JPH06148043A - Method and apparatus for stirring liquid sample in small-capacity container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method for easily and efficiently stirring liquid in a small-capacity container without contact. CONSTITUTION:Air fed from an air pump 4 is blown to a surface of liquid sample 2 put in a small-capacity container (generally a cuvette) by an air nozzle 3. The nozzle 3 is fixed at a constant height above the liquid surface. Adjustment of blowing pressure eliminates need of varying the height. A controller 5 for controlling characteristics of the air is used to control adjustment of the air blowing pressure, temperature, blowing intervals, etc., so that bubbling on the liquid surface is enhanced and if heating is necessary at the same time as stirring, warm air is blown.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and a device for stirring a liquid sample in a small volume container without contact. Here, the small-capacity container is a container such as a cuvette used in a laboratory or the like having a volume such that the liquid is difficult to vibrate due to the surface tension of the liquid contained therein.

[0002]

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention proposes a non-contact, simple and efficient method for stirring liquid in a small volume container.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a method of vibrating the container itself as the most general method for agitating a liquid in a small container. However, it is necessary to agitate a large number of containers at the same time with a vibrating table. Not only requires energy to vibrate the liquid together with the container, but also the liquid is difficult to vibrate due to the influence of the surface tension of the liquid surface when the capacity of the container is small, so that the efficiency is extremely low. Further, the smaller the container, the finer the vibration cycle, but if the sample liquid in the container contains live cells, it may be inactivated.

As a method of applying energy only to the sample liquid to stir the sample liquid, there is a method of inserting a thin tube into the sample liquid and repeating suction and discharge of a part of the sample liquid, and a method of sending air into the thin tube to stir. However, in any of these cases, the sample liquid comes into contact with the thin tube, and when the liquid sample in another container is subsequently stirred with the same thin tube, not only the previous sample attached to the thin tube may have an adverse effect, but also In the case of automation, an up / down mechanism for the thin tube is required.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention efficiently stirs a liquid sample in a small-capacity container, at the same time without contaminating the liquid sample or altering the quality of the liquid sample by stirring, and at the same time, the structural maintenance of the apparatus can be achieved. A simple stirring method and device are proposed.

[0006]

The present invention is characterized in that agitation is carried out by continuously or intermittently blowing a gas toward the liquid surface of a sample in a small-volume container to make the liquid surface undulate. .

[0007]

Embodiments of the method of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, air is drawn from above the liquid surface of a liquid sample 2 contained in a small capacity container (generally a cuvette) 1.
The air sent from the pump 4 is blown by the air-nozzle 3. The nozzle 3 is fixed at a constant height above the liquid surface, but this height does not have to be variable if the spray pressure is adjusted. Reference numeral 5 is a controller for controlling the characteristics of the air, which controls the air blowing pressure, controls the temperature, the blowing cycle, etc. to promote the ripples on the liquid surface, and blows warm air when heating is required at the same time as stirring. Two tasks can be accomplished at the same time. In this embodiment, air was used as the blowing gas, but other gas may be used if necessary, and the blowing angle may be inclined with respect to the liquid surface.

[0009]

According to the present invention, even if the container is not vibrated at all, the agitation can be achieved with energy enough to overcome the surface tension of the sample liquid.
Very efficient. Furthermore, since there are no moving parts in the device that implements this method, there is no malfunction and maintenance is easy. By incorporating a simple controller, not only control of stirring work but also other heating , Cooling and the like can be achieved at the same time, and the equipment can be easily installed on the conventional shaking table.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Small capacity container 2: Liquid sample 3: Air-nozzle 4: Air-pump 5: Controller

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method for stirring a liquid sample, characterized in that air is continuously or intermittently blown onto the liquid surface of the liquid sample in a small capacity container. 2. The stirring method according to claim 1, wherein the blowing pressure of air is controlled. 3. The stirring method according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the blown air is controlled. 4. The stirring method according to claim 1, wherein a spraying cycle of air to be sprayed is changed. 5. The stirring method according to claim 1, wherein the blowing angle of air to be blown is changed. 6. The stirring method according to claim 1, wherein the blowing air is replaced with a gas. 7. An agitator characterized in that an air nozzle is fixed in the vicinity of and above the liquid surface of a liquid sample in a small volume container, and is connected so as to send air from an air pump to the air nozzle. 8. A stirrer comprising the stirrer according to claim 6 above a vibrating table of a conventional vibration stirrer.