JPH04234973A - Apparatus for culturing bacteria - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the subject apparatus, composed of a specific construction and capable of automatically carrying laboratory dishes into a culture vessel and taking out the aforementioned laboratory dishes from the culture vessel in culturing bacteria in a culture medium contained in the laboratory dishes and carrying out sensitivity tests, etc., by an agar plate method. CONSTITUTION:Laboratory dishes 10 containing a culture medium inoculated with bacteria are initially intermittently moved with laboratory dish conveying mechanisms 62 and 64 in the horizontal direction and conveyed just under a carrying in hole 16 provided in the horizontal plate 14 of a culture vessel 12. The laboratory dishes 10 are then horizontally supported with laboratory dish transfer mechanisms 80 and 82. In this state, the laboratory dishes 10 are carried from the carrying in hole 16 into the culture vessel 12 and piled up at the position of each holding hole 34 in a horizontal holding plate 28 in a rotating stocker 22. The rotating stocker 22 is subsequently rotated to move the next holding hole 34 to the position of the carrying in hole 16. The laboratory dishes 10 are similarly stacked. The aforementioned operation is further repeated to house the laboratory dishes 10 in the culture vessel 12. The interior of the culture vessel 12 is then kept at a temperature optimum for culturing by action of a circulating fan 24, a heating means 26, etc., to carry out culturing.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to a bacteria culturing device for culturing bacteria inoculated into a medium such as agar contained in a petri dish (Petri dish). Method 1 for testing the sensitivity of bacteria to agents
In the agar plate dilution method, a large amount of bacteria inoculated into a drug-containing medium is cultured, and in the pour plate culture method, a viable count measurement method, bacteria in a bacterial solution-containing medium is cultured. It is used when culturing in large quantities.

0002

[Prior Art] For example, in the agar plate dilution method used for chemotherapeutic drug susceptibility testing, a test drug solution is serially diluted, and various concentrations are diluted in two-fold serial dilutions, for example, in about 10 to 15 steps. Prepare drug dilutions, and sequentially dispense a certain amount of each diluted solution and a certain amount of warmed and fluidized agar into a petri dish.After mixing the two in the petri dish, add the agar. A series of medium containing the test drug was solidified and serially diluted, and the test bacteria were inoculated into each of these flat plates, which were then stored in an incubator or incubation chamber for a predetermined period of time to cultivate the test bacteria. Thereafter, by observing the presence or absence of growth of the test bacteria, the lowest concentration of the drug that inhibits growth, that is, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), is determined.

[0003] In addition, to measure the number of viable bacteria using the pour plate culture method, prepare 10-fold serial dilutions of the bacterial suspension whose number of bacteria is to be determined, and add a certain amount of each dilution to a certain amount of agar medium. After sequentially dispensing and mixing in a Petri dish, the agar is solidified, and the agar is stored in an incubator or incubation room for a predetermined period of time to culture bacteria. The number of viable bacteria in the original bacterial solution is determined by counting the number of colonies on a plate medium in which colonies have been formed and calculating backwards using the dilution factor based on the number of colonies.

[0004] By the way, petri dishes containing a plate culture medium inoculated with test bacteria or a plate culture medium containing a diluted bacterial solution and agar have conventionally been manually stacked in large numbers. The cells are transported to an incubator or incubation room, and stored in the incubator or incubation room for a predetermined period of time to cultivate the bacteria, and then removed from the incubator or incubation room to observe the growth of the test bacteria or to determine the number of colonies. It was used for calculation.

[0005]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] At offices such as pharmaceutical company laboratories and clinical testing centers where inspection work such as bacterial susceptibility testing and viable bacterial count measurements to the above-mentioned chemotherapeutic agents is carried out, large amounts of culture media are required. Many culture treatments are carried out at once. In laboratories, etc., where a large number of culture media must be prepared and cultured at once, petri dishes containing plate culture media after inoculation of test bacteria or mixed plate culture media of diluted bacterial solution and agar are used. Petri dishes must be stacked or stacked in large numbers to be transported into an incubator or incubation room, and the petri dishes must be removed from the incubator or incubation room after culture, but these tasks cannot be done manually. This is troublesome for workers. In addition, a workbench space large enough to stack a large number of petri dishes is required. Furthermore, in recent years, there has been a trend toward full automation of various inspection tasks, but since the tasks described above still rely on manual labor, for example, the entire series of inspection tasks using the plate dilution method has become more difficult. This becomes an obstacle when trying to automate the process.

[0006] This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to collect bacteria in a culture medium housed in a Petri dish in susceptibility tests using agar plate dilution method or viable cell count measurement using pour plate culture method. To provide a bacteria culturing device that can automatically carry out operations of carrying a petri dish into a culture container and carrying out an operation of carrying out a petri dish from a culture container when culturing bacteria, and can automate the culture process. is a technical issue.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the present invention, as a technical means to achieve the above-mentioned problems, a large number of petri dishes are held and rotated in a state of being stacked in multiple rows in a sealed cylindrical culture container. A rotating stocker rotationally driven by a driving means, a circulation fan that circulates and stirs the air inside the culture container, and a temperature control means that is adjusted and controlled by the temperature control means to heat the air stirred by the circulation fan to adjust the temperature inside the culture container. A petri dish is provided with heating means for maintaining the temperature at a predetermined temperature, and a carrying hole into which a petri dish in a horizontal position is loosely fitted is formed in the horizontal bottom plate forming the bottom of the culture container, and a petri dish containing a culture medium inoculated with bacteria. intermittently move horizontally,
A Petri dish transport mechanism that sequentially transports the Petri dishes to a position directly below the carrying hole of the culture container, and a Petri dish transfer mechanism that sequentially transfers the Petri dishes transported to a position directly below the carrying hole of the culture vessel from the Petri dish transport mechanism into the culture container. A bacterial culture device was constructed by providing a loading mechanism. The rotating stocker is rotatably held close to and parallel to the horizontal bottom plate of the culture container in a horizontal plane, and has a plurality of holding holes into which petri dishes in a horizontal position are loosely fitted, and are equally spaced in the circumferential direction. A holding member for holding a plurality of petri dishes in a stacked state at the position of each holding hole is provided on the upper surface of a horizontal holding plate formed at a radial position corresponding to the carrying-in hole of the horizontal bottom plate. . Further, the petri dish transfer mechanism is configured to include an elevating means that supports the petri dish in a horizontal state and has a support portion that is supported so as to be able to rise and fall through an entry hole formed in the horizontal bottom plate of the culture container. .

[0008] In addition, as another configuration, in the bacterial culture apparatus having the above configuration, a carry-out hole is formed in the horizontal bottom plate of the culture container in addition to the carry-in hole, and petri dishes are successively transported to a position directly below the carry-in hole of the culture vessel. Separately from the pre-culture Petri dish transport mechanism and the Petri dish transport mechanism that transfers the Petri dish from the pre-culture Petri dish transport mechanism into the culture container through the transport hole of the culture container, it has the same configuration as the Petri dish transport mechanism, and is used for bacterial culture. A Petri dish transport mechanism that takes out the Petri dish containing the next culture medium out of the culture container through the transport hole of the culture container, and a Petri dish transport mechanism that intermittently moves the Petri dish taken out of the culture container out of the culture container in the horizontal direction, A post-cultivation petri dish conveying mechanism is provided that sequentially conveys the petri dishes from a position directly below the carry-out hole.

[0009] In the bacterial culture apparatus configured as described above, a petri dish containing a culture medium inoculated with bacteria is intermittently moved horizontally by a petri dish conveying mechanism, and is brought to a position directly below the carry-in hole of the horizontal bottom plate of the culture container. When the petri dishes are sequentially transported to the petri dish, the petri dishes are supported by the support part of the lifting means of the petri dish transfer mechanism, and with the petri dish supported in a horizontal state, the support part of the lifting means ascends through the carrying hole, and the petri dish is lifted up and down. Transport the cells one by one into the culture container. Then, the petri dishes are stacked at the positions of the holding holes in the horizontal holding plate of the holding member of the rotating stocker, and when a predetermined number of petri dishes have been stacked, the rotating stocker is rotated by the rotation driving means, and the next one on the horizontal holding plate is The rotary stocker stops when the position of the holding hole matches the position of the loading hole of the horizontal bottom plate of the culture container, and multiple petri dishes are placed in the position of the holding hole of the horizontal holding plate in the same manner as above. Can be stacked. In this way, the petri dish is stored in the rotating stocker inside the culture container. On the other hand, inside the culture container, the entire space is maintained at the desired temperature that is optimal for culture due to the air circulation and stirring action by the circulation fan and the temperature adjustment action by the heating means and its temperature control means. Bacteria are cultured by being inoculated or mixed into a culture medium contained in a Petri dish carried into the rotary stocker.

[0010] In addition, in an apparatus in which a carry-out hole is formed in the horizontal bottom plate of the culture container in addition to the carry-in hole, the culture medium after culturing bacteria is stored through the carry-out hole in the horizontal bottom plate by the reverse operation to the above. The petri dishes are sequentially taken out of the culture container one by one and transported from a position directly below the carrying-out hole of the culture container.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main part of a bacteria culturing apparatus, and FIG.
2 is a sectional view taken along II-I in FIG.
It is a diagram showing a cross section taken along arrow I with a portion cut away.

[0013] This bacteria culturing apparatus is equipped with a closed culture container 12 having a cylindrical shape. A horizontal bottom plate 14 forming the bottom of the culture container 12 has a carry-in hole 16 and a carry-out hole 18 into which the petri dish 10 in a horizontal position, which has an inner diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the petri dish 10 with a lid, loosely fits therein. They are formed on the same circumference so as to form an angle of °. This culture container 12 is fixed on a mounting substrate 20. Inside this culture container 12, there is a rotating stocker 22 that stores a large number of petri dishes 10, a circulation fan 24 that circulates and stirs the air inside the culture container 12, and a circulation fan 24 that circulates the air inside the culture container 12. A heater 26 for heating and the like are provided.

The rotary stocker 22 has a structure including a holding member in which a large number of vertical rods 30 are installed on the upper surface side of a horizontal holding plate 28 and the upper ends of the vertical rods 30 are fixed to the upper horizontal plate 32. The horizontal holding plate 28 is provided with a plurality of holding holes 34, into which the petri dish 10 with a lid in a horizontal position is loosely fitted, and are equally spaced in the circumferential direction. A plurality of extraction holes 36 into which the petri dish 10 in a horizontal position is loosely fitted are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction so as to correspond to each holding hole 34 of the horizontal holding plate 28. A plurality of petri dishes 10 can be held in a stacked state at each position of the hole 34. Further, the horizontal holding plate 28 of the rotating stocker 22 is arranged close to and parallel to the horizontal bottom plate 14 of the culture container 12,
A rotation support shaft 38 is fixed to the center thereof, and is rotatably supported on the mounting board 20 via an index drive 48 in a horizontal plane. And horizontal holding plate 28
As the holding holes 34 rotate, the holding holes 34 sequentially move to the positions of the loading hole 16 and the loading hole 18 of the horizontal bottom plate 14 of the culture container 12 so that they overlap with each other.

The rotary drive mechanism 40 of the rotary stocker 22 is fixed to a rotary drive motor 42, a speed reducer 44, a rotation transmission mechanism 46 consisting of a pair of pulleys and a belt, an index drive 48, and a horizontal holding plate 28 of the rotary stocker 22. The rotational force of the rotary drive motor 42 is transmitted to the horizontal holding plate 28 via the reducer 44, the rotation transmission mechanism 46, the index drive 48, and the rotational support shaft 38, and the rotating shaft 38 is rotated. The stocker 22 is rotated intermittently at low speed. A control signal is sent to the rotary drive motor 42 from a control circuit (not shown), and each operation of rotating and stopping the rotary stocker 22 is controlled.

The upper surface of the horizontal bottom plate 14 of the culture container 12 is a horizontal smooth surface, and as the rotary stocker 22 rotates, the bottom surface of the bottom plate 14 engaged with and held in each of the holding holes 34 of the horizontal holding plate 28 is rotated. The outer bottom surface of the petri dish 10 is a horizontal bottom plate 14
The petri dish 10 moves while slidingly contacting the horizontal smooth surface. Further, on the lower surface side of the top plate 50 of the culture container 12, a mounting plate 52 for the circulation fan 24 and a mounting member 54 for the heater 26 are provided.
A guide cylinder 56 for circulating air is also suspended. Then, while the air in the culture container 12 is circulated and stirred by the circulation fan 24, the temperature of the circulating air is detected by the temperature sensor 58, and the heater 26 is controlled by a temperature controller (not shown) based on the detected value. Culture container 1
The temperature within 2 is adjusted to maintain the optimum temperature for bacterial culture.

Below the culture container 12, a petri dish 10 containing a culture medium inoculated with bacteria is moved horizontally intermittently to bring the petri dish 1 to a position directly below the carrying hole 16 of the culture container 12.
An inlet-side Petri dish transport mechanism 62 that sequentially transports the microorganisms 0 and an exit-side Petri dish transport mechanism 64 that sequentially transports the Petri dishes 10 containing the culture medium after bacterial culture to the outside from a position immediately below the transport hole 18 of the culture container 12 are disposed. It is set up. These petri dish transport mechanisms 62 and 64 have similar configurations,
A guide rail base plate 66 is arranged in a straight line in a horizontal plane, and a large number of protruding pieces 70 are larger than the diameter of the petri dish 10 on the upper end surface of a thin strip plate arranged below and parallel to the guide rail base plate 66 and extending linearly. It is constructed by combining comb-shaped carriers 68 that are spaced apart from each other at equal intervals.

The guide rail base plate 66 has a continuous slit 74 formed in the center along the longitudinal direction, and the continuous slit 74 is formed on the upper surface of a horizontal long plate 72 whose upper surface is finished with a smooth surface.
A pair of guide rails 7 parallel to each other on both sides of 4.
6 and 76 are attached. The width of the continuous slit 74 formed in the horizontal long plate 72 is slightly wider than the width of each protruding piece 70 of the comb-shaped carrier 68. Further, the distance between the pair of guide rails 76, 76 is made slightly larger than the diameter of the petri dish 10, and the petri dish 10 is placed between the pair of guide rails 76, 76 on the upper surface of the horizontal long plate 72. It is now possible to do so.

Further, the comb-shaped carrier 68 is moved vertically upward → horizontally forward direction → vertically downward → horizontally backward → vertically upward → ...
...is repeatedly driven intermittently. As the comb-shaped conveyor 68 moves vertically upward, each protruding piece 70 passes through the continuous slit 74 of the guide rail base plate 66 and projects upward from the upper surface of the horizontal long plate 72, causing the comb-shaped conveyor to move upward. As the child 68 moves in the horizontal forward direction, the front side of the protruding piece 70 comes into contact with the back side of the Petri dish 10 on the guide rail base plate 66 and presses the Petri dish 10, so that the Petri dish 10 becomes larger than its diameter. It can be pushed forward over a long distance while the outer bottom surface is in sliding contact with the upper surface of the horizontal long plate 72. Thereafter, the comb-shaped carrier 68 moves vertically downward to release the connection with the petri dish 10, and then moves horizontally backward to return to the initial position. Thereafter, by repeating the series of operations described above, the petri dish 10 is intermittently transferred by a certain distance.

Further, the horizontally elongated plate 72 of each guide rail base plate 66 of the inlet-side Petri dish transport mechanism 62 and the outlet-side Petri dish transport mechanism 64 has holes for carrying in and carrying out the holes 16 and 18 of the horizontal holding plate 14 of the culture container 12. A circular hole 78 is formed in a portion corresponding to the position immediately below. An inlet-side petri dish transfer mechanism 80 and an outlet-side petri dish transfer mechanism 82 are provided at the positions where each circular hole 78 is formed. These petri dish transfer mechanisms 80 and 82 have a similar configuration, and have an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the circular hole 78 in the horizontally long plate 72 of the guide rail base plate 66. A horizontal support plate 84 and its support rod 86 are provided, which extend up and down through the circular holes 78 of 72 and the carry-in hole 16 (or carry-out hole 18) of the horizontal bottom plate 14 of the culture container 12, and support the Petri dish 10 in a horizontal state. a lifting mechanism, a circular hole 90 having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the horizontal support plate 84, and a horizontal support plate 84 connected to the circular hole 90 and extending in the direction of the continuous slit 74 of the horizontal long plate 72;
and a movable plate 88 in which a slit 92 having a width larger than the diameter of the support rod 86 is formed.

The horizontal support plate 84 has an upper surface that is similar to the horizontal long plate 7.
2 and a height position that corresponds to the top surface of the horizontal bottom plate 14 forming the inner bottom surface of the culture container 12. The support rod 86 of the horizontal support plate 84 is reciprocated in the vertical direction in synchronization with the intermittent movement of the comb-shaped carrier 68 by a vertical reciprocating drive mechanism (not shown). In addition, the movable plate 8
8 is supported so as to be able to reciprocate in the horizontal direction between a position where its circular hole 90 overlaps with the circular hole 78 of the horizontal long plate 72 and a position where it is retreated from that position. Intermittent operation of 68 and horizontal support plate 8
It is reciprocated in the horizontal direction while synchronizing with the lifting and lowering movements of step 4.

[0022] The operation of the bacteria culturing apparatus constructed as above will be explained.

First, the operation of carrying the petri dish 10 into the culture container 12 will be explained. As shown in FIG. 3(a), from the state where the Petri dish 10 is placed on the upper surface of the horizontal support plate 84,
When the horizontal support plate 84 is lowered, the petri dish 10 is transferred from the horizontal support plate 84 to the movable plate 88, as shown in FIG. 3(b). Next, as shown in FIG. 3(c), the comb-shaped carrier 68 moves vertically upward, and then the comb-shaped carrier 68 moves horizontally forward, and in synchronization with this, the movable plate 88 moves to the retracted position. By horizontally moving towards the plate, the back side of the petri dish 10' is pressed against the front side surface of the protruding piece 70 of the comb-shaped carrier 68, and its outer bottom surface is pressed against the upper surface of the horizontal long plate 72 of the guide rail base plate. Move horizontally forward while sliding in contact with the
As shown in d), the Petri dish 10' is the first one.
and the horizontal support plate 84. Next, after the comb-shaped carrier 68 moves vertically downward (FIG. 4(e)), it moves horizontally backward, and as shown in FIG. 4(f), the comb-shaped carrier 68 returns to its original position. do. Then, the horizontal support plate 84 supporting the petri dishes 10, 10' passes through the circular hole 78 of the horizontal long plate 72 and the loading hole 16 of the horizontal bottom plate 14 of the culture container and rises, as shown in FIG. 4(g). As shown in , the petri dishes 10, 10' are stored in the holding holes 34 of the horizontal holding plate 28 of the rotary stocker. Thereafter, the movable plate 88 moves from the retracted position toward the horizontal support plate 84 and returns to the state shown in FIG. 3(a).

By repeating the above operations, the petri dishes 10 are sequentially stacked at the positions of the holding holes 34 of the horizontal holding plate 28 of the rotating stocker. When the stacking operation of one row of petri dishes is completed, as shown in FIG. 3(a), the upper surface of the horizontal support plate 84 and the horizontal bottom plate 14 of the culture container are
In a state where the height position with the top surface is the same, the rotary stocker rotates, and as the rotating stocker rotates, the plurality of Petri dishes held at the positions of the holding holes 34 of the horizontal holding plate 28 move to the bottom of the rotating stocker. The outer bottom of the petri dish at the horizontal support plate 84
It moves in the circumferential direction while slidingly contacting the upper surface and the upper surface of the horizontal bottom plate 14, and the next holding hole 34 is connected to the loading hole 1 of the horizontal bottom plate 14.
The rotation of the rotary stocker stops when it moves to position 6. Subsequently, the petri dish is stored by the same operation as above.

As described above, the petri dish 10 containing the culture medium inoculated with bacteria is stored in the culture container 12, and the culture container 1 is adjusted to the optimum temperature for culturing the bacteria.
Bacteria are cultured within 2.

Next, the operation of carrying out the petri dish containing the culture medium after bacterial culture will be explained. In a state where the horizontal support plate 84 supports the petri dish 10 at its uppermost position as shown in FIG. 5(a), the comb-shaped carrier 68 of the outlet side petri dish transfer mechanism 64 moves vertically upward, and as shown in FIG. 5(b) As shown in FIG. 3, after the protruding piece 70 is made to protrude upward from the upper surface of the horizontal long plate 72 of the guide rail base plate, the comb-shaped carrier 68 moves in the horizontal forward direction, so that the protruding piece 70 can move the petri dish 10
10' as shown in FIG. 5(c).
is conveyed forward while bringing its outer bottom surface into sliding contact with the upper surface of the horizontal long plate 72. Subsequently, the comb-shaped carrier 68 is moved vertically downward (FIG. (d)) and horizontally backward,
As shown in FIG. 6(e), the comb-shaped carrier 68 is
Return to the initial position shown. Next, in the state shown in FIG. 6(e), the horizontal support plate 84 supporting the petri dish 10 is lowered to the position of the horizontal long plate 72, so that the petri dish 10 is lowered as shown in FIG. 6(f). is transferred from the horizontal support plate 84 to the horizontal long plate 72. Next, by moving horizontally forward, the movable plate 88 presses the petri dish 10 with its tip surface and pushes it forward, as shown in FIG.
As shown in g), the Petri dish 10 is moved from the position directly above the horizontal support plate 84 to the front position on the horizontal long plate 72, and the Petri dish 10'' that was placed above the Petri dish 10 is moved.
is transferred from the petri dish 10 onto the movable plate 88. The horizontal support plate 84 has a circular hole 78 in the horizontal long plate 72,
By passing through the circular hole of the movable plate 88 and the carrying-out hole 16 of the horizontal bottom plate 14 and rising, the petri dish 10'' is transferred to the movable plate 8.
8 onto the horizontal support plate 84, and as shown in FIG. 88 horizontally moves toward the first retracted position and returns to the state shown in FIG.

When the operation of carrying out one row of Petri dishes is completed, the height positions of the top surface of the horizontal support plate 84 and the top surface of the horizontal bottom plate 14 of the culture container are aligned, as shown in FIG. 5(a). In this state, the rotary stocker rotates, and as the rotating stocker rotates, the next row of petri dishes held in the holding holes 34 of the horizontal holding plate 28 touch the outer bottom surface of the bottommost petri dish. The rotary stocker moves in the circumferential direction while slidingly contacting the upper surface of the horizontal bottom plate 14, and when it reaches the horizontal support plate 84, the rotation of the rotary stocker stops. Subsequently, the petri dish is taken out by the same operation as above.

In the bacteria culturing apparatus described above, in addition to the carrying-in hole 16, the carrying-out hole 18 is formed in the horizontal bottom plate 14 of the culture container 12, and petri dish transfer mechanisms are provided at the positions where the carrying-in hole 16 and the carrying-out hole 18 are formed, respectively. 80 and 82 are provided, and petri dish transport mechanisms 62 and 64 are provided, which pass directly below the carry-in hole 16 and the carry-out hole 18, respectively. At the same time, only one Petri dish transfer mechanism and one Petri dish transport mechanism are provided, and these mechanisms are used to carry the Petri dish into the culture container 12 and to transport the Petri dish into the culture container 12.
It can be configured so that it can be used commonly for carrying out petri dishes from.

Although the present invention has the configuration as described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited by the contents of the above description and drawings, and may include various modifications without departing from the gist. In other words, the structure of the petri dish transport mechanism is not limited to the combination of a guide rail base plate and a comb-shaped transport element as shown in the above embodiment, but for example, It may be configured such that a petri dish is placed and transported. Also,
The petri dish transfer mechanism is also not limited to the structure shown in the above embodiment.

[0030]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, when using the bacteria culturing apparatus according to the present invention, no human labor is required at all, and a large number of culture media can be prepared at once. At offices such as pharmaceutical company laboratories and clinical testing centers where culture processing must be carried out, laboratories such as laboratories of pharmaceutical companies and clinical testing centers are freed from the hassle of carrying out the work manually. Furthermore, since there is no need for a workbench for stacking a large number of petri dishes, space can be used effectively. The present invention can greatly contribute to the automation of a series of testing operations using the agar plate dilution method, for example.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention, and is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main part of a bacteria culturing apparatus, and is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II--I in FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway view showing a cross section taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of carrying a Petri dish into a culture container in this bacteria culture apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of carrying a Petri dish into a culture container in this bacteria culture apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of carrying out a Petri dish from a culture container in this bacteria culture apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of carrying out a Petri dish from a culture container in this bacteria culture apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 10', 10" Petri dish 12 Culture container 14 Horizontal bottom plate 16 Carrying in hole 18 Carrying out hole 22 Rotary stocker 24 Circulation fan 26 Heater 28 Horizontal holding plate 34 Holding hole 38 Rotating shaft 40 Rotating stocker rotation drive mechanism 58 Temperature sensor 62, 64 Petri dish transport mechanism 66 Guide rail base plate 68 Comb-shaped carriers 80, 82 Petri dish transfer mechanism 84 Horizontal support plate 88 Movable plate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A closed cylindrical culture container comprising a horizontal bottom plate in which a carry-in hole into which a petri dish in a horizontal position is loosely fitted; A plurality of holding holes are rotatably supported in parallel and in a horizontal plane, and into which petri dishes in a horizontal position are loosely fitted, and are equally spaced in the circumferential direction and formed at radial positions corresponding to the loading holes of the horizontal bottom plate. a rotating stocker equipped with a holding member that holds a plurality of petri dishes in a stacked state at the positions of the respective holding holes on the upper surface of the horizontal holding plate; a rotational drive means for rotationally driving the rotating stocker; A circulation fan disposed in a container to circulate and agitate the air in the culture container; a heating means disposed in the culture container to warm the air stirred by the circulation fan; a temperature regulating means for controlling the temperature in the culture container to maintain it at a predetermined temperature; and a temperature control means for horizontally intermittently moving a petri dish containing a culture medium inoculated with bacteria, and a temperature control means for controlling the temperature inside the culture container to maintain the temperature at a predetermined temperature. a petri dish transporting mechanism that sequentially transports the petri dishes to a position directly below the culture container; and a lifting means having a support part that supports the petri dish in a horizontal state and is supported so as to be able to rise and fall through the carrying hole formed in the horizontal bottom plate of the culture container. and a petri dish transfer mechanism for transferring the petri dish from the petri dish transport mechanism into a culture container. 2. A hermetically sealed cylindrical culture container comprising a horizontal bottom plate in which a carry-in hole and a carry-out hole are formed into which a petri dish in a horizontal position is loosely fitted; A plurality of holding holes, which are rotatably supported in a horizontal plane in parallel with and in close proximity to the holding holes, and into which petri dishes in a horizontal position are loosely fitted, are equally spaced in the circumferential direction and are respectively connected to the carrying-in hole and the carrying-out hole of the horizontal bottom plate. A rotary stocker is provided with a holding member on the upper surface of a horizontal holding plate formed at a corresponding radial position to hold a plurality of petri dishes in a stacked state at each of the holding holes, and a rotary stocker for rotationally driving the rotary stocker. a driving means; a circulation fan disposed within the culture container that circulates and agitates the air within the culture container;
a heating means disposed within the culture container and heating the air stirred by the circulation fan; and a temperature controller controlling the heating means to maintain the temperature inside the culture container at a predetermined temperature. means, a pre-cultivation petri dish transporting mechanism for intermittently horizontally moving a petri dish containing a culture medium inoculated with bacteria and sequentially transporting the petri dish to a position immediately below the carrying-in hole of the culture container; The petri dish is transferred from the pre-culturing petri dish transport mechanism into the culture container, comprising a lifting means having a supporting part that supports the culture container and is supported so as to be able to rise and fall through the carrying hole formed in the horizontal bottom plate of the culture container. A culture medium after culturing bacteria, comprising a petri dish carrying mechanism and a lifting means that supports the petri dish in a horizontal state and has a supporting part that is supported so as to be able to rise and fall through the carrying hole formed in the horizontal bottom plate of the culture container. a petri dish carrying mechanism that takes out the petri dish containing the culture vessel to the outside of the culture container; and a petri dish carrying mechanism that intermittently moves the petri dish taken out from the culture vessel in the horizontal direction, and sequentially moves the petri dish from a position directly below the carrying hole of the culture vessel. A bacteria culturing device comprising a post-cultivation petri dish conveying mechanism.