JPS59157531A - Automatic sample sealing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect abnormality in operation automatically by comparing the detection signal of a detecting means provided at the terminal part position of a conveyance path with memory contents. CONSTITUTION:The slide glass sensor 250B is provided at the terminal part position 210G of the conveyance path 210 to detect whether slide glass 110 is present or not. When the detection signal of the sensor 250B is a ''1'' signal indicating the presence of the glass, a control part 800 compares this signal with data 2/1 stored in a memory 850 to judge that the slide glass 112 is conveyed from a position 210A to a position 210G normally, carrying on the conveyance and operation. When the sensor 250B outputs a ''0'' signal indicating that there is no glass, the glass 112 corresponding to the data 2/1 is not detected in comparing operation although the data 2/1 is shifted in the memory 850, so it is judged that abnormality occurs to some part on the conveyance path 210, outputting an abnormality signal, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic specimen enclosing device, and in particular to an automatic specimen enclosing device for slide glasses supplied to a conveying means at predetermined time intervals.
Regarding an automatic specimen enclosing device that detects the presence or absence of a glass slide at its moving position and thereby detects whether the slide glass has been transported without any abnormality. (Prior art and its problems) Generally, cell tissue Tissue specimens for microscopy used in examinations, etc., are pre-processed by cutting the material to an appropriate size, dehydrating it with alcohol, etc., embedding it in paraffin, etc., and further cutting it into thin slices. glue and 0.09
It is only when the specimen is sealed with a cover glass of about 0.11111 that it becomes a sealed specimen that can be preserved. However, in the past, most of these steps have been done manually. In recent years, efforts have been made to automate each of these processing steps, but fully automated devices for mounting specimens attached to glass slides are rare, and only one has been developed. There are still many problems with this.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to completely automate such a specimen encapsulation device and perform a predetermined encapsulation operation on a slide glass moving on a conveyance path, and to prevent abnormalities from occurring in the slide glass during the process. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic specimen enclosing device having a means for detecting whether or not a slide glass is transported without any damage. a conveying means for moving at pitches; a slide glass detecting means provided in the vicinity of the slide glass supply position of the conveyance path and near the terminal end position of the conveyance path; It has a storage block corresponding to the movement position, and stores in the block a signal corresponding to each of the slide glasses and a detection signal obtained from the detection means provided near the slide glass supply position as data. , storage means capable of shifting the data to the adjacent block in synchronization with the movement of the slide glass, and each time the slide glass being supplied is detected by a detection means provided near the supply position. The signal corresponding to the slide glass and the detection signal obtained from the detection means are stored as the data, and the data is shifted in synchronization with the movement of the slide glass, and the data is transferred to the end portion of the transport path. When the slide glass is shifted by 1 to the block corresponding to the position, a detection signal obtained from the detection means provided near the end position and a detection signal in the block corresponding to the end position are detected. The present invention is characterized in that it is detected whether or not the slide glass has been conveyed from the supply position to the termination position by comparing the signal included in the data.

(Embodiment of the Invention) An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of the configuration of the automatic specimen enclosing device of the present invention.

Here, 100 is a slide glass shooter that supplies slide glasses 110 one by one to a conveyance device 200 at predetermined time intervals. Transported to the left.

Reference numeral 300 denotes a discrimination device, and the slide glass 110 on the conveying device 200 is first subjected to discrimination by the discrimination device 300 to determine the size of the specimen attached to its upper surface. Next, the slide glass 110 whose sample size has been detected by the discrimination device 300 is sent to the liquid-based device 400, where an adhesive liquid is applied to the slide glass 110 according to the size of the sample.
Supplied on top.

500 is a cover glass sorting and supplying device. Reference numeral 510 denotes the sorter, and the sorter 510 has a sorting section 511 for storing cover glasses of a plurality of types, four different sizes in this example, stacked up and down. The extraction mechanism 530 can selectively pull out only one cover glass of a size corresponding to the size of the cover glass.

Further, the pulled-out cover glass is guided by a transfer mechanism 550 onto the slide glass that has finished dropping the adhesive liquid and has been transported to the bonding position.

Below the slide glass 110 at this bonding position, there is provided a bonding device 600 that moves up and down at appropriate timing to bond the slide glass 110 and the cover glass. Then, the slide glass 110 is placed on the pedestal of the bonding device 600, and the cover glass is gently dropped from above, and a slight pressing force is applied to complete the bonding and encapsulation.

The slide glass 110 that has been completely sealed is stored in the storage device 700.
The products are extruded one after another into the product section 710. After a predetermined number of glass slides 110 have been sealed, they accumulate in the product section 710 (10 in this example).

The tray (saucer) 750 is automatically pushed out by the extrusion mechanism 730.
With a total of 40 products stored in the tray, 1 gigaung of slide glass packaging is completed.

Furthermore, 800 is a control unit that controls these series of enclosing operations by a microcomputer (C, pu) not shown, and sio is its operation panel. The operation panel 810 is provided with a display, switches, various display means for when an abnormality occurs, etc., and the enclosing device can be operated and its operation can be monitored via the operation panel 810. Note that 820 is a switch box equipped with a button switch for starting and stopping the enclosing device.

Next, a control mechanism for detecting the movement of the slide glass 110 and performing each work operation will be explained with reference to FIG. Here, the slide glasses 111 to 118 are supplied onto the conveyance path 210 of the conveyance device 200, and these slide glasses 111 to 118 are fed from the chute 100 (see FIG. 1) located on the right side of the figure. It is dropped onto the conveyance path 210 at predetermined time intervals. Each time these glass slides are dropped, they are transported to the right at a predetermined pitch by the claws 231 of the roller chain 230 shown in FIG. They are successively moved from the position 210S to the positions 21OA, 210B, -4-210G.

In this example, 301 is an actuator that starts the operation of the discrimination device 300, 401 is an actuator that starts the operation of the liquid device 400, and 601 is the adhesive part jη6().
These are actuators that start the work at 0, and these are started by a program according to the flowchart described later.
The work on each device 300, 400 and 600 is performed.

250A and 250B are at position 210A and position 21
These sensors 250A and 250B serve as slide glass detection means provided along the conveyance path 210 at 0G (see FIG. 1).
The presence or absence of the slide glass 110 at each position 210A to 210G on 0 can be detected.

Furthermore, the control unit 800 is provided with a memory 850 having blocks capable of shifting memory contents, so that the slide glass 110 is now positioned at positions 2108 to 21 as shown in FIG.
0G, the memory 850 stores each block A at positions 2108 to 210G as shown by the star in Figure 3.
-G store data 1-8 corresponding to the slide glass numbers 112-118, respectively, and a detection signal ("1" and 0") of the presence or absence of a slide glass based on a binary signal.

Note that in this example, position 2 on the conveyance path 210 shown in FIG.
10E, that is, the case where there is no slide glass 116 at the position of the adhesive actuator 601 is shown, so the detection signal at block E is 0'', and furthermore, at position 210A, the slide glass 112 is located at the sensor 250.
Since it is detected by A, 1 is used as the glass detection signal.
” is remembered.

Next, in this state, if the slide glasses 111 to 118 at each position 2108 to 210G move one step to the left in FIG. The data in block A is also shifted one bit to the left, and as shown in FIG.
The number value 1 and the detection signal "1" are input.

Now, if each of the slide glasses 111 to 117 is at such positions 2108 to 210G, the control unit 800 is searching the data in the memory 850, and blocks A and C have the detection signal "1". has been input, the flags for executing work in these blocks A and C are set.

Note that in the automatic specimen enclosing device, the transport device 2
The work to be performed during the moving operation of 00 and the work to be performed during the stop period of the transport device 200 are set by sequence control. The liquid work for supplying the adhesive liquid onto the slide glass 110 is performed during the movement, and the cover glass sorting and supply work is performed during the stop period of the conveying device 200 at the position 210C. is mainly performed during the stop period before the slide glass 110 is moved to the position 210E, and the enclosing operation by the adhesive device 600 is performed during the stop period at the position 210E. The control operation by the sequence control mechanism will be explained with reference to the flowchart in FIG. Now, assuming that each slide glass 110 moves one step from the state shown in FIG. 2 and stops, the trench flag is reset, and then a signal as shown in FIG. Since the input is input, the detection signal of block A is
1'', a flag is set to cause the determination unit 300 to perform determination work.

Furthermore, if the detection signal of block A is 0", a search is made to see if the detection signal of the primary block C is "1" without setting a flag. When the signal is 1'', a flag C is set to cause the hydraulic device 400 to perform a hydraulic work, and then a block E is set.
By searching for , the E flag is set which causes the adhesive device 600 to perform the enclosing operation because the detection signal is 1'' here as well.

Furthermore, for example, if each slide glass 110 is located at the position shown in FIG.
Since the signal shown in the inversion is input, block E
When the E flag is searched, the E flag is not set because the detection signal is "0".

As a result of the search, the C flag is set, so that the liquid part actuator 40 is activated during this stop period.
The liquid operation is carried out via the adhesive section actuator 601, and the adhesive sealing operation is carried out via the adhesive section actuator 601. Subsequently, each slide glass 110 is moved by one step by the transport device 200, but since the flag is set at this point, the size determination operation of the specimen is executed via the discrimination section actuator 301 during this movement. .

In this way, work is performed at each predetermined position by repeatedly moving and stopping the slide glass 110, but at the third
FIG. fcl shows the data in each block A to G in the memory 850 when the array of slide glasses 110 shown in FIG. 2 is moved six steps by repeating this operation.

On the other hand, on the conveyance path 210, as shown in FIG. 2, a slide glass sensor 250B provided at a position 210G detects the presence or absence of the slide glass 110 conveyed to this position 210G. Now, suppose that when the slide glass 110 is moved 6 steps from the state shown in FIG. Then, it is determined that the data stored in block G of the memory 850 and the signal "l" from this sensor 250B should be compared, and the conveyance and work are continued.

Furthermore, at this time, the signal from sensor 250B is 6
If you output a 60" signal when there is no glass,
At the time of the above comparison, even though the data V1 has been shifted to block G of the memory 850, the slide glass 112 corresponding to the data is not detected. It is determined that an abnormality has occurred such as separation from the transport path 210 at the position, and an abnormality signal is output or the transport device 200
Measures such as stopping can be performed via the control unit 800.

The fifth step is the operation of detecting whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the slide glass 110 on the conveyance path 210 as described above.
It is shown as a flowchart in the figure.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained in d) 2 above, according to the present invention, there is provided a conveyance means for moving the slide glass supplied onto the conveyance path at a predetermined pitch at predetermined time intervals, and a slide glass on the conveyance path. Slide glass presence/absence detection means provided near the glass supply position and near the end position of the transport path, signals corresponding to each slide glass, and respective detection signals obtained from the detection means near the slide glass supply position are detected. , (memory means for storing in each block corresponding to each movement position for each pitch on the speed track and shifting such memory contents to the next adjacent block in synchronization with the movement of the slide glass), A signal detected by a detection means provided near the position where the slide glass is supplied is input to the storage device, and this data is shifted in synchronization with the movement of the slide glass, so that the slide glass is at the end of the transport path by 16°. When it moves close to the object, the detection means installed at this position detects the slide glass again.

Since the detected signal is compared with the data obtained by shifting the memory contents, if there is an abnormality in the slide glass during a series of specimen mounting [IY] during the transportation process,
The abnormality can be automatically detected, and the control means can generate an abnormality signal and take appropriate countermeasures.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the automatic specimen enclosing device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a series of enclosing operations, and
A block diagram showing an example of a means for monitoring the presence or absence of a slide glass during the operation, Fig. 3 (0) is a block diagram showing three aspects of the shift state of data in the memory provided in the monitoring means, Fig. 4 1 and 5 are flowcharts respectively showing the procedure for executing the series of operations and the procedure for monitoring the presence or absence of a slide glass during the operation. 100...Slide glass shooter, 110.111
~118... Slide glass, 200... Conveying device, 210... Conveying path. 2108.210A~210G...Position, 230...
・Rollache 7.231...Claw. 250A, 250B...Sensor, 300...Discrimination device, 301, 401, 601...Actuator, 400...Liquid device, 500...Cover glass sorting and supply device, 510...
Sorter, 511... Sorting section, 530...
・Extraction mechanism, 550... loading mechanism. 600... Adhesive device, 700... Storage device, 71, 0... Product department, 730... Pushing mechanism. 750...Saucer, 800...Control unit, 810...
Operation panel, 820... switch box, 850... memory, A to G... block. Patent MII Sankyo Co., Ltd. Same applicant: Fuji Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Figure 5, page 1 continued 0 Inventor: Toshio Sato, 1-1 Tanabe Shinden, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki City, Fuji Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 0 Inventor: Matsui 7-11-13 Tamahei, Takato Hino City 0 Applicant Fuji Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 1-1 Tanabeshinden, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki City

Claims (1)

[Claims] a conveyance means for moving the slide glass supplied on the conveyance path at a predetermined pitch at every predetermined time interval; It has a slide glass detection means, and a storage block corresponding to each movement position at each of the predetermined pitches on the conveyance path, and the block has a signal corresponding to each of the slide glasses and a memory block in the vicinity of the slide glass supply position. storage means capable of storing the detection signal obtained from the provided detection means as data and shifting the data to the adjacent block in synchronization with the movement of the slide glass; Each time a glass is detected by a detection means provided near the supply position, a signal corresponding to the slide glass and a detection signal obtained from the detection means are stored as the data, and the data is used to move the slide glass. and the data is obtained from the detection means provided near the end position of the conveying path at the time when the slide glass is shifted to the block corresponding to the end position of the transport path. Detecting whether the slide glass has been conveyed from the supply position to the end position by comparing the detected signal and the signal included in the data in the block corresponding to the end position. An automatic specimen enclosing device characterized in that: