JPH07863A - Centrifuge - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Even with a single centrifuge container, this is immediately subjected to centrifugal treatment to eliminate retention at the supply port and the ejection port of the centrifuge container of the centrifuge. Enables quick inspection. [Structure] A rotor that holds a plurality of vessels to be centrifuged,
A drive device for rotating the rotor at a predetermined speed, a means for supplying a container to be centrifuged to the rotor, a means for storing a holding position of the container to be centrifuged held by the rotor, and a necessary centrifugal for each container to be centrifuged. A means for individually measuring the processing time constitutes a centrifuge, and means for supplying a centrifuge container to the rotor stops the driving device in the order of reaching each centrifuge container supply position. After that, the drive control is performed so that the vessels to be centrifuged are sequentially held by the rotor, and the drive device is drive-controlled by the integrating means so that the vessels are stopped in the order in which the required centrifugal processing time of each of the vessels to be centrifuged is completed. .

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a centrifuge for separating blood into blood serum and blood pay, and in particular, to a prompt order in which a request is made without waiting for a certain number of containers to be centrifuged to be collected. The present invention relates to a centrifugal separator that can perform centrifugal separation processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, when performing various blood tests such as biochemical analysis and immunological analysis, centrifuging work of blood is performed as a pretreatment, but the centrifuge is used. When setting the centrifuge vessels, wait for a certain number of centrifuge vessels to be gathered, and then place each centrifuge vessel containing the collected blood into the centrifuge vessel manually while considering the rotation balance. Since it has to be set one by one on the rotor of the centrifuge, it has a problem that it is the biggest obstacle for rapid inspection.

In other words, in order to carry out a quick test, it is necessary to carry out centrifugation immediately after blood sampling / testing of a sample, but in a conventional centrifuge, it is not possible to carry out additional centrifugation during centrifugation. It is possible, let alone, it is not possible to centrifuge one by one, so it is not possible to eliminate the retention at the supply port and the extraction port of the centrifuge vessel of the centrifuge, which in turn speeds up the inspection. It had a problem that it was impossible to plan.

The present invention was devised in view of the above situation, and the object thereof is to immediately centrifuge a single centrifuge container to centrifuge it to remove the centrifuge of the centrifuge. It is an object of the present invention to provide a centrifuge device having a simple structure that can eliminate the stagnation at the supply port and the take-out port of the centrifuge container, and thus can speed up the inspection.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a centrifugal separator is provided with a rotor for holding a plurality of vessels to be centrifuged, and the rotor is rotated at a predetermined speed. A drive unit, a means for supplying a centrifuge vessel to the rotor, a means for storing the holding position of the centrifuge vessel held by the rotor, and a means for individually measuring the necessary centrifugation processing time of each centrifuge vessel And a means for supplying a container to be centrifuged to the rotor, the means for stopping the driving device in the order in which the respective containers to be supplied to the centrifugal container are reached, and then sequentially holding the container to be centrifuged on the rotor. In addition to the drive control, the drive device is configured to be drive-controlled by the integrating means so as to be stopped in the order in which the required centrifugal processing time of each container to be centrifuged is completed. .

[0006]

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.

The centrifugal separator A according to this embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a sample supply line 1 for transporting a sample cassette 3 holding a required number of containers to be centrifuged p to a cassette supply port a, a disc-shaped rotor 6, and the cassette with the rotor 6 interposed therebetween. A sample cassette take-out port b formed at a position facing the supply port a, a sample cassette take-out line 2 for taking out the sample cassette 3 subjected to the centrifugal separation process from the sample cassette take-out port b, and a cassette cassette take-out line The cassette ID number reading device 4 provided, the cassette erection / removal mechanism 5 for erection / removal work of the sample cassette 3 at the cassette supply port a and the sample cassette ejection port b, and the position of the rotor 6 are detected. And a rotor position detection sensor 9.

The sample supply line 1 and the sample cassette take-out line 2 are composed of, for example, a well-known belt conveyor mechanism or a pick-up robot mechanism, and hold a required number of centrifuge containers p such as blood collection tubes standing upright. Except that the drive is controlled so that the sample cassette 3 is sequentially conveyed to the cassette supply port a, the configuration is the same as that of the above-described known mechanisms, so detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

In this embodiment, the sample cassettes 3 are constructed so as to vertically hold five containers to be centrifuged p, and each sample cassette 3 is provided with a combination of a bar code or an identification penetrating hole. Different cassette I configured
D number is attached.

The cassette ID number reading device 4 is
The cassette ID number is read and input to the holding position storage circuit 11 of the container to be centrifuged, which will be described later.

As a matter of course, the cassette ID number is preliminarily entered with the necessary centrifugation time information of each centrifuge container p held in the sample cassette 3, and this cassette ID number is entered.
The number reading device 4 is configured to automatically read and input it to the centrifuge time integrating circuit 12 described later, or the necessary centrifuge time information is sent via the operation unit 14 configured by a known keyboard or the like. It can also be configured to input to the integrating circuit 12. Incidentally, reference numeral 13 in the figure is an external C
It is a PU interface.

The cassette erection / removal mechanism 5 is composed of, for example, a known pick-up robot or the like, and the sample cassettes 3 that have reached the cassette supply port a are sequentially erected to the vacant cassette erection basket 8 of the rotor 6. At the same time, the drive control is performed so as to take out the sample cassette 3 for which the centrifugal separation work has been completed from the cassette erection basket 8 to the sample cassette take-out port b.

The rotor 6 is fixed to a rotary shaft of a drive unit 7 composed of a pulse motor or the like, and a plurality of cassette erection baskets 8 pivotally supported at predetermined intervals along the outer peripheral direction of the rotor 6 rotate. It is pivotally supported.

Although not shown, the cassette erection basket 8 is formed to have a substantially concave cross section, and the sample cassette 3 is configured to be inserted into and removed from the upper opening of the cassette erection basket 8. .

Further, although not shown, the cassette erection basket 8 is provided with a storage portion having a substantially L-shaped cross section for storing water supplied by the weight correction device. Of course, when the sample cassette 3 is attached to the cassette erection basket 8, the sample cassette 3 is not automatically dropped from the cassette erection basket 8 during the centrifugal operation, for example, automatically by a locking body. Be locked.

The drive unit 7 is composed of, for example, various known motors such as a pulse motor capable of obtaining stable rotation.

Further, the drive unit 7 is configured to control the centrifugal work and the stopping work of the rotor 6 via the rotor rotation control circuit 10. The rotor rotation control circuit 10 holds the container to be centrifuged. It is configured to control each of the above operations via the centrifugal time integration circuit 12 that starts counting based on the information input to the position storage circuit 11.

That is, the centrifugation time integration circuit 12 integrates the required centrifugation time for each centrifuge container p of each sample cassette 3 held by the rotor 6, and the required centrifugation time for each centrifuge container p is completed. In this case, the drive device 7 is controlled to stop the rotor 6, and drive control is performed so that the sample cassette 3 is located at the sample cassette outlet b. Of course, the centrifugation time integration circuit 12 may be configured to subtract the required centrifugation time for each container to be centrifuged p.

The rotor position detection sensor 9 detects the position of the rotor 6 on which the sample cassette 3 is erected (the identification number of the cassette erection basket) and, together with the cassette ID number read by the cassette ID number reading device 4, , Is input to the holding position storage circuit 11 of the container to be centrifuged.

Next, the operation of the centrifugal separator constructed as described above will be described.

The sample cassette 3 conveyed to the cassette supply port a by the sample supply line 1 is immediately transferred to the cassette erection basket 8 of the rotor 6 without waiting for another sample cassette 3 to arrive at the cassette supply port a. The rotor 6 is immediately centrifugally rotated to perform the centrifugal separation process on the sample cassette 3 thus installed. At this time, the installation position of the sample cassette 3 is detected by the cassette ID number reading device 4 and the rotor position detection sensor 9, and this information is stored in the holding position storage circuit 1 of the centrifuge container.
1, the centrifugal time integration circuit 12 integrates the necessary centrifugation of the sample cassette 3 concerned.

After the centrifugal operation of the rotor 6, when a new sample cassette 3 is conveyed to the cassette supply port a, the drive device 7 temporarily stops the rotation of the rotor 6 via the rotor rotation control circuit 10, Rotate the new sample cassette 3 to the rotor 6
After erection to the position of the vacant cassette erection basket 8, the rotor 6 starts the centrifugal operation again. This operation is repeated every time a new sample cassette 3 is supplied to the cassette supply port a.

The time during centrifugation of each sample cassette 3 is accurately measured by the above centrifugal time integration circuit 12, and the rotor 6 is stopped in order from the time when a predetermined required centrifugal time has elapsed, and the sample cassette outlet b. Taken out to
The sample is taken out to a predetermined position via the sample cassette take-out line 2.

With such a configuration, the substantial centrifuge processing time for the centrifuge container p held in each sample cassette 3 is extended by the time when the rotor 6 is stopped during the installation and removal work of the sample cassette 3. However, the centrifugal separation process can be started promptly without waiting for a certain number of sample cassettes 3 to be collected, and a new sample cassette 3 can be centrifuged even in the middle of time. Therefore, the inspection can be speeded up as a result.

Further, since the cassette ID number reading device 4 can perform the centrifugal separation process by mixing the specimens having different centrifugation times, the effect that the flexibility for the inspection is greatly improved can be obtained.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the centrifuge which is constructed so that the sample cassette 3 holding and holding five containers to be centrifuged p is erected and taken out has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. Of course, if finer continuous centrifugation is to be performed, it is needless to say that the sample cassette that holds one centrifuge container standing upright may be operated one by one.

[0027]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Since the present invention is configured as described above, even a single centrifuge container is immediately subjected to centrifugal treatment, and the centrifugal force is applied to the inlet and outlet of the centrifuge container of the centrifugal separator. Since the retention can be eliminated, the total inspection time can be shortened, and moreover, the structure is simple, so that it can be provided at a low price, and other excellent effects are exhibited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a centrifugal separator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of sign]

 a cassette supply port b sample cassette ejection port 3 sample cassette 4 cassette ID number reading device 6 rotor 7 drive device 9 rotor position detection sensor 10 rotor rotation control circuit 11 holding position storage circuit for the centrifuge container 12 centrifuge time integration circuit

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 20, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0011

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Of course, the cassette ID number is preliminarily input with the necessary centrifugation time information of each centrifuge container p held in the sample cassette 3, and the cassette I number is used as the cassette I number.
The D number reading device 4 is configured to automatically read and input it to the centrifugal time integration circuit 12, which will be described later, or
The necessary centrifugation time information may be input to the centrifugation time integration circuit 12 via the operation unit 14 including a known keyboard or the like. Incidentally, reference numeral 13 in the drawing is a control
It is a device .

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotor for holding a plurality of vessels to be centrifuged, a drive device for rotating the rotor at a predetermined speed,
It has means for supplying a centrifuge vessel to the rotor, means for storing the holding position of the centrifuge vessel held by the rotor, and means for individually measuring the required centrifugal processing time of each centrifuge vessel. The means for supplying the to-be-centrifuged container to the rotor is driven so as to sequentially hold the to-be-centrifuged container on the rotor after stopping the driving device in the order of reaching each of the to-be-centrifuged container supply positions. The centrifuge according to claim 1, wherein the driving device is controlled and driven by the integrating means so that the driving device is stopped in the order in which the required centrifugal processing time of each container to be centrifuged is completed.