Patent Application
20220252627
The present invention relates to a conveyance device, and a specimen analysis system and a specimen pretreatment device including the same.
As an example of a laboratory specimen conveyance system and a corresponding operation method that are significantly flexible and provide high conveyance performance, JP-A-2017-77971 (PTL 1) discloses that the example thereof includes: a plurality of container carriers respectively including at least one magnetically active device, desirably at least one permanent magnet and adapted to convey a specimen container; a conveyance surface adapted to convey the container carrier; and a plurality of electromagnetic actuators that are stationary and disposed below the conveyance surface and that are adapted to move the container carrier on the conveyance surface by applying a magnetic force to the container carrier.
As an example of a laboratory specimen distribution system including an operation parameter optimized in relation to a specimen distribution system of related art, JP-A-2017-102103 (PTL 2) discloses that the laboratory specimen distribution system includes a plurality of electromagnetic actuators, each electromagnetic actuator includes a ferromagnetic core and an excitation winding, and each excitation winding exceeds its allocated ferromagnetic core.
PTL 1: JP-A-2017-77971
PTL 2: JP-A-2017-102103
A specimen analysis system for a clinical test performs a test of an instructed analysis item with respect to specimens (samples) such as blood, plasma, serum, urine, other body fluids, or the like.
In the specimen analysis system, devices having a plurality of functions can be connected to each other and each process can be automatically processed. That is, in order to streamline laboratory work, an analysis unit of a plurality of analytical fields such as biochemistry, immunity, or the like and a pretreatment unit that performs pretreatment necessary for analysis are connected to a conveyance line, thereby being operated as one system.
The conveyance line used in the specimen analysis system of related art is mainly a belt drive system. In the belt drive system, there is a problem that when conveyance is stopped due to some abnormality during the conveyance, the specimen cannot be supplied to a device on a downstream side. Therefore, it is required to pay close attention to wear of a belt.
With advancement of medical care and progress of aging society, importance of specimen treatment increases. Therefore, in order to improve analysis processing capability of the specimen analysis system, it is desired to achieve high-speed conveyance of the specimen, mass simultaneous conveyance thereof, and conveyance thereof in a plurality of directions.
As an example of a technology for implementing the above-described conveyance, there are technologies described in JP-A-2017-77971 and JP-A-2017-102103 (PTLs 1 and 2). In the technologies described in JP-A-2017-77971 and JP-A-2017-102103 (PTLs 1 and 2), a container carrier detection device for detecting a location of a magnetically active device provided on a specimen conveyance carrier is provided.
However, JP-A-2017-77971 and JP-A-2017-102103 (PTLs 1 and 2) have a problem that thrust for moving the container carrier is small. On the other hand, in order to increase the thrust, it is required to increase the number of turns of an excitation winding and increase an excitation current, and in such a method, there is a problem that loss of the excitation winding increases when the thrust increases such that heat generation of the system increases.
In order to increase the thrust, it is required to increase an area of a ferromagnetic core on a side opposite to a permanent magnet. Meanwhile, there is a problem that since each excitation winding exceeds its allocated ferromagnetic core, a space of the excitation winding decreases as the area of the ferromagnetic core increases, such that the loss of the excitation winding increases.
The present invention provides a conveyance device, and a specimen analysis system and a specimen pretreatment device including the same, in which winding loss can be reduced while thrust for conveying a body to be conveyed is greater than that of related art.
The present invention includes a plurality of units for solving the above-described problems, and an example thereof includes: a first magnetic body provided on a side of a body to be conveyed; teeth formed of a second magnetic body; and a winding wound around a side of an outer periphery of the teeth, in which a cross-sectional area of a cross section of a part of the teeth facing the first magnetic body is larger than that of other parts thereof.
Another example thereof includes: a first magnetic body provided on a side of a body to be conveyed; teeth formed of a second magnetic body; and a winding wound around an outer periphery of the teeth, in which a gap Lc between the first magnetic body and the winding and a gap Lt between the first magnetic body and the teeth satisfy a relationship of Lc>Lt.
According to the present invention, it is possible to implement a conveyance device in which winding loss is reduced while thrust for conveying a body to be conveyed increases. An issue, a configuration, and an effect other than those described above will be clarified by descriptions of the following embodiments.
Hereinafter, embodiments of a conveyance device, and a specimen analysis system and a specimen pretreatment device including the same according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
A first embodiment of the conveyance device of the present invention will be described with reference to
First, a schematic configuration of the conveyance device of the embodiment will be described with reference to
The conveyance device 1 of the embodiment is a device that conveys a body to be conveyed (not illustrated for convenience of illustration in
Here, the embodiment will describe a case of a specimen rack 111 (refer to
In the conveyance device 1, the electromagnet portion is usually fixed, and the body to be conveyed provided with the magnetic body or the permanent magnet 10 moves on an upper surface of a conveyance surface (not illustrated) provided on an upper surface of the electromagnet portion.
The permanent magnet 10 is desirably a permanent magnet such as neodymium, ferrite, or the like, and can also be formed of other magnets and a soft magnetic body. The permanent magnet and the soft magnetic body may be combined.
The teeth 22 is formed of the magnetic body. In the embodiment, a surface of the teeth 22 on a side facing the permanent magnet 10 is defined as a magnet facing surface 25 of the teeth 22, and a portion of the teeth 22 covered by the winding 21 is defined as a cross section 26 of the winding 21.
A drive circuit 50 (refer to
In order to move the permanent magnet 10 from a location A to a location A′ in
Here, in order to generate large thrust in the permanent magnet 10, it is conceivable to increase the magnet facing surface 25 of the teeth, which is the surface on the side facing the permanent magnet 10.
However, in a structure of the electromagnet portion in the related art such as JP-A-2017-77971 (PTL 1) or the like, a cross section of a winding portion of teeth and a cross section of a magnet facing surface of the teeth which is a surface on a side facing a permanent magnet have the same area. Accordingly, when the cross section of the magnet facing surface of the teeth which is the surface on the side facing the permanent magnet is widened, the cross section of the winding portion of the teeth also becomes large.
On the other hand, in the embodiment, as a structure that secures a space of the winding 21 and improves the thrust, as illustrated in
That is, the magnet facing surface 25, which is the surface on the side facing the permanent magnet 10, has a size equal to or larger than the cross section 26 of the winding portion of the teeth 22, which is an inside of the winding 21, and an inner diameter of the winding 21.
Here,
On the other hand, as the diameter of the teeth increases, the winding space decreases. Therefore, when the diameter of the teeth increases to increase the thrust, resistance of the winding increases due to the decrease in the winding space, or a large current is required to flow. Therefore, there is a problem that loss of the winding increases and temperature of the conveyance device rises.
As the diameter of the teeth increases, an increase in thrust becomes slower when the pitch of the teeth exceeds half of Pt (0.5 Pt).
Therefore, when the pitch of the teeth 22 is set to Pt, it is desirable that the diameter of the teeth 22 is set so that a width of the largest part of the teeth 22 is equal to or less than half of Pt (0.5 Pt).
In a cross-sectional shape of the teeth 22, the cross section 26 of the winding portion and the magnet facing surface 25 are not limited to a circular shape. As long as the same effect can be obtained, various polygons such as an ellipse, a rectangle, a star, or the like can be formed.
Among the teeth 22, a cross-sectional shape of the magnet facing surface 25 in a vertical direction is not also particularly limited.
For example, the cross-sectional shape of the magnet facing surface 25 is not limited to a flat shape as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in teeth 22D of
As illustrated in
In various teeth as described above, it is also possible to form a recessed portion on a central portion of the teeth and to embed a magnetic flux sensor or the like therein.
The shapes formed as described above have a structure in which the thrust is improved by enlarging the magnet facing surface 25 facing the permanent magnet 10 and expanding the magnetic flux on the side of the permanent magnet 10, and the loss of the winding 21 is reduced.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Next, an effect of the embodiment will be described.
The conveyance device 1 of the first embodiment of the present invention described above includes the permanent magnet 10 provided on a side of the specimen rack 111, the teeth 22 formed of a second magnetic body, and the winding 21 wound around the side of the outer periphery of the teeth 22. The cross-sectional area of the cross section of the part of the teeth 22 facing the permanent magnet 10 is larger than that of other parts thereof.
According to the present invention, it is possible to implement a conveyance device capable of reducing the winding loss while increasing the thrust for conveying the body to be conveyed, and having a higher conveyance capability than that of the related art.
Particularly, the portion of the magnet facing surface 25 facing the permanent magnet 10 is larger than the inner cross-sectional area of the winding 21, such that the magnetic flux acting on the permanent magnet 10 is expanded at the portion of the permanent magnet 10 to improve the thrust as compared with that of the related art, and pulsation can be reduced as compared with that of the related art.
The teeth 22 further protrude than the winding 21, such that when the conveyance surface is damaged or when the conveyance surface is removed during maintenance, the exposed area of the winding 21 is reduced, thereby making it possible to reduce a damage to the winding 21 as compared with that of the related art.
Alternatively, the conveyance device 1 includes the permanent magnet 10 provided on a side of the specimen rack 111, the teeth 22 formed of the second magnetic body, and the winding 21 wound around the outer periphery of the teeth 22. The gap Lc between the permanent magnet 10 and the winding 21 and the gap Lt between the permanent magnet 10 and the teeth 22 satisfy the relationship of Lc>Lt.
In this case as well, in the same manner, it is possible to implement the conveyance device capable of reducing the winding loss while increasing the thrust for conveying the body to be conveyed, and having the higher conveyance capability than that of the related art. The exposed area of the winding 21 is reduced when the conveyance surface is damaged or the conveyance surface is removed during maintenance, thereby obtaining an effect that the damage to the winding 21 can be reduced as compared with that of the related art.
Since the cross-sectional area of the part of the teeth 22 facing the permanent magnet 10 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the part around which the winding is wound, such that various effects of the present invention described above can be obtained more effectively and reliably.
The width of the largest part of the teeth 22 is equal to or less than 0.5 Pt with respect to the pitch Pt of the teeth 22, thereby making it possible not only to improve the thrust but also to secure the space for the winding.
The surface of the teeth 22 facing the specimen rack 111 becomes thinner continuously or stepwise as approaching the side of the specimen rack 111, such that a change in thrust can be smoothed. Therefore, vibration and noise when the body to be conveyed is conveyed can be reduced.
A conveyance device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
In a conveyance device 1G of the embodiment illustrated in
A magnet facing surface 25G of the teeth 22G of the surface on the side facing the permanent magnet 10 is formed in a quadrangular shape. Particularly, apex directions of quadrangular shapes, which are corner parts of the magnet facing surface 25G of the teeth 22G, are respectively directed in a conveyance direction of the specimen rack 111 (the X direction in
Since other configurations and operations are substantially the same as those of the conveyance device of the first embodiment described above, details thereof will be omitted.
The conveyance device of the second embodiment of the present invention also obtains almost the same effect as that of the conveyance device of the first embodiment described above.
The corner parts of the surface of the teeth 22G facing the specimen rack 111 are directed to the conveyance direction of the specimen rack 111 and the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction thereof, thereby making it possible to particularly increase the thrust in the X and Y directions. Therefore, the thrust when the body to be conveyed moves in the X and Y directions can increase, such that stability when the body to be conveyed moves in the X and Y directions increases. When the body to be conveyed moves mainly in the X direction or the Y direction, a current at the time of the movement thereof can be reduced, thereby obtaining an effect of being able to prevent heat generation of the conveyance device.
A conveyance device according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
A magnet facing surface 25H of the teeth 22H of a surface on a side facing the permanent magnet 10 is formed in a quadrangular shape, and apex directions of the quadrangular shape are respectively directed to be inclined by 45 degrees in the conveyance direction of the specimen rack 111.
Since other configurations and operations are substantially the same as those of the conveyance device of the first embodiment described above, details thereof will be omitted.
The conveyance device of the third embodiment of the present invention also obtains almost the same effect as that of the conveyance device of the first embodiment described above.
As illustrated in
On the other hand, as described in the embodiment, the corner parts of the surface of the teeth 22H facing the specimen rack 111 are directed to be inclined by 45 degrees in the conveyance direction of the specimen rack 111, such that a difference in a gap between the magnet facing surfaces 25H of the teeth 22H in the X, Y, and oblique directions can be reduced, such that the thrust in the oblique direction increases. Therefore, the stability when the body to be conveyed moves in the X, Y, and oblique directions can be improved, and a degree of freedom of conveyance can be improved.
A conveyance device, and a specimen analysis system and a specimen pretreatment device including the same according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
The location of the permanent magnet 10 is detected by a location detection unit 60, and a current command calculation unit 55 determines the current flowing through each winding 21 based upon location information thereof.
The current command calculation unit 55 can be implemented by allowing a computer and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) including a CPU, a memory, an interface, or the like to read a program and to execute a calculation. The program is stored in an internal recording medium and an external recording medium (not illustrated) in each configuration, and is read and executed by the CPU.
Operation control processing may be combined in one program, may be divided into a plurality of programs, or may be a comb thereof. Apart or all of the programs may be implemented by dedicated hardware or may be modularized. Various programs may be installed in each device from a program distribution server, the internal recording medium, and the external recording medium.
Each device is not required to be independent, and two or more devices may be integrated and shared to perform only the processing. At least a part of the configuration can be connected via a wired or wireless network.
The location detection unit 60 may be capable of detecting the location of the permanent magnet 10, and a configuration thereof is not particularly limited. For example, the location detection unit 60 may be able to directly measure the location of the permanent magnet 10 by including a hall sensor that detects the magnetic flux of the permanent magnet 10, a length measuring device, or the like.
The location of the permanent magnet 10 can be obtained by detecting the current flowing through the winding 21 and a flow type thereof. This principle is described as follows.
The teeth 22 is formed of the magnetic body, and magnetic flux flowing through the teeth 22 has a property that the magnetic flux becomes difficult to flow therethrough as the magnetic flux increases. Here, when a voltage is applied to the winding 21 to allow the current to flow therethrough, magnetic flux generated by the current is generated in the teeth 22. Therefore, the magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet 10 and the magnetic flux generated by the current flowing through the winding 21 are generated in the teeth 22.
Generally, when the current flows through the winding 21, a magnetic field is generated around the winding 21, and the generated magnetic flux is proportional to a value of the current flowing therethrough. This proportionality constant is referred to as inductance. However, in the circuit including the magnetic body such as the teeth 22 or the like, the inductance changes depending on a saturation characteristic of the teeth 22.
When the saturation of the teeth 22 occurs, the inductance changes depending on a magnitude of the magnetic flux generated in the teeth 22. That is, the inductance of the winding 21 changes depending on the magnitude of the magnetic flux of the permanent magnet 10. This indicates that the inductance of the winding 21 changes depending on the location of the permanent magnet 10.
A voltage V generated in the winding 21 is represented by a relationship described below.
V=−dφ/dt (1)
Here, φ is the magnetic flux and t is time. The voltage V is represented by an amount of change in magnetic flux per unit time.
When current I and inductance L are set, a relationship therebetween is established below.
dI/dt=(1/L)×(dφ/dt) (2)
From Equations (1) and (2), a relationship is established below.
dI/dt=−V/L (3)
That is, when a constant voltage is applied to the winding 21, a time derivative of the supplied current I changes depending on a magnitude of the inductance L as shown in Equation (3). This indicates that the way the current to be supplied when the voltage is applied rises differently.
Therefore, when the voltage is applied to the winding 21, the inductance L can be calculated by detecting the current flowing through the winding 21 and the flow type thereof. That is, when the inductance L of the winding 21 that changes depending on the location of the permanent magnet 10 is detected, the location of the permanent magnet 10 that affects the inductance L thereof can be obtained. The above-described principle can be used.
Since other configurations and operations are substantially the same as those of the conveyance device of the first embodiment described above, details thereof will be omitted.
The conveyance device of the fourth embodiment of the present invention also obtains almost the same effect as that of the conveyance device of the first embodiment described above.
A conveyance device, and a specimen analysis system and a specimen pretreatment device including the same according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
When the body to be conveyed is conveyed by the conveyance device, depending on the device, the body to be conveyed is mainly conveyed in one direction (for example, the X direction in
As described above, when a main movement direction of the body to be conveyed is one direction and the body to be conveyed is required to move in the lateral direction depending on the situation, as shown in a conveyance device 1J illustrated in
The shape of the magnet facing surface is not limited to a rhombus such as the magnet facing surface 25J illustrated in
As described in the third embodiment, among the surfaces of the teeth 22 facing the specimen rack 111, with respect to the length in the conveyance direction of the specimen rack 111 or in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction thereof, it is also possible to change the length in the direction inclined by 45 degrees in the conveyance direction, and the same effect can be obtained in this case as well.
The shape of the magnet facing surface facing the permanent magnet and the shape of the winding are not particularly limited.
The magnet facing surface is not necessarily required to be formed in the rectangular shape as illustrated in
Since other configurations and operations are substantially the same as those of the conveyance device of the first embodiment described above, details thereof will be omitted.
The conveyance device of the fifth embodiment of the present invention also obtains almost the same effect as that of the conveyance device of the first embodiment described above.
Here, the embodiment considers a case in which a plurality of bodies to be conveyed are conveyed at the same time, and the bodies to be conveyed are present at locations adjacent to each other in the Y direction of the winding through which the current flows at that moment.
In this case, with respect to the location of the body to be conveyed, thrust that draws the body to be conveyed in the X direction is generated by allowing a current to flow through the winding ahead in the X direction, and thrust that draws the bodies to be conveyed, which are adjacent to each other in the Y direction, in the Y direction is also generated, such that an unexpected body to be conveyed invades from a lane adjacent to the main conveyance direction, and interference occurs in conveyance lane.
On the other hand, among the surfaces of the teeth 22 facing the specimen rack 111 as shown in the embodiment, the length in the conveyance direction of the specimen rack 111 and the length in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction thereof are different from each other, and among the surfaces of the teeth 22 facing the specimen rack 111, the length in the conveyance direction of the specimen rack 111 or in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction thereof is different from the length in the direction inclined by 45 degrees in the conveyance direction thereof, such that the large thrust is generated in the main conveyance direction (for example, the X direction), and the thrust generated in an adjacent direction (for example, the Y direction) can be smaller than that in the main conveyance direction. As a result, the thrust in the direction different from the main conveyance direction can be reduced, thereby making it possible to achieve further improvement of the running stability and further improvement of the conveyance capability.
Embodiments of a specimen analysis system and a specimen pretreatment device to which the conveyance device according to the first to fifth embodiments of the present invention is desirably applied will be described with reference to
In
The carry-in unit 101 is a place where the specimen rack 111, in which a plurality of specimen containers 122 for storing biological specimens such as blood, urine, or the like are stored, is installed. The emergency rack inlet 113 is a place for inputting a specimen rack (calibration rack) on which a standard liquid is loaded and the specimen rack 111, in which the specimen container 122 for storing the specimen required for urgent analysis is stored, into the device.
The buffer 104 stores a plurality of specimen racks 111 conveyed by the conveyance line 102 so that dispensing order of the specimens in the specimen rack 111 can be changed.
The analysis unit 105 analyzes the specimen conveyed from the buffer 104 via a conveyor line 106. Details thereof will be described later.
The storage unit 103 stores the specimen rack 111 in which the specimen container 122 for storing the specimen whose analysis is completed by the analysis unit 105 is stored.
The conveyance line 102 is a line for conveying the specimen rack 111 installed in the carry-in unit 101, and has the same configuration as that of any one of the conveyance devices described in the first to fifth embodiments. In the sixth embodiment, the magnetic body, desirably the permanent magnet, is provided on a back surface side of the specimen rack 111.
The analysis unit 105 includes the conveyor line 106, a reaction disk 108, a specimen dispensing nozzle 107, a reagent disk 110, a reagent dispensing nozzle 109, a cleaning mechanism 112, a reagent tray 114, a reagent ID reader 115, a reagent loader 116, and a spectrophotometer 121.
The conveyor line 106 is a line for carrying the specimen rack 111 in the buffer 104 into the analysis unit 105, and has the same configuration as that of the conveyance device described in the first and fifth embodiments.
The reaction disk 108 includes a plurality of reaction containers. The specimen dispensing nozzle 107 dispenses the specimen from the specimen container 122 to the reaction container of the reaction disk 108 by rotational drive or vertical drive. A plurality of reagents are provided on the reagent disk 110. The reagent dispensing nozzle 109 dispenses the reagent from a reagent bottle in the reagent disk 110 into the reaction container of the reaction disk 108. The cleaning mechanism 112 cleans the reaction container of the reaction disk 108. The spectrophotometer 121 measures absorbance of a reaction liquid by measuring transmitted light obtained from a light source (not illustrated) through the reaction liquid of the reaction container.
The reagent tray 114 is a member for installing the reagent when the reagent is registered in the specimen analysis system 100. The reagent ID reader 115 is a device for acquiring reagent information by reading a reagent ID attached to the reagent installed in the reagent tray 114. The reagent loader 116 is a device that carries the reagent into the reagent disk 110.
The display unit 118 is a display device for displaying an analysis result of concentration of a predetermined component in a liquid specimen such as blood, urine, or the like.
The control unit 120 is formed of a computer or the like, controls an operation of each mechanism in the specimen analysis system 100, and performs calculation processing for obtaining the concentration of the predetermined component in the specimen such as blood, urine, or the like.
Hereinabove, the overall configuration of the specimen analysis system 100 is described.
Specimen analysis processing by the specimen analysis system 100 as described above is generally performed in the following order.
First, the specimen rack 111 is installed in the carry-in unit 101 or the emergency rack inlet 113, and is carried into the buffer 104 that can be randomly accessed by the conveyance line 102.
The specimen analysis system 100 carries the specimen rack 111 having the highest priority order among the racks stored in the buffer 104 into the analysis unit 105 by the conveyor line 106 according to a rule of the priority order.
The specimen rack 111 arriving at the analysis unit 105 is further conveyed by the conveyor line 106 up to a specimen fractionation location near the reaction disk 108. The specimen is fractionated in the reaction container of the reaction disk 108 by the specimen dispensing nozzle 107. The specimen dispensing nozzle 107 performs the fractionation of the specimen as many times as necessary according to an analysis item requested for the specimen.
The specimen dispensing nozzle 107 performs the fractionation of the specimen with respect to all the specimen containers 122 mounted on the specimen rack 111. The specimen rack 111 whose fractionation processing with respect to all the specimen containers 122 is completed is conveyed to the buffer 104 again. The specimen rack 111 whose all specimen fractionation processing including automatic re-examination is completed is conveyed to the storage unit 103 by the conveyor line 106 and the conveyance line 102.
The reagent to be used for the analysis is fractionated from the reagent bottle on the reagent disk 110 with respect to the reaction container in which the specimen is previously fractionated by the reagent dispensing nozzle 109. Next, a stirring mechanism (not illustrated) is used to stir a mixed liquid of the specimen and the reagent in the reaction container.
Next, the light generated from the light source is transmitted through the reaction container containing the mixed liquid after stirring, and luminosity of the transmitted light is measured by the spectrophotometer 121. The luminosity measured by the spectrophotometer 121 is transmitted to the control unit 120 via an A/D converter and an interface. Next, the control unit 120 performs the calculation to obtain the concentration of the predetermined component in the liquid specimen such as blood, urine, or the like, and a result of the concentration is displayed on the display unit 118 or the like, or stored in a storage unit (not illustrated).
As illustrated in
Next, an overall configuration of a specimen pretreatment device 150 will be described with reference to
In
As a conveyance destination of the specimen processed by the specimen pretreatment device 150, the specimen analysis system 100 for performing qualitative and quantitative analysis of the component of the specimen is connected.
The specimen input unit 155 is a unit for inputting the specimen container 122 storing the specimen into the specimen pretreatment device 150. The centrifuge unit 156 is a unit for centrifuging the inputted specimen container 122. The liquid quantity measuring unit 157 is a unit for measuring a liquid quantity of the specimen stored in the specimen container 122. The opening unit 158 is a unit for opening a stopper of the inputted specimen container 122. The child specimen container preparation unit 159 is a unit that performs a necessary preparation for dispensing the specimen stored in the inputted specimen container 122 into the next dispensing unit 165. The dispensing unit 165 is a unit for performing subdivision of the centrifuged specimen for analyzing the centrifuged specimen by the specimen analysis system or the like, and for attaching a barcode or the like to the subdivided specimen container 122 and child specimen container 122. The transfer unit 161 is a unit for classifying the dispensed child specimen container 122, and for performing preparation for transfer to the specimen analysis system. The capping unit 152 is a unit for closing the stopper on the specimen container 122 and the child specimen container 122. The specimen storage unit 153 is a unit for storing the closed specimen container 122.
The conveyance device 170 is a mechanism for conveying the specimen holder and the specimen rack that store the specimen container 122 between the respective units and between the specimen pretreatment device 150 and the specimen analysis system 100, and uses any one of the conveyance devices according to the first and fifth embodiments.
The specimen pretreatment device 150 is not required to include all the above-described configurations, and a unit can be further added, or some units or some configurations can be deleted.
The specimen analysis system of the embodiment may be the specimen analysis system 200 including the specimen pretreatment device 150 and the specimen analysis system 100 as illustrated in
The specimen analysis systems 100 and 200 and the specimen pretreatment device 150 of the sixth embodiment of the present invention include the conveyance device 1 or the like of the first to fifth embodiments, such that the specimen container 122 can be conveyed to the conveyance destination with high efficiency, and the time until the analysis result can be obtained can be shortened. Conveyance troubles can be reduced, and a burden on an inspection technician can be reduced.
The sixth embodiment illustrates a case in which the specimen rack 111 that stores five specimen containers 122 where the specimen is stored is conveyed as a conveyance target. In addition to the specimen rack 111 that stores five specimen containers 122, a specimen holder that holds one specimen container 122 can be conveyed as the conveyance target.
<Others>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and includes various modifications. The embodiments are described in detail in order to describe the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to those including all the described configurations.
It is also possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with a configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Another configuration can also be added, deleted, and replaced, with respect to a part of the configuration of each embodiment.
For example, while the first to fifth embodiments describe a case in which a body to be conveyed is a specimen rack, the body to be conveyed is not limited to the specimen rack or the like, and various objects that are required to be conveyed on a large scale can be a conveyance target.
1, 1G, 1H, 1I, 1J, 1K: Conveyance device
10: Permanent magnet (first magnetic body)
21, 21a, 21b, 21D, 21E, 21F, 21L, 21M, 21N, 21P: Winding
22, 22a, 22b, 22A, 22B, 22C, 22D, 22E, 22F, 22G, 22H,
22J, 22K: Teeth (second magnetic body)
25, 25A, 25B, 25C, 25D, 25E, 25F, 25G, 25H, 25J, 25K,
25L, 25M, 25N, 25P: Teeth magnet facing surface
26, 26L, 26M, 26N: Cross section of winding portion of teeth
30: Yoke
50: Drive circuit
55: Current command calculation unit
60: Location detection unit
70
a,
70
b: Thrust characteristics
100: Specimen analysis system
101: Carry-in unit
102: Conveyance line
103: Storage unit
104: Buffer
105: Analysis unit
106: Conveyor line
107: Specimen dispensing nozzle
108: Reaction disk
109: Reagent dispensing nozzle
110: Reagent disk
111: Specimen rack
112: Cleaning mechanism
113: Emergency rack inlet
114: Reagent tray
115: Reader
116: Reagent loader
118: Display unit
120: Control unit
121: Spectrophotometer
122: Specimen container
122: Child specimen container
150: Specimen pretreatment device
152: Capping unit
153: Specimen storage unit
154: Holder stacker
155: Specimen input unit
156: Centrifuge unit
157: Liquid quantity measuring unit
158: Opening unit
159: Child specimen container preparation unit
161: Transfer unit
165: Dispensing unit
170: Conveyance device
200: Specimen analysis system
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-042224 | Mar 2019 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2020/000905 | 1/14/2020 | WO |
