Tapered Cleaning Tip for Reaction Container in Automatic Analysis Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automatic analysis devices face challenges in ensuring high positional accuracy for cleaning tips within reaction containers without scratching the inner walls, which can affect analysis results due to residual liquids and refractive index changes, and existing solutions complicate the mechanism or fail to prevent contact between the cleaning tip and the container walls.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning mechanism with a cleaning tip designed to have a tapered structure that opposes the light source and detector, featuring a first region with a smaller width downward and a second region above, ensuring accurate insertion and minimizing contact with the photometric region, thus reducing residual liquids without a complex configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the clearance between the cleaning tip and the inner wall of the reaction container is reduced to minimize remaining liquid, then the cleaning effectiveness is improved, but the positioning becomes difficult and the cleaning tip cannot be reliably inserted into the reaction container
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning tip is designed with a tapered structure where only the tip portion has a small diameter to achieve close clearance for effective cleaning, while the upper portion has a larger diameter to facilitate easy insertion and positioning. This local variation in geometry resolves the contradiction between needing small clearance for cleaning effectiveness and needing larger dimensions for ease of insertion.
2Reliability
If the cleaning tip is inserted deeply into the reaction container to reduce remaining liquid, then the cleaning effectiveness is improved, but the inner wall of the reaction container may be scratched due to contact
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning tip features a tapered geometry where the small-diameter tip region performs the cleaning function close to the container walls, while the larger-diameter upper region prevents contact with the walls during insertion and positioning. This local differentiation eliminates wall scratching while maintaining cleaning effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The tapered conical shape of the cleaning tip provides a curved, gradual transition from the larger upper diameter to the smaller tip diameter. This curved geometry allows smooth insertion into the reaction container without abrupt edges that could scratch the inner wall, while still achieving the necessary close clearance at the tip for effective cleaning.
3Reliability
If a positioning guide is provided to correct stop accuracy and ensure reliable insertion of the cleaning tip, then the insertion reliability is improved, but the mechanism becomes more complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The tapered structure of the cleaning tip enables self-alignment and self-correction during insertion. The conical geometry naturally guides the tip into the correct position within the reaction container, compensating for stop accuracy deviations without requiring external positioning guides or complex correction mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The tapered cleaning tip allows for high-accuracy insertion without scratching the reaction container, reducing residual liquids and enhancing the reliability and accuracy of analysis results, while maintaining efficient cleaning without complicating the device's configuration.
Implementation Method 1
light is applied from the outside of the reaction container to a mixture of a biological sample and a reagent, and the concentration of the component to be measured is calculated by detecting the transmitted and scattered light
Data Source
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AI summary
There was a possibility that, due to contact by a cleaning tip for sucking up a cleaning liquid for the next analysis when the inside of a repeatedly used reaction container is cleaned, the inner wall of the reaction container was damaged and thereby an analysis result was affected. Provided are a device and a cleaning mechanism for a reaction container in the device that are characterized by being provided with: a reaction disk for holding a reaction container; a sample dispensing mechanism for dispensing a sample to the reaction container; a reagent dispensing mechanism for dispensing a reagent to the reaction container; an optical system comprising a light source for applying light to a mixture of the sample and the reagent dispensed to the reaction container, and a detector for detecting the light applied from the light source; and a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the reaction container, wherein the cleaning mechanism is provided with a cleaning liquid supply nozzle for supplying a cleaning liquid to the reaction container after an analysis, a cleaning liquid suction nozzle for suctioning the supplied cleaning liquid, and a cleaning tip provided on the lower end of the cleaning liquid suction nozzle, and the side surface of the cleaning tip is formed such that the width of the cleaning tip becomes smaller downward, in the state where the cleaning tip is inserted into the reaction container, in at least a surface opposing the light source and a surface opposing the detector, and in a range that overlaps with a photometric range in which light applied to the reaction container from the light source passes through the reaction container toward the detector or in a range that is larger than the photometric range.