JPH11326342A - Chip rack for dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply set a holding plate to a base frame. SOLUTION: A plurality of insertion openings 20 are formed in a holding plate 12. A chip 16 is inserted and held at each insertion opening 20. At least one of four side faces of a base frame 14 is opened. The holding plate 12 holding a group of chips can be inserted to the base frame 14 from the opened side face. The holding plate 12 can be mounted in a simplified work.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tip rack for a dispensing apparatus, and more particularly to a tip rack on which disposable tips for sucking and discharging liquid are set.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a dispensing apparatus for dispensing a sample such as blood or urine, a disposable chip (hereinafter, chip) is generally used in order to prevent contamination between samples and to omit nozzle cleaning. The tip of the base of the nozzle is fitted into the opening of the head of such a chip, thereby sucking and discharging the liquid. After dispensing, the tip is replaced with a new one.

[0003] Such disposable chips are set on a chip rack mounted on a table of a dispensing apparatus. A conventional chip rack has, for example, a horizontally long rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a plurality of holes are formed on the upper surface thereof. A chip is manually inserted into each of the holes. While some chip racks are fixed to the table of the dispensing device, others are detachable. In the latter case, the tip rack is removed from the dispensing device when the tip set becomes necessary, and a large number of tips are manually set in the tip rack. Then, the chip rack is mounted on the dispensing device again.

[0004]

Incidentally, the chip rack may be divided into an upper holding plate and a pedestal frame for supporting the upper holding plate. This is convenient when, for example, a chip group is set on a holding plate and sold, only the holding plate is made disposable, and the pedestal frame is reused.

However, in this case, if the shape of the pedestal frame is simply a box shape with only the upper surface opened, there is a problem that it takes time to set the holding plate holding the chip group on the pedestal frame. is there. That is, in such a configuration, it is necessary to vertically lower the holding plate on which the chip group is set from above the box-shaped pedestal frame, and finally attach the holding plate to the pedestal frame, In such an operation, it is not easy to manually perform the positioning in the horizontal direction, which has caused a reduction in work efficiency. In particular, each chip has its head held by a holding plate, and the vibration causes the chip to swing. For this reason, it is necessary to take care to minimize the occurrence of rocking during the above-described positioning, and to perform positioning while regulating the chip in accordance with the rocking.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable a holding plate holding a chip group to be easily set on a pedestal frame.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a tip rack mounted on a dispensing apparatus and arranged to hold disposable tips for sucking and discharging a liquid, A plurality of insertion holes into which the tip body is inserted are formed and aligned, a holding plate that holds the head of each tip, and set on the table of the dispensing device,
A pedestal for supporting a holding plate holding a group of chips at a predetermined height, an opening for receiving the group of chips is formed on an upper surface thereof, and at least one of four sides thereof is provided.
And a pedestal frame having an open surface.
An edge of the holding plate is supported by the frame around the opening so that the holding plate can be worn freely.

According to the above configuration, since at least one of the four side surfaces of the pedestal frame is open, the holding plate on which the chip group is mounted can be moved in the horizontal direction by using the open surface. , Or by rotating from an inclined state, and positioning on the frame base.
That is, in the related art, it was necessary to insert the tip of the chip group having a large swing range into the opening of the pedestal frame. Since it is inserted into the upper opening from the side, the labor involved in positioning is greatly reduced.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, a first engaging portion for positioning is formed on the frame base, and a positioning portion for engaging with the first engaging portion is formed on an edge of the holding plate. Is formed. In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the pedestal frame is detachably mounted on the dispensing device. In a preferred aspect of the present invention, of the four side surfaces of the pedestal frame, one of two laterally long opposing side surfaces is opened.

[0010]

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

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of a tip rack for a dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view thereof.

The chip rack 10 is a rack for holding a plurality of chips 16 and is, for example, removably mounted on a table of a dispensing apparatus. The chip rack 10 includes a holding plate 12 and a pedestal frame 14. A plurality of insertion openings 20 into which the chips 16 are inserted are formed in the holding plate 12 in a matrix.
As shown in FIG. 1, the body 16 </ b> B of the chip 16 is inserted into each insertion opening 20. In such an inserted state, the chip head 16 </ b> A is held around the insertion slot 20, that is, the chip 1 is held by the holding plate 12.
6 is suspended. Since a certain gap is formed between the insertion slot 20 and the tip 16, the tip, that is, the lower end of the tip 16 can swing over a predetermined range.

The pedestal frame 14 has a form in which an opening is formed in the upper surface and at least one of the four side surfaces is open. Specifically, the pedestal frame 14 includes side plates 30, 32, and 34 and a lower plate 36, and no wall member is provided on one side surface, and the chip group is held from that direction. The holding plate 12 can be easily inserted.

The frame base 30, which is the upper side of the pedestal frame 14,
A, 32A and 34A include the edge 12 of the holding plate 12.
A is placed. In this case, the pin 22 and the hole 24 constituting the engaging portion 21 are engaged with each other, whereby positioning between the two is performed. It is desirable to provide two such engaging portions 21 on the left and right of the chip rack 10.

Each of the side plates 30, 32, and 34 has a height corresponding to the length of the chip 16. When the holding plate 12 is set on the pedestal frame 14, at least the tip of the chip 16 is lower. It has a height that does not contact the face plate 36.

In the embodiment shown in FIG.
4 of the four sides facing each other,
Although only one of the side surfaces is open, it is needless to say that both of the side surfaces may be open. Generally, it is possible to set the holding plate 12 to the pedestal frame 14 more smoothly by opening the long side surface in the lateral direction. Of course, a short side surface may be opened in the lateral direction due to the relationship with other members in the dispensing device.

With the tip rack 10 mounted on the dispensing apparatus, the nozzle base is inserted into the hole 16C formed in the tip 16, and the two are fitted together. A nozzle is constituted by the nozzle base and the tip 16, and the nozzle is conveyed to a desired position to perform dispensing. After dispensing, the tip 16 is removed from the nozzle base, and a new chip 16 is mounted on the nozzle base before dispensing the next liquid.

Note that, as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to sell the chip group 2 while holding the chip group.
By using the holding plate 12 as a disposable while reusing the 4, the user's labor involved in handling the chip 16 can be greatly reduced. That is, the trouble of manually inserting the chips 16 into the holding plate 12 individually is omitted.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a state in which the holding plate 12 on which the chip group is set is mounted on the pedestal frame 14. As shown in FIG. 2, after the holding plate 12 is positioned on the side opening side of the pedestal frame 14, the holding plate 12 is slid laterally from there, and the holding plate 12 is positioned near and above the pedestal frame 14. The holding plate 12 may be set on the pedestal frame 14 by pulling it down. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, the holding plate 12 in an inclined state is rotated so as to be inserted into the pedestal frame 14 from the side open side, and the pedestal frame 14 is rotated.
The holding plate 12 may be set on the pedestal frame 14 by positioning the holding plate 12 near the upper part of the pedestal frame and then pulling it down.

In the prior art, the tip of the chip group was inserted into the opening of the pedestal frame 14 simply by pulling down the holding plate 12 from above, but in this case, the tip of the chip swings, The mounting work of No. 12 was complicated. However, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, the chip group can enter the space in the pedestal frame 14 from the direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the chip 16 or the direction intersecting with the axial direction of the chip 16 using the open side surface. Therefore, there is an advantage that the positioning of the holding plate 12 can be performed extremely easily.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The holding plate holding the chip group can be easily set on the pedestal frame.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method of mounting a holding plate on a pedestal frame.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a method of mounting a holding plate on a pedestal frame.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 chip rack, 12 holding plate, 14 pedestal frame, 16 chips, 20 insertion opening, 21 engagement portion, 30, 32, 34 side plate, 36 bottom plate, 30
A, 32A, 34A Frame base.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A chip rack mounted on a dispensing device and arranged to hold disposable chips for sucking and discharging liquid, wherein a plurality of insertion openings into which a chip body is inserted are formed and aligned.
A holding plate for holding a head of each chip; and a pedestal provided on the dispensing device and supporting the holding plate holding the chip group at a predetermined height, and an opening for receiving the chip group is formed on an upper surface thereof. And a pedestal frame having at least one of four side surfaces thereof opened, wherein an edge of the holding plate is detachably supported by a frame around the opening. Characterized tip rack for dispensing equipment. 2. The chip rack according to claim 1, wherein a first engaging portion for positioning is formed on the frame base, and the first engaging portion is engaged with an edge of the holding plate. A tip rack for a dispensing device, wherein a second engaging portion for positioning is formed. 3. The tip rack according to claim 1, wherein the pedestal frame is removably mounted on the dispensing apparatus. 4. The dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of two laterally long opposing side surfaces is open among four side surfaces of the pedestal frame. For chip rack.