Liquid feeding relay instrument for tube liquid feeding

Abstract

To solve such a problem that, when liquid in a state of containing air bubbles is fed, a microchannel device becomes clogged, in addition, an apparatus that distributes liquid evenly is expensive and not easy to use.SOLUTION: Since a concave dish portion 11 is separated from the radially outer side by a boundary portion 15 and has a cross-sectional area larger than that of a tube 27, the flow velocity of the liquid (L) decreases when flowing in, making it easier for bubbles (B) to rise. As the result, the bubbles (B) contained in the liquid (L) accumulate at the top of a space surrounded by the concave dish portion 11. Furthermore, flow paths of the liquid (L) from a tube insertion hole 21 to tube insertion holes 23 are equal in a distance and a direction for each tube insertion hole 23. Also, regarding the shape relation of a side surface 3b side of a container 3 surrounding each tube insertion hole 23, uniformity is ensured for all tube insertion holes 23. Therefore, the liquid (L) is distributed almost evenly through the tubes 27, 27, ... inserted into the tube insertion holes 23, 23, ....SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a liquid transfer relay device for tube liquid transfer. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art It has been known for some time that microfluidic devices are used to perform analysis or perfusion culture of cells or the like. The tubes used to introduce liquid into the microchannel device have a cross-sectional area larger than that of the microchannels, so if liquid containing large bubbles is delivered through the tubes, the microchannel device will be clogged when it is introduced into the microchannel device. On the other hand, a tube pump is used to introduce the liquid, in which only the inner surface of the tube comes into contact with the liquid. This avoids the risk of contamination, but it is unavoidable that air that is dissolved in the liquid in the supply container at a level below the saturated solubility level turns into air bubbles when passing through the pump.

[0003] Incidentally, in order to increase the accuracy of results by performing multiple analyses under the same conditions at the same time and comparing the results, or to increase work efficiency by performing different analyses in parallel, liquid may be simultaneously introduced into multiple microchannels from a common supply container, and a branch connector as described in Patent Document 1 or a tube pump device as described in Patent Document 2 is used for distributing the liquid. The branch connector described in Patent Document 1 is disposed downstream of the pump, and even if air bubbles are contained in the liquid and the liquid passes through this branch connector, the air bubbles do not disappear. In addition, the tube pump device described in Patent Document 2 performs pumping and distribution at the same time, and although air bubbles may be generated, they do not disappear.

[0004] Furthermore, the seven-way joint described in Patent Document 1 cannot distribute liquid evenly to multiple tubes. On the other hand, the tube pump device in Patent Document 2 can distribute liquid evenly to multiple tubes, but the main body is large and expensive, and the tubes are expensive specialized products, so not only are there initial purchase costs, but there are also maintenance costs, resulting in a large cost burden. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-156351 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2016-118148 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The present invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned problems of the conventional art, and has an object to provide a new and useful liquid delivery relay device for tube liquid delivery that retains the advantages of a fitting that has a simple and compact structure and can be provided at low cost, but instead of a fitting, traps air bubbles in the liquid when introducing the liquid using a commercially available general-purpose tube, thereby enabling the introduction of liquid into a microchannel device without air bubbles. Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and useful liquid delivery relay device for tube liquid delivery, which, by further limiting the shape, makes it possible to evenly distribute liquid to multiple tubes when there are multiple liquid delivery destinations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a liquid delivery relay device for tube liquid delivery, which comprises a container with an open top, a lid that closes the opening of the container liquid-tightly, and a plurality of tube insertion holes that penetrate the lid, and when the opening is closed by the lid and a tube is liquid-tightly inserted into the tube insertion holes, the internal space closed by the container and the lid is connected to the inside of the tube in a closed system, and the underside of the lid has a step so that the inner part is raised relative to the annular outer part, and tube insertion holes are provided in both the outer part and the inner part, and a tube is inserted into the tube insertion hole in the outer part for outflow and into the tube insertion hole in the inner part for inflow, characterized in that the liquid delivery relay device has a step in the underside of the lid, so that the inner part is raised relative to the annular outer part, and tube insertion holes are provided in both the outer part and the inner part, and a tube is inserted into the tube insertion hole in the outer part for outflow and the tube insertion hole in the inner part for inflow.

[0008] Preferably, the flexible tube is inserted in a tube insertion hole provided in the rigid cover in a liquid-tight manner while being elastically compressed in the radial direction. In the case of distribution, a plurality of outlet tube insertion holes are provided. In the case of equal distribution, the container, the lid and the tube insertion holes are set so that the liquid pushing pressure applied to the lower end openings of the tubes inserted into the multiple outlet tube insertion holes is equal. Preferably, the plurality of outflow tube insertion holes are formed with the same hole size, and the plurality of outflow tube insertion holes are all equidistant and equidirectional with respect to one inflow tube insertion hole. Preferably, the container is cylindrical with a bottom, and has an outer portion and an inner portion formed coaxially on the underside of the lid.

[0009] In the liquid transfer relay device of the present invention, the container and the lid are separate bodies, and the shape of the lid side has a novel and useful feature. In addition, by using a separate adapter in combination, the lid can be fixed to an open-top container in a liquid-tight closed state. Effect of the Invention

[0010] The liquid transfer relay device of the present invention can be provided with a simple, small structure at low cost. In addition, it traps air bubbles in the liquid, allowing liquid to be introduced into tubes with extremely small inner diameters of microchannel devices and the like without air bubbles. Furthermore, when there are multiple liquid transfer destinations, it is possible to distribute the liquid evenly to multiple tubes. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a liquid supply relay device and an adapter according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of a portion of FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a perspective view of the cover of the liquid supply relay device of FIG. 1 as viewed from below. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the lid of FIG. [Figure 6] 2 is an image diagram of a liquid passing through the liquid supply relay device of FIG. 1. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a liquid perfusion system for a microchannel using the liquid supply relay device of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] A liquid supply relay device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the liquid transfer relay device 1 is composed of a container 3 and a lid 5. The container 3 is a commercially available 35 mm polystyrene dish, with a cylindrical side surface 3b rising from the edge of a disk-shaped bottom portion 3a, forming a shallow container that is open at the top. The lid 5 is made of polycarbonate and has a rigid specification. The lid 5 is a cover type, the upper surface of which is flat, and the edge surface forming the contour is perpendicular to the upper surface. From a functional standpoint, it is made up of a main body 7 and an engagement portion 9, and when viewed from above, the main body 7 is slightly larger than the circular size of the container 3 in a similar manner so that it can be placed over the container 3 from above to cover its opening. A pair of engagement portions 9, 9 are provided radially outwardly from the main body 7.

[0013] The pair of engaging portions 9, 9 are provided in a point-symmetrical manner. The concave curved surface 9a of the engaging portion 9 faces in the circumferential direction. The body portion 7 has an arc-shaped contour in the area where the engaging portions 9, 9 are not connected, and the center of a circumference that is a part of this arc is the axial center of the cover portion 5. The concave curved surface 9a of the engaging portion 9 has a U-shaped contour, the bottom of which is curved in an arc shape.

[0014] As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the underside of the cover 5 on the side of the engagement parts 9, 9 is flat and parallel to the upper surface, but the underside on the side of the main body 7 is uneven with steps. All of the step surfaces are parallel to the upper surface, and the side surfaces of the steps are approximately perpendicular to the step surfaces. A circular recessed dish portion 11 is formed on the lower surface of the main body portion 7 about the axial center thereof, and the wall portion is thinner than the radially outer side. Further, on the outer side of the side surface 11b that defines the recessed dish portion 11, a coaxial annular recessed groove portion 13 is formed, the thickness of which is thinner than the radially inner and outer sides. The recessed groove portion 13 is recessed deeper than the recessed dish portion 11, and the top surface 13a is located above the top surface 11a of the recessed dish portion 11.

[0015] The annular top surface 15a of the boundary portion 15 that is raised relatively downward between the dish portion 11 and the groove portion 13 is located sufficiently lower than the top surfaces 11a and 13a. Looking at the relationship between the top surfaces 11a and 15a, the top surface 11a is the inner side and the top surface 15a is the outer side, and the top surface 11a is higher than the top surface 15a. Moreover, the corner between the side surface 13b of the recessed groove portion 13 and the top surface 15a of the boundary portion 15 is slightly chamfered. The side surface 13c of the groove portion 13 forms an overlapping portion 19 which is the portion that is on the outside of the container 3 when the lid portion 5 is placed on the container 3 and closed, and its lower surface 19a is at a height position between the top surfaces 11a and 15a.

[0016] The outer shape of the lid portion 5 is as described above, and the bubble trap chamber 17 is formed in the area surrounded by the recessed dish portion 11 with its concave surface facing downward. A tube insertion hole 21 is provided penetrating the axial center of the recessed dish portion 11. This tube insertion hole 21 extends straight in the thickness direction of the wall portion of the lid portion 5 and penetrates the wall portion. In addition, the tube insertion hole 21 has a circular cross section, and the hole edge on the upper surface side of the lid portion 5 is chamfered. A tube insertion hole 23 is also provided in the recessed groove portion 13, similar to the tube insertion hole 21. The hole size of this tube insertion hole 23 is the same as that of the tube insertion hole 21. A total of eight tube insertion holes 23 are formed, and the distance between the axial center of each of them and the axial center of the tube insertion hole 21 is equal. The axial centers of each of the tube insertion holes 23, 23, ... are located on a common circumference. The axial centers are adjacent to each other at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.

[0017] 3, a rubber packing 25 having a circular shape and a square cross section is fitted into the groove portion 13. The rubber packing 25 is made of silicon, and its shape and size are adjusted to correspond to the groove portion 13. Therefore, the rubber packing 25 will not fall off even if the lid portion 5 is turned upside down.

[0018] 1 to 3, a silicon tube 27 is inserted into the tube insertion holes 21, 23, 23, .... The tube 27 is a commercially available disposable tube that is often used for perfusion culture. While the lid portion 5 is rigid, the tube 27 is flexible. When the tube 27 is inserted, the tube 27 is elastically compressed slightly radially inward and comes into close contact with the inner surfaces of the tube insertion holes 21, 23, 23, ..., so that the tube insertion holes 21, 23, 23, ... are closed liquid-tightly. The tubes 27, 27, . . . are inserted with their open lower ends aligned so as to be substantially flush with the lower surface side of the lid portion 5.

[0019] The lid portion 5 is constructed as described above, and when it is placed over the container 3, the side surface 3b of the container 3 fits into the groove portion 13 from below, and the overlapping portion 19 covers the upper part of the side surface 3b of the container 3, thereby closing the opening of the container 3. When the lid 5 is pressed further down, the rubber packing 25 of the lid 5 is compressed in the vertical direction, thereby liquid-tightly closing the opening of the container 3. An adapter 29 is used as the pressing and fixing means.

[0020] The adapter 29 is provided with a flat base plate 31 on which the container 3 is placed. A large circular opening 33 is formed in the base plate 31 through its thickness direction, and a stepped surface 33a is provided at the opening, with the upper opening being smaller. The container 3 has annular legs 3c connected to the lower surface of the bottom 3a, and the legs 3c are positioned coaxially inward from the outer periphery of the bottom 3a. The legs 3c of the container 3 are placed on the stepped surface 33a. In addition, the base plate 31 is formed with a tapered hole 35 whose diameter decreases toward the top for inserting a flat head screw, and a flat head screw 37 can be inserted into this tapered hole 35 from below and tightened with a nut 39 with a knurled tip. A pair of tapered holes 35 are provided facing each other in the radial direction with the opening 33 in between.

[0021] Therefore, flat head screws 37, 37 are inserted into each of the tapered holes 35, 35, and when the container 3 is lowered onto the base plate 31 with the lid portion 5 closed, the circumferential position of a pair of engaging portions 9, 9 protruding outward of the container 3 is adjusted so that the respective concave curved surfaces 9a, 9a embrace the screw shafts of the flat head screws 37, 37, thereby preventing the lid portion 5 from moving in the circumferential direction. When nuts 39, 39 are attached to the screw shafts of the respective flat head screws 37, 37 and tightened, the lower surface of the nut 39 presses against the upper surface of the engagement portion 9, so that the opening of the container 3 is closed by the lid portion 5 and is pressed between the nut 39 and the base plate 31. Since the rubber packing 25 is compressed in the vertical direction and expanded in the radial direction, the inside of the container 3 is closed liquid-tightly, and this state is stably maintained. The adapter 29 is provided with two sets of an opening 33 and tapered holes 35, 35 so that two containers 3 can be placed thereon.

[0022] In order to make it easier to close the container 3 with the lid portion 5, the thickness of the side surface 3b of the container 3 is thinner than the width dimension of the groove portion 13. Therefore, when simply closed, the lateral position of the lid portion 5 relative to the container 3 will be misaligned when viewed in cross section. However, the container 3 side is positioned by the base plate 31, and the lid portion 5 side is positioned by the holding relationship between the engagement portion 9 and the countersunk screw 37, so that the lid portion 5 is closed in a position where it is accurately coaxial with the container 3.

[0023] In this state, the liquid transfer relay device 1 is used for tube liquid transfer. As shown in Fig. 6, the tube insertion hole 21 is for inflow, and the tube insertion holes 23, 23, ... are for outflow, and tubes 27, 27, ... are inserted through them. The lower ends of the tubes 27, 27, ... are aligned so as to be almost flush with the hole edges of the tube insertion holes 21, 23. A tube 27 communicates with the internal space enclosed by the container 3 and the lid portion 5, and liquid (L) flows in from the tube 27 on the tube insertion hole 21 side and flows out from the tubes 27, 27, ... on the tube insertion holes 23, 23, ... side.

[0024] Since the tube 27 on the tube insertion hole 21 side is connected to the top surface 11a of the recessed dish portion 11, the liquid (L) first flows into the air bubble trap chamber 17. The recessed dish portion 11 is partitioned from the radially outer side by the boundary portion 15 and has a cross-sectional area larger than that of the tube 27, so that the flow rate of the liquid (L) decreases when it flows in, and the air bubbles (B) tend to rise, and the air bubbles (B) contained in the liquid (L) rise from the liquid (L) and are trapped in the upper part of the air bubble trap chamber 17, where they continue to accumulate. On the other hand, the tube 27 on the tube insertion hole 23 side is connected to the top surface 15a of the boundary portion 15, so the liquid (L) flows out from the top surface 15a side, but since the top surface 15a is located lower than the top surface 11a, the liquid (L) flows out after the air bubbles (B) have been removed. The flow direction of the liquid (L) is shown by an arrow. Therefore, by using the liquid delivery relay device 1 for tube liquid delivery, even if a general-purpose tube pump is used, it is possible to reliably remove air bubbles (B) from the liquid (L) before introducing it into a microchannel or the like.

[0025] Furthermore, although a plurality of tube insertion holes 23, 23, ... are provided, the inner surface of the container 3 and the lower surface of the lid portion 5 are each formed coaxially in the radial direction, and the opening of the container 3 is closed by the lid portion 5 so that the container 3 and the lid portion 5 form a common axial center, so that the flow path of the liquid (L) from the tube insertion hole 21 toward the tube insertion hole 23 is ensured to be equal in distance and direction for each tube insertion hole 23. Also, uniformity is ensured for each tube insertion hole 23 in the shape relationship on the side surface 3b of the container 3 surrounding the tube insertion hole 23. Therefore, the pushing pressure of the liquid (L) applied to the lower end opening of the tube 27 inserted into the tube insertion hole 23 is uniform for each tube 27, and the liquid (L) is distributed almost uniformly among the tubes 27, 27, ... inserted into the eight tube insertion holes 23, 23, ....

[0026] For equal distribution, it is most important that the inflow side tube insertion hole 21 and the outflow side tube insertion hole 23 are ensured to be equidistant and equidirectional with respect to each tube insertion hole 21. This embodiment not only meets this most important condition, but also ensures that the shape relationship on the side 3b of the container 3 is uniform for each tube insertion hole 23, making equal distribution possible even for containers 3 that are compact and close to the tube insertion holes 23.

[0027] Incidentally, it is not necessary to insert the tube 27 through all of the tube insertion holes 23, 23, . . . for use in transferring liquid. Those holes through which the tube 27 is not inserted may be liquid-tightly closed with an appropriate cover.

[0028] As shown in Fig. 7, if a liquid perfusion system to a microchannel is constructed using the liquid delivery relay device 1 of Fig. 1, a tube pump extracts liquid (L) from a supply bottle, passes through the liquid delivery relay device 1, is introduced into the microchannel, and is further discharged from the microchannel to a drain bottle. When the liquid delivery relay device is used, air bubbles (B) are removed, preventing the microchannel from being blocked by the air bubbles (B). Furthermore, since the liquid introduction side is configured so that the liquid (L) is evenly distributed to a plurality of micro-flow paths, if the resistance on the micro-flow path side is the same, then even distribution is achieved. On the other hand, in the past, liquid (L) was forcibly pumped at a flow rate set by a pump even if the resistance on the microchannel side was different. However, with this configuration, the flow rate can be adjusted to correspond to the resistance on the microchannel side, so that it can be used to perform perfusion simultaneously for multiple microchannels with different resistances, as long as the flow rate is not regulated.

[0029] The container 3 and tube 27 are inexpensive and can be replaced as needed. In addition, the cover 5 can be sterilized by autoclave, reducing the risk of contamination by various bacteria.

[0030] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and the invention also includes design changes within the scope of the present invention without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, if a plurality of cover parts 5 are prepared with different numbers of tube insertion holes 23, it is possible to correspond to the number of micro-flow paths to be perfused simultaneously. Moreover, the hole sizes of the tube insertion holes 21 and 23 do not necessarily have to be the same. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1...liquid transfer relay device 3...container 3a...bottom 3b...Side 3c...Legs 5...Lid 7...Main body part 9...Engagement part 9a...Concave curved surface 11...concave plate portion 11a...top surface 11b...side surface 13... Groove portion 13a... Top surface 13b, 13c... Side surface 15: boundary portion; 15a: top surface; 17: bubble trap chamber 19: overlapping portion 19a: underside 21, 23: tube insertion hole 25...Rubber packing 27...Tube 29...Adapter 31... base plate 33... opening 33a... step surface 35...Tapered hole 37...Countersunk head screw 39...Nut L: Liquid B: Air bubbles

Claims

1. A liquid transfer relay device for tube liquid transfer, comprising a container having an opening at the top, a lid for liquid-tightly closing the opening of the container, and a plurality of tube insertion holes penetrating the lid, wherein when the opening is closed by the lid and tubes are liquid-tightly inserted into the tube insertion holes, an internal space closed by the container and the lid communicates with the inside of the tube in a closed system, A liquid delivery relay device characterized in that the underside of the lid portion has a step so that the inner portion is raised relative to the annular outer portion, and tube insertion holes are provided in both the outer portion and the inner portion, with tubes being inserted through the tube insertion holes in the outer portion for outflow and through the tube insertion holes in the inner portion for inflow.

2. The liquid transfer relay device for tube liquid transfer according to claim 1, A liquid transfer relay device, characterized in that a flexible tube is inserted in a liquid-tight manner in a state where it is elastically compressed in the radial direction into a tube insertion hole provided in a rigid lid portion.

3. The liquid transfer relay device for tube liquid transfer according to claim 2, A liquid transfer relay device characterized in that it is provided with a plurality of outlet tube insertion holes.

4. The liquid transfer relay device for tube liquid transfer according to claim 3, A liquid transfer relay device characterized in that the container, the lid, and the tube insertion holes are configured so that the liquid pushing pressure applied to the lower end openings of the tubes inserted into multiple outflow tube insertion holes is uniform.

5. The liquid transfer relay device for tube liquid transfer according to claim 4, A liquid delivery relay device characterized in that multiple outflow tube insertion holes are formed with the same hole size, and all of the multiple outflow tube insertion holes are ensured to be equidistant and in the same direction from one inflow tube insertion hole.

6. The liquid transfer relay device for tube liquid transfer according to claim 5, The liquid transfer relay device is characterized in that the container is cylindrical with a bottom, and an outer part and an inner part are formed coaxially on the underside of the lid.

7. A cover part constituting the liquid transfer relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. 8. An adapter for fixing the lid according to claim 7 to a container having an open top in a liquid-tight closed state.

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