JPH081044A - Microplate adapter - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] The present invention relates to a bucket adapter for centrifuging using a microplate. The object of the present invention is to enable use of the current microplate under high centrifugal acceleration. To improve the centrifugal separation efficiency. [Structure] A seating surface 9 for contacting the back bottom surface of the sample injection hole 5 of the microplate 4 for bearing the centrifugal load of the microplate, and a seating surface part for floating the bottom surface of the box-shaped outer wall 7 of the microplate. The adapter 7 is configured so that the circumference of 9 is thin.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bucket adapter for centrifugal separation using a microplate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A microplate is a box-shaped container,
A large number of small concave holes for injecting a sample are provided in the upper surface portion in a vertical and horizontal manner. A body fluid such as blood is injected into the concave hole, a reaction reagent is dropped, and then the mixture is centrifuged.
Such a microplate centrifuging rotor is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-934. here,
A conventional technique will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 6
Is an external perspective view of a rotor, FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of a metal adapter, and FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing a microplate held by the adapter. 6 to 8, the rotor is composed of a rotor body 1 and a bucket 2. When the rotor 2 is rotated by the rotating shaft of the centrifuge, the bucket 2 swings and the microplate 4 held by the bucket 2 is rotated.
The centrifugal acceleration is added to. The metal adapter 3 is made of stainless steel or an aluminum plate. The metal adapter 3 is held in the bucket 2 without backlash and is configured to surround the outer shape portion and the bottom surface portion of the microplate 4. The microplate 4 may be used in two layers. In such a state, the rotation speed is usually about 2,000 rpm and the maximum centrifugal acceleration is 700x.
It is usually used at about g. The microplate 4 is generally molded by using polystyrene as a material and is disposable.

[0003]

In recent years, various experiments have been actively carried out in the field of tissue culture and the examination of various symptoms relating to human health by using microplates. It is required to improve the efficiency of the necessary centrifugation step. The improvement of the efficiency of the centrifugation step can be achieved by increasing the centrifugal acceleration by increasing the rotation speed and increasing the number of microplates that can be processed at one time.
Therefore, when the rotation speed of the rotor configured as described above is increased to improve the centrifugal separation effect, the sample injection hole is moved from the boundary portion 6 between the sample injection hole portion 5 of the microplate 4 and the box-shaped outer wall 7. The part is damaged in a depressed form, and the purpose of centrifugation cannot be achieved. The reason for this is that when a centrifugal load is applied to the microplate, there is a gap between the back bottom surface of the sample injection hole and the adapter, so the sample injection hole bends, and as a result, the sample injection hole 5 and the box-shaped outer shape. A large bending moment is applied to the boundary portion 6 of the wall 7, and the boundary portion 6 is damaged. According to our test, when a commercially available microplate was tested, the damage as described above occurred at about 1,000 × g. Polystyrene is generally used as a material for the microplate 4, and the fact that polystyrene is a characteristic of being weak in strength also contributes to the damage. Since the rotor for a centrifuge generates high centrifugal acceleration, the lighter the object to be separated including the adapter held in the bucket, the smaller the centrifugal load, and the lighter the load on the rotor body and the bucket, which is advantageous in design. Become. Further, the buckets are installed symmetrically with respect to the rotation axis, and it is necessary to consider the mass balance of the opposing buckets and the position of the center of gravity thereof. If the microplate is misaligned and held and rotated, the rotor vibrates greatly and rotates, which may damage the centrifuge, making it impossible to achieve the purpose of centrifugation. Further, if the microplates can be used by stacking them in multiple stages, the centrifugal separation process can be improved.

The object of the present invention is to remedy the abovementioned drawbacks,
To improve the centrifugal separation efficiency by making the current microplate usable under high centrifugal acceleration.

[0005]

The above-mentioned object is to have a seat surface for contacting the back bottom surface of the sample injection hole portion of the microplate to bear the centrifugal load of the microplate, and the bottom portion of the box-shaped outer wall of the microplate. This is accomplished by configuring the adapter to thin around the seat to float. Further, in order to reduce the weight of the adapter as claimed in claim 2, the thinning of the seat surface portion which supports the microplate of the adapter is reduced. Further, the positioning of the microplate is performed as in claim 3, and the positioning is performed by the groove or protrusion provided on the adapter with respect to the outer shape of the microplate or the shape of the inner surface of the bottom. Further, claims 4 to 7 are those which include the above means and can be used by stacking microplates in multiple stages. In claims 4 and 5, the shape fitting to the upper outer shape of the microplate of the adapter is used. It is provided on the bottom surface, and claims 6 and 7 are achieved by providing a positioning structure on the adapter itself.

[0006]

In the adapter constructed as described above, since the seating surface is provided so as to eliminate the gap between the back bottom surface of the sample injection hole portion of the microplate and the adapter, the sample injection hole portion does not bend, Since a large bending moment is not applied to the boundary portion 6 between the sample injection hole portion and the box-shaped outer wall, it is possible to prevent the boundary portion 6 from being damaged. In addition, a bending moment is applied to the boundary portion 6 by making the bottom portion of the box-shaped outer wall of the microplate float from the adapter,
Since the mass of the box-shaped outer wall is smaller than that of the sample injection hole portion and the distance from the boundary portion 6 is also very small, the bending moment is small and it does not matter. Further, the provision of the holes or counterbores for reducing the mass in the seat surface portion of the adapter that bears the centrifugal load of the microplate acts to reduce the centrifugal load applied to the adapter. Further, positioning the microplate by providing protrusions and grooves in the adapter corresponding to the outer shape of the microplate or the shape of the inner surface of the bottom operates to prevent unbalanced operation of the rotor. Further, the provision of the concave portion that fits into the upper shape of the microplate on the bottom surface of the adapter operates to position the microplate and is effective when centrifuging in multiple stages. Similarly, the adapter is provided with a vertical wall having a height slightly higher than the position of the upper end surface of the microplate, and the bottom surface portion is in contact with the upper surface portion of the microplate so as to be stacked in two stages. The same effect can be obtained by providing the positioning means between them.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an adapter according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view in which an adapter and a microplate are combined. In the figure, the adapter 8 is composed of a seat surface 9, a step portion 10, a reduced thickness portion 11, an end surface portion 12, and a bottom surface portion 13. The seat surface 9 contacts the back bottom surface portion of the sample injection hole of the microplate 4. It supports the centrifugal load applied to the microplate, and the step portion 10 is configured so as to have a slight gap with the lower end surface of the box-shaped outer portion of the microplate. The contact of the surface 9 is possible. The wall-thinning portion 11 is for reducing the mass of the adapter, and the wall-thinning method is free to some extent, taking care not to cause damage due to the bending moment of the microplate. As a matter of course, the end surface portion 12 is configured so that it can be fitted into the rotor bucket without play. Using the adapter configured as above,
The rotation test of a commercially available microplate revealed that it was 2,0
It was confirmed that it could rotate up to 00 × g without any problem and could withstand twice the centrifugal acceleration as compared with the conventional adapter.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view showing another embodiment in which the adapter 8 according to the present invention and the microplate 4 are combined. In the figure, the adapter 8 is the microplate 4
The outer wall 14 is provided so as to surround the outer shape of the micro plate 4, and the position of the micro plate 4 with respect to the adapter 8 is determined. It is desirable that the outer wall 14 has a similar structure in a not-shown right angle direction.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional side view showing a state in which the adapter according to the present invention and the microplate are stacked in two stages. In the figure, the bottom portion 13 of the adapter 8 has a recessed portion 15 having a shape surrounding the upper outer portion of the microplate, and the adapter 8 and the microplate 4 when they are stacked in two stages.
The position of is decided. It is desirable that the concave portion 15 has a similar structure in the not-shown right-angle direction.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing another embodiment in which the adapter according to the present invention and the microplate are stacked in two stages. In the figure, a side wall 16 is provided on the outer shape of the adapter 8, the side wall 16 is slightly higher than the upper end of the microplate 4, and the bottom surface 13 is in contact with the upper surface of the microplate so that two layers can be stacked. Further, by providing the positioning step portion 17 between the side wall 16 and the bottom surface portion 13, the positions of the adapter 8 and the microplate 4 when two layers are stacked are determined in the same manner as described above. It is desirable that the side wall 16 and the positioning step portion 17 have the same structure in the not-shown right-angle direction.

[0011]

According to the present invention, since the adapter is provided with the seat surface so as to eliminate the gap between the back bottom surface of the sample injection hole portion of the microplate and the adapter, the sample injection hole portion of the microplate and the box shape are formed. It is possible to prevent the boundary portion 6 of the outer wall from being damaged.

Further, since the seat surface portion for bearing the centrifugal load of the microplate of the adapter is provided with the hole or counterbore for reducing the mass, the centrifugal load applied to the adapter can be reduced. Further, since the adapter is provided with protrusions and grooves corresponding to the outer shape of the microplate or the shape of the inner surface of the bottom so that the microplate can be positioned, unbalanced operation of the rotor can be prevented. Further, since the recessed portion that fits into the upper shape of the microplate is provided on the bottom surface of the adapter, the microplate can be positioned when centrifuging in multiple stages. Similarly, the adapter is provided with a vertical wall having a height slightly higher than the position of the upper end surface of the microplate, and the bottom surface portion is in contact with the upper surface portion of the microplate so that two layers can be stacked. Since the positioning means is provided in the above, the same effect can be obtained. As a method of manufacturing the above-mentioned adapter, it is considered that plastic molding is the most suitable from the viewpoint of light weight of material and manufacturing cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an adapter according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing a state in which an adapter and a microplate are combined.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view showing another embodiment in which the adapter 8 according to the present invention and the microplate 4 are combined.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing a state in which an adapter according to the present invention and a microplate are stacked in two stages.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing another embodiment in which an adapter according to the present invention and a microplate are stacked in two stages.

FIG. 6 is an external perspective view showing a conventional rotor.

FIG. 7 is an external perspective view showing a metal adapter.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing a microplate held by an adapter.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 is a rotor body, 2 is a bucket, 3 is a metal adapter, 4 is a microplate, 5 is a sample injection hole, 6 is a boundary portion, 7 is a box-shaped outer wall, 8 is an adapter, 9 is a seat surface, 10 is a stepped portion, 11 is a thinned part, 12
Is an end surface portion, 13 is a bottom surface portion, 14 is an outer wall, 15 is a concave portion, 1
6 is a side wall, and 17 is a positioning step.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A microplate adapter comprising a bucket mounted on a rotor and an adapter for holding a microplate in the bucket, said microplate adapter being in contact with a back bottom surface of a sample injection hole of said microplate and A microplate adapter having a seating surface for bearing the centrifugal load of the plate and thinning the periphery of the seating surface part so as to float the bottom part of the box-shaped outer wall of the microplate. 2. The hole or counterbore for reducing the mass is provided in the seat surface portion that bears the centrifugal load of the microplate in contact with the bottom surface portion or the back bottom surface. Microplate adapter. 3. The microplate adapter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a protrusion or a groove for positioning the microplate is provided by utilizing the outer shape of the microplate or the shape of the inner surface of the bottom. . 4. The microplate adapter according to claim 1, wherein the bottom surface portion is provided with a concave portion that fits into the upper shape of the microplate. 5. The microplate adapter according to claim 4, wherein the seat surface portion is provided with a hole or countersunk portion for reducing mass. 6. A multi-tiered structure in which the seating surface portion is thinned around, a vertical wall slightly higher than the top surface position of the microplate is provided outside the seating surface portion, and the bottom surface portion is in contact with the top surface portion of the microplate. A microplate adaptor, characterized by being provided with positioning means between the side wall and the bottom surface so that they can be stacked. 7. The microplate adapter according to claim 6, wherein the seat surface portion is provided with a hole or countersunk portion for reducing mass.