JP2002340912A - Dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dispenser capable of supplying a liquid of every kind by compact constitution. SOLUTION: In the dispenser wherein the liquid in a reservoir 12 is sucked by a dispensing head to be discharged to a testing plate, a liquid supply part 18 equipped with a liquid supply stage on which only one reservoir 12 can be placed is arranged at a position separated from a reservoir stage on which a plurality of the reservoirs 12 are placed. When the liquid is supplied to the reservoir 12, different kinds of liquids are discharged to the reservoir 12 transferred to the liquid supply part 18 by a plurality of discharge nozzles 83 and the reservoir 12 after supply is returned to the reservoir stage. By this constitution, it is unnecessary to provide the liquid supply part 18 at every kind of the liquid and the liquid of every kind can be supplied by compact constitution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dispensing apparatus used for dispensing liquids in the fields of drug discovery screening, biotechnology, medicine and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A dispensing apparatus is known as an apparatus used for systematically conducting a test such as a biochemical reaction of a substance. This dispensing apparatus performs a dispensing operation of injecting a liquid (a liquid containing a sample such as a drug solution, a reagent, and a specimen) into a microtiter plate for accommodating a sample. The microtiter plate is provided with a number of wells for containing liquid, and the liquid used for the test is sucked from a reservoir by a dispensing head and discharged to the microtiter plate to perform a dispensing operation. I have.

[0003] In the above test, since a large number of different kinds of liquids are used in a large amount, a dispensing apparatus needs a liquid supply unit capable of supplying these various kinds of liquids as needed. In the conventional dispensing apparatus, the liquid supply units that discharge and supply the liquid to the reservoir are provided in the vicinity of the dispensing stage on which the container is placed, in a number corresponding to the number of required liquids.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional dispensing apparatus, the number of liquid supply units increases as the type of liquid increases. For this reason, the area required for disposing the liquid supply unit is increased, and it has been difficult to realize a compact dispensing device.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing apparatus capable of supplying a sufficient type of liquid with a compact configuration.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dispensing apparatus for sucking a liquid in an intermediate container and discharging the liquid into a test container, wherein a plurality of the intermediate containers are placed. An intermediate container mounting portion, a dispensing head that sucks the liquid from the intermediate container mounted on the intermediate container mounting portion and discharges the liquid to the container, and is disposed at a position away from the intermediate container mounting portion. The liquid supply unit includes a plurality of discharge nozzles that discharge different types of the liquid, and a transfer unit that transfers the intermediate container between the liquid supply unit and the intermediate container mounting unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the dispensing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the liquid supply unit includes a plurality of liquid tanks for storing the liquids, and these liquid tanks are maintained at a predetermined temperature. And temperature control means for maintaining the temperature.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the dispensing apparatus according to the first aspect, the liquid supply unit includes a liquid supply stage on which one intermediate container is placed, and a liquid supply stage. The liquid is supplied to one placed intermediate container from one of the plurality of discharge nozzles.

According to the present invention, the dispensing head for sucking the liquid from the intermediate container placed on the intermediate container mounting portion and discharging the liquid to the test container is disposed at a position distant from the intermediate container mounting portion. A compact configuration including a liquid supply unit having a plurality of discharge nozzles for discharging different types of liquids, and a transfer unit for transferring the intermediate container between the intermediate container placement unit and the liquid supply unit. Can supply a sufficient type of liquid.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drug discovery screening device according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of a dispensing device according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is one embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a plan view of a first table of the dispensing apparatus of FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the dispensing apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a rack stock portion of the dispensing device, FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a lid attaching / detaching portion and a plate shaking portion of the dispensing device according to one embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a lid attaching / detaching part of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a structural diagram of a plate shaking part of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a plate shaking unit of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a front view of a liquid supply unit of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. 15A is a block diagram showing a configuration of a liquid supply unit of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment, FIG. 15A is a partial cross-sectional view of a sample cleaning apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 16 is an operation explanatory view of a sample cleaning apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the sample cleaning apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing of a dispensing operation.

First, the configuration of a drug discovery screening device will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, a drug screening apparatus 1 automatically performs a creation screening operation, and has a configuration in which a dispensing apparatus 2 and an incubator 3 are combined. The dispensing device 2 dispenses a liquid such as a specimen, a reagent, or a drug to a microtiter plate 11 (hereinafter simply referred to as “plate 11”), which is a container for testing. The plate 11 after dispensing is sent to the incubator 3 and returned to the dispensing device 2 again through a predetermined culture process, where processing such as sample washing and measurement is performed by the associated equipment of the dispensing device 2.

In creative screening, a plate 11 containing a liquid such as a specimen or a drug solution is stocked in a plate stock unit 10.
Is transported to a first table section 6 provided on the upper portion of the base 4, where various dispensing operations are performed in each section arranged on the first table section 6. Processing such as sample washing and measurement performed on the plate 11 returned from the incubator 3 is performed in the second table unit 7 disposed above the base 4.

Inside the base 4, a rack holding a large number of unused dispensing tips used in the dispensing operation is stocked, and a tip supply unit 9 (supplied to the first table unit 6). (Tip supply means) is provided.
The tip supply unit 9 is open at the front of the base 4 (FIG. 2).
), A new unused dispensing tip can be inserted from this opening as described later.

On the front surface of the base 4, various pipes for draining liquids such as reagents and cleaning liquids used for the dispensing apparatus 2 and collecting harmful gases generated from these liquids are concentrated. A led centralized piping panel 8 is provided. The centralized piping panel 8 is provided for connecting drainage and exhaust gas discharged from each part of the dispensing device to an external connection port of a drainage recovery circuit, an exhaust gas recovery circuit, and the like, and is visible and external from the outside of the device. They are located within easy reach. The centralized piping panel 8 has a transparent cover door on the front,
By opening the cover door, a manual operation can be easily performed. The entire dispensing device 2 is covered by a cover case 5 to prevent external discharge of harmful gas and the like.

Next, the arrangement of each part of the dispensing apparatus 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the dispensing apparatus 2 includes a plate stock unit 10 that stocks a plate 11 on one side of the first table unit 6.
And a second table section 7 is arranged on the other side. As shown in FIG. 3, the second table section 7 is provided so as to be able to be drawn out of the dispensing apparatus 2 so as to selectively use various auxiliary equipment such as the measuring apparatus 25 and the sample cleaning apparatus 26 according to the test purpose. It is used as a spare table that can be placed.

The plate stock unit 10 will be described. As shown in FIG.
A stock shelf 22 that can be moved up and down by the axis table 21 is provided, and a plurality of plate magazines 23 are mounted on the stock shelf 22. The plate magazine 23 accommodates a large number of plates 11 and drives the Z-axis table 21 to position the plates 11 in the plate magazine 23 at a grip height by a robot hand 37 described later.

As shown in FIG. 3, above the first table section 6, two kinds of dispensing heads 3 used for dispensing operation are provided.
A robot hand 37 is provided as transfer means for transferring the reservoirs 2 and 34 and the reservoir 12 containing a liquid such as the plate 11 and a chemical solution. The dispensing heads 32, 34
It is moved in the X direction by the axis table 30 and is moved in the Y direction by the Y axis tables 31 and 33, respectively.

The robot hand 37 is an X-axis table 3
5, a Y-axis table 36, an elevating and rotating unit 38, and a transfer head 39. One end of the Y-axis table 36 is connected to the X-axis table 35. When the X-axis table 35 is driven, the Y-axis table 36 moves in the X direction. The elevating / rotating unit 38 is coupled to the Y-axis table 36, and is moved in the Y direction by the Y-axis table 36. Lifting rotation unit 38
The height and direction of the transfer head 39 attached to the lower end of the arm 38a are changed by raising and lowering the arm 38a vertically and rotating it horizontally.

The transfer head 39 holds the plate 11 and the reservoir 12 by two chuck hands 39a. The robot hand 37 takes out the plate 11 from the plate stock unit 10 by the transfer head 39, transfers the plate 11 to the first table unit 6, and handles the plate 11 and the reservoir 12 in the first table unit 6.

Next, the arrangement of each section in the first table section 6 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
A plate stage 14 (mounting portion) on which a plurality of plates 11 which are containers for storing a test liquid is mounted, a tip mounting stage 16 for mounting dispensing tips on dispensing heads 32 and 34, Tip removal stage 15 for removing dispensing tips from the injection heads 32 and 34
A reservoir stage 17 (intermediate container mounting portion) for mounting a plurality of reservoirs 12 as intermediate containers containing liquid is disposed.

The plate stage 14, the tip mounting stage 16, the tip removing stage 15, and the reservoir stage 17 are arranged within the moving range of the dispensing heads 32 and 34, and the dispensing heads 32 and 34 are located between the respective stages described above. By moving, various operations such as dispensing operations and dispensing tips can be performed. In the dispensing operation, the liquid is sucked from the plate 11 placed on the plate stage 14 by the dispensing heads 32 and 34 and the other plates 11 are sucked.
In addition, the liquid is sucked from the reservoir 12 placed on the reservoir stage 17 by the dispensing heads 32 and 34 and discharged to the plate 11 of the plate stage 14.

A liquid supply unit 18 is disposed at a position away from the reservoir stage 17 on the near side, and the liquid supply unit 18 discharges various liquids stored in a liquid tank described later into the reservoir 12. . Plate stage 1
4, a plate positioning stage 20 and a plate shaking unit 19 are arranged. The plate positioning stage 20 corrects the position of the plate 11 when attaching and detaching the lid. The plate shaking unit 19 holds the plate 11 and oscillates in a horizontal plane to uniformly mix a plurality of types of liquids dispensed to the plate 11.

Above the plate shaking section 19 and the plate positioning stage 20, a lid attaching / detaching section 24 for detaching and reattaching the lid 11a from the plate 11 is provided. The transfer of the reservoir 12 to the liquid supply unit 18, the transfer of the plate 11 to the plate shaking unit 19 and the plate positioning stage 20, and the handling of the plate 11 when the lid is attached and detached are performed by a robot hand 37.

As shown in FIG. 3, the second table 7 can be pulled out of the dispensing device 2, and the base 7a slides forward along the pull-out rail 7b. Thus, operations such as operation / maintenance / inspection of the measuring device 25 and the sample cleaning device 26 installed on the base portion 7a and replacement with other types of equipment can be performed with good workability.

Hereinafter, the configuration and function of each of the above units will be described with reference to the drawings. First, referring to FIGS. 5 to 8, the tip mounting stage 16 and the tip removing stage 1
5 will be described. As shown in FIG.
Numeral 2 has a large number of nozzles 32a arranged in a lattice, and a dispensing tip 13a is attached to the lower end of the nozzle 32a. The dispensing tip 34 has the same dispensing tip 1
3a are mounted in a row.
By selecting the type of dispensing head 32, 34 according to the application, various dispensing operations can be performed efficiently. In the following description, only an example in which the dispensing head 32 is used is described, but the same applies to a case in which the dispensing head 34 is used.

The dispensing tips 13a are held in the rack 13 in the same arrangement as the arrangement of the nozzles 32a in the dispensing head 32. The rack 13 is mounted on the tip mounting stage 16 on the first table 6 by the base plate 6a.
Is supplied from below through an opening 16b formed at the bottom. The opening 16b is normally closed by the cover 16a, and is opened as needed. When a tape is mounted, the dispensing head 32 is positioned and lowered with the rack 13 positioned in the opening 16b. Thereby, the lower end of the nozzle 32a is inserted into the dispensing tip 13a, and the dispensing tip 13a is attached to each nozzle 32a.

A tip removal stage 15 is disposed adjacent to the tip mounting stage 16. The tip removal stage 15 is used for the dispensing tip 13 after use.
a is a stage for removing a from the dispensing head 32. The removal jig 15 automatically performs this removal operation.
b. A removal hole 15c is provided on the upper surface of the removal jig 15b, and the dispensing tip 13a is inserted into the removal hole 15c to lock the dispensing head 32 in a state where the dispensing tip 13a is locked. Is removed from the dispensing head 32. Then, the removed dispensing tip 13a falls into a collection box 15d (see FIG. 2) disposed below the base plate 6a and is collected.

Next, the structure of the tip supply section 9 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows a partial cross section of the base 4, and a tip supply section 9 is provided below the base plate 6 a of the first table section 6. The tip supply section 9 includes a transport conveyor 40 and an elevating mechanism 43. On the conveyor 40, a rack 13 in a stacked state, which is loaded through a loading port 9b (see also FIG. 2) opened on the front surface of the base 4, is placed.

The conveyor 40 is driven by a motor 41 via a belt 42, whereby the stacked racks 13 are transferred in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. A sensor 45 is provided at the end of the conveyor 40, and the rack 13 transported on the conveyor 40 is provided.
Is detected by the sensor 45. The detection signal from the sensor 45 is sent to the control unit 46, and the control unit 46 controls the driving of the motor 41 based on the detection signal.
At the timing when the rack 13 reaches a predetermined position on the conveyor 40, the conveyor 40 stops.

A plurality of rows of stacked racks 13 can be placed on the conveyor 40, and the conveyors 40 are supplied with the racks 1 supplied in a stacked state from the input port 9b.
3 is a rack transporting means for transferring the rack 13 to an elevating mechanism 43 described below, and also serves as a rack stock unit for stocking the rack 13 in a section from the input port 9b to the elevating mechanism 43.

An elevating mechanism 43 having a lifter 44 is arranged at the transport end of the transport conveyor 40. Lifter 4
The rack 4 is moved up and down by the lifting mechanism 43 below the tip mounting stage 16, and the rack 13 transferred to a predetermined position by the transport conveyor 40 is supported from below by the lifter 44 below the tip mounting stage 16, and Rise towards.

The uppermost rack 13 is positioned on the tip mounting stage 16 through the opening 16b provided in the first table section 6 by this raising operation. A clamp member 48 driven by a cylinder 47 is arranged below the opening 16b, and the cylinder 47 is driven to open and close the clamp member 48, thereby positioning and holding the uppermost rack 13. The cylinder 47 and the clamp member 48 are clamping means for clamping the uppermost rack 13.

As shown in FIG. 7A, the clamp member 48
A transmission type optical sensor 49 for detecting a rack
a, 49b are provided. Optical sensors 49a, 49
7B, the detection line L is located below the lower surface of the base plate 6a by a predetermined height H, and as shown in FIG.
The optical sensors 49a and 49b detect the rack 13 when the upper end of the uppermost rack 13 reaches the detection line L. Therefore, the optical sensors 49a and 49b serve as rack height detecting means for detecting the uppermost rack 13 which is raised by the lifting mechanism 43 at a position separated from the tip mounting stage 16 by a predetermined height.

The optical sensors 49a and 49b transmit this detection signal to the control unit 46, and the control unit 46 controls the lifting mechanism 43 based on the detection signal, whereby the optical sensor 49a, 49b is raised by the lifter 44 as shown in FIG. Rack 13 at the top
Is positioned at a predetermined height position on the tip mounting stage 16. Then, by controlling the operation of the cylinder 47 by the control unit 46, the uppermost rack 13 positioned in the opening 16 b of the tip mounting stage 16 as shown in FIG.

In this state, the dispensing tip 32a is attached to the dispensing nozzle 32a by lowering the dispensing head 32 with respect to the rack 13 (see FIG. 5). Then, the empty rack 13 after the dispensing tip 13a is taken out is transferred by the robot hand 37, and the collection box 54 (FIG. 3)
Will be dumped within.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the tip supply section 9 for supplying unused dispensing tips 13a is disposed below the first table section 6 where the dispensing operation is performed. Thus, the opening 16b is provided at a position where the dispensing heads 32, 34 of the base plate 6a are easily accessible, and the dispensing tip 13a can be supplied through the opening 16b. The efficiency of the replacement work of the 13a is realized.

Further, since a new rack 13 can be supplied through the slot 9b provided on the front surface of the base 4, the rack 13 can be replenished with good workability, and the rack 13 can be moved up and down from the slot 9b. By utilizing the section up to the mechanism 43 as a rack stock section, a sufficient stock amount can be secured.

Next, referring to FIG. 9 and FIG.
4 will be described. Plate shaking section 19 on base plate 6a and plate positioning stage 20
A gate-shaped frame 24a is erected above.
A plurality of lid suction portions 50 are provided on the lower surface of the frame 24a. As shown in FIG. 10, the lid suction section 50 is a suction pad 5 that holds the lid 11a of the plate 11 by vacuum suction.
0a, and the lid suction section 50 is connected to the vacuum pump 57 by the suction pipe 51 via the valve 53 and the filter 52.
Is connected to The lid 11a can be held on the lower surface of the suction pad 50a by driving the vacuum pump 57 to vacuum suction the lid suction section 50.

The suction tube 51 of each lid suction section 50 is provided with a valve 55
The compressed air is supplied from the compressed air source 58 into the lid suction unit 50 in a state where the valve 53 is closed and the valve 55 is opened by the control unit 46. The vacuum inside is broken and the suction pad 50
The lid 11a held at a is separated from the suction pad 50a.

Removal of the lid 11a from the plate 11
The reattachment is performed by handling the plate 11 by the robot hand 37. That is, lid 1
When removing the robot hand 1a, the robot hand 3 shown in FIG.
The plate 11 held by 7 is placed on the plate positioning stage 20, and the positioning of the plate 11 is performed by the positioning pins 20a. Thereby, the plate 11
Is correctly aligned with respect to the lid suction section 50. Next, the plate 11 in the aligned state is handled by the robot hand 37, and the lid 11 a is made to approach the lid suction unit 50. By driving the vacuum pump 57 in this state, the lid 11a is vacuum-sucked on the lower surface of the suction pad 50a.

When reattaching the lid 11a,
The plate 11 from which a has been removed is similarly handled by the robot hand 37 to approach the lid suction portion 50 holding the lid 11a from below.
When the plate 11 is located immediately below the lid 11a, the lid 11a is detached from the lid suction portion 50, and the plate 1
1 and drop it.

When the lid 11a is vacuum-sucked, the lid 11a
In some cases, the droplets adhering to the upper surface of the lid may be sucked by the suction pad 50a.
In addition to using a transparent tube whose inside can be visually recognized as the suction tube 51, a suction state can be observed, and a filter 52 is provided in the suction tube 51 so as to prevent troubles in the vacuum suction system due to droplet suction. ing.

Next, the plate shaking section 19 will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 11, the plate shaking section 19 provided on the base plate 6a of the first table section 6 includes a moving table 60.
The plate 11 in which a plurality of types of liquids are dispensed is placed on the moving table 60 in wells 11b provided in a lattice shape. The transfer of the plate 11 to the moving table 60 is performed by the robot hand 37.

A cylinder 63 is provided on the lower surface of the moving table 60.
Is fixed, and a clamp member 62 is coupled to the rod 63 a of the cylinder 63. By driving the cylinder 63 while the plate 11 is placed on the moving table 60, the plate 11 is pressed by the clamp member 62 against a fixed stopper 61 provided on one side of the moving table 60. Thereby, the plate 11
It is held on the moving table 60.

On the lower surface of the moving table 60, the X direction (FIG. 1)
1 (b), a guide rail 64 (in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface) is fixed, and the guide rail 64 is slidable in the X direction with respect to the slider 65. The slider 65 is slidable in the Y direction with respect to a guide rail 66 fixed to the base plate 6a in the Y direction. Therefore, the moving table 60 is mounted on the base plate 6.
It is movable in the X and Y directions in the horizontal plane with respect to a.

The driving means of the moving table 60 will be described. A motor 72 and a bearing block 70 are fixed to a lower surface of the base plate 6a, and a rotating shaft 71 is supported on the bearing block 70 in a vertical posture. The rotation shaft 71 is driven to rotate by a motor 72 via a belt 73. A rotating plate 69 is connected to the upper end of the rotating shaft 71. An eccentric shaft 67 erected at a position eccentric from the center on the upper surface of the rotating plate 69 is provided with a bearing 68 fixed to the lower surface of the moving table 60. Is fitted.

Therefore, the motor 72 is driven to
By rotating 1, eccentric rotational movement is transmitted to the moving table 60 via the eccentric shaft 67. Thus, a shaking operation for shaking the liquid in the well 11b is transmitted to the plate 11. That is, the motor 72, the belt 73, the rotating shaft 71, the rotating plate 69, and the eccentric shaft 67 are driving means for driving the moving table 60 to cause the plate 11 to perform a shaking operation.

In this driving means, a rotary shaft 72a of a motor 72 has a slit 74 as shown in FIG.
The rotation dog 74 provided with a is connected thereto, and an origin detection sensor 75 is provided with the circumference of the rotation dog 74 as a detection position. As shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 5 is connected to the control unit 46, and includes a shake motor 72, a clamp cylinder 63, and a robot hand 3.
7 is controlled by the control unit 46.

When the shake operation is performed by driving the motor 72, the rotation of the rotary shaft 72a causes the slit 7 to rotate.
The position 4a moves in the rotation circumferential direction. By detecting the position of the slit 74 a at this time by the origin detection sensor 75, it is possible to detect the phase of the eccentric rotational movement of the moving table 60 by the rotating shaft 71. By controlling the motor 72 by the control unit 46 based on the detection signal of the origin detection sensor 75, the position of the moving table 60 when the shake operation is stopped can always be positioned at the position held by the chuck hand 39a of the robot hand 37. it can. Thereby, when the transfer of the plate 11 is automated by the robot hand 37, the reproducibility of the position of the plate 11 is ensured, so that it is possible to prevent a transfer error due to a position shift at the time of chucking. .

In the above configuration, the motor 72, the guide rail 64, the slider 65, and the guide rail 66 constitute a table alignment mechanism for positioning the moving table 60 so that the plate 11 is located at the position where the robot hand 37 is held. The control section 46 and the origin detection sensor 75 serve as positioning control means for controlling the motor 72 to position the moving table 60 at a predetermined position.

Next, the liquid supply unit 18 will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 13, a gate-shaped frame 18a is erected on a base plate 6a, and a vertical holding plate 8 fixed to the frame 18a is provided.
0 is provided with a liquid supply unit 81. The base plate 6a below the liquid supply unit 81 is a liquid supply stage on which one reservoir 12 is placed and supplies liquid to this reservoir 12.

The liquid supply unit 81 will be described.
A nozzle block 81a is slidably held up and down on the holding plate 80, and the nozzle block 81a is connected to a rod 82a of a cylinder 82. The nozzle block 81a includes a plurality of ejection nozzles 83 projecting downward.
When the rod 82a of the cylinder 82 is protruded and retracted, the discharge nozzle 83 moves up and down with respect to the reservoir 12 placed on the base plate 6a. Each discharge nozzle 83 is connected to a tube 84 having a pinch valve 85, and various liquids are supplied to each discharge nozzle 83 via a tube 84 from a liquid storage unit described later.

A liquid level detection sensor 86 is provided above the reservoir 12 and held by an elevating portion 87. A nut 88a coupled to the elevating portion 87 has a feed screw 88b.
Is screwed. When the feed screw 88b is rotationally driven by the motor 89, the liquid level detection sensor 86 moves up and down with respect to the reservoir 12. Then, when the liquid level detection sensor 86 is lowered, the level of the liquid level in the reservoir 12 is detected. The liquid level detection result is transmitted to the control unit 46.

The liquid storage will be described. A liquid storage section 90 shown in FIG. 14 is provided inside the base 4.
A plurality of liquid tanks 92 are accommodated in the liquid storage section 90. The liquid storage section 90 is provided with a temperature adjusting means 90a so that various kinds of different liquids 93a, 93b, 93c, 93d stored in a liquid tank 92 can be stored in a state of being maintained at a predetermined temperature. .

As shown in FIG. 14, the other end of the tube 84 connected to the discharge nozzle 83 is inserted to the bottom of the sealed liquid tank 92. A pinch valve 85 provided in the middle of the tube 84 is opened and closed by the control unit 46. A tube 91 having one end opened in the internal space above the liquid level is inserted into the liquid tank 92, and the tube 91 is connected to a three-way valve 94, and the three-way valve 94 is further connected to a compressed air source via an on-off valve 96. 95.

The three-way valve 94 and the opening / closing valve 96 are controlled by the control section 46. By supplying air from the compressed air source 95 with the three-way valve 94 and the opening / closing valve 96 opened, the inside of the liquid tank 92 is pressurized. Is done. By opening the pinch valve 85 in this state, each of the liquid tanks 92 is opened.
93a, 93b, 93c, 93d stored inside
Is discharged from the discharge nozzle 83 into the reservoir 12.
The compressed air source 95, the tube 91, and the three-way valve 94 serve as a compressed gas introduction unit for introducing a compressed gas into the liquid tank 92.

At this time, by controlling the pinch valve 85, the liquid can be ejected from only one of the plurality of ejection nozzles 83. Therefore, a plurality of types of liquids are supplied by the same liquid supply stage. It has become possible. In other words, the liquid supply stage of the liquid supply unit 18 provided on the first table 6 only needs to have a space for one reservoir 12, and even when it is necessary to supply various types of liquids. In addition, the space of the liquid supply stage can be minimized and a compact arrangement can be realized.

At the time of this discharge, the liquid level in the reservoir 12 is detected by the liquid level detection sensor 86, and the control unit 46 controls the pinch valve 85 according to this detection signal. Can be adjusted arbitrarily.

The three-way valve 94 is connected to the centralized piping panel 8 (FIG. 1).
) Is connected to a connection port 98 provided through a filter 97, and the control unit 46 switches the three-way valve 94, so that the space in the liquid tank 92 communicates with the connection port 98 (external connection means). I do. This allows
The gas in the liquid tank 92 can be discharged to the outside via the connection port 98. At this time, connection port 9
By connecting 8 to an exhaust gas recovery circuit 99 (external connection port) provided outside the machine, the gas in the liquid tank 92 is recovered by the exhaust gas recovery circuit 99 without polluting the working environment.

Next, the sample cleaning device 26 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 15A, a cleaning chamber 100a is provided on a base 100 of the sample cleaning apparatus 26, and a plate holder 101 is provided on the base 100 so as to be movable in a horizontal direction. ing. The plate holder 101 holds a plate 11 in which a sample to be washed is stored in a well 11b.

In the cleaning chamber 100a, two cleaning heads 102A and 102B are provided so as to be movable up and down. Each of the cleaning heads 102A and 102B has a discharge nozzle 102a for discharging the cleaning liquid and a suction nozzle 102b for suctioning the cleaning liquid on the lower surface. In the sample cleaning operation, the plate holder 101 holding the plate 11 is moved to the cleaning head 1.
The cleaning is performed by lowering the cleaning heads 102A and 102B with respect to the plate 11 in a state where the cleaning heads 102A and 102B are sequentially positioned below 02A and 102B.

That is, as shown in FIG. 15B, first, the discharge nozzle 102a is inserted into the well 11b,
Then, the cleaning liquid 103 in the well 11b is sucked by the suction nozzle 102b. Thus, the sample accommodated in the well 11b is washed. A drain pan 104 is provided below the cleaning chamber 100a, and the cleaning liquid 103 which has overflowed from the plate 11 by the cleaning operation is received by the drain pan 104, and is discharged through a drain tube 105 (drain pipe). Collected via

Next, the piping system will be described with reference to FIG. First, the piping system of the liquid discharge mechanism for discharging the cleaning liquid will be described. The discharge tube 10 is provided in the cleaning head 102A.
7 (discharge pipe line) is connected to the discharge tube 10.
The other end of 7 is inserted up to the bottom of a sealed liquid tank 112 (first tank) that stores the cleaning liquid 103.
An exhaust tube 113 (first exhaust pipe) having one end opened in the internal space above the liquid level is inserted into the liquid tank 112, and the exhaust tube 113 is connected to the three-way valve 115. The three-way valve 115 is further connected to a compressed air source 117 via an on-off valve 116.

The three-way valve 115 and the on-off valve 116 are
The liquid tank 112 is pressurized by supplying air from the compressed air source 117 with the three-way valve 115 and the on-off valve 116 opened. As a result, the cleaning liquid 103 in the liquid tank 112 is supplied to the cleaning head 102A.
Is discharged from the discharge nozzle 102a. Compressed air source 117,
The exhaust tube 113 and the three-way valve 115
2 is a compressed gas introduction unit for introducing a compressed gas.

The three-way valve 115 is connected via a filter 114 to a connection port 120 (first external connection means) provided on the centralized piping panel 8 (see FIG. 1). By switching the valve 115, the space in the liquid tank 112 communicates with the connection port 120. Thereby, the residual gas in the liquid tank 112 can be discharged to the outside via the connection port 120 in the same manner. By connecting the connection port 120 to the external exhaust gas recovery circuit 99 (external connection port), the harmful gas generated from the cleaning liquid 103 is discharged to the exhaust gas recovery circuit 99 without leaking.

Next, the piping system of the liquid discharging mechanism will be described. This liquid discharging mechanism is provided in the dispensing apparatus.
A mechanism for discharging the liquid dispensed in 1 as drainage,
Here, a liquid discharging mechanism of a sample cleaning device provided in the dispensing device will be described as an example. A suction tube 106 is connected to the cleaning head 102B, and a drain tube 105 is connected to the drain pan 104.
6 is connected to the collection unit 108.

Tube 109 connected to collection unit 108
Is inserted into a closed drain collection tank 110 (second tank). Collection unit 1 by control unit 46
By controlling 08, the waste liquid recovery tank 110 stores the used cleaning liquid 103 ′ such as the cleaning liquid sucked by the cleaning head 102 B and the cleaning liquid collected from the drain pan 104.

The drainage collection tank 110 is provided with an exhaust tube 111 (second end) having one end opened in an internal space above the liquid level.
Exhaust pipe) is inserted, and the exhaust tube 111
Is the liquid trap 1 provided on the centralized piping panel 8.
18 is connected to the lower port 118a. The upper port 118b of the liquid trap 118 is connected to an exhaust pump 121
The exhaust port of the exhaust pump 121 is connected to the connection port 119 (second external connection means) of the centralized piping panel 8.

By driving the exhaust pump 121 in a state where the used cleaning liquid 103 ′ has been recovered in the drain recovery tank 110, the gas remaining in the drain recovery tank 110 is trapped in the liquid by the exhaust tube 111. 118
From the connection port 119 to the exhaust gas recovery circuit 99 (external connection port).

This drug discovery screening apparatus is configured as described above, and an example of a dispensing operation performed in drug discovery screening will be described below with reference to FIG.
First, the plates 11A and 11B are taken out of the plate stock unit 10 by the robot hand 37 and placed on the plate stage 14. Here, as shown in FIG. 17 (a), plate 13A contains antibody 13 in well 11b in advance.
0 is cultured, and the plate 11B contains a liquid containing the antigen 131.

Thereafter, the first dispensing operation is performed on the plate 11A by the dispensing head 32. That is, as shown in FIG.
1 is sucked and the well 11 of the plate 11A is sucked.
b. The plate 11A after this dispensing operation is gripped by the robot hand 37 and placed on the moving table 60 of the plate shaking unit 19 (FIG. 11).
Here, shaking is performed. Thereby, the well 11
The liquid in b is mixed uniformly.

Thereafter, the plate 11A is again gripped by the robot hand 37 and transferred to the incubator 3 where culturing is performed for a predetermined time. The plate 11A after the culture is sent to the sample washing device 26 (FIG. 15), and sample washing is performed. That is, a washing solution is injected into the well 11b after the antibody-antigen reaction has progressed by culturing, and then the washing solution is discharged to remove the floating antigen.

Next, a second dispensing operation is performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 17C, the liquid 132 containing the new antibody 130 is supplied to the reservoir 12A in the liquid supply unit 18, and then the liquid 132 is supplied from the reservoir 12A placed on the reservoir stage 17 by the dispensing head 32. Is sucked and discharged onto the plate 11A mounted on the mounting portion 14. Thereafter, shaking is performed on the plate 11A after the dispensing operation in the same manner as described above, and further, culture is performed in an incubator.

Thereafter, the plate 11A is sent again to the sample cleaning device 26 to perform a sample cleaning process. Next, a liquid 133 containing a coloring element is dispensed from the reservoir 12B to the plate 11A after the sample washing as shown in FIG. 17D, and the sample is visualized. Then, the plate 11A after the antigen 131 and the antibody 130 after the antigen-antibody reaction are visualized is sent to the measuring device 25, where measurement is performed on the visualized sample. The plate 11A after the measurement is completed is returned to the plate stock unit 10 by the robot hand 37 again. Thus, a series of processes for drug discovery screening is completed.

As described above, in the drug discovery screening device 1 of the present embodiment, the dispensing device 2 and the incubator 3 are compactly connected, and the plate 11 is transferred by the same robot hand 37. Therefore, efficient screening work is possible. Further, a first table unit 6 for performing a dispensing operation and a tip attaching / detaching operation on the dispensing device 2, and a second table that can be used as a spare table for ancillary equipment such as sample washing and measurement processing and that can be pulled out to the outside. The provision of the section 7 realizes a dispensing apparatus that is compact, has excellent maintainability, and can be used flexibly according to the test content.

In the dispensing apparatus shown in this embodiment, the gas remaining in the liquid tank containing various liquids used for dispensing, including the washing liquid used in the incorporated sample washing apparatus 26, is used. The exhaust pipe is connected to a centralized piping panel 8 that communicates with an external connection port such as an exhaust gas recovery circuit. As a result, even when a liquid of a type that generates harmful gas is used, the harmful gas can be collected in a predetermined exhaust gas collection circuit without leaking into or around the dispensing device, thereby improving the working environment. Can be preserved.

As one embodiment of the dispensing apparatus of the present invention, the case of aiming at drug screening has been described as an example. However, the present invention is applied to a dispensing apparatus used for purposes other than drug screening. Is also applicable.

[0078]

According to the present invention, a dispensing head that sucks a liquid from an intermediate container placed on an intermediate container mounting portion and discharges the liquid to a test container is provided at a position distant from the intermediate container mounting portion. Since the liquid supply unit includes a plurality of discharge nozzles that are arranged and discharges different types of liquids, and a transfer unit that transfers the intermediate container between the intermediate container placement unit and the liquid supply unit, the size is compact. With a simple configuration, a sufficient type of liquid can be supplied.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drug discovery screening device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a first table of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a rack stock portion of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a rack stock portion of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a rack stock portion of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a lid attaching / detaching portion and a plate shaking portion of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a lid attaching / detaching portion of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a structural diagram of a plate shaking part of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a plate shaking unit of the dispensing device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a front view of a liquid supply unit of the dispensing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a liquid supply unit of the dispensing device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15A is a partial cross-sectional view of a sample cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15B is an operation explanatory diagram of the sample cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a sample cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of a dispensing operation in drug discovery screening according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Dispensing device 4 Base 6 First table section 7 Second table section 8 Centralized piping panel 9 Tip supply section 10 Plate stock section 11 Plate 12 Reservoir 13 Rack 13a Dispensing tip 14 Plate stage 15 Tip removal stage 16 Tip Mounting stage 17 Reservoir stage 18 Liquid supply unit 19 Plate shaking unit 25 Measuring device 26 Sample washing device 32, 34 Dispensing head 37 Robot hand 40 Transport conveyor 43 Lifting mechanism 46 Control unit 60 Moving table 81 Liquid supply unit 90 Liquid storage unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2G058 AA09 BB02 BB07 BB09 BB10 BB15 CA01 CA02 CB09 CC02 CD12 CD19 CD26 CE02 CE05 CF09 CF14 CF17 CF25 CF28 EA03 EA04 EA07 EA19 EB01 EC03 ED02 ED08 ED13 ED20 FB29 GA01 GB03 GB08

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A dispensing device for aspirating a liquid in an intermediate container and discharging the liquid into a test container, comprising: an intermediate container mounting portion for mounting a plurality of the intermediate containers; and an intermediate container mounting portion. A dispensing head that sucks the liquid from the intermediate container mounted on the container and discharges the liquid to the container, and a plurality of discharge nozzles that are arranged at positions away from the intermediate container mounting portion and discharge different types of the liquid, respectively. A dispensing apparatus, comprising: a liquid supply unit provided with a transfer unit that transfers an intermediate container between the liquid supply unit and the intermediate container mounting unit. 2. The liquid supply unit according to claim 1, wherein the liquid supply unit includes a plurality of liquid tanks for storing the liquids, respectively, and temperature adjusting means for maintaining the liquid tanks at a predetermined temperature. Dispensing device. 3. A liquid supply stage on which one intermediate container is mounted, and a plurality of discharge nozzles for one intermediate container mounted on the liquid supply stage. The dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is supplied from any one of the dispensing devices.