JPH0522486B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for automatically inoculating a culture medium in a packaged bag (hereinafter referred to as a "culture medium") with a seed culture in which mycelia are infested, and an apparatus used therefor. be.

[Conventional technology]

In the artificial cultivation of mushrooms and the like, inoculation into a culture medium is performed, for example, as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 7a, first, the packaging bag 2 is filled with the culture medium 1, and a hole for filling the seed bacteria is made in the upper surface of the culture medium 1. Then, as shown in Figure b, the top of the packaging bag 2 is squeezed, inserted into the shoulder cap 3 and folded back, and then the cap 4 is placed over it to seal it. After retort sterilizing the culture medium 5 obtained in this way, the cap 3 is placed in a sterile room.
Inoculation can be performed by removing a predetermined amount of seed bacteria from above using a seed inoculator and dropping the seed bacteria into the holes on the top surface of the culture medium. The inoculated culture medium 5 is again covered with the cap 4 and sealed, and then used for culture.

As the inoculating machine used in the above-mentioned inoculating process, for example, the device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1153/1983 (so-called "Ogiwara type inoculating machine") is used.
As shown in FIG. 8, this device is equipped with a manual button 10 and a foot lever 11, and when the foot lever 11 is stepped on, the seed culture is scraped out into the seed culture container 12 that is attached in the opposite direction to the top of the device. The rod 13 enters while rotating and scrapes out a certain amount of the inoculum onto the receiving tray 14. Furthermore, when the manual button 10 is pressed, the tray is tilted as shown by the chain line. Therefore, the operator first steps on the foot lever 11 to scrape out the inoculum onto the saucer 14, then removes the cap 4 of the culture medium 5, and removes the cap 4 from the positioning section 1 of the device.
5 is brought into contact with the upper part of the culture medium 5 as shown in the figure.
After confirming that a predetermined amount of inoculum has been scraped onto the tray 14, the manual button 10 is pressed to tilt the tray 14 and drop the inoculum into the culture medium 5. In this way, the inoculum can be dropped into the holes in the culture medium 5 for inoculation.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the above inoculation method, even if the entire room where the inoculation is performed is kept sterile, the operator always has to remove the cap 4 from the culture medium 5 in front of the inoculation machine and reattach the cap 4 after inoculation. Because hair and dust fall from the worker's body and contaminate the inside of the culture medium 5, the fruiting bodies are likely to be contaminated with harmful bacteria after culturing, resulting in defective products. In order to minimize such harmful contamination, the surface of the inoculator must be disinfected with alcohol after each operation, which is a complicated operation. In addition, since the method is largely dependent on the manual labor of the operator, the processing efficiency is poor unless the operator is highly skilled, and there is a problem in that a large number of manpower is required in factories and the like that perform mass processing. Alternatively, the operator himself may become exhausted from repeating simple tasks and mishandle the cap 4 or culture medium 5, which is also a problem. Furthermore, since the seed culture container 12 that supplies the seed culture is not automatically exchangeable, the operator must replace the seed culture container with a new container every time the seed culture container is emptied. There is also the problem of reduced efficiency. Therefore, in sites where large quantities of bacteria are to be inoculated, there is a strong desire for unmanned inoculation work.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic inoculation method that can automatically inoculate a culture medium without human intervention, and an apparatus used therein.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a step of supporting and fixing at least one of the sides and bottom of a culture medium by placing culture medium in a packaging bag and sealing the upper opening with a cap; The cap removal clamp is lowered from above the culture medium to grasp the cap, and then raised in that state to remove the cap from the culture medium, and the removed cap is held in a state shifted laterally from directly above the culture medium. In the process, the seed culture container, which is attached with the opening facing downward, is positioned above the culture medium from which the cap has been removed, and a certain amount of seed bacteria is scraped out from within this seed culture container and allowed to fall into the culture medium. a step of positioning the removed cap directly above the inoculated culture medium and lowering it from that position to attach the cap to the culture medium; and a step of releasing the fixation of the culture medium and carrying it out. The first gist is an automatic inoculation method comprising the steps of: detecting when the seed culture container becomes empty and automatically replacing it with a filling container; A culture medium mounting table equipped with a culture medium fixing means for supporting and fixing at least one of the sides and bottom of the culture medium, the upper opening of which is sealed with a cap; a cap removing means that grasps the cap of the culture medium and then raises it in this state; a cap holding means that holds the removed cap in a state shifted laterally from directly above the culture medium; a seed-filling container holding means to which a plurality of seed-filling containers are attached in a state in which a plurality of seed-filling containers are attached; a positioning means for positioning one of the seed-filling containers on a culture medium fixed on the placement table; A seed scraping rod that moves a certain distance while rotating into the container to scrape out the seed and drop it downward; a detection means for detecting a state in which the seed is empty in the seed filling container; Inoculum filling container changing means for moving the empty container from above the culture medium in response to a detection signal and positioning a new inoculum filling container on the culture medium, and positioning the removed cap directly above the culture medium after inoculation and removing it from that state. The second gist is an automatic inoculation device that is equipped with a cap mounting means that lowers the cap and attaches it to the culture medium, and a carrying-out means that releases the fixation of the culture medium to which the cap is attached and carries it out.

[Effect]

That is, the present invention automatically removes the cap with the culture medium fixed on the mounting table, inoculates the culture medium, and then covers the cap again and carries it out. This system detects when the seed culture container used for supplying becomes empty and automatically replaces the empty container with a new seed culture container, making the inoculation process unmanned and continuous. be. Therefore,
According to the present invention, there is no need for an operator to be involved in the inoculation process, so there is no need for work errors to occur due to contamination of the culture medium.
A significant improvement in processing efficiency can be achieved.
Furthermore, since a plurality of seed culture containers are automatically exchanged as described above, continuous operation is possible over a long period of time, and the operating efficiency of the process is extremely high.

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail based on examples.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of the automatic inoculation device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line A-A'. This automatic inoculation device has the following configuration in order to automatically and continuously inoculate the culture medium 5 contained in the packaging bag 2 as shown in FIG.

That is, this automatic inoculation device uses the rotary table 20 that rotates counterclockwise as a conveyance line,
Six operations are performed at six stations S1 to S6 during one rotation of the rotary table 20. A mounting table 21 and a holder 2 for positioning and fixing the culture medium 5 from above and below are placed at six positions corresponding to each station.
2 is attached. The above-mentioned mounting table 21 is
It is attached to the rotary table 20 in a state where it is lifted with a constant force by a spring 23. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3 (B-B' arrow view in FIG. 2), the holder 22 has a bifurcated tip and a guide table that rotates integrally with the rotary table 20 at the base. It is attached to 24. Therefore, the culture medium 5 is pressed onto the above-mentioned mounting table 21 and its shoulders are held between the holders 22, and the culture medium 5 is positioned and fixed as shown in FIG. The station is sandwiched between the rotary table 20 and the guide table 24 and is sequentially moved to each station. Note that guide rollers 19 are attached to the back side of the rotary table 20 at six positions corresponding to the positions of the above-mentioned mounting table 21, and contact the rails 18 to hold the rotary table 20 horizontally. .

The first station S1 is a place where the culture medium 5 to be inoculated is pressed against the above-mentioned mounting table 21, and at the same time, the holder 22 is used to position and fix the culture medium 5 by sandwiching its shoulders.

The second station S2 has a clamp 26 for removing the cap 4 that seals the top of the culture medium 5.
is provided. As shown in FIG. 4, the clamp 26 is attached to an opening/closing block 27a of an opening/closing cylinder 27 that opens and closes in the left-right direction, and this opening/closing cylinder 27 is further attached to an elevating cylinder 28. Therefore,
The clamp 26 can move as shown by the chain line in the figure by a combination of the operation of the opening/closing cylinder 27 and the operation of the lifting cylinder 28. This operation allows the cap 4 to be removed from the main body of the culture medium 5. That is, the clamp 26 descends to the same height as the cap 4 in the "open" state, and closes from the left and right directions to clamp the cap 4. Then, by lifting up in this state, the cap 4 can be removed. During this operation, in order to prevent the culture medium 5 from shifting to the side opposite to the side supported by the holder 22, the cylinder 29 provided in the horizontal direction pushes the auxiliary holder 30 so that the shoulder of the culture medium 5 is moved to the side opposite to the side supported by the holder 22. I'm starting to support it from the other side. Further, a guide table 24 is provided near the clamp 26.
A movable clamp 31 attached to the cap 4 is positioned, and the cap 4 held by the clamp 26
can be changed by the movable clamp 31. As shown in FIG. 5, the movable clamp 31 includes an arm 3 consisting of a link mechanism
It is attached to the tip of spring 1a, and spring 3
2, it is always biased in the closing direction. A guide roller 33 is attached to the base side, and is pressed against the outer peripheral surface 35a of a cam 35 fixed to the device by the action of a spring 40. Therefore, as the rotary table 20 and guide rollers 24 rotate, the position of the movable clamp 31 that grips the cap 4 gradually changes relative to the main body of the culture medium 5 fixed on the rotary table 20. ing. The above movable clamp 31
The locus of the cap 4 held at the position (the locus of the center of the cap 4) is shown by a thick line in FIG. That is, the cap 4 held by the movable clamp 31 is
The station S3 and the fourth station S4 are largely shifted laterally from directly above the culture medium 5, and the fifth station S5 is positioned directly above the culture medium 5 again. The positions of the caps 4 at each station are indicated by C1 to C6.

The third station S3 has a culture medium 5 (second
(Return to figure) A drilling rod 4 that descends from above and punches a vertical inoculation hole on the top surface of the culture medium 5a in the culture medium 5
1 is provided. The drilling rod 41 is given a lifting motion by a cylinder 42 . In addition,
As the perforation rod 41 descends, a downward pressing force is applied to the entire culture medium 5, so in order to prevent the rotary table 20 from curving due to this force, the cylinder 43 is pressed from the back side of the rotary table 20 at the same time as the perforation rod 41 is lowered. is adapted to push up the shaft 44 and press the rotary table 20 from the back side.

A seed supply block 49 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) for supplying seed bacteria into the culture medium 5 is attached to the fourth station S4. The details of this seed supply blot 49 are shown in FIG. In the figure, 50 is a small rotary table installed in a slightly inclined state, and as shown in FIG.
It is rotatably held with respect to the small rotary table 50 with its side facing down. A scraping rod 52 is disposed from below in a direction perpendicular to one opening 51a of the seed filling container 51. Further, the container 51 facing the scraping rod 52 is pressed downward by the container holder 47 which swings as shown by the chain line due to the operation of the cylinder 48, and the opening 51a of the container holder 47 is pushed downward by the container holder 47, which is swung as shown by the chain line.
It protrudes below 0 and is positioned and fixed. Then, the container 5 of this container holder 47
A plate spring 46 that grips the bottom of the container 51 protrudes from the portion corresponding to 1, and the container 51 is rotated by the operation of the motor 45.
45a is a chain, and 45b is a sprocket. On the other hand, the scraping rod 52
It works by rotating inward and advancing a predetermined distance to scrape out the seed bacteria inside. The advancing operation of the scraping rod 52 is performed by a gear drive (not shown),
It is interlocked with the rotational movement of the container 51 itself provided by the leaf spring 46 of the container holder 47. By both of the above operations, the inoculum is evenly scraped out from inside the container 51. In addition, the position of the lower end of the scraping rod 52 when the scraping rod 52 scrapes out all the seed bacteria from the inside of the container 51 and reaches the bottom of the container 51 (the position where the upper end of the scraping rod 52 reaches the bottom of the container 51) is detected. Limit switch 5
4 is provided so that it is possible to detect when the seed culture container 51 is empty. Upon receiving this detection signal, the scraping rod 52 returns to its initial position, and at the same time, the container presser 47 moves upward to make the container 51 rotatable, and the drive motor 50a of the small rotary table 50 is activated. Small rotating table 50
A new seed culture container 51 is positioned on the scraping rod 52 by rotating 1/5 of a turn.
The initial position of the scraping rod 52 is also set to the limit switch 5.
5 can be detected. Reference numeral 56 denotes a shooter, which is adapted to drop the scraped out inoculum into a first hopper 57. The bottom surface of the first hopper 57 is formed by a lid 59 that opens and closes by the operation of the cylinder 58.
When a predetermined amount of inoculum has fallen into the container, it is opened, and the inoculum is allowed to pass through a second hopper 60 and drop into the culture medium 5. Second hopper 60
The hopper 60 is designed to be raised and lowered several times by the operation of the cylinder 61, so that no seed bacteria remains in the hopper 60 when the seed bacteria passes through.

At the fifth station S5, the cap 4 held by the movable clamp 31 that moves following the cam 35 is placed directly above the culture medium 5 (see FIG. 5), and the cap 4 is placed directly above the culture medium 5. A clamp for attaching a cap (not shown) is lowered, the cap 4 is transferred from the movable clamp 31, and the cap 4 is pressed and attached to the upper opening of the culture medium 5. The configuration of this clamp is
It is similar to the clamp 26 (see FIG. 4) for removing the cap 4, and its operation is completely opposite to that of the clamp 26. That is, it descends with the cap 4 clamped and closed, and after attaching the cap 4 to the culture medium 5, opens and removes the cap 4, and then ascends in that state.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sixth station S6 is provided with a cylinder 75 that performs a pushing operation outward from the center of the rotary table 20, and a pushing guide 76 attached to the tip of the cylinder rod. The culture medium 5 is pushed out from the P position to the Q position. rail 7
7 is a downward slope facing outward, Q
The culture medium 5 pushed out to the position moves out of this automatic inoculation device by its own weight.

Using the automatic inoculation device described above, the culture medium 5 can be inoculated, for example, in the following manner. That is, first, the culture medium 5 is placed in the first station S1.
is positioned and fixed between the mounting table 21 and the holder 22. This is done manually by the operator. Next, at the second station S2, the clamp 26 is lowered to clamp the cap 4, and then raised again to remove the cap 4. The removed cap 4 is transferred to the movable clamp 31 and moved along with the culture medium 5 while being shifted laterally from directly above the culture medium 5. Next, the drilling rod 4 is moved to the third station S3.
1 is lowered and a hole for inoculation is made on the top surface of the culture medium in the culture medium 5. Next, at the fourth station S4, the seed culture scraped out from the seed culture container 51 of the seed culture supply device is dropped into the inoculation hole of the culture medium 5 via the first hopper 57 and the second hopper 60. Let it fill. And the fifth station S
At step 5, the cap 4 is transferred from the movable clamp 31 to a clamp (not shown) that moves up and down on the spot, and is lowered and placed over the upper opening of the culture medium 5. Then, this culture medium 5 is pushed out of the apparatus at the sixth station S6 and carried out.

The above series of operations are sequentially and continuously performed while rotating the rotary table 20 by 1/6 rotation. The operations at each station and the feeding and stopping of the rotary table 20 are synchronized so that the processing automatically and continuously proceeds under automatic control.

Therefore, when using this automatic inoculation device, the operator only has to do the work of supplying the culture medium 5 to the device, and the removal of the cap, inoculation, and attachment of the cap can all be done unattended, so that the inside of the culture medium 5 is not contaminated. There is no fear that it will be done. Further, since the work does not require skill, high-speed processing can be maintained regardless of the skill level of the worker. There will be no troubles at work.

Note that in the above embodiment, the third station S
Although step 3 includes a step of drilling an inoculation hole on the upper surface of the culture medium 5, this step is optional. That is, a normal culture medium has holes for inoculation in the culture medium, but since these are likely to collapse during retort sterilization, this step is provided in the above example from the viewpoint of ensuring inoculation. Therefore, if the shape of the inoculation hole does not occur due to sterilization conditions or the like, it is not necessary to carry out the above step.

In addition, the hoppers in the inoculation supply block are set as the first hopper 57 and the second hopper 60.
Although a stage type is used, a single stage type may be used depending on the type of inoculum.

Furthermore, although the transport line is set on the rotary table 20, the transport line may be set on a serial conveyor and the same processing as above may be performed sequentially while transporting the culture medium 5 in one direction.

Furthermore, instead of using separate stations for each operation, all operations may be performed at one location. A large number of these devices may be arranged in parallel on a conveyor and operated simultaneously, and after the inoculation process is completed, the culture medium may be taken out of the device while being moved by the conveyor. In this way, a large amount of bacteria can be inoculated at the same time in a small space, which is efficient.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically remove the cap while the culture medium is fixed on the mounting table, inoculate the culture medium, and then cover the cap again and carry it out. There is no need for people to be directly involved in the inoculation process. Therefore, culture medium contamination and operational errors do not occur, and processing efficiency can be significantly improved. In addition, when the seed culture container used for seed supply is empty, it is automatically replaced with a new seed culture container, which enables continuous processing over a long period of time, and the process utilization rate is extremely high. You can get the effect of

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the automatic inoculation device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line A-A', and FIG. Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram explaining the positioning and fixing structure of the culture medium in the automatic inoculation device, Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram explaining the movement of the cap in the automatic inoculation device, and Figure 6 is the inoculum in the automatic inoculation device. FIGS. 7a and 7b are explanatory diagrams illustrating the structure of the supply block, FIGS. 7A and 7B are explanatory diagrams illustrating the culture medium used for inoculation, and FIG. 8 is a side view showing a conventional inoculation machine. 1... Culture medium material, 2... Packaging bag, 4... Cap, 5... Culture medium, 20... Turning table, 21
... Mounting table, 22 ... Holder, 26 ... Clamp, 31 ... Moving clamp, 41 ... Drilling rod, 4
9... Seed supply block, 51... Seed filling container, 52... Scraping rod, 54, 55... Limit switch, 76... Extrusion guide.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A step of supporting and fixing at least one of the sides and bottom of the culture medium, which is obtained by placing the culture medium in a packaging bag and sealing the upper opening with a cap, and from above the culture medium fixed at the top. A step of lowering the cap removal clamp to grasp the cap and then raising it in that state to remove the cap from the culture medium; a step of holding the removed cap in a state shifted laterally from directly above the culture medium; Position the seed culture container with the opening facing downward above the removed culture medium, scrape out a certain amount of seed bacteria from the culture medium, and drop it into the culture medium to inoculate. step, positioning the removed cap directly above the inoculated culture medium, lowering it from that position and attaching the cap to the culture medium, releasing the fixation of the culture medium and carrying it out, and filling the seed culture medium. An automatic inoculation method characterized by comprising a step of detecting when a container becomes empty and automatically replacing it with a filled container. 2. After the cap removal step of claim 1,
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of drilling a hole for inoculation on the upper surface of the culture medium by lowering a perforation rod from above the culture medium, and dropping the inoculum into the hole for inoculation during the inoculation step. Automatic inoculation method. 3. A culture medium mounting table equipped with a culture medium fixing means for supporting and fixing at least one of the sides and bottom of the culture medium, which is made by placing culture medium in a packaging bag and sealing the upper opening with a cap, and a culture medium mounting table that is lowered from above the above-mentioned mounting table. a cap removing means that grasps a culture medium cap fixed on a mounting table and then rises in this state; a cap holding means that holds the removed cap in a state shifted laterally from directly above the culture medium; , a seed-filling container holding means to which a plurality of seed-filling containers are attached with the opening facing downward; and a positioning means for positioning one of the seed-filling containers on a culture medium fixed on the mounting table. , a seed scraping rod that moves a certain distance while rotating into the positioned seed filling container to scrape out the seed and drop it downward; and a detection device that detects when the seed is empty in the seed filling container. means for replacing a seed-filling container for moving an empty container from above the culture medium in response to a detection signal from the detection means and positioning a new container for filling the seed-filling container on the culture medium; An automatic inoculation device characterized by comprising: a cap mounting means for positioning the cap and lowering it from that position to mount the cap on a culture medium; and a transport means for releasing the fixation of the culture medium to which the cap is mounted and carrying it out. . 4. The automatic inoculation device according to claim 3, further comprising a drilling rod that descends from above the culture medium from which the cap has been removed and punches a seed hole in the upper surface of the culture medium.