in FIG.
, And in FIG. 4 the situation is shown at timing (B). By providing such a buffer area 32, the rack can be quickly replaced.

As described above, when an error occurs in the dispensing for each test tube, error processing such as discharge back and re-suction is necessary. Therefore, the first rack cannot be discharged from the dispensing area 30 until the dispensing of the fifth rack of the first rack has been completed. In the present embodiment, the first rack is secured in the dispensing area 30 until the tip discarding step d of dispensing for the fifth test tube is completed. Of course, the first rack can be discharged when the discharging step c is normally completed. In any case, the first rack is secured in the dispensing area 30 as long as it is necessary for the dispensing error processing.

FIG. 4C shows a state at the time when the dispensing is completed for all five of the first racks,
After that, the first rack is discharged toward the front as shown by 104 in FIG. 3, and at the same time, the dispensing to the second rack is started as shown by 108 in FIG.

Conventionally, after the dispensing for the first rack is completed, the buffer area 32 to the dispensing area 30
Although the second rack was dispensed after being transferred to the second rack, in the present embodiment, the preceding suction is also performed on the second rack on the buffer area 32. That is, in order to eliminate waste of rack replacement time,
It also constitutes a part of the dispensing operation for the rack on the buffer area 32.

At the time of the first dispensing of the second rack shown by 108 in FIG. 3, the tip mounting step a and the suction step b are performed with the second rack on the buffer area 32, and the suction step b. After completion of the above, the second rack is immediately transferred from the buffer area 32 to the dispensing area 30.
This is indicated at 110 in FIG. of course,
This transfer 110 is performed in the next discharge step and chip disposal step d.
Must be completed within the period in which Therefore, the buffer area 32 is provided near the front of the dispensing area 30.
There is significance to establish. After the transfer 110 is performed in this way, the same test pipes as those in the first rack are continuously supplied to the second and subsequent test tubes in the second rack.

FIG. 4 (E) shows the second rack after transfer, and FIG. 4 (F) shows a state in which the next third rack is introduced into the buffer area 32. This is indicated at 114 in FIG. The introduction 114 of the third rack is also executed within the period 113 before the dispensing of the second rack is completed.

Then, after the dispensing for all the test tubes of the second rack is completely completed, the second rack is discharged as indicated by 112 in FIG. 3, and at the same time, the dispensing for the third rack is started. It Also in this case, the tip mounting step a and the suction step b for the first test tube of the third rack are performed in the state where the third rack is on the buffer area 32, and after the both steps are performed, the tip is removed from the buffer area 32. The third rack is transferred to the dispensing area 30 (11
6) and then dispensed. And this is repeated.

As described above, according to the rack transporting method of the present embodiment, when the rack is on the buffer area 32, suction or the like, which is a part of the dispensing operation, can be performed. It is possible to completely eliminate the waste of time, and it is possible to maximize the capacity of the dispensing device. Of course, in an apparatus in which a plurality of nozzles are driven at the same time, the above-described pre-suction and the like are simultaneously performed on a number of test tubes corresponding to the plurality of nozzles.

Next, FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the rack transportation method. In this embodiment, a front buffer area 52 is provided on the front side of the dispensing area 50, and a rear buffer area 54 is provided on the rear side of the dispensing area 50. As shown in FIG. 5 (A), the first rack is positioned in the dispensing area 50, and while the dispensing is being performed, the next second rack is introduced into the front buffer area 52. Then, immediately after the tip mounting step a and the suction step b for the last test tube for the first rack are executed, the first rack is evacuated to the rear buffer area 54. This is to deal with the dispensing error processing as described above. As shown in FIG. 5 (B), the second rack is moved from the front buffer area 52 to the dispensing area 50 as the first rack is retracted, and subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5 (C), the second rack is divided. A note is made. When it is confirmed that all the dispensing is completed for each test tube of the first rack, the first rack is ejected forward.

In this embodiment, unlike the above embodiments, buffer areas 52 and 54 are provided before and after the dispensing area 50.
Need to be provided.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, for example, when a dispensing error occurs in the first test tube of the second rack, after transferring to the dispensing area 30, the first The above-mentioned regurgitation / re-dispensing process and the like are performed on the first test tube. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, when a dispensing error occurs in the last test tube of the first rack in the dispensing area 50, after transferring to the rear buffer area 54, the last of the first rack is transferred. Dispensing error processing is performed for the test tube of. In any of the embodiments, reliable dispensing error processing can be ensured.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Assuming that the rack is waiting for re-dispensing, the loss time at the time of rack replacement can be eliminated, and the transfer efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an automatic analysis system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automatic dispensing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart of the rack transportation method according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a rack transportation method according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the rack transportation method according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 centrifuge, 12 automatic dispensing device, 14 automatic analyzer, 16 rack transport device, 18 rack transport line, 30 dispensing area, 32 buffer area.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A dispensing step for dispensing a sample to each rack and a transporting step for transporting the rack in synchronism with the dispensing, including a dispensing area on a transport line and a preceding stage thereof. A rack transport method in which adjacent buffer areas are set, and racks are stopped in the dispensing area until final dispensing for each rack is completed in preparation for dispensing error processing, wherein the dispensing step comprises: A pre-suction step of performing pre-suction at least once for the (n + 1) th rack in the buffer area after the final dispensing for the n-th rack in the dispensing area is completed, and the buffer after the pre-suction step A main dispensing step for dispensing to the rack transferred from the area to the dispensing area, and the transporting step, before the final dispensing for the nth rack is completed,
After the introduction step of introducing the (n + 1) th rack into the buffer area and the final dispensing for the nth rack,
A discharge step of discharging the n-th rack from the dispensing area, and a transfer step of transferring the n + 1-th rack from the buffer area to the dispensing area after the discharging step and after the preceding suction step. Rack transport method. 2. The rack transport method according to claim 1, wherein the transfer step is performed after the preceding suction and before the start of the next suction. 3. The rack transport method according to claim 1, wherein re-dispensing is performed in the dispensing error processing. 4. A dispensing step of dispensing a sample of each rack and a transporting step of transporting the rack in synchronism with the dispensing, including a dispensing area on a transport line and a subsequent stage. A rack transport method in which adjacent buffer areas are set, and racks are held in the buffer areas until the final dispensing for each rack is completed in preparation for dispensing error processing, wherein the transporting step is the n-th After the final suction on the rack of
Evacuating the nth rack to the buffer area, and after the final dispensing for the nth rack is completed,
A rack transport method comprising: a step of discharging the nth rack from the buffer area; and a step of introducing the (n + 1) th rack into the dispensing area after the evacuation.