Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd.

Hiroatsu Toi

Kenji Yamada

Tadashi Ohkawara

Hidetaka Osawa

Eiichi Fukuhara

Masashi Nagaoka

Masataka Morita

A continuous centrifuge includes: a cylindrical rotor configured to separate a specimen; a centrifuging chamber accommodating the rotor; a driving unit configured to rotate the rotor; a specimen line configured to continuously supply and discharge the specimen to and from the rotor during rotation of the rotor; and a controller configured to control the driving unit. The control unit has a cleansing mode which flows a liquid chemical through the specimen line so as to conduct sterilization and/or cleansing while rotating the rotor.

Continuous centrifuge

A centrifuge includes a rotor, a rotation shaft which has a through-hole communicated with an interior of the rotor, a face seal which slidingly contacts an end of the rotation shaft and has a path communicated with the through-hole of the rotation shaft, a wall member which accommodates the face seal, a sample transfer unit which transfers a sample through the rotor, and a coolant circulation unit which circulates a coolant to the wall member. The sample transfer unit transfers the sample by pressure so that a pressure of the sample flowing through a portion where the rotation shaft and the face seal slidingly contact with each other is higher than a pressure of the coolant flowing through the wall member.

Centrifuge having face seal

An automatic dispenser includes a dispensing head, a transporter, a controller, sensors, and an adjustor. The dispensing head accommodates a plurality of dispensing tips and draws liquid into and ejects liquid from the dispensing tips. The transporter moves the dispensing head within an XYZ space. The controller controls drawing and ejecting of liquid by the dispensing head and movement of the dispensing head by the transporter. The sensors detect whether dispensing tips are mounted in the dispensing head. The adjustor aligns the reference positions of the dispensing head and the sensors in the XY plane.

Automatic dispenser

In reagent reaction experiments using microplates, a desired period of time can be set for determining the time to introduce a reaction stop solution after introduction of a reagent. The set time is measured starting from the introduction of the reagent and the reaction stop solution is introduced immediately after expiration of the set time. A control device for an automatic liquid handling system having the above-described reaction time managing feature is also provided with a self-diagnosing function that is capable of determining whether scheduled processes are executable or not during the time set before execution of the processes and informing an operator of the results of determination.

Control device for automatic liquid handling system

In reagent reaction experiments using microplates, the operator cannot just set dispensing tips in all the fixing holes of the dispensing tip container. It is necessary to carry out the time-consuming task of deciding in advance on a suitable arrangement of positions for the dispensing tips. It is also necessary for the operator to carry out the time-consuming task of determining in advance the quantity of reagent used and how the reagent is to be arranged. These problems are solved by providing a control device that includes a dispensing tip arrangement calculator and reagent quantity and arrangement calculator, and that can inform the operator of these results. The dispensing tip arrangement, the reagent quantity used, and the reagent arrangement is calculated from the information set in advance on specific reagent, the quantity of reagent dispensed into one well of the microplate, the range of wells in the microplate into which reagent is dispensed, and the direction of dispensing.

A microplate liquid handling system requiring minimum installation area, helping to avoid waste of various reagents, and making it possible to perform dispensing the various reagents in the shortest possible time. The microplate liquid handling system has a main frame body provided with a moving mechanism, a dispensing mechanism, and a stage. On the stage, a microplate, two dispensing tip containers, and two reagent vessels are mounted. Formed in the microplate are 12&#xd7;8 wells, i.e., 96 wells in total, arranged in matrix. The microplate, the dispensing tip containers, and the reagent vessels are substantially of the same, rectangular configuration. Each of the two dispensing tip containers is capable of accommodating 12&#xd7;8 dispensing tips in total in a matrix fashion.

Microplate liquid handling system

A microplate liquid handling system capable of automatically performing both longitudinal collective suction/discharge and lateral collective suction/discharge on a single microplate. The microplate liquid handling system has a main body equipped with a moving device, a rotating mechanism, a dispensing mechanism, and a stage. Connected to the moving device is the dispensing mechanism for performing dispensing on wells in a microplate on the stage through the rotating mechanism. A plurality of cylinders are arranged in a row in the dispensing mechanism. The dispensing mechanism is capable of moving forwards and backwards and to the right and left with respect to the main body, and is rotatable about a vertically directed rotation axis, making it possible to change the direction of the cylinder array from origin position to 90 degrees position and vice versa.

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Hitachinaka, Japan

Hiroatsu Toi