JPS6222830Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a quantitative device used for counting microparticles such as blood cells, and is a quantitative device that can completely prevent quantitative errors caused by dirt, which are the drawbacks of conventional devices. This is what we provide.

Conventionally, in order to count and measure particles such as blood cells suspended in a liquid, a passage narrow enough for each particle to pass through is created, a suspension containing suspended particles such as blood cells is passed through, and the particles and the liquid are separated. On the other hand, the amount of the suspension that has passed through the passage is quantified using a mercury U-tube, etc., and the particle pulse between the counting start signal and the counting end signal is generated. The number of particles was counted and determined as the number of particles per unit volume.

However, devices using a mercury U-shaped tube can leave the mercury unbalanced and use the restoring force to return to its original state, that is, the mercury's own weight, to aspirate the liquid to be measured, and the mercury itself is a conductor. Although this has the advantage of being able to use mercury as a relay by installing electrodes in each part of the U-shaped tube, mercury is a poisonous substance, so handling it is troublesome, and oxidation of mercury can cause poor contact at the relay contacts. There were disadvantages in that the U-tube was contaminated.

In addition, as a device that does not use mercury, a device is used in which a suspended liquid of particles is passed through a tube and is directly optically detected and quantified. However, there are disadvantages in that the liquid level is uneven, dirt is generated as particles float through the suspension, which causes errors in quantitative determination, and there is also a serious disadvantage in that droplets adhere to the tube wall. Furthermore, a device that floats a float on the liquid surface and optically detects it is considered, but it has the drawback that large errors occur depending on the contact state of the float and the wall surface, and it is not suitable for quantifying minute volumes (the buoyancy of the float (This is because it rises and falls due to a small amount of force at the point of equilibrium with the

The present invention was developed in view of the above points, and consists of placing a sphere in the liquid inside the tube, the diameter of which is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the tube, and linking the movement of the liquid with the movement of the sphere.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can reliably and accurately quantify a liquid without causing contamination by detecting a sphere using an optical detection means.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be explained based on embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of the device of the present invention. 1 is a particle counting device that passes a liquid 2 in which particles are suspended through a fine hole 4 of a detector 3, detects particles based on the difference in electrical impedance between the particles and the liquid, generates an electric signal, and calculates the number of particles. is configured to count. 5 is a detection/counting circuit. A suction pipe 8 connected to a suction pressure source 6 and equipped with a three-way valve 7 and a quantitative unit 10 are connected to the upper part of the detector 3. It is connected to tank 13. Further, this three-way valve 11 and the three-way valve 7 of the suction pipe 8 are connected by a bypass pipe 14. The metering unit 10 has a light-shielding ball 17 with a diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the tube 16 inside a tube 16 having a tapered slope 15 inside the upper end, and has a light-shielding ball 17 with a diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the tube 16. two optical detection means 18,
20 are arranged. The upper end of tube 16 with ball 17 is connected to detector 3 via fitting 21 and tube 22, and the lower end of tube 16 is connected to fitting 23.
and a stopper 2 connected to the three-way valve 11 via a pipe 24, and between the upper end of the pipe 16 and the connector 21, and between the lower end of the pipe and the connector 23.
5 and 26 are provided. The stopper will be described later. 27 and 28 are gas-liquid separation tanks.

The quantitative device of the present invention measures the amount of liquid by suspending a ball in the liquid, interlocking the ball with the liquid, and detecting the ball, instead of the conventional method of detecting the liquid level. be. Therefore, rather than using a metal ball or the like, it is preferable to use a synthetic resin ball or carbon ball as the ball 17, which has a specific gravity relatively close to that of water. The feature is that a space is provided between the bulb and the tube to ensure that the liquid and bulb interact without delay. By the way, in this embodiment, the diameter of the sphere is 4
mm, and by setting the distance between 〓 and 〓 to 20μ or less, the specific gravity
It was found that the 1.5 carbon sphere moved smoothly and could be used for quantitative determination. The quantitative accuracy was less than 0.1% for 0.5cc.

Next, the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be explained. First, the valves 7 and 1 are filled in the quantitative part 10, the detector 3, and each connecting pipe.
1 and 12 to open and close the gas-liquid separation tank 28, quantitative determination section 10,
The detector 3 and the gas-liquid separation tank 27 are filled with liquid in this order. That is, the on-off valve 12 is opened, the on-off valve 12 side of the three-way valve 11 and the metering section 10 side are communicated, and the detector 3 side of the three-way valve 7 is communicated with the suction pressure source 6 side, so that the inside of the detector 3 is communicated. By suctioning the liquid storage tank 13
The gas-liquid separation tank 28, quantitative unit 10, detector 3, and gas-liquid separation tank 27 are filled with the liquid in this order. It is desirable to use a liquid that does not contain liquid particles that suspend the particles, and it is necessary to use liquids that have similar specific gravity and viscosity. If the specific gravity or viscosity differs, the conditions will be different after several repeated measurements, causing quantitative errors. The gas-liquid separation tanks 27 and 28 are for electrically insulating the inside of the detector, and by dropping liquid therein, an air layer is created and electrically insulated. Therefore, it is not necessary when using an optical particle counting method. As shown in FIG. 1, electrodes 30 and 31 are required when using the difference in electrical impedance between the liquid and the particles when they pass through the micropores 4. Note that the tapered inclined portion 15 provided at the top of the tube 16 is intended to intentionally create a large gap between the tube wall and the bulb 17 when filling with liquid, and the upper and lower stoppers 25 and 26 are Various shapes as shown in FIG. 2 are used. In both cases, air bubbles can be removed easily and completely, and furthermore, the movement of the ball 17 is restricted between the upper and lower stoppers so that it does not stay in the upper or lower position.
In both cases, a plan view and a side sectional view are shown. When filling with liquid, the ball 17 is located at the uppermost end of the tube 16 and is in contact with the stopper 25. When the required area is filled with liquid and the air bubbles are completely removed, the three-way valve 7 is switched to allow the negative air pressure from the suction pressure source 6 to communicate with the bypass pipe 14, and at the same time the on-off valve 12 is shut off. The three-way valve 11 is switched so that the bypass pipe 14 and the metering section 10 communicate with each other. Through this operation, the micropores 4 are
The suspension of particles is sucked from the ball 1.
7 descends. Optical detection means 1 with sphere 17 on top
When passing through the lower optical detection means 20, a trigger pulse to start counting is issued, and when passing through the lower optical detection means 20, a counting end pulse is issued, and at the same time, the three-way valve is switched to stop the introduction of suction pressure to the quantitative unit 10. let This series of operations completes the measurement of one specimen sample.

To subsequently measure the next specimen, the sample beaker is first replaced, then the on-off valve 12 is opened, and at the same time, the three-way valve 7 is switched to introduce suction pressure directly into the detector 3. With this operation, new liquid in the liquid storage tank 13 is introduced into the metering section 10 while the bulb 17 rises, while excess liquid inside the detector 3 is discharged to the outside through the gas-liquid separation tank 27. When the ball 17 passes the upper detection means 18, the three-way valve 7 is switched again to communicate with the bypass pipe 14, and the on-off valve 12 is further shut off and suction pressure is applied to the metering part 10 via the three-way valve 11. Then, the ball 17 descends again and the detection means 18 and 20 quantify the amount of particles suspended in the sucked liquid. Since the light-shielding bulb is thus used as a means for quantifying the liquid, the operation is reliable and errors in quantifying the liquid will not occur.

The device of the present invention is configured as described above,
Since a new liquid containing no particles is introduced into the metering section each time, the inside of the tube of the metering section is constantly cleaned and free of dirt, and compared to conventional liquid level detection methods, it is easier to block light and transmit light. Operation is reliable due to the large difference in light levels, and there is a gap between the tube inner wall of the metering section and the bulb that is large enough to not impede the movement of the bulb and prevent liquid flow. ,
The liquid in between acts as a lubricant and has the effect of smoothing the movement of the ball.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a systematic explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the quantitative device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a stopper. 1... Particle counter, 2... Particle suspension liquid, 3...
...detector, 4...microhole, 5...detection/counting circuit, 6...suction pressure source, 7...three-way valve, 8...suction tube, 10...quantification part, 11...three-way valve, 12 …
...Opening/closing valve, 13...Liquid storage tank, 14...Bypass pipe, 15...Slope part, 16...Pipe, 17...Ball,
18, 20... Optical detection means, 21... Connector, 22... Tube, 23... Connector, 24... Tube,
25, 26... Stopper, 27, 28... Gas-liquid separation tank, 30, 31... Electrode.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a particle counting device, a liquid in which particles are suspended passes through the fine pores of a detector, detects particles based on electrical or optical differences between the particles and the liquid, and generates an electrical signal. A suction pipe connected to a pressure source and equipped with a three-way valve is connected to a metering section, the metering section is connected to a water storage tank via a three-way valve and an on-off valve, and the three-way valve and the three-way valve of the suction tube are connected to each other. are connected by a bypass pipe, and the metering part has a ball with a diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of this pipe inside the pipe having a tapered part inside the upper end, and two balls on the outside of this pipe. A quantitative device for a particle counting device, characterized in that it is formed by arranging optical detection means.