JPH1138011A - Reaction tube stirring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To straightly erect reaction tubes during a standby, facilitate the access to the bottom faces, and uniformly stir the solutions in the reaction tubes at the time of stirring by rotating the lower sections of the reaction tubes via the rotation of an eccentric stirring plate. SOLUTION: When reaction tubes T are stirred, a reaction tube turret 14 is kept stationary, a rotary block 50 is rotated by a stirring motor 60, a moving piece 54 is rotated in the moved state to the outside by a centrifugal force action, and a stirring plate 36 is moved to the outside, i.e., is made an eccentric state. Only the eccentric motion of the moving piece 54 is transmitted via a shaft member 57, a bearing 59, and an intermediate disk 53, and the stirring plate 36 makes an eccentric rotation with only the revolution component caused by the eccentric motion. The lower sections of the reaction tubes T held by the stirring plate 36 at the lower sections and held by reaction tube holders 16 at the upper ends are rotated in the so-called precession motion, and the reaction solutions in the reaction tubes T are uniformly stirred. During the standby of the reaction tubes T, the reaction tubes T are kept at the straightly erected state with no centrifugal force action to the moving piece 54 and no eccentric motion of the stirring plate 36.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for effectively stirring a solution in a reaction tube by rotating a reaction tube (also referred to as a reaction vessel), standing up the reaction tube in a standby state, and homogenizing the solution in the reaction tube during stirring. The present invention relates to a reaction tube stirrer in an automatic analyzer that can stir quickly.

[0002]

2. Related Art As an automatic analyzer according to the present invention, for example, an automatic immunoassay for measuring a specific substance in a sample by an antigen-antibody reaction is known.

[0003] As an immunoassay using the antigen-antibody reaction, a non-competitive sandwich method and a competitive method of a one-step method and a two-step method are known.

A method of measuring the amount of antigen contained in a sample such as blood collected from a patient as a sample by a one-step non-competitive sandwich method will be described. For example, an antibody (solid phase antibody) bound to an insoluble simple substance (solid phase) such as an inner wall or a particle made of a synthetic resin, and an antibody (labeled antibody) bound to a labeling substance such as a radioactive substance, a fluorescent substance, or an enzyme. Is added to the reaction tube to which is added in advance. As a result, in the reaction tube, the antigen contained in the sample reacts with the solid-phase antibody by an antigen-antibody reaction (immune reaction) to form an antigen-antibody complex, and at the same time, a labeled antibody is also conjugated to the antigen-antibody complex. Then, a solid phase antibody-antigen-labeled antibody 3
A complex is formed in which the two components are sandwiched. In this way, the label of the labeled antibody is bound to the solid phase using the antigen in the sample as a mediator.

[0005] Next, an extra labeled antibody other than the label bound to the solid phase and not bound to the antigen added to the reaction tube, an antibody component not involved in the immune reaction, and the like are removed. The separation (B / F separation) operation is performed, and finally, the amount of the label, which is proportional to the amount of the antigen bound to the solid phase, is quantitatively measured by a physical or chemical method utilizing the properties of the label. Determine the antigen concentration in the medium.

[0006] On the other hand, in the non-competitive sandwich method of the two-step method, first, a sample is added to a reaction tube to which only a solid-phase antibody has been previously added to cause a first reaction, and then a labeled antigen is added. This is a method in which a second reaction is performed to perform measurement.

[0007] Apart from these non-competitive sandwich methods, a so-called competitive method in which an antigen (labeled antigen) previously labeled with a labeling substance and an antigen in a sample are competitively reacted with the solid phase antibody described above. Methods are also known. In such an immunoassay, it is necessary to stir the solution in the reaction tube in order to sufficiently react the sample with the reagent and to sufficiently perform the washing treatment in the B / F separation.

As means for stirring the solution in the reaction tube,
A method is employed in which a stirring rod is inserted into a reaction tube and stirred. When this stirring rod is used, when the type of the solution in the reaction tube is changed, if the stirring rod is used as it is, contamination with other kinds of solutions (contamination) occurs.
Therefore, it was necessary to wash the stirring bar every time the type of the solution changed. This cleaning process becomes more complicated in the process, and the cleaning mechanism also needs to be automated, and there is a problem that the mechanism becomes complicated.

Therefore, the contents are agitated by applying vibration to the container or rotating the container. When a plurality of such reaction containers are accommodated in a holder in which a plurality of reaction containers are arranged and stirring is performed at the same time, even if vibration or rotation is given to the entire container holder, the liquid in each container is not stirred and the object is not achieved. The most effective method is the stirring method in which the neck portion of each container is fixed, and the stirring method in which the bottom moves circularly is the highest.
To achieve this, the neck of the container should be fixed,
There is known a method of providing an eccentric vibrating plate below it.

[0010] However, in the case of using such an eccentrically moving vibrating plate, the vibrating plate is always in an eccentric state, and the container is held in an inclined state even during times other than stirring. Therefore, it is difficult to access the inside of the container of various nozzles for the purpose of separating the internal solution or cleaning the inside of the container without keeping the container in the vertical state during standby other than the time of stirring. There was a problem. An automatic analyzer with a stirring mechanism that maintains a vertical state during standby has also been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-226922). However, it is mechanically complicated, and it is difficult to reliably maintain an upright state during standby. Met.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to make a reaction vessel surely in an upright state during standby to facilitate access to the inner bottom surface of the reaction vessel and to make the stirring state uniform. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic analyzer capable of uniformly stirring the liquid in each reaction vessel as a tilt system.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first embodiment of a reaction tube stirring apparatus according to the present invention is a rotating tube having an upper portion of a reaction tube locked and a lower portion swingably supported. A movable reaction tube turret, having an insertion hole located below the reaction tube turret and penetrating the lower portion of the reaction tube, rotatable coaxially with the reaction tube turret and capable of swinging sideways; A stirring plate attached to the piece, and eccentric means for moving the movable piece in the outer peripheral direction by centrifugal force, and rotating the stirring plate in an eccentric state to rotate the lower part of the reaction tube, The solution in the reaction tube is stirred.

[0013] A second embodiment of the reaction tube stirring apparatus of the present invention is as follows.
A reaction tube turret that locks the upper portion of the reaction tube, swingably supports the lower portion, and is rotatably mounted on a rotating shaft; and an insertion hole located below the reaction tube turret and inserted through the lower portion of the reaction tube. Having a stirring plate attached to a movable piece that is coaxially rotated with the reaction tube turret and that is capable of swinging laterally, and a stirring shaft that connects the movable piece via a spring means. By rotating the stirring shaft to move the movable piece in the outer circumferential direction by centrifugal force and rotating the stirring plate in an eccentric state, the lower part of the reaction tube is rotated to stir the solution in the reaction tube. It is characterized in that it is made to be.

The movable piece is connected to a shaft member having a play hole, and a stirring plate is rotatably mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft member via a bearing, and the rotation shaft is loosely inserted into the play hole. It is preferable to configure so that

In the reaction tube stirring device of the present invention, the solution in the reaction tube is stirred by rotating the lower portion of the reaction tube supported by the reaction tube turret with the upper portion locked and the lower portion free. Therefore, stirring can be performed effectively, and there is no risk of mixing other types of solutions even when the solution is changed. In addition, when the reaction tube is not rocked, the reaction tube is securely supported in a vertical state, so that there is no trouble in the work of injecting and sucking out the solution.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a top view showing an example of the automatic analyzer. FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a drive mechanism of the reaction tube turret and the stirring plate. FIG. 4 is a view on arrow AA of FIG. FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the rotating state of the reaction tube during stirring. FIG. 6 is a drawing showing the upright state of the reaction tube during standby.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 12 denotes an automatic analyzer according to the present invention, specifically, an automatic immunoassay apparatus, which has a reaction tube turret 14 which rotates intermittently at a predetermined speed. At the periphery of the upper surface of the reaction tube turret 14, there is formed a reaction tube holding portion 18 in which a plurality of reaction tube holders 16 are arranged in two rows, an inner row and an outer row. The number of the reaction tube holders 16 provided on the upper surface of the reaction tube turret 14 may be appropriately set according to the mode of the reaction, but in the example of FIG. An example in which a reaction tube holder 14 is installed is shown.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a reaction tube rack, which includes a number of receiving portions 21.
Is held in the reaction tube T. 22 is a reaction tube transfer means. The reaction tube transfer means 22 transfers the reaction tubes T held in the receiving portion 21 of the reaction tube rack 20 to the reaction tube holder 16, and sets a desired number of the reaction tubes held in one reaction tube holder 16. The operation of skipping one reaction tube holder 16 and transferring it to another reaction tube holder 16 is performed.

In this case, the reaction tubes T held in the inner or outer rows of the reaction tube holders 16 can be transferred to the reaction tube holders 16 of the same circumference, or the reaction tubes T of other circumferences can be transferred. 16 can also be transferred. The reaction tube transfer unit 22 includes a reaction tube supply unit that supplies the reaction tube T to the reaction tube holding unit 18 and a reaction tube discard unit that takes out the measured reaction tube T from the reaction tube holding unit 18 and discards it. Have.

Reference numeral 26 denotes particle supply means for supplying particles to the reaction tube T, and a particle nozzle 26a is provided below the particle supply means. Reference numeral 28 denotes a reagent dispensing means for dispensing the labeling reagent into the reaction tube T, and a reagent nozzle 28a is provided at a lower portion thereof. Reference numeral 30 denotes a cleaning unit for performing B / F separation. Reference numeral 32 denotes a measuring reagent dispensing means for dispensing the measuring reagent into the reaction tube T. Reference numeral 34 denotes a measuring means for measuring the amount of the label in the reaction solution after the reaction in the reaction tube T.

Reference numeral 86 denotes a reagent table mechanism having a reagent table 87. The reagent table 87 has a mounting hole 8
7a, 87a are drilled, and the mounting holes 87a, 87
Reagent holders 88, 88 are detachably attached via a. A particle bin 90 and a labeled reagent bin 92 are detachably attached to the reagent holders 88, 88, respectively.

The reaction tube holder 16 of the reaction tube turret 14 locks the upper portion of the reaction tube T, makes the lower portion a free end, and applies a force from the side, so that the reaction tube T swings about the upper portion as a fulcrum. Move.

Numeral 36 denotes an annular stirring plate which is located below the reaction tube turret 14 and has a play insertion hole 38 for loosely inserting the lower part of the reaction tube T. 40 is the stirring plate 3
6, a support plate located below the reaction tube turret 14
And the stirring plate 36 via a support column 42, and is connected to the stirring plate 36 by an anti-vibration rubber 44. The support plate 40 has an annular shape with a hollow portion 46 provided at the center. The strut 42 is loosely inserted through a play insertion hole 47 formed in a peripheral portion of the stirring plate 36, and the stirring plate 36 can move to the side.

Reference numeral 48 denotes a heat retaining case, the main plate 48a of which is located below the support plate 40, and which is connected to the agitating plate 36 by a vibration isolating rubber 49. A side wall 48b is provided upright at the side end of the main plate 48a of the heat retaining case 48, and serves to keep the temperature of the reaction tube T held in the reaction tube holder 16 of the reaction tube turret 14 warm.

Reference numeral 50 denotes a rotating block, which is a stirring shaft 52.
It is attached to the upper end. A movable piece 54 is guided to the rotary block 50 by a guide pin 55 and is coupled via a spring means 56. The movable piece 54 is connected to a shaft member 57. A play hole 80 described later is formed in the center of the shaft member 57. An intermediate disk 53 is rotatably mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft member 57 via a bearing 59. The inner peripheral surface of the stirring plate 36 is slidably and detachably attached to the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate disk 53.

A pulley 58 is fixed to the stirring shaft 52. Reference numeral 60 denotes a stirring motor provided on a substrate 61, and a motor pulley 64 is attached to a drive shaft 62 thereof. The motor pulley 64 is connected to the pulley 5
8 and a timing belt 65, the rotation of the motor pulley 64 is transmitted to the pulley 58,
The rotation block 50 rotates via the stirring shaft 52. 67 is the substrate 61 so as to support the rotating shaft 52.
It is a support member provided in.

Reference numeral 68 denotes a rotating shaft that rotatably supports the reaction tube turret 14. The rotating shaft 68 has a pulley 7
0 is fixed. Reference numeral 72 denotes a rotary motor installed on the substrate 61, and a motor pulley 76 is attached to a drive shaft 74 thereof. The motor pulley 76 is connected to the pulley 70 via a timing belt 78. The rotation of the motor pulley 76 is transmitted to the pulley 70, and the reaction tube turret 14 intermittently rotates via the rotation shaft 68. .

The rotating shaft 68 is loosely inserted into a play hole 80 formed in the center of the shaft member 57 described above. Therefore, the stirring plate 36 is installed so as to be laterally movable, that is, eccentric within the range of the diameter of the play hole 80.

Reference numeral 82 denotes a support column for supporting the heat-insulating case 48, which is erected on the periphery of the substrate 61 and whose upper end is connected to the lower surface of the heat-insulating case 48. 79 is a main guide hole provided at the center of the reaction tube turret 14;
Is a sub guide hole which is opened at a predetermined distance from the main guide hole 79.

A main projection 83 projects from the upper end of the rotary shaft 68. Reference numeral 84 denotes a disk body extending laterally from the upper end of the rotating shaft 68, and a sub-projection 8
5 are protrudingly provided.

The reaction tube turret 14 can be easily mounted on the rotary shaft 68 by inserting the main projection 83 into the main guide hole 79 and inserting the sub projection 85 into the sub guide hole 81. Can be.

The reaction tube turret 14 and the support plate 40 are connected by a column 42, and the support plate 40 and the stirring plate 36 are connected by a vibration-proof rubber 44 and are integrated. Therefore, the reaction tube turret 14, the stirring plate 36, and the support plate 40 can be integrally attached to and detached from the rotating shaft 68. Therefore, there is an advantage that internal cleaning and maintenance work can be easily performed.

The operation of the above configuration will be described.
At the time of stirring the reaction tube T, the reaction tube turret 14 stops, and the rotation block 50 rotates via the stirring shaft 52 by the rotational driving force from the stirring motor 60. The rotation of the rotation block 50 causes the centrifugal force to be reduced by the spring means 56.
The spring means 56 is extended and the movable piece 54 is rotated in a state of moving outward, that is, in the outer circumferential direction, and the stirring plate 36 is rotated through the intermediate disk 53. Also move outward, that is, in an eccentric state. The rotation of the rotary block 50 and the movable piece 54 is not directly transmitted by the presence of the bearing 59 and the intermediate disk 53, and only the eccentric movement of the movable piece 54 is
7, transmitted through the bearing 59 and the intermediate disk 53, the agitating plate 36 performs eccentric rotation of only the orbital component caused by the eccentric motion.

As a result, the upper end is held by the reaction tube holder 16 of the reaction tube turret 14 and the stirring plate 36
The lower portion of the reaction tube T whose lower portion is held is rotated so as to perform so-called miso motion, and the reaction solution in the reaction tube T is uniformly stirred (FIGS. 5A and 5B).

When the reaction tube T is on standby, the stirring shaft 52 does not rotate, so that no centrifugal force acts on the movable piece 54 and the stirring plate 36 does not become eccentric. Accordingly, the reaction tube holder 16 of the reaction tube turret 14 and the play insertion hole 38 of the stirring plate 36 are in a straight state, and are inserted into the reaction tube holder 16 of the reaction tube turret 14 and the play insertion hole 38 of the stirring plate 36. The held reaction tube T maintains an upright state (FIG. 6).

In the illustrated example described above, an example is shown in which the intermediate disk 53 and the stirring plate 36 are separated from each other and are slidably and detachably slidably in contact with each other.
By removing 9 and disconnecting the connection between the intermediate disk 53 and the heat retaining case 48, the intermediate disk 53 and the stirring plate 36 can be integrated. Also in this case, the reaction tube T can be rotated so that the lower part of the reaction tube T performs so-called miso-suri motion, as in the case of the illustrated example.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, during standby, the reaction vessel is reliably set in the upright state to facilitate access to the inner bottom surface of the reaction vessel, and the stirring state is set to a uniform inclination system so that the inside of each reaction vessel can be set. The effect of enabling uniform stirring of the liquid is achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing an example of an automatic analyzer.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a drive mechanism of a reaction tube turret and a stirring plate.

FIG. 4 is a view as viewed in the direction of arrows AA in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a rotation state of a reaction tube during stirring.

FIG. 6 is a drawing showing an upright state of a reaction tube during standby.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 automatic analyzer, 14 reaction tube turret, 16
Reaction tube holder, 18 reaction tube holding unit, 20 reaction tube rack, 21 receiving unit, 22 reaction tube transfer means, 26 particle supply means, 26a particle nozzle, 2
8 reagent dispensing means, 28a reagent nozzle, 30 washing means, 32 reagent dispensing means for measurement, 34 measuring means, 36
Stirring plate, 38, 47 idle hole, 40 support plate,
42 columns, 44, 49 anti-vibration rubber, 46 hollow part, 4
8 Heat insulation case, 48a main plate, 48b side wall, 50
Rotating block, 52 Stirring shaft, 54 Movable piece, 5
6 spring means, 57 shaft member, 58, 70 pulley,
59 bearing, 60 stirring motor, 61 substrate, 62 drive shaft, 64, 76 motor pulley, 66, 78 timing belt, 67 support member, 68 rotating shaft, 72
Rotary motor, 74 drive shaft, 79 main guide hole, 80
Play hole, 81 auxiliary guide hole, 82 support column, 86 reagent table mechanism, 87 reagent table, 87a mounting hole, 8
8 reagent holder, 90 particle bottle, 92 labeling reagent bottle, T reaction tube

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 16, 1998

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0006

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0006] On the other hand, in the non-competitive sandwich method of the two-step method, first, a sample is added to a reaction tube to which only a solid-phase antibody has been added in advance, and then the first reaction is performed. This is a method in which a second reaction is performed by adding a substance to perform measurement.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Yusaburo Namba Koshiro ES672-250, Tsukuba, Ibaraki

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rotatable reaction tube turret which locks an upper portion of a reaction tube and swingably supports a lower portion thereof, and an insertion hole located below the reaction tube turret and inserted through a lower portion of the reaction tube. A stirring plate attached to a movable piece rotatable coaxially with the reaction tube turret and capable of swinging laterally; and eccentric means for moving the movable piece in the outer circumferential direction by centrifugal force. A reaction tube stirrer characterized by rotating the lower part of the reaction tube by rotating the stirring plate in an eccentric state so as to stir the solution in the reaction tube. 2. A reaction tube turret which locks an upper portion of a reaction tube and swingably supports a lower portion thereof and is rotatably mounted on a rotating shaft; and a lower portion of the reaction tube located below the reaction tube turret. A stirring plate attached to a movable piece that has an insertion hole through which the movable piece is rotated coaxially with the reaction tube turret and is capable of swinging laterally, and stirring that connects the movable piece via spring means. Rotating the stirring shaft to move the movable piece in the outer circumferential direction by centrifugal force and rotating the stirring plate in an eccentric state, thereby rotating the lower part of the reaction tube to perform a reaction. A reaction tube stirrer, wherein the solution in the tube is stirred. 3. The movable piece is connected to a shaft member having a play hole, a stirring plate is rotatably mounted on an outer peripheral surface of the shaft member via a bearing, and the rotation shaft is provided in the play hole. 3. The reaction tube stirring device according to claim 2, wherein the reaction tube stirring device is loosely inserted.