JPS621713B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention provides a culture tube stopper that can completely seal aerobic bacteria and anaerobic bacteria culture tubes before use, and allows degassing while maintaining the culture environment during use. Regarding the body.

Conventionally, for the cultivation of anaerobic bacteria, a member such as a screw cap or a seamer is used to firmly tighten an elastic stopper such as a rubber stopper onto a culture tube to completely seal the tube. However, the cultivation of this anaerobic bacteria particularly generates gas, and when transplanting after culturing, the medium may blow out due to internal pressure when a sampling needle is inserted into the stopper, and tightening members such as screw caps and seamers may be blown out. There was a situation where the user was exposed to danger if the stopper flew off when removed. In addition, outside air flowed into the culture tube, and the inside of the culture tube was contaminated by bacteria in the outside air.

In addition, if a stopper is used with a simple tightening member, the pressure inside the culture tube will increase due to the gas produced by anaerobic bacteria, causing the stopper to fly off during culture, making it impossible to maintain anaerobic conditions.
In addition, there was a problem that the culture medium was contaminated by bacteria in the outside air, and furthermore, the environment was contaminated by anaerobic bacteria that were scattered with the stopper.

On the other hand, for culturing aerobic bacteria, an air-permeable stopper such as a Morton stopper, cotton stopper, or paper stopper is used for the culture tube.

However, these stoppers are not able to store the culture medium because they are breathable, and if the sample collection and culture locations are different, the culture medium may leak during transportation, putting the user at risk and the culture medium also leaking. The culture medium was contaminated by bacteria in the outside air, making accurate determination difficult.

In addition, it is necessary to remove the above stopper to collect the sample.
At that time, there was a possibility that outside air would infiltrate and cultivate bacteria in the outside air.

Furthermore, when trying to culture aerobic bacteria and anaerobic bacteria in one culture tube, the anaerobic bacteria are difficult to grow in the culture tube with the above-mentioned air-permeable stopper, and in the culture tube with the above-mentioned sealed stopper, it is difficult to grow the anaerobic bacteria. The same problem as the above-mentioned culture of anaerobic bacteria occurred.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to be able to completely seal the culture tube before use, while having a simple structure, and to completely seal the culture tube during culture. To provide a culture tube stopper that can completely cultivate aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and handle them by automatically removing gas generated while maintaining a culture environment by cutting off outside air. .

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 is a test tube-shaped culture tube, and a culture medium 2 for culturing aerobic bacteria and anaerobic bacteria is housed inside this tube. A stopper 4 is adhered to the mouth 3 of the culture tube 1, and the stopper 4, which is designed to seal the culture tube 1, is inserted into the mouth 3 using rubber or elastic resin. It consists of a body part 5 that is sized to fit into the mouth part 3 of the culture tube 1, and a head part 6 of a size that does not fit into the mouth part 3 of the culture tube 1. Furthermore, a cavity 7 is formed inside the body part 5, and the body part 5 has a cylindrical shape. Further, an annular groove 8 is formed on the outer surface of the body portion 5, as shown in FIG. . An elastic band 10 is fitted into the groove 8 to close the deaeration holes 9. That is,
A degassing valve A is configured that opens only when the pressure inside the culture tube 1 rises above a certain level and pushes the band 10 away. Furthermore, before using the culture tube 1, the body 5 of the stopper 4 is pushed into the mouth 3, so the band 10 is held down by the inner surface of the mouth 3, as shown in FIG. attached and cannot be opened. Furthermore, in this state, the groove 8
Since the upper surface of the body 5 is also pressed against the inner surface of the mouth 3, the culture tube 1 is sufficiently airtight.

Note that the groove 8 is formed on the outer surface of the body 5 of the stopper 4.
A relatively shallow annular groove 11 is formed below. This groove 11 increases the flexibility of the body 5 and also serves as a relief when fitting into the mouth 3 of the culture tube 1. Furthermore, the stopper 4
A recess 12 is also formed on the upper surface of the head 6 of the
It is designed to make it easier to penetrate the needle for sample injection and the needle for collecting bacteria during bacterial transplantation.

On the other hand, a cap 13 is fitted over the mouth 3 of the culture tube 1 to which the stopper 4 is attached. cap 1
3 consists of a cylindrical main body 14 with an open bottom end,
The main body 14 is fitted into the culture tube 1 with a slight gap 15 that touches or does not touch the outer surface of the mouth 3 of the culture tube 1. Further, an adapter connection opening 16 is formed projecting from the upper end of the cap 13, and this opening 16 is normally closed by a lid 17. That is, the outer surface of the mouth portion 16 is formed in a tapered shape, and the inner surface of the lid body 17 is also formed in a tapered shape in accordance with the taper.

Further, the inner surface of the main body 14 is arranged from the upper end inner surface to the plug body 4.
The specimen, such as blood, is injected through the specimen at approximately the height of the head 6 of the patient. In this case, it is convenient if the inside of the culture tube 1 is kept in a reduced pressure state so that the injection can be performed automatically.

After collecting the sample in this manner, the lid 17 is reattached, and then the cap 13 is pulled up, and the stopper 4 is pulled up as shown in FIG. That is, it is pulled up until the part constituting the deaeration valve A is located above the upper end of the mouth 3 of the culture tube 1.
In this case, since the deaeration hole 9 is closed by the band 10, the deaeration valve A is in a sealed state.
Therefore, the inside of the culture tube 1 can be kept airtight.

In this way, the inside of the culture tube 1 is maintained in an airtight state, and aerobic bacteria and anaerobic bacteria can be cultured. However, the cultivation of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria is particularly accompanied by the generation of gas, which leads to a gradual increase in internal pressure. Then, when the pressure increases to a certain level or higher, the band 10 is pushed up and the deaeration hole 9 is opened. Thus, the gas inside the culture tube 1 leaks to the outside through the deaeration hole 9, passes between the mouth 3 of the culture tube 1 and the cap 13, and is degassed out of the cap 13. After degassing, the degassing hole 9 is automatically closed by the elastic force of the band 10, and the culture tube 1 is again closed.
Keep the inside airtight.

That is, the gas generated inside the culture tube 1 can be automatically vented while keeping the inside of the culture tube 1 airtight with respect to the outside. Therefore, during culture, after culture, and when transplanting, the stopper 4 will not fly off or the culture solution will blow out, making it safe.

Note that to remove the sample after culturing, the stopper 4 may be removed, but it is recommended to stick the collection needle into the head 6 of the stopper 4 with the stopper 4 attached and aspirate the sample inside. Alternatively, with the stopper 4 in the same state, a sampling needle is inserted into the head 6 of the stopper 4 to aspirate the sample inside. Furthermore, although a test tube-shaped culture tube was used in the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be a flask-shaped container in which only the mouth portion is relatively long.

Further, the deaeration valve of the above embodiment has a body portion 5 of the plug body 4.
Although the deaeration hole 9 is formed in the groove 8 provided in the groove 8 and the band 10 is fitted into the groove 8 to close the deaeration hole 9 with the band 10, the present invention is not limited to this. A slit may be used instead of the above-mentioned deaeration hole 9, and the band 10 may not be provided, and only a slit may be used as long as the slit has a fairly strong adhesion.

Further, according to the configuration of the above embodiment, when the band is removed, the growth of obligate and microanaerobic bacteria is suppressed, and obligate aerobic bacteria (obligate aerobic bacteria) are selectively cultured or grown. In other words, parts can be used interchangeably.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the inside of the culture tube can be completely sealed during storage before use, and gas generated inside can be automatically vented during culture. be able to. Therefore, not only during culturing, but also when transplanting the specimen after culturing, the plug may fall through,
The culture solution does not blow out and is safe.

In addition, by using a cap as shown in the above example, you can handle the stopper etc. without directly touching it with your hands, and at the same time, you can prevent dust, indoor bacteria, etc. from getting into the stopper or the mouth of the culture tube. It prevents adhesion as much as possible and can be handled hygienically.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of a culture tube in a state before use, and FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of a culture tube in a state during culture. 3 is a partially cutaway front view of the stopper, FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view of the band, and FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway plan view of the cap. , FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway front view of the cap. 1... Culture tube, 3... Mouth, 4... Stopper, 5...
...Torso, 6...Head, 7...Cavity, 8...Groove, 9
... Deaeration hole, 10 ... Band, A ... Deaeration valve, 1
3...cap.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A body that is inserted into the mouth of the culture tube and comes into close contact with the inner surface of the mouth, and a head that always protrudes from the mouth of the culture tube, and that the body is inserted into the mouth of the culture tube. A degassing valve is installed on the side wall of the middle part of the body, which is exposed from the opening when the part is pulled up, and opens only when the pressure inside the culture tube exceeds a certain level, releasing the gas inside the culture tube to the outside. A stopper for a culture tube, characterized in that: