JP3056670B2 - Automatic sample transporter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic transport apparatus for specimens used in the field of biochemical analyzers and the like, and more particularly to an automatic transport apparatus capable of separating a large number of sample racks at an appropriate distance on a transport belt. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a biochemical analyzer for analyzing body fluids such as blood and urine, many and many kinds of specimens are put into test tubes or cells, and several of these test tubes and the like are put together in a rack.
Further, samples are dispensed from a test tube or the like for various analyses, and operations such as reagent addition, stirring, analysis, and washing are performed. The biochemical analyzer that performs these operations is automatically performed including transport of a rack containing test tubes containing samples and the like. For example, FIG.
As shown in the figure, a large number of racks 5 accommodate the test tubes 4 containing samples in the stocker 1 and place them on the transport belt 6a by a robot hand or the like, and accumulate them in the carry-in stocker 2 for each inspection item. Put on the conveyor belts 6b and 6c,
Further, the rack 5 is transferred to the transport belt 6d that moves to the various analysis units 3. After the processing by the analysis unit 3, the rack 5 is placed on the transport belts 6e to 6f and 6g, and is transported to the original stocker 1 through a process such as replacement or cleaning of the test tube 4 or the like.

[0003] As a conventional transport device for a rack containing a sample, a rack is separately provided for each of a feed line and a return line of a sample transport device in order to reduce the time required for initializing or resetting a rack feed and return on a transport line. A beam sensor for detecting presence / absence is built in the apparatus (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-15771), or a transport line in the X direction and a transport line in the Y direction are made to go in a straight line so that the sample can be transported in the respective intended directions. A sample transport system for a clinical test in which a sensor and a solenoid stopper are arranged on each transport belt and controlled so as not to collide at an intersection position is known (JP-A-4-172253).

[0004]

When processing a sample stored in a rack (aspiration, addition of a reagent, stirring, dispensing, etc.),
There is often a difference in processing time depending on the inspection item. Therefore, when transporting the sample-containing rack by the transport belt, the transport speed of each transport belt is often different, so that the distance and the interval between the rack and the next rack must be transported while extending or contracting. As a general means for separating the continuous racks, as shown in FIG. 4, if the speeds of two conveyor belts, for example, the two conveyor belts 6c and 6d in FIG. 3, are respectively v ₁ and v ₂ , v ₁ > v ₂
Alternatively, v ₁ <v ₂ was often set. However, when the distance between the racks is determined based on the speed difference as described above, there is a problem that the rack does not operate smoothly when moving on to the next conveyor belt, which causes a trouble.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and when a large number of racks are transported one after another and transferred from one conveyor belt to another conveyor belt for processing, a certain rack and a next rack are processed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic transfer device capable of setting a proper distance from a rack.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an automatic sample transport apparatus for transporting a sample-containing rack to a predetermined processing step using a plurality of transport belts. When a rack to be conveyed is detected on a certain conveyor belt among the belts, the conveyor belt and the conveyor belt in front of the conveyor belt are simultaneously stopped, and after stopping for a predetermined time, the conveyor belt in front of the conveyor belt is reversely driven. Further, a sensor connected to a means for driving these two conveyor belts in the original direction after the reverse rotation driving for a predetermined time is provided.

[0007]

The operation of the automatic sample transporting apparatus as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 in which a certain transport belt is 6d, and a transport belt before the certain transport belt 6d is 6c. When the rack 5 transferred from the conveyor belt 6c is transferred to the conveyor belt 6d and the tip (surface) touches the sensor 7, both the conveyor belt 6c and the conveyor belt 6d temporarily stop. Next, after a predetermined time (for example, 1 or 2 seconds), the driving motor or the driving mechanism 9 of the transport belt 6c reverses the transport belt 6c (FIG. 2). When the distance between the rack 5 of the conveyor belt 6d and the rack 5 on the previous conveyor belt 6c reaches the intended predetermined distance (L), the conveyor belt 6c is temporarily stopped. During this time, the rack 5 on the conveyor belt 6d is moved in another direction for processing. Then, these two conveyor belts 6c and 6d are driven again as before. When the rack 5 of the conveyor belt 6c is transferred onto the conveyor belt 6d again, and the tip (surface) of the rack 5 touches the sensor 7, the above operations are repeated. The time between the stop of the conveyor belts 6c and 6d and the start of the reverse rotation of the conveyor belt 6c is determined by the distance between the rack 5 and the rack 5 before it.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an automatic sample transport apparatus according to the present invention in which two transport belts, for example, the transport belt 6c shown in FIG.
The state in which the rack 5 accommodating the test tube 4 containing the sample is transferred is shown. The rack 5 transported by the transport belt 6c is transferred to the next transport belt 6d, and a sensor 7 is arranged at an end of the transport belt 6d. The sensor 7 detects that the rack 5 has moved from the conveyor belt 6c to the conveyor belt 6c.
The rack 5 is placed at a position where the end (surface) of the rack 5 touches when reaching the final end. The sensor 7 is connected to a motor for driving the conveyor belts 6c and 6d or an arithmetic processing unit (CPU) 8 for controlling driving mechanisms 9 and 10 when the end of the rack 5 is touched (when the rack 5 is detected). I have. In the figure, the sensor 7 is a contact type sensor, but may be another optical sensor such as a photoelectric sensor.

When the leading end (surface) of the rack 5 transferred to the conveyor belt 6d touches the sensor 7, the conveyor belts 6c and 6d temporarily stop and a motor or a driving mechanism for driving the previous conveyor belt 6c. 9 reverses the conveyor belt 6c. That is, in FIG. 1, the rack 5 is moving on the transport belt 6d, and another rack 5, 5, etc. is moving on the transport belt. Then, it is assumed that the distance between the rack 5 and the previous rack 5 needs to be increased. The sensor 7 is connected to a motor for driving the conveyor belts 6c and 6d or a CPU 8 for controlling the driving mechanisms 9 and 10. In this case, the sensor 7 is operated as follows. (1) When the rack 5 transferred from the transport belt 6c is transferred to the transport belt 6d and the tip (surface) touches the sensor 7, both the transport belt 6c and the transport belt 6d temporarily stop. (2) Next, after a predetermined time (for example, 1 or 2 seconds), the driving motor or the driving mechanism 9 of the transport belt 6c reverses the transport belt 6c (FIG. 2). (3) Rack 5 of transport belt 6d and previous transport belt 6c
When the distance from the upper rack 5 reaches the intended predetermined distance (L), the transport belt 6c is temporarily stopped. During this time, the rack 5 on the transport belt 6d is moved or processed in another direction. Then, these two conveyor belts 6c and 6d are driven again as before. (4) The rack 5 of the conveyor belt 6c is transferred onto the conveyor belt 6d again, and when the tip (surface) of the rack 5 touches the sensor 7, the above operations (1) to (3) are repeated. In the above operation, the time between the stop of the conveyor belts 6c and 6d and the start of the reverse rotation of the conveyor belt 6c is determined by the rack 5
The distance may be determined depending on how much distance it is necessary to separate the rack 5 from the rack 5.

In the above embodiment, the transport belts 6c and 6d are stopped, and the transport belt 6c is further rotated.
The transport belt 6c and the preceding transport belt (not shown) may perform the same operation as the transport belt 6c.
Further, when a large number of transport belts are arranged, the above-described operation may be performed on a set of any two continuous transport belts as necessary.

[0011]

As described above in detail, according to the automatic sample transport apparatus of the present invention, the transfer when transferring from one transport conveyor to the next transport conveyor is performed smoothly and the sample is continuously transported. The racks on the conveyor belt can be processed while holding the racks one by one at an appropriate distance. In addition, the entire transport device can be compactly assembled.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a sample-containing rack is transferred from a certain transport belt to the next transport belt in the automatic sample transport apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the distance between two racks is increased by reversing the previous transport belt after the two adjacent transport belts have once stopped in the automatic sample transport apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of a biochemical analyzer for transporting and processing a sample-containing rack.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a method of increasing the distance between a rack and a rack in front of the rack when a sample-containing rack is transferred from one transport belt to the next transport belt in the conventional automatic transport apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Test tube 5 Rack 6c, 6d Conveyor belt 7 Sensor 8 CPU 9, 10 Drive mechanism

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An automatic sample transport apparatus for transporting a sample-containing rack to a predetermined processing step using a plurality of transport belts, wherein when a rack to be transported is detected on a transport belt among the transport belts, The transport belt and the transport belt in front of the transport belt are simultaneously stopped, and after stopping for a predetermined time, the transport belt in front of the transport belt is driven in reverse direction, and after the reverse drive for a predetermined time, these two transport belts are driven in the original direction. An automatic sample transport device, comprising a sensor connected to a means for causing the sample to be transported.