JPS61132175A - Culturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the pure culture preventing the contamination of the culture environment with sundry germs, by placing a disinfection part having an openable door for the handling of a tray at the outside of a culture case, and putting the culture tray into the culture case after disinfection. CONSTITUTION:The culture apparatus 13 is composed of the culture case 11, the openable doors 12, 41 for the handling of tray, and a computer system 14. The culture tray 2 is put into the disinfection part 36 by opening the door 41, the light source 38 for disinfection is turned on to carry out the disinfection of the tray for a definite time, the door 12 is opened, and the culture tray 2 is transferred with the tray transport table 16 according to the command of the computer system 14 by actuating the motors 25, 26, 30, 35, the tray chuck 32, the horizontal transfer screw shaft 19, the vertical transfer screw shaft 22, and the tray-driving device 17 and is placed on the tray-supporting shelf 15. The tray transfer table 16 is stopped at the position corresponding to the tray, and the tray is taken out of the shelf 15, transferred to the door 12, and taken out of the apparatus via the disinfection part 36.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> This invention is an apparatus for culturing various cells using a constant temperature bath or a constant humidity bath, and more specifically, an apparatus for culturing various cells using a constant temperature bath or a constant humidity bath, and more specifically, a device for culturing various cells using a constant temperature bath or a constant humidity bath. This is related to a culture device that never fails.

<Prior art> A general method for culturing cells is as shown in Figure 1.
A culture tray 2 with a large number of wells 1 is used, cells and a culture solution are placed in each well 1, the tray 2 is housed in a culture device, and the tray 2 is left for a certain period of time to be cultured.

The culture device that houses Tray 2 has its internal temperature, humidity, gas, etc. controlled to maintain a constant culture environment at all times, and one large culture device can hold 300 to 500 cells. Trays can be stored.

In addition, cells absorb the culture medium and generate metabolites during the culture process, so the culture medium must be replaced frequently.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 2, in the conventional culture device 3, the entire front surface of a culture case 5 having a storage shelf 4 therein is open, and this opening can be opened and closed by an opening/closing door 6.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> In the culture device 3 as described above, it is necessary to open the opening/closing door 6 every time a culture tray is put in or taken out, and in a structure where the front surface of the culture case 5 is open, the door 6 must be opened every 16 times. Another problem is that the inside of the culture case 5 communicates with the outside, and the culture environment inside cannot be maintained constant at all times.

In addition, when the opening/closing door 6 is opened/closed or when the tray is stored, bacteria floating in the outside air or bacteria attached to the tray may enter the culture case, especially in the case of pure culture. The problem of bacterial contamination is serious and serious.

Furthermore, since many trays are stored inside at once,
There is a problem in that it is difficult to manage information such as the time to start culturing, the time to replace the culture solution, and the time to complete culture for each tray.

This invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a culture device that does not allow the invasion of bacteria into the culture environment, can reliably maintain the culture environment, and can manage a large number of trays at the same time. The purpose is to provide

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, this invention provides a culture case with a required number of tray storage shelves installed inside it, and a monthly period of 1 m for culture trays to be taken in and out. In a culture device in which a tray is transported between an opening/closing door and a desired tray storage shelf according to instructions from a control unit, an opening W1r for taking in and taking out the tray is provided at the opening/closing door outside the culture case.
A sterilization section having a sterilization section is provided, and the culture tray is housed in the culture case after sterilization treatment, so that the culture environment inside the culture case is not contaminated with external germs.

Operation> Open the opening/closing door, put the culture tray into the sterilization section, and after sterilizing for a certain period of time, open the opening/closing door of the culture case, transport the culture tray by the tray drive mechanism according to instructions from the control section, and place it on the tray storage shelf. Place it in place.

In order to take out the tray on the tray storage shelf, it is sufficient to stop the transport table at a position corresponding to the tray, move the tray taken out from the storage shelf to the opening/closing door part, and pull it out to the outside through the sterilization section.

<Examples> Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 3 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.
This will be explained based on the diagram.

As shown in FIG. 3, a culture device 13 is provided with a door 12 that allows one tray to be taken in and taken out at an appropriate position in a culture case 11 that is large enough to accommodate a large number of culture trays, and is equipped with a computer system 14. .

Inside the culture case 11 of the culture device 13, as shown in FIG. A tray conveyance table 16 that fits in the space left on the side and a tray drive mechanism 17 that moves the tray conveyance table 16 vertically and horizontally are housed.

The tray drive mechanism 17 moves a guide shaft 18 to a horizontally feeding screw shaft 19 at a vertical position within a space within the culture case 11.
The slider 2 is arranged horizontally and fitted onto the guide shaft 18.
0 and the nut member 21 screwed onto the horizontal feed screw shaft 19,
The nut member 24 that supports the vertical feed screw shaft 22 and the guide shaft 23 and is externally screwed onto the vertical feed screw shaft 22 is attached to the guide shaft 23.
The horizontal feed screw shaft 19 and the vertical feed screw shaft 22 are each connected to motors 25 and 26 that provide forward and reverse rotation.
A tray conveyance table 16 is fixed to a nut member 24 of the tray.

In the tray drive mechanism 17, the motors 25 and 26 are given forward and reverse rotation according to instructions from the computer system 14 serving as a control unit, and the tray conveyance table 16 is moved between the opening/closing door 12 and tray storage by combining horizontal and vertical feeding. As shown in FIG. 5, a rotary stage 27 that is rotated by a motor is installed on the upper surface of the tray transport platform 16, which can be freely moved to and from a desired position on the shelf 15. First stage 28 installed on stage 27
A second stage 29 is placed on the top surface so as to be movable in the horizontal direction, and the second stage is moved forward and backward by a feed screw shaft 31 of a motor 30 mounted on the first stage 28. ing.

Tray chuck 32 attached to the top surface of the second stage 29
The pair of clamping stations 33, 33 are formed by a feed screw shaft 34 with left and right reverse threads, and a motor 35 that drives this screw shaft 34 in forward and reverse directions.

The tray chuck 32 clamps the culture tray 2 when the two clamping stations 33 and 33 approach each other due to the rotation of the motor 35, and rotates the rotary stage 27 through 180° to face the tray storage shelf 15 and open w1 to the side of the door 12. The phase will change to the direction you are facing.

The opening/closing operation of the opening/closing door 12 of the culture case 11 can be controlled by an external control signal, and a sterilization section 36 is provided on the outside of the opening/closing door 12 so as to be connected to the opening opened by the opening/closing door 12.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the sterilization section 36 has a cylindrical chamber 37 large enough to accommodate one tray, a sterilization light source 38 at the top of the cylinder v37, and a stage 39 at the bottom.
As shown in FIG. 7, the inner peripheral wall is coated with a coating 40 that reflects light from the sterilization light source 38.

The sterilization section 36 has a front opening that can be opened and closed by an opening/closing door 41, and a coating 40.
For example, when the wavelength of the sterilization light source 38 is 240 to 280 nm, aluminum can be used.

The computer system 14, which serves as a control unit for the tray drive mechanism 17, is configured to store various information such as the time to start culturing each tray, the time to replace the culture medium, and the expected time to complete culture, and to manage each tray. do.

The culture apparatus of the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and includes opening the opening/closing door 41 of the sterilization section 36, setting the tray containing cells on the stage 39, closing the opening/closing 1fi 41, and turning on the sterilization light source 38. Sterilize the tray.

At this time, the top of the tray used is covered in advance with a lid that reflects sterilizing light so that the cultured cells are not killed by the sterilizing light.

Next, the computer system 14 is sent the tray number, date,
When necessary information such as the position of the tray storage shelf is input and an operation start command is sent, the opening/closing door 132 of the culture case 11 opens.

At this time, the sterilization unit 36 and the trays stored therein have been sterilized, so even if the opening/closing door 12 is opened, germs may enter the culture case 11 and contaminate the culture environment. Never happened.

Next, the tray transport platform 16 is brought to face the opening/closing door 12, the motor 30 is activated in a phase in which the tray chuck 32 faces the opening/closing door 12, the second stage 29 is brought close to the opening/closing door 12, and the tray in the expanded state is The chuck 32 is externally fitted onto the tray on the stage 39, and in this state, the motor 35 rotates, and the tray chuck 32 has both clamping stations 33, 33 approaching each other to chuck the tray.

After that, the motor 30 is reversed, and the tray chuck 32 is pulled back onto the first stage 28 together with the second stage 29. When the sandwiched tray is moved onto the tray transport table 16, the rotary stage 27 is rotated 180 degrees, and the tray chuck 32 is pulled back onto the first stage 28.
2 is in the phase facing the tray storage shelf 15 side.

After the opening/closing 1112 is closed, the tray drive mechanism 17 is activated, and the tray transport platform 16 is moved to a predetermined position on the tray storage shelf 15 by the vertical and horizontal feeding action of the motors 25 and 26.

When the tray transport platform 16 stops, the motor 30 rotates,
A tray chuck 32 attached to the second stage 29 projects above the tray storage shelf 15 and sends the chucked tray onto the tray storage shelf 15.

Next, the motor 35 of the tray chuck 32 is rotated in the reverse direction, and both the clamping pieces 33 and 33 are expanded to unchuck the tray and place the tray on the tray storage shelf 15. The tray is reversely pulled back onto the first stage 28, and the rotary stage 27 is rotated 180 degrees, and the tray transport table 16 is returned to the opening/closing door 12 position by the operation of the tray drive mechanism 17, in preparation for the next tray transport.

Furthermore, when taking out a tray from the tray storage shelf 15, it is sufficient to apply the reverse operation to the tray conveying table 16 and the tray chuck 32 to the above-mentioned tray feeding operation, but when taking out the tray, sterilize it. Section 36 does not need to be sterilized.

Effects> As described above, according to the present invention, the sterilization section is provided outside the culture case in series on the outside of the opening/closing door, and the culture trays are fed into the culture case after sterilization, so that the tray supply is reduced. In some cases, the bacteria adhering to the tray are completely sterilized, and the culture environment is no longer contaminated with bacteria from the outside, making it possible to conduct pure culture, which is a hindrance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a culture tray, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional culture device, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the culture device of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the main parts of the same, and FIG. The figure is a perspective view showing the same tray transport platform as above, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the sterilization section,
FIG. 7 is a front view of the same as above. 11...Culture case 12.41...Opening/closing door 13
...Culture device 14...Computer system 15...Tray storage shelf 16...Tray transport platform 1
7...Tray drive machine 18...Guide shaft 19...
・Horizontal feed screw shaft 22...Vertical feed screw shaft 25.26
．． 30.35...Motor 32...Tray chuck 36...Sterilization section 38.
...Sterilizing light source patent applicant Sumitomo Electric Industries Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Kazu 1) Showa procedure neho sho (self-motivated) August 23, 1985

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A culture case with the required number of tray storage shelves installed inside is provided with an opening/closing door for loading and unloading culture trays, and the trays are transported between the opening/closing door and the desired tray storage shelf according to instructions from the control unit. In such a culture device, a sterilization section having an opening/closing door for loading and unloading the tray is provided outside the culture case, and the culture tray is stored in the culture case after sterilization, and the culture environment inside the culture case is maintained. A culture device characterized by being prevented from being contaminated by external bacteria. (2) The control unit for transporting the culture trays has a function of storing various information such as the culture start time, culture medium replacement time, expected culture completion time, and cell type for each tray. The culture device described.