JPH0972910A - User interface of analyser - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent concealing of a screen desired to be always displayed by dividing a display region and displaying the operation control menue and state of an apparatus body on one display region and displaying a menue other than said menue and a job screen by all of menus on the other display region. SOLUTION: The screen 14 of the display part 5 of a personal computer 1 is divided into display regions 15, 16 and the menue controlling the operation of an apparatus body 10 such as operation starting or completing analytical operation and the state of the body 10 are displayed on the upper region 15. A menue other than the menue displayed on the region 15 and a job screen subjected to window display when the menus displayed on the regions 15, 16 are selected are displayed on the region 16. Therefore, the menue and data desired to be always displayed with respect to the body 10 are fixedly displayed on the region 15 and not concealed by the other menue and job screen displayed on the region 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention is suitable for use in an analyzer for quantitatively and qualitatively analyzing a substance contained in a sample, and particularly for an analyzer for performing chemical analysis such as biochemical analysis and amino acid analysis. The present invention relates to a user interface of an analyzer (hereinafter, the user interface is referred to as UI).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) has been conventionally used as a UI of a liquid chromatography apparatus for analyzing amino acids. In such a conventional UI, various menus are selected using a keyboard. That is, each job of the apparatus is assigned to the function keys of the keyboard, and the menu is selected by pressing those keys.

Further, the current state of each unit of the analyzer, the connection state of each valve, etc. are displayed on the monitor of the personal computer, and at what stage when the analysis operation is being performed. Various displays such as the display at that stage are made, but since those displays are displayed on different screens, the desired screen is displayed by the operation of switching the screen of the keyboard or the operation of selecting the display screen on the screen. I was letting it.

[0004]

However, in the conventional UI, since the menu is mainly selected by using the keyboard, there is a problem that the operability is poor.

On the other hand, in recent years, a personal computer capable of performing multitasking processing or processing similar thereto and displaying a plurality of window screens has been developed. Therefore, if such a personal computer is used, various monitor screens can be displayed. By displaying a menu and displaying the job screen corresponding to the menu when a certain menu is selected, it is possible to provide a screen that is easy to see and understand, and a UI that anyone can easily operate. There is a possibility to build. Moreover, with such a UI, it becomes possible to perform menu selection and various settings on the job screen relating to the selected menu mainly by operating the mouse, and greatly improve the operability as compared with the conventional one. You can

However, in a personal computer capable of multitasking processing and processing equivalent thereto, not only the size of the window displayed on the monitor can be changed, but also the display position of each window can be moved, so the display position of the window There is a problem that the information that should be always displayed becomes invisible when is moved.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and provides a user interface of an analysis device in which the display of information that is always displayed in the analysis device is not hidden by another window display. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, in the user interface of the analyzer of the present invention, the display area is divided into a first display area and a second display area. Is set, and the first display area
A menu for controlling the operation of the analyzer body, such as a menu for starting the analysis operation or a menu for ending the analysis operation, and the state of the analyzer body are displayed. A job screen displayed in a window when a menu other than the one displayed in the first display area and the menu displayed in the first display area and / or the second display area is selected, and The job screen displayed when the menu is selected is characterized in that it is displayed only in the second display area.

According to the user interface of the analyzer, a menu for controlling the operation of the analyzer body, such as a menu for starting the analysis operation or a menu for ending the analysis operation, and the analyzer body Menus and information that you want to display at all times, such as status information, are fixedly displayed in the first display area, and other menus that are displayed in the second display area, and when you select each menu Since it is not hidden by the job screen displayed in the window, the operator can always clearly understand the state of the analyzer main body, and at the same time, the operator can start or end the analysis operation at any time. You can

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, the case where the present invention is applied to a liquid chromatography device will be described. In addition, the liquid chromatograph is assumed to use an absorbance detection method using a ninhydrin reagent.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a liquid chromatography apparatus to which a user interface of an analyzer according to the present invention is applied. In the figure, 1 is a personal computer that constitutes a UI, and 10 is a liquid chromatography apparatus main body (hereinafter ,
2 is a CPU, 3 is an input unit,
Reference numeral 4 is a storage unit, 5 is a display unit, 6 is a communication interface (hereinafter simply referred to as I / F), 11 is a CPU, and 12 is an I / F.
/ F and 13 are communication lines. Although a printer is not shown in FIG. 1, a printer for printing the analysis result is also provided.

C for controlling the operation of the personal computer 1 which is a UI
The PU 2 and the CPU that controls the operation of the analyzer body 10 are connected by a communication line 13. The I / F 6 of the personal computer 1 and the I / F 12 of the analyzer body 10 are interfaces for communication.

The CPU 2 centrally manages the operation of the personal computer 1 such as control of the display screen of the display unit 5, and is capable of multitask processing or processing corresponding thereto. Also, the size of the job screen displayed in the window,
It is possible to change the display position.

The input unit 3 has a keyboard and a mouse. The storage unit 4 is composed of a hard disk or the like,
It stores various data such as data transferred from the analyzer body 10. The display unit 5 is composed of a color monitor. The CPU 11 controls the operation of the analyzer body 10. The CPUs 2 and 11 are naturally equipped with peripheral circuits such as an internal memory.

The analyzer body 10 has the structure shown in FIG. Note that FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing the configuration of the analyzer body 10.

In FIG. 2, 20 is an RLV valve and 21
Indicates a bottle group of eluents and reagents. In the figure, nine bottles from the sampling buffer (S.BF) bottle to the ninhydrin reagent (NIN) bottle are arranged. The bottle of ninhydrin reagent is cooled by the bottle cooler 22.

Reference numeral 23 is a gas removing unit (gas eliminator). Reference numeral 24 denotes an eluent valve group, and in the figure, EV _{1 to} E
It has 6 valves of V ₆ . Reference numeral 25 is a control valve, 26 is a sampling pump, 27 is a reagent valve, and 28 is an eluent pump (EP) for sending an eluent.
It is.

Reference numeral 29 is a reagent pump (RP) for feeding the reagent, and the reagent fed by the reagent pump is mixed with the sample at the outlet side of the column 33.

Reference numeral 30 is a sampling valve, and 31 is a sample table. A sample cup containing a sample or other liquid is mounted on the sample table 31. The sample table 31 is cooled by the sample cooler 32.

Reference numeral 33 is a column, 34 is a column heater for heating the column 33, 35 is a reactor, 36 is a reaction heater for heating the reactor 35, 37 is a detector, 38 is a drain valve, and 39 is a waste liquid bottle. .

A sensor for state monitoring is arranged in each part of the analyzer body 10 (not shown in FIG. 2), which will be described later as necessary.

Next, the screen structure of the display unit 5 of the personal computer 1 will be described. The screen 14 of the display unit 5 is divided into a first display area 15 and a second display area 16 as shown in FIG. The first display area 15 is set on the upper part of the display screen 14, and the display area 15 has a menu for starting the analysis operation or a menu for ending the analysis operation. A menu for controlling the operation of is displayed, and the state of the analyzer body 10 is displayed.

A display example of the first display area 15 is shown in FIG. According to FIG. 4, the first display area 15 is provided with six display columns 40 to 45, and the device monitor 46,
Waveform monitor 47, manual operation 48, analysis start 49, line washing 50, column regeneration 51, stop 52, final 5
3, arrangement 54, re-analysis 55, maintenance 56 1
The menu No. 1 is displayed like a button. In the following, these will be referred to as buttons, and clicking and selecting these buttons with the mouse of the input unit 3 will be referred to as pushing the buttons. This also applies to the button-shaped menu in the second display area described later.

Information relating to the state of the analyzer body 10 is displayed in the display column 40. This information is used by the analyzer body 10
The CPU 2 of the personal computer 1 notifies the CPU 2 of the personal computer 1.
That is, the CPU 11 knows what state the analyzer body 10 is currently in, and when the state changes, notifies the CPU 2 of the information via the communication line 13, and the CPU 2 receives the received information. It is displayed in the display column 40.

In the display column 40, for example, wait (WAIT), arrange (ARRANGE), ready (READY),
Start (START), Start-Stop (START-STO
5 types of status of P) are displayed. The weight is displayed when the power of the analyzer body 10 is turned on. That is,
When the power of the analyzer body 10 is turned on, the CPU 11 notifies the CPU 2 of the wait state, and the CPU 2 displays the display column 40.
The weight is displayed on.

The arrangement is made by an arrangement button 54, which will be described later.
This is displayed when the arrangement process for returning the movable part of the analyzer body 10 to the home position when is pressed is being executed. That is, when the arranging process is started, the CPU 1
1 notifies the CPU 2 of the arrangement state, and the CPU 2 displays the arrangement in the display column 40. In the following, the operations of the CPU 11 and the CPU 2 will be described as needed.

When the arrangement process is completed, "ready" is displayed. When this ready is displayed, it is possible to execute an analysis process, a column regeneration process, and a line cleaning process, which will be described later. Then, when the analysis start button 49 is pressed, the start is displayed. Start-Stop is displayed when the analysis starts and the analysis for the last sample begins.

As described above, the display column 40 displays the state of the analyzer body 10 and the display column 40
By observing the
It is possible to clearly understand what state 0 is currently in. Since the operator needs to clearly understand what kind of state the analyzer body 10 is currently in, this display field 40 should always be displayed.

Next, the display column 41 will be described. In the display column 41, what kind of processing is currently being executed when the analyzer body 10 is performing some operation is displayed. In the display column 41, for example, six processes of initial (INIT), condition (COND), anal (ANAL), final (FINAL), column regeneration, and line cleaning are displayed.

The four processes of initial, condition, anal, and final are a series of sequences executed when an analysis is performed. For example, if the analyzer main body 10 now shifts from the initial sequence to the condition sequence, the CPU 11 Notifies the CPU 2 that the condition sequence is being executed.
As a result, the CPU 2 displays the condition in the display column 41. The same applies to other cases.

The column regeneration button 5 is used for column regeneration.
It is displayed that 1 is pressed to start the column regeneration process in the analyzer body 10, and similarly, in the line cleaning, when the line cleaning button 50 is pressed and the analyzer body 10 starts the line cleaning process. Is displayed.

As described above, in the display column 41, what kind of process is currently being performed in the analyzer body 10 and the type of the process are displayed. By observing the display column 41, , The operator is the analyzer body 10
It is possible to clearly understand what kind of processing is currently being executed. Since the operator needs to clearly understand what process the analyzer body 10 is currently executing, this display field 41 should always be displayed.

The sequence program for the above-mentioned initial, condition, anal, and final processes, and the sequence program for the other processes to be described later are created by the menu displayed in the second display area 16 as described later. CPU2 to CPU11
Has been transferred to.

Next, the display column 42 will be described. In this display field 42, the processing elapsed time is displayed. This processing elapsed time is measured by the CPU 11. That is, CPU1
When the CPU 1 starts some processing, it starts counting elapsed time and notifies the CPU 2 at every predetermined time.
U2 displays the received elapsed time in the display column 42. Although it is possible to arbitrarily determine what kind of processing elapsed time is displayed, for example, the analysis start button 4
9 is pressed to start the analysis process, the line cleaning button 50 is pressed to start the line cleaning process, the column regeneration button 51 is pressed to start the column regeneration process, etc. The elapsed time may be displayed at.

As described above, the elapsed time of the process being performed in the analyzer body 10 is displayed in the display column 42, and by observing the display column 42, the operator can determine which process You can see how far you are going. Since it is important for the operator to keep track of the progress of processing, this display field 42
Should always be displayed.

Next, the display column 43 will be described. In the display column 43, when an abnormality occurs in the analyzer body 10, the type of abnormality is displayed. That is, the CPU 11 monitors the operation and state of each part of the analyzer body 10, and when an abnormality occurs, notifies the CPU 2 of what kind of abnormality has occurred in which part. The CPU 2 then displays this display field 4
What kind of abnormality has occurred in 3 and the type of the abnormality are displayed.

The number of types of abnormalities displayed in the display column 43 can be arbitrarily determined.
It is sufficient to provide about three types of abnormalities such as breakage of parts that make the analyzer main body 10 inoperable, abnormalities in which the analyzer main body 10 can operate such as lack of reagent, and lamps of the detector 37. The reason why the lamp of the detector 37 is abnormal as described above is that the lamp of the detector 37 is a very important component.

It should be noted that only the type of abnormality is displayed in the display column 43, and the content of the abnormality is not displayed. Therefore, when the button with the "?" Mark on the right side of the display column 43 is pressed, the specific content of the abnormality is displayed in a window in the second display area 16.

As described above, when an abnormality occurs in the analyzer body 10, the information is displayed in the display column 43. By observing the display column 43, the operator is informed of the abnormality. If you do, you can respond immediately. Since it is very important to be able to immediately deal with the occurrence of an abnormality, this display field 43 should always be displayed.

In the display column 44, what sequence of the process displayed in the display column 41 is currently being executed is displayed. That is, since the CPU 11 knows which sequence of the process is the currently executed sequence, it notifies the CPU 2 of the information,
2 displays it in this display field 44.

In the display field 45, the number of the cup currently being processed is displayed. That is, since the CPU 11 knows which cup is currently being processed, it notifies the CPU 2 of the information, and the CPU 2 displays it in this display field 45.

These display columns 44, 45 are also important information for the operator, and these display columns 44, 45
Should always be displayed.

The display columns 40 to 45 have been described above. Next, the display buttons 46 to 56 will be described.

The apparatus monitor button 46 is used for the analyzer body 1
0 is a menu for observing the state of each part. Here, it is possible to arbitrarily determine which part of the analyzer body 10 is allowed to be observed, but here,
It is possible to observe the remaining amount of the liquid in each bottle, the temperature of the cooler and the heater, the flow rate and pressure of the pump, and the light amount state of the lamp of the detector 37.

Now, when the device monitor bottle 46 is pushed, C
The PU 2 displays a job screen related to the device monitor in a window in the second display area 16. An example of the screen is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, a picture of a bottle is drawn in the column of the remaining amount monitor, a bar graph is displayed inside the bottle, and two numerical values are displayed below the bottle. The lower numerical value shows the initial amount of the bottle, that is, the amount initially contained in the bottle, and the upper numerical value shows the current remaining amount. Although only four bottles are shown in FIG. 5, in the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 2, a total of nine bottles in the bottle group 21 and a total of one waste liquid bottle 39 are shown.
0 bottles are displayed. In FIG. 5, the bottle on the right end shows the waste liquid bottle 39, and the four bottles on the left side show the bottles of the reagent and the eluent. Also, FIG.
In the above, the numerical value on the lower side of the bottle is described in only one place for convenience, but the numerical value is actually displayed for all the bottles.

Among the numerical values displayed under each bottle of the reagent and the eluent, the lower initial amount is a value input by the operator before performing the analysis. That is, when carrying out an analysis, the operator pushes the device monitor bottle 46 to display the screen shown in FIG. 5 in the second display area 16 as a window, grasps the amount of the liquid in each bottle, and inputs the value. Input with the ten key of 3.

Among the numerical values displayed under each bottle of the reagent and the eluent, the current upper remaining amount is displayed based on the value calculated by the CPU 11. That is, CPU1
1 recognizes which bottle of liquid is used in the process currently being performed and the number of revolutions of the pumps 28, 29 in the process, and therefore the number of revolutions of the pumps 28, 29 and the treatment time are used for each bottle. It is possible to calculate how much liquid is used.

Therefore, the CPU 11 calculates and obtains how much liquid in which bottle has been used and the CPU
Notify 2. In response to this, the CPU 2 subtracts the received usage amount from the initial amount, calculates the current remaining amount, displays it in the upper column, and displays the bar graph in the bottle at a length corresponding to the current remaining amount value. To do.

The above is the display regarding the bottles of the reagents and the eluents, but regarding the waste liquid bottles, they are as follows. When performing the analysis, the operator pushes the device monitor bottle 46 to display the screen shown in FIG. 5 in the second display area 16 as a window display, and grasps the current amount in the waste liquid bottle, and the value is displayed in the lower column. Input with the ten keys of the input unit 3. This is the initial amount.

Among the numerical values displayed under the waste liquid bottle, the current amount on the upper side is displayed based on the value calculated by the CPU 11. That is, since the CPU 11 recognizes the rotation speeds of the pumps 28, 29 in the processing currently being performed, it is possible to calculate how much waste liquid is generated from the rotation speeds of the pumps 28, 29, 26 and the processing time.

Therefore, the CPU 11 notifies the CPU 2 of the amount of waste liquid calculated every predetermined time. In response to this, the CPU
2 is to add the amount of waste liquid received to the initial amount to obtain the current amount of waste liquid, display it in the upper column, and display the bar graph in the waste liquid bottle at the length corresponding to the current amount of waste liquid. .

Next, in the temperature monitor column, the temperatures of the sample cooler (SC) 32, the bottle cooler (BC) 22, the column heater (CH) 34, and the reaction heater (RH) 36 are displayed by numerical values and bar graphs. There is. Of course, these temperatures are notified from the CPU 11. Note that the bar graph is actually graduated, but is omitted in the figure. Hereinafter, the scale of the bar graph is omitted.

In the column of EP monitor, an eluent pump (EP)
The flow rate and pressure of 28 are displayed. The flow rate is displayed only as a numerical value, but the pressure is displayed as a bar graph together with the numerical value. Similarly, the reagent pump (R
P) 29 flow rate and pressure are displayed. It goes without saying that these display values have been notified from the CPU 11.

In the column of light quantity monitor, three wavelengths of the lamp of the detector 37, that is, a reference wavelength of 690 nm, a channel 1 of 570 nm, and a channel 2 are used.
The light intensity of each of the 440 nm wavelengths is displayed as a bar graph. The values of these light amounts are calculated by the CPU 11
Is naturally displayed based on the data notified to the CPU 2 of the light amount of each wavelength detected by the detector 37.

These pieces of information are very important when the operator grasps the state of the analyzer body 10,
Therefore, this information needs to be available at any time when desired.

Next, the waveform monitor button 47 will be described. The waveform monitor is a menu for displaying the waveform of the data detected by the detector 37 while the analysis apparatus main body 10 is performing the analysis process. When the waveform monitor button 47 is pressed, the second display area is displayed. A job screen as shown in FIG. 6, for example, is displayed on the window 16 as a window. In FIG. 6, the waveform detected by channel 1 of the detector 37 and the waveform detected by channel 2 are displayed above and below. The horizontal axis of the display of each channel is time, and the vertical axis is absorbance. Further, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the waveform data of each channel is obtained by subtracting the detection value at the reference wavelength from the detection value at the wavelength of each channel. Further, in FIG. 6, although the waveform is not shown on the screen of the two channels, the waveform of the currently detected data is actually displayed.

The data of these waveforms is the data currently detected by the detector 37. That is, the CPU 11 takes in the detection data from the detector 37 and transfers it to the CPU 2 in real time, and the CPU 2 stores the received data in the storage unit 4. When the waveform monitor button 47 is pressed, the CPU 2 displays the waveforms of channels 1 and 2 in a window.

As described above, since the data of the currently detected data can be observed in the menu of this waveform monitor, the operator can determine not only what waveform is being obtained but also the lamp of the detector 37 depending on the waveform. It is possible to easily confirm whether or not is stable. Therefore, the screen of this waveform monitor is very important,
It needs to be able to be viewed at any time when desired.

Next, the manual operation button 48 will be described. This is a menu for confirming the state of each valve and pump of the analyzer body 10, and the manual operation button 48
When is pressed, the CPU 2 displays a job screen as shown in FIG. 7 in the second display area 16 as a window.
In FIG. 7, the flow diagram of the analyzer body 10 is displayed,
The connection state is displayed for each valve, and the operating state, flow rate, and pressure are displayed for each pump. The temperature is displayed for each heater and cooler. In addition, the numerical value under the bottle of the reagent or the eluent indicates whether the bottle is currently used. That is, below
Bottles labeled 100 are in use and bottles labeled 0 are not in use.

Naturally, the states of these respective parts are displayed based on the information notified from the CPU 11.

From this screen, the operator can clearly and surely know what state each part of the analyzer body 10 is in. Since such information is very important for the operator to grasp the state of the analyzer body 10, it is necessary to be able to see it whenever desired.

The screen for confirming the state of each valve or pump of the analyzer body 10 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 7, and a screen as shown in FIG. 8 may be used. FIG.
Shows the valves, motors, heaters, coolers, columns, etc. of FIG. 7 as patterns close to the actual shape. According to this screen, it is possible to easily identify which is the sampling valve 30 by observing the inside of the analyzer body 10. Also, the screen shown in FIG. 8 looks good.

Therefore, the screen of FIG. 7 and the screen of FIG. 8 may be prepared as job screens when the manual operation button 48 is pressed, and the operator may arbitrarily switch. 7 and 8, these two job screens can be switched by the "display mode" in the column below the title of the job screen called "manual operation".

The analysis start button 49 is a menu for starting the analysis of the sample. When the analysis start button 49 is pressed, the CPU 2 notifies the CPU 11 that the analysis start has been instructed. CPU11 when receiving this
Instructs each unit to perform a predetermined analysis processing operation. As a result, each part of the analyzer body 10 starts the analysis operation, and the detection output is obtained from the detector 37. As described above, this detection output is transferred from the CPU 11 to the CPU 2, and when the waveform monitor button 47 is pressed during analysis, the currently obtained waveform data is displayed in the window in the second display area 16. is there.

It is obvious that the analysis start button 49 needs to be always displayed. This is because the start of the analysis needs to be in a state that the operator can do it whenever he wants.

The line cleaning button 50 is used for the analyzer body 1
When the line cleaning button 50 is pressed, the CPU 2 notifies the CPU 11 that the line cleaning process has been instructed.
Upon receiving this, the CPU 11 instructs each part to perform an operation for cleaning the line. As a result, each part of the analyzer body 10 starts the line cleaning operation.

It is obvious that the line cleaning button 50 needs to be always displayed. This is because the line needs to be ready to be cleaned by the operator whenever desired.

The column regeneration button 51 is a menu to clean and regenerate the packing material in the column 33. When the column regeneration button 51 is pressed, the CPU 2
11 is notified that the column reproduction processing has been instructed. Upon receipt of this, the CPU 11 instructs the operation for column regeneration to a necessary portion. This causes the column regeneration operation.

It is clear that the column reproduction button 51 needs to be always displayed. This is because the column must be ready for regeneration whenever necessary.

The stop button 52 is a menu for stopping the analysis operation after the analysis start button 49 is pressed to start the analysis. In this menu, the stop button 52 is used.
When is pressed, all the analysis operations regarding the sample being analyzed are performed and the processing ends normally.

Therefore, when the stop button 52 is pressed, C
The PU 2 notifies the CPU 11 that the stop button 52 has been pressed. Upon receiving this, the CPU 11 waits for the analysis of the sample currently being analyzed to be completed, and then instructs each unit to execute the final sequence. This completes the final sequence and ends the analysis.

The final button 53 is also the analysis start button 4
This is a menu for stopping the analysis operation after pressing 9 to start the analysis. This menu is a menu for forcibly shifting from the current sequence to the final sequence and ending the analysis. Therefore, when the final button 53 is pressed, the CPU 2
The PU 11 is notified that the final button 53 has been pressed. Upon receiving this, the CPU 11 immediately instructs each unit to execute the final sequence. This completes the final sequence and ends the analysis.

As described above, the stop button 52 and the final button 53 are menus to be selected when the analysis is in progress but it is desired to end the analysis, but such a menu is necessary. This is because, for example, when the analysis is started and the waveform monitor button 47 is pressed to observe the waveform, an unexpected waveform may be displayed, or it may be determined that the lamp of the detector 37 is not stable forever. This is because, in such a case, the data obtained is not reliable even if the analysis is continued, and it is desirable to end the analysis once and start again.

Since these buttons 52 and 53 need to be pressed at any time when necessary, it is clear that they need to be always displayed.

The arrange button 54 is a menu for performing an arrangement sequence for positioning all movable parts of the analyzer body 10 such as valves to the home position. Since the home position is predetermined,
Upon receiving the push of the arrange button 54 from the CPU 2, the CPU 11 drives all the movable parts and positions them at the home position.

The reason why this menu is provided is as follows. Taking the sampling valve 30 as an example, for example, when the power of the analyzer body 10 is cut off, the sampling valve 30 holds the position when the power was cut off. Therefore, it is not uniquely determined how the sampling valve 30 is connected when the power of the analyzer body 10 is turned on again. However, the analysis cannot be started in such a state. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a process of positioning the sampling valve 30 at the home position before performing the analysis, which is the arrange button 54.

Therefore, the arrange button 54 needs to be ready to be pressed at any desired time, and needs to be always displayed.

The reanalysis button 55 is a menu for reanalyzing the analysis data collected in the past. Although not shown, when the reanalysis button 55 is pressed, a job screen for selecting the data for reanalysis is displayed. Is the second display area 16
When the data is selected on the job screen, the waveform of the data is displayed on the second display area 16 in the window.

Since there is a demand to re-analyze the analytical data collected in the past, and re-analysis needs to be able to be performed whenever necessary, this re-analysis button 55 is always displayed. Need to be

The maintenance button 56 is a menu for viewing history information indicating what kind of operation has been performed on the personal computer 1 which is a UI, or what kind of operation has occurred on the analyzer main body 10 and so on. Although not shown, when the maintenance button 56 is pressed, the CPU
2 displays all history information in the second display area 16 in order of occurrence time.

That is, every time an event occurs on the personal computer 1 side, the CPU 2 attaches the occurrence date and time to the event and stores it in a file for storing history information. Also, CP
U11 indicates the CPU with the date and time of occurrence each time an event such as an abnormality occurrence or an analysis operation start occurs on the analyzer body 10 side.
2 is notified, and when the CPU 2 receives this, the CPU 2 stores it in a file for storing history information.

Then, the CPU 2 uses the maintenance button 5
When 6 is pressed, the history information is read from the history information file and displayed on the job screen as a window.

It is clear that the maintenance button 56 needs to be always displayed. This is because this menu is often selected when there is something wrong, and it is necessary to be able to press it whenever desired.

The display columns and menu buttons displayed in the first display area 15 have been described above. However, as is clear from the above description, these display columns and menu buttons indicate the state of the analyzer body 10. Must be displayed at all times in order to monitor the above, or to control the operation of the analyzer body 10.

Therefore, the CPU 2 fixedly displays the display field or the menu button display shown in FIG. 4 in the first display area 15, and displays all other displays, for example, a window display when the button is pressed. Job screens or menu buttons other than those shown in FIG. 4 are displayed only within the second display area.

For example, when the apparatus monitor button 46 is pressed as described above, the job screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed in the second display area 16. Then, the display position of such a job screen can be moved by operating the mouse of the input unit 3, but the CPU 2 allows the movement of the job screen only within the second display area, and It is prohibited to enter the display area 15.

As a result of the above operations, FIG.
Since the display shown in is always displayed in the first display area 15, the operator can press the buttons 46 to 56 at any time when desired, and the information displayed in the display columns 40 to 45 is always displayed. It is observable.

Incidentally, FIG. 4 shows only the first display area 1
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and merely shows an example of what should be fixedly displayed. Of course, if there is information other than that shown in FIG. 4 that should always be displayed or buttons that should always be able to be pressed, these can be displayed in the first display area 15.

The display columns and the menu buttons displayed in the first display area 15 have been described above. Next, the menu buttons displayed in the second display area 16 will be described.

Although what kind of menu button is displayed in the second display area 16 is arbitrary, here it is assumed that it is as shown in FIG. As described above, since various job screens are displayed in windows in the second display area 16 and the display position of the job screen may be moved, when these menu buttons are hidden by the job screen. Therefore, it is natural that the menu buttons displayed in the display area need not always be displayed.

First, the time chart button 59 will be described. This is a menu for registering a program of each processing sequence, and when the time chart button 59 is pressed, the CPU 2 displays the job screen in the second display area 16 as a window. An example is shown in FIG.
Shown in

FIG. 10 shows a case of registering an initial (INIT) sequence to be executed in the above-mentioned analysis process, and according to the figure, it can be seen that this sequence is executed in nine steps. Then, in the item of each step, whether the eluent pump (EP) 28 is turned on or off,
What to do with that flow rate, what kind of developing solution to use,
It defines whether the reagent pump (RP) 29 is turned on or off, what its flow rate is, how many times the temperature of the column heater (CH) 34, the reaction heater (RH) 36 is set, and the like.

Further, according to the figure, the time chart number of this sequence program is 1, and the end time is 5
It is defined as minutes. Further, hydrolysis is entered in the condition name column, and it can be seen that this initial sequence is used during hydrolysis.

That is, the operator opens this screen for each of all the sequences to be executed and registers the program. Therefore, the sequence of the line cleaning process executed when the line cleaning button 50 is pressed, the sequence of the column recovery process executed when the column regeneration button 51 is pressed, or the analysis start button 49 is pressed. All sequences such as the sequences for the four analyzes of initial, condition, anal, and final executed in this case are those registered on this screen.

The registration of such a sequence program, once registered, is continuously used, so it is not necessary to always display the time chart button 59.
Therefore, it is displayed in the second display area 16.

Next, the automatic analysis button 58 will be described. This is used when performing automatic analysis, such as which time chart number sequence program to use when performing automatic analysis, and which of the waveform analysis programs to use when performing waveform analysis. This is a menu for registering various programs.

When the automatic analysis button 58 is pressed, the CPU
2 displays the job screen as a window in the second display area 16. An example is shown in FIG.

According to FIG. 11, in the first program of the automatic program for hydrolysis, the sequence registered under the name of water analysis with the first time chart number registered in the menu of the above time chart is Done,
For the waveform analysis of the detection result, a program registered under the name of biometric analysis with waveform analysis parameter number 1 is used, and the report is registered under the name of report-A with report print number 1 It is defined that printing is performed in the well-established manner.

In this way, the operator registers the program used in each automatic analysis on this job screen.

Once the program for use in such automatic analysis is registered, it is continuously used, so that the automatic analysis button 58 does not have to be displayed at all times, and therefore the second display area 16 can be used. Is displayed in.

Next, the sample information button 57 will be described. This is a menu for registering specific procedures and conditions for automatic analysis, and when the sample information button 57 is pressed, the CPU 2 displays the job screen in a window in the second display area 16. An example is shown in FIG.

On this screen, the operator inputs each item of cup number, sample name, injection amount, automatic analysis number, sample type, dilution factor, sample amount, conversion factor. Of these items, items other than the automatic analysis number and the sample type are input from the keyboard, but the automatic analysis number and the sample type can be selected from those registered in advance. For example, if a triangle mark filled with black in the item of automatic analysis number is clicked, the automatic analysis program number registered in the job screen of the automatic analysis program setting shown in FIG. 11 is displayed in a window. Select the program number with the mouse.

The same applies to the sample type. If you click the black triangle in this item, the sample type name registered in advance will be displayed in the window. Select the corresponding type name from the window. Good. In addition, "Unknown" indicates that the sample is unknown,
“STD1” indicates that the sample is the first standard. That is, these sample types are registered in advance.

In this way, the operator can arbitrarily set what kind of order, what kind of sample is taken from the cup, and what kind of analysis is to be performed. .

According to FIG. 12, first, the cup No. 1 containing an unknown sample was used and analyzed by an automatic analysis program registered under the name of water 2, and then the standard No. 1 sample was used. It is set to use the cup No. 2 containing "A" and analyze with an automatic analysis program registered under the name of hydrolysis. The injection volume was 12 ml, and the sample name was "*".
"*" And "△△" are entered. It should be noted that, although nothing is described in FIG. 12 regarding the dilution coefficient, the sample amount, and the conversion coefficient, in reality, some numerical value is input by the operator. Also, the sequence 1
It is defined that the sequence starts from the sequence number and ends at the sequence number 2. The rectangular mark on the upper left of this screen is a menu button for closing this screen.

From the above, it is understood that if the automatic analysis program is registered, the automatic analysis can be started by inputting necessary data on the job screen of the sample information. Therefore, the CPU 2 displays the job screen of this sample information as a window in the second display area 16 as an initial screen that is first displayed after the power is turned on. Of course, the initial screen of the first display area 15 is the screen shown in FIG. 4 as described above.

Once such sample information data has been registered, it is usually not necessary to change it until the analysis is completed, so the sample information button 57 does not need to be displayed at all times, and therefore the second information is not displayed. Is displayed in the display area 16.

Next, the automatic analysis button 60 will be described. This is a menu for setting various parameters used when analyzing the data detected by the detector 37. When the automatic analysis button 60 is pressed, the CPU 2 displays in the second display area 16 in FIG. Display a job screen like this in a window.

According to FIG. 13, for each step, the slope start time and set value, the drift start time and set value, the peak excluded section start time and end time, the negative peak excluded section start time and end time, Register the automatic waveform analysis program by inputting the predetermined parameters such as the start time and end time of the Leading processing section, the start time and end time of the Tailing processing section, and other predetermined items. be able to. Since the details of these parameters are not the essence of the present invention, description thereof will be omitted.

Then, in the item of waveform analysis parameter number on the screen of the automatic analysis program setting shown in FIG.
The program selected from the programs registered on the waveform analysis parameter setting screen is registered.

Once the parameter settings for such waveform analysis are registered, they are continuously used, and therefore the automatic analysis button 60 does not need to be constantly displayed, and therefore the second display area 16 is not necessary. Is displayed in.

Next, the printer setting button 61 will be described. This is a menu for setting the format when printing the analysis result on the printer, and although not shown, when the printer setting button 61 is pressed, the CPU 2
Displays a window of this job screen in the second display area 16.

When the necessary data is entered on this screen, it is printed in the set format.

Then, in the report print number item in the automatic analysis program setting screen shown in FIG. 11, a format selected from the print formats registered in the job screen of this printer setting is registered. Of.

[0116] The printer setting button 61 does not need to be constantly displayed because the format for printing by the printer is used once it is registered. Therefore, the second display area 16 is not necessary. Is displayed in.

Next, regarding the end button 62, this button 62 is a menu for ending the operation of the personal computer 1, and when this end button 62 is pressed, the CPU
2 ends the operation and shuts off the power supply. The end button 62 is a menu for ending the operation of the personal computer 1, and the operation of the analyzer body 10 is not ended but the operation is continued.

As described above, according to the user interface of this analyzer, an easy-to-understand screen can be displayed and the operability is greatly improved, so that anyone can operate it easily and surely.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a liquid chromatography device to which a user interface of an analysis device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an analyzer body 10.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining screen division of the display unit 5.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a first display area 15.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a job screen displayed when the device monitor button 46 is pressed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a job screen displayed when a waveform monitor button 47 is pressed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a job screen displayed when a manual operation button 48 is pressed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of a job screen displayed when the manual operation button 48 is pressed.

9 is a diagram showing an example of menu buttons displayed in the second display area 16. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a job screen displayed when a time chart button 59 is pressed.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a job screen displayed when the automatic analysis button 58 is pressed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a job screen displayed when a sample information button 57 is pressed.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a job screen displayed when the automatic analysis button 60 is pressed.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... personal computer, 2 ... CPU, 3 ... input section, 4 ... storage section,
5 ... Display unit, 6 ... Communication interface, 10 ... Liquid chromatography apparatus body, 11 ... CPU, 12 ... Communication interface, 13 ... Communication line, 14 ... Display screen, 15 ... First display area, 16 ... Second display area.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first display area and a second display area are separately set in the display area, and a menu for starting the analysis operation or ending the analysis operation is set in the first display area. A menu for controlling the operation of the analyzer body, such as a menu for
And the state of the analyzer body is displayed, and the menus other than those displayed in the first display area are displayed in the second display area and the first display area and / or the second display area. A job screen displayed in a window when a menu is selected, and a job screen displayed when a menu is selected are displayed only in the second display area. User interface.