JPS5857226B2 - Centrifugal rotor for separating, fractionating, and discharging liquid components - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a centrifugal rotor for separating, fractionating, and discharging liquid components. The system automatically discharges components and cleans the inside of the rotor. Liquid components are collected outside the rotor using a preparative pipe, and the siphon principle is used to discharge settled liquid components and clean the inside of the rotor. This is done by adjusting the centrifugal force of the rotor and the amount of liquid in the rotor, and the separation, fractionation, and discharge of liquid components, as well as the cleaning of the inside of the rotor, are performed continuously and automatically without stopping the rotation of the rotor. This relates to a centrifugal rotor.

When analyzing and measuring liquid components in a container that has been centrifuged by a centrifugal rotor, it is necessary to separate the liquid components, and the remaining liquid in the container after the separation process is used to prepare for the next separation process. It is necessary to completely drain the liquid, and the inside of the container also needs to be cleaned.

However, in conventional centrifugal rotors, the above-mentioned fractionation and discharge processes are not necessarily carried out under satisfactory conditions, and in the case of automatic fractionation and discharge methods that have been developed relatively recently, However, most of them are forced to adopt some kind of mechanical means, which not only complicates the additional structure of the centrifugal rotor and increases the cost of the equipment, but also makes it more likely to break down during operation. Despite the drawbacks and, for example, the need for rapid chemical analysis of human blood, the centrifugation process of blood involves injecting the blood into centrifuge tubes, loading the centrifuge rotor, and rotating the rotor. Since operations such as starting and stopping the rotation, taking out the centrifuge tube, and fractionating blood serum are required, it is complicated and has the disadvantage of extremely low processing efficiency.

The present invention has been developed and completed with the aim of eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks and achieving extremely smooth and reliable separation and discharge of liquid components within the centrifugal rotor without using mechanical means. A ring-shaped liquid injection chamber and a separated liquid collection chamber, which are open on the inside, are formed in the center of the main body in two separate stages in the rotor, and separation and sedimentation are carried out through a sandwiched passage outside the separated liquid collection chamber. The chambers are connected to each other, and the liquid injection chamber and the separation sedimentation chamber are connected to each other by a flow path outside the liquid injection chamber, and one end of a siphon tube is connected to the outside of the separation and sedimentation chamber, and the siphon action position of the siphon tube is connected to the liquid injection chamber and the separation sedimentation chamber. The pipe should face the center of the rotor well beyond the sandwiching passage, and the other end should face the discharge part outside the rotor, and the tip of the liquid injection pipe should be placed in the liquid injection chamber and the tip of the liquid injection pipe should be placed in the separated liquid collection chamber. This invention relates to a centrifugal rotor for separating, fractionating, and discharging liquid components, which is configured such that the tips of separated liquid separation pipes face each other.

Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be explained based on embodiment figures.
1 is a centrifugal rotor body rotated by a motor M, and a base hole 2 for supplying liquid with an open upper part is formed in the center of rotation, and a ring with an open inner side is formed below the inner circumferential wall of the base hole. A shaped liquid injection chamber 3 is formed slightly eccentrically for the purpose of completely discharging the liquid, and above the liquid injection chamber 3 there is a ring-shaped separated liquid collection chamber 4 having a larger diameter than the injection chamber 3 which is open on the inside.
is formed slightly eccentrically for the same purpose.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a fan-shaped separation and sedimentation chamber formed outside the separated liquid collection chamber 4, and both chambers 4 and 5 are interposed with a passageway 6 having the necessary thickness to prevent disturbance of the sedimented components. Further, the separation/sedimentation chamber 5 and the lower liquid injection chamber 3 are communicated with each other via a channel 7 on the outside (the side in the direction of centrifugal force).

The shape of the flow path 7 is preferably the shape shown in the figure, and the portion communicating with the liquid injection chamber 3 is located on the eccentric side.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a siphon tube for draining liquid, one end of which is connected to the outside of the separation/sedimentation chamber 5 (on the centrifugal force direction side), and the bent siphon action position 9 of the siphon tube is fully connected to the pinching passage. It is placed near the center (a position slightly before the inner open part of the separated liquid collection chamber 4), and the other end faces the discharge part (drained liquid receiver) 10 arranged on the outer circumferential side of the rotor.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a separation liquid separation pipe equipped with a control member 12 controlled by a valve or a supply/drainage pump, which is inserted into a liquid receiving tank 13 at its proximal end, and whose other end is bent in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rotor. The bent portion 14 is inserted so that its tip approaches the inner wall of the separated liquid collection chamber 4.

Note that this preparative pipe 11 may be of a fixed type or a movable type that can move forward and backward relative to the inner wall of the separated liquid collection chamber, but in the case of a fixed type, the pipe can be moved as described above. It is necessary to arrange the tip close to the inner wall of the storage chamber 4.

Reference numeral 15 denotes an injection pipe for a liquid to be a sample, and its base end is connected to an injection pump 16, and the other end is appropriately inserted into the liquid injection chamber 3. In this way, the liquid components are separated. , a centrifugal rotor for preparative separation and discharge.

In the above embodiment, the shape of the separation and sedimentation chamber 5 can be freely selected and adopted; for example, if it is formed into the shape shown in FIG. 5, the centrifugal force can be applied more effectively. In this case, the connecting channel 7 from the liquid injection chamber 3 is provided on the opposite side from the above embodiment.

Next, an example of use of the centrifugal rotor configured as described above will be explained.

First, 5cc of human blood to which a small amount of Heharin (anticoagulant) has been added is pumped into the injection pump 16 and the injection pipe 15.
When blood is injected into the liquid injection chamber 3 of the rotor 1 while it is rotating (approximately 350 Or, p, m), the blood flows through the flow path 7 due to centrifugal force.
It flows into the separation and sedimentation chamber 5 through the filter, and also into the siphon tube 8.

When the liquid is further injected, the blood is subjected to centrifugal action in the separation and sedimentation chamber 5, and the liquid level moves to the side of the insertion passage 6, passing through the passage into the separated liquid collection chamber 4. It is full of inflow.

In this case, only the centrifuged blood is collected in the collection chamber 4, and the blood cells are sedimented and remain in the separation and sedimentation chamber 5.

Therefore, if approximately 60% of human blood is made up of blood cell components, approximately 40% of blood plasma components will normally flow into the collection chamber 4.

On the other hand, in the collection chamber 4, there is a bent part 14 at the tip of the preparative pipe 11.
is facing close to its inner wall in the manner described above, or
Alternatively, since it is moved in close proximity, almost all of the blood that has flowed into the collection chamber can be guided upward through the pipe by a reverse pumping action and collected in the liquid receiving tank 13 outside the rotor. In this case, the liquid can be collected more reliably by keeping the inside of the liquid receiving tank at a depressurized state and actively suctioning the liquid.

After collecting the blood, the preparative pipe 11 is moved back as appropriate, and about IQcc of washing liquid is vigorously injected into the liquid injection chamber 3 from the injection pipe 15. As a result, each liquid in the injection chamber 3, collection chamber 4, and siphon tube 8 is Both surfaces move toward the center of the rotor, and as soon as the liquid level exceeds the siphon action position 9, the liquid in the siphon tube automatically starts flowing out, and the blood cell components remaining in the separation and sedimentation chamber 5 are separated. Due to this siphon action, all the cleaning liquid is discharged to the outside of the rotor (drainage receiver) 10.
The inside of the rotor became empty.

Next, the switching valve equipped on the preparative pipe 11 is actuated to forcefully inject approximately 1 Qcc of cleaning liquid from the pipe 11 into the separated liquid collection chamber 4, and the siphon pipe 8 works in the same manner as described above to transfer the cleaning liquid to the rotor. The inside of the rotor has been completely washed and the washing water has been drained, and the rotor is now ready for the next blood separation, aliquot, and discharge. Approximately 2.1 c from blood
It took only a few minutes to separate the blood sample c, which significantly shortened the separation time compared to conventional methods.
This was achieved efficiently by repeatedly repeating the separation, discharging, and washing operations in a continuous manner.

Note that the order of injection of the cleaning liquid is not limited to the above, and the cleaning liquid can be injected separately or simultaneously from the separation pipe and the injection pipe.

As described in detail above, according to the centrifugal rotor according to the present invention, separation and fractionation of liquid components, discharge of settled residues to the outside of the rotor, cleaning processing inside the rotor, etc. can be carried out without stopping the rotation of the rotor. This can be achieved automatically, continuously, and repeatedly and quickly, so it has the great advantage of being able to reliably separate and fractionate a large number of samples in an extremely efficient manner. Even in the case of liquids that are easily contaminated, it is possible to always achieve highly accurate separation and fractionation of liquid components and complete cleaning of the inside of the rotor without requiring strict handling or management. With the configuration in which the separation and sedimentation chamber is connected to the outside of the separated liquid storage chamber via the inserted passage, it is possible to prevent the sedimentation components from being disturbed in the separation and sedimentation chamber, and to adjust the siphon action position of the siphon tube.
With a configuration that faces the center of the rotor, well beyond the above-mentioned sandwiching passage, when cleaning the inside of the rotor after collecting liquid components, all the sedimented components and cleaning liquid remaining in the separation and sedimentation chamber are discharged to the outside of the rotor. As a result, the inside of the rotor can be cleaned more completely, and the above-mentioned effects can be further improved.
This is a truly useful invention with a simple structure and great effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a partially omitted cross-sectional view taken along line C--C in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 5 and 6 show other embodiments. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the separation and sedimentation chamber portion, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid injection chamber portion. 1... Rotor main body, 3... Liquid injection chamber, 4... Separated liquid collection chamber, 5... Separation sedimentation chamber, 6... ...Pinch insertion passage, 7...Flow path, 8...Siphon tube, 9...Siphon action position, 10...Discharge part, 11...・・・
...Separation pipe, 15...Liquid injection pipe.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A ring-shaped liquid injection chamber and a separated liquid collection chamber each having an open inner side are formed in the center of the rotor main body in two stages, and a narrow passage is provided outside the separated liquid collection chamber. a separation sedimentation chamber is connected to the separation sedimentation chamber, the liquid injection chamber and the separation sedimentation chamber are communicated with each other by a flow path outside the liquid injection chamber, and one end of a siphon pipe is connected to the outside of the separation sedimentation chamber,
The siphon action position of the siphon pipe is placed close to the center of the rotor, sufficiently beyond the narrowed passage, and the other end is placed facing the discharge part outside the rotor, and the tip of the liquid injection pipe is placed in the liquid injection chamber. , A centrifugal rotor for separating, fractionating, and discharging liquid components, with the ends of separation pipes facing each other in the separation liquid collection chamber.