Automatic analysis system

Abstract

To provide an automatic analysis system that freely sets a length or width dimension to a running surface, and does not affect a layout of a device.SOLUTION: An automatic analysis system comprises: an automatic analysis device; an external storage warehouse that is installed outside of the automatic analysis device, and stores a plurality of liquid containers; a conveyance unit that conveys the liquid container between the automatic analysis device and the external storage warehouse; a first conveyance mechanism that carries out a delivery of the liquid container between the automatic analysis device and the conveyance unit; a second conveyance mechanism that carries out a delivery of the liquid container between the external storage warehouse and the conveyance unit; a storage unit that stores management information for managing a liquid to be accommodated into the liquid container; and a control unit that carries out transmittance and reception of the management information among the automatic analysis device, the external storage warehouse and the conveyance unit, in which position accuracy between the first conveyance mechanism and the automatic analysis device is designed so as to be higher than that between the first conveyance mechanism and the conveyance unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic analysis system.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, when transporting and introducing various reagents or specimens into an automatic analyzer for analyzing blood, it has mainly been carried out manually. In this case, there is a possibility that the specimen may be touched by a human, resulting in a risk of infection. Also, in the case of reagents, there is a risk that human-derived organic substances may be mixed into the reagent when touched by a human. Therefore, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for transporting reagents or specimens by a self-propelled transport robot.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] As shown in Patent Document 1, techniques such as transporting reagents or specimens by a self-propelled robot are disclosed. However, since the teaching work of creating an operation program for a robot arm having six or more degrees of freedom is complicated for the automation of reagent or specimen introduction into an automatic analyzer, a great deal of time and effort are required for the introduction of the robot arm. Also, when introducing a transport robot in a facility where an automatic analyzer is already installed, in some cases, it is necessary to review the layout of the automatic analyzer, which causes problems of time and cost.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic analysis system that can freely set the vertical or horizontal dimensions with respect to the running surface and does not affect the layout of the apparatus.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An automatic analysis system according to an aspect of the present invention includes an automatic analyzer having a container storage unit capable of storing a plurality of liquid containers that store liquids for analyzing specimens, an external storage installed outside the automatic analyzer for storing a plurality of liquid containers, a transport unit for transporting the liquid containers between the automatic analyzer and the external storage, a first transport mechanism for transferring the liquid containers between the automatic analyzer and the transport unit, a second transport mechanism for transferring the liquid containers between the external storage and the transport unit, a storage unit for storing management information for managing the liquids stored in the liquid containers, and a control unit for transmitting and receiving the management information between the automatic analyzer, the external storage, and the transport unit, and the positional accuracy between the first transport mechanism and the automatic analyzer is designed to be higher than the positional accuracy between the first transport mechanism and the transport unit.

Advantages of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic analysis system that can freely set the vertical or horizontal dimensions with respect to the running surface and does not affect the layout of the apparatus.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings for explaining the embodiments, the same parts are generally denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated explanations thereof are omitted.

Embodiment

[0010] Embodiment 1 is an embodiment of an automatic analysis system that realizes the translational drive of the X, Y, and Z axes of the robot arm and the rotational drive of the roll, pitch, and yaw axes by separate mechanisms, and each mechanism is driven based on sensor information or by physical position correction, eliminating the need for teaching.

[0011] That is, this embodiment is an automatic analysis system and its conveying method, which includes an automatic analyzer for analyzing a specimen, a conveying unit for conveying a container for accommodating the specimen, a loading unit that receives the container from the conveying unit and loads the container into the automatic analyzer, and a correction unit for performing position correction between the conveying unit and the loading unit so that the conveying unit can deliver the container to the loading unit. The correction unit includes a hole provided in the loading unit for restraining rotational movement, one or more rotating shafts, an expansion and contraction unit provided in the loading unit for generating a tension to keep the rotation angle constant, and a member provided in the conveying unit for restraining rotational movement. When the tip of the member is inserted into the hole, position correction between the conveying unit and the loading unit is performed, and the container is delivered from the conveying unit to the loading port by rotational movement around the rotating shaft.

[0012] Figure 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conveying unit (also referred to as an autonomous mobile cart or a robot) that conveys a container for accommodating the liquid of the automatic analysis system. As shown in the figure, the conveying unit 101 is composed of a vertical driving mechanism 102 and a horizontal driving mechanism 108 that drive a vertical transmission sensor 103 and a hand unit 105, a container 106 for accommodating the liquid, a container storage unit 107 for storing it, etc. 104 indicates the transmitted light of the transmission sensor.

[0013] Figure 2 is a diagram showing the hand unit of the automatic analysis system. As shown in the figure, the hand unit 105 is composed of a horizontal transmission sensor 109, a positioning pin 111, a gripping hand 112, a gripping hand driving mechanism 113, and a positioning pin driving mechanism 114. The transmitted light 104 of the vertical transmission sensor and the transmitted light 110 of the horizontal transmission sensor shown in Figures 1 and 2 are appropriately blocked according to the position of the hand unit 105, and sensor information can be generated.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a view showing the back surface of the correction unit 115, FIG. 4 is a view showing the front surface of the correction unit 115, and FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which the correction unit is installed in the automatic analysis system. The correction unit 115 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 includes a charging portion 117, a positioning pin hole 118, and a detection plate 119 of the container 106, and as shown in FIG. 10, it is pulled by a tension spring 116 and can rotate around a roll shaft rotation shaft 120 and a yaw shaft rotation shaft 121. As shown in FIG. 5, this correction unit 115 is installed at an inlet 123 of a container 106 that serves as an input unit of the automatic analyzer 122.

[0015] FIG. 6 is a view showing a state in which a transport unit 101 is installed on the front surface of the automatic analyzer 122. As shown in the figure, when installing the correction unit 115, the transport unit 101 transports the correction unit 115 to the liquid container inlet of the automatic analyzer 122. Then, as shown in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9, the correction unit 115 is installed at a desired position.

[0016] FIG. 7 is a view showing the arrangement position of the jack when installing the correction unit 115, FIG. 8 is a view showing the function of the lift of the automatic analysis system, and FIG. 9 is a view showing the state after the handle is removed after the correction unit 115 is transported to a desired position. FIGS. 7 and 8 respectively show the state before and after the vertical drive mechanism rises.

[0017] FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of the correction unit. As shown in (A) of the figure, the correction unit 115 can rotate around the rotation shaft 120. However, as shown in the A-A cross section shown in (B) of the figure, the correction unit 115 is always tensioned by a tension spring 116 so as to be centered. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, when rotated counterclockwise by an external force, it rotates clockwise 125 by the tension of the tension spring 116 and returns to the original angle.

[0018] FIG. 12 shows a schematic diagram of the transport unit 101. A positioning pin 111 and a hand 112 capable of gripping the container 106 are respectively attached to the tips of the expansion and contraction mechanisms 113 and 114 attached to the transport unit 101.

[0019] Figures 13 to 19 show the first to seventh stages of the liquid container loading flow. The figure is a view of the automatic analyzer 122 from directly above. As shown in Figure 13, the transport unit 101 moves by linear motion to near the correction unit 115, but since the angles are different, it cannot be loaded as it is.

[0020] As shown in the figure, in the first stage, the positioning pin 111 attached to the telescopic mechanism 114 attached to the transport unit 101 is inserted into the positioning pin hole 118 of the correction unit 115. In the automatic analysis system, as shown in Figure 14, the positioning pin 111 is inserted into the hole of the correction unit. As described above, the correction unit 115 is rotatable, and since the positioning pin 111 is wedge-shaped or conical, the correction unit 115 is rotated to the same angle as the transport unit 101. Here, the hand 112 is extended, the container 106 is transferred to the loading unit 117, and the hand is retracted. As it is, the container cannot be transferred to the automatic analyzer because the angles of the correction unit and the automatic analyzer are different. Therefore, when the positioning pin is retracted, the correction unit rotates back to its original position due to the spring tension, the loading unit 117 becomes the same angle as the automatic analyzer 122, and the container 106 can be transferred from the loading unit 117 to the automatic analyzer 122.

[0021] That is, since the correction unit 115 is rotatable and the tip of the positioning pin 111 is wedge-shaped or conical, as shown in Figure 14, the correction unit 115 is rotated to the same angle as the transport unit 101. Subsequently, as shown in Figure 15, the hand 112 is extended, the container 106 is transferred to the loading unit 117, and as shown in Figure 16, the hand 112 is retracted. As it is, the container 106 cannot be transferred to the automatic analyzer 122 because the angles of the correction unit 115 and the automatic analyzer 122 are different.

[0022] However, as shown in FIG. 17, when the positioning pin 111 is returned, the correction unit 122 rotates back to its original position due to the tension of the tension spring 116, and as shown in FIG. 18, the input unit 117 assumes the same angle as the automatic analyzer 122. Thereby, as shown in the seventh step of FIG. 19, it becomes possible to transfer the container 106 from the input unit 117 to the input port 123 of the automatic analyzer 122.

[0023] FIG. 20 is a three-view drawing showing the shape of the positioning pin 111. The side view, front view, and top view of the pin 111 are shown in (A), (B), and (C) of the figure. FIG. 21 is a drawing showing the automatic analyzer and the transport unit. Each component of this system can be operated under the control of a control device 126 composed of a central processing unit (CPU) etc. attached to the transport unit 101.

Example

[0024] Example 2 relates to the overall configuration of the automatic analysis system. FIG. 22 is a drawing showing the overall configuration of the automatic analysis system. The automatic analysis system includes an automatic analyzer 122 having a container storage unit (e.g., a reagent disk) 220 for storing a plurality of containers 106 (e.g., reagent containers), an external storage 221 provided outside the automatic analyzer 122 for storing a plurality of containers 106, a transport unit 101 for transporting the containers 106 between the external storage 221 and the automatic analyzer 122, a container storage unit transport mechanism (first transport mechanism) 222 for transferring the containers 106 between the automatic analyzer 122 and the transport unit 101 via an arm 222a, an external storage transport mechanism (second transport mechanism) 223 for transferring the containers 106 between the external storage 221 and the transport unit 101 via an arm 223a, and a display unit 224 for displaying various information to the user.

[0025] The first transfer mechanism 222 is fixed to the automatic analyzer 122 and is set so that the container 106 can be precisely inserted from the arm 222a into the input port 123 (e.g., reagent slot) of the automatic analyzer 122. This is because if the insertion of the container 106 into the input port 123 is even slightly misaligned, it will be impossible to properly install it in the container storage unit 220, and ultimately, it will have an adverse effect on the analysis. On the other hand, since the transfer unit 101 and the first transfer mechanism 222 are for the replacement operation, it is possible to have a relatively large margin in their positional relationship. That is, when the arm 222a receives the container 106 from the transfer unit 101 or places the container 106 on the transfer unit 101, there is a certain margin or more. Thus, it is important to design such that the positional accuracy between the first transfer mechanism 222 and the automatic analyzer 122 is higher than the positional accuracy between the first transfer mechanism 222 and the transfer unit 101.

[0026] Similarly, it is preferable that the second transfer mechanism 223 is also fixed to the external storage 221. However, for the external storage 221, there may be cases where a new design can be made according to the transfer unit 101. Therefore, when such a design is possible, it is not necessary to make the positional accuracy between the second transfer mechanism 223 and the external storage 221 higher than the positional accuracy between the second transfer mechanism 223 and the transfer unit 101.

[0027] In addition, in the first embodiment, it is shown that the correction unit 115 also undertakes the function of transferring between the container 106 and the automatic analyzer 122. However, in the second embodiment, the correction unit 115 and the mechanism for transferring the container are separated. That is, the transfer unit 101 that has moved from the external storage 221 moves to in front of the automatic analyzer 122, corrects its position with respect to the automatic analyzer 122 using the correction unit 115, and transfers the container 106 with the automatic analyzer 122 using the first transfer mechanism 222. Similarly, the transfer unit 101 that has moved from the automatic analyzer 122 moves to in front of the external storage 221, corrects its position with respect to the external storage 221 using the correction unit 115, and transfers the container 106 with the external storage 221 using the second transfer mechanism 223.

[0028] The transport unit 101 may be provided with an extended storage for storing the containers 106 that cannot be fully stored in the container storage unit 220 alone. That is, the first transport mechanism and the transport unit 101 are enabled to operate as if they were an extended storage. For example, a storage for refrigerating the containers 106 is mounted on the upper part of the transport unit 101, and the automatic analyzer 122 manages the management information 225 including the containers 106 on the transport unit 101, and it is preferably in a state where it can be operated as if the maximum number of containers that can be stored in the automatic analyzer 122 has increased, like an extended storage. By doing so, the transport unit 101 can always store a plurality of containers 106, and if necessary, the transport unit 101 can replenish the container storage unit 220 with the containers 106 from the extended storage. Note that the physical location of the containers 106, which are physically stored outside the container storage unit 220 but appear to be virtually stored inside the extended storage, is not limited to being on the transport unit 101. For example, it may be configured to be detachable from the automatic analyzer 122, or may be distributed and arranged at appropriate positions within the automatic analysis system.

[0029] Also, for the user, it may be displayed as if all the reagent containers are stored in the same virtual space. That is, the physical location and the virtual location of the container 106 are associated and stored, and the display unit 224 converts the physical location into the virtual location and displays it. However, the user needs to determine whether the container 106 is arranged inside the automatic analyzer 122 and is in a state where it can be used for analysis, or is arranged outside the automatic analyzer 122 and is in a state where it cannot be used for analysis. Therefore, the display unit 224 may be provided with information indicating whether the target container 106 is inside or outside the automatic analyzer 122.

[0030] The automatic analyzer 122 transmits and receives management information 225 to and from the transport unit 101 and the external storage vault 221 (when the extended storage vault is arranged outside the transport unit 101, transmission and reception are also performed with the extended storage vault). The management information 225 is information for managing the liquid (such as a reagent) stored in the container storage unit 220, the transport unit 101, the external storage vault 221, and / or the extended storage vault. By transmitting and receiving the management information 225 among the automatic analyzer 122, the external storage vault 221, and the transport unit 101, the container 106 required for analysis can be transported to an appropriate position at an appropriate timing.

[0031] In addition, the management information 225 may be stored in any of the storage devices provided in the automatic analyzer 122, the storage devices provided in the transport unit 101, the storage devices provided in other mechanisms, etc. Also, the control unit that controls the transmission and reception of the management information 225 may be installed anywhere.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0032] 101 Transport unit 102 Vertical drive mechanism 103 Longitudinal transmission type sensor 104 Transmitted light of the longitudinal transmission type sensor 105 Hand unit 106 Container 107 Container storage unit 108 Horizontal drive mechanism 109 Lateral transmission type sensor 110 Transmitted light of the lateral transmission type sensor 111 Positioning pin 112 Gripping hand 113 Gripping hand drive mechanism 114 Positioning pin drive mechanism 115 Correction unit 116 Tension spring 117 Input unit 118 Positioning pin hole 119 Detection plate 120 Roll shaft rotation shaft 121 Yaw axis rotation shaft 122 Automatic analyzer 123 Inlet 124 Roll shaft rotation center 125 Spring reaction force generated around the roll shaft rotation shaft 126 Control device 220 Container storage section 221 External storage vault 222 Conveyor mechanism for container storage section 223 Conveyor mechanism for external storage vault 224 Display section 225 Management information

Claims

1. An automatic analyzer comprising a container storage unit capable of storing a plurality of liquid containers that contain liquids for analyzing specimens, an external storage installed outside the automatic analyzer for storing a plurality of the liquid containers, a transport unit for transporting the liquid containers between the automatic analyzer and the external storage, a first transport mechanism for transferring the liquid containers between the automatic analyzer and the transport unit, and a second transport mechanism for transferring the liquid containers between the external storage and the transport unit, a storage unit for storing management information for managing the liquids contained in the liquid containers, and a control unit for transmitting and receiving the management information between the automatic analyzer, the external storage, and the transport unit, wherein the automatic analysis system is designed such that the positional accuracy between the first transport mechanism and the automatic analyzer is higher than the positional accuracy between the first transport mechanism and the transport unit.

2. The automatic analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the first transport mechanism and the transport unit operate to include an extended storage for increasing the maximum number of container storages that can be stored in the automatic analyzer.

3. The automatic analysis system according to claim 2, further comprising a display unit for converting and displaying the arrangement locations of the containers physically stored inside the container storage unit and the arrangement locations of the containers physically stored outside the container storage unit and seemingly stored inside the extended storage into virtual arrangement locations.

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