JPH04166768A - Agitating device in automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the use of wash water of a large quantity and help the prevention of pollution by automatically abandon a stirring rod which has been once dipped in a liquid for an agitation work and automatically supplying the fresh stirring rod for the agitation work. CONSTITUTION:A turntable B4 is provided on a base mount 1 and equally spaced stirring rods 5 are vertically arranged along the periphery of the turntable B4 with the stirring portions 5a of the rods 5 directed downward. The stirring portions 5a of the stirring rods 5 are dipped in the liquid of a specimen and a reagent accommodated in a reaction container 3 and agitation is performed. Each stirring rod is sequentially positioned in a given position by the intermittent movement of the turntable B4 in a circumferential direction. An arm 7 which can be rotated in a direction parallel to the surface of the base mount 1 and move in a vertical direction is provided on an arm shaft 8 between the turntables B4 and A2. The tip end of the arm 7 holds a stirring rod supply and discharge device 6. Thus, the arm 7 takes the fresh stirring rod 5 out of the turntable B4 via the stirring rod supply and discharge device 6, carries the fresh stirring rod 5 onto the reaction container 3 on a reaction line 2a and makes the stirring rod 5 perform an agitation work. Further, the arm 7 throws the used stirring rod 5 into a discharge cylinder 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a stirring device for an automatic analyzer that performs various types of blood analysis by reactions between liquid reagents and blood. This invention relates to an improvement of a stirring device for stirring.

[Conventional technology]

The above-mentioned automatic analyzer is generally equipped with a stirring device for mixing and stirring the reaction solution in order to homogenize the reaction of the reaction solution. Various methods are known, such as a liquid contact type that stirs by rotating or rocking, and a liquid non-contact type that uses ultrasonic stirring (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 13334/1983).

Particularly, in the case of a liquid contact method, each time the stirring operation is completed, it is washed with water or with detergent and water, and is repeatedly reused.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional liquid contact type stirring device in which the stirring rod is immersed in the liquid for stirring, cleaning the stirring rod immersed in the liquid and reusing it after the stirring operation is difficult. If so, there is no problem, but in order to complete the cleaning, the entire automatic analyzer including the stirring device must become more complex, larger, and more expensive, and a large amount of detergent and cleaning water must be used. This has the problem of developing into a pollution problem because it is necessary. As a result, the user has no choice but to reuse the agitation unit after it has been incompletely cleaned (and the user has to periodically remove the agitation unit and completely clean it or replace it, creating a risk of infection). Particularly in immunological analysis items, reusing an incompletely cleaned stirring section can greatly reduce the reliability of analysis measurement data due to the influence of blood from the previous stirring operation. In addition, in automatic analyzers that use detergents for cleaning, the reliability of analysis measurement data is significantly reduced due to the influence of detergents. It also had

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to completely prevent contamination between various analysis items, contribute to pollution prevention by not discharging washing water and detergent, and provide a stirring device that is perfect in terms of biohazards. It is in.

[Means to solve the problem]

The stirring device for an automatic analyzer of the present invention, which has achieved the above object, is a stirring device for an automatic analyzer that stirs a liquid in a container by a stirring portion, and supplies the stirring portion, which is immersed in the liquid, to a predetermined position. a means for conveying the supplied stirring part onto a container and then stirring the liquid in the container with the stirring part, and a means for discharging and discarding the said stirring part at a discharge position after the stirring operation is completed. It is characterized by

The stirring device of the present invention is configured as described above, so that the stirring section can be discarded after the stirring operation is completed, and the stirring operation can be automatically performed using a new similar stirring section.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below by way of examples with reference to the drawings.

EXAMPLE FIG. 1 shows the arrangement of a stirring device and a reaction vessel in this example. The illustrated stirring apparatus includes a turntable A2 on a base 1, and a reaction line 2a is formed on this turntable A2. The reaction line 2a is formed by arranging the reaction vessels 3 at equal intervals along the periphery of the turntable A2. The reaction container 3 is for storing samples and reagents, and may be either a disposable type or a cleaning type, but a disposable type is preferable in order to make the effects of the present invention more noticeable.

By intermittent movement of the turntable A2 in the circumferential direction, the individual reaction vessels 3 are sequentially positioned at predetermined positions.

A turntable B4 is also provided on the base 1, and agitation units 5 are vertically arranged at regular intervals along the periphery of the turntable B4, with the agitation units 5a at the ends thereof facing downward. The stirring section 5 stirs the sample and reagent stored in the reaction container 3 into the liquid.
A is immersed and stirred. By intermittent movement of the turntable B4 in the circumferential direction, the individual stirring parts 5 are sequentially located at predetermined positions.

Between turntable A2 and turntable B4,
An arm 7 is provided which is rotatable in a direction parallel to the surface of the base 1 about an arm shaft 8 as a fulcrum, and a stirring rod supply/discharge part 6 is held at the tip of the arm 7. The arm shaft 8 can be moved up and down by a drive source (not shown). The arm 7 takes out the stirring section 5 from the turntable B4 via the stirring rod supply/discharge section 6, rotates and transports it onto the reaction vessel 3 on the reaction line 2a, and then the stirring section 5a of the transported stirring section. is supplied and immersed in the liquid by the stirring rod supply/discharge section 6 to stir the sample and reagent in the reaction vessel 3.

A discharge pipe 9 is provided on the rotation trajectory of the stirring rod supply/discharge section 6 from the turntable B4 position on the base 1 to the turntable A2 position, and after the stirring operation of the reaction vessel 3 is completed, the stirring section 5 is
After discharging and discarding through the discharge tube 9, the stirring rod supply/discharge section 6 is placed again on another stirring section 5 on the turntable A2, and then the next reaction vessel is moved to the next corresponding one. Stir the sample and reagents in sequence.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the mechanism of the stirring rod supply/discharge section 6.
It has a function of supplying and discharging water and a function of rotating the stirring part 5. A flanged shaft 11 is fixed to a motor shaft 10a of a motor lO fixed to an arm 7,
The flanged shaft 11 and the holder 14 are fixed so that they do not rotate by inserting the tip 11a of the flanged shaft 11 into the guide hole 14b of the holder 14 and fixing the pin 13 to the flanged shaft 11. The flanged shaft 11 and the holder 14 are normally connected by the compression coil spring 12 so that the pin 13 is connected to the flanged shaft 11 in the elongated hole 14d of the holder 14.
It is permanently placed on the side. At this time, the tip end 11a of the flanged shaft 11 is housed within the position 14e of the holder 14. A resilient holder 15 is provided on the inner wall of the guide hole 14d from the tip end 14a side to 14e of the holder 14.
is fixed, and its inner diameter is smaller than the outer diameter of the stirring section 5, so that when the stirring section 5 is inserted, the stirring section 5 can be held by frictional force. FIG. 3 is a view of the holder 14 viewed from the holder tip 14a side.

To explain a series of operations of the stirring device of this embodiment configured in this way, first, the turntable B4 is rotated to move the stirring section 5 to a predetermined position, and the holder 14 is moved to the stirring section by rotating the arm shaft 8. 5, the arm shaft 8 is lowered and the stirring part 5 is inserted into the elastic holder 15 of the holder 14.

This work can be carried out smoothly because the holder 14 has a tapered portion 14c. At this time, the tip 11a of the flanged shaft 11 is at the position 14e in the holder I4, so
The stirring part 5 is inserted until it hits there.

Next, the arm shaft 8 rises, and by rotating the arm shaft 8, the holder 14 is placed on the reaction vessel 3 to be stirred on the reaction line 2a.
The agitation unit 5 held in the agitator 5 is transferred.

At this time, the reaction container 3 already contains the sample and the reagent, and as the arm shaft 8 descends, the stirring section 5a of the stirring section 5 is immersed in the liquid, and the rotation of the motor 10 is caused by the flanged shaft 11 and the holder The liquid in the reaction vessel 3 is stirred by the rotation of the stirring part 5a transmitted to the stirring part 5, and after the stirring operation is completed, the arm shaft 8 rises.

Next, by rotating the arm shaft 8, the holder 14 is moved to the discharge tube 9.
When the arm shaft 8 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
comes into contact with the tip 9a of the discharge tube 9 and stops moving, but as the flanged shaft 11 pushes down the compression coil spring 12, its tip 11a pushes down the agitating section 5, and eventually the agitating section 5 is caused by friction with the elastic holder 15. It is released from the holder 14, falls down, is removed from the holder 14, and is discarded. Next, the arm shaft 8 rises and advances to the stirring section 5, which is moved to a predetermined position by the rotation of the turntable B4. Thereafter, the supply/discharge and stirring of the stirring section 5 are repeated in sequence in the above-described procedure.

In addition to the above-mentioned embodiments, there are methods of holding the agitating section 5 using air suction, methods of using a parallel chuck, collet chuck, etc.

There is also a method of using a parts feeder or an XY child table as means for supplying the stirring section 5.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the stirring device of the present invention automatically discards the stirring part that has been used for stirring work and is immersed in the liquid.
Since the system is configured so that stirring work can be performed using a new stirring section that is automatically supplied, a large amount of washing water is not required, and the amount of water used in the entire device can be reduced, thereby contributing to pollution prevention.

Furthermore, it is completely unaffected by blood from the previous stirring operation that adhered to the stirring part, detergent from the stirring rod cleaning process, etc. It has various excellent effects, such as being able to ensure biohazard safety by eliminating the need for the user to periodically remove and completely clean or replace the agitation unit.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a layout diagram of the stirring device and reaction vessel of the example, and Figure 2 shows the stirring unit attached to the stirring rod supply/discharge part of the stirring device shown in Figure 1 inserted into the discharge tube. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the stirring rod supply/discharge section. l...Base 2...Turntable A
3... Reaction container 4... Turntable B
5... Stirring section 6... Stirring rod supply/discharge section 7.
... Arm 8 ... Arm shaft 9 ... Discharge tube 10 ... Motor 11 ... Shaft with flange 12 ... Coil spring 13 ... Pin
14...Holder 14a...Holder tip 14b...Guide hole 14d...Holder long hole 15...Elastic holder Patent applicant Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Akatsuki Sugimura Interviewer Patent Attorney Sugi
Written by Oki Mura Patent attorney Sato
Safe Bacterial Amount Patent Attorney Tomi 1) Dosage Patent Attorney Umemoto Masa Unexplored Patent Attorney Hitoshi Takashi Figure 1! -・-Base 2-1-Guntef"le A 3...-Anti-historical container 4...-Goonko-Aru B f4-~-;t;ruzuγ"-

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a stirring device in an automatic analyzer that stirs a liquid in a container with a stirring rod, a means for supplying a stirring rod whose tip is immersed in the liquid to a predetermined position, and transporting the supplied stirring rod onto the container. A stirring device for an automatic analyzer, characterized in that it is equipped with means for stirring the liquid in the container with a stirring rod, and means for discharging and discarding the stirring rod at a discharge position after the stirring operation is completed.