JPH0365498B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to containers, and particularly to improvements in containers suitable for reagent containers installed in automatic blood analyzers.

Conventionally, in this type of container, a reagent is stored in a container formed in the shape of a hollow box, and a pipette is inserted through an injection port provided at the top of the container to fully immerse the pipette in the reagent. After that, a predetermined amount of reagent is aspirated with a pipette and dispensed into the sample.

However, since the structure of such a conventional container is only for storing a reagent, in order to aspirate the reagent in the container without wasting it, it is necessary to
The tip of the pipette must be lowered to near the inner bottom of the container, and as a result, with the container structure described above, the contact area between the pipette and the reagent becomes extremely large, making the pipette cleaning device complicated and large. The problem was that this was a contributing factor.

This invention was devised in view of the current situation, and its purpose is to extremely reduce the contact area between a pipette or other dispensing member and a liquid, and to ensure that reagents are not wasted. The present invention aims to provide a container with a simple structure that can automatically supply a liquid such as a reagent so that it can be aspirated.

In order to achieve this object, in the present invention, in a reagent container used in an automatic analyzer, a partition is interposed in the reagent container main body to form a large chamber and a small chamber, and the lower end of the partition A flow path is formed to communicate the two chambers, a lid is provided at the top of the large chamber to maintain a sealed state after reagent injection, and a pipette for dispensing the reagent is inserted into the small chamber. It is characterized by having an insertion hole for the purpose.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

This embodiment shows a case where the present invention is applied to a reagent container B in an automatic analyzer, and this reagent container B is made of a chemical-resistant material and is formed into a hollow box shape.

A partition wall 2 integrally formed with the container body 1 is interposed on one side of the hollow interior of the reagent container B, and the partition wall 2 separates the inside of the container body 1 into a small chamber 3 and a large chamber. 4 are partitioned. Also,
The small chamber portion 3 and the large chamber portion 4 are formed to communicate through a flow path 5 formed in a notch shape at the lower end of the partition wall 2, and the small chamber portion 3 has a bottom area of the large chamber portion 4. formed smaller.

The ceiling 3a of the small chamber 3 has an insertion hole 8 through which a pipette P for reagent dispensing is inserted.
has been established. In addition, the ceiling portion 4a of the large room portion 4
An inlet 6 for the reagent S is provided in the inlet 6, and a lid 7 is removably attached to the inlet 6 so that the large chamber 4 can be hermetically sealed.

The operation for injecting a reagent into the reagent container B configured in this way will be explained.

First, the insertion hole 8 is closed, and after a predetermined amount of reagent S is injected into the large chamber 4 from the injection port 6 of the reagent container B, the lid 7 is attached to the injection port 6 to seal it.

Next, when the insertion hole 8 is opened, the reagent S contained in the large chamber 4 flows into the small chamber 3 through the flow path 5 at the lower end of the partition wall 2 . In this case, the small chamber 3 communicates with the atmosphere through the insertion hole 8, but since the large chamber is in a sealed state, the water level of the reagent S flowing into the small chamber 4 is lower than that of the large chamber 4. It can only rise to a point below the water level. That is, in this state, the pressure in the small chamber 3 and the pressure in the large chamber 4 are maintained in equilibrium.

In addition, when the pressure balance in both chambers 3 and 4 is maintained, the pipette P is inserted into the small chamber 3 and a predetermined amount of the reagent S in the small chamber 3 is aspirated. As the water level of the reagent S falls, the pressure in the small chamber 3 decreases, and as a result, the pressure in the large chamber 4 exceeds the pressure in the small chamber 3, so the reagent S in the large chamber 4 flows through the flow path. 5 into the small chamber 3, and the water level of the reagent S in the small chamber 3 rises to the above-mentioned initial water level and then stops. That is, the water level of the reagent S in the small chamber 3 is always kept almost constant.

Therefore, the reagent container B according to this embodiment is configured such that the water level of the reagent S in the small chamber 3 is always kept constant at a lower water level than the water level of the reagent S in the large chamber 4. Therefore, when the pipette P is inserted into the small chamber 3, a predetermined amount of reagent can be reliably aspirated simply by dipping the tip of the pipette P into the reagent S, and the contact area between the reagent S and the pipette P is significantly reduced. Since it can be made smaller, the pipette P can be easily cleaned and the apparatus can be made simpler and smaller.

Furthermore, in the reagent container B according to this embodiment, since the contact surface between the reagent S and the atmosphere in the small chamber 3 can be made small, evaporation and deterioration of the reagent S can be significantly suppressed.

Further, in the above embodiment, the small chamber 3
Since the height of the outer wall 3b of the large chamber 4 is configured to be flush with the ceiling 4a of the large chamber 4, when adding reagent S to the large chamber 4, etc., the large chamber 4 is kept in a sealed state. When released, the water level of the reagent S in the small chamber 3 rises, effectively preventing it from overflowing to the outside of the container.

By having the above configuration, the present invention can automatically supply a reagent to the reagent dispensing liquid level. Furthermore, since the contact area between the pipette and the reagent in the reagent container can be greatly reduced, evaporation and deterioration of the reagent can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a reagent container according to an embodiment of the present invention. B... Reagent container, P... Pipette, 1... Container body, 2... Partition wall, 3... Small chamber, 4... Large chamber, 5... Distribution path, 8... Pipet insertion hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a reagent container used in an automatic analyzer, a large chamber and a small chamber are formed by interposing a partition within the reagent container main body, and a flow path communicating the two chambers is formed at the lower end of the partition. A lid is provided at the top of the large chamber to maintain a sealed state after the reagent is injected, and an insertion hole is provided in the small chamber for inserting a pipette for dispensing the reagent. Reagent container.