WO2020095580A1

WO2020095580A1 - Boring device and method for using same

Info

Publication number: WO2020095580A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/038902
Authority: WO
Inventors: 吉永　千佳士
Original assignee: 株式会社平山製作所
Priority date: 2018-11-09
Filing date: 2019-10-02
Publication date: 2020-05-14
Also published as: CN113039149B; JP7237984B2; CN113039149A; JPWO2020095580A1

Abstract

A boring device that forms a through-hole, for each well, in a seal member that is affixed to a microplate (1) having a plurality of wells to seal the wells is provided with a boring jig (10) and a remover jig (30). The boring jig (10) includes: a flat part (11) disposed opposite an upper surface (2) of the microplate (1) on the seal member side; and a plurality of protrusion parts (12) protruding from the flat part (11) and having needle-shaped tip ends. The remover jig (30) includes: a plate-shaped push-up surface part (33a) disposed between the upper surface (2) of the microplate (1) and the flat part (11) of the boring jig (10); and an operation surface part (33b) disposed continuously with the push-up surface part (33a) and protruding further outwardly than the microplate (1). Due to a pressing force input to the operation surface part (33b), the push-up surface part (33a) causes the boring jig (10) to be separated from the microplate (1).

Description

Drilling device and method of using the same

The present invention relates to a punching device that forms a through hole for each well in a sealing material that is attached to a microplate having a plurality of wells, and a method of using the punching device.

Microplates with multiple wells arranged regularly are also called multiwell plates and microwell plates, and are widely used as experimental and testing instruments in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, biochemistry, etc. In the microplate, the opening of each well is generally sealed with a sealing material so that reagents and reaction solutions in each well do not evaporate or mix between adjacent wells (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

JP, 2017-173025, A

By the way, when sterilizing and discarding used microplates, it is necessary to release the sealed state of each well. However, if the sealed state is released by peeling the sealing material that seals the well from the microplate, the working efficiency is poor. In other words, in order to improve the efficiency of sterilization work, it is desired to develop a device that can easily and efficiently release the sealed state of each well.

The hole punching device and the method of using the hole punching device of the present invention have been devised in view of such problems, and one of the purposes thereof is to easily and efficiently release the closed state of each well of the microplate to improve work efficiency. .. Note that the present invention is not limited to this purpose, and it is also for the other purpose of the present invention that the effects brought about by the respective configurations shown in the modes for carrying out the invention to be described later, which are not obtained by the conventional technique, can be obtained. is there.

(1) The punching device disclosed herein is a punching device that forms a through hole for each well in a sealing material that is attached to a microplate having a plurality of wells and seals the plurality of wells. A hole making jig having a flat surface portion facing the upper surface of the microplate on the side of the sealing material, and a plurality of projection portions protruding from the flat surface portion and having a needle-like tip end, and the microplate. A plate-shaped pushing-up surface portion disposed between the upper surface of the punching jig and the flat surface portion of the drilling jig, and an operation surface portion provided continuously to the pushing-up surface portion and projecting outside the microplate. And a remover jig that separates the punching jig from the microplate by the pushing force input to the operation surface portion.

(2) It is preferable that the remover jig is formed in an annular shape along the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface of the microplate and has a plurality of push-up surface portions and the operation surface portion.
(3) The remover jig has a wall portion that defines a position of the remover jig with respect to the microplate, and a plate shape that extends in an orthogonal direction from an inner surface of the wall portion that faces the microplate side. A fixing portion sandwiched between the upper surface of the plate and the flat surface portion of the hole making jig, and a plate-like member that is separated from the fixing portion and is located on the same plane as the fixing portion, and the pushing-up surface portion. And a push-up portion including the operation surface portion, and a plate-like connection portion that connects the fixing portion and the operation surface portion and is located on the same plane as the fixing portion.

(4) It is preferable that the connecting portion has a crank shape connected to an outer end portion of the operation surface portion.
(5) It is preferable that the drilling jig has a positioning portion that abuts on the wall portion and determines a position of the drilling jig with respect to the remover jig.
(6) It is preferable that the wall portion is erected on one side of the fixing portion. In this case, the side surface of the microplate is brought into contact with the inner surface of the wall portion, and the outer surface of the wall portion facing away from the microplate is positioned as the positioning portion of the drilling jig. The walls are preferably abutted.

(7) The wall portion includes a lower wall portion erected on one side of the fixed portion and an upper wall portion erected on the opposite side of the fixed portion from the one direction. Is preferred. In this case, it is preferable that the inner wall of the upper wall portion is in contact with the positioning portion of the hole making jig, and the inner wall of the lower wall portion is in contact with the side surface of the microplate.

(8) The drilling jig has an auxiliary surface portion extending from an outer edge portion of the flat surface portion so as to project outward from the microplate in a positioned state, and from the auxiliary surface portion in the same direction as the protrusion portion. It is preferable that the projection has a foot portion, and the distance from the flat surface portion to the tip of the foot portion is longer than the distance from the flat surface portion to the tip of the projection portion.

(9) It is preferable that the protrusion has a stepped shape that is gradually tapered toward the tip.
(10) It is preferable that the protruding portion has a non-uniform protruding length from the flat surface portion.
(11) The drilling jig is preferably shared by two or more kinds of the microplates having the plurality of wells arranged regularly.
(12) It is preferable that the protrusion has a hole extending in the same direction as the protruding direction, and the hole is opened on the inclined surface of the tip of the protrusion.

(13) Further, a method of using the punching device disclosed herein is the method of using the punching device according to any one of (1) to (12) above, wherein the liquid is stored in a sterilizer pot. With the microplate in which the plurality of wells are sealed by the sealing material, the pressing of the remover jig is performed by the upper surface of the microplate and the flat surface portion of the drilling jig. The remover jig and the drilling jig are superposed on the microplate so as to sandwich the raised surface portion, and the through hole is formed for each well by pressing the drilling jig toward the microplate in the pot. After forming and separating the hole making jig from the micro plate by pressing the operation surface portion of the remover jig in the pot, the micro play is performed. The sets in the kiln to operate the sterilizer.

According to the disclosed punching device and its usage method, the sealed state of each well of the microplate can be released easily and efficiently, and the working efficiency can be improved.

It is a figure which shows an example of the microplate used for the punching apparatus which concerns on embodiment, (a) is a perspective view of a 96-well microplate, (b) is a top view of a 96-well microplate, (c) is a 384-well micro. It is a top view of a plate and (d) is a figure explaining the physical relationship of the well of two kinds of microplates. It is a top view and a side view showing a drilling jig of a drilling device concerning a first embodiment. It is a top view and a side view showing a remover jig of a drilling device concerning a first embodiment. It is a side view which shows the state before the combination of the punching apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment. It is a top view which shows the state which matched the position of the remover jig of FIG. 3 with respect to the microplate of FIG.1 (c). It is a top view which shows the state which matched the position of the drilling jig of FIG. 2 with the remover jig of FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view (a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 6) of the punching device according to the first embodiment. It is a top view and a side view showing a drilling jig of a drilling device concerning a second embodiment. It is a top view and a side view showing a remover jig of a drilling device concerning a second embodiment. It is a side view which shows the state before combining the punching apparatus which concerns on 2nd embodiment. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a state in which the position of the remover jig of FIG. 9 is aligned with the position of the drilling jig of FIG. 8 with respect to the microplate of FIG. 1 (c). FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 11) of the punching device according to the second embodiment. (A) is a schematic diagram for explaining the positional relationship between the well and the protrusion when the flat surface of the hole making jig of FIG. 2 or FIG. 8 is arranged to face the upper surface of the 384-well microplate, 13) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. (A) is a schematic diagram for explaining the positional relationship between the wells and the protrusions when the flat surface portion of the hole making jig shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 14) is a sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. It is a top view and a side view showing a pedestal member applicable to a punching device concerning the above-mentioned embodiment. It is a side view which shows the state before combining the punching device which concerns on a modification. 17A is a side view showing a first modified example of the protrusion, and FIG. 17B is a perspective view showing the tip side of the protrusion of FIG. 17A. (A) is a side view showing the 2nd modification of a projection part, and (b) is a side view showing the 3rd modification of a projection part. It is a flow chart which illustrates the usage method of the punching device concerning one embodiment.

A hole punching device and a method of using the same will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are merely examples, and are not intended to exclude various modifications and application of techniques that are not explicitly described in the following embodiments. Each configuration of the embodiment can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the spirit thereof. Also, they can be selected or combined as needed.

[1. Common configuration]
The punching devices according to the first and second embodiments are attached to a microplate 1 having a plurality of wells 4 as shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C to seal the plurality of wells 4. Through holes are formed for each well 4 in the sealing material 5. That is, by making a hole in the portion of the sealing material 5 that covers each well 4 with a punching device, the sealed state of each well 4 is released without peeling off the sealing material 5.

1 (a) and 1 (b) are a perspective view and a plan view of a 96-well microplate 1A in which 96 wells 4A (8 rows × 12 columns) are regularly arranged vertically and horizontally, and FIG. 4] is a plan view of a 384-well microplate 1B in which 384 (16 rows × 24 columns) wells 4B are regularly arranged vertically and horizontally. These microplates 1A and 1B have the same configuration, although the number of

wells

4A and 4B and the volume and shape thereof are different from each other. Therefore, when these are not distinguished in the following description, the suffix A, B is omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) to 1 (c), the microplate 1 has a substantially rectangular flat upper surface 2 and a side surface 3 extending downward from a peripheral portion of the upper surface 2, and includes a plurality of side surfaces. Well 4 is arranged. All of the plurality of wells 4 have the same shape and are composed of a circular opening 4c formed on the upper surface 2 and a container portion 4d protruding downward from the upper surface 2. Each well 4 is sealed by a sealing material 5 attached to the flat surface of the upper surface 2. The sealing material 5 of the embodiment is made of a transparent film and prevents the reagent, the reaction solution, etc. in the well 4 from leaking or evaporating. The outer shape of the microplate 1 of the embodiment is a shape in which two corners of the four corners are obliquely cut out, but the outer shape of the microplate 1 is not limited to this.

The punching device of the embodiment is shared by two types of microplates 1A and 1B having a plurality of wells 4 arranged regularly. The upper surfaces 2 of these microplates 1A and 1B are formed to be substantially congruent. The 384-well microplate 1B has four times as many wells 4B as the wells 4A of the 96-well microplate 1A. Note that FIG. 1D is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the

wells

4A and 4B when the two types of microplates 1A and 1B are stacked, in which the solid line indicates the well 4A and the broken line in the figure indicates the well. 4B is shown. As shown in FIG. 1 (d), the well 4A is arranged so as to completely overlap with one of the four wells 4B arranged in rows and columns.

The drilling device is composed of the drilling jig 10, 10 'shown in FIG. 2 or 8, and the remover jig 30, 30' shown in FIG. 3 or 9. The

hole making jigs

10 and 10 ′ are parts for making holes in the sealing material 5 that closes the openings 4 c of the wells 4 and releasing the closed state of the wells 4. The remover jigs 30 and 30 ′ are components that separate the punching jigs 10 and 10 ′ from the microplate 1 after making holes in the sealing material 5 by the punching

jigs

10 and 10 ′.

[2. First embodiment]
[2-1. Configuration of drilling jig]
2 to 7 and FIGS. 13A to 14B are views for explaining the punching device according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the hole making jig 10 according to the first embodiment has a flat surface portion 11 that is arranged to face the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1 on the seal material 5 side, and is provided so as to project from the flat surface portion 11 and has a tip end It has a plurality of protrusions 12 formed in a needle shape. Further, the drilling jig 10 of the present embodiment has a positioning portion 13 that determines the position of the drilling jig 10 with respect to the remover jig 30. The alternate long and two short dashes line in the plan view of FIG. 2 indicates the side surface 3 of the microplate 1.

The flat portion 11 is a thin plate having a constant plate thickness, and is formed in a rectangular shape that is slightly larger than the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1. In the hole making jig 10 of the present embodiment, the wall portions that stand upright in the same direction as the projecting directions of the projecting portions 12 at the four corners of the flat surface portion 11 function as the positioning portions 13. Hereinafter, this wall portion is referred to as "positioning wall portion 13". The positioning wall portion 13 of the present embodiment is provided at four places, and the inner surface 13a thereof is brought into contact with the wall portion 31 of the remover jig 30 described later to determine the position of the drilling jig 10.

Each of the plurality of protrusions 12 is formed in a shape that tapers toward the tip, and the tip has a rigidity sufficient to break through the seal material 5 attached to the upper surface 2 and has a sharp shape. It is formed. As shown in an enlarged view in the side view of FIG. 2, the projection 12 of the present embodiment has two

columnar portions

12a and 12b having different dimensions and a truncated cone portion 12c located between these

columnar portions

12a and 12b. And a conical portion 12d at the tip, and is formed in a stepped shape that gradually narrows toward the tip. The diameter of the cylindrical portion 12a on the base side (the flat surface portion 11 side) and the height dimension thereof are larger than those of the cylindrical portion 12b located between the truncated cone portion 12c and the conical portion 12d. By forming the protrusion 12 in such a stepped shape, the tip can be made sharper while ensuring rigidity, and the diameter of the through hole with respect to the amount of bite into the sealing material 5 can be increased.

Further, the protrusion 12 of the present embodiment is provided so that at least one protrusion 12 is arranged in each well 4 when the jig 10 is superposed on the microplate 1. In the hole making jig 10 of the present embodiment, 384 (16 rows × 24 columns) protrusions 12, which are the same number as the wells of the 384-well microplate 1B, are regularly arranged vertically and horizontally. Here, the configuration of the protrusion 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 13A and 13B and FIGS. 14A and 14B. In addition, in these figures, the shape of the protrusion 12 is shown in a simplified conical shape.

As shown in FIG. 13A, the position of the protruding portion 12 is set so that one protruding portion 12 is arranged in one well 4B when the drilling jig 10 is superposed on the 384-well microplate 1B. To be done. Note that FIG. 13A is a schematic diagram for explaining the positional relationship between the well 4B and the protruding portion 12 when the flat surface portion 11 of the hole making jig 10 is arranged opposite to the upper surface 2 of the 384-hole microplate 1B. Yes, the broken line shows the well 4B, and the solid line shows the protrusion 12. 13B is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 13A. In FIGS. 13A and 13B, numbers such as # 11, # 12, and # 13 are attached to each of the plurality of protrusions 12, and are also referred to as “protrusions # 11”, for example.

Further, FIGS. 14A and 14B are for explaining the positional relationship between the well 4A and the protrusion 12 when the flat surface portion 11 of the drilling jig 10 is arranged to face the upper surface 2 of the 96-well microplate 1A. 13A and 13B are schematic diagrams corresponding to FIGS. 13A and 13B, respectively. As shown in FIG. 14A, when the hole making jig 10 of this embodiment is superposed on the 96-well microplate 1A, at least one protrusion 12 is arranged in one well 4A. That is, with the drilling jig 10 of the present embodiment, through holes can be formed for each well 4 in the seal members 5 of two types of microplates 1 having different numbers of wells.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 13B and 14B, the protrusion 12 has a protrusion length L from the flat portion 11 (a vertical length from the surface of the flat portion 11 to the tip of the protrusion 12). Is not constant. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, the projection 12 (eg, # 11, # 11, etc.) at a position where the well 4A of the 96-well microplate 1A having a small number of wells and the tip of the projection 12 overlap each other. The protrusion length L of # 13) is longer than the protrusion length L of the protrusion 12 (for example, # 12, # 14) at a position where the well 4A and the tip of the protrusion 12 do not overlap.

Thereby, when the hole making jig 10 is overlapped and pressed on the 96-well microplate 1A, the through holes are formed in the sealing material 5 that seals each well 4A by the long protruding portions # 11 and # 13. It is formed. Further, since the tips of the protrusions # 12 and # 14 having the short protruding length L are not pressed by the upper surface 2 of the 96-well microplate 1A, deformation and abrasion of these tips are prevented. On the other hand, since there are 384 protrusions 12, the sealed state of all the wells 4B can be released by stacking and pressing the 384-well microplate 1B. That is, the hole making jig 10 is set so that the protruding lengths L of the protruding portions 12 are different so that the two kinds of microplates 1A and 1B are commonly used.

Note that the drilling jig 10 may be formed such that the protrusion lengths L of the protrusions # 11 and # 13 for forming holes in the sealing material 5 that seals the well 4A are different from each other. Although a cross-sectional view is omitted, for example, even if the protrusion lengths L of the protrusions # 11 and # 31 are formed to be the same as each other and the protrusion lengths L of the protrusions # 13 and # 33 are formed to be the same as each other. Good. In this way, when the protrusion length L of the protrusion 12 is different for every predetermined number (for example, every 48), the protrusions # 11, # 31 and the protrusions # 13, # 33 are made of a sealing material. Since the timing of making holes in 5 is different, it is necessary to make holes in the sealing material 5 as compared with the case where the protrusion lengths L of the four protrusions # 11, # 13, # 31, and # 33 are all the same. The force (pressing force) that becomes The protrusion lengths L of the protrusions # 12 and # 14 may be different from each other.

In the hole making jig 10 of the present embodiment, as shown in the side view of FIG. 2, by changing the height dimension of the cylindrical portion 12a on the base side of the protrusion 12, the protrusion length L of the protrusion 12 is different. Is set to. In other words, the shapes of the conical portion 12d, the cylindrical portion 12b, and the truncated cone portion 12c are the same for all the protrusions 12, so that the cylindrical portion 12a of the protrusion 12 having the shortest protrusion length L is the sealing material 5. By stacking the drilling jig 10 on the microplate 1 until it penetrates, all the through holes can have the same size (the size of the outer shape of the cylindrical portion 12a).

[2-2. Structure of remover jig]
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, the remover jig 30 is disposed between the microplate 1 and the drilling jig 10, and uses the lever principle to separate the drilling jig 10 from the microplate 1. Is. When a hole is made in the seal material 5 by the hole making jig 10, the resistance when the hole making jig 10 is separated from the microplate 1 becomes very large due to the friction between the tips of the plurality of protrusions 12 and the seal material 5. A situation occurred where it was difficult to pull them apart. The remover jig 30 is a component for dealing with this situation. Here, a 384-well microplate 1B is exemplified.

FIG. 3 is a plan view and a side view showing the remover jig 30 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state before the

jigs

10 and 30 of the drilling device are combined. 5 is a plan view showing a state in which the remover jig 30 is aligned with the microplate 1B, and FIG. 6 is a diagram in which the drilling jig 10 is aligned with the remover jig 30 in FIG. It is a top view which shows a state. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. The two-dot chain line in the plan view of FIG. 3 indicates the side surface 3 of the microplate 1B. Further, the dots in FIG. 6 indicate the fixing portion 32 described later, and the hatching in FIG. 6 indicates the pushing-up surface portion 33a described later. 5 and 6, only part of the well 4 is shown.

As shown in FIG. 3, the remover jig 30 of the present embodiment is formed in an annular shape along the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1B, and has a space 35 for the protrusion 12 to pass through in the center thereof. .. The remover jig 30 is provided with a plate-shaped push-up surface portion 33a arranged between the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1B and the flat surface portion 11 of the hole making jig 10, and the push-up surface portion 33a. The operation surface portion 33b is provided so as to protrude further outward.

Since the remover jig 30 of this embodiment is annular, it has a plurality of push-up surface portions 33a and operation surface portions 33b. Specifically, the remover jig 30 has four push-up surface portions 33a and operation surface portions 33b which are arranged on each of two long side portions and two short side portions on the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1B.

In addition, the remover jig 30 of the present embodiment includes a positioning wall portion 31, a fixing fixing portion 32, a pushing-up portion 33 including a pushing-up surface portion 33a and an operation surface portion 33b, the fixing portion 32, and the pushing-up portion 32. And a connecting portion 34 that connects the portion 33. Each of the fixing portion 32 and the connecting portion 34 is a plate-shaped portion that is flush with the push-up portion 33 (the push-up surface portion 33a and the operation surface portion 33b). On the other hand, the wall portion 31 is orthogonal to these plate-shaped portions including the fixing portion 32 and is erected on one side (lower side in the side view of FIG. 3). That is, the remover jig 30 of the present embodiment has a shape in which the wall portion 31 is erected in the plate thickness direction from one surface of the flat plate-shaped portion (fixing portion 32, push-up portion 33, connecting portion 34). Eggplant

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the wall portion 31 is a portion that determines the position of the remover jig 30 with respect to the microplate 1B. The wall portions 31 of the present embodiment are provided at positions corresponding to the four corners of the microplate 1B, and abut on the corners of the side surface 3 of the microplate 1B from the outside. That is, in the present embodiment, each wall portion 31 is formed in a bent shape corresponding to a corner portion of the side surface 3 of the microplate 1B, and the inner surface 31a (the surface facing the microplate 1B side) is in contact with the side surface 3. ..

Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the outer surface 31b of the wall portion 31 of this embodiment (the surface facing the side opposite to the microplate 1B) is provided at the four corners of the drilling jig 10 as described above. The inner surface 13a of the positioning wall portion 13 is abutted. As a result, the position of the drilling jig 10 with respect to the remover jig 30 is determined. That is, in the drilling device of the present embodiment, the microplate 1B and the drilling jig 10 are positioned via the remover jig 30.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, the fixing portion 32 is a plate-shaped portion that extends in the orthogonal direction from the side surface (inner surface) on the contact side of the wall portion 31, and the inner portion of the wall portion 31. It is provided in. As shown by dots in FIG. 6, the fixing portion 32 is sandwiched between the upper surface 2 side (here, the upper surface 2) of the microplate 1B and the flat surface portion 11 of the drilling jig 10. The position of the remover jig 30 is fixed with respect to the drilling jig 10 and the microplate 1B by sandwiching the fixing portion 32.

As shown in FIG. 3, the push-up portion 33 is a plate-like portion that is separated from the fixed portion 32 and is located on the same plane as the fixed portion 32. As described above, the push-up surface portion 33a and the operation surface portion 33b are Composed. In other words, a part (inner portion) of the push-up portion 33 is the push-up surface portion 33a, and another portion (outer portion) of the push-up portion 33 is the operation surface portion 33b. As shown in FIG. 7, when a pushing force (white arrow in the figure) is input to the operation surface portion 33b, the push-up portion 33 uses the contact position of the push-up portion 33 with the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1B as a fulcrum. As a result of the lever principle, the push-up surface portion 33a pushes up the flat surface portion 11 to separate the punching jig 10 from the microplate 1B, as indicated by the black arrow in the figure.

As shown in FIG. 3, the push-up portions 33 of the present embodiment are located between the fixing portions 32 located at the four corners (positions corresponding to the sides of the annular remover jig 30) and from the fixing portions 32 on both sides. They are provided at intervals. Further, the push-up portion 33 of the present embodiment is formed in a rectangular shape in plan view, and the area of the push-up surface portion 33a is smaller than the area of the operation surface portion 33b.

The connecting portion 34 is a plate-shaped portion located on the same plane as the fixing portion 32, and connects the fixing portion 32 and the operation surface portion 33b as described above. The connecting portion 34 connects the fixing portion 32 and the pushing-up portion 33, which are arranged apart from each other, in the same plane, so that when the punching jig 10 is moved in the pushing-up portion 33, the remover jig 30 is moved. The influence on the part on the positioning side (the wall part 31 and the fixing part 32) is avoided. In other words, the connecting portion 34 exerts an acting force on the positioning side of the remover jig 30 when the push-up surface portion 33a is deformed to push up the drilling jig 10 by pushing the operation surface portion 33b of the push-up portion 33. This is the part that allows this deformation so as not to be transmitted.

The connecting portion 34 of the present embodiment connects the end portion of the fixed portion 32 on the push-up portion 33 side and the outer end portion of the operation surface portion 33b, and is formed in a crank shape (substantially S-shaped) in a plan view. .. In addition, in the remover jig 30 of the present embodiment, the distance between the push-up portion 33 and the fixed portion 32 is set to the minimum dimension in which the connecting portion 34 can be arranged, and the long sides of the four push-up portions 33 are arranged. The length dimension of is set to the maximum. When the rigidity of the microplate 1B is low, even if the pushing-up surface portion 33a is lifted by pushing the operation surface portion 33b, the microplate 1B follows the pushing-up surface portion 33a, and the microplate 1B and the drilling jig 10 are separated. It may not be possible. On the other hand, by setting each side along the long side portion and the short side portion of the upper surface 2 of the push-up portion 33 as long as possible, even when the microplate 1B has low rigidity, the microplate 1B and the drilling jig 10 are provided. Are separated from each other, and the function as the remover jig 30 is exerted.

[2-3. How to use the punching device]
Here, a procedure for forming a through hole in a portion of the sealing material 5 of the microplate 1B that covers each well 4 and removing the drilling jig 10 by the above-described drilling device will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, first, the orientation of the microplate 1B is determined so that the upper surface 2 faces upward. At this time, the microplate 1 may be placed on a workbench, a desk, or the like, or may be operated while floating in the air (while being held by a hand, a device, or the like).

Next, the remover jig 30 is superposed on the microplate 1B so that the wall portion 31 is located below the fixed portion 32. At this time, the position of the remover jig 30 with respect to the microplate 1B is determined by bringing the inner surface 31a of the wall portion 31 into contact with the side surface 3 of the microplate 1B. As a result, the state shown in FIG. 5 is obtained. Next, the drilling jig 10 is superposed on the remover jig 30 in a direction in which the protruding portion 12 is located below the flat surface portion 11. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, by bringing the inner surface 13a of the positioning wall portion 13 of the drilling jig 10 into contact with the outer surface 31b of the wall portion 31 of the remover jig 30, the remover jig 30 shown in FIG. The position of the drilling jig 10 with respect to is determined. As a result, the state shown in FIG. 6 is obtained.

Then, by pressing the punching jig 10 toward the microplate 1B, the protrusions 12 having a long protrusion length L are sequentially contacted with the sealing material 5 to form a through hole.
When the through holes are formed in all the wells 4, the four operation surface portions 33b of the remover jig 30 are pressed toward the microplate 1B side as shown by the white arrow in FIG. As a result, as shown by the black arrow in FIG. 7, the flat surface portion 11 of the drilling jig 10 is pushed up by the pushing-up surface portion 33a, the drilling jig 10 is separated from the microplate 1B, and a gap is formed in the periphery. It After that, the hole making jig 10 may be separated from the microplate 1B by utilizing this gap.

The above-described operations from the formation of the through hole to the removal of the drilling jig may be performed inside the pot (not shown) of the sterilizer. In this case, as shown in FIG. 19, first, a liquid (for example, water) is supplied into the pot of the sterilizer (step S1). Next, with the microplate 1B in which the wells 4 are sealed by the sealing material 5, is placed in the pot of the sterilizer in which the liquid is stored, the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1B and the flat surface portion 11 of the drilling jig 10 are placed. The remover jig 30 and the drilling jig 10 are superposed on the microplate 1B such that the push-up surface portion 33a of the remover jig 30 is sandwiched by and (step S2).

In this state (that is, in the pot), the punching jig 10 is pressed toward the microplate 1B to form a through hole for each well 4 (step S3). Then, the punching jig 10 is separated from the microplate 1B by pressing the operation surface portion 33b of the remover jig 30 in the pot (step S4). As a result, the closed state of the well 4 of the microplate 1B is released, so that the microplate 1B may be set in the pot and the sterilizer may be operated (step S5). The 96-well microplate 1A can be used in the same procedure.

[2-4. Action, effect]
Therefore, with the above-described drilling device, the sealed state of each well 4 of the microplate 1B can be easily released by the drilling jig 10 in which the protrusion 12 is formed. Further, by pressing the operation surface portion 33b of the remover jig 30, the pushing-up surface portion 33a pushes up the drilling jig 10 and separates it from the microplate 1B by the lever principle. Therefore, it is possible to easily remove the hole making jig 10 with the protrusion 12 sticking into the seal material 5. That is, according to the above-described hole making apparatus and the method of using the hole making apparatus, the sealed state of each well 4 of the microplate 1B can be released easily and efficiently. Therefore, for example, when the used microplate 1B is sterilized by a sterilizer, the work efficiency of the sterilization work can be improved. Similar effects can be obtained when the 96-well microplate 1A is used.

Further, since the above-mentioned remover jig 30 is formed in an annular shape and is provided with a plurality of pushing-up surface portions 33a and operation surface portions 33b, pushing-up force can be applied to the drilling jig 10 from a plurality of places. Thereby, the drilling jig 10 can be removed more easily, and the working efficiency can be improved.

In the above-described remover jig 30, since the fixing portion 32 is sandwiched with the position of the remover jig 30 with respect to the microplate 1B being determined by the wall portion 31, the position of the remover jig 30 can be fixed. On the other hand, since the fixing portion 32 and the pushing-up portion 33 are connected by the connecting portion 34 in a state of being separated from each other, even if a pressing force is input to the operation surface portion 33b of the pushing-up portion 33, the force is applied to the fixing portion 32. Is hardly transmitted to. That is, since it is possible to avoid the influence on the part on the positioning side (the wall portion 31 and the fixing portion 32), the pressing force against the operation surface portion 33b is surely transmitted to the lifting surface portion 33a while preventing the position shift of the remover jig 30. be able to. Therefore, the drilling jig 10 can be removed more easily, and the work efficiency can be improved.

The above-mentioned remover jig 30 has a crank shape in which the connecting portion 34 is connected to the outer end portion of the operation surface portion 33b. For this reason, it is possible to further prevent the pressing force input to the operation surface portion 33b from being transmitted to the positioning side portion (the wall portion 31 and the fixing portion 32), and the pushing-up surface portion 33a may prevent the operation of pushing up the flat surface portion 11. Absent.

Further, since the above-described drilling jig 10 has the positioning portion 13 that abuts the wall portion 31 and determines the position of the drilling jig 10 with respect to the remover jig 30, the positioning of the drilling jig 10 is also performed by the remover jig 30. It can be performed using the wall portion 31 of the. That is, since the positioning of the microplate 1B and the positioning of the hole making jig 10 can be performed at the same location, the working efficiency can be improved.

In the above-described drilling device, the inner surface 31a of the wall portion 31 of the remover jig 30 is positioned with the microplate 1B, and the outer surface 31b of the wall portion 31 is positioned with the drilling jig 10. In this way, by positioning the microplate 1B and the drilling jig 10 using the inner surface 31a and the outer surface 31b of the wall portion 31, the height dimension of the wall portion 31 (dimension in the direction orthogonal to the fixing portion 32) is determined. Can be made smaller. Therefore, even if the protrusion length L of the protrusion 12 is short, the through hole can be reliably formed and the drilling device can be downsized.

Furthermore, since the remover jig 30 has a shape in which the wall portion 31 is erected in the plate thickness direction from one surface of the flat plate-shaped portion (fixing portion 32, push-up portion 33, connecting portion 34), When making a hole, a load can be efficiently applied from the other surface side (upper side in FIG. 4) of the plate-shaped portion. Therefore, it is possible to perform the drilling work even in a restricted space such as in a container or a pot of a sterilizer.

Since the above-mentioned protrusion 12 has a stepped shape that gradually becomes thinner toward the tip, the tip can be made sharper while ensuring the rigidity of the protrusion 12. Further, the diameter of the through hole can be increased with respect to the amount of bite into the sealing material 5 (length of penetration into the well 4). That is, the protrusion 12 easily penetrates through the seal material 5, and a large hole can be formed in the seal material 5 when the protrusion 12 reaches the root portion into the well 4. Therefore, the sealed state of each well 4 of the microplate 1B can be surely released.

Since the protruding length L of the above-described protrusion 12 is not constant, the timing at which the tip of the protrusion 12 contacts the sealing material 5 when the hole making jig 10 is superposed on the microplate 1B can be shifted. .. Therefore, compared with the case where holes are simultaneously formed in all the protrusions 12, holes can be formed in the sealing material 5 with a small force, and the sealed state of each well 4 can be released more easily.

The above-described drilling jig 10 is shared by two types of microplates 1A and 1B. In other words, one drilling jig 10 can be used to drill two kinds of microplates 1A and 1B, so that working efficiency can be further improved. In addition, by using the drilling jig 10 as a common product, the cost for manufacturing the drilling jig 10 can be suppressed.

The hole jig 10 has as many protrusions 12 as the number of wells of the microplate 1B having the largest number of wells 4, and these protrusions 12 form through holes for each predetermined number of wells 4. The protrusion length L is set stepwise so that That is, since the projections 12 are set in stages, holes can be formed in the sealing material 5 for each predetermined number of wells 4, so that the sealed state of each well 4 is released with a small force and a constant force. be able to. For this reason, for example, when an operator manually handles the hole punching device, the hole can be easily drilled, and when the hole punching device is incorporated into a machine and is automated, the controllability can be enhanced.

[3. Second embodiment]
[3-1. Constitution]
Next, a punching device according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12. In addition, about the structure similar to 1st embodiment mentioned above, the same code | symbol as 1st embodiment is attached | subjected, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted. In the drilling device of the present embodiment, the configurations of the drilling jig 10 'and the remover jig 30' are different from those of the first embodiment.

11 is a plan view showing a state in which the position of the remover jig 30 'of FIG. 9 is aligned with the position of the drilling jig 10' of FIG. 8 with respect to the microplate 1B of FIG. 1 (c). is there. FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. The two-dot chain line in each of the plan views of FIGS. 8 and 9 indicates the side surface 3 of the microplate 1B, and the dots in FIG. 9 indicate the wall portion 31 'described later. Similarly to FIG. 6, the dots and hatching in FIG. 11 respectively indicate the fixing portion 32 and the pushing-up surface portion 33a, and in FIG. 11, only part of the well 4 is shown.

As shown in FIG. 8, the drilling jig 10 ′ of the second embodiment has a flat surface portion 11 ′ facing the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1 B, a projection portion 12 similar to the above, and a remover jig 30. It has a positioning portion 14 for determining the position of the drilling jig 10, an auxiliary surface portion 15 for protecting the tip of the projection portion 12, and a foot portion 16.

The flat portion 11 'is a thin plate having a constant plate thickness, and is formed to have substantially the same shape as the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1B. In the hole making jig 10 ′ of this embodiment, the end faces at the four corners of the flat surface portion 11 ′ function as the positioning portion 14. That is, the positioning portions 14 are provided at four places and contact the upper wall portion 31U of the wall portion 31 'of the remover jig 30' described later. Further, the auxiliary surface portion 15 is a portion extended from the outer edge portion of the flat surface portion 11 'so as to project to the outside of the microplate 1B in a state where the hole making jig 10' is positioned. The auxiliary surface portion 15 is provided at each of the four corners of the flat surface portion 11 ′, has the same plate thickness as the flat surface portion 11 ′, and is provided flush with the flat surface portion 11 ′.

The foot portion 16 is a cylindrical portion protruding from each auxiliary surface portion 15 in the same direction as the protruding portion 12, and the tip end surface is formed in a flat shape. The distance X from the flat surface portion 11 ′ to the tip of the foot portion 16 is longer than the distance from the flat surface portion 11 ′ to the tip of the protrusion 12 (projection length L). This prevents the tip (needle tip) of the protrusion 12 from being crushed.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 12, the remover jig 30 'is arranged between the microplate 1B and the drilling jig 10' like the above-described remover jig 30 and utilizes the lever principle. It is a part that separates the drilling jig 10 'from the microplate 1B. Similarly to the above, the remover jig 30 'of the present embodiment is also formed in an annular shape along the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1B.

Further, the remover jig 30 'of the present embodiment is provided with a positioning wall portion 31', and a fixing portion 32, a push-up portion 33 and a connecting portion 34 similar to the above. The wall portion 31 ′ of the present embodiment includes a lower wall portion 31 </ b> L that is erected on one side (lower side in the side view of FIG. 9) of the plate-shaped portion including the fixing portion 32. An upper wall portion 31U standing upright on the side (upper side in the side view of FIG. 9) is included. In other words, the fixing portion 32 of this embodiment extends in the orthogonal direction from the intermediate portion of the wall portion 31 'in the standing direction. In the wall portion 31 'of the present embodiment, the lower wall portion 31L and the upper wall portion 31U are formed in the same shape in plan view.

As shown in FIG. 10, the side surface 3 of the microplate 1B is brought into contact with the inner surface (the surface facing the microplate 1B side) of the lower wall portion 31L of the remover jig 30 '. As a result, the position of the remover jig 30 'with respect to the microplate 1B is determined. Further, the positioning portions 14 (end surfaces at the four corners of the flat surface portion 11 ') of the hole making jig 10' are brought into contact with the inner surface of the upper wall portion 31U (the surface facing the microplate 1B side). As a result, the position of the drilling jig 10 'with respect to the remover jig 30' is determined. That is, also in the drilling device of the present embodiment, the microplate 1B and the drilling jig 10 'are positioned via the remover jig 30', as in the above. In addition, the position of the remover jig 30 ′ is fixed to the microplate 1 </ b> B and the drilling jig 10 ′ by sandwiching the fixing portion 32, similarly to the above.

[3-2. How to use the punching device]
Here, a procedure for forming a through hole in a portion of the sealing material 5 of the microplate 1B that covers each well 4 and removing the drilling jig 10 by the drilling device of the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, first, the microplate 1B is oriented so that the upper surface 2 faces upward.

Next, the remover jig 30 'is superposed on the microplate 1B so that the lower wall portion 31L is located below the fixing portion 32. At this time, the position of the remover jig 30 'with respect to the microplate 1B is determined by bringing the inner surface of the lower wall portion 31L into contact with the side surface 3 of the microplate 1B. Next, the drilling jig 10 'is superposed on the remover jig 30' with the projection 12 positioned below the flat surface 11 '.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 10, the positioning portion 14 (end surface) of the drilling jig 10 'is slid downward while contacting the inner surface of the upper wall portion 31U of the remover jig 30', thereby removing the remover jig. The position of the drilling jig 10 'with respect to the tool 30' is determined. As a result, the state shown in FIG. 11 is obtained. Then, by pressing the punching jig 10 'toward the microplate 1B, the protrusions 12 having the long protruding length L are sequentially contacted with the sealing material 5 to form the through holes.

After the through holes are formed in all the wells 4, the four operation surface portions 33b of the remover jig 30 'are pressed toward the microplate 1B side, as shown by the outlined arrows in FIG. Then, as indicated by a black arrow in FIG. 12, the push-up surface portion 33a pushes up the flat surface portion 11 'of the drilling jig 10' with the contact position of the push-up portion 33 with the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1B as a fulcrum. Away from the microplate 1B. As a result, a gap is formed around the microplate 1B, and therefore the hole making jig 10 'may be separated from the microplate 1B by utilizing this gap.

Note that the punching device of this embodiment can also be used by the same usage method (method shown in FIG. 19) as in the above-described first embodiment. The 96-well microplate 1A can also be used in the same procedure.

[3-3. Action, effect]
Therefore, even with the punching device according to the present embodiment, the sealed state of each well 4 of the microplate 1B can be simply and efficiently released, as in the above-described first embodiment. Therefore, for example, when the used microplate 1B is sterilized by a sterilizer, the work efficiency of the sterilization work can be improved. Similar effects can be obtained when the 96-well microplate 1A is used.

Further, in the remover jig 30 'of this embodiment, the microplate 1B and the drilling jig 10' are positioned using the inner surfaces of the wall portion 31 'having the upper wall portion 31U and the lower wall portion 31L. In this way, the microplate 1B and the drilling jig 10 'and the remover jig 30' can be positioned at the same location through the wall portion 31 'of the remover jig 30', so that workability is improved. Can be made Further, in the hole making jig 10 'of the present embodiment, since the end faces at the four corners of the flat surface portion 11' function as the positioning portions 14, it is not necessary to provide the positioning wall portions 13 described above. Moreover, since the positioning is performed using the flat surface portion 11 '(in other words, the positioning is performed on the flat surface portion), it is easy to obtain the positioning accuracy.

Since the drilling jig 10 'of the present embodiment is provided with the foot portion 16 protruding from the auxiliary surface portion 15 in the same direction as the protrusion 12, it is possible to prevent the needle tip (tip) of the protrusion 12 from being crushed. .. Thereby, the sealed state of each well 4 of the microplate 1B can be surely released.
In addition, the same effects as the above can be obtained from the same configuration as that of the first embodiment.

[4. Other]
The punching device described above is an example, and is not limited to the above-described configuration. In the above embodiment, the annular remover jigs 30 and 30 'are provided with a plurality (four) of push-up portions 33 each including the push-up surface portion 33a and the operation surface portion 33b. It does not have to be annular, and at least one push-up surface portion 33a and at least one operation surface portion 33b may be provided.

Further, the shapes of the wall portions 31 and 31 'of the remover jigs 30 and 30', the shape of the fixing portion 32, the shape of the push-up portion 33, and the shape of the connecting portion 34 are all examples, and are the same as those described above. Not limited to For example, the connecting portion 34 may be connected to a portion other than the outer end portion of the operation surface portion 33b, or may not have the crank shape (substantially S-shaped) in plan view. Further, in the second embodiment, the upper wall portion 31U and the lower wall portion 31L may not have the same shape in plan view.

Note that the remover jigs 30 and 30 'may be used repeatedly or may be disposable. In the latter case, for example, when the strength of the connecting portion 34 is lowered, and when the drilling jigs 10 and 10 'are separated from the microplate 1 after performing the drilling work with the drilling jigs 10 and 10', the wall portion 31, The configuration may be such that 31 'comes off (damages).

The remover jig is provided with at least a plate-shaped pushing-up surface portion arranged between the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1 and the

flat surface portions

11 and 11 'of the hole-drilling jigs 10 and 10', and is provided continuously with this. And an operating surface portion projecting outward from the microplate 1, and the pushing-up surface portion separates the drilling jigs 10 and 10 ′ from the microplate 1 by the pressing force input to the operating surface portion. Well, for example, the

walls

31, 31 ′, the fixing portion 32, and the connecting portion 34 may be omitted.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the remover jigs 30 and 30 'are arranged directly on the microplate 1, but the microplate 1 is housed and held so that the position of the microplate 1 does not shift during the drilling work. You may use the pedestal member which does. FIG. 15 is a plan view and a side view showing an example of the base member 20. As shown in FIG. 15, the pedestal member 20 includes a bottom surface portion 21 on which the microplate 1 (for example, the microplate 1B) is placed, a peripheral wall portion 22 erected at a peripheral end portion of the bottom surface portion 21, and a microplate. It has the accommodation space 23 which accommodates and holds 1B. The accommodation space 23 is a space formed by being surrounded by the bottom surface portion 21 and the peripheral wall portion 22, and is set to be substantially the same as or slightly larger than the outer shape of the microplate 1B.

The peripheral wall portion 22 is an annular wall portion whose height dimension is constant in the circumferential direction of the accommodation space 23, and an end surface 22a (hereinafter referred to as “upper end surface 22a”) facing the opening side of the accommodation space 23 is parallel to the bottom surface portion 21. It is provided in. Further, the peripheral wall portion 22 is provided such that its outer surface 22b (the surface facing the side opposite to the accommodation space 23) is located slightly inside the end surface around the bottom surface portion 21. The outer surface 22b of the peripheral wall portion 22 and the end surface of the bottom surface portion 21 may be flush with each other.

The pedestal member 20 shown in FIG. 15 is applicable to the punching device of each of the above-described embodiments. For example, FIG. 16 shows a side view corresponding to FIG. 4 when the pedestal member 20 is applied to the punching device of the first embodiment. When using the base member 20, first, the microplate 1B is housed in the housing space 23 of the base member 20. The remover jig 30 is positioned with the microplate 1B via the pedestal member 20 by bringing the inner surface 31a of the wall portion 31 into contact with the outer surface 22b of the peripheral wall portion 22 of the pedestal member 20. Then, the drilling jig 10 is positioned with respect to the remover jig 30.

When the upper surface 2 of the microplate 1B is projected upward from the accommodation space 23 with the microplate 1B placed on the pedestal member 20, the fixing portion 32 is flat with the upper surface 2 as in the first embodiment. It is sandwiched with the part 11. On the contrary, when the upper surface 2 does not protrude from the accommodation space 23 in this state, the fixing portion 32 is sandwiched between the upper end surface 22a of the pedestal member 20 and the flat surface portion 11. That is, the fixing portion 32 is sandwiched between at least the upper surface 2 side of the microplate 1B and the flat surface portion 11 of the hole making jig 10 to prevent the remover jig 30 from being displaced.

Even with the punching device having such a configuration, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. Further, by using the pedestal member 20, it is possible to prevent the microplate 1B from being deformed or following when the hole making jig 10 is separated from the microplate 1B by utilizing the lever principle. The pedestal member 20 may be provided for each type of microplate, or may be provided as a shared product of two or more types of microplates. When the pedestal member 20 is used as a common product, the shape of the accommodation space 23 may be adjusted to the largest one of various types of microplates within the range allowed by the positional relationship between the well 4 and the protrusion 12. The pedestal member 20 may be used when using the punching device in the pot of the sterilizer.

The two embodiments described above exemplify the punching device applied to the microplate 1B shown in FIG. 1C, but the microplate in which the punching device forms a through hole is not limited to the above. The outer shape may differ depending on the type of microplate.In this case, the drilling jig should be one type regardless of the outer shape of the microplate, and several types of remover should be used depending on the outer shape of the microplate. It is preferable to prepare a jig.

The configuration of the above-mentioned hole making jigs 10 and 10 'is also an example. For example, in the first embodiment, the positioning wall portions 13 are provided at the four corners of the flat surface portion 11, but the positioning wall portions may be provided at some of the four corners, or the entire circumference of the flat surface portion 11 is provided. A positioning wall portion may be provided over the entire length. When the positioning wall is provided over the entire circumference of the flat surface portion 11 (that is, when the outer shape of the drilling jig 10 is a box shape), for example, a plurality of U-shaped grooves should be arranged on the peripheral positioning wall. Thus, the vapor easily enters the well 4 whose sealed state is released by the protrusion 12, and the sterilization effect can be enhanced.

In addition, in the second embodiment, dedicated positioning portions may be provided in addition to the end faces at the four corners of the flat surface portion 11 ′, or the auxiliary surface portion 15 and the foot portion 16 may be omitted. The drilling jigs 10 and 10 'need only have at least the

plane portions

11 and 11' and the plurality of protrusions 12, and the

positioning portions

13 and 14 may be omitted.

The projections 12 of the drilling jigs 10 and 10 'need only be needle-shaped at least at their tips, and the shape thereof is not particularly limited. For example, although the protrusion 12 has a stepped shape with two steps, it may have a stepped shape with three or more steps, or may have a conical shape, a pyramid shape, a rod shape or the like instead of the stepped shape. Alternatively, the shape of the protrusion may be a cross shape such as the tip of a plus driver or a minus driver, a single letter shape, or a star shape. In this way, by making the tip of the protrusion part needle-like and making the shape from the

flat surface parts

11 and 11 ′ to the tip part a cross shape, a star shape, or the like, steam is pierced into the well 4 after piercing the sealing material 5. It is easier to enter and the sterilization effect can be enhanced. Further, in the above-described drilling jigs 10 and 10 ', the protrusion length L of the protrusion 12 is not constant, but the protrusion lengths L of all the protrusions may be the same. In addition, the drilling jigs 10 and 10 ′ may be formed such that two or more protrusions are arranged for one well 4.

Further, although the above-described drilling jigs 10 and 10 'have the solid-shaped protrusions 12, they may have hollow-shaped protrusions. Here, an example of the hollow protrusion 12X is shown in FIGS. 17 (a) and 17 (b). 17A is a side view similar to the protrusion 12 shown in an enlarged manner in the side view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 17B shows the tip side of the protrusion 12X of FIG. 17A. It is a perspective view shown.

As shown in FIGS. 17 (a) and 17 (b), the protrusion 12X is formed in a two-stepped shape and has a single hole 12h extending in the same direction as the protrusion of the protrusion 12X. Have. That is, the projection 12X has two cylindrical portions 12a 'and 12b' having different sizes and a truncated cone portion 12c 'located between these cylindrical portions 12a' and 12b ', and the cylindrical portion 12b on the tip side. The end face of ′ is provided as an inclined surface 12f inclined with respect to the protruding direction. A tip portion 12e of the protrusion 12X (a portion closest to the tip end of the inclined surface 12f) has rigidity enough to break through the sealing material 5 attached to the upper surface 2 and is formed into a sharp shape.

The hole 12h is linearly formed in the protrusion 12X from the inclined surface 12f side by, for example, a laser beam machine, and opens in the inclined surface 12f. Alternatively, the drilling jigs 10 and 10 'having the holes 12h may be molded by a mold. FIGS. 17A and 17B exemplify the protrusion 12X in which the hole 12h is opened substantially at the center of the inclined surface 12f. The hole 12h is preferably opened at a position excluding the tip 12e. Further, the hole portion 12h has a bottom surface in the middle of the cylindrical portion 12a 'on the large diameter side. That is, the hole 12h shown in FIG. 17A does not penetrate the protrusion 12X.

According to the punching device having the projections 12X having such a configuration, liquid can enter the holes 12h due to the capillary phenomenon. For this reason, for example, by immersing the tip side of the protrusion 12X in a liquid suitable for sterilization and making a hole in the microplate 1 in a state where the liquid is held in the hole 12h, it is possible to release the sealed state of each well 4. A liquid can be supplied into the well 4. As a result, the sterilization performance can be improved while improving the work efficiency of the sterilization work.

Note that the protrusion 12X shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B is an example, and the hole 12h may penetrate the protrusion 12X and the flat portion 11. In this case, the liquid can be supplied to the hole 12h from the flat surface 11 side. Further, the shape of the protrusion may be the shape shown in FIGS. 18 (a) and 18 (b).

The protrusion 12Y of FIG. 18 (a) is not a stepped shape, but has a shape that is reduced in diameter toward the tip, and its end surface is provided as an inclined surface 12f that is inclined with respect to the protruding direction. The hole 12h of the protrusion 12Y is open to the inclined surface 12f and penetrates to the flat surface portion 11. Even with the protrusion 12Y having such a shape, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those of the protrusion 12X. The outer diameter of the protrusion 12Y in FIG. 18A may be constant in the protruding direction, or the hole 12h may not penetrate as shown in FIG. 17A.

The protrusion 12Z shown in FIG. 18B is composed of a cylindrical portion 12a 'having a constant outer dimension in the protruding direction and a conical portion 12d' at the tip, and the tip 12e is on the center line of the protrusion 12Z. To position. In this protrusion 12Z, a plurality of holes (for example, two) are formed on the tip end side so that holes 12h ′ extended in the same manner as the projecting direction are opened at a plurality of positions with respect to the tip end side inclined surface 12f. There is. The hole portion 12h 'forms, for example, a thin hole that opens in the inclined surface 12f, and in addition to this hole, a thin hole that opens in another portion of the inclined surface 12f. It can be provided by forming one hole in the portion 12a 'which connects the two holes. Even with the protrusion 12Z having such a shape, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those of the protrusion 12X. The protrusion 12Z in FIG. 18B may be formed in a stepped shape.

In the above-described embodiment, the 96-well microplate 1A and the 384-well microplate 1B are taken as an example, and the drilling jigs 10 and 10 'commonly used by these two types of microplates 1A and 1B are illustrated. May be a dedicated product for one type of microplate. In this case, the drilling jig may have the same number of protrusions as the number of wells of the microplate, and the protrusion length of these protrusions may or may not be constant. On the contrary, the drilling jig may be formed in a shape shared by three or more types of microplates. In this case, the drilling jig preferably has the same number of protrusions as the number of wells of the microplate having the largest number of wells.

1 microplate 1A 96-well microplate (microplate)
1B 384-well microplate (microplate)
2 Upper surface 3

Side surface

4, 4A, 4B Well 5 Sealing material 10, 10 'Hole making jig 11 Flat surface portion 12, # 11, # 12, # 13, # 14, 12X, 12Y, 12Z Projection portion 12e Tip portion 12f

Sloping surface

12h, 12h 'hole 13 positioning wall (positioning part)
13a inner surface 14 corner end surface (positioning portion)
15 Auxiliary surface part 16 Foot part 20 Base member 21 Bottom part 22 Peripheral wall part 22a Upper end surface 22b Outer surface 23 Storage space 30, 30 'Remover jig 31, 31' Wall part

31a Inner surface

31b Outer surface 31L Lower wall part 31U Upper wall part 32 Fixed Part 33 Push-up part 33a Push-up surface part 33b Operation surface part 34 Connecting part L Projection length X Distance from the flat part to the tip of the foot part

Claims

A punching device that forms a through hole for each well with respect to a sealing material that is attached to a microplate having a plurality of wells and seals the plurality of wells,
A hole forming jig having a flat surface portion facing the upper surface of the sealing material side in the microplate, and a plurality of projection portions protruding from the flat surface portion and having a tip formed into a needle shape,
A plate-shaped pushing-up surface portion disposed between the upper surface of the microplate and the flat surface portion of the hole making jig, and provided continuously with the pushing-up surface portion and projecting outward from the microplate. And a remover jig that separates the drilling jig from the microplate by the pushing force input to the operation surface portion. ..
The punching device according to claim 1, wherein the remover jig is formed in an annular shape along an outer peripheral portion of the upper surface of the microplate and has a plurality of the pushing-up surface portions and the operation surface portion.
The remover jig is
A wall portion that defines the position of the remover jig with respect to the microplate,
A plate-like member extending in an orthogonal direction from an inner surface of the wall portion facing the microplate side, and a fixing portion sandwiched between the upper surface side of the microplate and the flat surface portion of the hole making jig,
A push-up portion which is separated from the fixed portion and is located on the same plane as the fixed portion, and which includes the push-up surface portion and the operation surface portion,
The plate-shaped connecting part which connects the said fixed part and the said operation surface part, and is located on the same plane as the said fixed part, The drilling device of Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned.
The punching device according to claim 3, wherein the connecting portion has a crank shape connected to an outer end portion of the operation surface portion.
5. The punching device according to claim 3, wherein the punching jig has a positioning portion that abuts on the wall portion and determines a position of the punching jig with respect to the remover jig.
The wall portion is erected on one side of the fixing portion,
The side surface of the microplate is in contact with the inner surface of the wall portion,
The drilling device according to claim 5, wherein a positioning wall portion serving as the positioning portion of the drilling jig is in contact with an outer surface of the wall portion that faces away from the microplate.
The wall portion includes a lower wall portion that is erected on one side of the fixing portion, and an upper wall portion that is erected on the opposite side to the one direction of the fixing portion,
On the inner surface of the upper wall portion, the positioning portion of the drilling jig is abutted,
The punching device according to claim 5, wherein a side surface of the microplate is in contact with the inner surface of the lower wall portion.
The drilling jig is provided with an auxiliary surface portion extending from an outer edge portion of the flat surface portion so as to project outward from the microplate in a positioned state, and a protrusion from the auxiliary surface portion in the same direction as the protruding portion. Has a foot and
8. The punching device according to claim 7, wherein the distance from the flat surface portion to the tip of the foot portion is longer than the distance from the flat surface portion to the tip of the protruding portion.
The punching device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the protrusion has a stepped shape that is gradually tapered toward the tip.
The punching device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the protruding portion has a non-uniform protruding length from the flat surface portion.
The drilling device according to claim 10, wherein the drilling jig is shared by two or more kinds of the microplates having the plurality of wells arranged regularly.
The protrusion has a hole extending in the same direction as the protruding direction,
The punching device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the hole portion is opened on an inclined surface on the tip end side of the projection portion.
A method of using the punching device according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
In a state where the microplate in which the plurality of wells are sealed by the sealing material is put in a pot of a sterilizer in which a liquid is stored, the upper surface of the microplate and the flat surface portion of the hole making jig And superimpose the remover jig and the drilling jig on the microplate so as to sandwich the push-up surface portion of the remover jig,
In the pot, a through hole is formed for each well by pressing the drilling jig toward the microplate,
In the kettle, pressing the operation surface portion of the remover jig to separate the drilling jig from the microplate, and then setting the microplate in the kettle to operate the sterilizer. A method of using a hole punching device, characterized by: