JP2010181278A - Dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dispensing apparatus capable of loading a chip unfailingly and performing error-free dropping. <P>SOLUTION: The dispensing apparatus includes a dispensing pump stored in a first transporting part, a chip loading part secured to the dispensing pump, a chip rack placed on a second transporting part and keeping a plurality of detachably inserted chips, an image capturing part photographing the surface of the chip rack, an image processing part processing captured images, and a control part controlling operations of the first transporting part and the dispensing pump on the basis of the images from the image capturing part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a dispensing apparatus that performs dispensing for inhaling and discharging a liquid sample in a specimen test or the like.

  2. Related Art Dispensing devices that dispense liquid samples such as chemical solutions are known. This dispensing apparatus includes a nozzle, a pump for sucking and discharging a liquid sample in the nozzle, a nozzle transport mechanism for transporting the nozzle, and the like.

  In addition, the dispensing device is incorporated in, for example, an ISH (In Situ Hybridization) processing device for performing gene function analysis, and the liquid sample in the well is sucked by the nozzle, or the liquid sample in the nozzle is removed. It is configured to dispense into the well and dispense.

  In addition, in the field of drug discovery screening, a dispensing device is used to give a compound that is a drug candidate to a cell, the change of the cell due to the stimulus is captured with an image, and the efficacy and side effects are tested by image processing Yes.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a main part configuration of a conventional dispensing apparatus described in JP-A-11-160326.
In FIG. 4, a nozzle chip (hereinafter referred to as a chip) 28 formed of resin or the like is detachably mounted on a chip mounting portion 27 formed of a metal pipe or the like. The tip mounting portion 27 and the tip 28 constitute a nozzle. A dispensing pump 14 is connected to this nozzle. The dispensing pump 14 generates suction force and discharge force.

  A jamming detector 16 is provided between the dispensing pump 14 and the nozzle. The jamming detection unit 16 is means for detecting a collision force when the chip 28 collides with any member.

  The control unit 20 controls the entire dispensing device, and in particular performs control for detecting the positional deviation of the tip of the tip 28. The drive mechanism 22 is connected to a movable part including the dispensing pump 14, and the entire movable part including the dispensing pump 14 and the nozzle is driven by the drive mechanism 22.

  These movable parts can move freely in three dimensions. The output signal from the jamming detection unit 16 is input to the determination unit 24, and the determination unit 24 determines the positional deviation of the tip of the chip based on the output signal from the jamming detection unit 16.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another conventional example described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-101479. A motor 2 is provided on the top of the box-shaped casing 1. A screw body 5 made of a trapezoidal screw or a ball screw connected to the rotating shaft 3 of the motor 1 via a coupling 4 is rotatably provided in the casing 1.

  The screw body 5 is provided with a slider 6 screwed through a screw hole 6b so as to be movable up and down along the direction of arrow E. The slider 6 is slidable on a linear guide 7 provided on the casing 1. It is connected and configured to move up and down without rotating, and has a dispensing piston shaft 6A protruding downward.

  A longitudinally shaped cam plate 10 is provided on the inner surface of the casing 1 through a plurality of guide protrusions (not shown) so as to be movable up and down. A cam portion 11 having a shape of a cam groove or a cam hole is formed.

  The cam plate 10 is constantly urged downward by the other end of a spring member 13 such as a spring having one end connected to the upper end 12 of the cam plate 10 being locked to the locking portion of the casing 1. It is configured to be movable up and down along E.

  An operating position adjusting screw is provided on a mounting piece (not shown) formed by bending integrally with the upper end 12 of the cam plate 10, and the upper end of the slider 6 is in contact with the lower end of the operating position adjusting screw. The slider 6 is configured to lift the cam plate 10 upward against the spring force of the spring member 13.

JP-A-11-160326 JP 2003-344427 A JP 2004-101479 A

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, although there is a function to detect tip end bending, abnormality such as molding failure, and jamming, there is no function to detect the presence or absence of a chip when mounting a chip from a chip rack. .
For this reason, there is a problem in that a drop (dispensing) operation is performed without a chip and an inaccurate test is executed.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to add a function of detecting whether or not there is a chip in the chip rack when mounting the chip from the chip rack in the automated dispensing apparatus, thereby reliably mounting the chip, An object of the present invention is to realize a dispensing device capable of performing dripping without mistakes.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and in the invention according to claim 1,
A dispensing pump stored in the first transport unit, a chip mounting unit fixed to the dispensing pump, a chip rack placed on the second transport unit and in which a plurality of chips are detachably inserted, and the chip An image capturing unit that captures the surface of the rack, an image processing unit that processes the captured image, and a control unit that controls operations of the first transport unit and the dispensing pump based on an image from the image capturing unit; It is characterized by comprising.

In Claim 2, in the dispensing apparatus of Claim 1,
An illumination unit is provided in the vicinity of the image capturing unit.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the control unit for controlling the operation of the dispensing pump based on the image from the image capturing unit is provided, the presence / absence of the chip inserted into the chip rack based on the image is determined. Judgment can be made. As a result, it is possible to realize a dispensing apparatus that performs the dropping operation with certainty and performs a test with no mistakes.
According to claim 2 of the present invention, the image becomes clear and erroneous determination can be eliminated.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of embodiment of the dispensing apparatus of this invention. It is the top view and partial cross section front view of the chip | tip inserted in the chip rack. It is a figure which shows the image of a chip rack. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the conventional dispensing apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the other example of the conventional dispensing apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a dispensing apparatus of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a first transport unit in which a drive mechanism (not shown) including a dispensing pump is incorporated, and a dispenser 101 for mounting a later-described chip is provided below the first transport unit. Yes. The first transport unit 100 is assumed to incorporate a drive mechanism similar to the conventional one.

Reference numeral 102 denotes a control unit that controls the vertical movement (Z direction) of a dispensing pump incorporated in the first conveyance unit 100 and moves the conveyance unit 100 in the X and Y directions in order to suck and discharge a sample to the tip portion. Control to move to.
104 is an image capturing unit (camera), 103 is an image processing unit of the camera, and an image photographed by the camera is captured by the control unit 102 via the image processing unit. An illumination unit 105 irradiates the surface of the chip rack.

Reference numeral 106 denotes a second transport unit on which the chip rack 107 is placed, and transports the placed chip rack to a predetermined position.
The second transport unit 106 moves only in the X direction, and the first transport unit 100 moves in the XYZ triaxial directions. The control unit is provided with a known function for determining whether or not a chip rack has a chip, and also controls on / off of the camera and illumination. Further, the illumination is controlled to be turned on only when the image is taken in, and then turned off in synchronization with the taking in the image.

  As image processing for detecting the presence or absence of a chip, for example, it is determined from the size of a circular pattern in a chip rack. Judge that there is a tip.

FIG. 2 is a plan view and a partial cross-sectional front view of the chip 108 inserted into the chip rack 107 and is generally commercially available. As shown in the figure, for example, 8 × 12 chips 108 are detachably inserted in the chip rack 107 in the XY direction.
3A and 3B show images of the chip rack 108 taken by the camera 104. FIG. A portion surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 1A shows a region where a chip is present, and FIG. 2B shows a state where a circle is clear after image processing is performed.

In the above-described configuration, the dispensing apparatus operates in the following sequence.
1. The camera 104 images the surface of the chip rack 107 to determine where the chip 108 is.
2. The chip rack 107 is transported in the X direction by the second transport unit 106 and is positioned substantially below the first transport unit 100.
3. The first transport unit 100 is moved in the XY directions, and is positioned directly above the place where the chip 108 is located.

4). The first transport unit 100 is lowered in the Z direction, and the chip 108 is mounted.
5). The first transport unit 100 is raised in the Z direction.
6). The first transport unit 100 transports the chip 108 onto a container (not shown) in which a compound (drug candidate) is placed, with the chip 108 mounted.
7). The first transport unit 100 descends in the Z direction, and the tip of the tip reaches the liquid level of the compound.

8). Aspirate a certain amount of compound.
9. After sucking the compound, the first transport unit 100 is raised.
10. The 1st conveyance part 100 moves to XY direction, and moves to the top of the container (illustration omitted) by which the cell which is a to-be-measured sample was put.
11. The first transport unit 100 descends in the Z direction, and the compound sucked at a predetermined position on the cell culture liquid surface is discharged onto the sample.

12 The first transport unit 100 moves up in the Z direction.
13. The first transport unit 100 moves in the XY direction to the chip disposal site (not shown).
14 The dispenser rejects the chip.
15. The 1st conveyance part 100 moves to XY direction, and is located just above the place with a chip | tip.
16. Thereafter, steps 3 to 15 are repeated.

The above description merely shows a specific preferred embodiment for the purpose of explanation and illustration of the present invention. For example, the image processing unit 103 may be housed in the control unit 102, and the number and shape of the chips 108 are not limited to the illustrated example.
Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes many changes and modifications without departing from the essence thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 1st conveyance part 101 Dispenser 102 Control part 103 Image processing part 104 Image taking-in part 105 Illumination part 106 2nd conveyance part 107 Chip rack 108 Chip

Claims (2)

  A dispensing pump stored in the first transport unit, a chip mounting unit fixed to the dispensing pump, a chip rack placed on the second transport unit and in which a plurality of chips are detachably inserted, and the chip An image capturing unit that images the surface of the rack, an image processing unit that processes the captured image, and a control unit that controls operations of the first transport unit and the dispensing pump based on an image from the image capturing unit. A dispensing apparatus comprising:   The dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an illumination unit is provided in the vicinity of the image capturing unit.