JPH0355881Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The slide glass supply section of the automatic microscope specimen encapsulation device according to this invention is installed in a hospital or various research institutes, and slices into slide glass. After the staining process has been completed while the sample has been pasted and stored in the specimen cage, the sample is taken out of the cage together with the slide glass, and is incorporated into an automatic microscope specimen enclosing device that further affixes a cover glass on top of the specimen, and then placed in the cage. It is used to pull out glass slides with stained samples attached one by one from inside the container.

(Prior art) For example, in a hospital, when observing a sample such as a piece of tissue excised from an affected area for examination under a microscope, the sample is first embedded in paraffin and then sliced.
The thinly sliced sample is attached to a slide glass and then placed in a specimen basket, and the sample attached to the slide glass together with the specimen basket is immersed in a processing solution to stain the sample.

The glass slides to which the stained specimens have been pasted are then taken out one by one from the specimen basket, and a cover glass is pasted on top of the stained specimens to complete the specimens for use in a microscope.
The completed specimen is stored in a plate-shaped storage container called a matzpe and transported to a location for microscopic observation.
Save the specimen along with the matsupe.

As an automatic enclosing device that automatically encloses microscopic specimens, for example,
One disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 157535 is known.
As shown in FIG. 8, the automatic microscope specimen enclosing device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-157535 inserts slide glasses 1, 1 with stained specimens pasted at predetermined time intervals. A slide glass supplying device 3 slides down the slide glasses 1, 1 one by one to a predetermined position on the conveyance path 2 in a predetermined posture, and slides the slide glasses 1, 1 supplied onto the conveyance path 2 at a predetermined pitch at a predetermined time interval. a conveying device 4 that conveys the glass slides 1 and 2,
The discrimination device 5 optically detects the size of the sample on the slide glass 1, and the liquid injection device 6 supplies adhesive liquid onto each slide glass 1 according to the size of the sample judged by the discrimination device 5. A cover glass of a size corresponding to the size of the sample is selected, and the selected cover glass is supplied onto the slide glass 1 that has been conveyed to the cover glass supply position on the conveyance path 2. The sorting and supplying device 7 lifts the slide glass 1 at the above-mentioned cover glass supply position, performs an enclosure operation of enclosing a sample between the slide glass 1 and the cover glass, and transfers the enclosed slide glass 1 to the above-mentioned cover glass. When the adhesive device 8 returns to the cover glass supply position and the slide glass 1 returned to the cover glass supply position is pushed out by the transport device 4, the slide glasses 1, 1 of the unit are parallel to each other in units of a predetermined number of sheets. It has a storage device 10 for moving and storing it in a tray 9, and a slide glass supply device 3, a discriminating device 5, a liquid injection device 6, a cover glass sorting and supply device 7, and a bonding device 8 are synchronized with the conveyance device 4 and each A microcomputer built into the control section 11 controls each of the above-mentioned devices so as to perform the following operations.

In the conventional automatic coverslipping device configured as described above, when a large number of slide glasses with stained samples pasted are set on the slide glass supply device 3 provided at the right end in FIG. The glass supply device 3 supplies the glass slides one by one onto the conveying path 2, and after affixing a cover glass of an appropriate size to the top surface of each slide glass 1, 1, and enclosing the sample on the top surface of the slide glass. , arrange them on tray 9.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional automatic microscope specimen enclosing device constructed and operated as described above, the following disadvantages still occur.

That is, when staining a sample, it is necessary to transfer slide glasses from a specimen basket that has housed a large number of slide glasses to the slide glass supply device 3 that supplies slide glasses one by one onto the transport path 2. . This work of transferring the slide glass is troublesome, and if it fails, there is a risk of not only damaging the slide glass but also contaminating the valuable specimen created by pasting the sample onto the slide glass. In addition, if a sample is pasted on a slide glass and dyed, but has not yet been encapsulated with a cover glass, it will dry and deteriorate if left in the air, making it difficult to perform good microscopic observation. To prevent such deterioration of the sample due to drying,
It is effective to immerse the slide glass to which the sample is attached in a drying prevention liquid such as xylol until just before the mounting process, but in conventional automatic coverslippers, the slide glass supply device 3 It was not possible to immerse the slide glass set in the xylene in xylene, and if the slide glass set in the supply device 3 was left for a long time, it was inevitable that the sample would change in quality. For this reason, in conventional automatic enclosing devices, the number of slide glasses that can be set in the slide glass supply device is not increased so much that the samples are enclosed before they are exposed to air for a long period of time. For this reason,
When enclosing a large number of samples, it is necessary to frequently set slide glasses in the supply device, which is troublesome.

The slide glass supply section of the automatic microscope specimen enclosing device of the present invention eliminates the above-mentioned inconveniences and troubles.

(Means for Solving the Problem) The slide glass supply unit in the automatic microscope specimen enclosing device of the present invention is a container that stores a liquid such as xylol to prevent the specimen from drying and can be locked in a predetermined position. At the bottom of this container, a specimen basket containing multiple glass slides with samples attached is placed at intervals along the length of the container, and the slide glasses are held horizontally. a vertical support provided on a slider slidably engaged with a guide rail disposed parallel to the container; a horizontal movement means for moving the slider along the horizontal axis, a horizontal movement position detection means for detecting the horizontal movement position of the slider by the horizontal movement means, an elevating piece supported on the support so as to be movable up and down, and the elevating piece. an elevating means for elevating and lowering; an up-and-down position detecting means capable of detecting the vertical movement position of the elevating piece by the elevating means; the upper end of each of the elevating pieces is pivotally supported by the elevating piece; , a pair of holding arms that can freely hold the specimen basket by making the lower edge of the specimen basket freely lockable; and an opening/closing mechanism that opens and closes the lower end of the pair of holding arms. , and a controller for controlling the horizontal movement means and the elevating means, and this controller has the following functions (a) to (d).

(a) After the slider is moved to the side of the stand located at a predetermined position of the container by the horizontal moving means, the elevating piece is lowered by the elevating means, and the slider is placed on the stand located at the predetermined position on the holding arm. A function to hold a specimen cage.

(b) As the slide glass is pulled out by the slide glass transport mechanism, the elevating means raises the elevating piece by one pitch of the slide glass based on the signal from the vertical position detecting means,
A function that keeps the topmost slide glass of the specimen basket held in the holding arm always in the same position.

(c) After all the slide glasses in one specimen cage have been pulled out, raise the lifting piece, move the slider to a position where it is out of the container, open the holding arm, and empty the container. A function to dispose of the specimen basket outside the container.

(d) After discarding the empty specimen basket, use the horizontal moving means to move the slider to the side of the stand with the specimen basket on which no slide glass has been pulled out, and lower the elevating piece using the elevating means. Then, after holding this specimen basket with the holding arm, raise the elevating piece again, move the slider to the side of the stand located at the predetermined position of the container, lower the elevating piece again, and raise the elevating piece again. The ability to place a specimen basket containing glass on this stand.

(Function) The function of the slide glass supply section in the automatic microscope specimen encapsulation apparatus of the present invention configured as described above is as follows.

When enclosing a sample, first, a plurality of specimen baskets containing a plurality of glass slides with stained samples pasted thereon are each set up on a stand at the bottom of the container. This work is done manually.

In this state, the slider is moved to the side of the stand located at a predetermined position, such as one end of the container, by the horizontal moving means, and the elevating piece is lowered by the elevating means, and the holding arm is moved to the stand. Holding a specimen basket set up in a cage.

The slide glass transport mechanism (outside the scope of this invention), which is installed in the automatic coverslipping device and sends the slide glass with the stained specimen pasted to the coverslipping processing section, transports the slide glass stored in the specimen basket mentioned above. The specimens are pulled out from the upper stage one by one. As the slides are pulled out, the elevating means raises the elevating piece by one pitch of the slide glass based on the signal from the vertical position detection means, and the specimen held in the holding arm Make sure that the glass slide at the top of the cage is always in the same position.

When all the slide glasses in one specimen cage have been pulled out, raise the lifting piece, move the slider to a position where it is out of the container, open the holding arm, and empty it. Discard the specimen basket outside the container.

Next, the horizontal moving means moves the slider to the side of the stand on which the specimen cage with no slide glass has been pulled out, and the elevating means lowers the elevating piece to hold the specimen cage with the holding arm. Then, after raising the elevating piece again, move the slider to the side of the stand located at the predetermined position of the container, lower the elevating piece again, and place the specimen basket containing the slide glass on this stand. .

Thereafter, this specimen basket is intermittently raised by one pitch of the slide glass, and the slide glasses are pulled out one by one.

(Example) Next, the present invention will be explained in more detail by explaining the illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing an example of an automatic microscope specimen enclosing device having a slide glass supply section according to the present invention. This coverslipping device has a slide glass supply section A, which is the object of the present invention, on the top surface of a substrate (not shown in FIG. A mechanism B, a mounting medium supply mechanism C that drips mounting medium onto the top surface of the slide glass, a mounting table D, a cover glass sticking mechanism E that sticks a cover glass onto the sample on the top surface of the slide glass, and a mounting medium supply mechanism C that drips mounting medium onto the top surface of the slide glass. a cover glass supply mechanism that supplies a cover glass to the attachment mechanism; a second slide glass transport mechanism that sends out the slide glass with the cover glass attached to the rear; and a slide received from the second slide glass transport mechanism. It is constructed by arranging a third glass slide transport mechanism 1 for putting the glass into the matpe and a matpe supporting mechanism 2 for supporting the matpe for storing the slide glass.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the slide glass supply unit A to which the present invention is applied has a guide plate 13 fixed to the upper surface of the substrate 12, and a sample material such as xylene is placed inside the guide plate 13. A container 14 storing a liquid to prevent drying,
They are slidably fitted. At the bottom of this container 14, a stand 15 as shown in FIG. 4 and a plywood plate 16 having an inclined upper edge 16a are provided.
The stand 15 has rectangular cutouts 17a and 17b formed in opposing positions of a metal plate bent into an angular U-shape. A plurality of sets (for example, five sets) of such notches 17a and 17b are provided in the stand 15 as a whole, and each set supports a specimen cage 18 as shown in FIG. 6 in a manner that it can be raised and lowered.

This specimen basket 18 has a plurality of projecting walls 20, 20 formed at equal intervals in the vertical direction on the mutually opposing inner surfaces of a main portion 19 having a rectangular frame shape. Furthermore, two protrusions 21, 21 are provided on one outer surface of the main portion 19.
, and three on the other outer surface (if used only for the slide glass supply section of the present invention, two may be used).
The protrusions 22, 22 are formed respectively. Further, extension pieces 23, 23 are provided on both the upper and lower edges of the opening at one end of the main portion 19 (the upper and lower portions are as shown in FIG. 6), respectively.
is formed, and between the ends of each extension piece 23, 23, the outer surface is formed in a sawtooth shape (this sawtooth is not necessary when used only in the slide glass supply section of the present invention). The locking rods 24, 24 are stretched over each other. On the inner surface of each locking rod 24, 24,
A plurality of protrusions 25, 25 are formed in accordance with the interval between the protruding walls 20, 20 on the inner surface of the main portion, and the protruding walls 2
0 and 20, and the protrusions 25 and 25 support the other end edge of the slide glass whose one end side edges are supported by the projecting walls 20 and 20. A locking piece 27 is fixed to the center of the handle 26 whose both ends are pivotally connected to the main part 19, and the locking piece 27 allows the specimen basket 18 to be suspended when staining the specimen. I have to.

In order to support such a specimen cage 18 so as to be able to move up and down, each notch 17 formed in the stand 15 is provided.
The width W of a and 17b is slightly larger than the width w of the main part 19 of the specimen basket 18 (W>w), and the width d of the stand 15 is slightly larger than the distance D between the protrusions 21 and 21. The notches 17a and 17b are set to be small (d<D) so that the main part 19 of the specimen cage 18 can be supported in a vertically movable manner. Plywood 1
6 is provided only at one end of the bottom of the container 14, and when the specimen basket is pushed into the notches 17a, 17b at one end of the stand 15, the handle 26 of this specimen basket 18 abuts against the upper edge 16a of the abutting plate 16. Then, this handle 2
6 rotates in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 6 as the specimen basket 18 descends, so that the handle 26 does not get in the way when the slide glass stored inside the main part 19 is pulled out.

A slider 29 is provided on a guide rail 28 disposed parallel to the guide plate 13 into which such a container 14 is fitted, and is movable along the guide rail 28. On the upper surface of the slider 29,
A long U-shaped support plate 30 that is long in the vertical direction is fixed. This support plate 30 includes vertical support columns 31.
Both upper and lower ends of the support column 31 are supported, and an elevating piece 32 is slidably fitted onto the support column 31. Furthermore, a driven pulley 34 is attached to a horizontal shaft 33 provided at the upper part of the support plate 30, and a drive motor 3 provided at the lower part of the support plate 30 is connected to a driven pulley 34.
A drive pulley 36 is provided on each of the output shafts of No. 5, and a wire 37 is connected to both pulleys 34 and
connecting the middle part to the elevating piece 32, and raising and lowering the elevating piece 32 by energizing the drive motor 35;
It constitutes a lifting means. Although not shown, a tension spring is provided in the middle of the wire 37 to maintain the tension of the wire 37 and to prevent the drive pulley 36 from shifting from the wire 37. This point is similar to the device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-157535 mentioned above.

On the other hand, a horizontal shaft 38 provided on the rear surface of the elevating piece 32
The upper ends of a pair of holding arms 39, 39 are pivotally supported. The pair of holding arms 39, 39 hold the main portion 19 of the specimen basket 18 from both sides, and each holding arm 39, 39 has a hook portion facing inward at the lower end. 40, 40 are provided, each hook portion 40,
The lower surface of 40 is an inclined surface that gradually becomes higher inward. Further, the upper portions of both holding arms 39, 39 located below the horizontal axis 38 are connected to each other by a tension spring 41, so that both holding arms 39, 39 are connected to each other by a tension spring 41.
gives elasticity in the direction of approaching each other. However, the two holding arms 39, 39 are prevented from coming closer than the mutually parallel state shown in FIG. 2 by the action of a stopper (not shown).

The horizontal movement means for horizontally moving the slider 29 is also constructed in the same manner as the structure for elevating and lowering the elevating piece 32 described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, a wire 45 that is stretched between a drive pulley 43 and a driven pulley 44 that are fixed to the output shaft of a drive motor 42 is connected to the slider 29 in the middle.

Furthermore, the slide glass supply section A controls the start and stop of two drive motors 35 and 42 incorporated in this supply section A, and controls the slider 29 and the lifting piece 32.
Horizontal movement position detection means and vertical position detection means are provided for regulating the stop position of the motor.
Since both position detecting means are constructed in substantially the same way, only the horizontal movement position detecting means of the slider 29 will be illustrated and explained.

As shown in FIG. 3, a detection vertical wall 46 is arranged parallel to the guide rail 28 with which the slider 29 engages, and a support plate 47 fixed to the slider 29 is provided.
A light projector 48 and a light receiver 49 of a photoelectric detector fixed to the lower surface of the detection wall 46 are mounted on both sides of the upper part of the detection wall 46.
They are placed facing each other. At the upper edge of the detection vertical wall 46, at a position corresponding to the notches 17a and 17b of the stand 15 at the bottom of the container,
When a notch 50 as shown in FIG. 5 is formed and the slider 29 moves on the guide rail 28 to a position where the emitter 48 and the light receiver 49 sandwich this notch 50, the above-mentioned pair holding arms 39, 39
However, the notches 17a, 17 of the stand 15 described above
It is positioned directly above the specimen basket 18 supported by b.

Although not shown, the drive motor 35,
42 is controlled by a controller that functions based on signals sent from the light projector 48, light receiver 49, etc. of the photoelectric detector.

The operation of the slide glass supply section in the automatic microscope specimen encapsulation apparatus of the present invention constructed as described above is as follows.

First, before starting the enclosure work, a plurality of specimen baskets 18 containing slide glasses with stained specimens pasted thereon are placed in the notches 17a and 17b of the stand 15 at the bottom of the container 14 storing xylol. I'll keep it. Among the plurality of specimen baskets erected on the stand 15 in this way, the handles 26 of the specimen baskets 18 that are erected in the notches 17a, 17a at the end of the stand opposite to the plywood 16 are attached to the upper edge of the plywood 16. 16a
Rotates in the direction of arrow a in Fig. 6 due to collision with
Although a plurality of slide glasses stored inside can be freely pulled out, the handles 26 of the remaining specimen baskets 18 remain in the state shown in FIG. However, it will not accidentally escape from this specimen cage 18.
Container 1 in which a plurality of specimen baskets 18 are set in this way
4 is pushed deep into the guide plate 13 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

Once the specimen basket 18 has been set in this manner, the specimen basket 18, whose handle 26 has been rotated laterally at the end of the container 14, is first held by the holding arms 39, 39 of the slide glass supply unit A. do. This work is carried out by moving the slider 29 (first to third
(Fig.), move both holding arms 39, 39 to a position directly above the specimen basket 18 to be held, and then lower the lifting piece 32, which pivots the upper ends of both holding arms 39, 39. This is done by As the elevating piece 32 descends, the hook portions 40 at the lower ends of both holding arms 39, 39,
40 escapes to the side against the elasticity of the tension spring 41, and as the elevating piece 32 further descends, it approaches again based on the elasticity of the tension spring 41 and is locked to the lower edge of the specimen basket 18. do.

Next, the lifting piece 32 is raised to pull up the specimen basket 18, and the topmost slide glass among the plurality of slide glasses stored in the specimen basket 18 is moved to the clamping piece 5 of the first slide glass transport mechanism.
1, 51 (Fig. 1) to pull it up to the position where it can be pulled out.

In this state, the movable table 52 provided with the first glass slide transport mechanism (B) is moved to the left in FIG. When the slide glass at the top position is completely pulled out, the lifting piece 32 is raised by one pitch of the slide glass, and the next slide glass is moved to the clamping pieces 51, 51 of the first slide glass transport mechanism. to raise it to a position where it can be pulled out.

By repeating the above operation, stand 15
Once all the slide glasses in the specimen basket 18, which is set up at one end, have been pulled out, the empty specimen basket 18 is discarded, and then the specimen basket 18, which is supported at another position within the container 14, is slid out. Move it to the glass removal position. This transfer is carried out by holding arms 39, 39.
At the time of transfer, the specimen basket 18, which has been newly moved to the slide glass removal position, is pushed down to the lower end position, and the handle 26 and the upper edge 16a of the abutting plate 16 are brought into contact with each other. and rotate this handle 26 laterally.

When discarding the empty specimen basket 18, each holding arm should be placed above the guide plate 13 in a place where it will not interfere with taking in and out the container 14, so that the distance between the holding arms 39, 39 can be automatically widened. 39,39
This holding arm 3 collides with the hooks 40, 40 at the lower end of the
It is also possible to provide a horizontal bar to widen the gap between the holding arms 39 and 39, or a solenoid to widen the gap between the holding arms 39 and 39 when energized.

(Effect of the invention) The slide glass supply unit in the automatic microscope specimen enclosing device of the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, but during staining work, it is possible to directly remove the slide glass with the specimen attached from the specimen basket. The slide glass can be taken out one by one and sent to the inclusion table without contaminating the precious sample, and even if a large number of slide glasses are set, the sample will not dry out and deteriorate in quality. Able to create high-quality microscopic specimens.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the slide glass supply section in the automatic microscope specimen enclosure device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in Fig. Figure 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the container, Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of the detection vertical wall, Figure 6 is a perspective view of the specimen basket, and Figure 7 is an example of an automatic enclosure device into which this slide glass supply unit is incorporated. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional automatic enclosing device. B... Slide glass supply unit, B... First slide glass transport mechanism, C... Mounting medium supply mechanism,
D...Inclusion table, E...Cover glass sticking mechanism, F...Cover glass supply mechanism, G...Second slide glass transport mechanism, H...Third slide glass transport mechanism, R...Matsupe support Mechanism, 1...Slide glass, 2...Transportation path, 3...Slide glass supply device, 4...Transportation device, 5...Discrimination device, 6
. . . Liquid injection device, 7 . . . Cover glass sorting and supplying device, 8 . . . Adhesion device, 9 .
... Guide plate, 14 ... Container, 15 ... Stand, 16 ... Plywood, 16a ... Upper edge, 17
a, 17b...notch, 18...specimen basket, 19...
... Main part, 20 ... Projection wall, 21, 22 ... Projection, 2
3...Extension piece, 24...Latching rod, 25...Protrusion,
26... Handle, 27... Locking piece, 28... Guide rail, 29... Slider, 30... Support plate, 31
...Strut, 32...Elevating piece, 33...Horizontal shaft, 34
... Driven pulley, 35 ... Drive motor, 36 ...
Drive pulley, 37...Wire, 38...Horizontal shaft, 3
9... Holding arm, 40... Hook portion, 41... Tension spring, 42... Drive motor, 43... Drive pulley,
44... Driven pulley, 45... Wire, 46...
Detection standing wall, 47... Support plate, 48... Floodlight,
49... Light receiver, 50... Notch, 51... Sandwich piece, 52... Moving table.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A container that stores a liquid to prevent a sample from drying and can be locked in a predetermined position; A specimen basket containing a plurality of glass slides with samples attached to them when performing staining work is arranged parallel to the container with a plurality of stands that can freely hold the glass slides in a horizontal direction. A vertical support provided on a slider slidably engaged with a guide rail, a horizontal movement means for moving the slider along the guide rail, and a horizontal movement position of the slider by the horizontal movement means. a horizontal movement position detecting means for detecting horizontal movement position detection means, an elevating piece supported on the pillar so as to be able to rise and fall, an elevating means for elevating and lowering the elevating piece, and a vertical movement position of the elevating piece by the elevating means. The specimen basket is held by a vertical position detecting means, each upper end of which is pivotally supported by the elevating piece, and a lower edge of the specimen basket that can be freely engaged with a hook provided at each lower end. It consists of a pair of holding arms that can be held freely, an opening/closing mechanism that opens and closes the lower ends of the pair of holding arms, and a controller that controls the horizontal movement means and the lifting means,
This controller has the following functions (a) to (d), and is a slide glass supply unit in an automatic microscope specimen encapsulation device. (a) After the slider is moved to the side of the stand located at a predetermined position of the container by the horizontal moving means, the elevating piece is lowered by the elevating means, and the slider is placed on the stand located at the predetermined position on the holding arm. A function to hold a specimen cage. (b) As the slide glass is pulled out by the slide glass transport mechanism, the elevating means raises the elevating piece by one pitch of the slide glass based on the signal from the vertical position detecting means,
A function that keeps the topmost slide glass of the specimen basket held in the holding arm always in the same position. (c) After all the slide glasses in one specimen cage have been pulled out, raise the lifting piece, move the slider to a position where it is out of the container, open the holding arm, and empty it. A function to dispose of the specimen basket outside the container. (d) After discarding the empty specimen basket, use the horizontal moving means to move the slider to the side of the stand with the specimen basket on which no slide glass has been pulled out, and lower the elevating piece using the elevating means. Then, after holding this specimen basket with the holding arm, raise the elevating piece again, move the slider to the side of the stand located at the predetermined position of the container, lower the elevating piece again, and raise the elevating piece again. The ability to place a specimen basket containing glass on this stand.