Swing rotor type centrifugal separator, and analysis sample pre-treatment device including the centrifugal separator

Abstract

To provide a swing rotor type centrifugal separator which can surely make a sample container exist at a predetermined position when rotation of the rotor is stopped.SOLUTION: A swing rotor type centrifugal separator (10) includes: a rotor (11) which is rotated around a rotation axis (111); a carrier (12) having a holding part (113) which is rotatably around a rotation axis vertical to the rotation axis and holds a sample container (20); and an inclination adjustment mechanism (13) for adjusting the carrier at a predetermined angle relative to the rotation axis. The sample container held by the holding part can be surely made to exist at a predetermined position by adjusting the carrier at the predetermined angle when rotation of the rotor is stopped.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a swing rotor centrifuge and an analytical sample pretreatment device that is a device for pretreatment of samples to be analyzed by an analytical device such as a chromatograph and that includes the centrifuge. [Background technology]

[0002] Before a sample is analyzed in an analytical device, the sample may be pretreated. For example, the analytical sample pretreatment device described in Patent Document 1 is a device that performs pretreatment of a sample before analysis by chromatography, and includes a sample introduction section that weighs the sample to be analyzed and introduces it into a sample container, a shaking section that stirs the contents by shaking the sample container, an addition section that adds additives such as a predetermined solvent or an internal standard reagent to the sample container, a separation section that performs a centrifugation process on the contents of the sample container by applying a centrifugal force to the sample container, and an extraction section that extracts the separated product in the sample container with a pipette. In addition, this analytical sample pretreatment device includes a belt conveyor and a robot arm that transport the sample container between the above-mentioned sections.

[0003] In the separation section, a swing rotor centrifuge (see, for example, Patent Document 2) is preferably used. The swing rotor centrifuge includes a rotor that rotates at high speed around an axis in a substantially vertical direction during centrifugation processing, and a carrier that accommodates the sample container. The carrier is held by the rotor so that the accommodated sample container can rotate between an angle in a substantially vertical direction (a direction in which the bottom of the sample container is on the lower side) and an angle in a substantially horizontal direction (a direction in which the bottom of the sample container is on the outside of the rotation of the rotor) by a substantially horizontal rotation axis. When using this centrifuge, the sample container is attached to the carrier so that it is in a substantially vertical direction, and then the rotor is rotated at high speed. As a result, the sample container rotates at high speed in a substantially horizontal state due to centrifugal force, and the centrifugal force acts on the contents in the sample container in a direction toward the bottom of the sample container. When the rotation of the rotor is stopped, the sample container returns to a substantially vertical state. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-131335 [Patent Document 2] JP 2014-151247 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In a swing rotor centrifuge, the rotational position of the rotor when stopped is controlled, but due to frictional resistance of the rotating shaft that rotates the carrier, the carrier may not return completely to its original orientation when the rotation of the rotor is stopped, and the carrier may stop with the sample container slightly tilted short of the approximately vertical. If this happens, the attitude of the sample container will deviate from the approximately vertical state to which it should be returned, and as a result, the position of the sample container will deviate from the position to which it should be returned. When transferring sample containers using a robot arm as in the above-mentioned analytical sample pretreatment device, the robot arm attempts to remove the sample container on the assumption that the sample container is present in a predetermined position, but if the sample container deviates from its original position in the swing rotor centrifuge as described above, the sample container cannot be removed from the carrier.

[0006] The problem that the present invention aims to solve is to provide a swing rotor centrifuge that can ensure that sample containers are in a predetermined position when the rotation of the rotor is stopped, and an analytical sample pretreatment device equipped with such a centrifuge. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The swing rotor centrifuge according to the present invention, which has been developed to solve the above problems, comprises: A rotor that rotates around a rotation axis; a carrier that is held by the rotor so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis perpendicular to the rotation axis, the carrier including a holder that holds a sample container; an inclination adjustment mechanism that adjusts the carrier to a predetermined angle with respect to the rotation axis; Equipped with.

[0008] The analytical sample pretreatment device according to the present invention comprises: The swing rotor centrifuge; a robot arm that moves a sample container between the position of the holder when the carrier is adjusted to the predetermined angle and the outside of the swing rotor centrifuge; Equipped with. Effect of the Invention

[0009] In the swing rotor centrifuge according to the present invention, after the rotor is rotated with the sample container held in the holder to perform the centrifugation process, the rotation of the rotor is stopped, and the tilt adjustment mechanism adjusts the carrier to a predetermined angle with respect to the rotation axis. As a result, even if the carrier is at an angle different from the original (predetermined) angle (tilt) with respect to the rotation axis at the time when the rotation of the rotor is stopped, the tilt adjustment mechanism adjusts the carrier to the predetermined angle. This ensures that the holder (and the sample container held therein) are located at a predetermined position. Therefore, it is possible to use the robot arm to reliably remove the sample container from the holder and to reliably hold the sample container to be subjected to the next centrifugation process in the holder. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of an analytical sample pretreatment device according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1A is a top view showing the configuration of one embodiment of a swing rotor centrifuge according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line AA. [Diagram 3] 1A shows the tilt state of the carrier before the rotor rotates, (b) the carrier while the rotor is rotating, and (c) immediately after the rotor stops (before tilt adjustment) in the centrifuge of this embodiment. FIG. [Figure 4]FIG. 1A shows the state in which a sample container is removed from a carrier when the carrier is not tilted, and FIG. 1B shows the state in which a sample container cannot be removed from the carrier because the carrier is tilted. [Diagram 5] 13 is a diagram showing how the inclination of the carrier is adjusted by pushing down a portion of the carrier that is outside the rotation axis of the rotor to a predetermined height. FIG. [Figure 6] 13A to 13C are diagrams showing an operation for determining the position of the holding part when the carrier is not tilted. [Figure 7] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing positions for pushing and pulling the carrier when adjusting the inclination of the carrier. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] 1 to 7, an embodiment of a swing rotor centrifuge and an analytical sample pretreatment device according to the present invention will be described.

[0012] (1) Analysis sample pretreatment device of this embodiment FIG. 1 shows an outline of an analytical sample pretreatment device 1 of this embodiment. This analytical sample pretreatment device 1 has a sample introduction section 2 that weighs the sample to be analyzed and introduces it into a sample container 20 (described later), a shaking section 3 that stirs the contents of the sample container 20 by shaking it, an addition section 4 that adds additives such as a solvent and an internal standard reagent into the sample container 20 to which the sample has been introduced, a swing rotor centrifuge (hereinafter abbreviated as "centrifuge") 10 of this embodiment, an extraction section 5 that extracts the separated matter in the sample container 20 with a pipette, and a transport device 6 that transports the sample container 20 between these respective sections. The transport device 6 includes a belt conveyor 61 and a plurality of robot arms that transfer the sample container 20 between the above-mentioned respective sections and the belt conveyor 61. Among the robot arms, the one that transfers the sample between the centrifuge 10 of this embodiment and the belt conveyor 61 is indicated by the reference numeral 131.

[0013] The analytical sample pretreatment device 1 of this embodiment is characterized by the centrifuge 10, and the components other than the centrifuge 10 are similar to those of conventional analytical sample pretreatment devices. Therefore, the following description will focus on the centrifuge 10.

[0014] (2) Centrifuge of this embodiment (2-1) Configuration of the Centrifuge of the Present Embodiment 2 shows the configuration of a centrifuge 10 of this embodiment. The centrifuge 10 has a rotor 11, a carrier 12 held by the rotor, and an inclination adjustment mechanism 13.

[0015] The rotor 11 has a rotation shaft 111 which is a real axis extending in a substantially vertical direction. A motor 14 is provided below the rotation shaft 111, and the rotation shaft 111 is rotated by the rotation of the motor 14 under the control of a control unit 132 described later.

[0016] Four arms 112 are attached to the rotating shaft 111 and extend in a substantially horizontal direction from a position near the top of the rotating shaft 111. These four arms 112 are provided at 90° intervals around the rotating shaft 111. A bifurcated branch portion 1121 is formed at the tip of each arm 112, and each branch portion 1121 is provided with a carrier holding pin 113 that extends toward the branch portion 1121 of the adjacent arm 112. The carrier holding pins 113 of the adjacent arms 112 are disposed facing each other.

[0017] The carriers 12 are provided between adjacent arms 112, i.e., four in total in the centrifuge 10. Each carrier 12 has a main body 121 provided with a holding portion 123, which is a hole for holding the sample container 20, and a main body housing portion 122 for housing the main body 121. A total of two recesses are provided on the side of the main body housing portion 122 of each carrier 12. The carrier holding pins 113 provided on each of the two adjacent arms engage with these recesses, so that each carrier 12 is held on the rotor 11 so as to be rotatable around the rotation axis shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2(a). Note that, contrary to the configuration of this embodiment, a carrier holding pin may be provided on the side of the main body housing portion 122 of each carrier 12, and a recess may be provided on the branch portion 1121 of the arm 112.

[0018] Here, the sample container 20 will be described. The sample container 20 (see FIG. 3(a)) has a cylindrical sample holder 21, a lid 22 attached to the upper end of the sample holder 21, and a filtration membrane 23 provided at the lower end of the sample holder 21 (the bottom of the sample container 20). A rubber membrane is provided on a part of the lid 22, and the membrane can be pierced with a pipette or the like to supply the contents into the sample holder 21. The filtration membrane 23 has a very small pore size so that substances other than the analysis target, such as the solvent, can pass through only after a force acting toward the filtration membrane 23 side is applied to the contents in the sample holder 21 by a centrifuge.

[0019] The holder 123 holds the sample container 20 so that it is approximately vertical when the carrier 12 faces a predetermined angle with respect to the rotation axis. Here, the "predetermined angle" of the carrier 12 is the angle that the carrier 12 naturally faces under its own weight when the rotor 11 is not rotating (no centrifugal force is acting) and the friction between the carrier holding pin 113 and the recess is sufficiently small.

[0020] A waste liquid reservoir 124 is provided below the holder 123 in the main body 121 to store waste liquid such as a solvent that has passed through the filtration membrane 23 during centrifugation. The capacity of the waste liquid reservoir 124 is sufficiently larger than the capacity of the sample storage section 21 of the sample container 20. Therefore, the waste liquid reservoir 124 will not become full after only one centrifugation operation, and it is sufficient to remove the main body 121 from the main body storage section 122 at an appropriate timing after multiple operations and discard the waste liquid in the waste liquid reservoir 124. A gripping section 125 protruding upward is provided at the center of the upper surface of the main body 121, and the main body 121 can be removed from the main body storage section 122 by gripping and lifting the gripping section 125 with a human hand or a robot arm.

[0021] Each carrier 12 may have only one holding section 123, but it is preferable to have multiple holding sections 123 so that multiple samples can be centrifuged at the same time. In this embodiment, each main body 121 has eight holes 1211, for a total of 32 holes in the centrifuge 10. Therefore, the centrifuge 10 can hold a maximum of 32 sample containers 20 at the same time, but centrifugation processing may be performed while holding a smaller number of sample containers 20.

[0022] The tilt adjustment mechanism 13 has a robot arm 131 and a control unit 132. The robot arm 131 is originally provided in the analytical sample pretreatment device 1 of this embodiment to transfer the sample container 20 between the centrifuge 10 and another device that performs pretreatment. In the centrifuge 10 of this embodiment, the robot arm 131 performs this original function as well as part of the function of the tilt adjustment mechanism 13. The control unit 132 controls the operation of the robot arm 131 and also controls the operation of the motor 14.

[0023] (2-2) Operation of the Centrifuge of the Present Invention The operation of the centrifuge 10 of this embodiment will be described below. The sample to be analyzed is measured and introduced in advance by the sample introduction unit 2 of the analytical sample pretreatment device 1, and the sample is shaken by the shaking unit 3. After that, the sample container 20 to which the additive has been added by the addition unit 4 is transported to the vicinity of the centrifuge 10 by the belt conveyor 61.

[0024] In the centrifuge 10, the rotor 11 is stopped at a rotation angle where one of the four carriers 12 is placed at a predetermined position. In this state, the robot arm 131, under the control of the control unit 132, transfers the sample container 20 from the belt conveyor 61 to one of the holders 123 of the carrier 12 placed at the predetermined position (FIG. 3(a)). Since the sample container 20 is transferred to the carrier 12 placed at the predetermined position in this manner, the predetermined position is hereinafter referred to as a "transfer processing position." Here, the horizontal position and height of the holder 123 in the carrier 12 placed at the transfer processing position are stored in a storage unit (not shown) in advance, and the robot arm 131 moves the sample container 20 to the stored position and height, thereby allowing the sample container 20 to be accurately held in the holder 123 without detecting the position of the holder 123 (unless a problem of inclination of the carrier 12 described later occurs).

[0025] The control unit 132 stores the holding units 123 holding the sample containers 20 in the memory unit, and then causes the robot arm 131 to perform the same operation on the holding units 123 that are still vacant. These operations are repeated until a predetermined number of sample containers 20 are held in one carrier 12. When a predetermined number of sample containers 20 are held in one carrier 12, the motor 14 rotates the rotor 11 by 1 / 4 revolution (90°) under the control of the control unit 132. As a result, the carrier 12 that does not yet hold a sample container 20 is placed at the transfer processing position, and an operation is performed on the carrier 12 to hold the predetermined number of sample containers 20 in the same manner as described above. The above operations are repeated until all four carriers 12 hold the predetermined number of sample containers 20.

[0026] After a predetermined number of sample containers 20 are held in the four carriers 12 in this manner, the motor 14 rotates the rotor 11 at high speed under the control of the control unit 132 (FIG. 3(b)). As a result, centrifugal force acts on each carrier 12, causing it to rotate around the rotation axis, and the bottoms of the carriers 12 and the bottoms of the sample containers 20 contained therein are tilted in a direction that is on the outside of the rotation of the rotor 11. At this time, the sample containers 20 are approximately horizontal, and the filtration membranes 23 of the sample containers 20 are positioned on the outermost side of the rotation.

[0027] Then, a centrifugal force acts on the contents of the sample container 20 toward the filtration membrane 23. As a result, components of the contents of the sample container 20 that are relatively small molecules or particles pass through the filtration membrane 23 and move to the waste liquid storage section 124, and components that do not pass through the filtration membrane 23 remain in the sample container 20. In this way, the components of the contents of the sample container 20 that remain in the sample container 20 become separated products.

[0028] After the rotor 11 is rotated at high speed for a predetermined time, the control unit 132 controls the motor 14 to stop the rotation of the rotor 11 so that one of the four carriers 12 is located at the transfer processing position. When the rotation of the rotor 11 stops in this way, the centrifugal force no longer acts on the carrier 12, so that the carrier 12 rotates around the rotation axis due to its own weight, and as a result, the carrier 12 tries to return to the angle before the rotation of the rotor 11 started, that is, the orientation in which the held sample container 20 is approximately vertical. However, due to frictional resistance between the carrier holding pin 113 and the recess of the carrier 12, etc., the carrier 12 does not return completely to the original orientation, and the carrier 12 may stop in a state in which the sample container 20 is slightly inclined short of the approximately vertical (FIG. 3(c)).

[0029] After the rotor 11 stops, under the control of the control unit 132, the robot arm 131 moves to the position where the sample container 20 is (supposed to be) held by the holder 123 based on the information stored in the memory unit, and executes an operation to grip the sample container 20. At this time, if the carrier 12 has completely returned to its original orientation ( FIG. 4(a) ), the sample container 20 is present at that position, and the robot arm 131 can grip the sample container 20. In this case, the robot arm 131 transfers the gripped sample container 20 to the belt conveyor 61. The sample container 20 transferred to the belt conveyor 61 is further transported to the extraction unit 5, and the separated matter in the sample container 20 is extracted in the extraction unit 5.

[0030] On the other hand, when the carrier 12 has not returned to its original orientation (FIG. 4(b)), the sample container 20 is present in a position that has been rotated around the rotation axis of the carrier 12 from the original position (position indicated by the dashed line in the figure) determined from the information stored in the storage unit. Since the robot arm 131 moves based on the information stored in the storage unit, the sample container 20 cannot be grasped if it is present in such a position that is displaced from the original position.

[0031] Therefore, the centrifuge 10 of this embodiment adjusts the angle (inclination) of the carrier 12 with respect to the rotation axis by the operation of the inclination adjustment mechanism 13 so that the carrier 12 returns to its original orientation, that is, so that the sample container 20 held by the holding part 123 is approximately vertical. The angle of the carrier 12 at this time corresponds to the above-mentioned "predetermined angle". Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, under the control of the control part 132, the robot arm 131 pushes down a part of the upper surface of the main body part 121 of the carrier 12, which is on the outer side of the rotation of the rotor 11 from the rotation axis (to the right of the carrier holding pin 113 in the figure, and on the opposite side to the rotation axis 111 of the rotor 11) to a height at which the carrier 12 returns to its original orientation. This height can be obtained in advance by a preliminary experiment described later.

[0032] In this way, by adjusting the angle (tilt) relative to the rotation axis using the tilt adjustment mechanism 13 so that the carrier 12 returns to its original orientation, it will reach the state shown in Figure 4(a), allowing the robot arm 131 to grasp the sample container 20 and enable the sample container 20 to be transferred.

[0033] Here, referring to FIG. 6, a preliminary experiment for determining the height of the robot arm 131 when the carrier 12 returns to its original orientation will be described. First, a level 90 is placed on the upper surface of the main body 121 of the carrier 12 at a position that does not affect the operation of the robot arm 131 to push down the carrier 12. Here, the upper surface of the main body 121 is formed so as to be perpendicular to the inner wall surface of the holding part 123. When the robot arm 131 pushes down the carrier 12 in this state, the degree of inclination of the upper surface of the main body 121 indicated by the level 90 changes. Then, when the level 90 indicates that the upper surface is horizontal, the sample container 20 held by the holding part 123 becomes approximately vertical, and the carrier 12 returns to its original orientation. The height of the robot arm 131 at this time (height indicating the absolute position, not the distance (relative height) by which the robot arm 131 pushes down the carrier 12) is stored in a memory unit.

[0034] During actual tilt adjustment, if the lower end of the robot arm 131 is lowered to the stored height, the tilted carrier 12 is pushed down and the carrier 12 can be returned to its original orientation. After the tilt adjustment is performed by the robot arm 131 in this manner, the sample container 20 can be grasped and transported by the robot arm 131 as is.

[0035] (3) Modifications Although the embodiments of the swing rotor centrifuge and analytical sample pretreatment device according to the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and various modifications are possible.

[0036] For example, in the centrifuge 10 of the above embodiment, the tilt adjustment mechanism 13 is a robot arm 131 provided in the analytical sample pretreatment device 1 to push the carrier 12 down to a predetermined position, but the carrier 12 may also be pushed down using something other than the robot arm 131 (for example, a pressing member provided specifically for the tilt adjustment mechanism 13).

[0037] In the above embodiment, the height of the robot arm 131 (or other pressing member) when the tilt adjustment mechanism 13 places the carrier 12 in a predetermined orientation (tilt) is obtained in a preliminary experiment, and during the tilt adjustment operation, the tilt of the carrier 12 is adjusted by pushing down the robot arm 131 (same) to that height. Alternatively, a stopper may be provided on the carrier 12 to prevent further rotation when the carrier 12 rotates in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation due to centrifugal force and reaches a predetermined orientation (tilt). In this case, during the tilt adjustment operation, the robot arm 131 (same) may be pushed down until the rotation of the carrier 12 is stopped by the stopper.

[0038] In the centrifuge 10 of the above embodiment, the inclination of the carrier 12 is adjusted by the robot arm 131 (or other pressing member) pressing down (in the direction of the arrow 30 in FIG. 7(a)) the upper surface of the carrier 12 on the outer side of the rotation of the rotor 11 (opposite the rotation shaft 111 of the rotor 11) of the rotation shaft of the rotor 11, but other positions of the carrier 12 may be pressed. Specifically, the lower surface (bottom) of the carrier 12 on the side closer to the rotation shaft 111 of the rotor 11 than the rotation shaft may be pressed up (in the direction of the arrow 31). Alternatively, the side of the carrier 12 on the outer side of the rotation of the rotor 11 and below the rotation shaft may be pressed toward the inner side of the rotation (in the direction of the arrow 32), or the side of the carrier 12 on the side closer to the rotation shaft 111 of the carrier 12 and above the rotation shaft may be pressed toward the outer side of the rotation (in the direction of the arrow 33). Also, as shown in FIG. 7(b), the inclination of carrier 12 may be adjusted by pulling up (in the direction of arrow 34) the upper surface of carrier 12 closer to rotation axis 111 of rotor 11 than the rotation axis, pulling down (in the direction of arrow 35) the lower surface (bottom) of carrier 12 closer to the outside of the rotation of rotor 11 than the rotation axis, pulling the side of carrier 12 that is outside the rotation of rotor 11 but above the rotation axis toward the outside of the same rotation (in the direction of arrow 36), or pulling the side of carrier 12 closer to rotation axis 111 than the rotation axis toward the inside of the same rotation (in the direction of arrow 37).

[0039] In the above embodiment, the angle of the carrier 12 when the sample container 20 is held substantially vertically on the holder 123 is defined as the "predetermined angle", but another angle (the angle at which the sample container 20 is tilted from the vertical) may be defined as the predetermined angle. Even in such a case, the position of the sample container 20 held in the holder 123 after the tilt adjustment mechanism 13 adjusts the tilt of the carrier 12 can be identified, so that the sample container 20 can be loaded and unloaded using a robot arm.

[0040] The analytical sample pretreatment device is also not limited to the above embodiment, and other configurations can be appropriately modified as long as it has the centrifuge and robot arm of this embodiment or its modification. For example, the analytical sample pretreatment device may be equipped with a pipette that can move between the position of a sample container held in the holder of the centrifuge of this embodiment or its modification and the outside, and that injects a sample, additive, solvent, etc. into the sample container. In such a configuration, the pipette can be reliably moved to the position of the sample container by adjusting the angle of the carrier with the tilt adjustment mechanism.

[0041] [Aspects] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above-described exemplary embodiments are illustrative of the following aspects.

[0042] (Item 1) A swing rotor centrifuge according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: A rotor that rotates around a rotation axis; a carrier that is held by the rotor so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis perpendicular to the rotation axis, the carrier including a holder that holds a sample container; an inclination adjustment mechanism that adjusts the carrier to a predetermined angle with respect to the rotation axis; Equipped with.

[0043] According to the swing rotor centrifuge of the first aspect, after performing a centrifugation process by rotating the rotor with the sample container held in the holder, the rotation of the rotor is stopped, and the tilt adjustment mechanism adjusts the carrier to a predetermined angle with respect to the rotation axis. As a result, even if the carrier is at an angle different from the original (predetermined) angle (tilt) with respect to the rotation axis at the time when the rotation of the rotor is stopped, the tilt adjustment mechanism adjusts the carrier to the predetermined angle. This ensures that the holder (and the sample container held therein) are located at a predetermined position. Therefore, it is possible to use the robot arm to reliably remove the sample container from the holder and to reliably hold the sample container to be subjected to the next centrifugation process in the holder.

[0044] The specified angle is typically an angle at which the sample container held by the carrier is approximately vertical, but is not limited to this and can also be an angle at which the sample container is inclined from approximately vertical (because if the angle is specified, the position of the sample container will also be specified).

[0045] (Clause 2) The swing rotor centrifuge according to clause 2 is the swing rotor centrifuge according to clause 1, wherein the tilt adjustment mechanism can include a pressing mechanism that presses a portion of the carrier so as to rotate the carrier around the rotation axis to the predetermined angle.

[0046] (Clause 3) The swing rotor centrifuge pertaining to paragraph 3 is the swing rotor centrifuge pertaining to paragraph 2, wherein the pressing mechanism presses a position of the upper part of the carrier, which is outer than the rotation axis with respect to the rotation of the rotor, downward to a predetermined height that rotates the carrier around the rotation axis to the predetermined angle.

[0047] According to the swing rotor centrifuge of paragraph 2, the inclination of the carrier can be adjusted by pressing a part of the carrier to rotate the carrier to a predetermined angle. In this case, as specified in paragraph 3, a pressing mechanism can be used to press downward a position on the upper part of the carrier that is outer than the rotation axis with respect to the rotation of the rotor, thereby rotating the carrier to the predetermined angle. In this case, the height to which the position is pressed down corresponds to the angle of rotation around the rotation axis, so pressing the position down to the predetermined height rotates the carrier to the predetermined angle.

[0048] (Item 4) The swing rotor centrifuge according to item 4 is the swing rotor centrifuge according to item 3, wherein the pressing mechanism is a robot arm provided in the analytical sample pretreatment device.

[0049] According to the swing rotor centrifuge of paragraph 4, the robot arm of the analytical sample pretreatment device is used as the pressing mechanism, so there is no need to provide a separate pressing mechanism for the tilt adjustment mechanism, and the configuration of the device can be simplified.

[0050] Of course, in the swing rotor centrifuge according to the present invention, a push-down mechanism may be provided in addition to the robot arm.

[0051] (5) A method for adjusting the inclination of a carrier in a swing rotor centrifuge according to claim 5 is a method for adjusting the inclination of the carrier in the swing rotor centrifuge according to claim 3 or 4, comprising: a preliminary experiment is performed in which a level is placed on the upper part of the carrier, and a position on the upper part of the carrier that is on the outer side of the rotation axis of the rotor is pressed downward with the pressing mechanism, and the height of the pressing mechanism when the level indicates that the carrier is horizontal is recorded as the predetermined height; When the swing rotor centrifuge is in use, after the rotation of the rotor is stopped, the position is pressed downward to the height by the pressing mechanism.

[0052] According to the method for adjusting the inclination of the carrier of a swing rotor centrifuge according to paragraph 5, the height of the pressing mechanism when the top of the carrier is horizontal (the predetermined height) can be specified by using a level through preliminary experiments. Therefore, when the centrifuge is in use, the rotation of the rotor is stopped, and then the pressing mechanism is used to press down the position of the top of the carrier to the predetermined height, thereby adjusting the carrier to a predetermined angle with respect to the rotation axis.

[0053] (6) The analytical sample pretreatment device according to 6 is A swing rotor centrifuge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a robot arm that moves a sample container between the position of the holder when the carrier is adjusted to the predetermined angle and the outside of the swing rotor centrifuge; Equipped with.

[0054] According to the analytical sample pretreatment device of paragraph 6, by adjusting the carrier to a predetermined angle when the rotation of the rotor is stopped, the holding part and the sample container held by it can be reliably positioned in the predetermined position, so that the robot arm can reliably transport the sample container into the holding part and remove the sample container from the holding part. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 1...Analysis sample pretreatment device 2...Sample introduction section 3. Shaking section 4…Additional part 5...Extraction part 6...Transportation device 61...Conveyor belt 10...Swing rotor centrifuge 11...Rotor 111...Rotation axis 112…Arm 1121...Branch 113…Carrier retaining pin 12. Career 121…Main body 1211…hole 122...Main body storage section 123...Holding part 124...Waste liquid storage section 125...Gripping part 13…Adjustment mechanism 131...Robot arm 132...Control unit 14…Motor 20...Sample container 21...Sample storage section 22...Lid part 23...Filtration membrane 30~37…Arrows showing the direction to push or pull the carrier 90...Level

Claims

1. A rotor that rotates around a rotating shaft, The rotor is provided with a carrier that is rotatably held around a pivot axis perpendicular to the rotation axis and has a holding portion for holding a sample container, An inclination adjustment mechanism for adjusting the carrier to a predetermined angle with respect to the pivot axis, A swing rotor type centrifugal separator equipped with a swing rotor.

2. The swing rotor type centrifugal separator according to claim 1, wherein the tilt adjustment mechanism includes a pressing mechanism that presses a part of the carrier so as to rotate the carrier around the pivot axis to a predetermined angle.

3. The swing rotor type centrifugal separator according to claim 2, wherein the pressing mechanism presses downward a position on the upper part of the carrier that is outward from the rotation axis of the rotor with respect to the rotation of the rotor, to a predetermined height that rotates the carrier around the rotation axis to the predetermined angle.

4. The swing rotor type centrifuge according to claim 3, wherein the pressing mechanism is a robotic arm provided in the analytical sample pretreatment device.

5. A method for adjusting the tilt of the carrier in a swing rotor type centrifugal separator according to claim 3 or 4, A preliminary experiment is conducted in which a spirit level is placed on the top of the carrier, and the pressing mechanism is used to press downwards on the part of the top that is outside the rotation axis of the rotor, until the height of the pressing mechanism when the spirit level indicates that it is horizontal is recorded as the predetermined height. When using the swing rotor type centrifugal separator, after stopping the rotation of the rotor, the position is pressed downward to the predetermined height by the pressing mechanism. A method for adjusting the tilt of the carrier of a swing rotor type centrifugal separator, characterized by the following:

6. A swing rotor type centrifugal separator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, A robotic arm moves the sample container between the position of the holding part when the carrier is adjusted to the predetermined angle and the outside of the swing rotor type centrifuge. A sample preparation device for analysis, equipped with the following features.

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