JPH1019887A - Assay, analysis and recording device for production amount of gas from biological or chemical sample - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize multi-channel measurement because no mechanical component is in use by using a solid-state pressure sensor so as to convert a liquid level displacement resulting from substituting of gas for liquid into an electric signal and allowing a computer to process the signal. SOLUTION: Dough, e.g. is put in an enclosed package 1 and it is immersed in a constant temperature oven 4 to heat and ferment the dough. When a carbon dioxide gas produced by the fermentation is introduced into an enclosed liquid tank 6 with saturated salt water solution filled therein through a capillary tube 5, the liquid level in a generated gas amount assay cylinder 7 is increased. That is, the generated gas amount is converted into a liquid level in the cylinder 7. The generated pressure is converted into an electric signal by a solid-state pressure sensor 8. The electric signal is converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter 10 via an amplifier 9 and the digital signal is fed to a computer 12 via a communication circuit 11. The computer 12 selects a measurement channel according to a software installed thereon in advance and conducts arithmetic processing and provides an output of data in a form on various requests, then jobs are all conducted on man-hour saving basis.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention generally relates to a gas generation amount assay / analysis / recording apparatus capable of simultaneously obtaining a large number of metabolic activity data such as the amount and composition of gaseous products produced by chemical reaction or biological metabolism, particularly gas produced by yeast fermentation. According to.

[0003] In particular, the present invention relates to the measurement of carbon dioxide generated during the fermentation process of microorganisms, and is an apparatus suitable for measuring the activity in brewing and yeast production and performing a performance test of microorganisms in general.

[0004]

[0002] Yeast metabolism produces carbon dioxide in either metabolism of respiration or fermentation, and the conventional method of measuring yeast activity based on this reaction is that a predetermined period of time from this sample is obtained under a predetermined condition. The amount of generated gas is measured and evaluated as an absolute value or a comparative value. Patent No. 20196
As described in No. 66, for this gas amount verification, the generated gas amount is gas-liquid replaced and converted to the liquid level, and the yarn is derived from the float floating on the liquid level, and the movement of the yarn causes the optical lattice disk to move. There is an attempt to detect the rotation angle with an optical sensor.However, this measuring device requires a mechanical part, and vibration, rust, and foreign substances adhering to the rotating part due to external factors can reduce measurement accuracy. Had an adverse effect.

Furthermore, in the method of measuring the pressure by confining the generated gas in a fixed small sealed container, the sample itself may be applied with a pressure more than necessary. Are the same, the test results vary and it is extremely complicated in the case of comparative evaluation with other samples.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention proposes an automatic measuring device which does not include a mechanical part, is substantially free from pressure on the sample itself, and has simultaneous multi-channels. There is to try.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the liquid level displacement in the above-mentioned conventional type is detected by a solid pressure sensor without using a mechanical part and converted into an electric signal. The electric signal is guided to an electronic circuit, converted into a digital signal, and processed by a computer, whereby a large number of channels can be obtained from the measurement.

That is, the present invention relates to an apparatus for continuously analyzing and recording the amount of gas generated from a biological or chemical sample and the composition thereof, wherein the biological or chemical sample is charged to cause a gas generation reaction, and A sealed container having a take-out outlet, a gas / liquid replacement liquid tank communicating with the gas take-out outlet and containing a replacement liquid that does not substantially react with the gas, a lower end communicating with the replacement liquid, and The cylinder is an erecting gas amount verification cylinder open to the atmosphere at its upper end, a solid pressure sensing element provided in communication with the closed vessel, and converts and processes the output of the pressure sensing element into a numerical signal. And an electric circuit.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The sample container 1 uses a wide-mouthed bottle into and out of which the sample 2 can be easily taken in and out, and has a closed lid 3 having a mouthpiece for discharging gas generated from the sample from the upper portion thereof. The dough is now put in the closed container 1 which is a sample container, and the closed container 1 is immersed in the constant temperature water bath 4 to be heated and fermented. The carbon dioxide gas generated as a result of the fermentation is introduced into a closed liquid tank 6 containing, for example, a saturated saline solution having a small absorption of the generated gas through a thin tube 5, and the lower end is immersed in the liquid in the liquid tank 6, It is sealed upright and stands upright, and its upper end raises the liquid level in the generated gas amount verification cylinder 7 which is open to the atmosphere. That is, the generated gas amount is replaced by the liquid level in the cylinder 7. At this time, a pressure corresponding to the difference between the liquid level rising in the cylinder 7 and the liquid level in the closed liquid tank 6 is generated in the liquid tank 6, and the pressure is generated by a solid pressure sensor 8 provided at the branch of the narrow tube 5. Convert to a signal.

[0011] Sealed liquid tank 6 and generated gas amount verification cylinder 7
Is surrounded by a heat insulator to prevent measurement errors due to changes in environmental temperature. In addition, the head of the cylinder 7 is relatively small at 30 cm in order to reduce the size of the apparatus and reduce the stress applied to the sample, so that the sensitivity of the pressure sensor 8 is very high and 1 mg /
A resolution of about cm ² is required.

A scavenging valve 13 is provided at a further branch 14 of the thin tube 5 so that when a large amount of gas is generated, the gas can be released to the atmosphere. This release amount is stored in the measurement system via the communication circuit 11. And continue the measurement. In addition, by connecting the outlet of the scavenging valve 13 to gas absorbing means for measuring the gas composition ratio, it is possible to analyze properties such as gas composition.

FIG. 1 shows only a measurement system for one channel for the sake of simplicity.
After being amplified by the A / D converter 10, the signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 10.
Is transmitted as a serial digital signal. The host computer 12 selects a measurement channel in accordance with preset software, reads a signal from the pressure sensor 8, performs an arithmetic operation, and outputs data to various output devices in accordance with requests. In addition, factors such as the environment in the test room, test conditions, and the like can be added to the calculation here, and all of the work conventionally performed manually can be saved. Since the information thus obtained is recorded in the storage device at all, operations such as search, comparison, and examination of individual data can be easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing one channel of an apparatus for continuously analyzing and recording the amount of gas generated from a biological or chemical sample and its composition according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 sample container 8 solid pressure sensor 2 sample 10 A / D
Converter 4 ... constant temperature bath 11 ... I / O
And communication circuit 5 ... Gas thin tube 12 ... Computer 6 ... Saturated saline solution sealed liquid tank 13 ... Scavenging valve 7 ... Emission gas amount verification cylinder

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for continuously analyzing and recording the amount of gas generated from a biological or chemical sample and its composition, wherein the biological or chemical sample is charged to cause a gas generation reaction, and an outlet for taking out a generated gas is provided. A gas / liquid replacement liquid tank containing a replacement liquid that is substantially free of reaction with the gas, and a lower end communicates with the replacement liquid and is sealed from the replacement liquid tank. The upper end is upright, the upper end is a generated gas amount verification cylinder open to the atmosphere, a solid pressure detection element provided in communication with the closed container, an electric circuit for converting and processing the output of the pressure detection element into a numerical signal, and A gas generation amount verification / analysis / recording device characterized by comprising: 2. The gas generation amount verification / analysis / recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the closed container is combined with a water bath apparatus for maintaining the temperature at a preset temperature. 3. The gas according to claim 2, wherein a scavenging valve for releasing the gas in the gas / liquid replacement liquid tank to the atmosphere is provided, and the scavenging valve opening operation is given to the electronic circuit as an electric signal. Emission test, analysis and recording device. 4. The gas generation amount inspection / analysis / recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein an outlet of the scavenging valve for discharging to the atmosphere is connected to gas absorbing means for measuring a gas composition ratio. 5. A gas generation amount verification / analysis / recording system comprising a plurality of sets of the gas generation amount verification / analysis / recording device according to claim 1, wherein each gas generated from a plurality of samples can be handled simultaneously. apparatus. 6. The gas generation amount inspection / analysis / recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein an information processing device is combined with the electric circuit so that data processing of a plurality of samples can be performed.