JPH0968484A - Liquid sampler and sampling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need of drilling a case or mounting a special unit by a structure wherein the opening in the inner liquid channel of a piston on the inner side of case communicates with a liquid in the case upon insertion of the piston and then the sampling is started. SOLUTION: An opening, i.e., a slit 12, is made longitudinally in the outer circumferential surface of a second piston 4 and a filter material 9 is set at a hollow part 14 surrounded by the slit 12 before the upper open end is closed by a first piston 3. The filter material 9 has two layer structure of glass wool filter 11 and polyurethane sponge filter 10. A fluid channel 6 is made on the inside of piston 4 from the part 14 to a drip port and the cylinder is closed by the piston 3. Consequently, enclosed state is kept until the piston is inserted entirely into a case and when the piston is inserted entirely, the slit 12 communicates with the inner space of case before starting the liquid sampling. With such a structure, liquid can be sampled without requiring any drilling of case.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a new technique for collecting a test liquid sample (hereinafter also referred to as a test liquid) from a container, and the test liquid can be obtained as a filtrate.
In particular, when it is necessary to hygienically handle from the collection of the specimen to the obtaining of the test liquid, and when convenient transportation is required during that period, it can be carried out particularly effectively.
The present invention relates to a method for collecting a liquid and a liquid collecting device that realizes the method.

Liquid filtration is a widely used separation means. For example, when detecting hemoglobin contained in feces, which is an index for colorectal cancer screening, an operation of separating a supernatant from a fecal suspension by filtration is required. In addition, a suspension filtration operation is often required in the preparation of a microbiological test sample for food.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to detect hemoglobin contained in a sample such as feces, it is necessary to transport the sample to a laboratory. For the transportation of fecal samples, for example
It is performed in the transport container described in Japanese Patent No. 52, etc.

The transport container is provided with a mechanism for collecting feces and a mechanism for filtering the fecal suspension. The fecal collection mechanism is composed of a collection rod and a through hole into which the collection rod is inserted, and scrapes off the feces attached to the collection rod through the through hole to enable quantitative collection of feces. In addition, surplus feces generated by scraping are retained in the space sealed by the separation wall and the lid. On the other hand, the mechanism for filtering the fecal suspension is one in which a filter material is installed in the liquid flow path from the inside of the container body to the dropping port. By using this type of container, it is possible to quantitatively collect feces, and the fecal suspension can be easily filtered. The container from which feces are collected is transported to the laboratory by mail or other means.

The most widely used container for collecting feces at present requires an operation of providing a dropping hole for filtering a suspension. The general operation is to make a hole for dripping.
497) has also been devised. In addition to these, there are reports of those equipped with a dripping filtration unit, those that fold the nozzle tip to form dripping holes, those that break through the membrane to provide dripping liquid flow paths, etc. . However, all of these techniques still have holes for filtering by some means.

[0006] The operation of forming holes during filtration has a possibility of causing various problems as well as being complicated. One of the problems is that it is difficult to control the size and shape of the drip hole. Since the user punches holes with his / her own hands during filtration, the holes may have different sizes and shapes. The variation in the holes is not preferable because it causes variation in the dropped amount of the filtrate. In order to carry out analysis using a commercially available reagent for detecting hemoglobin in feces without resorting to mechanical treatment, it is required to carry out the analysis simply by dropping the filtrate from the container. That is, the trouble of quantitatively collecting the filtrate with a pipette or the like is omitted. In order to enable such an operation, commercially available reagents are designed so that analysis can be performed with a certain degree of accuracy when the amount of filtrate in feces is controlled within an expected range. However, too large a variation in the amount of drops leads to the possibility of impairing the analysis accuracy.

There is another problem with the user punching a hole in the container. There may be a positive pressure inside the sealed sampling container due to changes in temperature and the like, and in rare cases there may be an accident in which the contents of the container squirt out due to piercing.

Further, in the prior art, there is a problem that the perforated portion cannot be resealed during filtration. Therefore, when handling an object to be filtered, such as a fecal suspension, which requires hygiene consideration, a problem is likely to occur in the treatment of the device after the filtering operation is completed. In order to prevent the liquid from leaking from the device after filtration, it is conceivable to attach a cap that seals the perforated portion, but such an operation causes complexity.

Further, in the filtration mechanisms disclosed in these prior art documents, since the filter medium is constantly in contact with the liquid inside, the filtrate immediately after starting the filtration has a problem in uniformity. For example, in the case of filtering a suspension of feces, the dispersion solution that has been filled in the container body in advance has already penetrated into the filter medium in a non-negligible amount before adding feces. Therefore, even if the dispersed solution in the container body is sufficiently stirred after collecting the feces, the filtrate immediately after the start of filtration is in a state of containing almost no fecal components. Therefore, in order to obtain a more uniform filtrate, the filtrate immediately after the start of filtration must be discarded. However, since the volume of the collection container is limited, it is preferable that the filtrate is not wasted as much as possible.

On the other hand, according to the method in which a unit for filtration is prepared in advance and this is attached to the container at the time of filtration, it is possible to surely control the dropping hole. Further, it is possible to select a mode in which the filter medium does not come into contact with the dispersion solution until the filtration is started, and the uniformity of the filtrate can be expected. However, the installation of the filtration unit increases the number of operating steps and is not welcome. Moreover, since the separate parts of the stool collection container body and the filtration unit are handled, it is disadvantageous in terms of distribution.

In addition, in the conventional stool collection container, the solid content and mucus components in the stool cause clogging of the filter material, making it difficult to filter. It was Although measures such as gradually increasing the structure of the filter media have been considered, it has not been possible to deal with all of the difficult-to-use flights with such measures. Generally, the clogging of the filter medium is easily solved by increasing the surface area of the filter medium, but in the above-mentioned fecal collection container, the size of the container itself is limited. There was a limit.

It is preferable that the container is small in order to facilitate handling during transportation. Especially when using a means such as mail, the size of the container has an important meaning. For example, in Japan, if the thickness is more than 10 mm, it becomes a non-standard size mail, which causes a mailing cost increase. For this reason, the size of the container body is significantly limited,
As a result, it becomes difficult to obtain a large surface area of the filter medium.

[0013]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The main object of the present invention is to provide a liquid collecting method and device which do not need to perforate a container or to install a special unit for filtration when collecting liquid. There is.

Further, the present invention relates to a technique for surely taking out a liquid from a container or stopping the taking out by a simple operation, and further, the present invention is a filtration for taking a filtrate giving a high analysis accuracy. It provides technology on how to use the material. The present invention also provides a new measure against clogging of the filter material, which cannot be sufficiently dealt with by the conventional filtration method.

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a piston is inserted into a cylinder connected to a container filled with a liquid to be collected, and the liquid inside the container is discharged to the outside via a liquid flow path provided inside the piston. A method of collecting a liquid that leads to
A liquid collection method for starting collection by communicating with a liquid inside the container when an opening on the container inner side of a liquid flow path provided in the piston is inserted into the container, and a collection device for realizing this method. It is provided.

The greatest feature of the present invention is that a piston having a liquid flow path formed in advance is adopted. This feature makes it possible to omit the operation of making holes during filtration. However, there is a possibility that the contents may inadvertently leak by simply forming the liquid flow path. Therefore, in the present invention, the timing of filtration can be controlled by adopting a structure in which the opening of the liquid flow path formed in the piston cannot communicate with the liquid unless the piston enters the container body.

Various applications are possible without departing from the basic structure of the present invention. The individual configurations will be described in detail below. For the sake of explanation, the drawings will be referred to as necessary, but the present invention is not limited to these shapes.

The cylinder according to the present invention is in liquid-tight contact with a piston provided with a liquid flow path, and can maintain a sealed state until the piston is pushed inward of the container. However, since it is necessary to slide the piston during filtration, it is advisable to set the diameters of both to prevent it from becoming extremely tight. The cross-sectional shape is preferably circular from the viewpoint of sealing performance and ease of molding, but it is possible to use a polygonal shape or a shape with unevenness in part so long as the sealing performance and sliding characteristics are not sacrificed. good.

On the other hand, the piston according to the present invention is mounted so as to be in liquid-tight contact with the cylinder and slidable. A liquid passage is formed inside the piston, and the liquid in the container can be taken out through the liquid passage. The liquid flow path in the present invention is constituted by a continuous space extending from an opening communicating with the inside of the container body to a drip port through which liquid is taken out of the container. A filtering material can be installed in advance in the liquid flow path, and the liquid can be taken out while being filtered.

Note that the opening and the drip opening are not necessarily single, and a plurality of openings and drip openings can be provided if necessary. In particular, a plurality of drip openings can be provided for the purpose of supplying the filtrate in parallel to a plurality of analysis devices.

A packing can be attached to the piston at an arbitrary position in the expectation of liquid-tight contact with the cylinder. The position at which the packing is mounted may be, for example, the outermost position of the cylinder, or the outermost position of the cylinder at the position where the piston finally stops when the piston is pushed inward in the container body. When packing is used, it may be provided at a plurality of positions. When mounting the packing, it is advisable to provide a continuous groove around the piston and fix the O-ring-shaped packing in the groove.

In the present invention, a known filter can be used as the filter installed in the liquid channel. Specifically, a glass wool filter, a plastic filter, a membrane filter or the like can be used. These filtering materials are installed in the liquid flow path as a single filter or as a multilayer filter structure in which a plurality of filters are combined. In particular, it is advantageous to employ a multi-layer structure in which the filter diameter is successively reduced from the opening in the container body to the drip port side, because clogging is less likely to occur.

Since the filter material of the present invention is kept in a dry state without contacting with a liquid until the filtration is started, its wettability may affect the filtration rate depending on the material of the filter material. . When a filter material having a concern about water wettability is used as described above, it is preferable to make the filter material hydrophilic in advance. As the hydrophilic treatment, a method of pre-adsorbing an inactive protein such as bovine serum albumin or a treatment with a surfactant, treatment with a hydrophilic polymer compound such as polyvinyl alcohol or polyvinylpyrrolidone Or a method of modifying with an alkali can be applied.

In the present invention, it is possible to make the surface area of the filter medium very large by appropriately selecting the structure of the opening. For example, if all the outer peripheral surface of the piston is opened and the filter medium is fixed, the area of the filter medium becomes about 3 to 5 times that of the conventional filter medium. By preparing such a large filter medium area, in the present invention, the filter medium can be composed of only the membrane. The large surface area of the filter material eliminates the need for a prefilter to prevent clogging. If such an aspect is adopted, the structure of the filter medium can be simplified, which is advantageous in manufacturing. When the filter material is composed of a single membrane, it is preferable to use a filter having an asymmetric structure in which the size of the filter hole varies depending on the surface. This type of membrane, which is marketed under the trade name of BTS membrane disc filter (made by Brownswick International Limited), has rough and dense surfaces of filtration holes, and is suitable for filtration subject to clogging. It is widely used as a filter material that is less likely to be clogged than those with uniform filtration holes in filtration.
When a filter material having an asymmetric structure is used, the larger surface of the filter holes is used as the filter surface, or the smaller filter hole is used as the filter surface, which is appropriately selected according to the characteristics of the liquid to be filtered. In addition, when the opening portion is composed of only the membrane, there is a possibility that the strength against pressure is insufficient. If it is necessary to reinforce, a reinforcing material may be installed in the frame.

The opening of the liquid channel in the container inner side of the present invention is formed at a position where it does not come into contact with the liquid inside the container until the piston is inserted, and the piston is inserted into the container main body before the inside of the container main body is inserted. It must be provided so that the liquid and the opening can communicate. Specific examples of the structure of the opening of the present invention satisfying such conditions are listed below.

Structure of opening 1: FIG. 3 shows a second piston 4 having a liquid flow path and a first piston 3 for closing a cylinder 7.
It is an exploded perspective view showing a piston constituted by. Second
An opening 5 formed of a slit 12 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the piston 4 in the vertical direction. In this aspect, the hollow portion 1 surrounded by the slit 12 is provided with the slit 12 on the second piston 4 side.
4, the filter medium 9 is housed, and the open end of the upper part is attached to the first piston 3
It has a structure to be closed with. The filter material 9 shown in FIG. 3 includes a glass wool filter 11 and a polyurethane sponge filter 10.
It has a two-layer structure. Further, the second piston 4 is provided therein with a liquid channel 6 extending from the hollow portion 14 to the drip port 8. With such a configuration, the sealed state is maintained until the piston is inserted toward the inside of the container 1 (FIG. 1). Then, when the piston is inserted toward the inside of the container 1, the opening 5 communicates with the internal space of the container to start the liquid collection (FIG. 2).

The same structure of the opening 5 is used for the first piston 3
It is also possible to provide a slit on the side and close it with a second piston.

Structure 2 of opening 5: In FIG. 4, a frame 15 having a membrane 16 attached to the upper end of the second piston 4 is provided as the opening 5. The second piston 4 is provided with a liquid channel 6 extending from the inside of the frame 15 to the drip port 8. The second piston 4 is inserted into the cylinder together with the first piston that closes the cylinder to form the liquid collecting device according to the present invention.
When the second piston 4 is inserted toward the inside of the container 1, the first piston 3 is pushed into the inside of the container, the opening 5 communicates with the internal space of the container 1, and the liquid can be taken out. Although one frame 15 is shown in FIG. 4, if two frames 15 are provided, it is possible to obtain a four-sided opening 5, which contributes to the improvement of the filtration area.

Structure 3 of the opening 5: FIG. 5 shows that part of the second piston 4 is entirely covered with the filter material 9. In FIG. 5, a hole 18 for opening the liquid flow path 6 is provided near the center, and the hole 18 is used as a filter material for the polyurethane sponge filter 1
It is wound with 0 to form the opening 5. The upper end of the liquid flow path 6 is closed by a protruding portion 19 provided on the first piston 3.
The outer circumference of the first piston is aligned with the inner circumference of the cylinder to seal the liquid. If this piston 4 is pushed into the container, the opening 5 communicates with the inside of the container 1 and the liquid can be filtered and taken out. In addition, in FIG. 5, the circumference of the first piston 3 is projected to form the projecting portion 17, which is caught by the cylinder. If the first piston 3 having such a shape is used, when the second piston 4 is extracted to the outside of the container after the liquid is taken out, the first piston 3 becomes the second piston.
This results in separation from the piston 4 and blocking of the cylinder. Resealing of the container is thus achieved. Further, the reason why the first piston 3 in FIG. 5 is formed in a conical shape is to smoothly settle the solid content that interferes with the filtration when the fecal suspension is filtered.

Structure 4 of Opening 5: FIG. 9 shows a mode in which the top of the second piston 4 is covered with a dome-shaped porous material that also functions as a filtering material to form the opening 5. When a dome-shaped porous material is inserted into the cylinder 7 and the first piston 3 fixed to the cylinder 7 side is pushed into the container 1, the opening 5 and the inside of the container 1 communicate with each other and pass through the liquid flow path 6. The liquid 2 can be taken out. By making the opening 5 dome-shaped, it is possible to secure a larger area than simply opening the piston cross section. The liquid flow path in FIG. 9 is directly connected to the analysis device 24. With such a configuration, the liquid in the container 1 can be directly supplied to the analysis device 24 and the analysis can be started. If the top of the dome is away from the center,
Since the piston 3 is lifted diagonally, there is no risk of obstructing the supply of the liquid 2 to the opening 5, which is advantageous.

As an analysis device, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-461
An immunological analysis device such as 07 can be used.

If the volume of the piston inserted into the inner space of the container 1 is made large and the volume of the liquid flow path inside the piston is made as small as possible, the pressure inside the container is likely to rise as the piston is inserted. With such a configuration, it becomes possible to perform pressure filtration by inserting the piston,
A very advantageous aspect can be constructed. In the conventional stool collection container, it was often performed to squeeze the container during filtration to obtain a filtrate, but in the present invention, if such a mode is adopted, it is possible to perform pressure filtration only by inserting a piston. Become. A large pressure may be required for filtration of the fecal suspension, but such a mode enables pressure filtration easily.

The piston of the present invention may be formed integrally or may be formed by combining a plurality of parts.
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 8 or FIG. 9, a simple first piston 3 that closes the upper end of the cylinder 7 toward the inside of the container 1 and a second piston 4 that pushes this into the container 1 and removes it. It may be configured. In such a structure, the top surface of the second piston 4 may be open. When the second piston 4 is pushed toward the inside of the container 1 and the first piston 3 is taken out into the internal space of the container 1, the extraction of the liquid from the opening 5 is started. When the first piston 3 is pushed into the main body of the container 1, if the specific gravity of the first piston 3 is set to be smaller than that of the liquid 2, the first piston 3 is automatically lifted and the opening 5 of the second piston 4 is opened. There is no worry to block it, which is advantageous.

The configuration of the first piston 3 and the second piston 4 can be applied to other usage forms. That is,
This is a combination with the dry analysis device 24. The second piston 4 is fixed to the sample receiving portion 23 of the dry type analysis device 24, and the cylinder 7 is attached and pushed into the sample receiving portion 23. Eventually, the first piston 3 disengages from the upper portion of the cylinder 7 and is pushed into the container 1 to start collecting the liquid.
When a filtering material is provided in the liquid flow path 6 (FIG. 9), the liquid is collected and filtered at the same time, and the filtrate is directly supplied to the analysis device 24 for analysis. On the other hand, FIG.
Is a mode in which a filter is not provided in the liquid channel. In FIG. 8 as well, as in FIG. 9, the liquid inside the container is sampled and simultaneously supplied to the analysis device 24 connected to the liquid flow path 6 of the second piston 4. In FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the first
An O-ring 21 is attached as a packing to both the piston 3 and the second piston 4 to enhance the sealing performance.

The analysis device 24 shown in FIG. 8 is composed of a case containing a liquid-absorbent carrier, and when a liquid which is an analysis sample is supplied to the sample receiving portion 23, it is transferred by a capillary phenomenon and is previously liquid. It reacts with the reagent component impregnated in the absorbent carrier to cause an observable change such as coloring in the observation window 22.

The piston is composed of two parts, the first piston 3 and the second piston 4, and the first piston 3 is not separated in the container 1 but is held on the second piston 4 by a separable means. By doing so, after the second piston 4 is removed from the cylinder, the original sealed state is restored even if the first piston 3 is mounted again. In this way, it is possible to prevent the liquid 2 remaining in the body of the container 1 from leaking, which is clean and convenient for disposal.

FIG. 6 shows such a mode.
As a mechanism for holding the first piston on the second piston 4, FIG. 7 can be shown in addition to FIG. 6. 6 and 7, the first piston and the second piston are connected by a separable means. In FIG. 7, a protrusion is provided on the top of the second piston 4, and the protrusion can be fitted and retained in a recess provided in the first piston. In FIG. 7, since the liquid flow path is open to the top of the second piston 4, it is preferable that the first piston is configured so as to have a space therebetween so as not to block it.

The application range of the combination of the first piston 3 and the second piston 4 can be determined in addition to this.
That is, it is an application to a simultaneous liquid collecting system in which sample cups are arranged in a matrix. By fixing the second piston 4 at a position corresponding to the sample cup and mounting and pushing in a corresponding number of cylinders 7, the liquid can be simultaneously taken out from a plurality of containers (FIG. 10).
Of course, if a filter material is installed in the liquid channel 6, the filtrate can be collected.

The liquid collecting method of the present invention can be applied to a conventional stool collection container. For example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-17652 cited above, a mechanism for quantitatively collecting feces is disclosed, but the filtration mechanism for such a container can be improved based on the present invention. It should be noted that the opening 5 of the liquid flow path provided in the piston can be brought into contact with the liquid 2 to be filtered inside the container 1 main body. That is,
For example, it is necessary to provide a space between the inner wall of the main body of the container 1 and the outer peripheral surface of the piston when the piston is open to the outer peripheral surface in the vertical direction. The most basic structure is to prepare a piston having a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the main body of the container 1. Also, if the shape of the inner wall of the main body is circular, the cross-sectional shape of the piston is a shape having a concave portion with respect to the cross-section of the main body of the container 1, or a shape such as a polygon or a semicircle that is cut away The means are possible.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the type in which the first piston 3 is pushed in by the second piston 4, such consideration is not necessary, and the liquid 2 is discharged into the second chamber by removing the first piston 3 inside the container 1. It is possible to enter the liquid flow path through the opening at the top of the piston 4.

Since the filtration mechanism in the present invention starts the filtration by inserting the piston, there is a possibility that the piston is pushed in at an undesired timing during transportation and the contents leak out. In order to solve this problem, it is preferable to use a detachable means for fixing the relative positional relationship between the cylinder and the piston. Specifically, for example, a mechanism is used in which a pin is inserted into a hole penetrating from the cylinder to the piston, and the pin is removed and the piston is inserted during filtration. In addition, the cylinder and piston both have outwardly projecting parts, and on the other hand, a mold-like fixing member that holds the projecting parts is prepared, and by attaching this, the positions of both parts can be adjusted. A method of fixing the relationship is also available. It may be covered with a cover so that force is not applied to the piston from the outside. The cover may be provided with a hole, and the cover can be removed to press the drop opening of the piston in the opposite direction to apply the piston as a part for assisting the insertion of the piston. Alternatively, simply fixing the movement of the piston with adhesive tape is sufficient.

By the way, when designing a stool collection container based on the liquid collection method of the present invention, it is possible to provide a space for depositing solids and the like in feces. For example, if the connecting portion between the cylinder and the container has a shape in which the cylinder projects into the container body, a gap can be provided between the cylinder and the inner wall of the container. Solid matter in the feces is deposited in this gap,
Further, when the piston is inserted, the opening is located at the upper edge of this gap, so that the possibility that the filtration surface is blocked by the solid content is reduced. When such a sedimentation space is provided, it is advantageous that the top portion is inclined like the first piston shown in FIG. 5 because the solid content easily falls from the piston onto the sedimentation space. Since the pistons are sequentially inserted into the container 1, the distance between the deposited solid components and the solid components is gradually increased, and clogging is more difficult to occur.

The space for depositing the solid content in the object to be filtered can be provided by making the top of the piston inclined to one side (single roof shape). At this time, solid matter is mainly deposited on the side with a low inclination, so that the opening 5 provided in the piston should be located on the opposite side.

Further, as the space for depositing the solid content, a method of utilizing the top of the piston can be mentioned. That is, the inside of the recess provided at the top of the piston is used as a deposition space. When adopting this shape, it is advantageous to make the concave portion into a sliver shape so as to hold a sediment as wide as possible.

When the liquid collecting device according to the present invention is used for filtering a fecal suspension, it is advantageous to adopt the following modes. One of the advantageous aspects is the use of a faecal sampling mechanism. As a known fecal quantitative collection mechanism, a stool collection stick 1
A combination of 24 and a separating wall 126 that scrapes it off is known (FIG. 11). In addition, a stocker structure that seals and retains excess feces generated by scraping is also known.
All of these mechanisms for quantitative sampling can be applied to the container 1 main body in the present invention. In particular, in the mode in which the pressure increase inside the container 1 main body due to the insertion of the piston is used for filtration, it is advantageous to use the pressure increase due to the insertion of the stool collection rod 124 as the energy for filtration.

On the other hand, apart from the filtration mechanism and the quantitative sampling mechanism,
As the liquid 2 filled in the container 1 main body as a dispersion medium for suspending feces, various liquids can be prepared according to the purpose of the filtrate. For example, when the purpose is to detect hemoglobin in feces, in addition to a suitable buffer solution for stabilizing hemoglobin, a stabilizer such as an inactive protein, a surfactant that promotes dispersion, etc., if necessary. It is possible to add deodorants, deodorants, fragrances, pigments, bactericides, antibacterial agents and the like. When detecting a bacterial or viral gene, a lytic enzyme or a surfactant may be added for the purpose of decomposing the cell wall and extracting the gene.

[0047]

In the present invention, the piston provided with the cylinder and the liquid flow path has a function of controlling the timing of sampling the liquid inside the container regardless of an operation such as punching. That is, when the piston is mounted on the cylinder, the liquid does not come into contact with the opening 5 provided in the piston, and the liquid collection does not start. On the other hand, when the piston is advanced toward the inside of the container body, the opening of the piston is brought into contact with the liquid and liquid collection is started. Since the drip opening for dropping the finally collected liquid can be provided from the beginning, the user can be freed from the drilling operation and the diameter can be strictly controlled. On the other hand, when the filter medium is installed in the liquid flow path, the opening provided in the piston should have an opening at the top,
Regardless of whether it is opened to the outer peripheral surface, it is held in contact with the object to be filtered in any mode until the filtration is started. Therefore, it is less likely to be disturbed by filtration due to accumulation of solids contained in the object to be filtered.

Further, the opening 5 of the present invention can be provided not only on the top of the piston but also on the outer peripheral surface. In such a mode, the area of the opening 5 is increased, and as a result, the filtration area is increased. It contributes to the increase of.

[0049]

According to the present invention, it is possible to collect the liquid inside the container regardless of the operation such as punching. Since the drilling operation is unnecessary, special equipment for drilling is first unnecessary. Then, it becomes possible to easily manage the diameter of the dropping port that influences the dropping amount of the collected liquid. Above all, according to the present invention in which the liquid sampling operation can be performed only by inserting the piston, the liquid inside the container can be taken out with a handiness which is not available in the prior art.

In the present invention, it is also possible to mold the liquid collecting device as an integral type. Filtration is possible without the operation of installing a filtration unit, which was often essential in conventional filtration equipment that does not require perforation.
Contributes to the simplification of operation.

By combining a filtering material with the liquid collecting technique of the present invention, a filtering method or a filtering instrument that is unlikely to cause clogging by various means is provided.

First, since the filter medium before use is not in contact with the liquid, it is not affected by the sediment. In particular, in the aspect in which the recess is formed around the portion where the piston enters,
It is very advantageous because sediment is deposited in the recess and the opening of the liquid flow path is gradually moved away from the sediment due to the entry of the piston.

Secondly, since the surface of the filter material can be installed in the vertical direction, it is less likely to be hindered by the accumulation of solids in the filtration. For example, in the case of difficult permeation, mucus components and solids in the feces that cause clogging of the filtration material settle at the bottom of the container if the filtration device is set up. In a conventional filtration container, this sediment is settled on the filtration surface as it is, so that filtration is often hindered. However, in the present invention, for example, if an aspect is adopted in which the piston is opened on the outer peripheral surface, the opening is installed in the vertical direction, and the filter medium can be protected from the accumulation of solid content.

Thirdly, it becomes possible to take a very large surface area of the filter medium, which has been largely restricted by the conventional filtration method.
Contributes to the prevention of clogging. In the conventional filtration method, since the filter material is always installed in the horizontal direction, it is impossible to secure a filtration area larger than the horizontal cross-sectional area of the container body. In the present invention, the surface of the filter medium can be installed in the vertical direction, and by adopting this type of embodiment, it is possible to provide a large filtration area which has never been seen before. For example, when the opening 5 is provided around the piston as shown in FIG. 5, the surface area of the filter medium can be set to 3 times or more the cross-sectional area of the main body of the container 1, which contributes to smooth filtration.

Although the conventional liquid filtration technique often requires squeezing of the container, the present invention can adopt a mode in which the liquid is pushed out by utilizing the pressure increase accompanying the insertion of the piston, which simplifies the filtration operation. . Further, in such an embodiment, it is not always necessary to squeeze the container, so it is not necessary to limit the material of the container body to a flexible material. Therefore, the material can be freely selected according to the properties of the liquid and the properties of the suspended material.

Further, if the liquid is pushed out by the pressure increase accompanying the insertion of the piston, it is possible to obtain an amount of the filtrate according to the volume of the piston. That is, in the present invention, since the amount of filtrate can be controlled, it is extremely advantageous when the filtrate is directly used as an analytical sample. This feature of the present invention is a great advantage, as the amount of filtrate can have a significant effect on the accuracy of the analysis.

In the present invention, the sealed state can be easily reproduced by returning the positional relationship between the opening provided in the piston and the cylinder to the sealed state before filtration. That is, in the mode in which the first piston 3 and the second piston 4 are combined, it is easy to reproduce the sealed state. Therefore, even if the object to be filtered is a hygienic consideration such as a fecal suspension, it is possible to prevent the liquid from leaking from the device after filtration, and the work environment is not polluted.

[0058]

【Example】

1. Filtration device according to the present invention having an opening 5 on the outer peripheral surface of the piston As shown in FIG. 3, the opening 5 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the piston,
A filter device (FIG. 11) according to the present invention, in which a polyurethane sponge filter and a glass wool filter were attached as the filter material 3, was manufactured. The container 1 main body was provided with a known sampling structure. The detailed structure of the filtration device according to the present invention will be described in more detail.

Piston: A liquid channel 5 having an inner diameter of 1 mm is provided at the center of a polystyrene cylinder (height: 38 mm) having a diameter of about 5.5 mm. The liquid flow path 5 penetrates substantially the center of a polystyrene cylinder in the vertical direction, and one end is opened to one end surface of this cylinder to form a dropping port 8. On the other hand, on the opposite end face side of this cylinder,
Hollow part 14 for accommodating the filter medium 3 (inner diameter 3.5 m
m, depth 10 mm) is formed, and the peripheral wall of this hollow portion 14 forms a slit 12. Each slit 12 has a shape that widens the area from the periphery of the cylinder toward the center, and contributes to making the effective filtration area of the filter medium 3 housed inside the hollow portion 14 as large as possible. With the slit 12 having such a shape, about 70% of the circumference of the filter medium 3 can be communicated with the liquid 2. The slit 12 has a height of 8 mm and a diameter of 3.5 mm and a thickness of 2 mm in the second filter medium region having a depth of 2 mm that cannot directly contact the slit 12 at the bottom of the hollow portion 14.
Attach a glass wool filter of 3.5 and a diameter of 3.5 on it.
mm, 6 mm thick polyurethane sponge filters were stacked to form a two-layer structure filtration mechanism.

Cylinder: Outer Diameter 10 mm x Inner Diameter 6 mm x Height 1
A cylinder made of 5 mm polystyrene was prepared and used as cylinder 7.

First piston 3: The first piston 3 has a diameter of 6
A cylinder made of polystyrene having a height of 3 mm and a height of 3 mm is used. One end of the cylinder has a diameter of 3.5 mm by cutting the periphery to form a joint portion 13 for inserting and fixing the hollow portion 14 of the piston. The first piston 3 is attached to the cylinder 7 in a direction in which the joint portion 13 is on the second piston side,
From the opposite direction of the cylinder 7, the second piston 4 with the filter attached was pushed to the position where the joint portion 25 of the first piston 3 was inserted and fixed. The cylinder 7 configured in this manner is installed in the container 1 in the direction in which the first piston 3 is on the container 1 side.
Liquid-tightly adhered to the main body to obtain a filtration device according to the present invention. In addition, 2 ml of the liquid 2 for dispersing feces is poured into the container 1 main body in advance before adhering the filtration part.

Container 1 main body: The container 1 main body is composed of a cylindrical liquid filling portion and a fecal quantitative sampling mechanism portion. The quantitative collection mechanism is composed of the stool collection rod 12 connected to the lid 125.
4 and a separation wall 126 that scrapes off this. The excess feces scraped off by the separation wall 126 is separated by the separation wall 126.
It is held by the stocker portion 108 formed by the lid 125 and the lid 125.

Operation: Ten cases of human feces were prepared, an appropriate amount was sampled with a stool collection rod 124, and scraped off with a separation wall 126 of a filtration instrument to obtain a liquid 2 pre-filled inside the container 1 main body. A quantity of feces was added.
At this time, the inside of the container 1 has a positive pressure due to the inserted volume of the stool collection rod 124. The container 1 main body of the filtration device was shaken several times to be sufficiently agitated, and allowed to stand for 10 minutes with the filtration part facing downward. Next, when the piston is pushed into the body of the container 1, first, when the inserted length exceeds 3 mm, the upper end of the opening 5 comes into contact with the dispersion solution 26 inside the container 1 to start filtration. At the time when the filtration is started, the inside of the container 1 has a fecal sampling rod 124.
Although the volume of the first piston 3 is positive pressure, the positive pressure state is immediately eliminated because the liquid 2 permeates the filter medium 3 immediately after. By further pushing the piston, the liquid 2 in the container 1 is pushed out into the filter medium 3 one after another, and finally a volume of the filtered liquid corresponding to the volume of the pushed piston is obtained from the dropping port 8.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an opening structure of the present invention (sealed state).

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the opening structure of the present invention (communication state).

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the piston shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view showing another opening structure of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view showing another opening structure of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a resealing mechanism by a first piston and a second piston.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a connection form of the first piston and the second piston.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view showing coupling with an analysis device.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing coupling with an analysis device.

FIG. 10 is a partial sectional perspective view showing an example in which the present invention is applied to a simultaneous liquid sampling system.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a fecal collection container to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-Container 2-Liquid 3-First Piston 4-Second Piston 5-Opening 6-Liquid Flow Path 7-Cylinder 8-Dripping Port 9-Filtration Material 10-Polyurethane Sponge Filter 11-Glasswool Filter 12-Slit 13- Joint part 14-Hollow part 15-Frame 16-Membrane 17-Overhang part 18-Hole 19-Projection part 20-Liquid flow channel upper end 21-O ring 22-Observation window 23-Sample receiving part 24-Analysis device 108-Stocker part 124-stool collection rod 125-lid 126-separation wall 131-recess

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A method of collecting a liquid, wherein a piston is inserted into a cylinder connected to a container filled with a liquid to be collected, and the liquid inside the container is guided to the outside through a liquid flow path provided inside the piston. A liquid collecting method in which the opening of the liquid flow path provided in the piston inside the container is brought into contact with the liquid inside the container when the piston is inserted to start the collection. 2. The liquid collecting method according to claim 1, wherein a filter material is installed in the liquid flow path to filter the liquid to be collected. 3. The liquid sampling method according to claim 1, wherein the opening on the inner side of the container is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the piston in the vertical direction. 4. The liquid flow path provided in the piston is selected from a gap existing between the piston surface and the inner wall of the cylinder, or a space existing in the piston.
Liquid collection method. 5. The piston comprises at least two parts, a first piston and a second piston, the first piston
The piston closes the connection part of the cylinder with the container body, the second piston is provided with a liquid flow path, and the liquid flow of the second piston is caused by pushing the first piston into the container body by the second piston. The liquid collecting method according to claim 1, wherein the passage and the liquid inside the container body are in contact with each other. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first piston has means for connecting with the second piston, and does not prevent communication between the opening provided in the second piston and the liquid in the container body in the connected state. Liquid collection method. 7. The liquid sampling method according to claim 6, wherein when the second piston is removed from the cylinder, the first piston and the second piston are separated from each other, and the first piston closes a connection portion of the cylinder with the container body. . 8. The liquid collecting method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid to be collected is a sample for analysis, and the liquid is directly supplied to the analysis device. 9. The container body is sealed, and the liquid in the container body is pushed out from the opening provided in the piston while pressurizing the container body by inserting the piston.
Liquid collection method. 10. A container body filled with a liquid, a cylinder connected to the container body, and a piston that can be inserted into the cylinder, the piston being a liquid flow path for guiding the liquid inside the container body to the outside. Is equipped with
And a liquid collecting device in which the opening of the inside of the container of the liquid flow path communicates with the liquid inside the container when the piston is inserted. 11. The liquid collecting device according to claim 10, wherein the container body is provided with a sample collecting structure.