JP2985416B2 - Maintenance of reaction vessel of automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the maintenance of a reaction vessel in an automatic analyzer employing a semi-disposable reaction vessel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional apparatus, a reaction vessel of a different material is installed at an arbitrary position, and an analysis item, that is, a reagent is easily adsorbed on an inner wall of a reaction vessel of a certain material in relation to a material of the reaction vessel. For the analysis items that cannot be completely washed by the container washing mechanism and likely to affect the analysis results in the next analysis, the relationship between the reagent and the material of the reaction container is registered in advance in the computer, and the analysis is performed on the inner wall of the reaction container of a certain material. When analyzing an analysis item that is easily adsorbed, select and analyze a reaction container made of another material that does not easily adsorb the reagent on the inner wall of the reaction container.
The effect on the analysis results has been prevented.

[0003]

The above-mentioned prior art was used for repeated analysis by washing the reaction vessel. However, in the case of long-term use, damage caused by repeating the washing operation, or The specific analysis items, that is, the damage that the reagents do to the reaction vessel, accumulate,
It did not take into account that it would affect the analysis results.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to display an alarm indicating that a reaction container has expired before the reaction container is damaged by the effects of the repetition of the washing operation or the analysis item, ie, the reagent, and the analysis result is affected. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic analyzer having a function. It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic analyzer having a function of automatically exchanging a reaction container determined to have expired with a new reaction container without stopping routine analysis.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to register in advance a material of a reaction vessel and an analysis item of a reagent having a component which is easily adsorbed to the material in a computer, and accumulate the number of washing operations and the number of analysis items. This is achieved by providing the automatic analyzer with a reaction vessel exchange mechanism for exchanging reaction vessels made of a plurality of types of materials under the control of a computer and software.

[0006]

The operation of cleaning the reaction vessel and the analysis items, that is, the magnitude of the damage caused by the reagent to the reaction vessel are quantified and registered in advance in the computer for each material of the reaction vessel. In addition, the computer adds up the amount of damage to each reaction vessel in a point-based manner during routine analysis and maintenance operations. When the total damage exceeds a certain value for each reaction vessel, the computer controls to display an alarm or replace the reaction vessel.

[0007]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

A sample sampling mechanism 1 for dispensing a sample contained in a sample container 9 set on a sample disk 7 to a reaction container 13, a reagent dispensing device for dispensing a certain amount of reagent into the reaction container 13. Injection mechanism 2, Stirring mechanism for mixing the sample and the reagent 3, Reaction disc 13 in which a large number of semi-disposable reaction vessels 13 for reacting the sample and the reagent are set on the circumference 4, To measure the absorbance of the reaction solution 5, a constant temperature water bath (not shown) in which the reaction vessel 13 is immersed in order to advance the chemical reaction of the reaction solution in the reaction vessel at a constant temperature, and the reaction solution after the analysis is removed by suction from the reaction vessel 13 A reaction container cleaning mechanism 6 for cleaning the reaction container 13 so that the container 13 can be used for the next analysis, a sample disk 7 for setting the sample container 9, and a computer 8 for controlling the whole. It is made.

The sample disk 7 is rotated by a rotation drive mechanism (not shown). Forty-eight transparent reaction vessels 13 formed by integral molding of a plastic mold such as acryl are arranged on the circumference of the reaction disk 4.

The first and second reagents 11 and 12 are each 2
You can set 0 items at a time. In the computer 8, the cleaning operation for maintenance of the reaction container 13 and the analysis items, that is, the magnitude of the damage to the reaction container 13 caused by the reagent are quantified and registered.

The reaction disk 4 rotates half a turn and one reaction vessel at a time for 6 seconds per cycle at the start of the analysis. The reaction vessel 13 is cleaned by the reaction vessel cleaning mechanism 6. Subsequently, when the reaction vessel 13 stops at the sampling position,
A certain amount of the sample for the analysis item is dispensed into the reaction container 13. Next, the reaction disk 4 rotates by half a rotation for one cycle and by one reaction container, stops at the first reagent dispensing position, and dispenses the first reagent.

After 15 cycles of operation, the second reagent is dispensed at the second reagent dispensing position. Operates for 15 cycles after dispensing. During these series of operations, the reaction vessel 13 is operated by the absorptiometer 5.
, The absorbance is automatically measured after passing through the position, and the absorbance is converted into a concentration by the computer 8. After the analysis,
The reaction vessel is washed by the reaction vessel washing mechanism 6 and used for the next analysis.

The computer 8 adds, in a scoring system, how much the individual reaction vessels 13 have been damaged in the series of washing operations and analysis of the reaction vessels. In addition to the routine analysis, the computer 8 adds up how much the individual reaction vessels 13 have been damaged by the cleaning operation of the reaction vessels in the maintenance operation. When the total value of this damage exceeds a certain value for each reaction vessel 13,
Display an alarm. According to the present embodiment, the reaction vessel is damaged by the influence of the repetition of the washing operation or the analysis item, that is, the reagent, and before the analysis container is affected,
Since an alarm indicating that the reaction container has expired is displayed from the automatic analyzer, more accurate data can be obtained.

Hereinafter, another embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The difference from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that there are two kinds of materials of the 48 reaction vessels 13 arranged on the circumference of the reaction disk 4 and that the reaction vessels 13 are arranged.

[0024] Acrylic reaction vessels 14 and glass reaction vessels 15 are each continuously arranged in half on the circumference of the reaction disk 4.

The reaction disk 4 rotates half a rotation and one reaction container at a time for 6 seconds per cycle at the start of the analysis. When the reaction container 13 stops at the sampling position, the sample amount for the analysis item that can be analyzed in the reaction container 13 is a fixed amount,
It is dispensed into the reaction vessel 13.

The analysis items that can be analyzed in the reaction vessel 13 are:
The computer 8 makes the determination in the following manner. That is, the amount of damage when the analysis item is analyzed is determined by the acrylic reaction vessel 14 and the glass reaction vessel 1.
5, the computer 8 selects the one that receives less damage. In the computer 8, the analysis item, that is, the magnitude of the damage to the reaction container 13 caused by the reagent is quantified and registered, so that the reaction container 13 can be selected.

Next, the reaction disk 4 rotates half a turn and one reaction container in one cycle, stops at the first reagent dispensing position, and dispenses the first reagent. At this time, there is a reaction container of a different material set on the opposite side of the reaction disk 4 at the sampling position.

After 15 cycles of operation, the second reagent is dispensed at the second reagent dispensing position. Operates for 15 cycles after dispensing. During these series of operations, the reaction vessel 13 is operated by the absorptiometer 5.
, The absorbance is automatically measured, and the absorbance is converted into a concentration by the computer 8. After the analysis, the reaction vessel is washed by the reaction vessel washing mechanism 6 and used for the next analysis.

The computer 8 adds, in a scoring system, how much the individual reaction vessels 13 have been damaged in this series of washing operations and analysis of the reaction vessels. In addition to the routine analysis, the computer 8 adds up how much the individual reaction vessels 13 have been damaged by the cleaning operation of the reaction vessels in the maintenance operation. When the total value of this damage exceeds a certain value for each reaction vessel 13,
Display an alarm. According to this embodiment, even if the material of the reaction vessel is two, as in the case of the first embodiment, the reaction vessel is damaged by the influence of the repetition of the washing operation and the analysis item, that is, the reagent, which affects the analysis result. Before this happens, an alarm indicating the expiration date of the reaction vessel is displayed from the automatic analyzer, so that more accurate data can be obtained.

Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The difference from the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is that a reaction vessel exchange mechanism is provided.

The reaction vessel exchange mechanism includes a reaction vessel supply mechanism 31 for the reaction vessel 13, cartridges 32 and 33 for setting reaction vessels of different materials, a shaft 40 for vertically moving and rotating the reaction vessel supply mechanism 31, and an arm 39 ( A drive mechanism is not shown), a cover 38 made of silicon rubber or the like that covers the opening of the upper surface of the reaction vessel 13, a nozzle 36 that sucks air in the reaction vessel 13, a nozzle 37 that sends air into the reaction vessel 13, a reaction vessel And a waste tank 42.

The computer 8 performs the same operation as that described in the second embodiment, and the computer 8 adds in a scoring system how much the individual reaction containers 13 have been damaged in the cleaning operation and analysis of the reaction containers. I have. In addition to the routine analysis, the computer 8 adds up how much the individual reaction vessels 13 have been damaged by the cleaning operation of the reaction vessels in the maintenance operation. When the total value of the damage exceeds a certain value for each reaction vessel 13, instead of displaying an alarm, the reaction vessel exchange mechanism operates to exchange the reaction vessel.

The operation of the reaction vessel exchange mechanism is as follows. That is, the reaction vessel 13 whose total damage exceeds a certain value and is determined to have expired is removed from the reaction disk 4 by the reaction vessel supply mechanism 31 and discarded in the reaction vessel disposal tank 42. This series of operations is as follows.

The reaction vessel supply mechanism 31 includes a reaction disk 4
After stopping on the reaction container 13 determined to have expired, the container 38 descends, and the cover 38 comes into close contact with the upper end surface of the reaction container 13 and stops. A nozzle 36 for sucking air sucks the air in the reaction vessel 13 and sucks the reaction vessel 13. Thereafter, the arm 39 is raised and rotated while adsorbing the reaction vessel 13, stops at the upper part of the reaction vessel waste tank 42, and sends air into the reaction vessel 13 by the nozzle 37 that sends air into the reaction vessel 13. Then, the cover 38 covering the upper opening of the reaction container 13 is removed, and the reaction container 13 is discarded in the reaction container disposal tank 42.

Subsequently, a new reaction vessel 13 is set on the reaction disk 4. This operation is as follows.

The reaction container supply mechanism 31 includes the cartridge 3
After stopping at the upper position of 2, or 33, descend,
The cover 38 comes into close contact with the upper end surface of the new reaction vessel 13 and stops. A nozzle 36 for sucking air sucks the air in the reaction vessel 13 and sucks the reaction vessel 13. Arm 39
Thereafter, the reaction vessel 13 is lifted and rotated while being sucked, stopped on the hole of the reaction disk 4 from which the expired reaction vessel was removed, lowered, and stopped by inserting a new reaction vessel 13 into this hole. . Air is sent into the reaction vessel 13 by a nozzle 37 that sends air into the reaction vessel 13, the cover 38 that covers the upper opening of the reaction vessel 13 is removed, and the reaction vessel 13 is set on the reaction disk.

According to the present embodiment, the operator is provided with a function to automatically replace a reaction vessel determined to have expired with a new one without stopping routine analysis. This has the effect of eliminating the trouble of replacing the reaction vessel and eliminating errors.

[0031]

According to the present invention, the reaction vessel is used by the automatic analyzer before the reaction vessel is damaged due to the repetition of the washing operation and the analysis item, that is, the influence of the reagent, and the analysis result is affected. An expired alarm is displayed, so more accurate data can be obtained.

Further, by providing a function of automatically replacing a reaction vessel determined to have expired with a new reaction vessel without stopping routine analysis, there is no need for an operator to replace the reaction vessel. There is an effect that errors caused by replacing the reaction container are eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a reaction disk.

FIG. 3 is an external view of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a reaction container exchange mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing replacement of a reaction container.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sample sampling mechanism, 2 ... Reagent dispensing mechanism, 3 ... Stirring mechanism, 4 ... Reaction disk, 5 ... Absorptiometer, 6 ... Reaction vessel washing mechanism, 7 ... Sample disk, 8 ... Computer, 9 ... Sample container, 11: first reagent, 12: second reagent,
13: reaction vessel, 14: acrylic reaction vessel, 15: glass reaction vessel, 31: reaction vessel supply mechanism, 32, 33
... cartridge, 36, 37 ... nozzle, 38 ... cover,
39 ... arm, 40 ... shaft, 42 ... reaction vessel waste tank.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sample and a reagent in a reaction vessel on a reaction disk.
Reaction, and measure the reaction solution in the reaction vessel with a photometer.
After the photometry, the reaction vessel is washed by the reaction vessel cleaning mechanism.
In automated analyzers that are cleaned and reused,
Damage to the reaction vessel caused by the corresponding reagent and cleaning
Remember the amount of damage to the container and
Add and wash reagents for each reaction vessel on the reaction disk.
Damage is added along with the purification, and the added damage is large.
Expiration information for reaction vessels whose size exceeds the allowable value
Automatic analysis device characterized in that it is configured to output
Place. 2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein
The reaction disk holds multiple types of reaction vessels of different materials.
And the reagents used depending on the item to be analyzed
Select a reaction vessel made of the material with less damage
An automatic analyzer characterized by being configured to be used.