Automatic analyzer

Abstract

To provide an automatic analyzer that can prevent the occurrence of dew condensation in a reagent cooling box, and can immediately discharge dew condensation water generated due to introduction of outside air.SOLUTION: An automatic analyzer comprises a reagent cooling box that stores, while cooling, a plurality of reagent containers. The reagent cooling box has a drain that discharges dew condensation water generated in the reagent cooling box, and an outside air introduction path that introduces air outside the reagent cooling box to the inside of the box. An inner wall surface of the reagent cooling box is inclined toward one point of an upper opening of the drain.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, automated analyzers that perform biochemical or immunological analysis of specimens (samples) such as blood and urine have become known. Analysis is generally performed by reacting the specimen with a reagent, and the reaction that occurs between the reagent and the specimen is detected optically or electrically.

[0003] In such an automatic analyzer, the reagents used in the reaction are placed in containers, and these containers are placed in the reagent installation section in the reagent cooler. Furthermore, the inside of the reagent cooler is kept cool, for example, at about 5 to 12°C, to stably store the reagents.

[0004] In an automated analyzer, the reagent refrigerator is generally provided with a through hole for aspirating reagents from inside the reagent containers placed inside the reagent refrigerator. If hot and humid outside air enters the refrigerator through this through hole, problems occur, such as the temperature inside the reagent refrigerator rising, or condensation forming inside the refrigerator as the outside air that has entered is cooled below the dew point. The rise in temperature inside the refrigerator is undesirable for the stable storage of reagents, and furthermore, condensation that occurs inside the reagent refrigerator may change the state of the reagents by allowing the condensed water to enter the reagent containers. Furthermore, tags for identifying the reagents are sometimes attached to the reagent containers, and problems such as damage to the tags due to condensed water adhering to the tags also occur. To address these problems, Patent Document 1 proposes an automatic analyzer that suppresses condensation inside the reagent refrigerator by introducing chilled air directly into the interior of the reagent refrigerator, thereby raising the pressure inside the reagent refrigerator above atmospheric pressure and causing cool air to spray out from the reagent suction hole, thereby preventing outside air from flowing in through this reagent suction hole. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-185980 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the reagent refrigerator described in Patent Document 1, if the air introduced into the reagent refrigerator through the cold air inlet path contains moisture, condensation will occur inside the reagent refrigerator, and the condensed water may accumulate on the bottom surface of the inner wall of the reagent refrigerator.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic analyzer that can suppress the occurrence of condensation in a reagent refrigerator and can immediately drain the condensed water that occurs by introducing outside air. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an automatic analyzer equipped with a reagent refrigerator that stores and keeps a plurality of reagent containers cool, the reagent refrigerator having a drain for discharging condensation water generated inside the reagent refrigerator and an outside air inlet passage for directing air from outside the reagent refrigerator into the inside, and the inner wall surface of the reagent refrigerator is inclined toward a point on an upper opening of the drain. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic analyzer that can suppress the occurrence of condensation inside a reagent refrigerator and can immediately drain any condensed water that occurs by introducing outside air. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of an automatic analyzer according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the reagent cooler shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the direction of arrow A. [Diagram 3] 3 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the reagent cooler shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from the direction of arrow B. [Figure 4]6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a schematic diagram of the occurrence of condensation and the flow of condensed water in a comparative example. FIG. [Diagram 5] 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a schematic diagram of the occurrence of condensation and the flow of condensed water in the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a reagent cooler according to a second embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a reagent cooler according to a third embodiment. [Figure 8] 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the reagent cooler shown in FIG. 7 as viewed from the direction of arrow C. [Figure 9] 11 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a schematic diagram of the occurrence of condensation and the flow of condensed water in the third embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0012] <Example 1> The automatic analyzer of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5. First, the overall configuration of the automatic analyzer according to this embodiment will be outlined with reference to Figs. 1 to 3. Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of the automatic analyzer of this embodiment. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the schematic configuration of the reagent cooler of Fig. 1 as viewed from the direction of arrow A. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view showing the schematic configuration of the reagent cooler of Fig. 2 as viewed from the direction of arrow B.

[0013] 1, the automatic analyzer 100 in this embodiment is an apparatus that reacts a specimen with a reagent and measures the resulting reaction liquid. The automatic analyzer 100 includes a reagent cooler 1, a reagent container 3, a specimen dispensing nozzle 303, a reaction table 305, a reaction container transport mechanism 306, a specimen dispensing tip / reaction container holding member 307, a reagent disk 2, a reagent dispensing nozzle 314, a processing unit 315, a detection unit 316, a rack transport line 317, and a control device 319.

[0014] Here, the rack transport line 317 is a line for transporting the rack 301, which can accommodate a plurality of specimen containers 302 containing specimens, to a specimen dispensing position or the like. The specimen dispensing nozzle 303 is a nozzle for aspirating the specimen contained in the specimen container 302 and discharging it into the reaction container 304. The reaction table 305 is a disk for carrying out a reaction between the specimen and the reagent at a constant temperature, and its temperature is kept at a predetermined temperature by a heater (not shown), promoting the reaction between the specimen and the reagent. A plurality of reaction containers 304 are held on the reaction table 305, and serve as a place where the specimen and the reagent are mixed and reacted. The reaction container transport mechanism 306 transports the reaction container 304. The specimen dispensing tip / reaction container holding member 307 stores disposable specimen dispensing tips and reaction containers 304 used for specimen dispensing. The reagent disk 2 is a disk for storing the reagent containers 3, and is kept cool by the reagent cooler 1 to stably store the reagent. The reagent container 3 can be accessed by a user or a reagent container transport mechanism (not shown) by opening the opening / closing cover 5 arranged on the cover 4. A part of the cover 4 is provided with a reagent suction hole 6, which is a through hole for suctioning the reagent. The reagent dispensing nozzle 314 is a nozzle for suctioning the reagent stored in the reagent container 3 in the reagent disk 2 through the reagent suction hole 6 and discharging it into the reaction container 304. Each reagent container 3 in the reagent disk 2 contains various assay reagents (first reagents) used for analyzing the sample. The processing unit 315 performs processing before the analysis of the sample by the detection unit 316. The detection unit 316 performs detection using a liquid in which a reaction has been completed in the reaction container 304. The control device 319 controls various operations of each of the above-mentioned members and performs a calculation process for determining the concentration of a predetermined component in the sample from the detection result performed by the detection unit 316. The control device 319 is provided with a temperature control unit 318 that performs temperature control of the reagent cooler 1.

[0015] Next, an outline of the overall analysis flow in the automatic analyzer of this embodiment will be described. Prior to analysis, the user places consumables necessary for the analysis, such as the reagent container 3, sample dispensing tip, and reaction container 304, on the reagent disk 2 and the sample dispensing tip / reaction container holding member 307 in the analyzer.

[0016] First, a user loads the rack 301 into the automatic analyzer with the specimen to be analyzed, such as blood or urine, placed in the specimen container 302. Then, the reaction container transport mechanism 306 of the analyzer transports unused reaction containers 304 and specimen dispensing tips to the reaction table 305 and specimen dispensing tip mounting position.

[0017] Thereafter, the reagent dispensing nozzle 314 is attached so as to be rotatable and movable up and down, and rotates to above the reagent suction hole 6 provided in the lid 4 of the reagent cooler 1, then descends and passes through the reagent suction hole 6. After that, the tip of the reagent dispensing nozzle 314 that has passed through the reagent suction hole 6 is inserted into the reagent in a predetermined reagent container 3, and a predetermined amount of reagent is aspirated. After that, the reagent dispensing nozzle 314 rises, then rotates to above a predetermined position on the reaction table 305, and dispenses the reagent into the reaction container 304 placed on the reaction table 305.

[0018] Next, when the rack 301 passes through the rack transport line 317 and reaches the sample dispensing position, the sample dispensing nozzle 303 is fitted with a sample dispensing tip, and the sample is dispensed from the sample container 302 into the reaction container 304, starting a reaction between the sample and the assay reagent. The reaction here refers to, for example, binding of the sample and the luminescent labeling substance by an antigen-antibody reaction, using a luminescent labeled antibody that reacts only with a specific antigen in the sample as the assay reagent. At this time, the mixture of the sample and the assay reagent is aspirated and discharged in the sample dispensing tip, thereby mixing the sample and the assay reagent. After this operation is completed, the used sample dispensing tip is discarded through the sample dispensing tip disposal port 320.

[0019] After the reaction between the sample and the assay reagent is started by stirring, another reagent may be added at a specific timing to further carry out the reaction. For example, there is a process in which magnetic beads having antibodies bound to their surfaces are further bound to the above-mentioned antigen. For this purpose, the reaction vessel 304 placed on the reaction table 305 for a predetermined time is transported to the processing section 315 by the first transport mechanism 308. In the processing section 315, magnetic separation and stirring of the sample are carried out as pre-detection processing of the sample.

[0020] After the pretreatment process is completed, the reaction vessel 304 is transported again to the reaction table 305 by the first transport mechanism 308 .

[0021] Regardless of whether magnetic separation is performed or not, the reaction container 304 that has been placed on the reaction table 305 for a predetermined time is guided to the detection unit 316 by the second transport mechanism 309. A signal from the reaction liquid is detected in the detection unit 316, and the analysis result is notified to the user and recorded in a storage device.

[0022] After the detection operation is completed, the reaction vessel 304 is transported by the second transport mechanism 309 and the reaction vessel transport mechanism 306 to the reaction vessel disposal port 321 and disposed of.

[0023] Next, the structure of the reagent cooler 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

[0024] A reagent disk 2 is arranged inside a reagent refrigerator 1 of an automatic analyzer 100, and a plurality of reagent containers 3 are placed on the reagent disk 2. The reagent refrigerator 1 may have any shape, but is formed cylindrically so that the distances from an inner wall 7 of the reagent refrigerator 1 on the same circle are uniform. The reagent disk 2 is also formed so as to be circular in plan view, and the reagent containers 3 are arranged inside the cylindrical reagent refrigerator 1 so as to draw a circle radially. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the reagent disk 2 rotates inside the reagent refrigerator 1 as a motor 8 provided outside the reagent refrigerator 1 rotates.

[0025] As a result, a predetermined reagent container 3 arranged on the reagent disk 2 is carried to directly below the reagent aspiration hole 6, and in this state the reagent dispensing nozzle 314 shown in Fig. 1 aspirates the reagent from the reagent container 3 through the reagent aspiration hole 6. As shown in Fig. 2, the reagent aspiration hole 6 is formed in the lid 4, and the outside air communicates with the inside of the reagent refrigerator 1 via the reagent aspiration hole 6. That is, the lid 4 is formed with the reagent aspiration hole 6 through which the reagent dispensing nozzle 314 that aspirates the reagent from the reagent container 3 can pass, and the inside and outside of the reagent refrigerator 1 communicate with each other via this reagent aspiration hole 6.

[0026] The reagent container 3 is basically kept cool by the cold heat of the cooled inner wall 7 being transferred by convection or radiation via the air.

[0027] The inner wall 7 is cooled directly by a cooler 9 attached to the outside of the inner wall 7. The cooler 9 is, for example, a Peltier element, which absorbs heat from one side and dissipates heat from the other side when an electric current is applied. This allows the cooler 9 to absorb heat from the inside of the reagent refrigerator 1 and dissipate it to the outside of the reagent refrigerator 1. The heat dissipation side of the cooler 9 is an expanded heat transfer surface provided by a heat sink 10. The heat sink 10 is air-cooled by forced convection by blowing air with a fan 11, and the heat is dissipated into a heat exhaust duct 12. The heat exhaust duct 12 is an air flow path leading to the outside of the automatic analyzer. The heat dissipation of the cooler 9 can also be achieved without using the heat sink 10 and the fan 11, by using, for example, a water-cooled heat sink that transports heat by cooling water.

[0028] In the reagent cooler 1 of this embodiment, a plurality of coolers 9a to 9d are arranged in the circumferential direction under the bottom surface of the inner wall 7. In FIG. 2, the cooler 9 is present only on the right side, but the cooler 9 is omitted on the left side for convenience in order to explain the structure of the drain 18 for draining condensation water generated inside the reagent cooler. The pipe 15 is arranged to form an outside air introduction path connecting the part where the outside of the reagent cooler 1 is drawn into the reagent cooler 1 to the drain 18. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the pipe 15 is arranged so as to pass through the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 from the part without the cooler 9 and to pass through the upper part of the cooler 9a among the plurality of coolers. In particular, when the pipe 15 is drawn into the reagent cooler 1, it has the advantage that it is not necessary to provide a separate through hole in the inner wall 7 by passing through the inner diameter side of the drain 18.

[0029] The temperatures of the multiple coolers 9 are measured by temperature sensors 14 attached near each cooler 9. Using the measured temperatures, the temperature of each cooler 9 is adjusted by temperature control unit 318 to a preset temperature. At this time, the temperature of cooler 9a closest to pipe outlet 15a is set lower than the temperatures of the other coolers 9b, 9c, and 9d.

[0030] When the reagent cooler 1 is directly cooled by the cooler 9, the temperature of the inner wall 7 is uniform in both the vertical and horizontal directions, so that it is possible to suppress the temperature distribution of the reagent. For this reason, it is desirable to use a material with high thermal conductivity, such as copper or aluminum, for the material of the inner wall 7. Note that the inner wall 7 can be cooled not directly by the cooler 9, but by forming a cooling fluid path inside the inner wall 7, and cooling the inner wall 7 by flowing cooling water therethrough, thereby cooling the air inside the reagent cooler 1 and the reagent containers 3. In this case, since the temperature distribution of the inner wall 7 depends on the temperature distribution of the cooling water, it is also possible to use a material with a relatively low thermal conductivity, such as stainless steel or resin.

[0031] The temperature of the reagent refrigerator 1 is measured by a temperature sensor 14 attached inside the reagent refrigerator 1 or on the inner wall 7. Using the measured temperature, the temperature of the cooler 9 is adjusted by a temperature control unit 318 to keep the reagent containers 3 at an appropriate temperature.

[0032] The reagent cooler 1 is insulated by a heat insulating material 13 attached to its outside, which makes it difficult for heat inside the reagent cooler to escape to the outside, and has a structure that can efficiently keep the reagent containers 3 cool. The heat insulating material 13 is desirably made of a material with low thermal conductivity, such as expanded polystyrene or expanded polyurethane.

[0033] When the outside air is hot and humid, the outside air that enters through the reagent suction hole 6 may condense on the reagent disk 2 and reagent containers 3. Therefore, by introducing outside air into the reagent cooler 1 and making the pressure inside the reagent cooler 1 higher than atmospheric pressure, it is possible to prevent the outside air from entering through the reagent dispensing hole. In addition, by lowering the temperature of the introduced outside air below the surface temperature of the reagent containers 3 and reagent disk 2, it is possible to prevent condensation from occurring on the reagent containers 3 and reagent disk 2.

[0034] The air introduced into the reagent refrigerator 1 is cooled in the pipe 15 and blown out from the pipe outlet 15a. At that time, condensation water generated inside the pipe 15 is also drained from the pipe outlet 15a. The pipe 15 is cooled by being directly attached to the inner wall 7. In this embodiment, the pipe outlet 15a directly forms the outside air outlet, but if another member such as a wind direction plate is connected to the tip of the pipe outlet 15a, the tip of that member becomes the outside air outlet.

[0035] Furthermore, the longer the flow path of the outside air flowing through the pipe 15, the greater the contact time and area between the pipe 15 and the outside air, and therefore the lower the temperature that the outside air reaches when it is introduced into the reagent refrigerator 1. That is, in order to prevent condensation on the reagent containers 3 and the reagent disk 2, it is desirable to design the flow path length of the pipe 15 so that the temperature of the air discharged from the pipe outlet 15a is lower than the temperatures of the reagent disk and the reagent containers 3.

[0036] Since the pressure loss increases as the flow path of pipe 15 becomes longer, it is desirable for blower 16 used for blowing air to be capable of blowing air in an environment with high pressure loss, and for example, a diaphragm pump, centrifugal fan, piezoelectric fan, etc. Also, it is desirable to provide a filter, etc. before introducing outside air to prevent dust and bacteria from entering reagent cooler 1.

[0037] It is desirable that the volume of outside air introduced into the reagent refrigerator 1 be equal to or greater than the volume of air that enters the reagent refrigerator 1 through the reagent suction hole and leaks out of the reagent refrigerator 1. However, in order to reduce the amount of heat lost due to the introduction of outside air and to increase the cooling efficiency, it is desirable not to increase the volume of outside air introduced more than necessary.

[0038] Next, drainage of condensed water in this embodiment will be described in detail.

[0039] As mentioned above, condensation on the reagent containers 3 and the reagent disk 2 must be suppressed because it may cause the condensed water to get into the reagent containers and affect the analytical performance. In addition, condensation that occurs on the walls inside the reagent cooler 1 may cause the condensed water to deteriorate if it adheres to the surface of the inner wall 7 for a long period of time.

[0040] However, because the reagent dispensing nozzle has intermittent access to the reagent refrigerator 1 via the reagent suction hole 6, and because outside air enters when the access cover 5 is opened to remove and install the reagent container 3, it is difficult to completely eliminate condensation inside the reagent refrigerator 1, even if it is possible to suppress it. In other words, it is desirable to prevent condensation on the reagent containers 3 and reagent disk 2, and then immediately drain the condensation water generated inside the reagent refrigerator 1 and pipe 15 without allowing it to accumulate inside the reagent refrigerator 1.

[0041] Therefore, in this embodiment, the pipe outlet 15a is positioned near the upper opening 18a of the drain 18, the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 of the reagent refrigerator 1 is positioned so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal direction, and the drain 18 is positioned vertically below the bottom surface of the inclined inner wall 7 of the reagent refrigerator 1.

[0042] The configuration of the bottom surface of the reagent cooler 1, the drain 18, the pipe outlet 15a and the pipe 15 will be described in detail below.

[0043] Pipe 15 penetrates the insulation material and inner wall 7 of reagent refrigerator 1, is introduced from outside reagent refrigerator 1 into reagent refrigerator 1, and is laid along the bottom surface of inner wall 7 of reagent refrigerator 1. Pipe outlet 15a located at the tip of pipe 15 is formed toward upper opening 18a of drain 18. Also, pipe outlet 15a may be arranged so that the vertical projection of pipe outlet 15a is within the range of upper opening 18a of drain 18.

[0044] The cross-sectional shape of the pipe 15 can be changed, and may be, for example, rectangular, circular, or trapezoidal. The number of pipes 15 and pipe outlets 15a does not need to be one, and for example, there may be two pipes 15 and two pipe outlets 15a, or there may be one pipe 15 with two pipe outlets 15a. Note that it is preferable that the material of the pipe has a high thermal conductivity, such as copper or aluminum, so that it is easy to directly cool the pipe with a cooler through the inner wall 7.

[0045] The bottom surface of the inner wall 7 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, or only the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 is inclined with respect to the water surface. The bottom surface of the inner wall 7 is inclined so that only one point, the upper opening 18a of the drain 18, is at the lowest point. While the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, the rotation axis of the reagent disk is vertical. This eliminates the need to incline the reagent container 3 and the reagent dispensing nozzle.

[0046] There is no restriction on the shape of the bottom surface of the inner wall 7, and a groove or protrusion may be present. However, it is preferable that the surface of the groove or protrusion is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction and the installation direction of the drain 18. The upper end side of the drain 18, which is connected to the bottom surface of the inner wall 7, has an upper opening 18a with a hole diameter larger than the hole diameter of the main body of the drain 18. Then, an inclined surface is formed such that the hole diameter gradually decreases from the upper opening 18a, and is connected to the main body of the drain 18. Therefore, condensation water on the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 and near the drain 18 is easily led to the drain 18.

[0047] The effects of the automatic analyzer according to this embodiment will be described.

[0048] The outside air introduced by the blower 16 is cooled as it passes through the pipe 15. The pipe 15 is attached along the bottom surface of the reagent cooler 1, so it is possible to cool the outside air to a temperature close to that of the reagent cooler 1. At this time, if the outside air is hot and humid, the outside air is cooled to below the dew point, and condensation occurs inside the pipe 15. The condensed water that has occurred is pushed out by the blower 16 and drained from the pipe outlet 15a together with the cooled outside air. The pipe outlet 15a is formed toward the upper opening 18a of the drain 18, so the drained water flows into the upper opening 18a of the drain 18 and is immediately drained without flowing along the bottom surface of the other inner walls 7.

[0049] Condensation also occurs on the surface of the inner wall 7 when the surface is cooler than the outside air discharged into the reagent refrigerator 1, or when the outside air that enters when the opening and closing lid is opened and closed to replace the reagent container 3 drops below the dew point. This condensation is guided to the upper opening 18a of the drain 18 by the inclination of the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 of the reagent refrigerator 1. Here, the condensed water is drained so as to gather at one point, the upper opening 18a of the drain 18, which is the lowest point of the bottom surface of the inner wall 7. Therefore, when the reagent refrigerator is viewed from above, a certain amount of condensed water does not accumulate on the ring due to surface tension, as compared to a reagent refrigerator whose lowest point in the vertical direction is ring-shaped.

[0050] Furthermore, since pipe 15 is provided in contact with or close to the bottom surface of inner wall 7, condensed water that condenses on the outer periphery of pipe 15 and on the bottom surface of inner wall 7 is sucked into the outer periphery of pipe 15 by capillary force in the gap between pipe 15 and the bottom surface of inner wall 7. The condensed water thus sucked is guided along the outer periphery of pipe 15 to upper opening 18a of drain 18.

[0051] As a result, condensation water does not accumulate on the bottom surface of the reagent cooler, and any condensation that does occur is always drained into drain 18, making it possible to keep the inside of reagent cooler 1 hygienic.

[0052] In this embodiment, the temperature of the cooler 9a, which is located below the portion where the pipe 15 is laid, is set lower than the other coolers 9b to 9d among the multiple coolers 9. The effect of this will be described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5.

[0053] Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a condensation state when the temperature of each of the coolers 9a-9b is constant as a comparative example, and Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a condensation state when the temperature of the cooler 9a is set lower than the other coolers 9b-9d as in this embodiment.

[0054] In Fig. 4, condensation generated in the pipe 15 flows directly into the upper opening 18a of the drain 18 located near the pipe outlet 15a and is drained. Here, if the temperature of the coolers 9b and 9c is lower than the temperature of the outside air discharged from the pipe outlet 15a, condensation occurs at the top of the coolers 9b and 9c. However, if the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 is inclined with the upper opening 18a of the drain 18 as the lowest point, the condensation generated at the top of the coolers 9b and 9c is drained so as to gather at one point at the upper opening 18a.

[0055] On the other hand, in this embodiment, the temperature of the discharged outside air is lower than the surface temperature of the inner wall 7 above the coolers 9b, 9c, and 9d and is unlikely to drop below the dew point, so that condensation on the coolers 9b, 9c, and 9d can be suppressed as shown in Fig. 5. This makes it possible to narrow the area where condensation occurs to the cooler 9a and the area around the upper opening 18a of the drain 18, making it easier to keep many areas inside the reagent refrigerator 1 hygienic.

[0056] Although a plurality of coolers are provided in this embodiment, a single cooler may be provided only in the portion where the pipe 15 is laid.

[0057] <Example 2> Second Embodiment A second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a reagent cooler according to the second embodiment.

[0058] In the second embodiment, the path of the pipe 15 is arranged to go around the axis of rotation of the reagent disk as shown in Fig. 6. Therefore, the pipe 15 in this embodiment passes above all the coolers 9a to 9d. However, the temperature of the cooler 9a located below the path of the pipe 15 closest to the pipe outlet 15a, i.e., the path of the pipe 15 on the most downstream side, is set lower than the temperature of the coolers located below the path on the upstream side of the pipe 15, i.e., the coolers 8b to 9d.

[0059] The effect of the automatic analyzer according to this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the path of the pipe 15 running along the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 can be secured to be long, so that the outside air introduced by the blower 16 is sufficiently cooled when passing through the pipe 15. This makes it easy to make the temperature of the outside air when it is discharged from the pipe outlet 15a into the reagent refrigerator 1 close to the temperature of the reagent refrigerator 1, and makes it possible to prevent condensation from occurring on the reagent containers 3 and the reagent disk 2.

[0060] <Example 3> Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a reagent cooler according to Example 3. Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the reagent cooler in Fig. 7 as viewed from the direction of arrow C.

[0061] In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the pipe outlet 15a is located near the cooler 9a in the reagent refrigerator 1, and the drain 20 and cover 21 are located above the cooler 9a. Therefore, only the parts that differ from the reagent refrigerator 1 of the embodiment will be described here, and explanations of the overlapping parts will be omitted.

[0062] In the reagent cooler 1 of this embodiment, the pipe outlet 15a is located near the cooler 9, and the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 and the cover 21 above it are present to form a flow path connecting the pipe outlet 15a to the upper opening 18a of the drain 18. The cover opening end 21a and the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 form an outside air outlet. In this manner, in this embodiment, the outside air introduction path is formed by the pipe 15 on the upstream side, and by the cover 21 and the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 on the downstream side. A drain groove 20 is provided on the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 at the location where the cover 21 is provided, which is lower than the remaining bottom surface of the inner wall 7.

[0063] The drain groove 20 is inclined so that the upper opening 18a of the drain 18 is at the lowest part. There are no restrictions on the shape of the drain groove 20 as long as it is inclined so that the upper opening 18a is at the lowest part, and for example, a fin shape may be present on the drain groove 20 to increase the contact area between the outside air and the inner wall 7. In addition, the drain groove 20 and cover 21 may be used to form a labyrinth-shaped flow path so that the contact length between the outside air and the inner wall 7 is increased.

[0064] The effect of the automatic analyzer of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a horizontal cross-sectional view that illustrates a typical condensation state in this embodiment.

[0065] The outside air introduced from the pipe 15 enters the cover 21 from the pipe outlet 15a, passes through the outside air introduction path formed by the gap between the drain groove 20 and the cover 21, and is discharged from the outside air outlet at the tip of the cover 21 toward the upper opening 18a into the reagent refrigerator 1. The generated condensation water is drained through the drain groove 20 to the upper opening 18a of the drain 18. Here, the distance in the thickness direction between the surface of the drain groove 20 and the cooler 9a is narrower than the installation parts of the other coolers 9b, 9c, and 9d, so the surface temperature on the drain groove 20 above the cooler 9a is lower than the surface temperature of the coolers 9b, 9c, and 9d. As a result, the temperature of the outside air discharged from near the drain 18 to the reagent refrigerator 1 is lower than the surface temperature of the inner wall 7 above the coolers 9b, 9c, and 9d, making it possible to suppress the occurrence of condensation inside the reagent refrigerator 1 more than in the first and second embodiments. In addition, at the top of the cooler 9a, where the temperature is lowest and condensation is most likely to occur, the contact area with the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 is increased and the cooling efficiency of the outside air is improved, so that condensation can be concentrated in this part and condensation in other parts of the bottom surface of the inner wall 7 can be suppressed.

[0066] In this embodiment, the same effect can be obtained by setting the temperature of the cooler 9a lower than the other coolers 9b, 9c, and 9d.

[0067] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modified examples. It is also possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. It is also possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration. [Explanation of symbols]

[0068] 1 Reagent cooler, 2 Reagent disk, 3 Reagent container, 4 Lid, 5 Opening / closing lid, 6 Reagent suction hole, 7 Inner wall, 8 Motor, 9 Cooler, 10 Heat sink, 11 Fan, 12 Heat exhaust duct, 13 Insulation material, 14 Temperature sensor, 15 Pipe, 15a Pipe outlet, 16 Blower, 18 Drain, 18a Upper opening of drain, 20 Drain, 21 Cover, 21a Cover opening end, 100 Automatic analyzer, 301 Rack, 302 Sample container, 303 Sample dispensing nozzle, 304 Reaction container, 305 Reaction table, 306 Reaction container transport mechanism, 307 Sample dispensing tip / reaction container holding member, 308 First transport mechanism, 309 Second transport mechanism, 314 Reagent dispensing nozzle, 315 Processing section, 316 Detection section, 317 Rack transport line, 318 temperature control unit, 319 control device, 320 sample dispensing tip waste port, 321 reaction vessel waste port

Claims

1. An automatic analyzer equipped with a reagent refrigerator that stores and keeps a plurality of reagent containers cool, the reagent refrigerator having a drain for discharging condensation water generated inside the reagent refrigerator, and an outside air inlet path for directing air from outside the reagent refrigerator into the inside, and an inner wall surface of the reagent refrigerator is inclined toward one point of an upper opening of the drain.

2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1 , wherein the outside air introduction passage is located on an inner diameter side of the drain.

3. 2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein an upper opening of the drain is located at a lowermost portion of a bottom surface of an inner wall of the reagent cooler.

4. 2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein an inclined surface is formed such that the pore size gradually decreases from the upper opening of the drain, and the inclined surface is connected to the main body of the drain.

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