JPS6261901B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a tilt-type supernatant liquid separation mechanism for separating the supernatant liquid of centrifuged blood, for example.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a conventional tilt-type supernatant liquid separation mechanism when the sample tube storage rack is tilted.
Both ends of a gondola shaft 5 are rotatably supported by 1b, and a gondola arm 4 is fixed to one end of the gondola shaft 5. The tip of the gondola arm 4 is connected to the cylinder 2 via the pin 3.
The piston arm 2a is rotatably connected to the piston arm 2a. By supplying and discharging compressed air to and from the cylinder 2, the gondola shaft 5 can be tilted via the piston arm 2a. Gondola 6 fixed to gondola shaft 5
The centrifuged precipitate 13 and supernatant liquid 14 are shown in FIG.
A sample tube storage rack 9 housing a plurality of bottomed cylindrical sample tubes 10 (see FIG. 2) is detachably mounted therein.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a supernatant liquid guide plate, which is made of paper coated with plastic on the surface and is designed to be replaced every time a sample is sampled.The support column 1 with which the sample tube 10 comes into contact is supported by the push-up means of the gondola 6, which will be described later.
The reinforcing rod 7 is detachably attached between the guide plate positioner 24 and the guide plate holder 21, to which the reinforcing rod 7 is integrally fixed at a position between a and 1b. Then, as gondola 6 is pushed up, the third
Reinforcement rod 7 and guide plate holder 2 shown in the figures or figures 6
1 and is designed to be clamped and fixed.
Furthermore, Figures 3 and 5 are front views of the gondola;
The figure is a front view before the gondola 6 is pushed up by the push-up means, FIG. 5 is a front view after it is pushed up, FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of FIG. 3, and FIG.
FIG. In FIGS. 3 to 6, reference numeral 16 denotes a push-up rod, which supports the sample tube 10 by interposing a bottom rubber (none of which is shown) between the bottom adapter and the lower surface of the sample tube 10, and supports the sample tube 10 by the amount of push-up. It is supported by the gondola 6 via an adjustment spring 17. 23 is a sample tube guide and a rack holder 28
A sample tube storage rack 9 is fixed in the axial direction of the sample tube 10 between the supporting portion 27a of the rack holder 27 which is pushed up via the gondola 6 when the open end of the sample tube 10 comes into contact with the supernatant guide plate 8. It is designed to be fixed. Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 1, when the sample tube 10 is tilted at an angle higher than horizontal and comes into contact with the supernatant liquid guide plate 8, the lower end of the opening in this state is brought into contact with the supernatant liquid guide plate 8. It's summery.
24 is a guide plate positioner, 25 is a cylinder, 26
is a slider.

By supplying and discharging compressed air to the cylinder 25, the compressed air passes through the slider 26 to the rack holder 27.
The specimen tube storage rack 9 is pushed up through the spring 17, and at the same time, the bottom of the specimen tube 10 is pushed up through the tension of the spring 17. At the same time, using the elasticity of the spring 22, the supernatant liquid guide plate 8 is clamped and fixed between the reinforcing rod 7 and the guide plate holder 21 by the guide plate holder pressing rod 31. The cylinder 25, slider 26, rack holder 27, etc. form means for lifting up the sample tube storage rack 9 and the like. In FIG. 1, 11 is a supernatant liquid tube storage rack, which is detachably mounted below the supernatant liquid guide plate 8 between the support columns 1a and 1b.
Each guide groove 15 is formed at a position in contact with the supernatant liquid guide plate 8 of each sample tube 10 in the sample tube storage rack 9.
Supernatant liquid tubes 12 are housed in respective lower corresponding positions (see FIG. 2).

In the above structure, the operation of supernatant liquid separation will be explained. A sample tube storage rack 9 containing a plurality of centrifuged sample tubes 10 is mounted on the gondola 6 held upright, and a supernatant liquid guide plate 8 is mounted.
Attach. Next, by pushing up the gondola 6 through the cylinder 25, the opening of each sample tube 10 is formed on the surface of each guide groove 15 portion of the supernatant liquid guide plate 8 fixed to the reinforcing rod 7 and the guide plate holder 21. is contacted. After this, the cylinder arm 2a of the gondola 6 is driven by the cylinder 2, and the gondola 6 is moved approximately
It is tilted 60 degrees and the supernatant liquid tube storage rack 11 is attached to the lower part of the supernatant liquid guide plate 8. Furthermore, gondola 6 is approximately
When tilted by 45 degrees, the supernatant liquid 14 in the sample tube 10 is guided to the guide groove 15 of the supernatant liquid guide plate 8 into the supernatant liquid tube 12 in the supernatant liquid tube storage rack 11, as shown in FIG. It flows down and is fractionated. The open end of the specimen tube 10 at the left end in FIG. 2 does not contact the supernatant guide plate 8, so the supernatant 14 flows down to the outside of the supernatant tube 12.

In addition, in the above process, when the gondola 6 is pushed up as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and the open end of the sample tube 10 is in contact with the supernatant liquid guide plate 8, regardless of the length of the sample tube 10, First, the positions of the sample tubes 10 are adjusted and pushed up via springs 17 that adjust the amount of push up so that the open ends of each tube come into contact with the supernatant guide plate 8. However, even if the lengthwise distance of the sample tubes 10 is individually adjusted by the springs 17, if the sample tubes 10 do not come into contact reliably due to reasons such as being tilted or not being able to be adjusted by the springs, the supernatant liquid Preparative separation is not possible. For this reason, it has been desired to propose a means for detecting whether or not the guide groove of the supernatant liquid guide plate is in reliable contact with the opening of the sample tube.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned situation, and is an inclined type top plate that can easily and reliably detect the contact state between the guide groove of the supernatant liquid guide plate and the open end of the sample tube and prevent the supernatant liquid from falling out. The purpose is to provide a clear liquid separation mechanism.

The tilting supernatant liquid separation mechanism of the present invention consists of a sample tube storage rack containing a plurality of sample tubes holding samples after centrifugation, and a gondola supported between support columns on both sides and driven to rotate. a gondola that is fixed to the shaft and to which the sample tube storage rack is detachably attached; and a supernatant liquid which is detachably attached to a position between the support pillars where the openings of the sample tubes are pushed up through the gondola and come into contact with each other. A guide plate and the supernatant liquid guide plate are fixed between a reinforcing rod and a guide plate holder, and the sample tubes are individually pushed up through the tension of a spring, and the sample tubes are attached to the supernatant liquid guide plate. a push-up means provided on the rack support for pushing up the gondola so that the gondola is in contact with the supernatant liquid guide plate; The supernatant liquid is formed such that supernatant liquid tubes are arranged at corresponding positions below each of the provided guide grooves, and the supernatant liquid inside flows down when the sample tube is tilted at an angle above horizontal. a supernatant liquid storage rack having a built-in tube, and each guide groove of the supernatant liquid guide plate is provided with a discontinuous part that is separated horizontally and is continuous in the arrangement direction of the guide grooves. A guide plate conductive portion is formed at both ends so that electrical continuity can be detected, and a sample tube conductive portion is formed at the open end of the sample tube.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the inclined supernatant liquid separation mechanism of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9, where the same parts as those in the conventional system are denoted by the same reference numerals, and explanations of the same parts will be omitted. FIG. 7 is a front view of the supernatant liquid guide plate, FIG. 8 is a front view of the sample tube, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of the state in which the sample tube is in contact with the supernatant liquid guide plate. In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes a guide plate conductive portion provided on the supernatant liquid guide plate 8 continuously in the arrangement direction of the guide grooves 15, and each guide groove 15 of the supernatant liquid guide plate 8 of the guide plate conductive portion 30 A discontinuous portion 32 is provided in the horizontal direction. Reference numeral 31 denotes a sample tube conductive portion formed at the open end of the sample tube 10. In addition, it is possible to detect whether electrical continuity is present in the guide plate conductive portions 30 at both ends of the supernatant liquid guide plate 8 using electrical continuity detection means (not shown).

Then, in the same order as in the past, the gondola is pushed up and the supernatant liquid guide plate 8 of the guide plate conductive part 30 is moved with the sample tube 10 in contact with the supernatant liquid guide plate 8.
It is detected whether or not there is electrical continuity at both ends of the terminal via continuity detection means. If electrical continuity is detected, the gondola 6 is tilted approximately 60 degrees, the supernatant tube storage rack 11 is attached to the lower part of the supernatant guide plate 8, and then the gondola 6 is tilted approximately 45 degrees. The supernatant liquid 14 in the sample tube 10 is fractionated into the supernatant liquid tube 12 by tilting. FIG. 9 shows a situation where continuity cannot be obtained. In FIG. 9, a bottom adapter 19 is placed on the upper end of the push-up rod 16, and a bottom rubber 20 is installed between the bottom adapter 19 and the lower end of the sample tube 10. In the state shown in FIG. 9, the sample tube 10 at position A is tilted, and at the open end, the guide plate conductive portion 30 of the supernatant liquid guide plate 8 on the left side of the guide groove 15 is the sample tube conductive portion of the sample tube 10. 31, and the sample tube 10 at position D is also not in contact and is away. Therefore, in this case, due to a contact failure, it is possible to stop the gradient fractionation based on the signal taken out when detecting the presence or absence of electrical continuity, and it is possible to reliably prevent the supernatant from spilling.

As described above, the inclined supernatant liquid separation mechanism of this embodiment can electrically and reliably detect the contact state of the opening of the sample tube with the guide groove of the supernatant liquid guide plate with a simple structure. If electrically detected and there is no continuity, the separation can be stopped, and the operation is easy.

As detailed above, the inclined supernatant liquid separation mechanism of the present invention has the effect of reliably detecting the contact state between the guide groove of the supernatant liquid guide plate and the opening of the sample tube, and preventing spillage of the supernatant liquid. It has the following.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the sample tube storage rack of a conventional tilt-type supernatant liquid separation mechanism in a tilted state, Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the supernatant liquid separation situation in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is the same as in Figure 1. 4 is a sectional side view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a front view of the state after the gondola has been pushed up from the state of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a sectional view of FIG. 5, and FIG. The figure is a front view of the supernatant liquid guide plate of the embodiment of the inclined supernatant liquid separation mechanism of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a front view of the sample tube, and FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the sample tube of FIG. 8 is in contact with the sample tube of FIG. 1a, 1b... Support column, 5... Gondola shaft, 6... Gondola, 7... Reinforcement rod, 8... Supernatant liquid guide plate, 9... Sample tube storage rack, 10... Sample tube, 11... ...Supernatant liquid tube storage rack, 12...Supernatant liquid tube, 14...Supernatant liquid, 15...Guide groove, 17
... Spring, 21 ... Guide plate holder, 28 ... Rack support, 30 ... Guide plate conductive part, 31 ... Sample tube conductive part, 32 ... Discontinuous part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sample tube storage rack containing multiple sample tubes holding samples after centrifugation, and a removable sample tube storage rack that is supported between support columns on both sides and fixed to a rotationally driven gondola shaft. a gondola attached to the gondola, and a supernatant liquid guide plate detachably attached to a position between the support columns where the opening of the sample tube is pushed up through the gondola and comes into contact with the support columns;
The supernatant liquid guide plate is fixed between a reinforcing rod and a guide plate holder, and the gondola is moved so that the sample tubes are individually pushed up through the tension of a spring and the sample tubes come into contact with the supernatant liquid guide plate. a push-up means provided on the rack support for pushing up the supernatant fluid guide plate; Supernatant liquid tubes are arranged at corresponding positions below the guide groove, and the supernatant liquid tubes are built in so that the supernatant liquid inside flows down when the sample tube is tilted at an angle above horizontal. A discontinuous part is provided in each guide groove of the supernatant liquid guide plate, and the discontinuous part is provided to separate horizontally, and the discontinuous part is provided continuously in the arrangement direction of the guide grooves on both ends. A tilting type supernatant liquid separation mechanism comprising: a guide plate conductive portion formed in such a manner that electrical continuity can be detected; and a sample tube conductive portion formed at the open end of the sample tube.