JPH11118808A - Analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the impairing of the accuracy in analyzation by preserving a specimen while keeping a quality thereof by mounting a means for preventing the inflow of a gas into a test piece storing chamber, in the analyzation where the specimen is used. SOLUTION: For example, an analyzer for analyzing plural components in urine, comprises a specimen storing part 2 where plural sheets of specimens can be stored, a sheet of specimen is arbitrarily and automatically taken out from the storing part 2, and is carried to a specific position by a sliding part 3, to be analyzed. The lower parts of a front wall 22 and a rear wall of the storing part 2 repsectively comprise, for example, the brush members 8 as an inflow of gas preventing means. The member 8 comprise a structure where a number of fibers 81 is extended from a base material 80, and the fibers 81 are hung to be kept into contact with an upper face 32 of the sliding part 3 in the mounted condition. The fibers are made of a soft resin or the like, whereby each gap can be closed without increasing the sliding resistance, and without damaging the specimen. A curtain-shaped inflow of gas preventing means can be also used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an analyzer capable of automatically analyzing various components contained in a biochemical liquid sample such as urine, blood or saliva.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an analyzer capable of analyzing a plurality of components in urine, for example, those shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 to 7 are known. The analyzer 1 includes, for example, a test piece storage section 2 capable of storing a plurality of test pieces 4. One test piece 4 is arbitrarily taken out of the test piece storage section 2 and transported to a predetermined position. The test piece 4 is immersed in urine in a test tube 51 held in a rack 50 or the like, and is analyzed by an optical method.

In the analyzer 1, a mechanism for taking out the test piece 4 from the test piece storage section 2 and transporting the test piece 4 to a predetermined position is configured as follows, for example. That is, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the test piece storage unit 2 is provided with a guide member 3 that slides in the directions of arrows a and b in the figure at a lower position of the test piece storage unit 2. It is configured. The test piece housing part 2 is box-shaped as a whole and has an opening at the lower part. In this opening, three claw parts 20, 20, 20 extending in the direction of arrow a in the figure are provided. Is formed.
The sliding portion 3 has a sliding direction (directions indicated by arrows a and b in the drawing) corresponding to the claws 20, 20, 20.
, Three rail grooves 30, 30, 30 extending in
1 are formed respectively. The above-mentioned test piece accommodation part 2
Is that each of the claws 20, 20, 20 is connected to the rail groove 30,
30 and the sliding portion 3
Are arranged so as to cover the upper surface 32 of the claw portions 20, 20, 20 at this time.
The positions of a and 20a are lower than the position of the upper surface 32 of the sliding portion.

In the mechanism configured as described above, as best seen in FIG. 5, the lowermost test piece 4 of the test pieces 4 housed in the test piece housing 2 is
The sliding portion 3 is in contact with the upper surface 32.
Then, in the process of sliding the sliding portion 3 in the direction of arrow a in the figure from the state where the slit 31 of the sliding portion 3 is located on the side of the claw portion 20 in the direction of arrow b in the diagram. Any one of the test pieces 4 in contact with the upper surface 32 of the sliding part 3 is placed in the slit 31, and the placed test piece 4 is moved in the direction of the arrow a of the sliding part 3. Is conveyed to a predetermined site by sliding.

[0005]

However, in the analyzer 1 having the mechanism configured as described above, the internal space 21 of the test piece housing 2 is communicated with the outside due to the processing tolerance of each part. A gap is formed, and the upper surface 32 of the sliding part 3 and the front wall 22 of the test piece housing part 2 are particularly arranged to smoothly slide the sliding part 3.
The gap between the inner space 21 and the outer space of the test piece housing section 2 must be allowed to be formed between the lower end 22a of the test piece, that is, the portion shown by hatching in FIG.

For this reason, the humid gas convection inside the analyzer 1 is introduced into the test piece housing 2 from the gap formed as described above, and the moisture is introduced into the test piece housing 2 by the moisture. Test piece 4 housed inside part 2
In this case, the reagent pad was exposed, that is, the reagent pad was damaged and the quality of the test piece 4 was deteriorated. In particular, in the analyzer 1 configured as shown in FIG. 1, since the test tube 51 containing urine is located vertically below the test specimen storage unit 2, the test tube 51 passes through the gap formed as described above. Highly humid gas is likely to be introduced into the test piece housing 2, and the quality of the test piece 4 is likely to deteriorate. When such a deteriorated test piece 4 is used, it is needless to say that an accurate analysis result cannot be obtained, and the analysis accuracy of each test piece 4 varies due to the difference in the degree of pain. Will occur.

The present invention has been conceived under the circumstances described above, and has as its object to maintain and preserve the quality of a test piece.

[0008]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following technical means.

In other words, according to the present invention, a test piece accommodating section capable of accommodating a plurality of strip-shaped test specimens is slid at a lower position of the test specimen accommodating section and is slid in one direction. And a sliding part for taking out one test piece from the test piece housing part and transporting the test piece to a predetermined position, wherein the inside and the outside of the test piece housing part are separated. An analyzer is provided, comprising a gas inflow prevention means for preventing gas from flowing into the inside of the test piece housing from the communicating space.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the test piece accommodating portion is formed in a box shape having an opening at a lower portion, and a tip of the opening is formed in the sliding direction of one of the sliding portions. The extending U-shaped claw portion is formed integrally from the rear wall, and is arranged so as to cover the upper surface of the sliding portion. A guide groove extending in the sliding direction is formed at a corresponding portion, and the claw portion is housed in the guide groove such that the upper surface position is lower than the upper surface position of the sliding portion. ,
In addition, the gas inflow prevention means may include a gap formed between an upper surface of the sliding portion and a lower end of a front wall of the test piece housing portion, and / or a gap between the upper surface of the sliding portion and the test piece housing portion. It is provided so as to close a gap formed at the lower end of the rear wall.

In the above configuration, a space communicating between the inside and the outside of the test piece accommodating portion, for example, a gap formed between an upper surface of the sliding portion and a lower end of a front wall of the test piece accommodating portion. And / or a gas inflow prevention means is provided so as to close a gap formed at an upper surface of the sliding portion and a lower end of a rear wall of the test piece housing portion. In other words, the gas inflow prevention means prevents the humid gas convection around the inside of the analyzer, particularly around the test piece housing section, from flowing into the test piece housing section. For this reason, in the present invention, exposure of the reagent pad of the test piece due to the inflow of gas into the test piece housing section is satisfactorily avoided, and the quality of the test piece housed in the test piece housing section is reduced. Can be favorably maintained.

Further, in a preferred embodiment, the gas inflow prevention means is constituted by, for example, a brush-shaped fiber or a banner-shaped sheet material.

When the gas inflow prevention means is constituted by the fiber or sheet material, for example, the fiber or sheet material is provided so as to hang down from a base having a length substantially corresponding to the length of the test piece. A predetermined gap can be closed by attaching it to an appropriate part of the above-mentioned test piece housing part. The fiber or sheet material is inexpensive, and the gas inflow prevention means of the fiber or sheet material has an extremely simple configuration, and can close a predetermined gap without changing the configuration of an existing device. That is, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to change the design around the test piece accommodating portion in order to provide the gas inflow prevention means when closing the predetermined gap, which is advantageous in cost.

When the gas inflow prevention means is configured to close the predetermined gap, there is a concern that the fiber or sheet material may increase the sliding resistance of the sliding portion. However, since the fibers and the sheet material can be made of a relatively soft material, for example, a soft resin, the sliding resistance of the sliding portion is increased by providing the gas inflow prevention means in the present invention. It will not be. Further, when the fiber or sheet material is made of a relatively soft material, even if the fiber or sheet material comes into contact with the test piece during the transport of the test piece due to the sliding of the sliding portion, the test piece may be used. Is not damaged.

[0015] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016]

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

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an example of the analyzer, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.
1 is a perspective view of a main part of an analyzer according to the present invention. Note that the same reference numerals are given to the same members and elements as those illustrated in the drawings referred to for describing the conventional example.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the analyzer 1 is capable of analyzing a plurality of components in urine, for example. The test specimen storage unit 2 automatically
The test pieces 4 are taken out and the test pieces 4 taken out are taken out.
The test piece 4 is conveyed to a predetermined position by the sliding portion 2 that slides in the lower position of the test piece housing portion 2 and the test piece 4 is
It is configured to be immersed in the urine in the test tube 51 held in the like and analyzed by an optical method.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the test piece housing section 2 is formed in a box shape as a whole, for example, by molding a resin into a mold. I have. The lid 2a is rotatably attached so that the upper opening can be closed, and the test piece 4 can be put in and out of the upper opening. Three claw portions 2 extending in the direction of arrow a in the figure are provided in the lower opening.
0, 20, and 20 are formed. These claws 20,
Reference numerals 20 and 20 are formed in a U-shape so as to extend integrally from a lower portion of the rear wall 23 of the test piece housing portion. Therefore, the claw portions 20, 20, 20 substantially serve as bottom walls of the test piece housing 2. In addition, the lower end 22a of the front wall 22 of the test piece housing 2 is provided for the sake of convenience for attaching the test piece housing 2 or the like.
A gap is formed between the claw 20 and the tip of the claw 20. In addition, since the said test piece accommodating part 2 is removable from the said analyzer 1, in the state which removed, the test | inspection from the clearance gap between the lower end 22a of the said front wall 22 and the front-end | tip part of the said claw part 20 is carried out. Although it is necessary to close the gap so that the piece 4 does not spill, the test piece accommodating portion 2 is provided with a member for closing the gap, which is not shown in the drawing. Of course, this member closes the gap when the test piece housing part 2 is removed,
In the attached state, the gap is opened.

The sliding portion 3 is also formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape as best seen in FIGS. 2 to 4 by, for example, molding with a resin. The three rail grooves 30, 30, 30 are formed on the upper surface 32 of the sliding portion 3 so as to extend in the directions of arrows a and b in FIG.
Are formed, and these rail grooves 30, 3 are formed.
A slit 31 that intersects vertically with 0, 30 is formed at a predetermined position. The width and depth of the slit 31 substantially correspond to the width and depth of the test piece 4, and one test piece 4 can be accommodated and placed in the slit 31. The sliding portion 3 is slid on the base member 70 in directions indicated by arrows a and b in the drawing by a driving force of, for example, a motor (not shown).

As best shown in FIGS. 2 to 4,
The test piece housing section 2 is arranged so as to cover the upper surface 32 of the sliding section 3 in the attached state.
At this time, the respective claws 20, 20, 20 are configured so as to fit in the rail grooves 30, 30, 30, and the upper surfaces 20a, 2 of the respective claws 20, 20, 20, are formed.
The positions of 0a and 20a are lower than the position of the upper surface 32 of the sliding portion.

As shown in FIG. 2, brush-like members 8, 8 as gas inflow prevention means are attached to the lower portions of the front wall 22 and the rear wall 23 of the test piece housing portion 2, respectively. . As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the brush-like member 8 is configured such that a large number of fibers 81 extend from a base material 80 having a length substantially corresponding to the length of the test piece 4. In the mounted state, each fiber 81 hangs down from the base material 80, and its tip is in contact with the upper surface 32 of the sliding portion 3 or the upper surface 20a of the claw portion 20. The fiber 81 is inexpensive, and the brush-like member 8 having the fiber has an extremely simple configuration. Therefore, in the present invention, a predetermined gap can be closed without changing the configuration of an existing device. That is, in the present invention, it is not necessary to change the design of the structure around the test piece accommodating section 2 to provide the gas inflow prevention means when closing the predetermined gap, which is advantageous in cost. The fibers 81 may have substantially the same length, or may be a mixture of long and short fibers 81.

As best seen in FIG. 3, since each of the fibers 81 appears to hang down, the space connecting the internal space 21 and the external space of the test piece housing 2, ie, the space A gap formed between the upper surface 32 of the sliding part 3 and the lower end 22a of the front wall 22 of the test piece housing part 2;
The gap formed between the upper surface 32 of the sliding part 3 and the lower end 23a of the rear wall 23 of the test piece housing part 2 is separated from each fiber 8
It is said to be closed by one.

In the mechanism configured as described above, as best seen in FIG. 2, the lowermost test piece 4 of the test pieces 4 housed in the test piece housing section 2 has:
The sliding portion 3 is in contact with the upper surface 32.
Then, in the process of sliding the sliding portion 3 in the direction of the arrow a in the drawing from the state where the slit 31 of the sliding portion 3 waits at a position on the side of the claw portion 20 in the direction of the arrow b in the drawing. Any one of the test pieces 4 in contact with the upper surface 32 of the sliding portion 3 is placed in the slit 31. As described above, since the width and the depth of the slit 31 are formed so as to substantially correspond to those of the test piece 4, only one test piece 4 is favorably accommodated in the slit 31. Is placed. The test piece 4 placed on the slit 31 in this manner is conveyed to a predetermined portion by sliding the sliding portion 3 in the direction of arrow a.

At this time, from the space formed between the upper surface 32 of the sliding part 3 and the lower end 22a of the front wall 22 of the test piece housing part 2, the sliding part 3 slides the slit. The other test pieces 4 along with the test pieces 4 placed on the base 31 also try to move to the outside of the test piece housing portion 2, but the movement is hindered by the fibers 81 of the brush-like member 8. Even if the test piece 4 comes out from the inside 21 of the test piece housing part 2, the block 7 indicated by a virtual line in FIG. 5 is arranged on the downstream side of the sliding part in the direction of arrow a in FIG. Therefore, the test pieces 4 other than the test piece 4 placed on the slit 31 cannot move any more by interfering with the block 7.

When the test piece 4 placed on the slit 31 is conveyed to a predetermined position and removed from the slit 31, the sliding part 3 is moved to the position indicated by the arrow b in the figure.
In this process, the test piece 4 that has moved to the outside of the test piece housing 2
Is again accommodated in the test piece accommodating section 2 as the sliding section 3 slides. In addition, each said claw part 20,2
Since the reference numerals 0 and 20 are provided continuously with the rear wall 23 of the test piece accommodating portion 2, the movement of the test piece 4 in the direction of arrow b in FIG. ing.

When the predetermined gap is closed by disposing the brush-like member 8, there is a concern that the fiber 81 may increase the resistance of the sliding portion 3 when sliding. Since the fiber 81 can be made of a material such as a soft resin, the sliding resistance of the sliding portion 3 is increased in the present embodiment even by disposing the brush-like member 8. There is no.
Further, if the fiber 81 is made of a relatively soft material, the test piece 4 may be damaged even if the fiber 81 comes into contact with the test piece 4 when the test piece 4 is transported by the sliding of the sliding portion 3. Nothing to do.

In the analyzer 1 having the above-described structure, the space 81 that connects the internal space 21 and the external space of the test-piece housing section 2 with the fibers 81 of the brush-like member 8, that is, the sliding section 3. And a gap formed between the upper surface 32 of the test piece housing part 2 and the lower end 22a of the front wall 22 of the test piece housing part 2, and the upper surface 32 of the sliding part 3 and the rear wall 2 of the test piece housing part 2.
As described above, the space formed at the lower end 23a of the third member 3 is closed. For this reason, in the analyzer 1, it is possible to prevent gas from flowing into the internal space 21 of the test piece housing section 2 from the gap as described above. The situation where the reagent pad of the test piece 4 accommodated in the test piece 4 is exposed, that is, the reagent pad is damaged and the quality of the test piece 4 is deteriorated is avoided. In particular, in the analyzer 1 configured as shown in FIG.
1 is located vertically below the test piece housing 2,
It is easy for the humid gas to convect around the test piece accommodating section 2. However, even in the analyzer 1 having the above-described configuration, it is possible to prevent the gas from flowing well and maintain the quality of the test piece 4. it can.

In the above-described embodiment, the brush-like member 8 is used as the gas inflow prevention means. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may have a hanging configuration.

It goes without saying that the brush-like member 8 is not limited to the form illustrated in the drawings referred to for describing the present invention. For example, the fiber 8
The number, length, or hardness of 1 can be appropriately changed in design.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view illustrating an example of an analyzer.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the analyzer according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an analyzer according to a conventional example, and is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a main part of an analyzer according to a conventional example, and is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a main part of an analyzer according to a conventional example, and corresponds to FIG. 4 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Analysis apparatus 2 Test piece accommodation part 3 Sliding part 4 Test piece 8 Brush (as a gas inflow prevention means) 20 Claw part (of test piece accommodation part) 20a Upper surface (of claw part) 21 Internal space (test specimen accommodation part) 22) Front wall (of the test piece housing part) 22a Lower end (of the front wall) 23 Rear wall (of the test piece housing part) 23a Lower end (of the rear wall) 30 Guide groove (of the sliding part) 32 Upper surface (of the sliding part) Part of)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A test piece accommodating part capable of accommodating a plurality of strip-shaped test specimens, and a slide in one direction while sliding at a lower position of the test specimen accommodating part. An analyzer having a sliding portion for taking out one test piece from the storage section and transporting the test piece to a predetermined position, wherein the analysis section has a space communicating the inside and the outside of the test piece storage section. A gas inflow prevention means for preventing gas from flowing into the test piece housing portion,
Analysis equipment. 2. The test piece accommodating portion is formed in a box shape having an opening at a lower portion, and a distal end portion of the test piece accommodating portion extends in a sliding direction of one of the sliding portions. A U-shaped claw is formed integrally with the rear wall, and is disposed so as to cover the upper surface of the sliding portion. The sliding portion slides on a portion corresponding to the claw. A guide groove extending in the moving direction is formed, and the claw portion is housed in the guide groove such that the upper surface position of the sliding portion is lower than the upper surface position of the sliding portion, and the gas A gap formed between an upper surface of the sliding portion and a lower end of a front wall of the test piece housing portion;
The analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the analyzer is provided so as to close a gap formed between an upper surface of the sliding portion and a lower end of a rear wall of the test piece housing portion. 3. The gas inflow prevention means is constituted by a fiber bundle in a brush shape.
The analyzer according to claim 1. 4. The analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the gas inflow prevention means is formed of a banner-shaped sheet material.