Cap removal device

Abstract

To enable automatic and effective detachment / attachment of a cap C at each of two mouth parts, even when a position of the cap C screwed on the two mouth parts for each culture container 2 varies due to a formation error.SOLUTION: The cap detachment / attachment device comprises: support means 3 for supporting a culture container 2 having a first mouth part 2aA and a second mouth part 2aB; first cap opening / closing means for detaching / attaching the cap C of the first mouth part 2aA; second cap opening / closing means for detaching / attaching the cap C of the second mouth part 2aB; and positioning means 6 for positioning the first mouth part 2aA and the second mouth part 2aB in a first operation position and a second operation position. When the cap C is removed from the first mouth part 2aA in the first operation position by the first cap opening / closing means, the positioning means 6 positions the second mouth part 2aB in the second operation position, and the second cap opening / closing means detaches / attaches the cap C of the second mouth part 2aB.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0004] , , , ,

[0001] The present invention relates to a cap detaching device, and more particularly to a cap detaching device that detaches and attaches a cap to a first opening and a second opening provided in a container.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as a container for culturing cells, a culture container having an opening to which a cap can be screwed is known. When culturing cells using such a culture container, there may be a case where a medium exchange is performed to replace the old medium contained in the culture container with a new medium. In that case, the cap is detached from the opening, and after the medium is exchanged in that state, it is necessary to attach the cap to the opening. For the purpose of automatically performing such work, a cap detaching device provided with a cap rotating means for detaching and attaching a cap to an opening is known (Patent Documents 1 and 2). On the other hand, for the purpose of culturing cells in a larger quantity, larger culture containers are known, and as such a culture container, one having two of the above openings is known. When performing a medium exchange in a culture container having two such openings, if the old medium is sucked and the new medium is supplied using one opening, if the cap of the other opening is removed, the inflow and outflow of air inside the culture container through the other opening are promoted, and the medium exchange can be performed smoothly.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the cap removal devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, in order to remove and re-screw a screwed-on cap, it is necessary to hold the culture container, align the rotation center of the cap rotation means with the central axis of the opening, and then rotate the cap in that state. In this case, to automate the process of attaching and detaching caps in a culture vessel equipped with two openings as described above, it is conceivable to use two cap rotating mechanisms, aligning the rotation center of each cap rotating mechanism with the central axis of the opening, and then rotating each cap to attach and detach the caps. However, due to molding errors in the culture vessels, the spacing and positional relationship of the two openings differ slightly from one culture vessel to another. This necessitates aligning each cap rotation mechanism with each of the two openings for each individual culture vessel, which is inefficient and unsuitable for automation. In light of these problems, the present invention provides a cap attachment / detachment device that can efficiently attach and detach caps to culture vessels equipped with two openings. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] That is, the cap removal device according to claim 1 comprises: a support means for supporting a container having a first opening and a second opening to which a cap is screwed; a first cap opening / closing means for attaching and detaching a cap to the first opening; a second cap opening / closing means for attaching and detaching a cap to the second opening; a moving means for bringing the first cap opening / closing means and the first opening into contact with and separating them, and for bringing the second cap opening / closing means and the second opening into contact with and separating them; and a positioning means for positioning the first opening in a first operating position where the first cap opening / closing means is operated, and the second opening in a second operating position where the second cap opening / closing means is operated. The positioning means positions the first opening to the first operating position, and with the cap removed from the first opening by the first cap opening / closing means, the positioning means Release the positioning to the above first operating position. The invention is characterized by positioning the second opening portion to the second operating position and detaching the cap from the second opening portion using the second cap opening / closing means. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the above invention, the positioning means sequentially positions the first and second openings to the first and second operating positions, and operates the first and second cap opening / closing means at each position, making it possible to efficiently attach and detach the cap to a culture vessel equipped with two openings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] Perspective view of the culture vessel [Figure 2] Front view of the cap removal device in the first embodiment [Figure 3] Plan view showing support means and positioning means [Figure 4] Side view showing support means and positioning means [Figure 5] Side view showing the operation of the positioning means [Figure 6] Diagram showing the operation of the cap removal device. [Figure 7] Diagram showing the operation of the cap removal device. [Figure 8] Front view of the cap removal device in the second embodiment [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] The illustrated embodiment will be described below. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the culture vessel 2 handled by the cap removal device 1 of this embodiment. Compared to conventionally known culture vessels such as petri dishes, this culture vessel is capable of culturing a larger number of cells at once. The culture vessel 2 described above is made of resin, and in plan view rectangle The culture vessel has a structure that is divided into multiple sections inside, giving it a roughly rectangular shape externally. Each section inside the culture vessel 2 serves as a storage area, capable of accommodating not only the cells to be cultured but also the culture medium used for cell culture. Furthermore, the upper surface 2u of the culture vessel 2 is provided with a first opening 2aA and a second opening 2aB to which a cap C can be attached, and these first and second openings 2aA and 2aB are two adjacent openings on the upper surface 2u of the culture vessel 2 corner It is located at [location]. The first and second openings 2aA and 2aB described above have spiral projections formed on their outer circumference, and the cap C also has spiral projections formed on its inner circumference. This makes it possible to screw the cap C onto the first and second openings 2aA and 2aB. When culturing cells using the culture vessel 2 described above, if the culture medium needs to be changed, for example, the cap C is removed from the second opening 2aB, a nozzle is inserted into the second opening 2aB, and the used old culture medium is aspirated while new culture medium is supplied. At this time, if the cap C is detached from the first opening 2aA, airflow within the culture vessel 2 is ensured, making it possible to quickly aspirate and supply the culture medium using the nozzle.

[0009] In this embodiment, the culture container 2 is intended to be handled by humans and is disposable. Therefore, the precision during resin molding is not high, and molding errors exist in the dimensions of each part. For example, variations can be observed in the spacing and positional relationship between the first opening 2aA and the second opening 2aB, and between the screwed-on cap C, for each individual culture container 2. Due to these molding errors, attaching and detaching the cap C to each opening 2aA and 2aB of the culture container 2 requires aligning the central axis of each opening 2aA and 2aB with the rotation center of the cap rotation mechanism for each culture container 2, making it difficult to automatically attach and detach the cap C. Therefore, the cap removal device 1 of this embodiment efficiently positions the cap rotating means relative to the first opening 2aA and the second opening 2aB, and automatically removes the cap C from the culture container 2 having two openings.

[0010] FIG. 2 shows a front view of the cap detaching device 1, which includes a support means 3 for supporting the culture vessel 2, a first cap opening / closing means 4A as a cap rotating means for detaching the cap C from the first mouth portion 2aA of the culture vessel 2, a second cap opening / closing means 4B as a cap rotating means for detaching the cap C from the second mouth portion 2aB, a first moving means 5A for separating and approaching the first cap opening / closing means 4A and the first mouth portion 2aA for the purpose of retreating the first cap opening / closing means 4A from the culture vessel 2, and a positioning means 6 for positioning the culture vessel 2 supported by the support means 3. These are controlled by a control means (not shown) constituted by a computer or the like. Also, adjacent to the cap detaching device 1 of the present embodiment, a medium exchanging device (not shown) for exchanging the medium of the culture vessel 2 is provided.

[0011] First, the support means 3 and the positioning means 6 will be described using FIGS. 3 to 5. The support means 3 includes a support table 11 for supporting the culture vessel 2, a lifting means 12 for raising and lowering the support table 11, and a plurality of guides G provided on the upper part of the support table 11 and provided so as to surround the culture vessel 2. The support table 11 is formed in a flat plate shape, and the culture vessel 2 is placed on the support table 11 by a robot or by hand. The lifting means 12 is constituted by an air cylinder provided on the lower surface of the support table 11, and constitutes a moving means for raising and lowering the culture vessel 2 placed on the support table 11 to separate and approach the first cap opening / closing means 4A and the first mouth portion 2aA, and to separate and approach the second cap opening / closing means 4B and the second mouth portion 2aB. Here, when placing the culture vessel 2 on the support table 11, the first and second mouth portions 2aA and 2aB of the culture vessel 2 are placed so as to be located on the right side in the drawing of FIG. 3. Here, the side on which the first mouth portion 2aA and the second mouth portion 2aB of the culture vessel 2 are located at both ends is called the front side 2f, and the side opposite to the front side 2f is called the rear side 2r. Also, with respect to the front side 2f, the side that forms the corner where the first mouth portion 2aA is located together with the front side 2f is called the first side side 2s1, and the side that forms the corner where the second mouth portion 2aB is located together with the front side 2f is called the second side side 2s2.

[0012] The guide G provided on the upper surface of the support table 11 includes a front side guide Gf against which the front side 2f of the culture vessel 2 abuts, a rear side guide Gr provided at a position facing the rear side 2r, a first side guide Gs1 against which the first side 2s1 abuts, and a second side guide Gs2 against which the second side 2s2 abuts. Specifically, in FIG. 3, the front side guide Gf is on the right side of the culture vessel 2 in the drawing, the rear side guide Gr is on the left side of the culture vessel 2 in the drawing, and the first side guide Gs1 and the second side guide Gs2 are provided at positions facing each other with the culture vessel 2 interposed therebetween. And the distance between the front side guide Gf and the rear side guide Gr is set wider than the distance between the front side 2f and the rear side 2r in the culture vessel 2. Similarly, the distance between the first side guide Gs1 and the second side guide Gs2 is also set wider than the width between the first side 2s1 and the second side 2s2 in the culture vessel 2. Also, the front side guide Gf is provided longer than the front side 2f, and the rear side guide Gr, the first side guide Gs1, and the second side guide Gs2 are arranged closer to the center of each side and shorter than the opposing rear side 2r, first side 2s1, and second side 2s2, respectively. And on the extension line of the first side guide Gs1 between the first side guide Gs1 and the front side guide Gf, a first corner guide Ga1 is provided adjacent to the corner where the first mouth portion 2aA of the culture vessel 2 is formed. On the extension line of the second side guide Gs2 between the second side guide Gs2 and the front side guide Gf, a second corner guide Ga2 is provided adjacent to the corner where the second mouth portion 2aB of the culture vessel 2 is formed. With this configuration, when the culture vessel 2 is not positioned on the support table 11, it can move left and right between the front edge guide Gf and the rear edge guide Gr as shown in the diagram, and it can also move up and down between the first lateral edge guide Gs1 and the second lateral edge guide Gs2 as shown in the diagram. The state in which the front edge 2f of the culture vessel 2 abuts against the front edge guide Gf and the first side edge 2s1 abuts against the first corner guide Ga1 is defined as the state in which the first opening 2aA of the culture vessel 2 is positioned at the first operating position (Figure 5(a)). Similarly, when the front edge 2f of the culture vessel 2 is in contact with the front edge guide Gf and the second side edge 2s2 is in contact with the second corner guide Ga2, the second opening 2aB of the culture vessel 2 is positioned in the second operating position (Figure 5(b)). These front edge guides Gf and the first corner guide Ga1 and second corner guide Ga2 constitute the positioning part of the positioning means 6, which will be described next.

[0013] The positioning means 6 described above is further provided on the left side as shown in Figures 3 and 4, and comprises a first positioning member 13A provided opposite to the corner between the rear edge 2r and the second side edge 2s2 of the culture container 2, and a second positioning member 13B provided opposite to the corner between the rear edge 2r and the first side edge 2s1. These first and second positioning members 13A and 13B are respectively provided to be movable in the left-right direction as shown in Figures 3 and 4 by driving means 14A and 14B such as air cylinders provided on the lower surface of the support table 11, and are in contact with the corner of the culture container 2. The first and second positioning members 13A and 13B described above are substantially rectangular in shape when viewed from above. The first positioning member 13A is provided on the extension of the second lateral edge guide Gs2, and the second positioning member 13B is provided on the extension of the first lateral edge guide Gs1. The driving means 14A and 14B move along the longitudinal direction of the second lateral edge guide Gs2 and the first lateral edge guide Gs1, respectively. Furthermore, the portions of the first and second positioning members 13A and 13B that contact the corners of the culture container 2 have pressing surfaces 13a and 13b formed in the diagonal direction of the corners of the culture container 2 that they contact. The pressing surfaces 13a and 13b each contact the corners of the culture vessel 2, pressing the culture vessel 2 against a first positioning section consisting of a front edge guide Gf and a first corner guide Ga1 located in each diagonal direction, and a second positioning section consisting of a front edge guide Gf and a second corner guide Ga2.

[0014] The positioning operation of the respective openings 2aA and 2aB in the culture container 2 using the support means 3 and positioning means 6 having the above configuration will be described. First, an operator or robot places the culture container 2 on the support table 11 as shown in Figure 3. At this time, the culture container 2 is placed with its front edge 2f, which has the first and second openings 2aA and 2aB, facing the front edge guide Gf. As a result, the culture vessel 2 is surrounded by the front edge guide Gf, the rear edge guide Gr, the first lateral edge guide Gs1, and the second lateral edge guide Gs2. At this time, the front edge 2f, the first lateral edge 2s1, and the second lateral edge 2s2 of the culture vessel 2 do not need to be in contact with the front edge guide Gf, the first corner guide Ga1, and the second corner guide Ga2 that constitute the positioning part of the positioning means 6. Furthermore, when the culture vessel 2 is placed on the support table 11, the first and second positioning members 13A and 13B of the positioning means 6 are in a waiting position to the left of the figure by the moving means 14.

[0015] From this state, as shown in Figure 5(a), when the first positioning member 13A of the positioning means 6 is advanced to the right in the figure, the pressing surface 13a formed on the first positioning member 13A comes into contact with the corner portion of the culture container 2, which consists of the second side edge 2s2 and the rear edge 2r. As the first positioning member 13A is advanced further, the culture container 2 is pressed in the diagonal direction with respect to the first opening 2aA, causing the front edge 2f to contact the front edge guide Gf and the first side edge 2s1 to contact the first corner guide Ga1. As a result, the position of the culture container 2 is defined by the first positioning section consisting of the front edge guide Gf and the first corner guide Ga1, and the first opening 2aA is positioned in the first operating position. On the other hand, when the second positioning member 13B is advanced to the right as shown in Figure 5(b) from the state shown in Figure 5(a), the pressing surface 13a formed on the second positioning member 13B comes into contact with the corner formed by the first lateral edge 2s1 and the rear edge 2r of the culture container 2. As the second positioning member 13B is advanced further, the culture container 2 is pressed in the diagonal direction where the second opening 2aB is located, causing the front edge 2f to contact the front edge guide Gf and the second side edge 2s2 to contact the second corner guide Ga2. The position of the culture container 2 is then defined by the second positioning section consisting of the front edge guide Gf and the second corner guide Ga2, and the second opening 2aB is positioned in the second operating position.

[0016] The first cap opening / closing means 4A is provided above the first opening 2aA of the culture container 2, which is supported by the support means 3 in Figure 2, and the second cap opening / closing means 4B is provided above the second opening 2aB. The first cap opening / closing means 4A is provided so as to be able to move up and down by the first moving means 5A. The first cap opening / closing means 4A and the second cap opening / closing means 4B, which serve as the cap rotating means, consist of chucks 21A and 21B that hold the cap C, and servo motors 22A and 22B that rotate the chucks 21A and 21B. The position (center of rotation) of the rotation axis 23A of the servo motor 22A of the first cap opening / closing means 4A is coaxial with the central axis of the first opening 2aA of the culture container 2, which is positioned in the first operating position by the positioning means 6. Similarly, the position (center of rotation) of the rotation axis 23B of the second cap opening / closing means 4B is coaxial with the central axis of the second opening 2aB of the culture container 2, which is positioned in the second operating position. The chucks 21A and 21B that constitute the first cap opening / closing means 4A and the second cap opening / closing means 4B are equipped with a gripping member that can move forward and backward relative to the cap C located below the rotating shafts 23A and 23B, and a biasing means that biases the gripping member toward the cap C, inside a cylindrical cover provided at the tip of the rotating shafts 23A and 23B. The configurations of chucks 21A and 21B having such a configuration are conventionally known, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 10-129606, so a detailed explanation will be omitted. However, in the open state with the gripping member retracted, each chuck 21A and 21B can be placed over the caps C screwed onto the first opening 2aA and the second opening 2aB, even if the first opening 2aA and the second opening 2aB are not positioned.

[0017] When the first moving means 5A lowers the chuck 21A of the first cap opening / closing means 4A, it is positioned at the same height as the chuck 21B of the second cap opening / closing means 4B. When the lifting means 12 raises the culture container 2, the open chucks 21A and 21B cover the caps C screwed onto the first opening 2aA and the second opening 2aB, respectively. Furthermore, the first moving means 5A can move the chuck 21A toward and toward the first opening 2aA of the culture container 2, which is in the raised position, by raising and lowering the first cap opening / closing means 4A. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the second cap opening / closing means 4B is not provided to be able to move up and down so as to be able to move toward and toward the second opening 2aB of the culture container 2. Thus, when the first moving means 5A positions the first cap opening / closing means 4A in the raised position, it retracts the chuck 21A upward from the first opening 2aA of the culture container 2. Conversely, when the first cap opening / closing means 4A is positioned in the lowered position, the chuck 21A is positioned at the same height as the chuck 21B of the second cap opening / closing means 4B.

[0018] The operation of the cap removal device 1 having the above configuration will be explained below with reference to Figures 6 and 7. First, the support means 3 of the cap removal device 1 is positioned in a lowered position by the lifting means 12, and the first cap opening / closing means 4A is positioned in a lowered position by the first moving means 5A. Next, when an operator or robot places the culture container 2 on the support table 11 as shown in Figure 3, the first positioning member 13A of the positioning means 6 moves and positions the first opening 2aA of the culture container 2 in the first operating position as shown in Figure 5(a). From that state, as shown in Figure 6, the lifting mechanism 12 of the support mechanism 3 raises the support table 11. As a result, the cap C screwed onto the first opening 2aA of the culture container 2 reaches the height of the chuck 21A of the first cap opening / closing mechanism 4A, and similarly, the cap C screwed onto the second opening 2aB reaches the height of the chuck 21B of the second cap opening / closing mechanism 4B. Here, since the first opening 2aA of the culture vessel 2 is in the first operating position, the rotation axis 23A of the first cap opening / closing means 4A coincides with the central axis of the first opening 2aA, but the central axis of the second opening 2aB is eccentric with respect to the rotation axis 23B of the second cap opening / closing means 4B. In this state, the gripping member of the chuck 21A is biased to grip the cap C, and the servo motor 22A is activated to rotate the cap C in the opposite direction to the screwing direction. In this configuration, the culture vessel 2 is held in place by the first positioning member 13A, which presses it against the front edge guide Gf and the first corner guide Ga1, preventing the culture vessel 2 from rotating along with the rotation of the chuck 21A.

[0019] Figure 7 shows the state in which the first cap opening / closing means 4A detaches the cap C from the first opening 2aA, and the positioning means 6 releases its positioning from the first operating position relative to the culture container 2 and positions it at the second operating position. In the state shown in Figure 6, when the first cap opening / closing means 4A is activated to detach the cap C from the first opening 2aA, the first moving means 5A raises the first cap opening / closing means 4A, causing the cap C held by the chuck 21A to retract upward from the first opening 2aA. Next, the positioning means 6 moves the first positioning member 13A, which had been moving forward, backward and moves the second positioning member 13B forward to position the second opening 2aB of the culture container 2 at the second operating position, as shown in Figure 5(b). As a result, the rotation axis 23B of the second cap opening / closing means 4B and the central axis of the second opening 2aB coincide.

[0020] In this state, the gripping member of the chuck 21B is biased to grip the cap C, and the servo motor 22B is activated to rotate the cap C in the opposite direction to the screwing direction. At this time, the culture container 2 is held in a state where it is pressed against the front edge guide Gf and the second corner guide Ga2 by the second positioning member 13B, preventing the culture container 2 from rotating along with the rotation of the chuck 21B. In the state shown in Figure 7, when the second cap opening / closing means 4B detaches cap C from the second opening 2aB, cap C is detached from the first and second openings 2aA and 2aB of the culture container 2. Then, the lifting mechanism 12 of the support mechanism 3 is activated and lowers the support table 11. Because the chuck 21B is gripping the cap C, the cap C is separated from the second opening 2aB, and both the first and second openings 2aA and 2aB of the culture container 2 are opened. Furthermore, the culture vessel 2 is held with its second opening 2aB positioned at the second positioning position, and in this state, the culture medium is exchanged in the culture vessel 2 using a culture medium exchange device (not shown). At this time, for example, a nozzle for changing the culture medium is inserted into the second opening 2aB to aspirate the used culture medium and supply fresh culture medium. In this process, air flows through the first opening 2aA within the culture vessel 2, enabling smooth supply and discharge of the culture medium. Once the culture medium exchange in the culture vessel 2 is complete, the control means performs the reverse operation to reattach the caps C to the first and second openings 2aA and 2aB of the culture vessel 2. Specifically, when the support means 3 raises the support table 11 by the lifting means 12, the second opening 2aB of the culture container 2 is positioned at the second positioning position. In this state, the second cap opening / closing means 4B screws the cap C, which is gripped by the chuck 21B, onto the second opening 2aB, thereby releasing the grip of the cap C. Next, the positioning means 6 releases its hold on the culture container 2, which had previously positioned the second opening 2aB in the second operating position, and holds the culture container 2 with the first opening 2aA positioned in the first operating position. In that state, the first moving means 5A lowers the first cap opening / closing means 4A, bringing the cap C, which is gripped by the chuck 21A, closer to the first opening 2aA, and the first cap opening / closing means 4A screws on the cap C and releases the gripping state of the cap C. Subsequently, when the lifting mechanism 12 lowers the support table 11, the culture container 2, in which the culture medium has been replaced, can be removed from the support mechanism 3.

[0021] Thus, by using the cap removal device 1 according to this embodiment, it is possible to automatically and efficiently remove the cap C of a container equipped with two first and second openings 2aA and 2aB. In particular, in the case of disposable culture vessels 2 handled by humans, which have low molding precision, the distance and positional relationship between the first opening 2aA and the second opening 2aB are not always constant. Therefore, even if the caps C are to be attached to and detached from the first and second openings 2aA and 2aB simultaneously using the first and second cap opening / closing means 4A and 4B, the rotation axes 23A and 23B of the first and second cap opening / closing means 4A and 4B will be misaligned with the central axes of the first and second openings 2aA and 2aB. If the rotation axes 23A and 23B of the cap opening / closing mechanisms 4A and 4B are misaligned with the central axes of the first and second openings 2aA and 2aB, the cap C will tilt, making it impossible to screw it on or unscrew it. In contrast, in this embodiment, the positioning means 6 positions the first opening 2aA of the culture container 2 to the first operating position, thereby aligning the rotation axis 23A of the first cap opening / closing means 4A with the central axis of the first opening 2aA, allowing the cap C to be attached and detached. Subsequently, the positioning means 6 positions the second opening 2aB of the culture container 2 to the second operating position, thereby aligning the rotation axis 23B of the second cap opening / closing means 4B with the central axis of the second opening 2aB, allowing the cap C to be attached and detached. Thus, the attachment and detachment of the cap C to the culture container 2, which has two first and second openings 2aA and 2aB, can be performed automatically and efficiently.

[0022] Figure 8 shows a front view of the cap removal device 1 according to the second embodiment. In the first embodiment, the first cap opening / closing means 4A is provided to be vertically movable by the first moving means 5A, and the second cap opening / closing means 4B is not provided to be vertically movable. However, in this embodiment, the second cap opening / closing means 4B is provided to be vertically movable by the second moving means 5B. With this configuration, in this embodiment, the first moving means 5A and the second moving means constitute the moving means of the present invention, which move the first cap opening / closing means 4A and the first opening 2aA toward and toward each other, and the second cap opening / closing means 4B and the second opening 2aB toward and toward each other. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, it is not necessary to provide a lifting means 12 on the support means 3 as a similar moving means.

[0023] The operation of the cap removal device 1 having the above configuration will now be described. Figure 8 shows the state in which the first cap opening / closing means 4A is positioned in a lowered position by the first moving means 5A and is close to the first opening 2aA, and the state in which the cap C screwed onto the first opening 2aA is gripped by the chuck 21A. In this state, the culture container 2 is pressed by the first positioning member 13A due to the operation of the driving means 14A of the positioning means 6, and the first opening 2aA is positioned at the first operating position as shown in Figure 5(a), and the culture container 2 is held in place. From this state, the servo motor 22A of the first cap opening / closing means 4A is activated to rotate the chuck 21A in the opposite direction to the direction in which the cap C is screwed on, thereby releasing the screw on the cap C. On the other hand, the second cap opening / closing means 4B is positioned in the raised position by the second moving means 5B, and the chuck 21B is retracted from the second opening 2aB. When the first cap opening / closing means 4A detaches the cap C from the first opening 2aA, the first moving means 5A raises the first cap opening / closing means 4A, retracting the chuck 21A from the first opening 2aA and separating the cap C. Next, the positioning means 6 holds the culture container 2, moving from a state where the first opening 2aA is positioned at the first positioning position shown in Figure 5(a) to a state where the second opening 2aB is positioned at the second operating position shown in Figure 5(b). In that state, the second moving means 5B lowers the second cap opening / closing means 4B, bringing the chuck 21B closer to the second opening 2aB and gripping the screwed-on cap C, while simultaneously activating the servo motor 22B of the second cap opening / closing means 4B to rotate the chuck 21B in the opposite direction to the direction in which the cap C is screwed on, thereby releasing the screw from the cap C. Once the cap C is detached from the second opening 2aB in this manner, the second moving means 5B retracts the second cap opening / closing means 4B to the raised position, separating the cap C. As a result, both openings 2aA and 2aB are opened, and the culture medium in the culture vessel 2 can be changed in this state. [Explanation of symbols]

[0024] 1. Cap removal device 2. Culture vessel 2aA, 2aB 1st and 2nd mouth 3 Support means 4A, 4B First and second cap opening / closing means; 5A First moving means 6 Positioning means C cap

Claims

1. The device comprises a support means for supporting a container having a first opening and a second opening to which a cap is screwed; a first cap opening / closing means for attaching and detaching the cap to the first opening; a second cap opening / closing means for attaching and detaching the cap to the second opening; a moving means for bringing the first cap opening / closing means and the first opening into contact with each other, and the second cap opening / closing means and the second opening into contact with each other; and a positioning means for positioning the first opening to a first operating position where the first cap opening / closing means operates, and the second opening to a second operating position where the second cap opening / closing means operates. A cap removal device characterized by positioning the first opening portion to the first operating position using the positioning means, detaching the cap from the first opening portion using the first cap opening / closing means, releasing the positioning means from the first operating position to position the second opening portion to the second operating position, and detaching the cap from the second opening portion using the second cap opening / closing means.

2. The above container is formed in a rectangular shape in plan view, and the first and second openings are provided at two adjacent corners on the upper surface of the container. The support means comprises a front edge guide that abuts against the front edge where the first and second openings are located at both ends, a first side edge guide that abuts against the first side edge that forms a corner where the front edge and the first opening are located, and a second side edge guide that abuts against the second side edge that forms a corner where the front edge and the second opening are located. The positioning means presses the container to bring its front edge into contact with the front edge guide and its first side edge into contact with the first side edge guide, thereby positioning it to the first operating position. Alternatively, the cap removal device according to claim 1, characterized in that the container is pressed to bring its front edge into contact with the front edge guide and its second side edge into contact with the second side edge guide, thereby positioning it in the second operating position.

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