JPH06294801A - Transportation device for vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smooth the work of returning unpropers vessel by constituting a plurality of conveyer lines for transporting vessels with a line for supplying vessels and a line for returning and arranging one line below the other line. CONSTITUTION:A blood sampling pipe is supplied in turn to the beginning end of a blood sampling tube and transportation line 1, 1 and transported to by a robot to the transportation robot direction. After removing things outside of inspection object, the tube is separated line 8. After being processed with a centrifugal separation, it is sent to a separation tube buffer part 25 and it is stocked. Then the rubber plug is taken out, it is transported to a decant robot mechanism 33 and blood serum sample is decanted from the blood sampling tube to a serum tube. On the other hand, each blood sampling tube having completed the decant work is transported via the transportation robot to a blood sampling tube stacker 32. And empty racks are returned through a returning line 2 to the beginning end of the blood sampling tube transportation line 1, 1 by way of a returning pipe 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container transfer device configured to automatically sort blood samples in accordance with test items and then transfer the sorted samples to each testing device. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, in a blood test, blood is collected by a person in charge of blood collection after a predetermined office work is completed at a hospital (medical clinic), and the collected blood is collected into a blood collection tube or the like. After being housed in the container, it is generally transferred to each test device together with the test request form and a predetermined blood test is performed.

By the way, in recent blood tests, the number of blood samples to be processed per day has increased dramatically, and there is a natural limit to the number of blood samples that can be processed at one illness (medical clinic) in terms of labor costs and costs. Therefore, in recent years, there is a strong demand for the emergence of a system that automatically sorts and collects collected blood.

As a means for automatically sorting and transporting such a large amount of blood, a means for transporting each blood container from a sorting position to each testing device by a plurality of transport lines is conceivable. If they are arranged independently in parallel, the blood containers are not compatible between the blood supply lines, and if the barcode information attached to the containers cannot be read, When it is returned to the position of the barcode reader again, it becomes impossible to transfer it to the container return line, which causes a problem in the transfer operation of the container. When the and are connected, there is a problem that the plane occupying area is enlarged and the equipment cost is increased.

The present invention was devised in view of the above situation, and an object thereof is to smooth the connection between the container supply line and the container return line to perform the defective container return work. An object of the present invention is to provide a container transfer device that can be smoothly operated and that can effectively utilize the facility space by reducing the planar occupied area.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in a container transfer device according to the present invention, two or more transfer lines for transferring the container, a line for supplying the container and a container are collected. And a return line, and the one line is arranged below the other line.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below in detail based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the container transfer device according to this embodiment comprises a blood collection tube supply / sorting section, an automatic centrifugal section, and a test tube carrying section.

These blood collection tube supply / sorting section, automatic centrifugal section and test tube transfer section are provided with two blood collection tube transfer lines 1, 1.
And a return line 2 disposed between the blood collection tube transport lines 1 and 1 are sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side of the transport line.

The transport lines 1 and 1 and the return line 2
Is linearly configured by, for example, an endless belt conveyor, and a weak magnetic force is applied to each of the lines 1 and 2.

In this way, a weak magnetic force is applied to each of the lines 1 and 2, and the rack for standing and holding the blood collection tube is made of an adsorptive metal, whereby the transportation can be smoothly carried out. Of course, a stopper is provided at a site where the blood collection tube is stopped and work is performed.

The rack for vertically holding the blood collection tubes is such that a required number of empty racks are constantly supplied to the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1 through the return line 2 without any interruption. It has a free size structure so that it can be held. Needless to say, a rubber stopper for preventing leakage of the stored blood is attached to the opening of the blood collection tube which is erected and held on the rack.

As shown in FIG. 1, the blood collection tube supply / sorting section includes a blood collection tube loading stacker 3 and an empty rack stacker 4 which are arranged at the start ends of the blood collection tube transport lines 1 and 1, and the above-mentioned sampling tubes. A bar code reader 5, a transfer robot 6, a sequence number printer 7, and a sample sorting line 8 which are sequentially arranged on the downstream side of the blood vessel transport lines 1 and 1.
It consists of and.

A rack (not shown), such as a test tube stand rack, in which a plurality of blood collection tubes are erected is set in the blood collection tube input stacker 3, and the blood collection tubes (not shown) erected in the rack are set. ), Although not shown, is sequentially erected for transfer to an empty rack supplied to the start ends of the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1 via the transfer robot R, and then the above-mentioned respective blood collection tube transfer lines 1 , 1 is transferred to the transfer robot 6 direction. Of course, the patient information regarding the sample owner is bar-coded and attached to the surface of each blood collection tube.

On the other hand, the rack from which all the blood collection tubes have been extracted is transferred to the empty rack stacker 4 by the transfer robot R.

The bar code reader 5 reads the patient information of the blood collection tube transferred by the blood collection tube transport lines 1 and 1 at a position before the transfer robot 6, and then reads the information from a host computer (not shown). No.), and the host computer gives a sequence number corresponding to the read patient information to the blood collection tube via the sequence number controller 9. The sequence number is a daily serial number given to a sample processed on the day at the inspection facility, and the number is automatically written by a known ink jet printer.

After that, the blood collection tube is transferred to the transfer robot 6 by the blood collection tube transfer lines 1, 1.

The transfer robot 6 picks up those for special inspection, those that cannot be read and those that do not have requested items from the transferred blood collection tubes, and these are picked up by the special inspection stacker 10 and the unreadable stacker 11. And a transfer robot to the stacker 12 without request, and is composed of a pick-up robot having a known mechanism capable of moving up and down and traversing the blood collection tube transfer lines 1, 1.

In this way, the racks that have been emptied after being transferred to the stackers 10, 11, and 12 that correspond to the above-mentioned reasons are bypass lines formed immediately downstream of the transfer robot 6. After being sent to S, return line 2 above
Will be sent back to.

Of course, blood collection tubes that do not correspond to the above reasons are:
Sequence number printer 7 and sample sorting line 8 without being picked up by transfer robot 6.
Transferred to.

The sequence number printer 7 numerically displays the sequence number given by the sequence number controller 9 on the information paper attached to the surface of each blood collection tube that has been transferred without being picked up by the transfer robot 6. The ink jet printer is a known ink jet printer. Of course, this printer mechanism may adopt another known printer mechanism, and further, a paper on which a pre-digitized sequence number is printed may be attached to the surface of the blood collection tube. .

The blood collection tube to which the sequence number is added in this way is then transferred to the sample sorting line 8. This is performed in order to improve the inspection efficiency by first processing those that are targets of the inspection that takes time or the inspection that is collectively analyzed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sample sorting line 8 is arranged so as to be distributed to the left and right of each of the blood collection tube conveying lines 1 and 1, and the other blood collection tube stocks for examination are sequentially arranged from the upstream side. Section 13, biochemical test blood collection tube stock section 14, protein fractionation test blood collection tube stock section 15, and method-based test blood collection tube stock section 16, which are carried in from the inlet of each stock section. The blood vessels are formed so as to be sequentially carried out to the respective blood collection tube transport lines 1 and 1 from the outlets formed downstream of the inlets of these stock parts.

In this way, by performing the sorting work to each stock part, the items that require a long time for inspection can be preferentially sent to the centrifugal separation process, and when the work is finished, first, the manual method is used. The blood collection tubes stocked in the test blood collection tube stock section 16 are successively carried out in the required number of times each time the centrifugal separation work in the automatic centrifugal section is completed and supplied to the automatic centrifugal section. When the stock section 16 becomes empty, next, the blood collection tube stock section 1 for protein fraction inspection
5, the blood collection tube stock section 14 for biochemical examination, and the other blood collection tube stock section 13 for examination are sequentially carried out and conveyed to the automatic centrifugal section. Of course, the delivery order of the blood collection tubes is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be appropriately selected in accordance with the needs of the facility that employs the present device.

The blood collection tubes carried out from the sample sorting line 8 in this manner are conveyed to the automatic centrifuge section by the respective blood collection tube conveying lines 1 and 1 and subjected to centrifugal separation processing in the automatic centrifuge section. A bypass line 17 is provided between the sample sorting line 8 of each of the blood collection tube transport lines 1 and 1 and the automatic centrifuge unit to connect the two.

The automatic centrifuge is equipped with the respective blood collection tube transfer lines 1,
Via the transfer robot 22 to the rotors of the respective automatic centrifuges distributed to the left and right of the respective blood collection tube transfer lines 1, 1 and after the transfer work to the rotors is completed, The rotor rotates at a high speed to centrifuge the blood sample contained in the blood collection tube.

The structure of the pair of automatic centrifuges 20 arranged in the automatic centrifuge unit is not shown, but a motor for rotating the rotor at a high speed and a blood collection tube suspended around the rotor at predetermined intervals. Other than that, the configuration and operation are the same as those of the known centrifuge, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted here. Reference numeral 21 in the drawing denotes a dummy stocker for stocking a dummy for balancing the rotor weight, and the dummy is transferred to the rotor via the transfer robot 23.

The centrifuge-treated blood collection tubes are returned from the rotor to the respective blood collection tube transfer lines 1, 1 by the transfer robot 22, and the respective blood collection tube transfer lines 1, 1 are returned.
1 is transferred to each separation tube buffer unit 25 and stocked. A bypass line 18 is provided between the automatic centrifuge section of each of the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1 and each separation tube buffer section 25 to connect them.

Then, the blood collection tubes stocked in the respective separation tube buffers 25 are thereafter returned to the respective blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1 and transferred to the test tube transfer section.

In the test tube transporting section, from the upstream side, a corkscrew device (not shown) and a bar code reader device (not shown), which are arranged to be distributed right and left along each of the blood collection tube transport lines 1 and 1, respectively. , A pair of parent blood collection tube stackers 32 arranged on the downstream side of the barcode reader device, and a decant robot mechanism 3 for decanting only serum from the blood collection tube that has passed through the barcode reader device to a serum tube described later.
3 and a transfer robot (not shown) that transfers the blood collection tube for which the decanting operation has been completed to the blood collection tube stacker 32. A bypass line 19 is provided between the cap removal device 30 and the bar code reader device 31 of each of the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1 to connect them.

The unplugging device pulls out the rubber stopper attached to the opening of each blood collection tube from the blood collection tube. Although not shown in the figure, the arm holding the body of the blood collection tube and the rubber stopper are inserted into the rubber plug. Basically, it is composed of an extracting member that engages with the rubber plug.

The bar code reader device reads the patient information attached to the surface of the blood collection tube, and its configuration is the same as that of a known bar code reader device.

The blood collection tube stacker 32 transfers and stocks the blood collection tube in which only the blood clot remains after the decanting work is completed, through the transfer robot.

The decant robot mechanism 33 sucks a required amount of a serum sample in a blood collection tube with a pipette and dispenses the sucked serum sample into another container such as a serum tube. A known pipette mechanism having a suction / exhaust pump mechanism and a washing mechanism, and the pipette is moved up and down, and the pipette is moved from the decant positions c and d of the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1 to positions e and f of the supply line to be described later. And a mechanism for transferring to the serum tube set at the position. Of course, one or more pipettes are provided in the decant robot mechanism 33, and a serum sample is simultaneously sucked from a plurality of blood collection tubes and simultaneously dispensed into the serum tube to improve the processing speed. You can also let it.

Each of the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1 merges at a position downstream of the decant positions c and d, and an empty rack (the blood collection tube is moved to the blood collection tube stacker 32 after reaching the merge position). Is transferred to the start ends of the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1 via the return line 2.

This return line 2 is, as shown in FIG.
It is arranged so as to pass below the bypass lines 17, 18 and 19 connecting the respective blood collection tube transport lines 1 and 1,
As a result, it is possible to reduce the planar occupied area for the installation location of the device. Of course, the return line 2 can be arranged directly below either one of the above-mentioned transport lines.

Further, drive motors having a known configuration are arranged in each of the carrying lines of the apparatus according to the present embodiment, and the drive control of each drive motor and each device is configured by a known CPU or the like. It is carried out by a host computer that is configured as follows.

Next, the operation of the present apparatus constructed as above will be described.

When the present apparatus is operating normally, the blood collection tubes containing the patient's blood and the rubber stoppers inserted therein are respectively held upright on the racks of the blood collection tube input stacker 3. Each of the blood collection tubes is sequentially supplied to the start ends of the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1 by the transfer robot R, and after being erected on an empty rack set up in one of the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1. , Are sequentially transferred to the transfer robot 6 by the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1.

Each of the above blood collection tubes has a transfer robot 6
After removing the non-inspected items, uninspected items, unreadable barcodes, and non-inspected items, each blood collection tube is transferred to the sample sorting line 8 where After being sorted according to the inspection items, they are sent to the automatic centrifuge section, subjected to centrifugal separation processing in the automatic centrifuge section, and then separated into a separation tube buffer section 25.
Is transferred to and stocked.

After this, the rubber collecting tube is pulled out by a rubber stopper, and then the collecting tube conveying lines 1 and 1 are taken again.
Is transferred to each decant robot mechanism 33 of the test tube transport unit by each of the decant robot mechanisms 33.
A plurality of blood collection tubes on the corresponding blood collection tube transport lines 1 and 1 are lifted, and a serum sample is decanted from these blood collection tubes into a serum tube. On the other hand, each blood collection tube for which this decanting operation has been completed is transferred to the blood collection tube stacker 32 via the transfer robot.

Next, when one of the automatic centrifuges fails, the blood collection tubes carried by the blood collection tube carrying lines 1 and 1 are operated via the bypass line 17. It is sequentially supplied to the blood collection tube transfer line 1 for transferring the blood collection tube to the.

Further, for example, the decant robot mechanism 33
If a failure occurs in one of the blood collection tubes, the blood collection tubes transported by the blood collection tube transport lines 1 and 1 are collected via the bypass line 18 or 19 to the operating decant robot mechanism 33. It is sequentially supplied to the blood collection tube transport line 1 to be transferred.

On the other hand, the empty racks joined downstream from the decant positions c and d are returned to the start ends of the blood collection tube transfer lines 1 and 1 via the return line 2.

Therefore, in the present apparatus, even if one of the pretreatment of the blood sample and the serum sample dispensing mechanism or the transfer line fails, all of the apparatus does not stop working, and the failure does not occur. It is possible to effectively prevent the sample from being deteriorated and the inspection loss.

The bar code reader, the rack code reader and the sequence number printer used in this embodiment are constructed in the same manner as known ones, and therefore their detailed description is omitted here.

Further, although the present embodiment has been described by taking as an example the case where each conveying line such as a blood collection tube is linearly configured by an endless belt or the like, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it can be formed in a loop or meandering, and needless to say, the present invention can be applied to various container transfer means such as container transfer in the blood collection tube supply / sorting section.

[0048]

As described above, the container transfer device according to the present invention facilitates the connection between the container supply line and the container return line to smoothly perform the defective container return operation. Moreover, there is an excellent effect that the space occupied in a plane can be reduced and the facility space can be effectively used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view schematically showing the configuration of a container transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Blood collection tube transport line 2 Return line 8 Sample sorting section 17, 18, 19 Bypass line

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The two or more transfer lines for transferring the container are composed of a line for supplying the container and a return line for collecting the container, and the one line is disposed below the other line. A container transfer device characterized by being provided.