Automatic centrifuge

Abstract

In this automatic centrifuge, the load on each bucket is equalized by changing, for each centrifuge operation, the first installation bucket position of a rack that is conveyed automatically. In the automatic centrifuge having a handling device that automatically attaches and removes a rack equipped with a sample container to and from a bucket, a control device changes the first bucket on which a rack is installed according to whether the centrifuge operation is an odd-th time or an even-th time. In an odd-th time centrifuge operation, the installation of the rack is started at a circle 1 of a bucket A. In an even-th time centrifuge operation, the installation of the rack is started at a circle 3 of a bucket B. In this manner, load concentration on a specific bucket (A, C) is prevented, which extends the life of the buckets.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic centrifuge that automatically loads and unloads specimen samples such as urine and blood using a handling device before centrifuging them, without relying on manual procedures. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventional automated centrifuges are equipped with a handling device for centrifuging specimen samples, and racks containing specimen samples are transported by a hand attached to the handling device and loaded / unloaded from above the centrifuge. Figure 10 shows the basic configuration of a conventional automated centrifuge 201. As shown in Figure 10, the automated centrifuge 201 has a swing rotor 240 and multiple buckets 250 for storing specimen samples, and each bucket 250 can accommodate multiple racks 60. The racks 60 are formed with multiple mounting holes for storing tubular specimen containers 70, and one to multiple specimen containers 70 can be inserted into the mounting holes. The specimen containers 70 are, for example, vacuum blood collection tubes for storing human blood. The racks 60 containing the specimen containers 70 are units that are automatically transported via a transport line 45. The racks 60 are transported by the transport line 45 from a transport starting point (not shown) in the direction of arrow 46a and stop at the position (loading / unloading position) indicated by the rack 60 in Figure 10. When the rack 60 stops at the loading / unloading position, the presence of the rack 60 is detected by a rack sensor (not shown), and a signal is sent to a control device (not shown).

[0003] The handling device 220 transfers the rack 60 from the loading / unloading position to the bucket 250 of the automatic centrifuge 201, and returns the rack 60 from the bucket 250 to the transfer line 45 after the centrifugation operation. That is, the handling device 220 transfers the rack 60 between the transfer starting point and the bucket 250 closest to the handling device 220 by using a transfer device 222 that transfers the rack in a first direction indicated by an arrow 227 and a transfer device 223 that transfers the rack in a second direction (up and down) indicated by an arrow 228. The handling device 220 has a hand 221 that grips the short side surface of the rack 60. The hand 221 provided on the handling device 220 descends to the position of the rack 60 at the loading / unloading position (transport starting point) after the start of loading and grips the rack 60, and transports the rack 60 to the upper side of the bucket 250 while maintaining the gripping state. After that, the hand 221 descends to load the rack 60 at a predetermined position in the bucket 250. When the handling device 220 loads the rack 60 into the bucket 250, a control device (not shown) rotates the swing rotor 240, thereby managing the rotational position of the swing rotor 240 so that the target bucket 250 to be loaded is positioned below the hand 221 when the rack 60 to be transported is lowered.

[0004] Once all of the racks 60 to be loaded have been transferred to the bucket 250, a door (not shown) is closed to close the rotor chamber 206, and centrifugation begins. After centrifugation is complete, a door (not shown) is opened, and the hand 221 begins transferring the racks 60 to the transfer line 45. That is, the handling device 220 sequentially removes the racks 60 located in the rotor chamber 206 from the bucket 250 and returns them to the transfer position on the transfer line 45. The racks 60 returned to the transfer position are transported in the direction of arrow 46b by a moving body of the transfer line 45 and delivered to their intended destination. The handling device 220 uses a control device (not shown) to transfer the racks 60, and this operation is repeated until all of the racks 60 have been transferred. Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose examples of such automated centrifuges.

[0005] The buckets of the automated centrifuge of Patent Document 1 are arranged as shown in FIG. 11(a), with four buckets 250, identified as A to D, attached to the swing arm of the swing rotor 240. Each bucket 250 is provided with three rack accommodating sections. Bucket A has three rack accommodating sections, indicated by circles 1 to 3. Similarly, buckets B to D each have three rack accommodating sections, indicated by circles 4 to 6, circles 7 to 9, and circles 10 to 12. In the conventional automated centrifuge 201 shown in FIG. 10, the positions and order in which racks 60 are placed in the buckets 250 are fixed in advance. That is, bucket A is the starting bucket for loading the racks 60. Depending on the number of racks 60 to be loaded, the racks 60 are loaded in the following order: bucket A → bucket C → bucket B → bucket D. Which of the four buckets 250 is the starting bucket for loading (bucket A) is determined by the rotation angle of the motor, which serves as the drive device (for example, a starting point of 0 degrees).

[0006] As shown in FIG. 11(a), when the number of racks is less than half of the maximum number of racks that can be loaded (12), the first rack 60 (rack No. 1) is loaded in bucket A (circle 1), followed by the second rack (rack No. 2) in bucket C (circle 7), which is rotationally symmetrical to bucket A. In this manner, the racks 60 are loaded sequentially into the bucket 250 in the order defined in the table of FIG. 11(b) according to the total number of racks 60 to be loaded. When the total number of racks to be loaded is odd, for example, when there is only one rack 60, a dummy rack is loaded in position 7 to balance the rotation of the swing rotor 240. Similarly, when there are three racks to be loaded, a dummy rack is loaded in position 8. The dummy rack (not shown) has a mass equivalent to the average weight of the buckets containing the sample containers. The weight of the dummy rack is set, for example, approximately midway between the heaviest and lightest total weights of the racks 60 loaded with sample containers containing samples. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 03-127649 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-244185 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] In the technology of Patent Document 1, regardless of the number of racks loaded during a single centrifugation run, buckets A and C were always loaded with racks or dummy racks. Because the order in which racks were loaded was fixed in the prior art, the cumulative centrifugal load on buckets A and C was greater than that on buckets B and D. In a typical blood sample centrifugation operation, samples to be centrifuged are collected from each hospital or other facility in the morning, and the department responsible for centrifuging the samples loads buckets A through D fully with 12 racks each at the beginning of the day's operation. After centrifuging the many collected samples, samples that are delivered sequentially are centrifuged one by one, or in batches of a certain amount. Therefore, in the method of Patent Document 1, the frequency / proportion in which racks are loaded into buckets A and C tends to increase, and the lifespan of buckets A and C tends to be shorter than that of buckets B and D.

[0009] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described background, and its object is to provide an automatic centrifuge in which the rules for mounting racks on buckets are changed for each centrifugation run, thereby applying an even load to each bucket over multiple centrifugation runs. Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic centrifuge in which the rules for loading specimen containers into the rotor's mounting holes are changed for each centrifugation run, thereby ensuring that the load on each mounting hole of the rotor is equalized over multiple centrifugation runs. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an automatic centrifuge in which the bucket into which a rack is first loaded (loading start bucket) or the mounting hole into which a specimen container is first attached is changed for each run during multiple centrifugation runs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] Representative features of the invention disclosed in this application will be described as follows. According to one aspect of the present invention, an automated centrifuge includes a rotor having a plurality of storage sections for storing specimen containers and a plurality of racks for holding specimen containers; a drive unit for rotating the rotor; a door for providing access to specific mounting holes in the rotor; a handling unit for loading and unloading the racks into the storage sections; and a control unit for controlling the drive unit and the handling unit. The control unit loads the racks into the storage sections according to a predetermined rule so that the mass of the racks is rotationally symmetric when loaded into the storage sections. The control unit then selects a storage section for initially loading a rack for a centrifugation run that is different from the storage section initially loaded during the immediately preceding centrifugation run. The rotor to be loaded is, for example, a swing-out rotor, and uses buckets rotatably supported by the swing-out rotor as storage sections, each of which can accommodate a plurality of racks. A maximum of n (integer: n≧1) racks can be loaded into one bucket. If the total number of racks loaded in the bucket is odd, dummy racks are loaded into the bucket to achieve rotational balance of the rotor.

[0011] According to another feature of the invention, the total number of buckets m is 4; (a) During even-numbered centrifugation runs, start loading racks from the first bucket. (b) During odd-numbered centrifugation runs, start loading racks from the second bucket first. The handling device has a first-direction transfer device that moves the specimen container to the vicinity of the door, and a second-direction transfer device that transfers the specimen container carried by the moving means to a bucket, and the control device controls the first and second transfer devices to transfer the bucket to a waiting bucket positioned below the door opening.

[0012] According to still other features of the present invention, in an automatic centrifuge having a specimen storage container for storing a specimen, an angle rotor having a plurality of mounting holes for holding the specimen storage container, a drive device for rotationally driving the angle rotor, a door for accessing a specific mounting hole of the rotor, a handling device for mounting and removing the specimen storage container to and from the mounting holes, and a control device for controlling the drive device and the handling device, the control device mounts the specimen storage container in the mounting holes according to a certain rule so that it becomes rotationally symmetric in terms of mass when the specimen storage container is mounted in the mounting holes, and sets the starting position of the mounting hole where the specimen storage container is first mounted during the centrifugation operation to be different from the starting position of the mounting hole where the specimen storage container was first mounted during the immediately preceding centrifugation operation. Further, when the number of specimen storage containers mounted on the angle rotor is an odd number, a dummy container is mounted in the mounting hole to balance the rotation of the angle rotor. Furthermore, when the total number of specimen storage containers mounted on the angle rotor is S, the mounting of the specimen storage container is started from a mounting hole at a position shifted by t (where t is an integer and 0 < t < S) from the mounting hole where the specimen storage container was first accommodated during the first centrifugation operation during the next centrifugation operation, and each time a plurality of centrifugations are performed, the position of the mounting hole where the mounting is started is regularly shifted in the circumferential direction.

Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the present invention, when a series of centrifugation operations of loading a rack into a bucket of a centrifuge, performing a centrifugation operation, and taking out the rack from the bucket of the centrifuge are repeated, the centrifugal loads of the rack applied to each bucket become approximately equal, so that as a result, the bias in the bucket life due to the centrifugal load can be eliminated. Further, even when an angle rotor that does not use a bucket is used, it is possible to prevent the usage frequency of a specific mounting hole from becoming high, and the life of the angle rotor can be extended.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014] [Figure 1] It is a perspective view of an automatic centrifuge according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the main part in a perspective view. [Figure 2]1 is a top view of an automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, with a portion shown in perspective. [Figure 3] 1 is a block circuit diagram of a control device for an automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bucket 50 of FIG. 1. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a rack 60 and a specimen container 70 in FIG. 1. [Figure 6] 1 is a layout diagram showing a state in which racks 60 are mounted in buckets 50 of an automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 1 is a table showing the starting buckets for loading racks 60 into buckets 50 of an automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention and the loading order. [Figure 8] 4 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a handling device 20 of an automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an angle rotor 140 for an automatic centrifuge according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional automatic centrifuge 201. [Figure 11] 10A is a diagram showing the arrangement of racks loaded into buckets 250 in a conventional automatic centrifuge, and FIG. 10B is a table showing the starting bucket and the loading order in a conventional automatic centrifuge. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Example]

[0015] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the same parts are given the same reference numerals, and repeated explanations will be omitted. In addition, in this specification, the front, back, left, right, and up and down directions will be described as directions shown in the drawings.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the main components in a see-through view. The automatic centrifuge 1 includes a rotor 40 and a motor 3 for rotating the rotor 40 within a housing 2. The motor 3 is driven by rotation control from a control device 10 (see FIG. 3 , described below) to perform centrifugation. An input device 11, which allows a user to input operations to the control device 10, and an output device 12, which displays information to the user, are provided on the front top surface of the housing 2. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a transfer line 45, as described in FIG. 10, is provided on the rear side (rear side) of the automatic centrifuge 1. The rotor chamber 6 is defined by a bowl 5 and an upper cover 7 that closes the upper opening of the bowl 5. The upper cover 7 is fixed to the housing 2 with screws, and a door (not shown) is attached to the upper cover 7 via a hinge. Maintenance of the rotor 40 or installation / removal is performed by opening the door (not shown). Furthermore, a small rectangular opening 7a is provided in a portion of the upper cover 7, and racks 60 are inserted into and removed from the rotor chamber 6 through the opening 7a. An openable sliding door 8 is provided in the opening 7a to allow access to a specific storage section of the rotor 40, and the door 8 is opened and closed by pushing an opening / closing operation plate 8a, which is a raised metal plate of the sliding door 8, with the tip of the hand 21 of the handling device 20 under the control of the control device 10. In the state shown in FIG. 1, the door 8 is shown in an open state, and racks 60 to which specimen containers 70 are fixed are loaded and unloaded through the opening 7a. The door 8 can be opened and closed in any manner, and the door 8 may be opened and closed (slid) by a motor (not shown) controlled by the control device 10.

[0017] A swing-type rotor is used as the rotor 40. The swing-type rotor 40 has four swing arms 41 that extend radially outward from the rotation axis in a Y-shape when viewed from above. Swing pins 42 are provided between adjacent swing arms 41, and four buckets 50 serving as storage units are attached so as to be suspended from the two swing pins 42. Two racks 60, each holding sample containers 70, can be mounted in each bucket 50, allowing a total of eight racks 60 to rotate in one centrifugation run. A ball balancer 44 is provided above the rotation axis of the rotor 40 to adjust the balance of the rotating rotor 40 by moving multiple balls (not shown) in a balancing direction.

[0018] A motor 3 is mounted below the rotor 40 via a motor shaft case 4. The rotation of the motor 3 is controlled by a control device 10, and a known motor such as a brushless DC motor or an induction motor is used as the motor 3. A so-called encoder (not shown) is mounted below the motor 3 to detect the rotation angle of the motor's rotating shaft. This type of motor 3 is generally called a servo motor, and the encoder outputs a Z signal with one pulse per rotation, an A-phase pulse with, for example, 2048 pulses per rotation, and a B-phase pulse that is 90 degrees out of phase with the A-phase. This pulse train allows the rotation speed and rotation angle of the motor 3 to be detected based on the Z signal. Because the motor's rotating shaft and the rotor 40 are directly fixed with screws, the rotation angle of the motor 3 is the same as the rotation angle of the rotor 40. The offset angle between the Z signal, which indicates the reference position of the motor 3, and the reference position of the rotor 40 is corrected by teaching adjustment. For convenience of explanation, an angle sensor (not shown) that detects the rotation angle of the rotor 40 is mounted below the motor 3 because using an encoder would complicate the process. A magnetic sensor (not shown) for detecting the rotational position of rotor 40 is provided near the underside of rotor 40, and the position of rotor 40 (the rotation angle from a reference position) can be detected by control device 10. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a refrigerator 90 (not shown) (see FIG. 3) is provided to cool the inside of rotor chamber 6, and a pipe-shaped evaporator (not shown) is wrapped around the outer periphery of bowl 5 to circulate a refrigerant. The temperature of rotor chamber 6 is measured by a temperature sensor 91 (see FIG. 3) provided inside bowl 5 and monitored by control device 10. During centrifugation operation and when a specimen storage container 70 is placed in rotor chamber 6, rotor chamber 6 is maintained at a constant temperature under the control of control device 10.

[0019] The handling device 20 is disposed along the left edge of the top surface of the automatic centrifuge 1 and uses a link arm mechanism to move a moving member 37 in the ±X direction to move the rack 60. The handling device 20 includes a first guide member 31 and a second guide member 32 that are parallel to each other, and a link arm mechanism is formed by providing a first slider 33a that slides on the first guide member 31 and a second slider 33b that slides on the second guide member 32. The first slider 33a is fixed to a timing belt (not shown in the figure) and moves in the +X direction or the −X direction by rotating a stepping motor 34a. Similarly, the second slider 33b is also fixed to a timing belt (not shown in the figure) and moves in the +X direction or the −X direction by rotating a stepping motor 34b. One end of a first arm 35 is axially attached to the first slider 33a, and similarly, one end of a second arm 36 is axially attached to the second slider 33b. The other end of the first arm 35 and the other end of the second arm 36 are axially attached on the same axis to a moving member 37 equipped with a hand 21. Furthermore, the moving member 37 and the first slider are axially attached by a parallel link 38 that is parallel to the first arm 35, and the posture of the moving member 37 is kept constant when it is raised and lowered.

[0020] As described above, the movable member 37 is pivotally attached to the tips of the first arm 35 and the second arm 36. Because the first arm 35 and the second arm 36 are the same length, the movable member 37 forms the apex of an isosceles triangle, and the first slider 33a and the second slider 33b form the base. The movable member 37 is moved up and down (±Z directions) by rotating the stepping motors 34a and 34b to control the positions of the first slider 33a and the second slider 33b. In this specification, the ±X directions are defined as the first direction, and the ±Z directions are defined as the second direction. Furthermore, a gripping mechanism is provided that moves the fingers 22a and 22b at both ends of the hand 21 so as to narrow or widen the gap between them. A stepping motor 34c (see FIG. 3) is provided to drive the gripping mechanism. Finger 22a can move in the ±Y direction, and finger 22b can move in the ±Y direction, with fingers 22a and 22b moving synchronously in opposite directions. Using multiple stepping motors 34a, 34b, and 34c in this way enables hand 21 to move up and down (±Z directions), and also enables gripping of rack 60 by narrowing the gap in the left-right direction (Y direction). Furthermore, widening the gap in the left-right direction (Y direction) enables the release of the gripped rack 60. The handling device 20 is also provided with a rack sensor 39 (see FIG. 3) that detects whether a gripping target is present between fingers 22a and 22b, and sends the detection result to the control device 10. The control device 10 controls the movement of fingers 22a and 22b based on the output from rack sensor 39. The specimen containers 70 often have identification labels such as barcodes attached, but it is important to control the order in which the racks 60 are arranged on the transport line 45 so that they do not change before and after the automatic centrifugation operation, in order to prevent specimen mix-ups.

[0021] A dummy rack storage space 18 for storing one dummy rack 65 is provided in one area on the top surface of the automatic centrifuge 1. The dummy rack 65 has the same external shape as the rack 60, does not have any storage holes (see 61a to 61e in FIG. 5), and is shaped so that it can be loaded into the bucket 50 without rattle. When an odd number of racks 60 are loaded into the rotor 40, the handling device 20 loads the dummy rack 65 into a specified bucket 50 from the dummy rack retracted position (dummy rack storage space 18). After the centrifugation run, the dummy rack 65 is returned from the bucket 50 to the dummy rack storage space 18.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a top view of the automatic centrifuge 1, partially shown in perspective. The handling device 20 is not shown in FIG. 2. Although not shown here, the transport line 45 shown in FIG. 10 is provided behind the automatic centrifuge 1. Multiple racks 60 transferred from the transport line 45 are sequentially loaded into buckets 50 by the handling device 20 shown in FIG. 1. An opening 7a is formed in a portion of the upper cover 7, and a sliding door 8 is provided in the opening 7a. The sliding door 8 is opened and closed by moving the movable member 37 of the handling device 20 in the forward and backward directions while a hand 21 attached to the movable member 37 is brought into contact with an opening / closing operation plate 8a. The size of the opening 7a is large enough to allow the racks 60 to be loaded and unloaded, but large enough to prevent the removal of a single bucket 50. Therefore, even if the bucket 50 is lifted up when the rack 60 is removed, only the rack 60 can be removed.

[0023] FIG. 2 shows a state in which a second rack 60 is loaded into a bucket 50 (here, one side of bucket C). The rotor 40 shown in FIG. 2 has four buckets 50, and each bucket 50 can accommodate two racks 60, so the maximum number of racks 60 that can be centrifuged at one time is eight. The racks 60 are loaded into the buckets such that odd-numbered racks 60 are loaded in positions that are rotationally symmetrical to each other, so that the mass is balanced with respect to the rotation axis. Immediately after the second rack 60 is loaded, a rack 60 is loaded into bucket A, which is located opposite bucket C across the rotation axis A1. Meanwhile, no racks 60 have yet been loaded into buckets B and D.

[0024] A plurality of magnets (not shown) are attached integrally to the bottom of the rotor 40, and the initial position (not shown) of the rotor 40 in the rotational direction is detected by detecting the position of the magnets using a Hall element 9 located on the rotor chamber side. The control device 10 rotates and positions the rotor 40 so that each bucket 50 is sequentially positioned to load or unload racks 60 (positions rotated 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees from the origin). Once all the racks 60 to be used in the centrifugation operation have been loaded into the buckets 50, the door 8 is translated forward from the position shown in the figure to cover the opening 7a, thereby closing the rotor chamber 6. Note that if an odd number of racks 60 are loaded, a dummy rack 65 is loaded last.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of an automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control device 10 includes a CPU board 13 and a driver 16. The CPU board 13 is connected to an input device 11, an output device 12, a storage device 14, and a communication interface (I / F) 17 via a data bus 15. The input device 11 includes the keyboard-type input means shown in FIG. 1. The output device 12 includes the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. 1. The input device 11 and the output device 12 do not have to be separate devices as shown in FIG. 1, but may be configured with a liquid crystal touch panel display, or may be configured to use another mobile terminal such as a smartphone as an input / output device.

[0026] The CPU board 13 is equipped with a processor for executing computer programs. The CPU board 13 is configured in a board format equipped with a microcomputer (not shown), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a non-volatile memory, etc. The various components within the control device 10 are interconnected by a data bus 15. The storage device 14 is a non-volatile secondary storage device such as a hard disk drive or flash memory. The communication interface 17 is a well-known interface device for connecting to a LAN, the Internet, or other public networks, and is connected to an external server device 120, for example.

[0027] The control device 10 is provided with a driver 16 for driving each motor. A microcomputer included in the CPU board 13 controls the rotation of each motor via the driver 16. The handling device 20 includes three motors: stepping motors 34a, 34b, and 34c. The stepping motors 34a and 34b are the motors shown in FIG. 1 and are drive sources for moving the moving member 37 in the forward and backward directions (±X directions) and the up and down directions (±Z directions). The stepping motor 34c is a drive source for moving the two fingers 22a and 22b connected to the hand 21 in the left and right directions (±Y directions) in the gripping or releasing direction. The drive motor 3 is a motor that is a drive source for controlling the rotation and rotational position of the rotor 40. The refrigerator 90 is a device for cooling the rotor chamber 6 and includes a motor for operating a compressor.

[0028] Signals from various sensors are input to the CPU board 13 to drive the stepping motors 34a, 34b, and 34c and the motor 3 for driving the rotor 40. The rack sensor 39 is a sensor that detects whether or not a bucket 50 is present between the hands 21. The dummy sensor 19 is a sensor that detects whether or not a dummy rack 65 is placed in the dummy rack storage area 18. The angle sensor 59 is a sensor that detects the rotation angle of the rotor 40 from the reference position (position with a rotation angle of 0 degrees). The Hall element 9 is installed directly below the rotor 40 and is a sensor that detects the ID and rotation speed of the rotor 40. The stopper sensor 47 is a sensor that detects whether or not a rack 60 is present at the loading / unloading position of the conveyor line 45. The temperature sensor 91 is a sensor that detects the temperature of the rotor chamber 6.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bucket 50 of FIG. 1. The bucket 50 is equipped with two racks 60. Bucket 50 is a member that is suspended by swing arm 41 of rotor 40 in a suspended state. Bucket 50 is manufactured as a single unit out of metal such as aluminum alloy. Bucket 50 has an opening 51 at the top, and a partition wall 52 is formed from opening 51 to the bottom, extending in a direction perpendicular to the swing axis direction. Partition wall 52 divides the internal space of bucket 50 into two sections: first storage section 53 and second storage section 54. First storage section 53 and second storage section 54 are of equal size, and the rectangular opening and bottom sections have an optimum volume and shape for mounting rack 60 (see FIG. 5 ), which will be described later, and the rack 60 is held in place without rattling relative to bucket 50.

[0030] A connecting wall 55 is formed above the long side wall 53a of the first housing section 53 of the bucket 50, and a pin receiving portion 57 is formed extending from the upper end of the connecting wall 55 to one side in the rotational direction. Similarly, a connecting wall 56 is formed above the long side wall 54a of the second housing section 54, and a pin receiving portion 58 is formed extending from the upper end of the connecting wall 56 to the other side in the rotational direction. A swing bearing portion 58a with a semi-cylindrical surface is formed below the pin receiving portion 58 to be suspended by a swing pin 42 (see FIG. 2) formed on the swing arm 41 of the rotor 40. Similarly, a swing bearing portion 57a ​​(not visible in the figure) is formed below the pin receiving portion 57.

[0031] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the rack 60 of FIG. 1 and five specimen containers 70 (70a to 70e) mounted on the rack 60. The specimen sample collected in the specimen container 70 is, for example, human blood, and the specimen container 70 is a so-called vacuum blood collection tube. The specimen containers 70a to 70e are tubular containers made of glass or synthetic resin, and have a circular opening (not shown in the figure) on the upper side and a hemispherical bottom (not shown in the figure) on the lower side. FIG. 5 shows the state in which the openings of the five specimen containers 70a to 70e are closed with caps 75 (75a to 75e). The cap 75a is formed by a lid portion 76a and a knob portion 77a. The cap 75 is preferably made of synthetic resin.

[0032] The rack 60 is a member for holding a plurality of specimen holding containers 70 arranged in a line in an upright state, and can accommodate five specimen holding containers 70a to 70e. The rack 60 is manufactured by integral molding of metal or synthetic resin. Since the rack 60 is automatically transported by the transport line 45, its size is formed to have a width W corresponding to the width W1 of the transport path of the transport line 45 (W1>W). Furthermore, the length L of the long side of the rack 60 is set according to the sizes of the first storage section 53 and the second storage section 54 of the bucket 50 to be loaded. This is because the size of the bucket 50, particularly the distance between the swing pins 42, is limited by the size of the rotating rotor 40.

[0033] The rack 60 is formed with five storage holes 61a to 61e for mounting the specimen storage containers 70. The storage holes 61a to 61e are cylindrical holes similar in shape to the specimen storage containers 70, and their bottoms (not visible in the figure) are hemispherical like the bottom of the specimen storage containers 70. Meanwhile, a cutout portion 62a (see also FIG. 1) is formed on one side as viewed from the central axis of the cylindrical portion. Although not visible in the perspective view of FIG. 5 because it is on the back side, cutout portions 62b to 62e (not visible in the figure) having the same shape as the cutout portion 62a are also formed on the side surfaces of the storage holes 61b to 61e. In this example, the rack 60 can accommodate up to five specimen storage containers 70, and a rack 60 of an optimal size and shape is prepared according to the size of the buckets 50 mounted on the rotor 40 and further according to the size of the specimen storage containers 70 to be used. Since the specimen containers 70 are placed upright in the rack 60, after centrifugation, the serum in the blood moves to the top and the blood clots move to the bottom.

[0034] FIG. 6 is a layout diagram showing racks 60 mounted in buckets 50 of an automated centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This diagram schematically illustrates the four buckets 50 shown in FIG. 4 set on the swing arm 41 of the rotor 40, which rotates about a rotation axis O. Each bucket 50 has two storage compartments (first storage compartment 53 and second storage compartment 54 in FIG. 4 ) and can store two racks 60. To identify the buckets 50 and their storage positions, the buckets 50 are labeled A, B, C, and D along the direction of rotation (hereinafter referred to as "bucket A," "bucket B," "bucket C," and "bucket D"). For ease of explanation, the storage compartments for the four buckets 50 formed on the swing arm 41 are sequentially labeled with circled numbers, i.e., circle 1 to circle 8, in the direction of rotation.

[0035] FIG. 7 is a table showing the starting bucket for loading racks 60 into buckets 50 and the loading order. In conventional automated centrifuges, loading of multiple racks 60 loaded with sample containers 70 sent from the transport line 45 always began with bucket A, as described in FIG. 11(b). In other words, the loading start position of the rack 60 was fixed to bucket A, which was located directly below the opening 7a (see FIG. 2) when the rotor 40 was at the reference rotation position (rotation angle 0 degrees). In this manner, bucket 50 at a rotation angle of 0 degrees of the rotor 40 was fixed as the "loading start position." However, in this embodiment, the "loading start position" is changed each time a centrifugation run is performed. For example, bucket A is the loading start position for odd-numbered centrifugation runs, and the next bucket B, which is at a rotation angle of 90 degrees of the rotor 40, is the "loading start position" for even-numbered runs.

[0036] After the loading start position is set, the loading rules for racks 60 are the same for odd-numbered and even-numbered runs. That is, in the odd-numbered centrifugation run shown in FIG. 7(a), the second rack 60 is loaded into bucket C, which is located 180 degrees away from the rotor 40 at the position of the first bucket A. As can be seen from FIG. 6, the positions of circles 1 and 5 are 180 degrees opposite each other with respect to the rotation axis O, i.e., they are rotationally symmetric. The third rack 60 is loaded into bucket A, which is located 180 degrees away from the rotor 40. The fourth rack 60 is loaded into bucket C, which is located 180 degrees away from the rotor 40. After racks 60 have been loaded into the two rotationally symmetric buckets A and C, when the next rack 60 is transported, the control device 10 rotates the rotor 40 270 degrees to position bucket B under the opening 7a.

[0037] Next, the control device 10 starts loading racks 60 into buckets B and D, using bucket B as the reference. The fifth rack 60 is loaded into bucket B at the circled position 3. The sixth rack 60 is loaded into bucket D at the circled position 7, which is located at a position where the rotor 40 is rotated 180 degrees. The seventh rack 60 is loaded into bucket B at the circled position 4, which is located at a position where the rotor 40 is rotated 180 degrees again. The final eighth rack 60 is loaded into bucket D at the circled position 8, which is located at a position where the rotor 40 is rotated 180 degrees again. In this way, when loading of racks 60 into the two buckets B and D, which are located at rotationally symmetrical positions, is completed, loading of eight racks 60 into all buckets 50 is completed.

[0038] FIG. 7(b) is a table for explaining the loading positions into the even-numbered buckets 50 and the loading order. The difference from FIG. 7(a) is that the loading start position for the first rack 60 has been changed from bucket A to bucket B, which is located when the rotor 40 is rotated 90 degrees. After bucket B is set as the loading start position, the loading rules for the racks 60 are the same as those shown in FIG. 7(a) in terms of relative positional relationships. If the number of racks 60 to be loaded is odd, one dummy rack 65 is loaded last to balance the rotation of the rotor 40.

[0039] As described above, in this embodiment, when performing centrifugation runs 1 through n (where n is a positive integer), the bucket that serves as the loading start position is different for even-numbered (2n) centrifugation runs and odd-numbered (2n+1) centrifugation runs. The loading start positions and loading rules for odd-numbered and even-numbered runs shown in FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) are pre-stored in the storage device 14 in table format, program format, or parameter format. The microcomputer included in the control device 10 determines which bucket 50 will start loading first, i.e., which of buckets A through D. The loading position relative to the bucket 50 is then determined according to the loading rule. Furthermore, when all buckets 50 can accommodate a maximum of n racks 60 (where N is an integer greater than 1), if the total number of racks 60 loaded in the buckets 50 is odd, dummy racks are loaded in the buckets 50 to balance the rotation of the rotor 40.

[0040] In addition, when the number of buckets 50 that can be attached to the swing-type rotor 40 is six (in the case of buckets A to F), the loading rule shown in FIG. 7 can be set to three patterns, and bucket A can be set as the loading start position in the (3n+1)th centrifugation run (where n is a positive integer), bucket B can be set as the loading start position in the (3n+2)th centrifugation run, and bucket C can be set as the loading start position in the (3n+3)th centrifugation run. In addition, when there are six buckets 50, it is important to prepare two dummy racks. Even if the number of buckets 50 that can be attached to the rotor 40 is other than four or six, it is sufficient to configure the system so that the position of the bucket 50 from which rack 60 loading begins is sequentially changed each time a centrifugation run is performed. It is also recommended to prepare a number of dummy racks corresponding to the number of buckets.

[0041] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the handling device 20 of the automatic centrifuge 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. These procedures are realized by software when a microcomputer (MICOM) included in the control device 10 executes a computer program. The procedure shown in the flowchart in FIG. 8 is automatically started when the automatic centrifuge 1 is powered on. First, an origin standby operation is performed in response to an instruction from the control device 10 (step 81). In the origin standby operation, the stepping motors 34a to 34c for driving the link arms are excited, and the handling device 20 starts an origin return operation. In this origin return operation, the hand 21 is moved vertically upward and stopped at its initial position. The control device 10 also clears the value of a counter N, which counts the number of centrifugation operations since the power was turned on, to zero, or maintains or sets the value at a predetermined value.

[0042] Next, the control device 10 drives the stepping motors 34a and 34b to move the first slider 33a and the second slider 33b, thereby moving the moving member 37 to a pickup position for the rack 60 on the conveying line 45. The control device 10 picks up the first rack 60 using the handling device 20 and increments a counter N that counts the number of centrifugation runs (step 82). Next, the control device 10 determines whether the value of the counter N is odd or even (step 83). If the value of the counter N, which indicates the number of centrifugation runs, is odd, the odd-numbered table shown in FIG. 7(a) is selected (step 84), and if the value is even, the even-numbered table shown in FIG. 7(b) is selected (step 85).

[0043] Next, the control device 10 sequentially loads multiple racks 60 into buckets 50 according to the loading order defined in the table selected in step 84 or 85 (step 86). Here, the motor 3 for driving the rotor 40 is controlled to rotate the rotor 40 at a low speed of approximately 20 rpm until the bucket 50 into which the rack 60 is to be first placed is located below the opening 7a. Next, the handling device 20 is operated to transport the rack 60 from the conveyor line 45 and load it into the bucket 50. Next, the control device 10 controls the motor 3 to rotate the rotor 40 180 degrees or 270 degrees, thereby moving the bucket 50 into which the next rack 60 will be loaded to below the opening 7a. The above operations are repeated until the racks 60 for one centrifugation run are loaded into the buckets 50.

[0044] Once all racks 60 have been loaded into the buckets 50, the controller 10 closes the door 8 of the opening 7a and then performs centrifugation according to the set centrifugation operation conditions (step 87). During centrifugation, the interior of the rotor chamber 6 is maintained at a predetermined low temperature, the rotor 40 is accelerated, and the rotor is allowed to settle at a set rotation speed for a set period of time. After a predetermined centrifugation time, e.g., five minutes, has elapsed, the rotor begins to decelerate. After the rotor has completely stopped and the centrifugation operation has ended, the controller 10 issues a command to unload the racks 60 from the centrifuge. Once the rotor 40 has stopped, the controller 10 rotates the rotor 40 until the bucket 50 from which the racks 60 are first to be unloaded is positioned below the opening 7a, opens the door 8, and sequentially unloads the racks 60 (step 88). In the unloading process for the racks 60, the racks 60 are sequentially moved onto the transport line 45 in the same order as in the loading process, and are automatically transported to their destinations via the transport line 45.

[0045] The order in which the racks 60 are removed from the buckets 50 is determined based on the order of removal and the location of removal data stored in the storage device 14. For example, the rack 60 removal operation can be performed by removing the racks 60 first from buckets A and C if the number of times is odd, and first from buckets B and D if the number of times is even, thereby returning the racks 60 to the order in which they were transported to the transport line 45. It is also possible to configure the removal order to be any order, or to return the buckets 50 to the transport line 45 without specifying the order. After all racks 60 have been removed, if a dummy rack 65 has been used, the dummy rack 65 is returned to its original dummy rack storage location and awaits the instruction for the next centrifugation operation. In this manner, the above-described loading, centrifugation, and unloading operations are repeatedly performed. The controller 10 preferably operates a refrigerator (not shown) to maintain the rotor chamber 6 at a constant set temperature not only during the centrifugation operation but also during the loading operation before the centrifugation operation and the unloading operation after the centrifugation operation.

[0046] According to the procedure described above, in this embodiment, by changing the starting position of loading rack 60 into bucket 50 for odd-numbered runs and the starting position of loading rack 60 into bucket 50 for even-numbered runs during multiple centrifugation runs, it is possible to eliminate the overload condition on buckets A and C and to apply a similar load to buckets B and D, thereby extending the lifespan of the four buckets A to D. [Example]

[0047] In the first embodiment, the rotor 40 is described as a swing rotor that holds multiple (four in this example) buckets 50. However, the type of rotor 40 provided by the present invention is arbitrary, and the present invention is not limited to swing rotors, but can also be applied to an angle rotor 140. The angle rotor 140 shown in FIG. 9 is a "T15A41 Angle Rotor (product name)" sold by the applicant. The rotor body 141 of the angle rotor 140 is a single piece of metal, and is formed with multiple mounting holes into which a large specimen container 170 or a small specimen container (not shown) is mounted. The specimen container 170 is a sample container that is sealed with a lid 175. The angle rotor 140 has four mounting holes 142a to 142d for specimen containers 170 (however, 142c and 142d are not visible in FIG. 9) and four mounting holes 144a to 144d for small-diameter specimen containers (however, mounting holes 142b to 142d are not visible in FIG. 9), allowing one to four specimen containers 170 or one to four small-diameter specimen containers (not shown) to be mounted. The individual specimen containers 170 are automatically transferred from a transport line by a handling device (not shown) and are sequentially mounted in the mounting holes in a predetermined order. The handling device may be, for example, a robot arm type.

[0048] The handling device (not shown) mounts the first specimen container 170 into the mounting hole 142a, the next specimen container 170 into the mounting hole 142c (not shown) located 180 degrees from the mounting hole 142a, the next specimen container 170 into the mounting hole 142b located between the mounting holes 142a and 142c, and the last specimen container 170 into the mounting hole 142d (not shown). If an odd number of specimen containers 170 are to be mounted, dummy containers (not shown) of approximately the same shape as the specimen containers 170 are mounted to maintain rotational balance. The dummy container (not shown) is used for the same purpose as the dummy rack 65 in the first embodiment and is a mass body having the average weight of the specimen containers 170 containing samples. In the second centrifugation run, the starting position for mounting the specimen containers 170 is changed, and the first specimen container 170 is mounted into the mounting hole 142b. Similarly, the first specimen holding container 170 for the third centrifugation run is attached to the attachment hole 142c, and the first specimen holding container 170 for the fourth centrifugation run is attached to the attachment hole 142d. In this way, by sequentially changing the starting position for loading the specimen holding container 170 for each centrifugation run, it is possible to effectively avoid the load from being concentrated on only a specific attachment hole (particularly the attachment hole 142a).

[0049] As shown in the second embodiment, even when the angle rotor 140 is used, if the mounting hole from which the loading starts is changed sequentially for each centrifugation run so that the load is not concentrated on a specific mounting hole and the load is applied approximately evenly to each mounting hole, the durability of the angle rotor 140 will be improved. Note that in the first and second embodiments, the mounting order is shown as being divided into two data tables, but it is also possible to prepare multiple data tables (not shown) corresponding to the number of buckets (A to D) and the number of mounting holes and select a data table for each centrifugation run.

[0050] While the present invention has been described above based on two embodiments, it is not limited to the above embodiments and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiments, the loading start position for each bucket is set regularly, but the loading start position may be changed randomly each time loading is performed. Specifically, the loading start position for bucket A is circle 1, but the next time loading is performed, it may start from circle 2 or another bucket. This allows the load to be distributed even when operating with only one rack per bucket. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1...automatic centrifuge, 2...casing, 3...motor, 4...motor shaft case, 5...bowl, 6...rotor chamber, 7...upper cover, 7a...opening, 8...door, 8a...opening / closing operation plate, 9...hall element, 10...control device, 11...input device, 12...output device, 13...CPU board, 14...storage device, 15...data bus, 16...driver, 17...communication interface, 18...dummy rack storage area, 19...dummy sensor, 20...hand Dring device, 21...hand, 22a, 22b...fingers, 31...first guide member, 32...second guide member, 33a...first slider, 33b...second slider, 34a to 34c...stepping motor, 35...first arm, 36...second arm, 37...moving member, 38...parallel link, 39...rack sensor, 40...rotor, 41...swing arm, 42...swing pin, 44...ball balancer, 45...conveyor line, 4 7...Stopper sensor, 50...Bucket, 51...Opening, 52...Partition wall, 53...First storage section, 53a...Side wall section, 54...Second storage section, 54a...Side wall section, 55, 56...Connecting wall, 57, 58...Pin receiving section, 57a, 58a...Swing receiving section, 59...Angle sensor, 60...Rack, 61, 61a to 61e...Storage hole, 62a to 62e...Cutout section, 65...Dummy rack, 70, 70a to 70e...Specimen storage container, 75, 75a to 75 e...cap, 76a to 76e...closing lid portion, 77a to 77e...grip portion, 90...freezer, 91...temperature sensor, 110...server device, 140...angle rotor, 141...rotor body, 142a to 142d...mounting hole, 170...sample container, 175...lid portion, 201...automatic centrifuge, 206...rotor chamber, 220...handling device, 221...hand, 222, 223...transfer device, 240...swinging rotor, 250...bucket

Claims

1. a specimen container for storing a sample; a rotor having a plurality of storage sections for storing a plurality of racks for holding the specimen containers; a drive device that drives the rotor to rotate; a door that allows access to the particular storage section of the rotor; a handling device that loads and unloads the rack into and from the storage section; a control device that controls the driving device and the handling device, The control device The rack is mounted in the storage unit according to a certain rule so that the mass of the rack is rotationally symmetrical when the rack is mounted in the storage unit, An automatic centrifuge characterized in that the storage unit into which the rack is first loaded during a centrifugal separation operation is set to be different from the storage unit into which the rack was first loaded during the immediately preceding centrifugal separation operation.

2. the rotor is a swing rotor, and a bucket is used as the storage portion, the bucket being rotatably supported by the swing rotor; 2. The automatic centrifuge according to claim 1, wherein the bucket can accommodate a plurality of the racks.

3. 3. The automatic centrifuge according to claim 2, wherein a maximum of n racks can be loaded in the bucket, and when the number of racks loaded in the bucket is odd, a dummy rack is attached to the bucket to balance the rotation of the rotor.

4. the total number of buckets m is 4; (a) during an even-numbered centrifugation run, loading the racks starting with the first bucket; (b) during odd-numbered centrifugation runs, loading the racks starting with the second bucket first; 4. The automatic centrifuge according to claim 3.

5. the handling device includes a first transport device that moves the specimen container to the vicinity of the door; a second transfer device for transferring the specimen container carried by the first transfer device to the bucket; 5. The automatic centrifuge according to claim 4, wherein the control device controls the first and second transfer devices to transfer the bucket to the bucket waiting below the door.

6. a specimen container for storing a sample; an angle rotor having a plurality of mounting holes for holding the specimen container; a drive device that drives the angle rotor to rotate; a door that allows access to the specific mounting hole of the angle rotor; a handling device that mounts and removes the specimen container to and from the mounting hole; a control device that controls the driving device and the handling device, The control device The specimen holding container is mounted in the mounting hole according to a certain rule so that the specimen holding container is rotationally symmetric in mass when mounted in the mounting hole, An automatic centrifuge characterized in that the starting position of the mounting hole into which the specimen holding container is first loaded during a centrifugation run is set to be different from the starting position of the mounting hole into which the specimen holding container was first loaded during the immediately preceding centrifugation run.

7. 7. The automatic centrifuge according to claim 6, wherein when the number of specimen containers mounted on the angle rotor is odd, dummy containers are mounted in the mounting holes to balance the rotation of the angle rotor.

8. When the total number of the specimen containers loaded on the angle rotor is S, 8. The automatic centrifuge according to claim 7, wherein during a first centrifugation run, the specimen container is first loaded into a loading hole that is shifted by t holes (where t is an integer and 0<t<S) from the loading hole into which the specimen container was first loaded during the first centrifugation run.

9. A specimen container for storing a sample; a rotor having a plurality of storage sections for storing a plurality of racks for holding the specimen containers; a drive device that drives the rotor to rotate; an opening for providing access to the particular storage portion of the rotor; a control device that controls the drive device; In the automatic centrifuge, the rack is loaded into the storage section through the opening by a handling device, The control device loads the rack into the storage unit according to a certain rule so that the rack is rotationally symmetric in mass when loaded into the storage unit, and the storage unit into which the rack is first loaded during a centrifugation operation is set to be different from the storage unit into which the rack was first loaded during the immediately preceding centrifugation operation.

Images