JPH04291156A - Peeler of film-shaped cover for sample tube - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To peel a film-shaped cover safely and accurately by lowering an opening/closing arm and a cover keeper with a lift device to pull a film-shaped cover tongue piece part mounted on an upper rim part of a sample tube fixed together being fastened. CONSTITUTION:When lift cylinders 10a and 10b are lowered, a cylinder 12 and opening/closing arms 8a and 8b move down, causing a cover keeper 11 to abut to a head of a blood sampling tube 1. With the closing of the arms 8a and 8b, a tongue piece part 3 can be pinched anywhere between protruded parts 13a and 13b for holding and a member 11. When the cylinders 10a and 10b and 12 are lifted up together, the tongue piece part 3 continues to rise as being pinched as intact as a rising force overcomes adhesion for the blood sampling tube 1 of a cover 2 and with this action, the cover 2 is peeled from the blood sampling tube 1. As the members 8a and 8b or the like rise to the upper end limits thereof, a tray is inserted right therebelow, the cover 2 held falls thereon and the tray is moved to another place to throw away.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a film-like cover peeling device for sample tubes, and more particularly to a peeling device capable of separating a cover from a sample tube whose upper edge opening is covered with a film-like cover.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art A sample such as a blood specimen collected in a sample container is supplied to an analyzer for clinical testing. However, since vacuum blood collection tubes are often used as sample collection containers, it is necessary to remove the seal of the vacuum blood collection tube before supplying the blood sample to the analyzer.

[0003] Conventional vacuum blood collection tubes have had a rubber stopper attached to the opening for sealing. Such a device for opening a rubber stopper is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-2635.
It is known as No. 58.

[0004] However, recent vacuum blood collection tubes are beginning to have a film-like cover attached to the opening for sealing.

[0005]

[Problem to be solved by the invention] The above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1-2
According to the cap opening device described in No. 63558, it is possible to open a vacuum blood collection tube sealed with a rubber stopper, but it is difficult to open a seal with a film cover.

An object of the present invention is to provide a peeling device that can safely and reliably peel a film-like cover that covers the opening of a sample tube such as a vacuum blood collection tube from the sample tube.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the peeling device of the present invention,
A holding device that holds the sample tube so that it does not move during the peeling operation, a cover pressing member that can be lowered to the upper edge of the held sample tube, and a cover pressing member that descends together with the cover pressing member and hits the cover pressing member in the lowered state. A plurality of opening/closing arms that close so as to touch each other, and a lifting device that integrally pulls up the cover pressing member and the opening/closing arms while holding the tongue of the film cover in the closed state of these opening/closing arms. It is characterized by

[0008]

[Operation] A film-like cover is attached to the upper edge of a sample tube such as a vacuum blood collection tube or a test tube so as to cover the opening. This film-like cover is formed with a tongue piece that extends outward from the outer periphery of the upper edge of the sample tube, and this tongue piece serves as a knob when peeling off the film-like cover from the sample tube. .

[0009] After the sample tube is firmly fixed and held in a predetermined position by the holding device, the plurality of opening/closing arms that act as chucks and the cover pressing member are lowered by the lifting device, and the cover pressing member moves over the film-like cover. Hold down. The size of the cover pressing member is preferably approximately the same as or slightly larger than the outer circumference of the upper edge of the sample tube. However, the shape of the cover pressing member can be modified in various ways depending on the relationship with the opening/closing arm with which it works.

[0010] While the cover pressing member and the plurality of opening/closing arms are lowered, the opening/closing operations thereof are performed in the direction of the cover pressing member. Along with this closing operation, the opening/closing arm functions to bend the tongue portion of the film-like cover toward the cover pressing member from the outside. Therefore, when the closing operation of the opening/closing arm is completed and the opening/closing arm comes into contact with the cover pressing member, the tongue portion is sandwiched between the inner cover pressing member and the outer opening/closing arm and is held by them.

[0011] After the tongue piece is held, the cover pressing member and the opening/closing arm are pulled up together by the lifting device. During this lifting operation, the sample tube is firmly fixed by the holding device, so the tongue piece held by the cover pressing member and the opening/closing arm rises away from the sample tube, and as a result, the film-like cover lifts off the sample tube. be torn from the By making the lifting distance of the cover pressing member and the opening/closing arm by the lifting device larger than the diameter of the upper edge of the sample tube, the entire film-like cover can be completely separated from the upper edge of the sample tube.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A film cover peeling device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a vacuum blood collection tube as a sample tube. The cylindrical vacuum blood collection tube 1 has an open upper end, and this opening is covered and sealed with a film-like cover 2. The film cover 2 is adhered and fixed to the upper edge of the blood collection tube 1, and the gripping tongue portion 3 extends outward beyond the outer periphery of the upper edge of the sample tube 1. Film cover 2
A piercing rubber 4 for inserting a needle during blood sampling is provided near the center of the tube.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the entire structure of a film cover peeling device. For example, ten vacuum blood collection tubes 1 are loaded in a dedicated holder rack 5, and each blood collection tube 1 already contains a sample. In this way, the racks 5 are transported from the rack supply location to the rack storage location by a conveyor such as a belt conveyor (not shown).
. A cover peeling place is provided in the middle of the rack transport path, and a peeling device is installed. At this cover peeling location, the rack 5 is intermittently moved one container at a time so that each sample can be stopped one by one at a predetermined position corresponding to the holding position by the holding device 30.

The peeling device shown in FIG. 1 includes a holding device 30 and a peeling unit 40. The holding device 30 includes a pair of contact holding members 6a, 6b having contact surfaces formed to fit the outer wall of the sample tube 1, and a holding cylinder 7 for advancing and retracting these holding members 6a, 6b.
It has a and 7b. The blood collection tube 1 that has reached the predetermined location is clamped from both sides by the contact holding members 6a, 6b advanced by the operation of the cylinders 7a, 7b, and fixed so as not to move.

Fixed arm 42 of peeling unit 40
Attached to are cylinders 10a and 10b for lifting and lowering that are synchronously driven, and a cylinder 12 for lifting and lowering the holding member. These cylinders constitute a lifting device. A cover pressing member 11 is attached to the piston shaft of the cylinder 12 and has a substantially disk-shaped contact portion with a recess formed in the center of the lower surface. On the other hand, the lifting cylinder 10a,
A movable frame 44 is attached to the piston end of 10b. A through hole 46 into which the shaft of the holding member 11 is inserted is formed at approximately the center of the movable frame 44 .

When the cover holding member 11 is directly attached to the movable frame 44, the cylinder 12 for lifting and lowering the holding member can be omitted, and the structure is simplified.

An opening/closing chucking mechanism is attached to the movable frame 44, and a plurality of opening/closing arms 8a, 8b are suspended so as to surround the presser member 11 from the periphery. Although only two opening/closing arms are shown in FIG. 1, it is also possible to use three or more opening/closing arms so that the tongue portion 3 of the film-like cover 2 and the pressing member 11 are held together. These opening/closing arms 8a, 8b
can perform an outward opening operation and an inward closing operation by the corresponding chuck drive units 9a and 9b, respectively.

Each opening/closing arm 8a, 8b has holding protrusions 13a, 13b formed inside, and this protrusion 13
a, 13b bend the tongue portion 3 upward during the closing operation. Slanted surfaces 15a, 15b are formed on the surfaces of the protrusions 13a, 13b to help reliably bend the tongue portion 3 upward when the opening/closing arms 8a, 8b move forward.

The seal peeling operation by the peeling device shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. 3.

[0021] When the vacuum blood collection tube is stopped at a predetermined position, the blood collection tube 1 is fixed by the holding device 30 and becomes in a state as shown in FIG. Cylinders 10a, 10b of the lifting device,
12 is in a raised state, and the opening/closing arms 8a, 8b are in an outwardly open state.

Next, the lifting cylinders 10a and 10b are lowered, and the holding member lifting cylinder 12 is lowered. As a result, the opening/closing arms 8a, 8b and the cover pressing member 11 descend to the state shown in FIG. 3(A). At this time, the cover pressing member 11 comes into contact with the head of the blood collection tube 1. The ring-shaped lower end surface of the holding member 11 is in contact with the upper edge of the blood collection tube 1 via the film-like cover 2.

In the next step, the chuck drive unit 9a,
9b to close the opening/closing arms 8a and 8b as shown in FIG. 3(B). Since the tongue portion 3 of the film-like cover 2 extends only in one direction in this example, the opening/closing arms 8a, 8b
It is unclear which of the following causes the bending. However, when the opening/closing arms 8a and 8b are in the closed state, the container 1
Since it is configured to cover almost the entire circumference of the upper edge, no matter which direction the tongue piece 3 is placed, it will not get caught between the holding protrusions 13a, 13b and the pressing member 11. can. The holding protrusions 13a and 13b are made of a rubbery material such as urethane rubber, and their inner walls are curved along the outer periphery of the upper edge of the blood collection tube 1.

Next, the state of the pulling process is shown in FIG. 3(C). The tongue portion 3 held by the pressing member 11 being held between the opening/closing arms 8a and 8b is lifted by the integral lifting movement of the cylinders 10a and 10b and the cylinder 12.

FIG. 3(D) shows the process of peeling off the film cover 2. Since both of them are lifted while pressing the opening/closing arm 8 against the holding member 11, the lifting force overcomes the adhesion force of the film cover 2 to the blood collection tube 1, and the tongue piece 3 is lifted while being sandwiched. Continuing, the film cover 2 is gradually peeled off from the blood collection tube 1, and finally the entire cover 2 is separated from the blood collection tube 1.

After the holding member 11 holding the cover 2 and the opening/closing arms 8a, 8b rise to the uppermost end, the opening/closing arms 8a, 8
A saucer is inserted horizontally just below the lower end of the opening/closing arms 8a and 8b, and then the opening/closing arms 8a and 8b are opened by the drive units 9a and 9b. As a result, the held cover 2 is dropped onto the tray, and the tray is then moved to another location and the cover 2 is thrown away.

After the above operations, the holding device 30 unlocks the blood collection tube 1, the rack 5 moves to position the next blood collection tube at a predetermined position, and the series of operations described above are repeated. Note that the holding protrusion 13a
, 13b or the pressing member 11, or both surfaces may have a large number of projections and depressions to increase friction during holding.

[0028]

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an apparatus that can reliably peel off the film-like cover attached to a sample tube, and there is no need to manually peel off the cover of the sample tube, thereby reducing the possibility of contact with the sample. It also improves safety.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a vacuum blood collection tube equipped with a film-like cover.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a state in which a film-like cover is peeled off by the apparatus of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1... Vacuum blood collection tube, 2... Film-like cover, 3... Tongue piece,
8a, 8b... Opening/closing arm, 10a, 10b... Cylinder for lifting/lowering, 11... Cover pressing member, 12... Cylinder for lifting/lowering pressing member, 13a, 13b... Holding protrusion, 30... Holding device, 40... Peeling unit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: A peeling device for peeling off a film-like cover from a sample tube whose upper edge opening is covered by a film-like cover having an outwardly extending tongue portion, in which the sample tube is prevented from moving during the peeling operation. a holding device for holding; a cover pressing member that can be lowered to the upper edge of the held sample tube;
A plurality of opening/closing arms that descend together with the cover pressing member and close so as to come into contact with the cover pressing member in the lowered state, and the cover pressing arm holds the tongue portion between the opening/closing arms in the closed state. A sample tube film cover peeling device characterized in that it is provided with a lifting device that integrally lifts up the member and the opening/closing arm. 2. The peeling device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of opening/closing arms bend the tongue portion of the film-like cover toward the cover holding member as the plurality of opening/closing arms close, and then press the cover holding member. A film-like cover peeling device for a sample tube, characterized in that it has a holding protrusion that holds the tongue portion together with the member.