JP2003207513A - Automatic urine examining device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To examine urine even when the amount of urine is small, to accurately perform the examination by reducing the error in measurement, and to cope with all kinds of cups so that a test piece can be accurately inserted even in the deformed cup to be surely brought into contact with the urine for examining urine. <P>SOLUTION: This urine automatic examining device comprises an inserting mechanism 4 for inserting the test piece 3 into the cup 1 filled with urine, an inclining mechanism 2 for inclining the cup 1 in which the test piece 3 is inserted, for bringing the test piece 3 into contact with urine, a color sensor 5 for distinguishing a color of the test piece 3 kept into contact with the urea by being inserted into the cup 1, and an operating means 6 for operating test items on the basis of an output signal from the color sensor 5. In this device, the test piece 3 is inserted into the cup 1 with a vertical attitude having an opening part at its upper end, from the opening part of the upper end by the inserting mechanism 4, and the cup 12 in which the test piece 3 is inserted, is inclined by the inclining mechanism 2, to bring the test piece 3 into contact with urine. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic urine inspection device for inspecting a cup filled with urine by inserting a test piece.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional urine automatic inspection apparatus inspects various items by putting urine in a bottle such as a test tube and mounting it in a fixed position. When a plurality of bottles are set side by side, this device automatically processes the urine in the bottles in order. This device can automatically inspect the urine of the set bottles. However, it is necessary to transfer the urine collected from the patient to a particular bottle. This is because urine cannot be directly collected from the patient in a thin bottle. The patient collects urine in a paper cup. Nurses transfer urine from paper cups to bottles and set it in an automatic inspection device.

An apparatus for automatically examining urine using a specific bottle cannot directly set the urine collected by a patient in an automatic examination apparatus. In order for the patient to collect urine, it is necessary to make the opening large, and in order for the automatic testing device to automatically test a large number of urine continuously, the bottles are made thin and set in multiple rows. is there.

The inspection method which requires the operation of the nurse between the step of collecting the urine by the patient and the step of setting the collected urine in the automatic inspection apparatus shows how excellent the throughput of the automatic inspection apparatus is. Even if it is a thing, it cannot be examined promptly immediately after the patient collects urine. This is because the operation of the nurse may be delayed.

If a device is developed that allows a patient to directly set a cup from which urine has been collected, the urine can be examined very quickly. This device can be very conveniently used as a system which is installed in a toilet of a hospital, for example, when a patient collects and sets urine in a cup and immediately tests it and transmits the test result to a doctor online.

An apparatus that realizes this requires a structure in which the cup is directly attached and the urine filled in the cup is inspected. For example, it can be realized by an apparatus for inspecting urine filled in a set cup by inhaling it with a catheter and bringing it into contact with a reagent. However, since the device of this structure inhales urine with the catheter, it is necessary to wash or replace the catheter and wash the pipe for inhaling urine after each examination of each patient. This is because if the urine of the patient to be examined before and after is mixed, the accurate examination cannot be performed. Therefore, the running cost becomes high and the structure of the cleaning mechanism and the like becomes complicated.

An apparatus in which a test piece is directly inserted into a cup and various items of urine are examined by changing the color of the test piece does not require cleaning of a catheter or a urine route. Therefore, there is a feature that the structure can be simplified. However, the cup is
Since the opening is made large for convenient collection of urine, unless a large amount of urine is filled in the cup, the level of urine becomes shallow and the test piece cannot be completely contacted with urine. This is because the test piece is made by vertically attaching a plurality of reagents, and the whole reagent portion is brought into contact with urine to inspect various items by changing the color.

The present inventors have developed the device shown in FIG. 1 for the purpose of solving such a drawback (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-2
1570). This device tilts a cup 1 filled with urine to discharge excess urine, and then inserts a test piece 3 into the cup 1 in an inclined posture. The test piece 3 is inserted into the bottom of the cup 1 and brought into contact with urine. In this device, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1, the test piece 3 is vertically inserted into the inclined cup 1 to bring the test piece 3 into contact with urine. The test piece 3 inserted in this posture is inserted along the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1 and brought into contact with urine. Therefore, there is a feature that a small amount of urine can be put in the cup 1 and the test piece 3 can be sufficiently brought into contact with the urine.

[0009]

Therefore, the apparatus of FIG. 1 has a feature that it can be accurately tested with a small amount of urine. This is important in an automatic urine test device. This is because every patient who tests for urine may or may not be able to fill the cup with a large amount of urine. The present inventor manufactured an automatic urine inspection apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 1 and repeated enormous tests. As a result, it was confirmed that, despite filling the cup with a fixed amount of urine, a measurement error that cannot be accurately examined rarely occurs. The measurement error occurred even though the device was operating normally. This type of device cannot be used even if the probability of measurement error is very low. This is because the patient used when a measurement error occurs cannot accurately obtain the measurement result of his urine. Extensive tests were repeated to determine the cause of the measurement error. However, it is extremely difficult to investigate the cause of the error because a measurement error occurs even though the device operates correctly. In particular, this device made it invisible to process and test cups filled with urine, which made it difficult to determine measurement errors.
Furthermore, the low frequency of measurement errors made it difficult to find the cause.

As a result of repeating the test under various conditions, the present inventor has found that when the test piece is inserted into an inclined cup, the test piece may not be inserted normally. In a cup that puts urine in the bottom in a tilted posture,
When inserting the test piece, the tip of the test piece may not be inserted along the lower inclined surface of the cup. This is because the tip of the test piece is caught on the lower inclined surface of the cup and is not inserted smoothly, or the test piece absorbs urine and becomes flexible and is inserted along the lower inclined surface to the bottom of the cup. It happened because it wasn't done.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 2, when the cup 1 is deformed, the tip of the test piece 3 to be inserted is caught by the deformed portion 1a of the cup 1 so that the test piece 3 is curved or deformed. It may not be possible to insert it correctly inside 1. This type of inspection device uses a disposable cup in consideration of hygiene. The disposable cup is
Thin and light paper cups and plastic cups are used in terms of running costs. Therefore, when the patient takes urine, it may be deformed by holding it strongly, and the test piece 3 may not be normally inserted.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, even in a cup or the like in which the inner surface of the cup 1 is not a smooth surface but an uneven surface 1b, the tip of the test piece 3 to be inserted is caught on the uneven surface 1b and tested. The piece 3 may be curved or deformed so that it cannot be accurately inserted into the cup 1. Not all cups have a smooth inner surface. Some cups have an uneven surface to prevent them from slipping. For this reason, this device cannot reliably test urine for all types of cups.

Furthermore, when a test piece is inserted into an inclined cup, the opening of the cup is inclined as the cup is inclined, so that the insertion area for inserting the test piece becomes small and it is difficult to insert the test piece accurately. Become. In particular, if the test piece is warped, it becomes more difficult to insert it.

In order to avoid this adverse effect, the present inventor prototyped a device for inserting the test piece 3 into the opening of the inclined cup 1 in an inclined posture as shown in FIG. The test piece 3 inserted into the cup 1 in this posture was inserted at a position apart from the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1 so as not to be caught by the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1. However,
The tip 3 of the test piece 3 inserted in this posture may bend due to gravity and may be caught by the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1.
Further, the test piece 3 which absorbs urine and becomes soft becomes particularly easy to bend. To make matters worse, in order to bring the test piece 3 into sufficient contact with a small amount of urine, it is necessary to bring the test piece 3 and the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1 close to each other. In this state, the test piece 3 was particularly apt to be caught by the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1, and this adverse effect increased. As shown by the chain line in the figure, the test piece 3 can be largely separated upward from the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1 to reduce this adverse effect. However,
If the distance between the test piece 3 and the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1 is widened, it becomes impossible to contact the test piece 3 with a small amount of urine. Thus, in order to accurately test with a small amount of urine, the test piece 3 cannot be separated from the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1. Therefore, when the test piece 3 was brought close to the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1 for testing with a small amount of urine, a measurement error occurred, and there was an adverse effect that this probability could not be eliminated.

The present invention was developed with the object of solving this drawback. An important object of the present invention is to provide an automatic urine inspection device that can perform an inspection using a small amount of urine and can accurately perform an inspection by minimizing a measurement error. Furthermore, another important object of the present invention is to support all types of cups, and even if the cup is deformed, the test piece can be accurately inserted and the urine can be surely contacted and tested. An object is to provide an automatic detection device.

[0016]

The automatic urine inspection apparatus of the present invention has an insertion mechanism 4 for inserting a test piece 3 into a cup 1 filled with urine, and a test piece 3. An inclining mechanism 2 for tilting the cup 1 to bring the test piece 3 into contact with urine, a color sensor 5 for identifying the color of the test piece 3 inserted into the cup 1 and contacting urine, and an output signal of the color sensor 5. And the calculation means 6 for calculating the test item from
This device is a cup 1 in a vertical position with an opening at the top.
Then, the insertion mechanism 4 inserts the test piece 3 into the inside from the opening at the upper end, and the cup 1 in which the test piece 3 is inserted is tilted by the tilting mechanism 2 to bring the test piece 3 into contact with urine.

The tilting mechanism 2 is a cup 1 filled with urine.
The first inclination angle for inclining and discharging excess urine, and the test piece 3
And a second tilt angle for contacting the urine with urine can be stored. The tilting mechanism 2 tilts the cup 1 filled with urine to a first tilt angle to discharge excess urine, and then the cup 1
To the vertical position, insert the test piece 3 with the insertion mechanism 4,
Then, the cup 1 is tilted to the second tilt angle and the test piece 3
Can be contacted with urine. The second tilt angle can be an angle that tilts the cup 1 to a posture closer to vertical than the first tilt angle.

The tilting mechanism 2 is a cup 1 filled with urine.
Remember the first tilt angle to incline and drain excess urine,
The cup 1 into which the test piece 3 is inserted by the insertion mechanism 4 is tilted to the first tilt angle to discharge excess urine, and the test piece 3
Can be contacted with urine. This automatic urine inspection apparatus can perform the step of discharging excess urine and the step of contacting the test piece 3 with urine in parallel.

The test piece 3 can be brought into contact with urine by tilting the cup 1 relative to the test piece 3. The center of rotation X for tilting the cup 1 can be located above the center of the upper and lower ends of the cup 1. Furthermore,
The center of rotation X for tilting the cup 1 can be positioned eccentrically from the central axis of the cup 1.

The cup 1 may have a taper shape that gradually increases toward the opening. The test piece 3 can be formed in an elongated shape having a plurality of test regions 23 that are vertically divided.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below exemplify an automatic urine inspection device for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the present invention does not specify the automatic inspection device to the following.

Further, in this specification, in order to facilitate understanding of the claims, the numbers corresponding to the members shown in the embodiments are referred to as "claims column" and "to solve the problems". It is added to the members shown in "Means column". However, the members shown in the claims are not limited to the members of the embodiment.

The urine automatic inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 5 includes an inclination mechanism 2 for holding and tilting a cup 1 filled with urine, and a test piece 3 for inserting a test piece 3 into the cup 1 filled with urine. Insertion mechanism 4, and a color sensor 5 for identifying the color of the test piece 3 inserted into the cup 1 by the insertion mechanism 4 and contacting urine,
And a calculation unit 6 that calculates a test item from an output signal of the color sensor 5.

As shown in the plan view of FIG. 6, the tilting mechanism 2 includes a pair of holding arms 7 for holding the cup 1 by sandwiching it from both sides, and a turning mechanism 8 for turning the holding arms 7. Prepare The holding arm 7 is provided at the tip of the cup holding portion,
It has a sandwiching portion 9 that is curved in a shape along the cup 1.

The rotating mechanism 8 moves the holding arms 7 toward each other so as to clamp the cup 1, and moves the holding arms 7 in the opposite direction to release the clamped state of the cup 1. Rotation mechanism 8
As shown in the schematic plan view of FIG. 7, the clamping cylinder 10 that reciprocates the pair of holding arms 7 in the clamping direction of the cup 1 and in the opposite direction, and the frame 11 on which the cylinder is mounted are rotated. A tilting motor 12 that tilts the cup 1 by moving it, a control circuit 13 that controls the rotation of the tilting motor 12, and a lifting cylinder (not shown) that moves the tilting motor 12 up and down are provided. The tilt motor 12 is a stepping motor whose rotation angle is controlled by the control circuit 13.

In the rotating mechanism 8 shown in FIG. 7, a pair of holding arms 7 are reciprocated by a sandwiching cylinder 10 in the sandwiching direction of the cup 1 and in the opposite direction. However, the rotation mechanism
It is also possible to reciprocate the pair of holding arms with the structure shown in FIG. The rotating mechanism 8 shown in this figure is composed of a frame 11
The holding arm 7 is connected to the guide rail 27 provided in the.
The cup 1 is urged in a direction to pinch it. The spring 28 is
With the pair of holding arms 7 approaching each other and holding the cup 1 therebetween, the cup 1 is adjusted to have an elastic force so as not to be crushed.
Further, a triangular guide protrusion 29 is fixed to the base 30 in order to open and close the pair of holding arms 7. The guide projections 29 are provided on both sides with inclined surfaces 29 approaching upward.
A is provided, and the holding arm 7 is moved along the inclined surface 29A to change the distance between the pair of holding arms 7.
When the frame 11 is lowered, the rotating mechanism 8 is guided by the inclined surface 29A of the guide protrusion 29 and moves in the direction in which the pair of holding arms 7 separate. In this state, the cup 1 is mounted between the holding portions 9 of the pair of holding arms 7. Further, when the rotating mechanism 8 raises the frame 11, the pair of holding arms 7 are biased by the springs 28 in the approaching direction while the pair of holding arms 7 are guided by the inclined surfaces 29A of the guide protrusions 29, and the cup 1 is clamped. To do. Further, the rotating mechanism can be any mechanism capable of reciprocating the pair of holding arms in the cup clamping direction and the opposite direction.

The control circuit 13 controls the rotation of the tilt motor 12 so that the cup 1 held by the holding arm 7 is
As shown in FIG. 9, it is tilted at a predetermined angle. Control circuit 13
Tilts the cup 1 filled with urine to discharge excess urine and the second tilt angle which is closer to vertical than the first tilt angle.
Remember the tilt angle. The control circuit 13 tilts the cup 1 filled with urine with the holding arm 7 and first tilts the cup 1 to the first tilt angle to discharge excess urine. Then, the cup 1 is tilted to a vertical posture, the test piece 3 is inserted into the cup 1, and the cup 1 in which the test piece 3 is inserted is tilted to a second tilt angle. The second tilt angle is closer to vertical than the first tilt angle. This tilting mechanism 2
When tilting cup 1 to the second tilt angle, urine
You can prevent it from leaking. The second inclination angle is preferably 2 degrees with respect to the horizontal of the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1.
Set to 10 degrees. When the second tilt angle is closer to horizontal than 2 degrees, most of the urine is discharged from the cup 1 in an excessively small amount, and when the second tilt angle is greater than 10 degrees, the test piece 3 A considerable amount of urine is required to deposit urine on all test areas 23.

However, the tilting mechanism 4 is not always the first
It is not necessary to tilt the cup 1 to the tilt angle and discharge excess urine, then tilt the cup 1 to a vertical posture to insert the test piece 3 and tilt the cup 1 to the second tilt angle again. The tilting mechanism 4 inserts the test piece 3 into the cup 1 in the vertical posture, then tilts the cup 1 into which the test piece 3 is inserted to the first inclination angle to discharge excess urine, and Can also be contacted. This test apparatus can perform the step of discharging excess urine and the step of contacting the test piece 3 with urine in parallel.

The insertion mechanism 4 inserts the test piece 3 taken out of the cartridge 14 into the cup 1. The insertion mechanism 4 is
As shown in FIG. 9, the test piece 3 is inserted from the opening into the cup 1 in a vertical posture with the upper end serving as the opening. Insertion mechanism 4
Is preferably vertically moved from top to bottom to insert the test piece 3 in the vertical posture into the cup 1. However, it goes without saying that the insertion mechanism can move the test piece in a slightly tilted posture into the cup by moving it to a slightly tilted posture. further,
The insertion mechanism 4 preferably inserts the test piece 3 from substantially the center of the upper end opening of the cup 1. This is because the test piece 3 can be reliably inserted into the cup 1 even if the cup 1 is slightly deformed or the test piece 3 is slightly warped. However, the insertion mechanism 4 can also approach the inner peripheral surface of the cup 1 to insert the test piece 3. The test piece 3 inserted from the opening at the upper end of the cup 1 is preferably inserted to a position where its tip is immersed in urine in the cup 1 but does not contact the bottom of the cup 1. However, the insertion mechanism does not necessarily have to be inserted until the tip of the test piece is immersed in urine. This is because urine can be brought into contact with all the test areas of the test piece by changing the relative positions of the cup and the test piece in the process of tilting the cup by the tilting mechanism. The cup 1 in the vertical posture in which the test piece 3 is inserted by the insertion mechanism 4 is tilted by the tilting mechanism 2. The tilting mechanism 2 is tilted so that all the test regions 23 of the test piece 3 inserted in the cup 1 come into contact with urine.

The cartridge 14 holds a plurality of test pieces 3 in a vertically standing posture so that they can be taken out side by side. The cartridge 14 is shown in FIGS. The cartridge 14 shown in these figures is provided with a slit 15 which extends in the vertical direction and into which the test piece 3 can be inserted, and the test piece 3 is inserted into this slit 15. The test piece 3 has an upper end protruding from the cartridge 14, and the protruding portion is clamped by the chuck 16 of the insertion mechanism 4 and taken out. The cartridge 14 in these figures has ten
The test piece 3 is held. The cartridge 14 may be configured to hold a larger number or a smaller number of test pieces 3.

The insertion mechanism 4 includes a chuck 16 that holds the test piece 3 by sandwiching it, and a drive mechanism 17 that moves the chuck 16. The chuck 16 is the cartridge 1
The upper end of the test piece 3 attached to the cartridge 4 is clamped and taken out from the cartridge 14. The chuck 16 inserts the test piece 3 into the cup 1. The test piece 3 inserted into the cup 1 is tilted by the tilting mechanism 2 so that the entire test area 23
Urine comes into contact with. The insertion mechanism 4 uses the test piece 3 in contact with urine.
Is transferred to the position of the color sensor 5, inspected by the color sensor 5, and then moved to the disposal position to release the sandwiched state.

In FIG. 5, the drive mechanism 17 moves the chuck 16 vertically and horizontally so that the test piece 3 sandwiched by the chuck 16 is taken out from the cartridge 14 and filled with urine. 1 is moved to the suction holder 18 in front of the color sensor 5, and is moved from the suction holder 18 to the disposal position after the inspection. The drive mechanism 17 includes a cylinder that moves the chuck 16 vertically and horizontally, an electric actuator (not shown), and a control unit (not shown) that controls these. The control means controls the cylinder, the electric actuator, etc. to move the chuck 16 to a predetermined position.

The insertion mechanism 4 shown in FIG. 5 takes out the test piece 3 from the cartridge 14 in a vertical posture and inserts it into the cup 1 in a vertical posture. When the cup 1 is tilted, the chuck 16 that holds the test piece 3 in a vertical posture does not move.
That is, the cup 1 is tilted relative to the test piece 3. In order to hold the test piece 3 in the vertical posture and tilt the cup 1 to bring the test piece 3 into contact with the urine of the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1 efficiently, the rotation center X for tilting the cup 1 is the cup. 1 is located above the center of the upper and lower ends. The tilting mechanism 2 in FIG. 9 tilts the cup 1 at the center of rotation X located above the upper end of the cup 1. The cup 1 tilted about this position as the center of rotation moves in the horizontal direction, that is, in the upper right direction in the figure, while the bottom rises by tilting. When the bottom moves in this direction, the tip of the test piece 3 is placed along the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1 and efficiently contacts a small amount of urine that spreads along the lower inclined surface 1A.

Further, the tilting mechanism 2 of FIG. 9 is eccentric from the central axis of the cup 1 and is provided with a rotation center X on the left side of the central axis in the drawing. The tilting mechanism 2 provided with the rotation center X at this position can tilt the cup 1 without contacting the opening of the tilting cup 1 with the chuck 16 or the like of the insertion mechanism 4, that is, without moving the chuck 16. Particularly, the tilting mechanism 2 having the rotation center X at this position
With the insertion mechanism 4, the test piece 3 can be ideally contacted with urine by tilting only the cup 1 without moving the chuck 16 while the test piece 3 is inserted in the center of the cup 1.

FIG. 9 shows a cup 1 in which the center of rotation X is vertical.
The center of rotation X is located near the upper end of the cup 1 or between the upper end and the center of the upper and lower ends, and is located above the upper end of the cup and eccentric from the central axis. It can also be provided on the central axis without eccentricity. However, as the center of rotation X for tilting the cup 1 is moved upward, the distance by which the bottom moves in the horizontal direction by tilting becomes larger, and as the center of rotation X is moved downward, the opening is made by tilting. The distance that the section moves increases. Further, when the center of rotation is arranged on the central axis of the cup 1, the opening edge of the tilting cup 1 approaches the central axis.
It becomes difficult to insert it in the center of. Therefore, the position of the rotation center X is set to an optimum position in consideration of the relative position between the cup 1 and the chuck 16 in the state where the test piece 3 is inserted, the tilt angle for tilting the cup 1, and the like.

However, in the automatic urine inspection apparatus of the present invention, when the test piece 3 is inserted into the cup 1 in the vertical posture and tilted, the chuck 16 holding the test piece 3 is moved to perform the test. The piece 3 can be made to follow the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 13, when tilting the cup 1 into which the test piece 3 is inserted, the chuck 16 holding the test piece 3 is moved in parallel along the opening of the tilting cup 1. There is. The tilting mechanism 2 shown in this figure has a rotation center X.
Is provided below the center of the upper and lower ends of the cup 1 and on the central axis. The cup 1 tilted around this position as the center of rotation has its opening moved in the tilting direction of the cup as shown by the chain line in the figure. Therefore, in this apparatus, the test piece 3 can be moved along the lower inclined surface 1A by moving the chuck 16 along the opening of the tilting cup 1 with the insertion mechanism 4. The insertion mechanism 4 moves the chuck 16 along the movement locus of the tip edge of the lower inclined surface 1A of the cup 1 on the opening end side. The insertion mechanism 4 moves the chuck 16 in synchronization with the tilting of the tilting mechanism 2 and places the test piece 3 at a predetermined position of the tilting cup.

Further, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 14, when the cup 1 into which the test piece 3 is inserted is tilted, the chuck 16 holding the test piece 3 and the cup 1 are tilted together. That is, the cup 1 is tilted while keeping the chuck 16 in a posture substantially vertical to the opening of the cup.
The device for tilting the chuck 16 and the cup 1 together as described above has a feature that the test piece 3 can be brought into contact with urine in a straight posture without bending the test piece 3 in the vicinity of the chuck 16. In the next step of taking out the test piece 3 which does not bend from the cup 1 and inspecting it with the color sensor 5, the occurrence of a detection error can be minimized.

The test piece 3 into which the urine is attached by being inserted into the cup 1 is transferred by the insertion mechanism 4 to the suction holder 18 arranged in front of the color sensor 5. The suction holder 18 sucks the test piece 3 to which urine is attached and holds it at a fixed position. The suction holder 18 sucks and holds the test piece 3 in a vertical posture, and sucks and removes excess urine adhering to the test piece 3.

The suction holder 18 is shown in FIGS. The suction holder 18 shown in these figures has a vertical groove 19 for mounting the test piece 3 as shown in the horizontal sectional view of FIG. The vertical groove 19 has tapered surfaces on both sides so that the width of the test piece 3 is gradually widened so that the test piece 3 can be mounted smoothly at a fixed position. The vertical groove 19 is provided with a support convex portion 22 that supports the test piece 3 so as to project from the bottom surface. The support convex portion 22 prevents the test piece 3 from coming into close contact with the bottom surface of the vertical groove 19, and an air intake duct 20 is provided between the test piece 3 and the bottom surface of the vertical groove 19. The support protrusions 22 are provided in the center of the vertical groove 19 at regular intervals, and the test piece 3 is provided with the vertical groove 19.
Support in a vertical position parallel to.

A plurality of suction passages 21 are opened in the bottom surface of the vertical groove 19 for sucking air in the suction duct 20. The suction passage 21 is connected to an air suction pump (not shown), sucks air from the suction duct 20 of the vertical groove 19, adsorbs the test piece 3 on the vertical groove 19, and holds it vertically. Excess urine adhering to the test piece 3 is sucked out and removed. The suction holder 18 having this structure is used for the test piece 3 with air.
Can be vertically adsorbed and held, and excess urine can be removed for accurate inspection. If excess urine adheres to the test piece 3, it will flow down along the test piece 3 and reduce the inspection accuracy. The test piece 3 is vertically divided into a plurality of test areas 23,
This is because a plurality of inspection items can be processed by one sheet.

The color sensor 5 moves up and down to convert the color of the test area 23 of the test piece 3 held vertically by the suction holder 18 into an electric signal. Color sensor 5 is C
Use a camera with a built-in CD to focus the lens on the test piece 3
The single test area 23 is displayed as one screen in accordance with the test area 23. However, the color sensor can simultaneously display a plurality of test areas as one screen. The color sensor 5 is arranged in order in each test area 23.
The color of is converted into an electric signal and output.

The color sensor 5 outputs the color signal of one test area 23 provided on the test piece 3 and then moves up or down to provide the test area 23 provided above or below.
The color signal of is output. That is, the color sensor 5
The color signals of the respective test areas 23 provided on the test piece 3 are sequentially moved from the bottom to the top or from the top to the top by sequentially moving from the bottom to the top or from the top to the bottom. Output as.

However, in the urine automatic inspection apparatus of the present invention, it is not always necessary to move the color sensor 5 up and down in front of the suction holder 18. The automatic inspection device can also fix the color sensor at a fixed position in front of the suction holder and move the test piece up and down in front of the color sensor by an insertion mechanism. This device has a feature that the device can be simplified because the insertion mechanism can be used together with the mechanism for moving the test piece up and down. Further, the apparatus of the present invention can use all other mechanisms for relatively changing the positions of the color sensor and the test piece, and can sequentially read the test areas of the test piece and output them as color signals over time. it can.

The calculating means 6 calculates the inspection result from the color signal input from the color sensor 5 with the color of each test area 23. The plurality of test areas 23 provided on the test piece 3 have different color changes depending on the inspection item. Therefore, the calculation unit 6 specifies the test item of the color signal of the color sensor 5, and calculates the inspection result from the color signal. That is, the calculating means 6 is the color sensor 5
The inspection result of each test item is calculated from both the signal for specifying the position of and the color signal.

The inspection result of each inspection item calculated by the calculating means 6 is printed and displayed on a printer, stored in a storage circuit, or transmitted to a host computer or the like.

The above automatic urine inspection apparatus is used as follows to inspect urine. (1) The patient collects urine in cup 1. A barcode for identifying the patient is attached to the cup 1. (2) Set cup 1 containing urine in the automatic inspection device. The automatic inspection apparatus is equipped with a barcode reading mechanism, which identifies the patient by reading the barcode. Furthermore, preferably, the automatic inspection device is provided with a level sensor for inspecting the minimum level of urine in the cup 1. The level sensor is inside the cup 1 installed at a fixed position.
Illuminate from top to bottom to detect urine levels. When the amount of urine in the cup 1 is less than the minimum level, for example, a voice message "Insufficient amount of urine" is generated. When the amount of urine is insufficient, the patient inserts urine again and sets it in place.

(3) The tilting mechanism 2 clamps the cup 1 from both sides by the holding arm 7, raises the cup 1 a little, and then tilts the cup 1 to the first tilt angle to insert the extra cup in the cup 1. Excrete urine. Urine discharged from the cup 1 tilted to the first inclination angle is discharged from the discharge passage 24 provided below the cup 1. However, in the device of the present invention, it is not always necessary to tilt the cup to the first tilt angle to discharge excess urine. Devices that do not drain excess urine do not perform this step.

(4) The insertion mechanism 4 clamps the test piece 3 mounted on the cartridge 14 and takes it out, and then the cup 1
To insert. The insertion mechanism 4 preferably inserts the test piece 3 from approximately the center of the opening of the cup 1, as shown in FIG. 9. (5) The tilting mechanism 2 tilts the cup 1 to the second tilt angle. The tilting mechanism 2 shown in FIG. 9 tilts the cup 1 without moving the chuck 16 holding the test piece 3 therebetween. 13 and 14, when the cup 1 is tilted, the chuck 16 holding the test piece 3 is moved along the rotation locus of the opening of the cup 1. By tilting the cup 1 to the second tilt angle, urine is attached to all the test areas 23 of the test piece 3.

(6) The insertion mechanism 4 transfers the test piece 3 sandwiched by the chuck 16 from the cup 1 to the suction holder 18. The test piece 3 transferred to the adsorption holder 18 is adsorbed to the adsorption holder 18 with air and excess urine is removed. The cup 1 from which the test piece 3 has been taken out is further tilted to discharge all the filled urine. afterwards,
The holding arm 7 releases the sandwiching of the cup 1, and the cup 1 is placed on the opening / closing table 25. The opening / closing table 25 is opened, and the cups 1 are stacked and stored in the storage section 26.

(7) The color sensor 5 sequentially identifies the color of each test area 23 of the test piece 3 sandwiched by the suction holder 18, and calculates the color signal of each test area 23 by the calculating means 6 Output to. The calculating means 6 calculates the inspection result of the inspection item of each test area 23 from the signal specifying the test area 23 and the color signal. The calculated test result of each test item is output by a printer or transmitted to a host computer.

[0052]

The automatic urine inspection apparatus of the present invention has the features that it can be inspected using a small amount of urine and that it can be accurately inspected by minimizing the measurement error. That is, the automatic inspection apparatus of the present invention inserts a test piece into the cup in the vertical posture with the upper end as an opening portion from the opening portion of the upper end by the insertion mechanism, and the tilting mechanism of the cup in which the test piece is inserted. This is because the test piece is tilted and urine is brought into contact with the test piece. This device
Since the test piece is inserted through the opening at the upper end of the cup in the vertical position, the test piece can be reliably inserted into the cup. Furthermore, by inclining the cup in which the test piece is inserted, the test piece can be reliably brought into contact with the urine along the lower inclined surface of the cup. Therefore, the urine automatic inspection apparatus of the present invention allows a patient to put a small amount of urine into a cup and efficiently inspect it, corresponding to all types of cups, and even a deformed cup accurately. Test pieces can be inserted and inspected, and measurement errors can be minimized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a state in which urine is inspected by an automatic inspection device previously developed by the present inventors.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which a test piece to be inserted into an inclined cup is curved.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another state in which a test piece inserted into an inclined cup is curved.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing another state in which the test piece is inserted into the inclined cup.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of an automatic urine inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a tilting mechanism of the urine automatic inspection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a schematic plan view of the tilting mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing another example of the tilting mechanism.

9 is a vertical sectional view showing a state in which the tilting mechanism shown in FIG. 5 tilts the cup.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a cartridge of an automatic urine test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a plan view of the cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a vertical sectional view of the cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view showing a state in which the tilting mechanism of the urine automatic inspection apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention tilts the cup.

FIG. 14 is a vertical sectional view showing a state in which the tilting mechanism of the urine automatic inspection apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention tilts the cup.

FIG. 15 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the suction holder of the urine automatic inspection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

16 is a partially enlarged front view of the suction holder shown in FIG.

17 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the suction holder shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Cup 1A ... Lower inclined surface 1a ... Deformation part 1b ... Uneven surface 2 ... Tilt mechanism 3 ... Test piece 4 ... Insertion mechanism 5 ... Color sensor 6 ... Calculation means 7 ... Holding arm 8 ... Rotation mechanism 9 ... Cup sandwiching part 10 ... Clamping cylinder 11 ... Frame 12 ... Tilt motor 13 ... Control circuit 14 ... Cartridge 15 ... Slit 16 ... Chuck 17 ... Drive mechanism 18 ... Suction holder 19 ... Vertical groove 20 ... Support protrusion 21 ... Intake duct 22 ... Inhalation passage 23 ... Test area 24 ... Discharge path 25 ... Opening / closing platform 26 ... Storage section 27 ... Guide rail 28 ... Spring 29 ... Guide protrusion 29A ... Inclined surface 30 ... base

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2G045 AA15 CB03 FA11 GC12 JA01                       JA07                 2G054 AA06 AB02 CA21 CE01 EB12                       GE06 JA01 JA04                 2G058 CA00 CC09 CD24 GA02 GC02                       GC05 GD05 GD06 GE04

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A test piece (3) on a cup (1) filled with urine.
Inserting mechanism (4) of the test piece (3) to insert, and tilting the cup (1) in which the test piece (3) is inserted, the tilting mechanism (2) for contacting the test piece (3) and urine And a color sensor (5) for identifying the color of the test piece (3) inserted in the cup (1) and contacting urine,
An automatic urine inspection device comprising a calculation means (6) for calculating a test item from an output signal of a color sensor (5), wherein an insertion mechanism is provided in a vertical posture cup (1) having an opening at the upper end.
(4) insert the test piece (3) from the opening at the upper end, the tilting mechanism (2) tilts the cup (1) in which the test piece (3) is inserted, and the test piece (3) An automatic urine inspection device characterized by bringing urine into contact. 2. A tilting mechanism (2) comprises a first tilt angle for tilting a cup (1) filled with urine to discharge excess urine and a second tilt angle for contacting a test piece (3) with urine. The inclination angle is memorized, and the cup (1) filled with urine is inclined to the first inclination angle to discharge excess urine, and then the cup (1) is returned to the vertical posture to insert the insertion mechanism ( The automatic urine test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the test piece (3) is inserted in step 4), and then the cup (1) is tilted to the second inclination angle to bring the test piece (3) into contact with urine. 3. The cup having a second tilt angle more than the first tilt angle
The automatic urine test apparatus according to claim 2, wherein (1) is inclined to a posture close to vertical. 4. The tilting mechanism (2) stores a first tilting angle at which the cup (1) filled with urine is tilted to discharge excess urine, and the test piece is inserted into the test piece by the insertion mechanism (4). Cup with (3) inserted
The automatic urine test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tilting mechanism (2) tilts the (1) to the first tilt angle to discharge excess urine, and the test piece (3) is brought into contact with the urine. 5. The automatic urine testing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cup (1) is tilted relative to the test piece (3) to bring the test piece (3) into contact with urine. 6. The automatic urine testing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the center of rotation (X) for tilting the cup (1) is located above the center of the upper and lower ends of the cup (1). 7. The center of rotation (X) for tilting the cup (1) is located eccentrically from the central axis of the cup (1).
The automatic urine test apparatus described in 1. 8. The automatic urine test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cup (1) has a tapered shape that gradually increases toward the opening. 9. The automatic urine test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the test piece (3) has an elongated shape having a plurality of test areas (23) sectioned vertically.