JPS5912548B2 - Pipette tip packaging - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a disposable tip used in a pipette and a package for the tip.

As disposable instruments become more widespread in the medical device field25, convenient packaging for them has become desirable.

In other words, an appropriate number of disposable instruments (according to the instrument and its frequency of use) can be compactly packaged, and when the instrument is used, it is not only extremely easy to use, but also easy to use by 30 researchers or technicians. It is necessary to be able to handle this device without touching it directly, especially when it is used for handling blood, etc., and also to put its packaging into a collection container for used devices. It is desirable that it can be used as Yama: Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a package for a disposable pipette tip that satisfies the above requirements. According to the present invention, a plurality of support ribs are provided to support the pipette tips so that when the pipette tips are stacked together in a stacked manner, the outer surface of one tip does not come into direct contact with the inner surface of the tip containing the tip. Disposable pipette tips are provided having individual, circumferentially spaced apart pipette tips.

The chips are placed in the open tray with support ribs passing through and supported on the tray. The tray is provided with supporting side walls that support the tray so that the surface of the tray is slightly higher than the length of the pipette tip portion that projects downwardly through the tray. The side walls of the tray are sloped and have peripheral shoulders that allow the trays to be stacked. When these trays are stacked one on top of the other, each tray is supported by a shoulder on the side wall of the tray below and has a pipette that projects downward.
The tray part freely enters into the pipette tray which is housed in the tray one below. Single or multiple stacked trays containing pipette tips may be shipped or
Can be placed in a carton for delivery. The present invention also provides a removal member which allows the tips to be removed from the pipette after use and disposed of in the original carton obtained by removal during disassembly of the stacking tray. . BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features and advantages of the invention will become clearer from reading the embodiments of the invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, FIG. 1 shows a wedge-shaped disposable pipette tip 10 adapted to be manually inserted into a pipette for aspirating a medical test fluid.

The chips are wedge-shaped and are provided on their outer circumference with external ribs 11 which serve to support the chips in the packaging tray. The outline of this chip is almost the same as the conventional chip. Figures 2 to 4 are views of the tray 12 containing disposable pipette tips from different angles.

The tray appears generally rectangular when viewed from above and has vertical sidewall portions 13 and lateral sidewall portions 14 consisting of a vertical lower portion 15 and a tapered upper portion 16. The two longitudinal side wall sections are provided with cutouts, the purpose of which will be explained later.

A chip support surface 17 is provided below the top edge of the side wall of the tray, and this surface is provided with a plurality of apertures for protruding chips. In FIG. 3, the centers of these openings are indicated by crosses, but some of them are shown as they are. This opening is dimensioned so that a tapered pipette tip can be passed through it and supported on the surface 17 by ribs 1,1 provided on the tip. At this time, the side wall portion of the chip does not come into contact with the side surface of the opening, so that the chip does not fall further into the opening. The researcher using the chip is therefore free to remove it from the tray at any time. The openings are also arranged in a honeycomb configuration at substantially 60 DEG angles to maximize the efficiency of packaging the chips. ．． As shown in FIG. 4, the tray 12 allows the chips to stand on their own and prevents the ends of the chips from contacting the support surface. The tray 12 is preferably molded from a suitable plastic material and is reinforced by a plurality of elongated ribs extending between the side walls of the tray.

The profile of the side walls of the trays 12 is such that the trays can be stacked on top of each other even when pipette tips are contained in the trays, as shown in FIG.

The dimensions of the pipette tip 10, including the lower portion 15, upper portion 16 and support ribs 11 of the side walls of the tray, are such that when the trays containing the tips are stacked as shown, the tips in one tray are It protrudes into the chip located below, and is of such a size that the outer wall of the upper chip does not come into contact with the inner wall of the lower chip. The trays are stacked on top of each other by resting their vertical portions 15 on a shoulder 22 formed between the upper tapered portion 16 and the lower vertical portion 15 of the next tray below.

At this time, as shown, there is a slight gap between the top of the pipette tip in the tray and the lower surface of the supporting surface 17 of the tray located above it. Although it is possible to reduce the height of the vertical portion 15 of the side wall of the lower tray so that the pipette tips in this tray are directly accommodated in the upper tray, it is better to accommodate them with a gap as described above. is preferred. 6, 7 and 8, the disposable tips are compactly packaged and removed from the package for use.

FIG. 6 shows a plurality of trays 12 containing pipette tips (only some tips are shown in the top tray to simplify the drawing) stacked one on top of the other in a box-like manner, with a cover 23 placed on top of the top tray. (See Figure 7). This cover 23 rests on the shoulder 22 of the top tray,
Adhesive tape is applied over the stack of trays and cover 23, with a taper extending down one side of the stack of trays and up through the bottom on another side. In this manner, the stacking tray and cover 23 are held together as a single unit. An insert card port is designed to fit tightly to the bottom of the stacking tray, this is to clean the pipette tips. Instead of a single piece of tape running completely across the bottom of the stacking tray, two separate tapers could be applied to each side of the stacking tray to hold the insert cardboard 28 in place on the bottom of the tray. good. The notch 18 provided in the side wall of the tray 12 is a tape 2 that is pasted here using a fingernail or a knife.
4 to make it easier to separate the tray from the stacked trays. Alternatively, the tape 24 may be perforated or otherwise weakened on the joining line 25 of the tray shoulder and the lower edge of the side wall of the tray it rests on, thereby reducing the contact tape in this area. By cutting, one tray can be removed from a stack of trays at a time while the remaining trays remain as one unit tray. The stacked and bonded trays are housed in a carton 26 assembled in a conventional manner. The opening 27 in the upper edge of the carton, cut with a die, is shown in detail in FIG. A pair of slits are cut on one side plane of the carton near the opening 27, the purpose of which will be explained later. When the stacking trays and pipette tips are placed in the carton 26, a plurality of tip removers 31 and sleeves 32 are placed in the carton, one for each tray.

The chip remover 31 is a plastic product molded into a complex shape, which will become clear from the drawings. The removal tool 31 and sleeve 27 will be described together with the use of the pipette tip package. Explain how to use it.

The disposable pipette tip is packaged as shown in FIG. For example, put 20 pipette tips in one tray, stack 5 of them, cover the top tray with the cover 23, and fix the tray and cover with the adhesive tape 25. A sleeve member and a chip removal tool are added to the unit thus completed, and the unit is placed in a carton for shipment to the laboratory. At the laboratory, the stacked and connected trays are removed from the carton 26 and the chip remover 31 is inserted into the carton as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. The side walls of the trays and the cover 24 make the stacked trays practically dust-proof, so that the bipettes in the carton 26 are kept sanitary. To provide the chives to researchers, simply cut through the adhesive tape on the tray's shoulders, remove the bottom tray, and then lift out the rest. Cover the pipette tip tray with the sleeve 32 and hand it to the researcher. This tip is wedge-shaped, so it is used by inserting a hepipette into it and applying force to make it fit onto the tip of the pipette. The pipette is fixed. However, as mentioned above, the outer ribs 11 supporting the chips within the tray prevent the chips from being wedged further into the openings in the tray. Pipette 33 to disposable tip 10
To remove the tip, with the tip in the carton 26, insert the tip of the pipette into the elongated small hole formed in the tip remover. When the pipette is moved downward, the tapered tip remover wedges between the pipette and the tip, allowing the tip to fall into the carton 26. At this time, the carton 26 acts as a collection container for used chips, and since no levering or twisting movements are required to remove the chips, the researcher can remove the chips with only one hand, without having to hold the carton with the other hand. can be removed. Additionally, the researcher can attach and remove the disposable tip 10 from the pipette 33 without touching the tip. Therefore, researchers cannot contaminate the chips before using them, and there is no risk of contracting a disease by touching the chips after use. Although the present invention has been described above with reference to embodiments, it is clear that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and other design changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disposable pipette tip. Figure 2 is an isometric view of the pipette tip tray. Figure 3 is a plan view of the pipette tip tray. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail, partially cut away, particularly showing a disposable pipette tip housed within another tip; FIG. 6 is an isometric enlarged view showing a stack of pipettes, tips, and trays and a carton for packaging the trays. Figure 7 is an isometric view of a cover for use with stacked chip trays. FIG. 8 is an isometric enlarged view showing a sleeve for use with individual pipette tip trays. FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the tip removal member and a portion of the tray carton. Figure 10 shows
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a chip removal member provided at a predetermined position of the tray/carton. FIG. 11 is a partial side view of the carton with the tip removal member in place. 10: Pipette tip, 11: Rib, 12: Tray, 13: Support wall.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 a first tray having a flat tip support surface with a number of openings through which pipette tips pass; a first group of tapered pipette tips passing through the openings in the tip support surface of the first tray; each of the pipette tips supports a tip on the tip support surface of the first tray at the outer periphery of the tip such that a lower portion of the tip loosely passes through an opening in the tip support surface of the first tray. a second flat tip support surface having abutment ribs for the pipette tip to pass through and a flat tip support surface with a number of apertures through which the pipette tip passes;
trays, each of said trays having a wall depending from said tip supporting surface of said tray a distance at least equal to the length of that portion of a pipette tip extending through said tray tip supporting surface; A second tray is stacked on and supported by the first tray and also has a second group of tapered pipette tips extending through openings in the tip support surface of the second tray. each of the chips has an abutment rib on the outer periphery of the chip for supporting the chip on the chip support surface of the second tray such that the lower part of the chip loosely passes through the opening of the second tray. , the location of the abutment ribs of the second group of pipette tips and the taper and thickness of the walls of the pipette tips are such that the second tray of pipette tips is stacked on top of the first tray of pipette tips. A pipette tip package, wherein when supported on a first tray, a pipette tip supported on a second tray fits loosely into a pipette tip supported on the first tray.