JPS62118234A - Apparatus for preparing specimen automatically smeared with blood and dyed - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a highly reliable blood specimen by feeding slide glass by each piece to the succeeding stage by a slide glass feed part and subjecting the same successively to stages for blood dropping, coating and dyeing. CONSTITUTION:This apparatus is provided with the glass feed part 1 for feeding the slide glass (hereafter expressed as glass) to the succeeding stage, a blood dispensing and transferring part 3 for dropping the blood dispensed from a blood-letting tube to the surface of the glass and a centrifugal smearing part 4 for smearing the dropped blood on the glass surface by centrifugal smearing. The apparatus is further provided with a rotational conveying part 5 which can convey the glass to the opposite position by holding the glass in a dyeing cage and rotating the same 180 deg., a dyeing part 6 which takes off the dyeing cage in the state of rotating the same approximately 90 deg. from the glass housing position and dyes the glass in the dyeing cage, a cassette housing part 7 which rotates the dyeing cage further 90 deg. in the same direction after dyeing and transfers the glass into a cassette and a cassette ejection part T which ejects the cassette by rotating the same approximately 180 deg..

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically preparing a blood smear-stained specimen on a glass slide.

(Summary of the Invention) When a test tube containing collected blood is placed in the device, each step to create a blood smear-stained specimen, from dropping the blood onto a slide glass, smearing, staining, drying, storing in a cassette, and transporting, is performed. All processes are performed automatically.

(Prior art) Blood specimens are prepared by dropping the collected blood onto a slide glass, smearing it on the surface of the slide glass, staining it to facilitate blood image analysis, and drying it using a special It is necessary to perform each step continuously up to storing the product in a cassette.

Traditionally, some of these steps were performed by machines, but the rest were performed manually.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Manually preparing a blood specimen not only requires a great deal of labor, but also involves touching the blood specimen directly with one's hands, which is undesirable from the standpoint of hygiene management. Furthermore, there is a possibility that the correspondence between the specimen and the blood specimen may be incorrect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a blood mortar e-smear staining specimen preparation device which automatically performs all blood specimen preparation by a machine, and which allows anyone to easily create blood specimens with high reliability. shall be.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The automatic blood smear staining specimen preparation device according to the present invention has a slide glass supply unit that feeds slide glasses one by one to the next process, and a slide glass supply unit that feeds slide glasses one by one to the next process, and A blood collection transfer unit that drips blood collected from a blood collection tube, a centrifugal smear unit that smears the dropped blood onto the surface of the slide glass by centrifugal smearing, and a staining basket that stores the slide glass. A rotary conveyance unit that can rotate this by approximately 180 degrees and a staining basket held in this rotary conveyance unit pick up the slide glass when it rotates approximately 90 degrees from its slide glass storage position and transfer it to the slide glass in the staining basket. A staining section that performs staining, a cassette storage section that rotates the staining basket approximately 90 degrees in the same direction after staining, and then transfers the slide glass in the staining basket into a cassette, and a cassette storage section that rotates this cassette approximately 180 degrees. and a cassette unloading section for unloading the cassette.

(Example) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an automatic blood smearing and staining specimen preparation apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same embodiment.

The automatic blood smearing and staining specimen preparation device shown in these figures automatically collects the blood in these test tubes and slides it by placing a test tube rack 11 containing a large number of test tubes containing collected blood in the device. It is dripped onto a glass, then smeared, stained, dried, and stored in a cassette.
As shown in FIG. 1, there is a slide glass supply section 1, a slide glass transport section 2, a blood separation and transfer section 3, and a specimen transfer section 3.
0, a centrifugal smear section 4, a rotary conveyance section 5, a staining section 6,
It includes a cassette storage section 7, an operation section 8, a display section 9, and a cassette unloading section T. Operation unit 8
The device is equipped with a numeric keypad, various operation keys, etc., and each part of the device is controlled by operating these various keys.

Further, the display section 9 includes a CRT (cathode ray tube) or the like, and displays information on each section of the apparatus described above.

Each part will be explained in separate sections below.

Slide Glass Supply Unit The slide glass supply unit 1 includes a slide glass case 20 in which a plurality of slide glasses 10 are stored in an overlapping manner, and a slide glass case 20 in which a plurality of slide glasses 10 are stored, as shown in the side view of the main part in FIG. It is equipped with an extrusion part 21 that pushes out the stored glass slides 10 one by one from the bottom of the case, and each time one specimen slide glass is created, the slide glasses 10 stored in the slide glass case 20 are pushed out one by one. The slide glass is pushed out to the position [a], and the slide glass
is transported to the next process.

As shown in the front view of FIG. 3(B), the slide glass conveying unit 2 moves the edge of the moving table 35, which is housed in the box body 26 and has a cross-section in the shape of a cross-section (this edge is located downward). The shaft 22 is fixed to one side of the (bent) position and is located above the position @a during standby, a pair of suction pads 23 provided at the lower end of this shaft 22, and these suction bats 23. A tube 25 that communicates with a small pump (shown in the drawing) built into the main body 27 of the device, a lifting pulley 24 that lifts and lowers the shaft 22, and an L-shaped angle that fixes the lifting pulley 24 to the edge of the moving table 35. 13. The box body 26 is a drive unit (path shown) built into the device main body 27.
When turned on, the rail 28 is moved by the driving force transmission mechanism 3 (the path shown in the figure) located between the device main body 27 and the box body 26.
It is configured to move in the direction of arrow (A). In this case, the box body 26 is smoothly moved by the movable roller 12 at the lower end of the movable table 35 whose part (vertical portion) is fixed to the box body 26, and accordingly The attached slide glass transport section 2, specimen transport section 30, and blood separation and transport section 3 move together with this.

1. The blood separation and transfer section 3 is connected to the movable table 3 inside the box body 26.
5 in the directions of arrows (a) and (b) to separate blood from the test tubes in the test tube rack 11 and place it on a slide glass 10 placed in a centrifugal smear section 4, which will be described later. A nozzle 36 for separating blood, a lifting pulley 37 for lifting and lowering this nozzle 36, a nozzle lifting/lowering motor 14 for driving this lifting pulley 37, this nozzle lifting/lowering motor 14, and the lifting pulley. 37 is attached to the moving block 15, and this moving block 15 is indicated by the arrow (
A drive mechanism (not shown) that moves the wire 16 in the direction of the arrow (b) and the moving block 15 in the direction of the arrow (a).
It is composed of: The blood separation and transfer section 3 moves the movable block 15 in the directions of arrows (A) and (B) within the range of the movable table 35 no matter where the movable table 35 is located, and also moves the movable block 15 in the directions of arrows (A) and (B). After the blood in the test tube is dropped onto the slide glass 10 placed in the centrifugal smear section 4 by moving the nozzle 36 up and down, the nozzle 36 is cleaned.

1 Jupiter Stand 1 The specimen transfer section 30 is for transferring a specimen slide glass (specimen) created in the centrifugal smear section 4, which will be described later, to the next process (stock section). One suction pad 32 provided at the lower end,
A tube 34 that communicates this suction pad 32 with a small pump (not shown) built into the device main body 27, a folding W4 wheel 33 that elevates the shaft 31, and a shaft lifting/lowering that drives the folding pulley 33. an angle 1 for fixing the shaft lifting motor 17 and the lifting pulley 33 to the other edge of the moving table 35;
8.

Since this specimen transport section 30 is fixed to the moving table 35, when the slide glass transport section 2 transports the slide glass 10, it moves together with the slide glass transport section 2 to remove the specimen made by the centrifugal smear section 4. Transport to the next process.

As shown in FIG. 2, the centrifugal smearing unit 4 in the mill 1 includes a rotor 40 which is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown), a guide frame 41 provided to surround the rotor 40, and the rotor 4.
0, and an M44 that closes the upper part of the rotor 40.

The slide glass supply section 1, the slide glass transport section 2, the blood separation and transfer section 3, the specimen transfer section 30, and the centrifugal smear section 4 operate as described below.

First, the slide glass 10 pushed out to position a is moved between a pair of suction pads 2 provided on the slide glass transport section 2.
3, its both ends are attracted and transferred in the direction of arrow (A). Then, it is set inside a guide bin 42 provided on the rotor 40 of the centrifugal smearing section 4.

Next, the nozzle 36 is moved along the moving table 35 to the test tube rack 110, lowered there to separate the blood in the test tubes, and then moved along the moving table 35 to the centrifugal smear section. 4, and the blood is dropped onto the surface of the slide glass 10 set on the rotor 40.

Thereafter, the nozzle 36 opens the cleaning tank 43 (second
(see figure) and is cleaned, and blood adhering to this nozzle 36 is removed.

On the other hand, once one drop of blood is deposited on the surface of the slide glass 10, the lid 44 of the rotor 40 is closed.
rotates, and the blood dropped onto the slide glass 10 is centrifugally smeared.

The specimen slide glass prepared by centrifugally smearing the blood dropped onto the slide glass 10 is then moved to the left end portion (see FIG.
In B), the left end) is suctioned and transferred to a specimen stacker (stock section) 45 shown in FIG.

This operation is repeated until the specimen stacker 45 is stocked with a certain number of specimen slide glasses.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the specimen stacker 45 is provided with a large number of grooves on opposing surfaces of both side walls, and the glass insertion side is formed wide so that the specimen slide glass can be easily inserted. .

The specimen slide glasses stocked in the specimen stacker 45 are dried in a drying tube 46 installed at the top of the specimen stacker 56, and then pushed out by the shaft 31 and conveyed by rotation as shown in FIG. Part 5
supplied to

Rotary Conveyance Unit The rotary conveyance unit 5 includes a rotary plate 50, a staining basket 51 inserted into the rotary plate 50, and a pressing unit 52 that pushes out a specimen slide glass that has undergone a staining process, which will be described later, from the staining basket 51 toward the cassette side. It is composed of:

In this case, the dyeing basket 51 has side plates 5 as shown in FIG.
1a, four pins 51b provided on the outer surface of the upper end side of the both side plates 51a, a groove 51c provided in the center of the outer surface of the both side plates 51a, and four long plate-like angles 51e of the both side plates 51alffl. multiple guide rods 51
d, and two rods 51f that prevent the specimen slide glass placed between the guide rods 51d from falling.

The rotary plate 50 also has a pair of guide blocks 54 having two guide rollers 53 that engage with the 151c.
and a pair of stoppers 55 corresponding to these guide blocks 54 are provided so that the dyeing lever 51 is held on the rotary plate 50.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, on the back surface of the rotating plate 5o,
When a large gear 56 is attached and a motor (not shown) is driven, the rotating plate 50 is rotated by a small gear 57 fixed to the shaft of the motor and the large gear 56 that meshes with the small gear 57. It is designed to be energized.

Further, the pressing portion 52 is connected to a motor 58 and this motor 5.
A drive pulley 59 attached to the drive pulley 59, a driven pulley 49 provided corresponding to the drive pulley 59, a belt 60 hung between these pulleys 59 and 49, and a slide bearing 61 attached to this belt 60. A slide shaft 63 into which this slide bearing 61 is inserted, a support bracket 62 that fixes both ends of this slide shaft 63 to the main body side, an extrusion block 64 that is fixed to the slide bearing 61, and the extrusion block 64 that is driven by the motor 58. The push-out block 64 is configured to include two sensors 65 and 66 that detect the position of the push-out block 64 when the push-out block 64 is driven.

The rotary conveyance unit 5 configured in this manner operates as described below.

First, when a certain number of specimen slide glasses are stocked in the specimen stacker 45, the shaft 31 pushes out these specimen slide glasses and transfers them to the staining basket 51.

Next, the rotary plate 50 rotates by 90 degrees and stops, and at this position the dyeing basket 51 is transferred to the dyeing section 6, which will be described later.

When the dyeing process in the dyeing section 6 is finished and the dyeing basket 51 is returned to this position, the rotary plate 50 further rotates by 90 degrees and stops.

Next, the motor 58 of the pressing unit 52 operates the extrusion block 64 in the direction of arrow (C) to extrude the specimen slide glass from the staining basket 51 and transfer it to the cassette 100.

Thereafter, the suppressing portion 52 returns to its original state, and the rotary plate 50 rotates 180 degrees in the opposite direction to return the dyeing basket 51 to its initial position.

As shown in FIG. 2, the dyeing section 6 includes a liquid tank 67 containing a light dyeing solution, a liquid tank 68 containing a fixing dye solution, a liquid WI 69 containing water, and a draining table 70. A stainer section 73 that sequentially transfers the dyeing basket 51 to each of the liquid tanks 67 to 69 and a draining table 70 to immerse, swing, and drain the dyeing basket 51;
and a drying cylinder 71 for quickly drying the dyeing basket 51 when it is transferred to the draining table 70 and dried by the stainer part 73.

In this case, as shown in FIG.
The stenna shaft 74 constituting the
5 is fixed, and a hook plate 76 for hooking the bin 51b of the dyeing basket 51 is attached to this arm 75. Further, as shown in FIGS. 6(A) and 6(B), a slide bearing 77 is fixed to the lower part of the stena shaft 74, and a swing mechanism 78, which will be described later, allows the stena shaft 74 to be moved horizontally and vertically. It is designed to be driven.

The swing 1lfll 78 has two base plates 79,
A motor 80 fixed to the base plate 79, an eccentric cam 81 fixed to the shaft of the motor 80, a lever 82 whose one end is rotatably fixed to the seven base plates, and a lever 82 that is rotated by the lever 82. A cam follower 83 that is freely supported and whose circumferential surface contacts the eccentric cam 81; and sensors 91 that detect the vertical position of the lever 82.
92.93°94.

In this case, the sensor 91 detects whether the hook plate 76 has reached the upper limit. Also, sensor 92.9
4 detects the upper and lower limits of the vertical movement of the dyeing basket 51 during the drying process during dyeing. Also, sensor 93.9
4 detects the upper and lower limits when the staining basket 51 is immersed in each of the liquid tanks 67 to 69 and is swung up and down, and by this vertical swinging, the specimen slide glasses in the staining basket 51 are uniformly spread. dyed.

Furthermore, this swing mechanism 78 includes a slide bearing 77 connected to the lever 82 via a pin 84 that is connected to a U-shaped notch formed at the tip of the lever 82;
A slide shaft 85 into which this slide bearing 77 is inserted and a fixing part 95 that fixes both ends of this slide shaft 85 are provided, and when the motor 80 is operated, the slide bearing 7
7 is configured to move up and down the stenna shaft 74.

Further, a slide shaft 86 and rollers 87 are formed at the bottom of the base plate 79, and the base plate 79 is horizontally moved back and forth by a horizontal movement mechanism consisting of a motor 88, a drive pulley 89, and a transmission wire 90. It looks like this.

This swing mechanism 78 is driven by the motor 80.88.
is driven to move the staining basket 51 containing the specimen slide glass mounted on the rotary conveying section 5 into each of the liquids Ia67.
~ 69, transported to the draining table 70 and dyed there.

Thereafter, the swing mechanism 78 returns the dyeing basket 51 after dyeing to the rotary conveyance section 5.

Cassette storage unit The cassette storage unit 7, as shown in FIG. 102 and the deepest cassette 100 are now pressed at right angles in the direction of the arrow (E).
A button 103 for positioning the specimen slide glass in a storage position that receives it from the staining basket 51 of the rotary plate 50, and a button 103 for placing the cassette 100, which has received the specimen slide glass in this storage position UB, into the cassette of the cassette unloading section T. It is provided with a button 105 that is pushed into the carrier 104 and held therein. Each push V102.103,1
The operation of 05 is controlled based on a signal from a cassette presence sensor (not shown).

Cassette unloading unit The cassette unloading unit (■) inverts the specimen slide glass which has been turned over 180 degrees by the rotary transport unit 5 again 180a, and transports the cassette to the next blood image classification device with the specimen portion facing upward. do.

As shown in the front view of FIG. 7, the side sectional view of FIG. 8, and the perspective view of FIG. 4 guide rollers 10 on the opposite back side
The lamp bracket 108 is held by the lamp bracket 7 and is movable in the vertical direction. Clamp bracket 108
The upper part is bifurcated, and the leading edge of the image is connected by a guide plate 109. A rising piece 108a is formed at the two-pronged base of the clamp bracket 108, and a tension coil spring 111 is provided between this rising piece 108a and a rising piece 110a of an upper end bracket 110 fixed to the upper rear surface of the cassette holder 106. The clamp bracket 108 is always pressed upward.

The lower part of the clamp bracket 108 is attached to the cassette holder 1.
It has a bent piece 108b which faces in the same direction as the upper bent piece 106a of 06 and is longer than the upper bent piece 106a.
A positioning pin 112 that can be engaged with a positioning hole 100a formed on the bottom surface of -100 is implanted.

A lever 11 is located on the upper right side of the back of the cassette holder 106.
3 is rotatably attached with a screw 114,
The distal end portion 113a is in contact with the upper end surface of the right side of the bifurcated distal end portion of the clamp bracket 108. Lever 113
A horizontal bent piece 113b is formed at the rear end, and a stopper 115 provided on the apparatus main body side can come into contact with the lower surface of the bent piece 113b. That is, as shown in the lower left block of FIG. 10, when the cassette carrier 104 is located at the guide rail starting point P1 of the cassette unloading section T, the lever 113 is pressed counterclockwise 11 by the stopper 115, and the lever 113 is pressed in the counterclockwise direction. Since the tip portion 113a pushes down the upper end surface of the clamp bracket 108, the cassette holder upper bent piece 106a and the clamp bracket lower bent piece 108
The gap between b and b widens. Then, as shown in the left block of FIG. 11, the cassette 100 is pushed into the pusher 105. After this, cassette carrier 1
04 rises, the lever 113 is moved by the stopper 115.
Since the pressing operation is released, the clamp bracket 108 is raised by the restoring force of the tension coil spring 111, and the cassette 1oO is securely held between the cassette holder upper bent piece 106a and the clamp bracket lower bent piece 108b. be done.

The cassette carrier 104 has its cassette holder 106
On the back side, there are two flat pulleys 116 on the upper and lower left sides and two square pulleys 117 on the upper and lower right sides. The left flat pulley 116 is attached via a ball bearing 119 to a bin 118 attached to the back of the cassette holder 106. The V-shaped pulley 117 on the right side is also attached to a bin 120 via a ball bearing 121, but this bin 120 is fixed to both ends of a floating arm 122, respectively. This floating arm 122 is rotatably supported at its center by a screw 124 and a nut 125 at the tip of a support arm 123, and the B tea portion of the support arm 123 is connected to the cassette holder 106.
It is fixed to the back side of the camera with screws 126.

This cassette carrier 104 is constructed by attaching a pair of upper and lower pulleys 116 and 117 to a guide rail 127 installed on the main body of the apparatus so as to sandwich both sides of the guide rail 127, and then a bin that supports both pulleys 116 and 117. 1
18. Pass the tension coil spring 128 between 120 and
Both pulleys 116 and 117 are brought into pressure contact with the guide rail 127.

The rising piece 110b of the upper end bracket 110 attached to the upper part of the back surface of the cassette holder 106
and the rising piece 129a of the lower end bracket 129 fixed to the back surface of the cassette holder 106 through the lower opening 108C of the clamp bracket 108.
By connecting one end and the other end of 30 and rotating it,
Cassette carrier 104 moves along guide rail 127.

As shown in FIG. 10, 0-7130 is traversed in an endless manner along a guide rail 127 having an inverted U shape. That is, the loaf 130 coupled to the upper end bracket 110 of the cassette carrier 104 passes through the back side of the guide rail 127, passes through the back side rope guide 131 at the corner, and passes from the back side guide pulley 132 to the tension pulley 133 at the guide rail terminal point P2. After passing through the drive pulley 134 on the opposite side, the front guide pulley 1
35, passes through the front side of the guide rail 127, passes through the front side lobe guide 136 at the corner part, from the front side guide pulley 137 at the starting point P1, passes through the tension pulley 138, and the back side passes through the idle pulley 139, and then the cassette carrier 104 is coupled to the lower end bracket 129.

The drive pulley 134 on the terminal point P2 side is connected to the gear head 140.
The upper surface of each lobe guide 131, 136 is provided with a groove for guiding 0-1130.

At the starting point P1, the presence sensor 143 attached to the sensor bracket 142 is activated by the sensor dog 144 provided at the bottom of the cassette carrier 104.
A starting point P1 of the cassette carrier 104 is determined. Then, another sensor bracket 145 at the starting point P1
A presence sensor (not shown) attached to the cassette carrier 104 detects that the cassette 100 is set in the cassette carrier 104, and a presence sensor 147 (see FIG. 11) provided on the transport line 146 at the terminal point P2 detects that the cassette 100 is set in the cassette carrier 104. Terminal point P
2, when it is detected that the cassette 100 is not present, the lobe drive motor 141 starts rotating and moves the cassette carrier 104 along the guide rail 17 from the starting point P1 to the ending point P2.

At the terminal point P2, an inverted U-shaped guide rail 127
The cassette carrier 104 that has been moved along is now upside down. Therefore, the sensor dog 148 provided at the top of the cassette carrier 104 is located at the bottom at the terminal point P2, and this sensor dog 148
However, by activating the presence sensor 149 provided at the terminal point P2 and stopping the lobe drive motor 141 in response to this, the cassette carrier 104 correctly stops at the terminal point P2. At the same time, the stopper 150 provided at the terminal point P2 presses the tip end 113a side of the lever 113 provided at the top of the cassette carrier 104, so the clamp bracket 108 is pushed out against the cassette holder 106 and held between them. The cassette 100 that has been unclamped in this way is unclamped.
The cassette carrier 104 is operated by the pusher 151 which is activated in response to a signal from the presence sensor 149 at the terminal point P2.
It is pushed out onto the conveyance line 146 from inside. Butsusha 1
51 is attached to a bracket 152, and the bracket 152 is fixed to the timing belt 154 via a belt pressing member 153, and the slide pack 1
IF on 55! Installed for the first time possible. The timing belt 154 includes a driving timing pulley 158 fixed to a fixed shaft of a belt drive motor 157 having a gear head 156, and a driven timing pulley 160 supported by a pulley bracket 159 disposed at the terminal end of the conveyance line 146. A barrier is passed between them. Further, position sensors 163 and 16 are connected to the starting end and the ending end of the timing belt 154 via brackets 161 and 162, respectively.
4 is arranged, and is operated by a sensor dog 165 attached to the bushing mounting bracket 152 to regulate the starting and ending positions of the bushing 151. Each of these members is arranged on a base plate 166, and the base plate 166 is supported by side plates 167, 168 and the like. Further, guide plates 1 are provided on both sides of the conveyance line 146.
69.170 is arranged, and on the terminal side,
A final unloading line 171 that is continuous and orthogonal to this is provided within the tower 172. A presence sensor 17 is installed in the middle of the conveyance line 146 via a sensor bracket 173.
4 is arranged, and a presence sensor 176 is arranged on the starting end side of the final carry-out line 171 via a sensor bracket 175, and a pusher 177 for carrying out the cassette 100 along the line 171 is connected to a drive (not shown). attached to the section.

The cassette 100 in the cassette carrier 104 that has been guided along the guide rail 127 and has reached the terminal point P2 is pushed onto the conveyance line 146 by the pusher 151.
0 is detected by the presence sensor 176, the pusher 151 pushes the cassette 100 halfway along the conveyance line 146, and when the presence sensor 174 in the middle detects this cassette 100, it moves backward. and return to the original position. When the cassette 100 on the starting point P3 of the final unloading line 171 is pushed out by the pusher 177, the cassette 100 located in the middle of the transport line 146
0 is again pushed out by the pusher 151 and located at the starting point P3 of the final delivery line 171. Then, the cassette 100 pushed out from the final delivery line 171 enters a blood image classification device (not shown), where each sample slide glass in the cassette 100 is taken out one by one and the blood image thereof is automatically analyzed. Processing by the blood image classification device is delayed,
When the cassettes 100 accumulate on the automatic blood smear specimen preparation device, the automatic blood smear specimen preparation device is automatically stopped, and when the blood image classification device has finished processing, the automatic blood smear specimen preparation device is stopped. Starts operation automatically.

In the above embodiment, the operation of the apparatus is started by placing a test tube rack with ζ blood collection tubes lined up inside the apparatus, but an automatic rack transport device is attached to this apparatus to move a large number of stocked racks into one. The devices may be carried one by one into the automatic blood smearing and staining specimen preparation device, and then automatically taken out of the device after specimen preparation.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the automatic blood smearing and staining specimen preparation device according to the present invention can drip and smear blood onto a slide glass simply by placing a blood collection tube in the device.

All steps for blood specimen preparation, including staining, drying, cassette storage, and transport, can be performed automatically. Moreover, since a rotary conveyance section is provided in a part of the conveyance system and a dyeing section is combined with this, the apparatus can be constructed compactly. Also, one cassette is loaded in the final conveyance section.
Since the slide glass is turned 80 degrees and transported out, it is possible to return the glass slide, which was turned 180 degrees in the rotating conveyance section in the previous stage and the specimen part is now on the back, to its original state, and then use it in the subsequent blood image classification device. This makes it possible to perform continuous and automatic analysis work.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an automatic blood smear-stained specimen preparation device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment, and FIG. Side view of the conveyance unit, etc., Figure 3 (B) is Figure 3 (A)
FIG. 4 is a front view of the rotary conveyance section in the same embodiment, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the dyeing basket and rotary plate in the same embodiment, and FIG. 6 (A> is a front view of the dyeing section in the same embodiment). 6(B) is a side view of the cassette carrier in the X direction of FIG. 6(A), FIG. 7 is a front view of the cassette carrier in the cassette delivery section, and FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of the cassette carrier. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the cassette carrier, Fig. 10 is a front view of the cassette delivery section, and Fig. 11 is a plan view of the cassette delivery part. 1... Slide glass supply section, 2... Slide glass transport section, 3... Blood separation and transfer section, 4... Centrifugal smear section, 5... Rotating transfer section, 6... Staining section, 7... Cassette storage section, 8... Operating section, 9... Operating section display section, ■... Cassette ejecting section. Patent applicant: Tateishi Electric Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney: Tetsuji Iwaji (and one other person) Figure a (8) 4'2 No. 5 Figure $7 Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] a slide glass supply unit that feeds the slide glasses one by one to the next process; a blood separation transfer unit that drops the blood collected from the blood collection tube onto the surface of the fed slide glass; a centrifugal smear unit for smearing blood onto the surface of the slide glass by centrifugal smearing; and a rotation unit capable of holding a staining basket containing the smeared slide glass, rotating it approximately 180 degrees, and transporting it to the opposite position. a conveying section; a staining section that takes the staining basket rotated approximately 90 degrees from its slide glass storage position and stains the slide glasses in the staining basket; a cassette storage section that transfers the slide glass in the staining basket into a cassette after rotating the slide glass approximately 90 degrees in the direction; and a cassette unloading section that rotates the cassette containing the slide glass approximately 180 degrees and transports the slide glass. Automatic blood smear specimen preparation device.