JP7016151B2 - Specimen smear device - Google Patents

Description

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act (1) September 21-23, 2017 To the 49th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Clinical Examination Automation, JCLaS EXPO 2017 Pacifico Yokohama, Exhibition Hall A, B, C (Kanagawa Prefecture) (2) Published on September 21, 2017 at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Clinical Examination Automation, JCLaS EXPO 2017 Pacifico Yokohama Conference Center (Kanagawa Prefecture)

The present invention relates to a stirring device for stirring a sample in a test tube and a sample smearing device having the stirring device.

Specimen smearing devices are widely known. In this sample smearing device, it is common to smear the collected sample on a slide glass for inspection.

A typical example of the sample is a liquid sample containing urine, blood, sputum, etc. (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-32584

By the way, in the sample smearing device, the collected sample is smeared on a slide glass for inspection, and it is desired to smear the sample uniformly.

However, in the sample collected in the test tube, the powder or granular material in the sample is easily agitated uniformly when the sample amount is small, but the powder or granular material in the sample is uniformly agitated when the sample amount is large. There was a problem that it was difficult.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stirring device capable of uniformly stirring powder or granular material in a sample regardless of the amount of sample contained in a test tube, and a sample smearing device having the stirring device. do.

In order to solve the above problems, the stirring device according to the present invention has a test tube holding mechanism having a chuck portion capable of holding the test tube head from the side and a pressing portion capable of pressing the test tube head from above. The rotation mechanism is provided with a rotation mechanism for eccentric rotation of the lower part of the test tube and control means for opening and closing the chuck portion and adjusting the height position of the pressing portion. The control means has a test tube support portion that supports the test tube so that when the lower part of the test tube comes into contact with the test tube support portion due to the lowering of the chuck portion, the pressing portion and the test tube head are moved up and down. By raising the pressing portion until the directional spacing reaches a predetermined value and widening the chuck portion until the lateral spacing between the chuck portion and the test tube head reaches a predetermined value, the gap in the vertical spacing is increased. The test tube head is made movable in the laterally spaced gap, and then the rotation mechanism is started to rotate, and when the specified rotation is completed by the rotation mechanism, the rotation of the rotation mechanism is controlled to be stopped. It is characterized by that.

Further, the sample smearing device according to the present invention includes the above-mentioned stirring device and a suction / smearing portion that sucks the sample in the test tube and smears it at a predetermined position. A body holding mechanism is provided, and the control means stops the rotation of the rotating mechanism, then holds the test tube body portion by the body holding mechanism, and causes the chuck portion to hold the test tube head. The test tube is opened by raising the chuck portion, the suction / smear portion is made to suck the sample in the test tube, and the test tube is controlled to be closed after the sample suction is completed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a stirring device capable of uniformly stirring powder or granular material in a sample regardless of the amount of the sample contained in the test tube, and a sample smearing device having the stirring device.

It is a perspective view of the sample smearing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side sectional view of the stirring apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side sectional view of the stirring apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of an example performed by the stirring apparatus and the sample smearing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, when the stirring device and the sample smearing device are viewed from the front side, the left-right direction is appropriately referred to as the X direction, the front-back direction is referred to as the Y direction, and the vertical direction is appropriately referred to as the Z direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the stirring device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the present embodiment) will be described by an example in which the test tube head Th (hereinafter, the test tube is a spitz tube). A test tube holding mechanism 16 having a chuck portion 12 capable of holding the test tube head Th from the side and a pressing portion 14 capable of pressing the test tube head Th from above, and a rotation mechanism 18 for eccentric rotation of the test tube lower portion Tb. A control unit 20 for opening / closing the pipe holding mechanism 16 and adjusting the height position is provided.

The rotation mechanism 18 has a test tube support portion 22 (spitz tube support portion) that abuts from below on the test tube lower portion Tb (spitz tube lower portion) and supports the eccentric rotation so as to be possible. The test tube support portion 22 is provided with a recess 24 that abuts on the lower portion Tb of the test tube, and the recess 24 forms a mortar-shaped upper recess 24u and a cylindrical space that is continuous with the upper recess 24u and extends in the vertical direction. It is composed of a side recess 24v.

Then, the lower end Tbb of the test tube (which is often the part through which the center of the test tube passes) enters the lower concave portion 24v, and the periphery of the lower end Tbb of the test tube hits the continuous portion 24c of the upper concave portion 24u and the lower concave portion 24v. It is designed to come into contact. In the present embodiment, assuming that the Spitz tube Ts is used as the test tube T, the recess 24 has a size corresponding to the size of the Spitz tube Ts.

The control unit 20 is set to perform the following control. That is, when the lower part Tb of the test tube comes into contact with the test tube support portion 22 due to the lowering of the chuck portion 12, the vertical spacing dv (vertical spacing) between the pressing portion 14 and the test tube head Th is as shown in FIG. The pressing portion 14 is raised until becomes a predetermined value (for example, 3 mm), and the chuck portion is until the lateral distance dh between the inner holding portion 12e of the chuck portion 12 and the test tube head Th becomes a predetermined value (for example, 3 mm). Spread 12 out. Then, after the test tube head Th is made movable by the gap Sv of the vertical spacing dv and the gap Sh of the lateral spacing dh in this way, the rotation mechanism 18 is started to rotate, and the rotation mechanism 18 performs the specified rotation. When finished, the rotation of the rotation mechanism 18 is stopped. In the present specification, the test tube head Th is a concept including the lid portion C.

Further, the stirring device 10 is provided with a body holding mechanism 26 for holding the test tube body portion Tm.

The sample smearing device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the present embodiment) is a suction / smearing unit that sucks the above-mentioned stirring device 10 and the sample in the test tube T and smears them at a predetermined position. And prepare. In the present embodiment, the sample smearing device 30 is a device for performing a urine test, but may be a device for performing a blood test, or may be a device for performing other tests (biological tests).

Then, in the sample smearing device 30, the control unit 20 is set to further perform the following control.

That is, after stopping the rotation of the rotation mechanism 18, the body holding mechanism 26 holds the test tube body portion Tm, and the chuck portion 12 holds the test tube head Th. Then, the test tube T is opened by removing the lid portion C by raising the chuck portion 12 by the test tube holding mechanism 16.

Then, the suction / smear portion is made to suck the sample in the test tube. Then, after the sample suction by the suction / smear portion is completed, the test tube T is closed by the test tube holding mechanism 16. The suction / smear portion is controlled so as to smear the sucked sample on the slide glass.

(Action, effect)
Hereinafter, the operation of the stirring device 10 and the sample smearing device 30 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the test tube holding mechanism 16 sandwiches the test tube T (Spitz tube) standing upright on the sample rack (not shown) by the chuck portion 12. At that time, the wobbling of the test tube T is suppressed by pressing the pressing portion 14 in contact with the test tube head Th (step S1).

Then, the test tube T is conveyed to the ID reading position, and the ID of the test tube T is read (step S2).

After that, by moving the test tube T onto the stirring device 10 and lowering the chuck portion 12, the lower end Tbb of the test tube is inserted into the lower recess 24v and the periphery of the lower end Tbb of the test tube is brought into contact with the continuous portion 24c. .. As a result, the test tube T is set in the stirring device 10 (step S3).

Then, the control unit 20 widens the chuck unit 12 until the lateral distance dh between the chuck unit 12 and the test tube head Th becomes a predetermined value, and further, the pressing unit 14 and the test tube head Th in the vertical direction. By raising the pressing portion 14 until the interval dv reaches a predetermined value, the test tube T is released from the chuck portion 12 and from the pressing portion 14 (step S4). In this state, in the test tube T, the test tube head Th can be moved by the gap Sv of the vertical spacing dv and the gap Sh of the lateral spacing dh. The spreading operation of the chuck portion 12 and the ascending operation of the pressing portion 14 may be performed at the same time, or the ascending operation of the pressing portion 14 may be performed first.

The control unit 20 rotates the motor M of the rotation mechanism 18 in this state to eccentrically rotate the test tube support unit 22 around the rotation axis Mx. As a result, the test tube T rotates eccentrically while moving so that the test tube head Th is exposed at the gap Sv of the vertical spacing dv and the gap Sh of the lateral spacing dh (step S5). As a result, even if the amount of the sample contained in the test tube T is large, the powder or granular material in the sample can be sufficiently agitated. That is, the powder or granular material can be uniformly agitated in the sample regardless of whether the amount of the sample is large or small.

When the specified rotation is completed by the rotation mechanism 18, the control unit 20 stops the rotation of the rotation mechanism 18 (step S6). Subsequently, the control unit 20 sandwiches the test tube body portion Tm with the body holding mechanism 26, sandwiches the test tube head Th with the chuck portion 12, and raises the chuck portion 12 with the test tube holding mechanism 16 to raise the test tube. T is opened (step S7).

Then, the control unit 20 causes the suction / smear unit to suck the sample in the test tube (step S8). Then, after the sample suction by the suction / smear portion is completed, the test tube T is closed by the test tube holding mechanism 16 (step S9).

In addition, the aspirated sample is smeared on a slide glass by the suction / smear portion. The aspirated sample is a part of the sample in which the powder or granular material is uniformly agitated in the test tube, and this sample is smeared on the slide glass.

By repeating the above operation, the samples are sequentially put into each test tube set up in the sample rack and stored in the sample rack.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the powder or granular material that has been uniformly agitated in the sample can be smeared with the stirring device 10 regardless of the amount of the sample contained in the test tube. Therefore, the sample smearing device 30 can perform an accurate inspection.

Although the embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are examples for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the materials, shapes, structures, arrangements, etc. of the constituent parts are specified in the above embodiments. Instead, it can be changed and implemented within the range that does not deviate from the gist.

10 Stirrer 12 Chuck part 14 Pressing part 16 Test tube holding mechanism 18 Rotating mechanism 20 Control part (control means)
22 Test tube support part 24 Recession 26 Body pinching mechanism 30 Specimen smear device T Test tube Tb Test tube lower part Th Test tube head Tm Test tube Body part Ts Spitz tube Sv Gap Sh Gap dv Vertical space dh Lateral space

Claims (3)

A stirrer that stirs the test tube and
With the suction / smear part that sucks the sample in the test tube and smears it in place
Equipped with
The stirring device is
A test tube holding mechanism having a chuck portion that can hold the test tube head from the side and a pressing portion that can press the test tube head from above.
A rotation mechanism having a test tube support that abuts on the lower part of the test tube and supports it so that it can rotate eccentrically.
A body holding mechanism that holds the test tube body,
A control means for opening / closing the chuck portion and adjusting the height position of the pressing portion is provided.
The control means is
When the lower part of the test tube comes into contact with the test tube support portion due to the lowering of the chuck portion, the pressing portion is raised until the vertical distance between the pressing portion and the test tube head reaches a predetermined value, and the chuck portion is raised. By widening the chuck portion until the lateral distance between the test tube head and the test tube head reaches a predetermined value, the test tube head can be moved in the vertical space gap and the lateral space gap. The rotation mechanism is started to rotate, and the rotation is started.
When the specified rotation is completed by the rotation mechanism, the rotation of the rotation mechanism is stopped , and the rotation is stopped.
After stopping the rotation of the rotation mechanism, the test tube body portion is sandwiched by the body holding mechanism, the test tube head is sandwiched between the chuck portions, and the chuck portion is raised to open the test tube. ,
Let the suction / smear part suck the sample in the test tube,
A sample smearing device characterized in that the test tube is controlled to be closed after the completion of the sample suction . The sample smearing device according to claim 1, wherein the test tube support portion includes a recess as a test tube that supports the Spitz tube so as to be eccentric. The sample smearing device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein urine is used as a sample.

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