Test piece holder and test piece ejection mechanism

Abstract

To provide a test piece holder capable of surely taking out test pieces one by one and reducing damage caused to the test pieces accordingly.SOLUTION: A test piece holder includes: a holding member in which part of at least a lower side of an inner periphery is a cylindrical surface that exhibits a cylindrical shape, a test piece having a long length and a thickness X is held therein, and a direction of a virtual center axis of the cylindrical surface is inclined relative to a horizontal or a vertical direction; an opening unit provided on an outer surface of the holding member; a selection member that rotates inside the holding member about a rotation shaft coinciding with the center axis; a pressing piece that projects from a tip edge in parallel to the center axis in the selection member in a rotation direction; and a selection piece projecting from a tip of the pressing piece toward the cylindrical surface. In the tip edge, a distance between a position closest to the cylindrical surface and the cylindrical surface is less than X. In the selection piece, a distance A between the position closest to the cylindrical surface and the cylindrical surface satisfies X≤A<2X.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a test strip holder and a test strip ejection mechanism. [Background technology]

[0002] In order to perform continuous measurements using test strips used to measure specific items contained in samples such as urine, a mechanism was used in which multiple test strips were inserted into the device and the test strips were removed one by one from the inserted test strips. The sample was then applied to the test strips removed by such a mechanism, and the specific items were measured.

[0003] For example, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, a drum container is provided with an "inner drum claw." As the drum container rotates, the stored test papers are hooked one by one onto this "inner drum claw" and dropped onto a sorter rack. In addition, in the test strip delivery mechanism described in Patent Document 2, when multiple test strips are inserted into the insertion section and move to the test strip detection block, they are flattened by a partition plate to only one test strip, which allows the test strips to be taken out one by one from the insertion section and supplied to the next inspection section. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-264540 [Patent Document 2] JP 2000-35433 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the technology described in Patent Document 1, if multiple test pieces get caught in the "drum inner jaws," multiple test pieces may be ejected. In addition, in the technology described in Patent Document 2, when stacked test pieces are flattened by a partition plate, the upper test pieces are removed by scraping them off, but at that time, shavings may be generated due to contact between the partition plate and the test pieces.

[0006] Therefore, an object of an embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a test piece holder that can reliably remove test pieces one by one, thereby reducing damage to the test pieces. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A test piece holder according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a holding member having a cylindrical surface on at least a portion of the lower side of the inner circumference, a long test piece having a thickness of X held therein, and a virtual central axis of the cylindrical surface being inclined with respect to the horizontal or vertical direction; an opening provided on the outer surface of the holding member; a sorting member that rotates inside the holding member about an axis of rotation coinciding with the central axis; a pressing piece that protrudes in the direction of rotation from a tip edge of the sorting member that is parallel to the central axis; and a sorting piece that protrudes from the tip of the pressing piece toward the cylindrical surface, wherein the distance between the position on the tip edge closest to the cylindrical surface and the cylindrical surface is less than X, and the distance A between the position on the sorting piece closest to the cylindrical surface and the cylindrical surface is X≦A<2X It is. Effect of the Invention

[0008] Since the embodiments of the present disclosure are configured as described above, a test strip holder is provided that allows test strips to be reliably removed one at a time, thereby reducing damage to the test strips. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 shows a front view of a test strip holder according to a first embodiment; [Diagram 2] 2 shows a front perspective view of the test specimen holder of FIG. 1; [Diagram 3] 3 is a front perspective view of the test strip holder of FIG. 2 with a cap and a door member removed. FIG. [Figure 4] 2 shows a rear perspective view of the test specimen holder of FIG. 1. [Diagram 5] The cylindrical surface that is the inner periphery of the holding member in the test piece holder of FIG. 1 is shown in the BB' cross section of FIG. [Figure 6A] The test specimen is shown in perspective view. [Figure 6B] The test specimen is shown in front view. [Figure 6C] The test specimen is shown in side view. [Figure 7] 2 shows a front perspective view of a rotating member received in the test specimen holder of FIG. 1; [Figure 8] 6 shows a rear perspective view of the rotating member of FIG. 5. [Figure 9] 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 along AA'. [Figure 10] The pressing piece and the selection piece are shown enlarged. [Figure 11] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a test strip holding mechanism. [Figure 12] 12 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a control unit in FIG. 11. [Figure 13A] 10 is a flowchart showing an outline of a test piece discharging process. [Figure 13B] 10 is a flowchart showing an outline of a test piece discharging process. [Figure 14A] The state in which the test piece is held is shown in cross section. [Figure 14B] The state in which the test piece is held is shown in cross section. [Figure 14C] The state in which the test piece is held is shown in cross section. [Figure 14D] The state in which the test piece is held is shown in cross section. [Figure 14E] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a test piece is discharged. [Figure 15] 1 shows a front view of a test strip holder according to a second embodiment. [Figure 16] 16 shows the test specimen holder of FIG. 15 in a front perspective view. [Figure 17]FIG. [Figure 18] FIG. [Figure 19] 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along CC' in FIG. 15. [Figure 20A] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a test piece is discharged. [Figure 20B] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a test piece is discharged. [Figure 20C] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a test piece is discharged. [Figure 21] 13 shows a cross-sectional view of a test strip holder according to a third embodiment. [Figure 22] A modification of the third embodiment is shown in cross section. [Diagram 23] 13 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of a test strip holder according to a fourth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that reference numerals commonly used in the drawings indicate the same objects even if they are not mentioned in the following description of each drawing.

[0011] (1) First embodiment FIG. 1 shows a front view of the test strip holder 10 of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 shows the test strip holder 10 in a front perspective view. FIG. 3 shows the test strip holder 10 without the cap 21 and the door member 40 in a front perspective view. FIG. 4 shows the test strip holder 10 in a rear perspective view. In the following description, the direction in which the cap 21 (FIGS. 1, 2, and 4) is provided in the test strip holder 10 will be referred to as the front, and the direction in which the connection portion 20C is provided will be referred to as the rear.

[0012] The test piece holder 10 of this embodiment has a holding member 20 with a cylindrical side surface. As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, a short cylindrical cap 21 is attached to one end of the holding member 20. A door member 40 having a substantially rectangular shape in a front view (Fig. 1) is provided on the side surface of the holding member 20. A pair of bearings 40B protruding outward in a substantially cylindrical shape are provided on both ends of the door member 40. Each of the pair of bearings 40B is connected to a cylindrical bearing 20B of the same diameter that protrudes from the side surface of the holding member 20. A pair of door shafts 41 (Fig. 3) are housed in these bearings 40B, 20B. The door member 40 is supported by the pair of door shafts 41 and is rotatable as described below.

[0013] On the other hand, the other end of the holding member 20 is provided with a cylindrical drive shaft housing 20A that bulges outward. As shown in FIG. 4, the door drive shaft 46 is housed in the drive shaft housing 20A. The door drive shaft 46 and the door shaft 41 have the same axis. The door drive shaft 46 is held by an opening / closing operation device 4 (see FIG. 11) described later, and rotates around the axis to open and close the door member 40. Furthermore, a cylindrical connection part 20C with a slightly smaller diameter protrudes from the other end of the holding member 20. The connection part 20C is a part that is connected to a rotation driver 3 (see FIG. 11) when the test strip holder 10 is attached to a test strip discharge mechanism 1 described later. From an opening provided in the center of the connection part 20C, the rotation drive shaft 36 of the rotation member 30 (FIGS. 7 and 8) described later can be seen.

[0014] As shown in Fig. 5, which shows the BB' cross section of Fig. 1, at least a part (in this embodiment, the whole) of the lower side of the inner circumference of the holding member 20 is a cylindrical surface 22 having a cylindrical shape. The central axis of the cylindrical surface 22 is the imaginary central axis 15 of the holding member 20 (Fig. 1). Furthermore, this cylindrical surface 22 has a plurality of inner circumferential grooves 23 formed along the circumferential direction. Note that, in the holding member 20, as long as at least a part (e.g., half) of the lower side is the cylindrical surface 22, the upper half may be an opening 24 in some cases.

[0015] A long test strip 90 as shown in Figures 6A to 6C is held inside the holding member 20 of the test strip holder 10. In this embodiment, a urine test strip for measuring the physical properties or the concentration or presence or absence of a specific component in urine will be described as an example of the test strip 90.

[0016] As shown in the figure, this test strip 90 has a configuration in which a plurality of reagent pads 93 are arranged on a rectangular substrate 94. One end of the substrate 94 is provided with a gripping portion 95 that is gripped in a measuring device (not shown), and the remaining area serves as a reagent pad arrangement area 96 (see FIG. 6C). In the reagent pad arrangement area 96, a plurality of reagent pads 93 are arranged in series along the longitudinal direction and at regular intervals from one another.

[0017] The material of the substrate 94 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, resin, metal, glass, etc. The color of the substrate is not particularly limited, and may be any of white, gray, black, chromatic, and transparent. The size of the substrate 94 is not particularly limited, and may be appropriately determined depending on the test items and the specifications of the analytical device to be used, and may be, for example, 50 to 150 mm in length, 2 to 10 mm in width, and 0.1 to 1.0 mm in thickness. In this embodiment, the length of the long direction of the test piece 90, i.e., the length of the long side 92, is L2 (FIG. 6B), and the length of the short direction, i.e., the length of the short side 91, is Y (FIG. 6B). Therefore, the length of the holding member 20 in the longitudinal direction is equal to or longer than the length of the test piece. In this way, the size of the test piece 90 that can be fitted to the test piece holder 10 of this embodiment is limited.

[0018] The material of the reagent pad 93 may be, for example, filter paper, glass fiber filter paper, knitted fabric, woven fabric, nonwoven fabric, membrane filter, porous resin sheet, plastic film, etc. The shape of the reagent pad 93 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a square, a rectangle, a circle, an ellipse, etc. The size of the reagent pad 93 is not particularly limited, and when the shape is rectangular, it may be, for example, 2 to 10 mm in length and width, and 0.05 to 1.0 mm in thickness. In this embodiment, the thickness of the thick part is X (FIG. 6C). The reagent pad 93 may be formed into a predetermined shape after the above-mentioned pad material is made to hold the reagent, or the pad material may be formed into a predetermined shape and then the reagent may be held. The reagent can be held, for example, by immersing the pad material in a reagent solution and drying it. The reagent pad 93 can be arranged on the substrate 94 using, for example, an adhesive or a pressure sensitive adhesive. The adhesive or pressure sensitive adhesive may be, for example, a polyurethane-based, acrylic-based, vinyl chloride-based, epoxy-based, nylon-based, hot melt-based, cyanoacrylate-based, rubber-based, or the like.

[0019] The thickness X of the test strip 90 is the distance of the thickest part of the test strip used in the test strip holder 10, and in the above-mentioned test strip 90, it is the thickness of the reagent pad 93. If the test strip 90 has a part that is thicker than the reagent pad 93, the thickness of that part is X.

[0020] In the test strip ejection mechanism 1 described later, the test strip holder 10 is mounted so that the direction of the imaginary central axis 15 ( FIG. 1 ) of the holding member 20 is horizontal. However, the direction of this central axis 15 is not limited to the horizontal direction, and as long as it is inclined with respect to the vertical direction (in other words, as long as it is not vertical), there is no problem in holding the test strip 90. In other words, the angle that is 90° or less between the direction of this central axis 15 and the vertical direction is greater than 0° and less than 90°, preferably between 30° and 90°, more preferably between 45° and 90°, even more preferably between 60° and 90°, and most preferably 90°, i.e., the horizontal direction.

[0021] Rectangular cutouts 42 are formed in two locations on one of the long sides of the door member 40. This one long side is divided into three tongue-shaped resilient portions 43 by the two cutouts 42. In addition, rectangular detection windows 26 are formed on the side surface of the holding member 20 in two locations near the other of the long sides of the door member 40.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 3, which shows the state in which the cap 21 and the door member 40 are removed from the test strip holder 10, a rectangular opening 24 is provided in the side of the holder 20 along the longitudinal direction, and the door member 40 is provided therein so as to be openable and closable. From the opening 24, the sorting member 31 of the rotating member 30, which is accommodated inside the holder 20 and rotates around the central axis 15 inside the holder 20, can be seen. The longitudinal length L1 of the opening 24 is equal to or greater than the longitudinal length L2 of the test strip 90, in other words, a length that allows the test strip 90 to be discharged from the opening 24 without any problems. In addition, an insertion port 25 for inserting the test strip 90 into the holder 20 is formed at the center of the front side of the holder 20. The opening 24 is provided on the cylindrical side of the holder 20, and may be provided, for example, in the lower part when the test strip holder 10 is placed horizontally. It should be noted that opening 24 need only be provided on the "side surface" of holding member 20, which is cylindrical in the geometric sense, and on the "outer surface" in the combined sense of the "side surface" and "bottom surface".

[0023] The center line 24A shown by a dashed line in the figure is an imaginary line that bisects the opening 24 in the longitudinal direction. Here, this center line 24A is located at a position lower in the rotation direction than the uppermost position 31A (see FIG. 9) reached by the sorting member 31 inside the holding member 20. Desirably, when the rotation angle of this uppermost position 31A is 0°, this center line 24A is located at a position at a rotation angle of 45° to 90°, more desirably at a position at 90°.

[0024] In the test piece holder 10, the rotating member 30 housed in the holding member 20 is shown in a front perspective view in Fig. 7 and a rear perspective view in Fig. 8. The rotating member 30 is composed of a circular front plate 30A located on the front side and a circular plate 30B located on the rear side at a distance longer than the length L2 of the long side of the test piece from the front plate 30A. Front panel 30A and A structure in which multiple, specifically three, sorting members 31 are arranged between a circular rear plate 30B of the same diameter. The sorting members 31 are each provided at a distance longer than the length Y of the short side 91 of the test piece. The diameters of the front plate 30A and the rear plate 30B are the same as the diameter of the cylinder formed by the cylindrical surface 22 of the holding member 20, and the front plate 30A and the rear plate 30B are fixed by the sorting members 31 so that the central axis of the circle of the front plate 30A and the central axis of the circle of the rear plate 30B coincide with each other.

[0025] In other words, the central axis of the front plate 30A and the central axis of the rear plate 30B coincide with each other and become the rotation axis 15 of the rotating member 30. A rotation drive shaft 36 protrudes rearward from the center of the circle of the rear plate 30B along the central axis of the rear plate 30B (FIG. 8). When the rotating member 30 is accommodated in the cylindrical surface 22 of the holding member 20 so that the outer circumferential surfaces of the front plate 30A and the rear plate 30B come into contact with each other, the diameter of the cylinder formed by the cylindrical surface 22 is the same as the diameter of the front plate 30A and the diameter of the rear plate 30B, so that the central axis 15 of the holding member 20 coincides with the rotation axis 15 of the rotating member 30.

[0026] The rotary drive shaft 36 is connected to the rotary driver 3, which will be described later, and the rotary force transmitted from the rotary driver 3 rotates the entire rotary member 30 in the direction of the arrow shown in Figures 7 and 8. As a result, the sorting member 31 rotates inside the holding member 20 about the rotary axis 15 which coincides with the central axis 15, thereby moving the test piece 90 inside the holding member 20. In other words, the sorting member 31 is formed separately from the holding member 20 and rotates relative to the holding member 20. In other words, the sorting member 31 is configured to rotate around the central axis 15 of the holding member 20 while maintaining a predetermined distance from the central axis 15.

[0027] The front plate 30A has a circular opening at the center of the circle of the front plate 30A (FIG. 8), and a cylinder with the same outer diameter as the opening is fitted into it (FIG. 7). The cylinder protrudes forward from the front plate 30A. When the rotating member 30 is housed in the holding member 20, it connects with the insertion port 25 of the holding member 20. Therefore, the test piece 90 inserted into the insertion port 25 of the test piece holder 10 is held between the front plate 30A and the rear plate 30B.

[0028] The sorting member 31 is a substantially plate-shaped member provided along the direction of the rotating shaft 15. The sorting member 31 is attached to the inner circular surface of the front plate 30A and the inner circular surface of the rear plate 30B at a distance from the rotating shaft 15. The sorting member 31 has an outer peripheral surface facing the outside of the rotating member 30, an inner peripheral surface facing the direction of the rotating shaft 15, a first side surface parallel to the central axis 15 and facing the rotation direction, and a second side surface parallel to the central axis 15 and facing the direction opposite to the rotation direction. The outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface are curved surfaces centered on the rotating shaft 15. The first side surface and the second side surface are surfaces connecting the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface, and are flat surfaces extending from the outer peripheral surface in the direction toward the central axis. A plurality of sliding protrusions 35 are arranged on the outer peripheral surface along the edge between the outer peripheral surface and the first side surface. The sliding protrusion 35 is a protrusion that fits into the inner circumferential groove 23 provided on the cylindrical surface 22 when the rotating member 30 is accommodated in the holding member 20, and has a truncated pyramid shape with a square base that becomes sharper toward the outside of the rotating member 30. The surface of the sliding protrusion 35 in the rotation direction is a flat surface that extends toward the rotation shaft 15, and forms part of the first side surface of the sorting member 31. The first side surface including the surface of the sliding protrusion 35 in the rotation direction is the tip edge 32 of the sorting member 31.

[0029] Each of the sorting members 31 has a tip edge 32 that is parallel to the central axis and abuts the tip in the direction of rotation. Two rectangular parallelepiped pressing pieces 33 having a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction in the direction of rotation protrude in parallel from the tip edge 32 for a predetermined distance D (see FIG. 10) that is longer than distance B. The number of pressing pieces 33 is not limited to two, and may be one or three or more as long as they are capable of holding the test piece 90 even during rotation. Furthermore, there is no particular limitation on the longitudinal position of the pressing piece 33 as long as they are capable of holding the test piece 90 even during rotation. Furthermore, the pressing pieces 33From the tip of the sorting member 31, a rectangular parallelepiped sorting piece 34 protrudes outward, i.e., toward the cylindrical surface 22 (FIG. 5). In addition, on the outer circumferential surface of the sorting member 31, a plurality of sliding protrusions 35 are arranged in a row along the leading edge 32 and the trailing edge 32A, respectively, toward the cylindrical surface 22 (FIG. 5). The sliding protrusions 35 provided on the outer circumferential surface of the sorting member 31 and the inner circumferential groove 23 (FIG. 5) provided on the cylindrical surface 22 of the holding member 20 are formed as a concave-convex structure that meshes with each other. Both the pressing piece 33 and the sorting piece 34 are fixed to the sorting member 31, which rotates around the central axis 15 of the holding member 20 while maintaining a predetermined distance from the central axis 15. Therefore, the pressing piece 33 and the sorting piece 34 also rotate around the central axis 15 while maintaining a predetermined distance from the central axis 15.

[0030] 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA′ in FIG. 1. The cylindrical surface 22 of the holding member 20 has a generally circular cross section, and the inner peripheral surface of the door member 40 provided in the opening 24 has an arc shape that is flush with the cylindrical surface 22 of the holding member 20. The three sorting members 31 have a generally arc shape in cross section and are equally spaced with respect to the central axis 15. The sorting members 31 do not necessarily have to be equally spaced, and the number is not limited to three. However, it is preferable to provide a plurality of sorting members 31 because the number of the sorting members increases the number of test pieces 90 that can be held per revolution of the rotating member 30 according to the number of the sorting members, and the speed at which the test pieces 90 are removed from the test piece holder 10 is improved. However, the greater the number of the sorting members 31, the narrower the interval between the front and rear sorting members 31 becomes, and the higher the probability that the sorting members 31 will rotate without being able to hold the test pieces 90, so it is preferable to provide three to five sorting members. Furthermore, the sliding protrusions 35 provided on both the front and rear ends of the sorting member 31 fit into the inner circumferential groove 23 of the cylindrical surface 22 and slide along this inner circumferential groove 23 in the rotational direction indicated by the arrow in the figure. If two or more sliding protrusions 35 are provided, the test piece 90 can be prevented from getting caught between the sorting member 31 and the cylindrical surface 22 even if they are not engaged by projections and recesses.

[0031] The positional relationship between the pressing piece 33 and the sorting piece 34 of the sorting member 31 and the cylindrical surface 22 is shown in an enlarged cross-sectional view of FIG. 10. That is, the distance between the position of the tip edge 32 of the sorting member 31 closest to the cylindrical surface 22 (i.e., the tip of the sliding protrusion 35) and the cylindrical surface 22 is set to be less than the thickness X of the test piece 90 (FIG. 6C). This prevents the test piece 90 from being caught between the sorting member 31 and the cylindrical surface 22, and allows the tip edge 32 to push the test piece 90 in the rotation direction as the sorting member 31 rotates. The distance A between the position of the sorting piece 34 closest to the cylindrical surface 22 and the cylindrical surface 22 is set to be equal to or greater than the thickness X of the test piece 90 and less than twice the thickness X.

[0032] That is, the distance A is set so that one test strip 90 can be inserted between the sorting piece 34 and the cylindrical surface 22, but two or more test strips cannot be inserted. This prevents two or more test strips 90 from overlapping and being inserted between the pressing piece 33 and the cylindrical surface 22 at the same time. In order to allow for manufacturing errors in the test strip 90 and to facilitate insertion of the test strip 90, the distance A is preferably 1.1 times or more the thickness X of the test strip 90, and more preferably 1.2 times or more. In addition, since the reagent pad 93 in the test strip 90 described above is made of filter paper or the like, the thickness X may become thinner than X when pressed, so the distance A is preferably less than 1.8 times the thickness X of the test strip 90, and more preferably less than 1.6 times.

[0033] In addition, with respect to the length Y (FIG. 6B) of the test piece 90 in the short direction, , selectionThe distance B from the leading edge 32 of the separate member 31 to the selection piece 34 is set to be equal to or greater than Y and less than twice the length Y. In other words, the distance is set such that one test piece 90 can be inserted between the pressing piece 33 and the cylindrical surface 22, which are sandwiched between the leading edge 32 and the selection piece 34, in the rotation direction, but two or more test pieces 90 cannot be inserted. This prevents two or more test pieces 90 from being held side by side in the rotation direction between the pressing piece 33 and the cylindrical surface 22. In addition, in order to allow for manufacturing errors in the test pieces 90 and in terms of the ease with which the test pieces 90 can be inserted, the distance B is preferably 1.1 times or more the length Y of the test pieces 90, and more preferably 1.2 times or more. In addition, if the test pieces 90 stand up, there is a risk that two or more test pieces will be inserted, so the distance B is preferably less than 1.8 times the length Y of the test pieces 90, and more preferably less than 1.6 times.

[0034] Furthermore, the length C of the part of the selection piece 34 that protrudes from the pressing piece 33 to the cylindrical surface 22 is set to be 0.5 times or more the thickness X of the test piece 90 and less than 1.5 times X. In other words, the length C of the part of the selection piece 34 that protrudes from the pressing piece 33 to the cylindrical surface 22 that is sandwiched between the leading edge 32 and the selection piece 34 is set to be 0.5 times or more the thickness X of the test piece 90 and less than 1.5 times X. The distance B and length C are set so that the sorting member 31 (pressing piece 33) can hold one test piece 90 that is packed tightly together, but cannot hold two or more test pieces 90. Due to such conditions of distance B and length C, even if the sorting member 31 (pressing piece 33) is rotating while holding two or more test pieces 90, the pressing piece 33 will stop immediately after reaching the uppermost position 31A (i.e., immediately after the pressing piece 33 reaches the vertical position 31B, direction Vectors in the position with fewer The pressing piece 33 When the thickness X of the test piece 90 reaches the limit (when the thickness X of the test piece 90 reaches the limit), only the test piece 90 on the pressing piece 33 side from the sorting member 31 is held inside the protruding portion of the sorting piece 34 with the length C, and the other test pieces 90 cannot be held by the sorting piece 34 and will drop. If the thickness X of the test piece 90 is 0.5 times or more and less than 1.0 times X, the test pieces 90 other than the one held will not come into contact with the inside of the protruding portion of the length C of the sorting piece 34 at all, which is more preferable in that it can be ensured that the test pieces 90 can drop.

[0035] Furthermore, distance E (see FIG. 10), which is the length of the leading edge 32 in the rotational direction relative to length Y in the short dimension of the test piece 90, is set to have a width and be less than Y, and is preferably less than 0.5 times the length Y of the test piece 90. This condition of distance E allows the test piece held between the sorting piece 34 and the cylindrical surface 22 to fall immediately after reaching the uppermost position 31A. Note that distance E is approximately the same length as distance D minus distance B.

[0036] A functional block diagram of the test strip discharge mechanism 1 is shown in Fig. 11. The test strip discharge mechanism 1 is configured as a measuring device that measures the physical properties or the concentration or presence or absence of a specific component of a biological sample such as a urine specimen by using a test strip 90 to which a specific reagent is applied.

[0037] The control unit 100 controls each part of the test strip discharge mechanism 1. The control unit 100 controls the proximity detector 2, the rotation driver 3, the opening / closing operation unit 4, and the measurement unit 5 by a hardware configuration described later. When the test strip holder 10 is attached to the test strip discharge mechanism 1, the rotation driver 3 is connected to the rotation drive shaft 36 (FIG. 8) of the rotating member 30, and the opening / closing operation unit 4 is connected to the door drive shaft 46 (FIG. 4) of the door member 40, as described above. The proximity detector 2 is composed of, for example, an optical sensor or an approach sensor, and detects the proximity of the sorting member 31 to the opening 24 through the detection window 26 (FIG. 9) of the holding member 20. The proximity detector 2 may detect the proximity of the test strip 90 held by the sorting member 31. The control unit 100 drives the rotation driver 3 to rotate and stop the rotating member 30 (sorting member 31) in response to detection by the proximity detector 2. The control unit 100 also drives the opening / closing operator 4 to open or close the door element 40 in response to detection by the proximity detector 2. When an opening / closing member 50 (see FIG. 22) other than the door element 40 is provided in the opening 24, the opening / closing operator 4 opens or closes the opening / closing member 50 instead of the door element 40. The control unit 100 also controls the measurement unit 5 which is composed of various parts and devices as a measurement instrument.

[0038] 12, the control unit 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101, a read only memory (ROM) 102, a random access memory (RAM) 103, and a storage 104. Each component is connected to each other via a bus 109 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0039] The CPU 101 is a central processing unit that executes various programs and controls each part. That is, the CPU 101 reads a program from the ROM 102 or the storage 104, and executes the program using the RAM 103 as a working area. The CPU 101 controls each of the above components and performs various arithmetic processing according to the program recorded in the ROM 102 or the storage 104.

[0040] The ROM 102 stores various programs and various data. The RAM 103 temporarily stores programs or data as a working area. The storage 104 is configured with an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive) or a flash memory, and stores various programs including an operating system and various data. In this embodiment, the ROM 102 or the storage 104 stores programs and various data related to measurement and judgment. Furthermore, the storage 104 can also store measurement data.

[0041] In the control unit 100, the CPU 101 of the above hardware configuration executes the above-mentioned programs, thereby controlling the proximity detector 2, the rotation driver 3, the opening / closing operator 4, and the measurement unit 5.

[0042] With the above configuration, under the control of the control unit 100, the rotation driver 3 stops the rotation of the sorting member 31 when the sorting member 31 approaches the opening 24, and can also resume the rotation of the sorting member 31 when the opening / closing operator 4 closes the opening 24. Sorting material 31The control unit 100 can also control the rotation driver 3 to stop when the proximity detector 2 detects the proximity, and can also control the rotation driver 3 to resume rotation when the opening / closing operation unit 4 closes the opening 24.

[0043] Next, removal of the test strip 90 by the test strip holder 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart of Fig. 13A (or Fig. 13B) and the cross-sectional views of Fig. 14A to Fig. 14E. Note that in the cross-sectional views of Fig. 14A to Fig. 14E, the operation of one sorting member 31 will be described, but the operations of the other two sorting members 31 are naturally performed simultaneously.

[0044] First, when the power supply of the test piece discharge mechanism 1 is turned on, the initial setting of the device is executed at the stage shown in S100. This initial setting includes the control unit 100 controlling the rotation driver 3 to set the rotation member 30 to an initial rotation position.

[0045] Then, when preparation for measurement is completed, the control unit 100 drives the rotation driver 3 to start rotating the rotation member 30 at a stage shown in S110. This control unit 100 continues the rotation of the rotation member 30 until the proximity detector 2 detects the sorting member 31 through the detection window 26 at a stage shown in S120. Note that in the case of a configuration in which a step motor is used as the rotation driver 3 without the proximity detector 2, the rotation of the rotation member 30 can be continued until a predetermined number of steps (for example, the number of steps required from when the rotation is stopped and then resumed until the sorting member 31 next approaches the opening 24) has elapsed at a stage shown in S120' in the flowchart of FIG. 13B.

[0046] During this time, in FIG. 14A, a plurality of test pieces 90 are retained in the lower part of the internal space of the holding member 20. Fastening The pressing piece 33 of the selecting member 31 presses the retained test pieces 90 in the direction of rotation.

[0047] The sorting member 31 continues to rotate, and when it passes the lowest position in the vertical direction as shown in Figure 14B, one of the outermost test pieces 90 slips through the gap of width A (see Figure 10) between the sorting piece 34 and the cylindrical surface 22 to a position where its long side 92 contacts the leading edge 32. It is possible that another test piece 90 also partially enters the gap between the sorting piece 34 and the cylindrical surface 22. The other test pieces 90 are lifted upward by the pressing piece 33.

[0048] The sorting member 31 continues to rotate, and when the pressing piece 33 reaches the uppermost position 31A as shown in Fig. 14C, all of the test pieces 90 that did not enter the gap between the sorting piece 34 and the cylindrical surface 22 drop downward. Then, when the sorting member 31 rotates further to the position shown in Fig. 14D, the test pieces 90 that had entered only partially into the gap between the sorting piece 34 and the cylindrical surface 22 also finally drop, but the test pieces 90 that had entered until they came into contact with the leading edge 32 are held by the pressing piece 33 and the sorting piece 34 and are prevented from falling.

[0049] That is, because the distance A between the position of the sorting piece 34 closest to the cylindrical surface 22 and the cylindrical surface 22 is X≦A<2X, the sorting member 31 can be rotated to hold only one test piece 90 at a position rotated slightly from the uppermost position 31A. Note that the distance B from the tip edge 32 of the pressing piece 33 to the sorting piece 34 is Y≦B<2Y, and the length C of the portion of the sorting piece 34 protruding from the pressing piece 33 towards the cylindrical surface 22 is 0.5X≦C<1.5X, so that the sorting member 31 can more reliably hold only the test piece 90 at a position rotated slightly from the uppermost position 31A.

[0050] 14E, the proximity detector 2 detects the approach of the sorting member 31 at the stage shown in S120 (or the control unit 100 detects the passage of a predetermined number of steps at the stage shown in S120'), and at the stage shown in S130 the control unit 100 stops driving the rotation driver 3, stopping the rotation of the sorting member 31. Then, at the stage shown in S140, the control unit 100 drives the opening / closing operator 4 to rotate the door element 40 to the position shown in FIG. 14E to open it.

[0051] As the door member 40 rotates, the notch 42 reaches the position of the pressing piece 33, and at the same time, the resilient part 43 collides with the pressing piece 33 or the test piece 90, applying an impact to the test piece 90 held by the pressing piece 33 and the sorting piece 34, causing the test piece 90 to drop from the sorting member 31 towards the open door member 40. The test piece 90 slides down the concave curved surface of the door member 40 and is discharged to the outside from the holding member 20, after which the test piece 90 is moved to the measurement section 5 by a transport means (not shown) where it is subjected to a predetermined measurement.

[0052] Then, at the stage shown in S150, the control unit 100 again drives the opening / closing operation unit 4 to rotate the door element 40 in the reverse direction, and closes the door element 40 again as shown in Fig. 14A. The timing of closing the door element 40 may be determined by providing a discharge detector that detects that the test strip 90 has been discharged to the outside from the holding member 20, and closing the door element 40 when the discharge detector detects that the test strip 90 has been discharged, or by closing the door element 40 after a predetermined time has elapsed since it was opened. Then, at the stage shown in S160, the control unit 100 determines whether there is a next measurement, and if there is, the process returns to the stage shown in S110, and the control unit 100 drives the rotation driver 3 to resume rotation of the rotating member 30.

[0053] In this manner, the door member 40 is opened only while the test piece 90 is being discharged from the holding member 20, so that the selecting member 31 rotates. motion The line indicates when the door member 40 is opened or closed. motionEven if there is a line, it does not affect the movement of the sorting member 31. In addition, when an airtight holding member 20 is used except for the door member 40, the test pieces 90 housed in the holding member 20 can be isolated from the outside air except when the door member 40 is open. This makes it possible to prevent deterioration of the test pieces 90 due to moisture in the outside air, etc.

[0054] (2) Second embodiment 15 and 16 are a front view and a front perspective view, respectively, of a test strip holder 10 in which the door member 40 is in a different form. A cylindrical door accommodating section 27 protruding outward is provided on the side of the holding member 20. The door accommodating section 27 has a cylindrical shape with a smaller diameter than the holding member 20 and a longitudinal length equal to or greater than the length of the test strip 90, with a portion of the cylindrical shape protruding outward from the holding member 20. In addition, a discharge port 28, which is an opening equal to or greater than the length of the test strip 90, is provided along the longitudinal direction of the door accommodating section 27. The discharge port 28 connects the inside and outside of the door accommodating section at the lower side of the door accommodating section 27.

[0055] The door receiving portion 27 accommodates a door element 40 having a shape shown in an outer perspective view in FIG. 17 and an inner perspective view in FIG. 18. The door element 40 has a generally crescent-shaped cross section, as if a part of the side surface of the cylindrical shape was carved out by the concave curved surface of the cylindrical surface 22 of the holding member 20. The convex curved surface of the side surface is called the blocking portion 45, and the concave curved surface is called the inclined surface 44. The inclined surface 44 may have rectangular notches 42 formed in two places on the lower edge. The lower edge is divided into three tongue-shaped elastic portions 43 by the two notches 42. A door shaft 41 provided on the axis of the cylindrical shape protrudes from both ends of the door element 40.

[0056] The front side of the door accommodating portion 27 is connected to a cylindrical bearing 20B that bulges out from the side surface of the holding member 20 and has a smaller diameter than the door accommodating portion 27. One side of the door shaft 41 is accommodated in this bearing 20B. In addition, rectangular detection windows 26 are formed in two places near the upper part of the door accommodating portion 27. The door member 40 is provided on the side surface of the holding member 20 in a direction along the longitudinal direction of the holding member 20.

[0057] On the other hand, the other end of the holding member 20 is provided with a cylindrical drive shaft housing 20A that is connected to the door housing 27 and bulges outward. The drive shaft housing 20A houses a door drive shaft 46 (see FIG. 4). The door drive shaft 46 and the door shaft 41 have the same axis. The door drive shaft 46 is held by an opening / closing operation device 4 (see FIG. 11) similar to that of the first embodiment, and rotates around the axis to rotate the door member 40. Furthermore, a cylindrical connection part 20C with a slightly smaller diameter protrudes from the other end of the holding member 20. The connection part 20C is a part that is connected to the rotation driver 3 (see FIG. 11) when the test strip holder 10 is attached to the test strip discharge mechanism 1 similar to that of the first embodiment. From an opening provided at the center of the connection part 20C, the rotation drive shaft 36 of the rotation member 30 (FIGS. 7 and 8) similar to that of the first embodiment can be seen.

[0058] The sorting member 31 rotates and moves the test pieces 90 housed in the holding member 20 along the cylindrical surface 22, which is the inner circumferential surface of the holding member 20. The door element 40 is provided on the side of the holding member 20 so as to be able to open and close, in order to discharge the test pieces 90 to the outside of the holding member 20. When the door element 40 is closed, it separates the inside from the outside of the holding member 20. The door housing section 27 covers the door element 40 from the outside of the holding member 20. The door element 40 can be opened and closed by rotating inside the door housing section 27.

[0059] The discharge outlet 28 is provided for discharging the test pieces discharged outside the holding member 20, i.e., into the door housing portion 27, to the outside of this door housing portion 27. The discharge outlet 28 can be opened and closed to the outside by a door member 40 that rotates inside the door housing portion 27. In other words, when the discharge outlet 28 is closed, the inside and outside of the door housing portion 27 are blocked off. On the other hand, when the discharge outlet 28 is open, the door member 40 closes the opening 24 of the holding member 20, as described below.

[0060] The inclined surface 44 of the door member 40 is a concave inner peripheral surface that is flush with the cylindrical surface 22, which is the inner surface of the holding member 20, when the door member 40 is closed as shown in Fig. 19. The blocking portion 45 on the opposite side of the inclined surface 44 has a cylindrical convex shape that corresponds to the cylindrical concave surface inside the door storage portion when the door member 40 is closed as shown in Fig. 19, and blocks both the opening 24 and the discharge port 28. However, when the discharge port 28 is open as shown in Fig. 20C, the blocking portion 45 Holding member 20 It isolates the inside from the outside.

[0061] That is, as the door member 40 rotates, the notch 42 reaches the position of the pressing piece 33, and at the same time, the inclined surface 44 of the resilient portion 43 applies an impact to the test piece 90 held by the pressing piece 33 and the selection piece 34, causing the test piece 90 to be ejected to the outside from the holding member 20 (see FIG. 20A). At this time, the ejected and falling test piece 90 is guided to the outside of the holding member 20 by the inclined surface 44 of the door member 40. In this state, the door member 40 opens the holding member 20 while closing the ejection port 28.

[0062] When door element 40 further rotates to the state shown in Fig. 20B, door element 40 again closes opening 24 and discharge outlet 28 by blocking portion 45. Then, discharged test piece 90 falls along inclined surface 44 (see Fig. 20B).

[0063] When door element 40 rotates further to the state shown in Fig. 20C, blocking portion 45 closes opening 24 while opening discharge outlet 28 (see Fig. 20C). Discharged test piece 90 is guided along inclined surface 44 to open discharge outlet 28, and test piece 90 discharged from discharge outlet 28 to the outside of door housing portion 27 moves to measurement portion 5, where it is subjected to a predetermined measurement.

[0064] In the second embodiment described above, the door member 40 always closes at least one of the opening 24 of the holding member 20 and the exhaust outlet 28 of the door housing portion 27. In other words, since the opening 24 and the exhaust outlet 28 are never open at the same time, the test strip 90 housed in the holding member 20 can always be shielded from the outside air. This makes it possible to prevent deterioration of the test strip 90 due to moisture in the outside air, etc.

[0065] (3) Third embodiment 21 shows a cross-sectional view of the test strip holder 10 of the third embodiment. In this embodiment, the opening 24 is located at a position rotated about 135° from the uppermost position 31A, and there is no door member 40. Even in this configuration, it is possible to drop the test strip 90 held by the sorting member 31 that has rotated and descended through the opening 24.

[0066] 22, an opening / closing member 50 for opening and closing the opening 24 may be provided. The opening / closing member 50 can be opened and closed by an opening / closing operator 4 in the block diagram of FIG.

[0067] (4) Fourth embodiment 23 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the test strip holder 10 of the fourth embodiment. In the above-mentioned first to third embodiments, the holding member 20 does not rotate, and the selection member 31 rotates relative to the holding member 20. However, in this embodiment, the holding member 20 itself, whose entire inner circumference is a cylindrical surface, rotates. The selection member 31 protrudes inward from the inner surface of the holding member 20. In other words, the selection member 31 is a member 20 and rotates with the holding member 20.

[0068] The opening 24 is formed on the inner surface of the holding member 20 on the tip side in the rotation direction with respect to the sorting member 31 and on the side facing the pressing piece 33, and an openable and closable door member 40 is provided at the opening 24. In this embodiment, the sorting member 31 can hold the test piece 90 in the same manner as shown in Figs. 14A to 14E. When the rotation angle of the opening 24 at the uppermost position 31A is set to 0°, the opening 24 rotates to a position with a rotation angle of 90° or more and 180° or less, more preferably to a position of 135°, and then the door member 40 is opened by the opening / closing operator 4 shown in Fig. 11, whereby the test piece 90 can be taken out of the holding member 20.

[0069] In addition, the selection member 31 of this embodiment is provided separately from the holding member 20. WhileThe sorting member 31 can be rotated together with the holding member 20 by being fixed to the holding member 20 by a fixing portion (not shown) that is wrapped annularly around the outer periphery of the holding member 20 .

[0070] (5) Effects of the First to Fourth Embodiments In the above first to fourth embodiments, only one test piece 90 is allowed to pass through the gap between the selection piece 34 and the cylindrical surface 22, and the test piece 90 that did not pass falls when the selection member 31 turns downward while rotating. As a result, by simply rotating the selection member 31 within the holding member 20, only one test piece 90 is naturally held by the selection piece 34 and the pressing piece 33, and can be taken out from the opening 24, without excessive stress due to pressure being applied to the test piece 90 that did not pass.

[0071] (6)Other In the above embodiments, a urine test strip is used as the test strip 90, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0072] The holding member 20 may not be provided with an insertion port 25, and may be of a disposable type in which a plurality of test strips 90 are housed in the test strip holder 10 in advance. [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 1 Test piece discharge mechanism 2 Proximity detector 3 Rotation driver 4 Opening / closing operator 5 Measuring part 10 Test piece holder 15 Rotation axis (central axis) 20: Holding member; 20A: Drive shaft receiving portion; 20B: Bearing; 20C: Connection portion 21 cap 22 cylindrical surface 23 inner circumferential groove 24 opening 24A center line 25 Insertion port 26 Detection window 27 Door storage section 28 Discharge port 30 Rotating member 30A Front plate 30B Rear plate 31 Sorting member 31A top position 32 leading edge 32A trailing edge 33 pressing piece 34 sorting piece 35 sliding projection 36 rotating drive shaft 40 Door member 40B Bearing 41 Door shaft 42 Notch portion 43 Elastic portion 44 Inclined surface 45 Blocking portion 46 Door drive shaft 50 Opening and closing members 90 Test strip 91 Short side 92 Long side 93 Reagent pad 94 Base plate 95 gripping portion 96 reagent pad placement area 100 control unit 101 CPU 102 ROM 103 RAM 104 Storage 109 Bus

Claims

1. A holding member, in which at least a part of a lower side of an inner circumference is a cylindrical surface having a cylindrical shape, a test piece is held inside, and a virtual central axis of the cylindrical surface is inclined with respect to a horizontal direction or a vertical direction; An opening provided on an outer surface of the holding member; A sorting member that rotates inside the holding member around a rotation axis that coincides with the central axis; A pressing piece protruding in the direction of rotation from a tip edge of the sorting member parallel to the central axis; A selection piece protruding from the tip of the pressing piece toward the cylindrical surface; Equipped with The selection member is formed separately from the holding member and rotates relative to the holding member.

2. With respect to the thickness X of the test piece, a distance between the cylindrical surface and a position on the tip edge closest to the cylindrical surface is less than X; The distance A between the position of the selected piece closest to the cylindrical surface and the cylindrical surface is X≦A<2X and With respect to the length Y in the short direction of the test piece, The distance B from the tip edge of the sorting member to the sorting piece in the pressing piece is Y≦B<2Y At the same time, The length C of the part of the sorting piece that protrudes from the pressing piece to the cylindrical surface is 0.5X≦C<1.5X 2. The test strip holder of claim 1, wherein:

3. A test piece holder as described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the sorting member rotates so that at least one of the pressing pieces located at the lowest vertical position in the internal space of the holding member rotates at least 180° to the highest position in the internal space.

4. A test piece holder as described in claim 3, wherein the opening is provided at a position past the uppermost position along the rotational direction of the sorting member from the lowermost position.

5. The holding member has a cylindrical shape with the rotation axis as a central axis and a longitudinal length that is equal to or longer than the length of the test piece, The opening is provided on a side surface of the holding member along a longitudinal direction, 5. The test strip holder of claim 1, wherein the length of the opening is equal to or greater than the length of the test strip.

6. 6. The test strip holder according to claim 1, wherein the two pressing pieces protrude in parallel from the tip edge.

7. The test strip holder according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of the selection members are disposed within the holding member.

8. 8. The test strip holder according to claim 1, wherein the selection member is formed separately from the holding member and rotates relative to the holding member.

9. The test piece holder of claim 8, wherein the opening is disposed such that a virtual circumferential center line of the opening is a position where the sorting member is lowered in the rotation direction relative to the uppermost position of the sorting member in the rotation.

10. The test strip holder of claim 9, wherein the rotation angle when the leading edge of the selection strip is at the uppermost position is 0°, and the center line is at a position where the rotation angle is between 45° and 90°.

11. 11. The test piece holder according to claim 8, wherein an outer peripheral surface of the sorting member and the cylindrical surface of the holding member are formed with a projection-recess structure that engages with each other.

12. 12. The test strip holder according to claim 8, wherein the opening is provided with a door member that can be opened and closed.

13. the entire inner periphery of the holding member is the cylindrical surface, The sorting member is fixed to the holding member and rotates together with the holding member, The opening is formed on a tip side of the sorting member in the rotation direction, The test strip holder according to claim 1 , wherein the opening is provided with a door member that can be opened and closed.

14. A test strip holder according to any one of claims 1 to 11, A rotary driver that rotates the sorting member; An opening / closing member for opening and closing the opening; an opening / closing operator that opens the opening / closing member when the sorting member approaches the opening; A test piece ejection mechanism comprising:

15. A test strip holder according to claim 12 or 13; A rotary driver that rotates the sorting member; an opening / closing operator that opens the door member when the sorting member approaches the opening; A test piece ejection mechanism comprising:

16. The test piece discharge mechanism of claim 14 or 15, wherein the rotation driver stops the rotation of the sorting member when the sorting member approaches the opening, and resumes the rotation of the sorting member when the opening / closing operator closes the opening.

17. a proximity detector that detects when the sorting member approaches the opening, 16. The test strip discharge mechanism according to claim 14, wherein the opening and closing operator is actuated in response to the proximity detector detecting the proximity.

18. The test piece discharge mechanism of claim 17, wherein the rotation driver stops rotation of the sorting member when the proximity detector detects the proximity, and resumes rotation of the sorting member when the opening / closing operator closes the opening.

Images