Incubator for cell culture
The cell culture incubator addresses storage limitations and high costs of automated systems by using vertically suspended shelves with identification and control features for easy access, enabling efficient and cost-effective cell culture management.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2024112385
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-07-12
- Publication Date
- 2026-01-23
AI Technical Summary
Conventional incubators for adherent cell culture are limited in storage capacity and require costly automated systems with barcode tagging, making them expensive and difficult to manage efficiently.
A cell culture incubator with vertically suspended storage shelves, each with unique identification, displays storage and elapsed times, and includes a control unit to move shelves to a doored opening for easy access, using a winding transmission mechanism and memory unit to manage multiple cultures cost-effectively.
Enables efficient management of a large number of cell cultures in a small space with minimal environmental disturbance, allowing visual confirmation of storage times and elapsed times at low cost.
Smart Images
Figure 2026011628000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
[Technical Field]
[0001] The present invention relates to an incubator for cell culture. [Background technology]
[0002] Plate culture of adherent cells requires incubation under time-controlled conditions in a storage cabinet (incubator) with temperature and specific gas concentration control. Conventional incubators are mainly simple storage cabinets. However, such storage cabinets have a limit to the amount of storage that can be achieved within reach, and storing many culture vessels in the depth direction makes it difficult to check the time of storage and to take them in and out.
[0003] To reduce these hassles, Patent Document 1, for example, proposes an automated storage facility in which stored items are managed by a computer, barcodes and ID tags are attached to the containers of the stored items, and storage and retrieval management is fully automated. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]
[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-234601 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]
[0005] However, the automated storage facilities described above require the preparation of dedicated containers for the stored items and the attachment of barcodes and ID tags to all of the containers, which increases costs.Furthermore, fully automated automated storage facilities are expensive, making their introduction a significant hurdle.
[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cell culture incubator that allows cell culture management at low cost. [Means for solving the problem]
[0007] The cell culture incubator of the present invention comprises a plurality of storage shelves for storing cell culture vessels, each of which is given unique identification information and is hung from a vertically installed winding transmission mechanism; a shelf information display unit provided on each of the plurality of storage shelves for displaying the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessels stored in each storage shelf; and a management display unit for displaying the storage time and elapsed time in association with the unique identification information of each of the plurality of storage shelves.
[0008] According to the cell culture incubator of the present invention, by storing cell culture vessels in multiple storage shelves suspended from a vertically installed winding transmission mechanism, it is possible to manage a large number of cell cultures in a small space. At this time, the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessels stored in each storage shelf are displayed on the management display unit in association with the unique identification information of each storage shelf, and the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessels stored in each storage shelf are also displayed on the shelf information display unit installed in each storage shelf.
[0009] The cell culture incubator of the present invention preferably further includes a memory unit that stores a set culture time in association with unique identification information of each of the plurality of storage shelves, and a control unit that displays on the management display unit when the elapsed time of each of the plurality of storage shelves reaches the set culture time, thereby displaying on the management display unit when the elapsed time of each of the plurality of storage shelves reaches the set culture time.
[0010] The cell culture incubator of the present invention preferably further includes a door-equipped opening large enough to allow cell culture vessels to be placed in and removed from one of the multiple storage shelves, and a control unit that, when unique identification information is designated, controls the wrapping transmission mechanism to move the storage shelf corresponding to the designated unique identification information to the position of the door-equipped opening. Thus, when the unique identification information of a storage shelf is designated, the storage shelf corresponding to the designated unique identification information moves to the position of the door-equipped opening, allowing the door of the door-equipped opening to be opened to place and remove cell culture vessels from this storage shelf. [Effects of the Invention]
[0011] (1) According to the present invention, it is possible to manage a large number of cell cultures in a small space, and the storage time and elapsed time of all cell culture vessels in the incubator can be confirmed at a glance based on the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessels stored in each storage shelf, which are displayed on the management display unit in association with the unique identification information of each storage shelf.In addition, the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessels stored in each storage shelf can be visually confirmed at any time using the shelf information display unit provided on each storage shelf, making it possible to perform reliable cell culture management at low cost.
[0012] (2) By having a memory unit that stores the set culture time in association with the unique identification information of each of the multiple storage shelves and a control unit that displays on the management display unit when the elapsed time of each of the multiple storage shelves reaches its respective set culture time, the elapsed time of each of the multiple storage shelves is displayed on the management display unit when it reaches its respective set culture time.This allows the storage shelf that has reached the set culture time to be visually confirmed based on the display on the management display unit, and the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessels stored in each storage shelf can be visually confirmed again using the shelf information display unit provided on that storage shelf.
[0013] (3) Furthermore, the incubator has a doored opening large enough to allow cell culture vessels to be placed in and removed from one of the multiple storage shelves, and a control unit that, when unique identification information is specified, controls the winding transmission mechanism to move the storage shelf corresponding to the specified unique identification information to the position of the doored opening.By having this, when the unique identification information of a storage shelf is specified, the storage shelf corresponding to the specified unique identification information moves to the position of the doored opening, and the door of the doored opening can be opened to allow cell culture vessels to be placed in and removed from this storage shelf.This allows the doored opening to be the minimum size necessary, which makes it less likely to disturb the environment inside the incubator and makes it easier to maintain the culture environment. [Brief explanation of the drawings]
[0014] [Figure 1]1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cell culture incubator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of the cell culture incubator of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cell culture incubator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the main parts of the cell culture incubator of FIG.
[0016] In FIG. 1, a cell culture incubator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of storage shelves 4 for storing cell culture vessels 3 in an incubator body 2 serving as a storage cabinet. The plurality of storage shelves 4 are suspended from a vertically disposed winding transmission mechanism 5. Each storage shelf 4 is capable of storing a plurality of cell culture vessels 3. Each storage shelf 4 is assigned unique identification information. The unique identification information may be, for example, a shelf number.
[0017] The wrapping transmission mechanism 5 includes a drive sprocket 50 and a driven sprocket 51 arranged at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction, and a drive chain 52 wound around the drive sprocket 50 and the driven sprocket 51. Storage shelf hanging units 53 that suspend the storage shelves 4 are provided at predetermined intervals on the drive chain 52. The storage shelf hanging units 53 include storage shelf support arms 54 that rotatably suspend the storage shelves 4. The storage shelf hanging units 53 also include a vibration absorbing mechanism (not shown) that absorbs vibrations of the storage shelves 4. The drive chain 52 also includes a lateral sway prevention guide 55 that prevents the storage shelves 4 from swaying sideways.
[0018] A doored opening 20 is provided on the front of the incubator main body 2. The storage shelf 4 can be moved to the position of the doored opening 20 by a winding transmission mechanism 5, allowing the cell culture vessels 3 to be placed in and removed. The doored opening 20 has the minimum area required to allow the cell culture vessels to be placed in and removed from one of the multiple storage shelves 4. The incubator main body 2 also includes a storage shelf fixing mechanism 21 that fixes the movement of the storage shelf 4 in conjunction with the opening of the doored opening 20. A UV germicidal lamp 22 is provided near the doored opening 20 inside the incubator main body 2 to reduce the entry of impurities from outside when the doored opening 20 is opened.
[0019] The cell culture incubator 1 also includes a temperature control means 6 that controls the temperature inside the incubator main body 2, and a gas concentration control means 7 that controls the gas concentration inside the incubator main body 2. In the case of general cell culture, the temperature control means 6 controls the temperature inside the incubator main body 2 to a temperature between 5°C and 50°C, for example 37°C, which is suitable for cell culture. The gas concentration control means 7 also controls the carbon dioxide concentration inside the incubator main body 2 to a temperature between 0% and 20%, for example 5%, which is suitable for cell culture. The gas concentration control means 7 may also be configured to control the oxygen concentration.
[0020] 2, each storage shelf 4 has a shelf information display section 40 that displays information about the storage shelf 4, and a storage section 41 that stores the cell culture vessels 3. The storage section 41 is provided with a door 41A. The shelf information display section 40 is provided with a current time display field 42 that displays the current time, an entry date and time display field 43 that displays the storage time, an elapsed time display field 44 that displays the elapsed time, and a set time display field 45 that displays the set culture time. The shelf information display section 40 also displays an on switch 46 and an out switch 47.
[0021] The storage time is the time when the cell culture vessel 3 is stored in each storage shelf 4. The time when the operator presses the ON switch 46 is set as the storage time. The elapsed time is the time that has elapsed since the cell culture vessel 3 was stored in each storage shelf 4, that is, the time that has elapsed since the ON switch 46 was pressed. When the EXIT switch 47 is pressed, the elapsed time is reset. The set culture time is a predetermined culture time that is set for each storage shelf 4.
[0022] The cell culture incubator 1 also has a management display unit 8 that displays information about each storage shelf 4 in association with its unique identification information, and a memory control processing unit 9. The management display unit 8 is provided with a shelf number display field 80 that displays the unique identification information (shelf number) of each storage shelf 4, an entry date and time display field 81 similar to the entry date and time display field 43, an elapsed time display field 82 similar to the elapsed time display field 44, and a set time display field 83 similar to the set time display field 45. The memory control processing unit 9 has a memory unit 90 that stores various information, and a control unit 91 that controls the shelf information display unit 40, the management display unit 8, the wrapping transmission mechanism 5, etc. The memory control processing unit 9 may be connected to the incubator main body 2, the management display unit 8, etc. by wire or wirelessly.
[0023] The storage time set by the on switch 46 of each storage shelf 4 is stored in the memory unit 90 in association with the unique identification information of each storage shelf 4. The storage time may be configured to be set automatically in conjunction with the closing operation of the door 41A provided on each storage shelf 4. The set incubation time may be set by a setting unit provided on each storage shelf 4, or may be set from the management display unit 8. The set incubation time is stored in the memory unit 90 in association with the unique identification information of each storage shelf 4.
[0024] When the set incubation time set for each storage shelf 4 has elapsed, the control unit 91 highlights the shelf number display field 80 of the corresponding storage shelf 4 on the management display unit 8. In addition to the shelf number display field 80, the control unit 91 may also highlight the entry date and time display field 81, the elapsed time display field 82, the set time display field 83, etc. The control unit 91 may also be configured to notify a pre-registered contact such as an email address or a smartphone.
[0025] The management display unit 8 is also provided with a shelf number input field 84 and a take-out button 85. When the unique identification number (shelf number) of the storage shelf 4 to be taken out is input into the shelf number input field 84 and the take-out button 85 is pressed, the control unit 91 controls the wrapping transmission mechanism 5 and the like to move the specified storage shelf 4 to the position of the door-equipped opening 20.
[0026] The cell culture incubator 1 configured as described above makes it possible to manage a large number of cell cultures in a small space by storing the cell culture vessels 3 in multiple storage shelves 4 suspended from the vertically installed wrapping transmission mechanism 5. At this time, the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessels 3 stored in each storage shelf 4 are displayed on the management display unit 8 in association with the unique identification information (shelf number) of each storage shelf 4, and the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessels 3 stored in each storage shelf 4 are displayed on the shelf information display unit 40 provided on each storage shelf 4.
[0027] This allows the storage time and elapsed time of all cell culture vessels 3 stored in the incubator main body 2 to be checked at a glance on the management display unit 8 and managed centrally, and the shelf information display unit 40 provided on each storage shelf 4 allows the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessels 3 stored in each storage shelf 4 to be visually confirmed at any time, making it possible to perform reliable cell culture management at low cost.
[0028] Furthermore, in the cell culture incubator 1 of this embodiment, when the elapsed time of each of the plurality of storage shelves 4 reaches its respective set culture time, the display is highlighted on the management display unit 8. Therefore, the storage shelf 4 that has reached the set culture time can be visually confirmed based on the display on the management display unit 8, and the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessels 3 stored in each storage shelf 4 can be visually confirmed again by the shelf information display unit 40 provided on that storage shelf 4.
[0029] Furthermore, in the cell culture incubator 1 of this embodiment, when a shelf number is input in the shelf number input field 84 and the release button 85 is pressed, the specified storage shelf 4 moves to the position of the doored opening 20, and the door of the doored opening 20 can be opened to put the cell culture vessel 3 in and take it out of this storage shelf 4. Since this doored opening 20 is of the minimum necessary size, it is difficult for the environment inside the incubator main body 2 to be disturbed, and it is easy to maintain the culture environment. [Industrial Applicability]
[0030] INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful as a cell culture incubator that allows cell culture management at low cost. [Explanation of symbols]
[0031] 1. Cell culture incubator 2 Incubator body 20 Doored opening 21 Storage shelf fixing mechanism 22 UV germicidal lamp 3 Cell culture vessel 4 storage shelves 40 Shelf information display section 41 Storage area 41A Door 42 Current time display field 43,81 Entry date and time display column 44,82 Elapsed time display field 45,83 Set time display field 46 ON switch 47 Exit Switch 5. Winding transmission mechanism 50 drive sprocket 51 Driven sprocket 52 Drive chain 53 Storage shelf hanging unit 54 Storage shelf support arm 55 Anti-roll guide 6 Temperature control means 7 Gas concentration control means 8 Management display area 80 Storage bin display field 84 Shelf number input field 85 Exit button 9. Storage control processing unit 90 Memory section 91 Control Unit
Claims
1. a plurality of storage shelves for storing cell culture vessels, each of which is given unique identification information and is hung from a vertically provided winding transmission mechanism; a shelf information display unit provided in each of the plurality of storage shelves and displaying the storage time and elapsed time of the cell culture vessel stored in each storage shelf; a management display unit that displays the storage time and elapsed time in association with the unique identification information of each of the plurality of storage shelves; A cell culture incubator with
2. a storage unit that stores a set incubation time in association with unique identification information of each of the plurality of storage shelves; a control unit that displays on the management display unit when the elapsed time of each of the plurality of storage shelves reaches the set incubation time; 2. The cell culture incubator according to claim 1, comprising:
3. an opening with a door having a size that allows the cell culture vessel to be put in and taken out from one of the plurality of storage shelves; a control unit that, when the unique identification information is designated, controls the wrapping transmission mechanism to move the storage shelf corresponding to the designated unique identification information to the position of the door-equipped opening; 3. The cell culture incubator according to claim 1, further comprising:
Citation Information
Patent Citations
Isothermal, constant humidity, and freezing automatic storing facility for biological science and medical test
JP2002234601A