Specimen transport device and specimen transport method

Abstract

The present invention has a plurality of conveyance lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c disposed in parallel, and also has an information-reading unit 10 for reading a sample identifier 210 of a container 200 present in a reading region 110 set within a conveying unit 21, the reading region 110 being disposed in at least one location from among the conveyance-direction front-surface side of a holder 220, the conveyance-direction reverse side of the holder 220, and above the conveyance lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c. The information-reading unit 10 is configured to read the sample identifier 210 of a container 200 being conveyed through any transport lane 20, 20a, 20b, 20c among the plurality of transport lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c using the one information-reading unit 10. There are thereby provided a specimen conveyance device and a specimen conveyance method by which the accuracy of reading sample information can be improved over that in the past.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a specimen transport device and a specimen transport method.

Background Art

[0002] For the purpose of reducing costs and shortening time by eliminating the need for a direction control means for a specimen carrier, Patent Document 1 describes that by installing a high-friction member on the bottom surface of the specimen carrier, the center of the frictional force between the transport surface and the bottom surface is offset at a position away from the rotation center at the bottom of the specimen carrier.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In recent years, automation has been progressing in specimen tests for medical diagnosis. For example, a specimen pretreatment system and a specimen analysis system are connected by a specimen transport device to promote full automation of the processes related to specimen tests.

[0005] In a specimen transport device, a holder capable of mounting one container containing a specimen is used. As a method of transporting this holder, a method of transporting the holder by a transport unit generally composed of a belt conveyor or the like is adopted.

[0006] In a specimen analysis system for clinical tests, analysis items are specified for each specimen, and tests are carried out based on those items. Similarly, in a specimen pretreatment system, treatment items are specified for each type of specimen, and pretreatment of the specimen is carried out based on those items.

[0007] At this time, in order to identify the specimen information, it has become common practice to assign a specimen identifier such as a barcode to each container. In the specimen transport device, based on the information read from the specimen identifier, the specimen is transported to the required locations in the specimen analysis system or the specimen pretreatment system.

[0008] In recent years, due to the increase in the number of test items and the progress of aging, an increase in the number of tests is expected, so an improvement in the processing capacity of specimen analysis is required. In order to improve the analysis processing capacity in the specimen analysis system, in the specimen transport device, an improvement in the transport processing capacity by transporting a plurality of specimens is desired. Furthermore, along with the improvement in the transport processing capacity, an improvement in the processing capacity for reading the specimen identifier is also required.

[0009] In Patent Document 1, for the purpose of reading the specimen identifier, an information reading unit is arranged in the lateral direction of the transport unit to read the specimen identifier.

[0010] However, in Patent Document 1, since the information reading unit is installed in the lateral direction of the transport unit, in the case of a transport unit composed of a plurality of transport lanes, the holder being transported in the front transport lane may cover the holder being transported in the rear transport lane, and there is a possibility that the specimen identifier of the specimen in the rear cannot be read, and there is room for improvement in the reading accuracy. On the other hand, it is conceivable to prepare the same number of information reading units as the number of transport lanes, but this leads to an increase in cost, so there is an issue that there is room for reducing the device cost.

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide a specimen transport device and a specimen transport method capable of improving the reading accuracy of specimen information as compared with the prior art.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0012] The present invention includes a plurality of means for solving the above problems. For example, it has a holder that holds a container with a specimen identifier attached, a plurality of transport lanes arranged in parallel, a transport unit that transports the holder, and is arranged at least at any one of the front side in the transport direction of the holder, the opposite side in the transport direction of the holder, and above the transport lane, and an information reading unit that reads the specimen identifier of the container present in the reading range set in the transport unit. The information reading unit is characterized in that one information reading unit reads the specimen identifier of the container being transported on any one of the plurality of transport lanes.

Advantages of the Invention

[0013] According to the present invention, the reading accuracy of specimen information can be improved compared to the prior art. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the description of the following embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 3A

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Examples of the specimen transport device and the specimen transport method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings used in this specification, the same or corresponding components are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals, and repeated descriptions of these components may be omitted.

[0016] <Example 1> Example 1 of the specimen transport device and the specimen transport method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

[0017] First, the overall configuration of the specimen inspection automation system will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of an entire specimen inspection automation system including a specimen transport device according to this example.

[0018] The specimen inspection automation system 1 in this example shown in FIG. 1 is a system including an analyzer for automatically analyzing components of specimens such as blood and urine.

[0019] The main components of the specimen inspection automation system 1 are a plurality of specimen transport devices 2 that transport a holder 220 (see FIG. 2) on which a container 200 containing a specimen (see FIG. 2 etc.) is mounted or an empty holder 220 on which no container 200 is mounted to a predetermined destination, a specimen pretreatment system 3, an analyzer connection device 4, a specimen analysis system 5, and a system control unit 6 that integrally manages the specimen inspection automation system 1.

[0020] In the specimen inspection automation system 1, the specimen is handled while being accommodated in a container 200 held by a holder 220 as shown in FIG. 2. The holder 220 is conveyed by the specimen conveyance device 2 in the specimen inspection automation system 1, and various processes are performed in the specimen pretreatment system 3 and the specimen analysis system 5.

[0021] The specimen pretreatment system 3 is a place for pretreating the specimen before analysis. In the specimen pretreatment system 3, pretreatment processes of the specimen are carried out, such as specimen storage, specimen reception processing, centrifugation processing, acquisition of information such as the liquid volume of the specimen, opening plug processing of the specimen container, and dispensing processing for dividing the specimen into small portions in a plurality of containers.

[0022] The specimen analysis system 5 is a unit for performing qualitative and quantitative analysis of the components of the specimen conveyed by the specimen conveyance device 2. The analysis items in this unit are not particularly limited, and the configuration of a known automatic analyzer for analyzing biochemical items and immunological items can be adopted. Further, when a plurality are provided, they may have the same specification or different specifications, and are not particularly limited.

[0023] An analysis system connection device 4 is placed between the specimen conveyance device 2 and the specimen analysis system 5. The specimen conveyed by the specimen conveyance device 2 toward the specimen analysis system 5 is carried into the specimen analysis system 5 through the analysis system connection device 4, thereby preventing the specimens waiting for analysis from forming a line and getting stuck on the specimen conveyance device 2.

[0024] The specimen conveyance device 2 is a conveyance line unit for conveying the holder 220 with the container 200 inside or between the specimen pretreatment system 3 and the specimen analysis system 5. The conveyance method of the specimen conveyance device 2 includes those using a belt conveyor, a self-propelled type with a motor and tires provided on the holder 220 (see FIG. 2), and those using an electromagnetic attraction force generated between the conveyance surface and the holder, etc., and there is no particular limitation on the conveyance method.

[0025] The system control unit 6 controls the operation of the entire system including the specimen transport device 2 and the specimen analysis system 5, and is composed of a computer having a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an input device, a storage device, a CPU, a memory, and the like.

[0026] In this embodiment, the system control unit 6 controls the transport of the holder 220 and the operation of the information reading unit 10, and executes control to transport the next container 200 to the reading range 110 after the container 200 to be read is transported from the reading range 110. Details thereof will be described later.

[0027] In the automatic specimen inspection system 1, the items of pretreatment and analysis required for each specimen are determined and registered in the system control unit 6. The specimen identifier 210 attached to the container 200 contains specimen information. In addition, an information reading unit 10 (see FIG. 2) for reading the specimen identifier 210 is provided in the specimen transport device, and the specimen information read by the information reading unit 10 is transmitted to the system control unit 6. Receiving instructions for pretreatment and analysis items from the system control unit 6, the specimen transport device 2 transports the specimen to each device.

[0028] The control of the operation of each device by the system control unit 6 is executed based on various programs recorded in the storage device. Note that the control process of the operation executed by the system control unit 6 may be summarized in one program, may be divided into a plurality of programs respectively, or may be a combination thereof. Further, part or all of the program may be realized by dedicated hardware or may be modularized.

[0029] In addition, in FIG. 1 described above, the case where one specimen analysis system 5 is provided is described, but the number of specimen analysis systems 5 is not particularly limited and may be two or more. Similarly, the number of specimen transport devices 2 is not particularly limited and may be one or more.

[0030] Next, the configuration of the specimen transport device 2 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the schematic configuration of the specimen transport device 2 of this embodiment.

[0031] The specimen transport device 2 of this embodiment shown in FIG. 2 includes a container 200 to which a specimen identifier 210 is attached, a holder 220 that holds the container 200, and a transport unit 21 having a plurality of transport lanes 20a, 20b, 20c arranged in parallel for transporting the holder 220, and one information reading unit 10.

[0032] In the specimen transport device 2 of FIG. 2, an information reading unit 10 for reading the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 existing in the reading range 110 set in the transport unit 21 is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction. In this embodiment, the information reading unit 10 is configured to read the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 being transported on any one of the plurality of transport lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c by one information reading unit 10.

[0033] Conventionally, when the information reading unit is arranged to read the specimen identifier from the side in the transport direction, there is a risk that the container or holder in the front transport lane may obstruct the reading of the specimen identifier of the container in the rear transport lane.

[0034] On the other hand, when an information reading unit is provided for each transport lane, the same number of information reading units as the transport lanes are required, leading to an increase in the device cost.

[0035] In this embodiment, by providing the information reading unit 10 in the transport direction of the container 200, the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 transported by the transport unit 21 composed of a plurality of transport lanes 20 can be read by one information reading unit 10. Thereby, it becomes possible to suppress the device cost.

[0036] Next, the reading standby range 100, reading range 110, reading start position 111, reading conveyance range 112, reading end position 120, and conveyance range 130 shown in FIG. 2 will be described. Note that each of these ranges and positions does not need to be set to be actually visible and can be set as positions for convenience in the system control unit 6.

[0037] The reading standby range 100 indicates the range where the standby position of the container 200 to be read by the information reading unit 10 is set.

[0038] The reading range 110 indicates the range required for the information reading unit 10 to read the specimen identifier 210. As an example, the case where a barcode is attached as the specimen identifier 210 to the side surface of the container 200 and an image recognition type barcode reader is provided as the information reading unit 10 will be described. Note that the specimen identifier 210 is not limited to a barcode and can be in various forms such as an RFID tag.

[0039] Here, a strict insertion direction for reading the specimen identifier 210 is not required for the container 200 mounted on the holder 220. In addition, it is assumed that the specimen identifier 210 is not attached over the entire circumference of the container 200.

[0040] Therefore, in the specimen conveyance device 2, in order to read the specimen identifier 210 in any direction conveyed in front of the information reading unit 10 that recognizes the specimen identifier 210, it is desirable to rotate the holder 220 within its field of view.

[0041] For the purpose of improving processing capacity, in order to rotate the holder 220 while conveying it, a rotation mechanism (omitted in the figure for convenience) is provided in each of the conveying lanes 20a, 20b, 20c. This rotation mechanism can be, for example, one that uses a motor within the reading range 110 in order to align the specimen identifier 210 and the information reading unit 10 for the purpose of reading the specimen identifier 210. The rotation mechanism contacts the side surface of the holder 220 and rotates and conveys the holder 220 using frictional force. At this time, the conveying range in which a sufficient amount of rotation is obtained for the information reading unit 10 to be able to read the specimen identifier 210 is defined as the reading range 110. Here, the reading range 110 is within the field of view of the information reading unit 10. Even when the holder 220 is conveyed in an arbitrary orientation by these rotation mechanisms, the specimen identifier 210 and the information reading unit 10 are aligned, and the specimen identifier 210 can be read regardless of the orientation of the holder 220 during conveyance.

[0042] Also, the reading start position 111 indicates the starting point of the reading range 110, and the reading conveyance range 112 indicates the range for conveying the holder within the reading range 110. The reading end position 120 indicates the position where the holder 220 stops after passing through the reading range 110.

[0043] The conveyance range 130 indicates the movement area for conveying the holder 220 after reading the specimen identifier 210 to the specimen pretreatment system 3 or the specimen analysis system 5.

[0044] Furthermore, it is desirable that sensors (not shown) for detecting the presence of the container 200 are provided within or between each of the ranges of the reading standby range 100, the reading range 110, the reading start position 111, the reading conveyance range 112, the reading end position 120, and the conveyance range 130.

[0045] Here, if the range in which the information reading unit 10 can read the specimen identifier 210 is wider than the reading range 110 and the specimen identifier 210 in the reading standby range 100 can also be read, there is a risk of misidentifying the specimen. In order to suppress this, it is necessary to retract the reading standby range 100 to a position where the information reading unit 10 cannot read the specimen identifier 210. However, since the distance between the reading standby range 100 and the reading range 110 increases and the moving time required for reading the specimen identifier 210 becomes longer, it leads to a decrease in the reading processing ability. As a solution to this problem, it is desirable to further provide a reading prevention unit that prevents the information reading unit 10 from reading the specimen identifier 210 of the next container 200 to be read.

[0046] In FIG. 3, as an example of the reading prevention unit, an opening / closing door 30 using a pawl feed mechanism 31 located at the boundary between the reading range 110 and the reading standby range is shown. FIG. 3A shows a schematic diagram of the opening / closing door 30 using the pawl feed mechanism 31.

[0047] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 3A, the pawl feed mechanism 31 has a pawl 34 attached to a pedestal 33, a coiled spring rotating shaft 35, and a stopper 36. By providing a wall 37 at the pawl 34 portion of the pawl feed mechanism 31, an opening / closing door 30 that opens and closes as the pawl 34 rotates is formed.

[0048] The pawl feed mechanism 31 rotates by contacting the holder 220, and as it rotates, the opening / closing door 30 opens and the holder 220 passes through. After the holder 220 passes, the coiled spring rotating shaft 35 of the spring tries to rotate back to its original position by the elastic force of the spring and stops by the stopper 36. This reading prevention unit shortens the distance between the reading standby range 100 and the reading start position 111, thus shortening the conveyance time of the container 200 and contributing to the improvement of the processing ability.

[0049] Also, when reading the specimen identifiers 210 of the containers 200 conveyed on a plurality of conveyance lanes 20 by one information reading unit 10 as in this embodiment, it is desirable to distinguish which conveyance lane 20 the container 200 whose specimen identifier 210 is being read is on.

[0050] By making this distinction, it is possible to determine which conveyance lane 20 the container 200 corresponding to each read specimen identifier 210 is on, thereby further reducing the risk of specimen misidentification.

[0051] Therefore, when alternately conveying the containers 200 in each conveying lane 20, it is desired to determine from which conveying lane 20 the container was read by reading in the method of reading the flow of FIG. 5 described later.

[0052] However, in the method of alternately reading for each of the conveying lanes 20a, 20b, 20c, there remains room for improving the reading processing ability. As a solution to this problem, it is preferable to use the data acquired by the information reading unit 10 to determine from which of the conveying lanes 20a, 20b, 20c of the conveying unit 21 the read specimen identifier 210 was read.

[0053] Therefore, in the system control unit 6, it is desirable to determine the corresponding conveying lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c in which the container 200 is being conveyed based on the range in which the specimen identifier 210 was read among the data acquired by the information reading unit 10.

[0054] For example, in the case where the specimen identifier 210 is a barcode and the information reading unit 10 is a barcode reader using an image recognition method, it will be described using the image 11 captured by the information reading unit 10 in FIG. 4. FIG. 2 describes the case where the information reading unit 10 reads three conveying lanes 20, while FIG. 4 describes the case where two conveying lanes 20 are shown in the image 11.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 4, the detection ranges 12a and 12b are set so that the specimen identifiers 210 of the containers 200a and 200b in the reading ranges 110 of the respective conveying lanes 20a and 20b are included without omission.

[0056] When two or more conveying lanes 20 are shown in the image 11, two or more conveying lanes 20 may be shown in the image 11.

[0057] By setting the detection range, if the range in the captured image 11 where the specimen identifier 210 is recognized is the detection range 12a, it is possible to associate the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 with the transport lane 20a, and if it is the detection range 12b, it is possible to associate it with the container 200b of the transport lane 20b, and so on. This lane discrimination makes it possible to prevent misidentification of specimens and contributes to an improvement in processing capacity.

[0058] Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the operation of the information reading unit 10 when reading a plurality of specimen identifiers 210 in the specimen transport device 2 will be described.

[0059] When simultaneously reading the specimen identifiers 210 of a plurality of containers 200 transported in a plurality of transport lanes 20, consider the case where the information reading unit 10 reads the specimen identifier 210 for a certain period of time based on an input from a sensor or the like. In this case, it may not be possible to read the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 that has entered the reading range during the reading operation of the information reading unit 10. On the other hand, by making the reading in time, there is room to further improve the reading success rate, and as a result, there is room to improve the reading processing capacity.

[0060] Also, consider the case where the timing of the start of transport is synchronized in all the transport lanes 20. In this case, the container 200 that has arrived at the reading start position 111 first needs to wait for another container 200 to arrive at the reading start position 111 of the other transport lane 20, and there is room to improve the reading processing capacity.

[0061] Therefore, it is desirable that the information reading unit 10 constantly reads the specimen identifier 210 and reads the specimen identifiers 210 of the containers 200 transported at different timings in the plurality of transport lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c.

[0062] This makes it possible to read the specimen identifier 210 even if the containers 200 are transported at different timings in the plurality of transport lanes 20, which is desirable for contributing to an improvement in processing capacity.

[0063] Furthermore, as in this embodiment, when the information reading unit 10 is placed in the conveyance direction and a plurality of containers 200 exist in the reading range 110 within the visual field of the information reading unit 10, it is assumed that a plurality of specimen identifiers 210 will be read in one conveyance lane 20. In this case, since it is impossible to determine which container 200 the read specimen identifier 210 is attached to, there is a risk of misidentifying the specimens.

[0064] Next, control for further suppressing the occurrence of incorrect reading of specimen information will be described. In order to further suppress misreading of specimen information, it is desirable that there be only one container 200 within the reading range 110 of each conveyance lane 20.

[0065] The operation flow at the time of reading the specimen identifier 210 for solving this problem will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5. FIG. 5 shows the flow from the determination of the conveyance path of the container 200 to its movement outside the reading range.

[0066] First, the system control unit 6 determines the conveyance path based on the reading start position 111 and the reading end position 120 within each conveyance lane 20 in order to read the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200a (step 301).

[0067] FIG. 2 depicts the case where the reading start position 111 and the reading end position 120 are fixed in a plurality of conveyance lanes 20, but the conveyance path including the reading start position 111 and the reading end position 120 may be determined based on the required conveyance distance.

[0068] Next, the conveyance of the container 200a from the reading start position 111 to the reading end position 120 is started (step 302). At this time, simultaneously, the information reading unit 10 starts reading the specimen identifier 210 (step 302).

[0069] During the conveyance of the container 200 from the reading start position 111 to the reading end position 120, the reading of the specimen identifier 210 by the information reading unit 10 is completed (step 303).

[0070] After that, the container 200a stops at the reading end position 120, and the sensor detects that the container 200a has arrived at the reading end position 120 (step 304).

[0071] After the detection, the container 200a is conveyed to the conveyance range 130, and at the same time, the next container 200b to be read is conveyed to the reading start position 111 (step 305).

[0072] Next, the system control unit 6 determines whether or not the container 200a has been conveyed to the conveyance range 130, that is, whether or not the container 200a is not at the reading end position 120 and the conveyance of the container 200b toward the reading end position 120 is possible (step 306). When it is determined that the container 200b can be conveyed to the reading end position 120, the process proceeds to step 307. When it is determined that the container 200b cannot be conveyed to the reading end position 120, the process is repeated until the condition is satisfied.

[0073] Next, the system control unit 6 determines whether or not the container 200b has arrived at the reading start position 111 (step 307). When it is determined that the container 200b has arrived at the reading start position 111, the process proceeds to step 308. When it is determined that the container 200b has not arrived at the reading start position 111, the process is repeated until the condition is satisfied.

[0074] The above steps 306 and 307 are performed to confirm whether or not the subsequent container 200b can be conveyed to the reading range 110. When the confirmation is completed, the process ends (step 308).

[0075] Subsequently, the specimen identifier 210 is read from the container 200b according to the flow of FIG. 5.

[0076] By this process, since the containers 200 can be conveyed one by one within the reading range 110 of each conveyance lane 20, it is possible to prevent the mis-taking of specimens in each conveyance lane 20.

[0077] Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described.

[0078] The specimen transport device 2 of Example 1 of the present invention described above has a holder 220 that holds a container 200 to which a specimen identifier 210 is attached, and a plurality of transport lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c arranged in parallel. It has a transport unit 21 that transports the holder 220, and is arranged at least at any one of the front side in the transport direction of the holder 220, the opposite side in the transport direction of the holder 220, and above the transport lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c. And an information reading unit 10 that reads the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 existing in the reading range 110 set in the transport unit 21. The information reading unit 10 reads the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 being transported on any one of the plurality of transport lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c with one information reading unit 10.

[0079] As a result, it is possible to read the specimen identifiers 210 in the plurality of transport lanes 20 with one information reading unit 10, which can prevent misreading and improve the transport processing ability. Such a present invention is very suitable for a specimen analysis system that analyzes biological samples such as blood and urine, and a specimen pretreatment system that performs pretreatment such as centrifugation and dispensing on specimens.

[0080] In addition, since it further has a reading prevention unit that prevents the information reading unit 10 from reading the specimen identifier 210 of the next container 200 to be read, it further suppresses misreading of the specimen identifier 210 and contributes to the improvement of the processing ability.

[0081] Furthermore, the information reading unit 10 can continuously read the specimen identifier 210 and read the specimen identifiers 210 of the containers 200 transported at different timings in the plurality of transport lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c, thereby further improving the transport efficiency.

[0082] Also, by further including a system control unit 6 that determines the conveyance lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c on which the corresponding containers 200 are being conveyed based on the range in which the specimen identifier 210 is read among the data acquired by the information reading unit 10, or a system control unit 6 that conveys the next container 200 to the reading range 110 after the container 200 to be read has been conveyed from the reading range 110, it is possible to improve the conveyance efficiency.

[0083] In addition, in this Example 1, each of the opening / closing doors 30a, 30b, 30c is arranged one by one in each of the conveyance lanes 20a, 20b, 20c, but it can be arranged in one of the plurality of conveyance lanes 20.

[0084] Also, in Example 1, an example in which the information reading unit 10 is arranged on the downstream side in the conveyance direction has been described, but it can be arranged on the upstream side (the opposite side of the conveyance direction) in the conveyance direction. Also in that case, a reading prevention unit for the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 after reading the specimen identifier 210 can be provided. Thereby, it is possible to prevent misreading of the specimen identifier 210.

[0085] Furthermore, the position where the information reading unit 10 is arranged can be set to be above the conveyance lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c in addition to the front side in the conveyance direction of the holder 220 and the opposite side of the conveyance direction of the holder 220. When arranged above the conveyance lanes 20, 20a, 20b, 20c in this way, preferably, the information of the specimen identifier provided on the lid of the container 200 is read.

[0086] Also in this case, a reading prevention unit for the specimen identifier 210 of the subsequent container 200 and a reading prevention unit for the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 after reading the specimen identifier 210 can be provided. Thereby, it is possible to prevent misreading of the specimen identifier 210.

[0087] In addition, in this embodiment, the case where there are a plurality of transport lanes 20 has been described as an example. However, it is not necessary to physically have a plurality of transport lanes 20, and it is also possible to similarly implement the reading of the specimen identifier 210 of the containers 200 that are transported in parallel on the transport plane. In other words, one information reading unit can cover a plurality of transport paths on a plurality of virtual lanes within the transport plane. In this case as well, reading control and the like are possible, and the transport lane 20 of the present invention includes a transport path.

[0088] Furthermore, although this embodiment has described the information reading unit 10 provided in the specimen transport device 2 as an example, the information reading unit 10 is not limited to the specimen transport device 2, and it is also possible to provide the information reading unit 10 in the specimen pretreatment system 3, the analysis system connection device 4, or the specimen analysis system 5, and perform the reading of the specimen identifier 210 of this embodiment, and it is not limited to the installation location.

[0089] <Example 2> The specimen transport device and the specimen transport method according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

[0090] In Example 1, the case where the opening / closing doors 30a, 30b, and 30c are used for the reading prevention unit has been described. However, instead of the opening / closing door 30, a wall 37 (see FIG. 6), or a rotating door 50 (see FIG. 7), or further, a light source 40 (FIG. 8) that irradiates the reading range 110 or the reading standby range can be provided.

[0091] FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the case where a wall 37 is provided as the reading prevention unit. When the wall 37 is provided, it waits in the reading standby range 100 behind the wall 37 until the start of reading, and the conveyance to the reading start position 111 is performed so as to avoid the wall 37.

[0092] FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of the case where a rotating door 50 is provided as the reading prevention unit. The rotating door 50 includes a rotating shaft 51 and a plurality of door portions 52, and the rotating door 50 opens and closes by pushing the door portion 52 on the side of the holder 220. In FIG. 7, an example where there are 4 door portions 52 has been described, but the number of door portions 52 can be any number.

[0093] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a reading prevention unit when a light source 40 for irradiating a predetermined reading range 110 or a reading standby range 100 is provided.

[0094] For example, when the specimen identifier 210 is a barcode and the information reading unit 10 is a barcode reader using an image recognition method, by providing the light source 40 at a position where it is possible to irradiate light to the reading range 110, only the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200a in the reading range 110 is reflected in the image captured by the information reading unit 10.

[0095] On the other hand, the light does not hit the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200b in the reading standby range 100 and is not reflected in the image captured by the information reading unit 10. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the reading of the specimen identifier 210 of the subsequent container 200b in the reading standby range 100.

[0096] Also, when the light source 40 is installed at a position where it irradiates light to the reading standby range 100, light with an illuminance that causes halation of the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200b is applied. Due to halation, the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200b cannot be recognized in the image captured by the information reading unit 10. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the reading of the specimen identifier 210 of the subsequent container 200b in the reading standby range 100.

[0097] One or more of the reading prevention units shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, and further FIG. 4 can be used in combination.

[0098] Other configurations and operations are substantially the same as those of the specimen transport device and the specimen transport method of the aforementioned Example 1, and the details are omitted.

[0099] Also in the specimen transport device and the specimen transport method of Example 2 of the present invention, substantially the same effects as those of the specimen transport device and the specimen transport method of the aforementioned Example 1 can be obtained.

[0100] Further, the reading prevention unit can also prevent misreading of the specimen identifier 210 and contribute to further improvement of the processing capacity by being any one or more of the wall 37 and the rotary door 50 located at the boundary between the reading range 110 and the reading standby range, or the light source 40 that irradiates the reading range 110 or the reading standby range.

[0101] <Example 3> The specimen transport device and specimen transport method according to Example 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 9.

[0102] In this embodiment, the system control unit 6 is configured to transport the subsequent container 200 to the reading start position when the reading of the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 to be read is completed and the container 200 is not at the reading start position.

[0103] The flow from the determination of the transport path of the container 200 to the movement outside the reading range may be executed as follows. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 9.

[0104] In the flow of this embodiment, in addition to the flow of FIG. 5, the transport time to the reading start position 111 of the subsequent container 200 is shortened. Steps 301 to 304 and 306 to 308 are the same as those in FIG. 5.

[0105] In FIG. 9, when the reading of the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200a is completed (step 303), it means that the specimen identifier 210 is facing the information reading unit 10. In this case, since the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200a has been read, it can be said that there is room for reducing the transport time in the reading transport range 112. Therefore, during the transport of the container 200a, the subsequent container 200b is transported to the reading start position to improve the processing capacity.

[0106] At this time, there will be two containers within the reading range 110. However, since the reading of the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200a has been completed, any process that invalidates the re-reading of the specimen information on the side of the already-read container 200a is performed so that misreading of the specimen identifier 210 does not occur. Therefore, it is confirmed whether the container 200a has moved from the reading start position 111 to the reading conveyance range 112, that is, whether it is in a state where it can be conveyed to the reading start position 111 (step 401).

[0107] When it is determined that the container is in a state where it can be conveyed to the reading start position 111, the process proceeds to step 308. When it is determined that the container is not in a state where it can be conveyed to the reading start position 111, the process is repeated until the conditions are satisfied.

[0108] Thereafter, the subsequent container 200b is conveyed from the reading standby range 100 to the reading start position 111 (step 402). After detecting the container 200a at the reading end position 120, the container 200a is conveyed to the conveyance range 130 (step 403).

[0109] Other configurations and operations are substantially the same as those of the specimen conveyance device and the specimen conveyance method of the aforementioned first embodiment, and the details are omitted.

[0110] Also in the specimen conveyance device and the specimen conveyance method of the third embodiment of the present invention, substantially the same effects as those of the specimen conveyance device and the specimen conveyance method of the aforementioned first embodiment can be obtained.

[0111] Further, by further including a system control unit 6 that controls the conveyance of the holder 220 and the operation of the information reading unit 10, and conveys the subsequent container 200 to the reading start position when the reading of the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200 to be read is completed and the container 200 is not at the reading start position, the time taken for the container 200b to move from the reading standby range 100 to the reading start position 111 can be shortened after the reading of the specimen identifier 210 of the container 200a is completed, contributing to further improvement in the capacity of the conveyance process.

[0112] In addition, at least one or more of the anti-reading parts shown in FIG. 4 of Example 1 or the anti-reading parts shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 of Example 2 can be applied to this Example 3.

[0113] <Others> Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and includes various modifications. The above embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described.

[0114] Also, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, or replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0115] 1... Specimen inspection automation system 2... Specimen transfer device 3... Specimen pretreatment system 4... Analysis system connection device 5... Specimen analysis system 6... System control unit 10... Information reading unit 11... An example of an image captured by the information reading unit 12a, 12b... Detection range of specimen identifier 20, 20a, 20b, 20c... Conveyor lanes 21... Conveyor unit 30... Opening / closing door (anti-reading part) 31... Claw feeding mechanism 32... Opening / closing range of the opening / closing door 33... Pedestal 34... Claw 35... Rotating shaft around which a spring is wound 36... Stopper 37... Wall (anti-reading part) 40... Light source (anti-reading part) 50... Rotating door (anti-reading part) 51... Rotating shaft 52... Door part 100…Reading standby range 110…Reading range 111…Reading start position 112…Reading conveyance range 120…Reading end position 130…Conveyance range 200, 200a, 200b, 200c…Containers 210…Specimen identifier 220…Holder 301…Conveyance path calculation process 302…Conveyance process from the reading start position and reading start process of the specimen identifier 303…Reading completion process of the specimen identifier 304…Detection process at the reading start position 305…Conveyance process from the reading standby range 306…Detection process in the conveyance range 307…Detection process at the reading start position 308…End process 401…Detection process at the reading start position 402…Conveyance process from the reading standby range 403…Conveyance process from the reading end position

Claims

1. A holder for holding a container with a specimen identifier attached thereto, a transport unit having a plurality of transport lanes arranged in parallel and configured to transport the holder, an information reading unit arranged at least at any one of the front side in the transport direction of the holder, the opposite side in the transport direction of the holder, and above the transport lane, and configured to read the specimen identifier of the container present within a reading range set in the transport unit, and a control unit configured to control the transport of the holder and the operation of the information reading unit, wherein the information reading unit reads the specimen identifier of the container being transported in any one of the plurality of transport lanes with one information reading unit, and the control unit determines the transport lane on which the corresponding container is being transported based on the range in which the specimen identifier is read among the data acquired by the information reading unit. A specimen transport device characterized by the above.

2. In the specimen transport device according to Claim 1, further comprising a reading prevention unit configured to prevent the information reading unit from reading the specimen identifier of the next container to be read. A specimen transport device characterized by the above.

3. In the specimen transport device according to Claim 2, the reading prevention unit is any one or more of an opening / closing door, a wall, and a rotating door located at a boundary between the reading range and a reading standby range. A specimen transport device characterized by the above.

4. In the specimen transport device according to Claim 2, the reading prevention unit is a light source that irradiates the reading range or the reading standby range. A specimen transport device characterized by the above.

5. In the specimen transport device according to Claim 1, the information reading unit constantly reads the specimen identifier and reads the specimen identifiers of the containers being transported at different timings in the plurality of transport lanes. A specimen transport device characterized by the above.

6. (Deleted)

7. In the specimen transport device according to Claim 1, the control unit transports the next container to the reading range after the container to be read is transported from the reading range. A specimen transport device characterized by the above.

8. In the specimen transport device according to Claim 1, when the reading of the specimen identifier of the container to be read is completed and the container is not at the reading start position, the control unit transports the subsequent container to the reading start position. A specimen transport device characterized by the above.

9. A holder for holding a container with a specimen identifier attached thereto, a transport unit configured to transport the holder, A method for transporting a specimen by a specimen transport device having an information reading unit that reads the specimen identifier of the container, wherein the transport unit has a plurality of transport lanes arranged in parallel, the information reading unit is arranged at at least one of the front side in the transport direction of the holder, the opposite side in the transport direction of the holder, and above the transport lane, and reads the specimen identifier of the container existing in a reading range set in the transport unit, and one information reading unit reads the specimen identifier of the container being transported in any one of the plurality of transport lanes, and among the data acquired by the information reading unit, the transport lane on which the corresponding container is being transported is discriminated based on the range in which the specimen identifier is read. A specimen transport method characterized by the above.

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