JPH1054830A - System for manufacturing test strip - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove defective items quickly and highly accurately by setting an inspection device for detecting defective parts and a puncher between a distribution device for distributing a reagent to a master strip and a cutter. SOLUTION: A distribution device 2 distributes a reagent to a master strip, a notch device 3 forms a plurality of parallel notches to the master strip, and a cutter 4 cuts the vicinity of a base of a test strip continuous with the master strip and separates the test strip. In the flow, an inspection device 5 for detecting defective parts in the distribution of the reagent and a puncher 6 for punching the defective parts are set. Since the test strip including a defective part is punched before cutting of test strips, only the test strip including the defective part is separated from the master strip before all the test strips are cut and separated. Test strips formed afterwards include no defective part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for producing a test strip comprising a strip of paper or a membrane impregnated with a reagent or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a test strip manufacturing system for automatically removing defective test strips.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A test strip is formed of an elongated piece of paper or the like which has been impregnated with a reagent or the like and dried, and the properties of the test liquid can be determined by dropping the test liquid. Here, a reagent for in vitro diagnosis is used as a reagent or the like, and a predetermined diagnosis can be performed by dropping, for example, urine or blood thereto.

[0003] When manufacturing this test strip, for example, a master substrate is formed by laminating a roll-shaped substrate, a membrane to which reagents and the like have been dispensed, and an adsorbent by lamination, and the master strip is placed in the width direction. Cut at regular intervals and cut off as test strips.

[0004]

However, in the above-described method for producing a test strip, the test strip is separated and then defective products are sorted out, which complicates the operation. That is, a worker must check the quality of a large number of test strips one by one and remove the defective product, so that a large amount of work time is spent and the defective product is missed. There were many things.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a test strip manufacturing system capable of removing defective products quickly and with high accuracy.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in a system for cutting a master strip to produce a test strip, a dispensing means for dispensing a reagent to the master strip, A cutting means for forming a cut in the master strip at one end which reaches the edge of the master strip and the other end of which is not located in the master strip, and cutting the test strip by connecting the other ends of the cut near each other; With cutting means for separating from the master strip,
During the flow from the dispensing means to the cutting means, there is provided an inspection means for detecting a defective portion of reagent dispensing, and a piercing means for piercing a base portion of the test strip including the defective portion.

[0007] In the present specification, a "test strip" is composed of a single layer or a laminated strip of elongate paper and the like, into which a reagent or the like is dispensed, and which is obtained by dropping another liquid sample. A substance having the function of determining the properties of the sample.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the cutting by the cutting means and the perforation by the perforating means are performed before the cutting by the cutting means, the defective portion is removed before all the test strips are separated. Only those test strips are separated from the master strip.
As a result, only the test strip having no defective portion is connected to the master strip. Therefore, all the test strips formed by cutting off by the subsequent cutting means have no defective portion.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a system for cutting a master strip to produce a test strip, a dispensing means for dispensing a reagent to the master strip, and a dispensing means having one end reaching the edge of the master strip and the other dispensing means. Scoring means for forming non-intersecting cuts in the master strip whose ends are located in the master strip;
Cutting means for connecting and cutting the vicinity of the other end of the cut to cut the test strip from the master strip, and detecting means for detecting a defective portion of reagent dispensing during the flow from the dispensing means to the cutting means. And a marking means for marking an identification mark on a test strip having a defective portion, and a reading means for reading the identification mark during the flow from the marking means to the cutting means, and the identification mark is attached based on a reading result of the reading means. And a piercing means for piercing a base portion of the test strip.

Therefore, immediately after the inspection by the inspection means, the marking means displays the identification mark and the perforation means perforates in accordance with the identification mark. Another means can be placed between them. Therefore, for example, when a test strip is laminated, an inspection unit can be provided upstream of the laminating unit, and a punching unit can be arranged downstream of the laminating unit.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of the present invention will be described below in detail based on an example of an embodiment shown in the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a test strip manufacturing system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a dispensing device 2 serving as a dispensing means for dispensing a reagent to a master strip, and a plurality of parallel cuts in the master strip. A cutting machine 3 as cutting means to be formed, and a cutting machine 4 as cutting means for cutting near the base of the test strip connected to the master strip and separating the cutting strip from the dispenser 2 to the cutting machine 4 are provided. During the flow, there is provided an inspection device 5 as an inspection means for detecting a defective portion of reagent dispensing, and a piercing machine 6 as a piercing means for piercing a base portion of a test strip including the defective portion. I have. In this specification, the dispensing apparatus 2 side is referred to as an upstream side, and the cutting machine 4 side is referred to as a downstream side, with respect to the direction in which the master strip is fed from the dispensing apparatus 2 to the cutting machine 4.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a membrane reel 7 is disposed upstream of the dispensing device 2. A tape-shaped membrane 8 is wound around the membrane reel 7 and supplied to the dispensing device 2. In the dispensing device 2, the reagent is dispensed to the membrane 8. As shown in FIG.
A first reagent 9 and a second reagent 10 are dispensed along the longitudinal direction of the membrane 8. Specifically, for example, a test drug is dispensed as the first reagent 9 and, for example, a regulator is dispensed as the second reagent 10. Then, as shown in FIG.
A reel 11 for winding the membrane 8 is disposed downstream of the reel. The membrane 8 is supplied to a laminating machine 12 as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, on the upstream side of the laminating machine 12, an adsorbent reel 13 is connected directly or via a dispensing device 14 and a dryer 15. Therefore, the tape-shaped adsorbent is supplied directly from the adsorbent reel 13 to the laminating machine 12 and also supplied to the dispensing device 14. In the dispensing device 14, the third reagent 17 is dispensed to the adsorbent. Specifically, for example, a conjugate is dispensed as the third reagent 17. The dispensing device 1
4 has the same configuration as the dispensing device 2 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the third reagent 17
Is applied to one end of the adsorbent 16 in the longitudinal direction. Further, as shown in FIG.
Is dried by the dryer 15. Then, the third adsorbent with a reagent 16 is supplied to the laminating machine 12.

Further, a substrate reel 18 is disposed upstream of the laminating machine 12. A substrate 23 is wound around the substrate reel 18. Before the substrate 23 is supplied to the laminating machine 12, a sprocket hole 25a in which a sprocket for feeding meshes is formed at one end of the substrate 23 along the longitudinal direction by a punching machine (not shown). Thereby, the feed amount when the master strip 25 is fed can be set with high accuracy.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the laminating machine 12 includes a membrane reel 19, a cover sheet reel 20, an adsorbent reel (not shown), a substrate reel, a pressing machine 21, and a take-up reel 22. ing. The substrate 23 from the substrate reel, the membrane 8 from the membrane reel 19, and each adsorbent 16, 16 from the adsorbent reel
And each cover sheet 24 from the cover sheet reel 20,
24 are laminated and pressed by a pressing machine 21 to be laminated. Thus, one tape-shaped master strip 25 is formed, and the take-up reel 22 is formed.
Is wound up. And master strip 25
Is cut at predetermined lengths by a device (not shown) as shown in FIG.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3 (B), the lamination by laminating is performed by laminating the membrane 8 and the adsorbents 16, 16 on the basis of the substrate 23, and further covering the cover sheet 24 thereon. , 24 are covered. Then, the membrane 8 is attached to a substantially central portion of the substrate 23. Also,
The adsorbent 16 to which the third reagent 17 is attached is overlapped from one side edge of the substrate 23 to the edge of the membrane 8, and the third reagent 17 is arranged so as to overlap the membrane 8. The adsorbent 16 without the third reagent 17 is overlaid from near the other side edge of the substrate 23 to the edge of the membrane 8. Further, the cover sheets 24, 24
The edge portions on the membranes 6 and 16 are slightly exposed to cover the adsorbents 16 and 16, respectively. Therefore, the test strip 2 obtained by cutting the master strip 25
Of course, the same applies to the sectional structure of No. 7.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an inspection device 5 is disposed downstream of the laminating machine 12. The inspection device 5 inspects the dispensing state of the membrane 8 and the adsorbent 16 in the master strip 25 for defects. As an inspection method, for example, a method using image recognition or a method using an optical sensor can be used. In the image recognition method, the dispensing portion of the reagent on the master strip 25 is read by a digital camera, and the image information is processed to detect the dispensing position, dispensing width, dispensing concentration, and color of the reagent. Then, the information is compared with the reference data to determine whether the information is good or bad. Further, in the method using the optical sensor, it is detected whether the reagent is dispensed and wet or whether the reagent is dry without being dispensed to a portion to be dispensed.

In the present embodiment, the inspection device 5 inspects the presence or absence of a defect in the dispensing state. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the inspection device 5 may detect the presence or absence of a defect in the laminated state.

A drill 6 is arranged downstream of the inspection device 5. The punch 6 is a device capable of forming a separation hole 26 formed of a through hole at a predetermined position of the supplied master strip 25. The formation position of the separation hole 26 is specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, a base portion of the test strip 27 that includes the defective portion 29 of the dispensing of the master strip 25 found by the inspection device 5. ing.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a cutting machine 3 is arranged downstream of the drilling machine 6. As shown in FIG. 6, the cutting machine 3 includes a cutting cutter 28 along the width direction of the master strip 25. This cutting cutter 28
Are formed at predetermined intervals in parallel with the width direction of the master strip 25. The cut has a shape cut from the edge of the master strip 25 on the side where the sprocket hole 25a is not formed to the vicinity of the sprocket hole 25a. Therefore, the master strip 25
Is a state in which a number of test strips 27 are connected at only one end, a state similar to a so-called paper match.

Here, when the separation hole 26 is formed by the drilling machine 6, since the cut reaches the separation hole 26,
The test strip 27 in which the separation holes 26 are formed is cut off. That is, the test strip 27 having the defective portion 29 is cut off.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cutting machine 4 is disposed downstream of the cutting machine 3. As shown in FIG.
The cutting machine 4 has a cutting cutter 30. Cutting cutter 3
0 indicates the vicinity of the base of the test strip 27 connected to the master strip 25 in the vicinity of the master strip 2.
5 along the longitudinal direction. Thereby, all the remaining test strips 27 are cut off from the master strip 25.

Further, a packing machine 31 is provided downstream of the cutting machine 4.
Is arranged, and the test strip 27 cut off by the cutting machine 4 is packed.

By the way, the device used as each means of the present embodiment is not limited to the above-mentioned device, and any other known or new device may be used as long as it has the same function.

Next, a method for manufacturing the test strip by the above-described test strip manufacturing system will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG.

Substrate 2 constituting master strip 25
3. A membrane 8, an adsorbent 16, and a cover sheet 24 are prepared (step 41). Here, the reagents 9 and 10 are dispensed to the membrane 8 by the dispensing device 2, and the third reagent 17 is dispensed to one of the adsorbents 16 by the dispensing device 14. Further, a sprocket hole 25a is formed along the longitudinal direction of the master strip 25. Then, the membrane 8 and the two adsorbents 16, 16 are superimposed on the substrate 23, and the cover sheets 24, 24 are superimposed and laminated by the laminating machine 12 (step 42) to manufacture the master strip 25. In addition, master strip 25
Is cut into a predetermined length (step 43). As shown in FIG. 5, the long side of the master strip 25 is preferably several times the short side.

Then, the master strip 25 is inspected by the inspection device 5 (step 44). Here, when the defective portion 29 is found, the separation hole 26 is drilled by the drilling machine 6 at the base of the test strip 27 having the defective portion 29 (step 45).

Then, a large number of equally-spaced cuts parallel to the width direction are formed in the master strip 25 by the cutting machine 3 to perform cutting (step 46). At this time, if the separation hole 26 is formed at the base of the test strip 27, the test strip 27 is cut off from the master strip 25 at the moment when the cut is formed. Since this is a defective product, it is collected and disposed of.

Further, the base of the test strip 27 is cut from the master strip 25 by the cutting machine 4 (step 47). Thereby, a good test strip 27 is cut off and packed by the packing machine 31 (step 48).

Therefore, according to the manufacturing system of the above-described embodiment, since the inspection device 5 and the drilling machine 6 are arranged continuously, it is possible to minimize the number of working steps. Then, the test strip 2 having the defective portion 29
Since only the good test strip 27 can be cut off after removing 7, the defective test strip can be quickly and accurately removed, and the productivity can be improved.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, since the inspection device 5 is disposed downstream of the laminating machine 12, the state of dispensing the third reagent 17 to the adsorbent 16 can also be inspected. Can be. For this reason, the defective product can be more reliably removed.

On the other hand, in the above-described embodiment, the inspection device 5 is installed on the downstream side of the laminating machine 12, but the invention is not limited to this, and it can be provided on the upstream side of the laminating machine 12. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, the inspection device 5 ′ is disposed downstream of the dispensing device 2 for the membrane 8. Further, a marking machine 32 as marking means is disposed downstream of the inspection device 5 '. When a defective portion is found by the inspection device 5 ′, as shown in FIG. 5, the marking machine 32 uses an ink or the like to mark the identification mark 3 at a predetermined position of the test strip 27 having the defective portion.
3 is attached. As the ink, a vegetable dye or the like is preferable.

Further, the laminating machine 12 is disposed downstream of the marking machine 32.
A reading device 34 as reading means is arranged on the downstream side of. The punch 6 is arranged downstream of the reading device 34. Then, the reading device 34 reads the identification mark 33. When the identification mark 33 is detected, the test strip 27 having the identification mark 33 is
A separation hole 26 is formed in the vicinity of the base. Other devices are the same as those in the embodiment shown in FIG.
Description is omitted.

A method for manufacturing the test strip manufacturing system 1 'shown in FIG. 9 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG.

Substrate 2 constituting master strip 25
3. A membrane 8, an adsorbent 16, and a cover sheet 24 are prepared (step 50). Here, the reagents 9 and 10 are dispensed to the membrane 8 by the dispensing device 2, and the third reagent 17 is dispensed to one of the adsorbents 16 by the dispensing device 14. Then, the membrane 8 is inspected by the inspection device 5 '(step 51). Here, when the defective portion 29 is found, the test strip 2 having the defective portion 29 is provided.
An identification mark 33 is marked at the base of the mark 7 by the marking machine 32.

Then, the membrane 8 and the two adsorbents 16, 16 are superposed on the substrate 23, and the cover sheets 24, 2
4 are laminated and laminated by the laminating machine 12 (step 52) to produce the master strip 25. Further, the master strip 25 is cut into a predetermined length (step 53).

Next, the presence or absence of the identification mark 33 is detected by the reader 34 (step 54). When the identification mark 33 is detected, the separation hole 26 is formed at the base of the test strip 27 (step 55). ). Then, a large number of equally-spaced cuts parallel to the width direction are formed in the master strip 25 by the cutting machine 3 to perform cutting (step 56). At this time, if the separation hole 26 is formed at the base of the test strip 27, the test strip 27 is cut off from the master strip 25 at the moment when the cut is formed.

Further, the base of the test strip 27 is cut from the master strip 25 by the cutting machine 4 (step 57). Thereby, a good test strip 27 is cut off and packed by the packing machine 31 (step 58).

Therefore, according to the manufacturing system shown in FIG. 9 described above, immediately after the inspection by the inspection device 5 ', the marking machine 32 writes the identification mark 33 and the punching machine 6 makes the test strip 27 with the identification mark 33 attached. The inspection device 5 'and the drilling machine 6 can be provided separately in the flow, and another device can be arranged between them.
Thereby, the inspection device 5 ′ can be arranged in front of the laminating machine 12.

That is, when the inspection device 5 'and the punch 6 cannot be separated, the inspection device 5' is connected to the laminating machine 1
In order to dispose before the laminating machine 2, the perforating machine 6 must also be arranged before the laminating machine 12. In this case, even if the separation hole 26 is formed corresponding to the defective portion 29 of the dispensing, the laminating process is not performed. However, according to the present embodiment, such inconvenience does not occur.

Furthermore, even in this embodiment, only the good test strip 27 can be cut off after removing the test strip 27 having the defective portion 29, so that the productivity can be improved as a matter of course. is there.

The above embodiment is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the test strip 27 has a structure in which the substrate 23, the membrane 8, and the adsorbents 16 and 16 are laminated and laminated, but the test strip 27 is not limited to this. That is, it is possible to manufacture a test strip having a required structure according to the application. Even in this case, since only a good test strip can be cut off after removing a test strip having a defective portion, productivity can be improved.

Further, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the manufacturing systems 1 and 1 'shown in FIGS. For example, a manufacturing system without the laminating machine 12 may be used.

[0046]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the test strip manufacturing system of the first aspect of the present invention, the defective portion of the reagent dispensing during the flow from the dispensing means to the cutting means. And a punching means for piercing the base of the test strip including the defective portion, so that only the test strip having the defective portion can be master stripped before all the test strips are cut off by the cutting device. Can be disconnected from Thereby, the test strips obtained by the cutting means are all good. Therefore, a defective test strip can be quickly and accurately removed, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, an identification mark is attached to the inspection means for detecting the defective portion of the reagent dispensing during the flow from the dispensing means to the cutting means and the test strip having the defective portion. Marking means for reading an identification mark during the flow from the marking means to the cutting means, and perforating a base portion of a test strip provided with the identification mark according to the reading result of the reading means. Because of the perforation means, the inspection means and the perforation means can be provided separately in the flow and another means can be arranged between them. Therefore, for example, when a test strip is laminated, an inspection unit can be provided upstream of the laminating unit, and a punching unit can be arranged downstream of the laminating unit. Thereby, the degree of freedom of the test strip manufacturing procedure can be expanded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a test strip manufacturing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the dispensing device.

3A and 3B are views showing a test strip, wherein FIG. 3A is a plan view and FIG. 3B is a side view.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a laminating machine.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a master strip for manufacturing a test strip.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a cutting machine.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a cutting machine.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a manufacturing procedure according to an embodiment of the test strip manufacturing system.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the test strip manufacturing system of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing procedure according to another embodiment of the test strip manufacturing system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1 'Manufacturing system 2 Dispensing device (dispensing means) 3 Cutting machine (cutting means) 4 Cutting means (cutting machine) 5, 5' Inspection device (inspection means) 6 Punching machine (piercing means) 9th 1 reagent 10 2nd reagent 17 3rd reagent 25 master strip 27 test strip 29 defective part 33 identification mark 34 reading device (reading means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A system for cutting a master strip to produce a test strip, comprising: a dispensing means for dispensing a reagent to the master strip; and one end reaching an edge of the master strip and the other end being connected to the master strip. Cutting means for forming cuts that do not intersect with each other located in the master strip, and cutting means for connecting and cutting the vicinity of the other end of the cut to separate the test strip from the master strip. Inspection means for detecting a defective portion of the dispensing of the reagent during the flow from the dispensing means to the cutting means; and a piercing means for piercing a base portion of the test strip including the defective portion. A test strip manufacturing system, comprising: 2. A system for cutting a master strip to produce a test strip, comprising: a dispensing means for dispensing a reagent to the master strip; and one end reaching an edge of the master strip and the other end being connected to the master strip. Cutting means for forming cuts that do not intersect with each other located in the master strip, and cutting means for cutting and connecting the vicinity of the other end of the cut with each other to separate the test strip from the master strip. Inspection means for detecting a defective portion of the reagent dispensing during the flow from the dispensing means to the cutting means, and marking means for marking the test strip having the defective portion with an identification mark, Reading the identification mark during the flow from the marking means to the cutting means A test strip manufacturing system, comprising: a take-out means; and a perforation means for perforating a part of a base of the test strip, to which the identification mark is attached according to a reading result of the reading means.