JPH10296096A - Serially connected chip set - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save a manual labor when chips are set in a chip rack and prevent the chips from being set tilted by connection the heads of the chips serially in a single piece at a specified interval using connecting members. SOLUTION: This serially connected chip set 10 is made up of plural pieces of chip 11 and plural pieces of connecting member 12 which connect the chips serially at a specified interval and the connecting members 12 connect the heads 11a of the chips 11 to each other. Both chips 11 and connecting members 12 are made up of members of polypropylene polycarbonate or heat-resistant silicone rubber and can be thermally treated for sterilization using an autoclave. Consequently, it is easy to perform an operation to set the serially connected chip set 10 in a chip rack and at the same time, mitigate the incidence of an error to be committed when nozzles are introduced into the chips 11. In addition, when a liquid sample is discharged into a recessed part in a microplate, it is possible to eliminate an inconvenience such as the chips 11 coming into contact with a lateral wall or the liquid sample spilling over the recessed part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coupled chip which is mounted on a nozzle such as a multiple pipettor and is used to dispense a large number of liquid samples at once at a predetermined interval.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the fields of biochemistry, biotechnology, medicine, clinical examination, etc., it is necessary to quantitatively dispense a liquid sample such as a reagent at a level of several milliliters to 1 microliter. A dispensing device such as a piston-type pipettor capable of accurately dispensing a fixed amount is used.

[0003] A tip of such a dispensing apparatus is mounted with a chip which sucks and discharges a liquid sample by directly touching the same, and mixing of the different liquid samples is prevented by exchanging tips.

[0004] In addition, from the viewpoint of improving the working efficiency, it is necessary to dispense a large number of the same liquid sample simultaneously. For example, when dispensing a liquid sample into a 96-well microplate,
A multiple pipettor having a plurality of nozzles provided at intervals of the 96-well microplate is used.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the structure of such a multiple pipettor. For convenience of explanation, only the plate 6 is shown in a sectional view. A tip insertion section 2 provided with a number of nozzles 3 is attached to the tip of the piston section 1. Then, a tip 20 is mounted on the nozzle 3.

As a result, the piston 5 is moved upward to suck the liquid sample into the tip 20, and then the multiple pipetter is moved onto the plate 6 to move the piston 5 downward. Thereby, a dispensing process of discharging the liquid sample to the recess 7 of the plate 6 is performed.

The mounting of the tip 20 on the nozzle 3 is performed as follows.
The tip 20 is set in the tip rack in advance, and then the dispensing device is moved in the direction of the tip 20 to move the nozzle 3 to the tip 2.
This is done by inserting it into 0.

[0008]

However, when a large number of nozzles 3 are inserted into and mounted on the chip 20, the chip 20 must be set in a chip rack in advance. When set in the rack, as shown in FIG.
Figure 4 shows that even if the
As shown in (1), there is a problem that the liquid sample discharged from the inclined tip 20a is not discharged to the predetermined recess 7. FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view when the chip 20 is broken to include the chip 20.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a combined chip that can reduce the trouble of setting a chip in a chip rack and prevent the chip from being tilted and set in the chip rack. And

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to the present invention facilitates handling of a large number of chips mounted on a nozzle of a dispensing device and used for dispensing a liquid sample. To this end, the heads of a plurality of chips are integrally connected at predetermined intervals by connecting members.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a coupled chip according to the present embodiment.

The coupled chip 10 includes a plurality of chips 11 and a plurality of connecting members 12 for connecting the chips 11 at predetermined intervals.
And the connecting member 12 connects the heads 11a of the chips 11 to each other.

The chip 11 and the connecting member 12 are made of a material such as polypropylene, polycarbonate, or heat-resistant silicon rubber, so that heat treatment such as autoclave sterilization can be performed.

With the above configuration, the work of setting the coupled tip 12 in the tip rack becomes easy, and the mounting mistake when the nozzle 3 is inserted into the tip 11 can be reduced.

Further, when the liquid sample is discharged into a recess such as a 96-well microplate, it is possible to prevent inconveniences such as the tip 11 coming into contact with the side wall of the recess and the liquid sample being spilled from the recess. Become.

Although FIG. 1 shows a case where the chips 11 are connected in a single row, some dispensing apparatuses mount chips in a plurality of rows. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 2, a coupled chip 16 connected in a plurality of rows is possible.

The number of chips 11 actually used differs according to the situation. In this case, it is possible to use the connecting member 12 by cutting it with scissors or a cutter.

At this time, as shown in FIG.
By forming the coupled chip 17 having the cut 13 formed therein, it is possible to bend and cut by hand without using a tool such as scissors.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of chips are integrated at a predetermined interval by a connecting member, so that the operation of setting the chips in a chip rack becomes easy and the nozzles of the dispensing device can be used. Mounting errors during mounting can be reduced.

Further, since the connecting member is formed of polypropylene, polycarbonate, heat-resistant silicon rubber, or the like having the same quality as the chips, the connecting members can be easily cut with scissors, a cutter or the like. The connecting member can be separated and used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a coupled chip applied to the description of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing another configuration of the coupled chip.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another configuration of the coupled chip.

FIG. 4 is a diagram applied to the description of the problem of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram applied to the description of the problem of the invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 16, 17 Coupled chip 11 Chip 11a Head 11b Liquid part 12 Connecting member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A head inserted into a nozzle of a dispensing device,
A coupled tip formed integrally with said head at a predetermined interval by a coupling member, said heads of a number of chips having a liquid part formed integrally with said head and for aspirating a liquid sample. .