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

Automatic centrifuge

[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.

[0002] Conventional automated centrifuges are equipped with a handling device that centrifuges specimen samples, and racks containing specimen samples are transported from the top of the centrifuge using a hand provided on the handling device. 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 that contain human blood. The racks 60 containing the specimen containers 70 are units that are automatically transported via a transport line 45. They 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 automated centrifuge 201, and returns the rack 60 from the bucket 250 to the transport line 45 after the centrifugation operation. That is, the handling device 220 transfers the rack 60 between the transport starting point and the bucket 250 closest to the handling device 220 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 (vertical direction) 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 transport 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 loading / unloading position on the transport line 45. The racks 60 returned to the loading / unloading position are transported in the direction of arrow 46b by a moving body of the transport line 45 and delivered to their intended destination. The handling device 220 unloads the racks 60 using a control device (not shown), and this operation is repeated until all of the racks 60 have been unloaded. Examples of such automatic centrifuges are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

[0005] The buckets of the automated centrifuge of Patent Document 1 are arranged as shown in FIG. 11( a), with four buckets 250, identified by A to D, attached to the swing arm of the swing rotor 240. Each bucket 250 is provided with three rack housing sections. Bucket A has three rack housing sections, indicated by circles 1 to 3. Similarly, buckets B to D each have three rack housing 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. In other words, 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 rotation angle).

[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.

[0007] JP-A-03-127649 JP-A-10-244185

[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 applied to buckets A and C was greater than that of 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 background, and its object is to provide an automatic centrifuge in which the loading rule for racks in buckets is changed for each centrifugation run, thereby applying an equal load to each bucket over multiple centrifugation runs. Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic centrifuge in which the loading rule for specimen containers in rotor mounting holes is changed for each centrifugation run, thereby applying an equal load to each mounting hole of the rotor over multiple centrifugation runs. Yet another object of the present invention is 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 mounted is changed for each run during multiple centrifugation runs.

[0010] Representative features of the invention disclosed in this application are as follows. According to one feature 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 symmetrical 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 present invention, the total number m of buckets is 4, and (a) during an even-numbered centrifugation run, rack loading starts from the first bucket, and (b) during an odd-numbered centrifugation run, rack loading starts from the second bucket. The handling device has a first-direction transfer device that moves the specimen containers to the vicinity of the door and a second-direction transfer device that transfers the specimen containers carried by the moving means to the buckets, and the control device controls the first and second transfer devices to transfer the buckets to a waiting bucket positioned below the door opening.

[0012] According to yet another feature of the present invention, in an automatic centrifuge having a specimen container for storing a sample, an angle rotor having a plurality of mounting holes for holding the specimen container, a drive unit for rotating the angle rotor, a door for providing access to specific mounting holes of the rotor, a handling unit for mounting and removing the specimen container to and from the mounting holes, and a control unit for controlling the drive unit and the handling unit, the control unit loads the specimen containers into the mounting holes according to a predetermined rule so that the specimen containers are rotationally symmetrical in mass when loaded into the mounting holes, and sets the start position of the mounting hole into which the specimen container is first loaded during a centrifugation run to be different from the start position of the mounting hole into which the specimen container was first loaded during the immediately preceding centrifugation run. Furthermore, when the number of specimen containers loaded in the angle rotor is odd, dummy containers are loaded into the mounting holes to balance the rotation of the angle rotor. Furthermore, when the total number of specimen containers mounted on the angle rotor is S, the specimen containers are loaded from a loading hole that is shifted t holes (where t is an integer and 0<t<S) from the loading hole that initially loaded the specimen container during the first centrifugation run, during the next centrifugation run, so that the loading hole position from which loading starts is shifted regularly in the circumferential direction each time multiple centrifugation runs are performed.

[0013] According to the present invention, when a series of centrifugal operations, such as loading racks into buckets, performing a centrifugal run, and removing the racks from the buckets, is repeated in an automatic centrifuge, the centrifugal load of the racks acting on each bucket is roughly equalized, thereby eliminating uneven bucket life due to the centrifugal load. Furthermore, even when an angle rotor without buckets is used, it is possible to prevent a particular mounting hole from being used more frequently, thereby extending the life of the angle rotor.

[0014] 1 is a perspective view of an automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the main parts in a see-through view; FIG. 2 is a top view of the automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a portion in a see-through view; FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of a control device for the automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bucket 50 of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the rack 60 and the specimen holding container 70 of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a layout diagram showing the loading status of racks 60 into the bucket 50 of the automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a table showing the starting bucket for loading racks 60 into the bucket 50 of the automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention and the loading order; FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the handling device 20 of the automatic centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an angle rotor 140 for an automatic centrifuge according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional automatic centrifuge 201; FIG. 11(a) is a layout diagram showing the loading status of racks into the bucket 250 in the conventional automatic centrifuge, and FIG. 11(b) is a table showing the starting bucket for loading racks 60 into the bucket 50 of the conventional automatic centrifuge and the loading order;

[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 of a control device 10 (see FIG. 3 , described below) to perform centrifugation. An input device 11 for user input to the control device 10 and an output device 12 for displaying 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 loaded and unloaded into and 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 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. Each bucket 50 can accommodate two racks 60 in which specimen storage containers 70 are set, 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] The 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) for detecting the rotation angle of the rotating shaft of the motor 3 is mounted below the motor 3. Such motors 3 are generally called servo motors, 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 rotating shaft of the motor 3 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 indicating 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) for detecting 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 the rotor 40 is provided near the underside of the rotor 40, and the position of the rotor 40 (the rotation angle from a reference position) can be detected by the control device 10. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a refrigerator 90 (see FIG. 3) (not shown) is provided to cool the inside of the rotor chamber 6, and a pipe-shaped evaporator (not shown) is wrapped around the outer periphery of the bowl 5 to circulate a refrigerant. The temperature of the rotor chamber 6 is measured by a temperature sensor 91 (see FIG. 3) provided inside the bowl 5 and monitored by the control device 10. During centrifugation operation and when a specimen holding container 70 is placed in the rotor chamber 6, the rotor chamber 6 is maintained at a constant temperature under the control of the 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 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 axially 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. The finger 22a can move in the ±Y direction, and the finger 22b can move in the ±Y direction, with the fingers 22a and 22b moving synchronously in opposite directions. Using multiple stepping motors 34a, 34b, and 34c in this way enables the hand 21 to move up and down (±Z directions), and also enables the hand 21 to grip the rack 60 by narrowing the gap in the left-right direction (Y direction). Furthermore, the gripped rack 60 can be released by widening the gap in the left-right direction (Y direction). The handling device 20 is also provided with a rack sensor 39 (see FIG. 3 ) that detects whether a gripping target is present between the fingers 22a and 22b, and sends the detection result to the control device 10. The control device 10 controls the movement of the fingers 22a and 22b based on the output from the 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 retraction 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. A plurality of 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 moving member 37 of the handling device 20 in the forward and backward directions while a hand 21 attached to the moving 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 the second rack 60 is loaded into a bucket 50 (here, on 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 integrally attached 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 racks 60 to be used in a 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] Figure 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 Figure 1. The output device 12 includes the liquid crystal display device shown in Figure 1. The input device 11 and the output device 12 do not have to be separate devices as shown in Figure 1, but may instead be configured using a liquid crystal touch panel display, or may be configured so that another mobile terminal such as a smartphone is used 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, other public networks, etc., 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 a bucket 50 is present between the hands 21. The dummy sensor 19 is a sensor that detects whether 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 where the rotation angle is 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 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 in the rotor chamber 6.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bucket 50 of FIG. 1 . The bucket 50 is a component that is suspended from the swing arm 41 of the rotor 40 with two racks 60 mounted thereon. The bucket 50 is manufactured as a single unit from a metal such as an aluminum alloy. The bucket 50 has an opening 51 at its top, and a partition wall 52 extending perpendicular to the swing axis direction is formed from the opening 51 to its bottom. The partition wall 52 divides the interior space of the bucket 50 into two sections: a first storage section 53 and a second storage section 54. The first storage section 53 and the second storage section 54 are of equal size, and the rectangular opening and bottom sections have an optimal volume and shape for mounting the rack 60 (see FIG. 5 ), which will be described later, and the rack 60 is held in place without rattling relative to the 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, each with a circular upper opening (not shown) and a hemispherical lower bottom (not shown). In FIG. 5, the open ends of the five specimen containers 70a to 70e are shown 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 containers 70 arranged in a line in an upright state, and can accommodate five specimen 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 1 / 4 the width W of the transport path of the transport line 45. １ It is formed with a width W corresponding to (W １ >W). The length L of the long side of the rack 60 is set to match the size 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 rotating rotor 40 limits the size of the bucket 50, particularly the distance between the swing pins 42.

[0033] The rack 60 is formed with five storage holes 61a to 61e for mounting the specimen containers 70. The storage holes 61a to 61e are cylindrical holes similar in shape to the specimen containers 70, and their bottoms (not visible in the figure) are hemispherical, just like the bottom of the specimen containers 70. Meanwhile, a cutout 62a (see also FIG. 1) is formed on one side as viewed from the central axis of the cylindrical holes. Although not visible in the perspective view of FIG. 5 because they are on the back side, cutouts 62b to 62e (not visible in the figure) with the same shape as the cutout 62a are also formed on the side surfaces of the storage holes 61b to 61e. Here, the rack 60 is configured to accommodate up to five specimen containers 70, but a rack 60 of an optimal size and shape is prepared according to the size of the buckets 50 to be mounted on the rotor 40 and the size of the specimen 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 ) capable of storing 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 indicated in the direction of rotation by circled numbers, i.e., circled 1 through circled 8.

[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 specimen containers 70 sent from the transport line 45 always began with bucket A, as described in FIG. 11( b). In other words, the starting loading position of the rack 60 was fixed to bucket A, which was located directly below the opening 7 a (see FIG. 2 ), when the rotor 40 was at the reference rotation position (rotation angle of 0 degrees). Thus, bucket 50 at a rotation angle of 0 degrees of the rotor 40 was fixed as the "start loading position." However, in this embodiment, the "start loading position" is changed each time a centrifugation run is performed. For example, bucket A is the starting loading 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 "start loading position" for even-numbered runs.

[0036] After the loading start position is set, the loading rule for racks 60 is 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 circle 1 and circle 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 in this way, when the next rack 60 is transported, the control device 10 rotates the rotor 40 270 degrees to position bucket B under the opening 7 a.

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

[0038] Figure 7(b) is a table for explaining the loading positions into the even-numbered buckets 50 and the loading order. The difference from Figure 7(a) is that the loading start position of 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 Figure 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 Figures 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, and then loads the racks relative to the bucket 50 in accordance with 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 each bucket 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, with bucket A being the loading start position for the 3n+1th centrifugation run (where n is a positive integer), bucket B being the loading start position for the 3n+2th centrifugation run, and bucket C being the loading start position for the 3n+3th 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 for each centrifugation run. 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 automated centrifuge 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. These procedures are implemented as software by a microcomputer (MICOM) included in the control device 10 executing a computer program. The procedure shown in the flowchart in FIG. 8 is automatically initiated when the automated centrifuge 1 is powered on. First, an origin standby operation is performed in response to an instruction from the control device 10 (step 81). During origin standby, the stepping motors 34a to 34c for driving the link arms are excited, and the handling device 20 begins a return operation to the origin. During this 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 runs since the power was turned on, to zero, or maintains or sets it to 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, which 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 control device 10 selects the odd-numbered table shown in FIG. 7(a) (step 84). If the value of the counter N, which indicates the number of centrifugation runs, is even, the control device 10 selects the even-numbered table shown in FIG. 7(b) (step 85).

[0043] Next, the control device 10 sequentially loads multiple racks 60 into the bucket 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 loaded 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 bucket 50.

[0044] Once all racks 60 have been loaded into the buckets 50, the control device 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 control device 10 issues a command to unload the racks 60 from the centrifuge. Once the rotor 40 has stopped, the control device 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 to the transport line 45 in the same order as in the loading process, and are automatically transported to their destination via the transport line 45.

[0045] The order in which the racks 60 are unloaded from the buckets 50 is determined based on the loading order and loading location data stored in the storage device 14. For example, the rack 60 can be unloaded in the order in which they were transported to the transport line 45, with buckets A and C being unloaded first if the operation is odd-numbered, and buckets B and D being unloaded if the operation is even-numbered. It is also possible to configure the buckets 50 to be returned to the transport line 45 in any order, or in any order at all. After all racks 60 have been unloaded, if a dummy rack 65 has been used, the dummy rack 65 is returned to its original dummy rack storage location and awaits the loading operation command 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 state 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.

[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 present invention is not limited to swing rotors and can be applied to angle rotors 140 as well. 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 with multiple mounting holes formed therein 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 the transport line by a handling device (not shown) and are sequentially mounted in the multiple 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 containers (not shown) are used for the same purpose as the dummy rack 65 in the first embodiment and are mass bodies having the average weight of the specimen containers 170 containing samples. Note that 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 holes from which the loading starts are sequentially changed 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, although the first and second embodiments show the mounting order divided into two data tables, it is also possible to prepare a plurality of 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.

[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...knob portion, 90...freezer, 91...temperature sensor, 110...server device, 140...angle rotor, 141...rotor body, 142a to 142d...mounting holes, 170...specimen container, 175...lid portion, 201...automatic centrifuge, 206...rotor chamber, 220...handling device, 221...hand, 222, 223...transfer device, 240...swing rotor, 250...bucket

Claims

1. A specimen container for storing a sample; a rotor having a plurality of storage units for storing a plurality of racks for holding the sample containers; A drive device that drives the rotor to rotate; a door allowing access to the particular storage section of the rotor; a handling device that loads and unloads the rack into and from the storage section; and a control device that controls the driving device and the handling device, The control device includes: The rack is mounted in the storage unit according to a certain rule so that the rack is rotationally symmetrical in mass 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 centrifugation run is set to be different from the storage unit into which the rack was first loaded during the immediately preceding centrifugation run.

2. The rotor is a swing rotor, and a bucket is used as the storage section, the bucket being rotatably supported by the swing rotor; 2. The automatic centrifuge according to claim 1, wherein the bucket is capable of accommodating 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 a first bucket; (b) during an odd-numbered centrifugation run, 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 sample container; a drive device that drives the angle rotor to rotate; a door for allowing access to the specific mounting hole of the angle rotor; a handling device for mounting and removing the specimen container to and from the mounting hole; and a control device that controls the driving device and the handling device, The control device includes: The specimen holding container is mounted in the mounting hole according to a certain rule so that the specimen holding container is rotationally symmetrical 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 the sample containers mounted on the angle rotor is an odd number, dummy containers are mounted in the mounting holes to balance the rotation of the angle rotor.

8. When the total number of the sample containers mounted on the angle rotor is S, The automatic centrifuge according to claim 7, characterized in that 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 initially loaded during a first centrifugation run.

9. A specimen container for storing a sample; a rotor having a plurality of storage units for storing a plurality of racks for holding the sample containers; A drive device that drives the rotor to rotate; an opening allowing 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 symmetrical in terms of 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.