The present invention relates to a dispensing device which combines a mechanism for expanding the work area of a motor-driven pipet, and a mechanism for selecting the size of a piston pump contained in a motor-driven pipet.
In automatic purifiers and autoanalyzers for use in research or medical purpose, dispensing devices using motor-driven pipets for sucking a desired amount of liquid sample, reagent, etc., into a container set at a predetermined location and discharging the liquid into another container placed in another predetermined location are necessary.
The motor-driven pipet has the basic structure shown in
The motor-driven pipet is attached to a drive mechanism which can move along orthogonal coordinates as shown in
Dispensing devices are widely used in fields which deal with liquids, such as the fields of medical care, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology, as devices for automatically distributing an accurate amount of liquid to an exact position (container) without humans assistance. Dispensing devices require high speed and high accuracy in distributing liquids.
The distribution speed depends on the operating speed of the drive system that moves the motor-driven pipet, and the number of motor-driven pipets. The operating speed of the drive system is determined by the performance, speed reducing ratio, etc., of the motor of the drive section. Dispensing devices using a plurality of motor-driven pipet members are generally called a multi-channel type, and types with 4, 8, 12, or 96 channels are commercially available.
In addition to the accuracy of the piston pump drive section in the motor-driven pipet, the accuracy of the dispensing operation depends on the outer diameter of the piston and the space (dead volume) in the tip attached to the nozzle. In other words, it is impossible to accurately dispense a small amount of liquid using a piston pump having a large outer diameter or a tip having a large capacity. This is because dispensing by means of a piston pump utilizes changes in the air volume inside the piston pump.
The liquid amounts used for ordinary dispensing are often categorized into three levels: from about 0.5 μl to about 10 μl, from about 5 μl to about 200 μl, and from about 100 μl to about 1000 μl. To dispense accurate amounts of liquid, tips of different sizes are used for the different levels. Because the tips are different, the nozzles mounted on the motor-driven pipet member and piston pumps are also different. In other words, the shapes of the motor-driven pipets are different. To accurately dispense a liquid in amounts ranging from 0.5 μl to 1000 μl, a plurality of motor-driven pipets become necessary. Therefore, dispensing devices wherein dispensing members (which correspond to the motor-driven pipets of the present invention) having different shapes are automatically exchanged as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1996-229414 are also commercially available.
In conventional dispensing devices, performance improvements such as multi-channel designs for increasing speed, a mechanism to automatically exchange motor-driven pipet members for attaining accuracy, etc., have been sought. In other words, independent functions for dispensing devices have been pursued.
In recent years, laboratory automation (lab automation) has attracted attention in the research and medical fields. By automating liquid dispensing as well as purification, reaction and analysis, it is possible to decrease human error, conduct high-speed, large-volume processing, and reduce labor. The lab automation systems currently available are large in scale wherein dispensing devices and industrial conveyance robots, such as those used in automobile manufacturing, are combined. Conveyance robots are used to transfer containers containing pre/post-dispensing samples or reagents among a dispensing device, a reaction device and an analyzer. By organizing the processes of dispensing, reacting and analyzing into individual blocks, and transferring containers containing liquid, etc., these processes can be conducted in a continuous manner.
A huge expense is necessary to introduce such lab automation, making it difficult to introduce it into small- to middle-scale laboratories. Although a type wherein a dispensing device is relatively enlarged and the process from the dispensing step to the reaction step is automated is also available, it is still expensive. These conventional dispensing devices use a drive system such as that shown in
In such a method, extra expense and installation space become necessary for the conveyance robot, and since the entire container is transferred, containers holding necessary samples or reagents cannot be accessed again until they are transferred to the first dispensing device from the second dispensing device by a conveyance robot. This problem arises when the same sample has to go through two processes simultaneously.
Thus, to send the same sample through two steps simultaneously using a conventional dispensing device, it is necessary to dispense the sample into two different containers. Dispensing the same sample or reagent into two different containers constitutes a waste of space and resources. In some cases, a plurality of conveyance robots may be needed. Because conveyance robots are generally more expensive than dispensing devices, this is not efficient.
Reference numbers 1 to 6 in
Reference numbers 1 to 4 in
Reference numbers 1 to 7 in
Reference numbers 1 to 2 in
The present invention relates to a dispensing device that can help automate small- to medium-scale laboratories while overcoming the above-mentioned problems and improve functions and performance in accordance with the automation scale and available budget.
The above-mentioned problems are attributable to the fact that the drive system to which the motor-driven pipet is attached is formed by three axes, i.e., lateral (forward/backward), horizontal (right/left) and vertical (up/down), and therefore the work area of the motor-driven pipet is restricted by the movement (effective strokes) of the three axes. The present invention has succeeded in expanding the work area of the motor-driven pipet by combining an operating mechanism that can move along orthogonal coordinates and an operating mechanism that can move along cylindrical coordinates.
The mechanism that can move along the orthogonal coordinates uses a mechanism that changes the rotational motion of a motor into linear motion, which is also used in conventional dispensing devices. The mechanism that can move along the cylindrical coordinates slows down and otherwise controls the motor's rotational motion and transfers it as rotational motion. The present invention comprises a basic drive system wherein a motor-driven pipet member is attached to a linear drive mechanism that can move in one, two or three directions: lateral, horizontal and vertical. The basic drive system is attached to a rotatable drive mechanism, and the rotatable drive mechanism is attached to a drive mechanism that can move in directions in which the basic drive system cannot.
Several actual combinations can be considered including:
All of them can be attained by combining an operating mechanism that is movable along orthogonal coordinates and an operating mechanism that is movable along cylindrical coordinates. The work area of the motor-driven nozzle can be expanded by employing such a method.
A concrete example of the basic mechanism of this invention is shown in
By using the mechanism as shown in
An example of the dispensing device according to claim 6 of the present invention is illustrated in
As shown in
In the present invention, as a means to automatically exchange a motor-driven pipet member that is capable of sucking and discharging liquid or a motor-driven tip member that sucks and discharges liquid in accordance with the amount to be dispensed, a mechanism wherein dispensing members (corresponding to motor-driven pipets in the present invention) having different shapes are automatically exchanged as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1996-229414 can be employed.
The present invention can provide a dispensing device that makes it possible to automate small- to medium-scale laboratories, and to improve function and performance according to the scale and budget of automation.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2001-350529 | Nov 2001 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP02/11933 | 11/15/2002 | WO |