JP5051798B2 - Sensing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sensing device that senses a sensing object using a piezoelectric sensor including a piezoelectric vibrator.

  A piezoelectric vibrator such as a crystal vibrator is connected to an oscillation circuit, and a change in the oscillation frequency (resonance frequency) caused by adhesion of the sensing object to the excitation electrode provided on the piezoelectric vibrator is detected to detect the sensing object. Piezoelectric sensors are known. A piezoelectric sensor is used by being mounted on a sensing device having a sample fluid supply / discharge system and an oscillation circuit including a sensing object, and a flow cell method is known as a method for supplying the sample fluid to the sensing device. .

  In the flow cell system, a flow cell having a sample fluid supply / discharge path is provided in a sensing device, a piezoelectric vibrator is disposed in a space formed in the flow cell, and this space is used as a flow path for the sample fluid. In this method, the sample fluid is continuously supplied to the surface (for example, Patent Document 1). Since the flow cell type sensing device can supply the sample fluid continuously, it is easy to stabilize the frequency characteristics, and since the liquid can be replaced smoothly, the amount of the sample fluid used can be reduced. There is an advantage.

  In such a flow cell type sensing device, it is necessary to place a piezoelectric sensor in the flow cell, connect the piezoelectric vibrator electrode provided on the piezoelectric sensor to an oscillation circuit, and attach the piezoelectric sensor to the sensing device. It becomes. Conventionally, such mounting work has been performed manually by the user, but in order to avoid the phenomenon that a good sensing result cannot be obtained due to poor mounting, and to reduce the time of mounting work, the process of mounting the piezoelectric sensor Automation is required.

  Further, in order to minimize the amount of the sample fluid to be passed through the flow cell, the present inventors press the chip formed with a shallow concave portion of about 1 mm to 1 mm against the piezoelectric sensor, so that the piezoelectric sensor and the space We have developed a technology for forming a micro-channel, which is a flow space for allowing a sample fluid to flow between a chip as a forming member.

  In order to improve the adhesion with the piezoelectric sensor, the present inventors configured the chip (hereinafter referred to as a microchannel chip) using an elastic material such as silicon rubber, and the microchannel chip is We are considering pressing from the top side. When such a piezoelectric sensor having a microchannel chip mounted thereon is automatically attached to a sensing device, the sample fluid is prevented from leaking from the microchannel and the microchannel is crushed. In order to prevent this, it is important to have a technique for bringing the microchannel chip into close contact with the piezoelectric sensor with an appropriate force.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an openable / closable portion that can be opened and closed in the left-right direction (described as “second part” in the specification of Patent Document 2. In the citation of Patent Document 2 below, the name in the specification is described in parentheses). Describes a sensing device having a main body (first portion) provided with a housing (means for receiving a sensor element) for inserting a piezoelectric sensor. In this case, an opening is formed corresponding to the position of the piezoelectric vibrator of the piezoelectric sensor inserted into the case, and a flow cell that can be fitted in the opening is provided on one side of the opening / closing part. A flow cell element) is provided. After inserting the piezoelectric sensor into the housing, the flow cell is fitted into the opening of the housing by moving the open / close member to the closed position so that the main body is sandwiched from the left and right, and the sample fluid is supplied to the piezoelectric vibrator. Can be done.

JP 11-183479 A: paragraph 0002, paragraph 0024, FIG. JP-T-2006-510901: Claim 1, paragraph 0026, FIG. 2, FIG. 4, FIG.

  In the sensing device described in Patent Document 2, the operation of connecting the flow cell to the housing storing the piezoelectric sensor is automated, but no technique for disposing the piezoelectric sensor in the housing is described. Therefore, when this operation is performed manually, there are still problems of work loss and poor mounting.

  The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and the purpose thereof is to maintain a space shape of a flow space formed therein, and a piezoelectric sensor and a space forming member placed thereon. It is another object of the present invention to provide a sensing device that holds the devices in close contact with each other.

In the sensing device according to the present invention, the piezoelectric vibrator of the piezoelectric sensor is connected to the oscillation circuit via a connection provided in the measuring instrument body, and the sensing object is placed on the adsorption layer provided on the upper surface of the piezoelectric vibrator. In a sensing device that senses a sensing object based on a change in the oscillation frequency of the piezoelectric vibrator by being adsorbed,
A piezoelectric sensor is held so that the piezoelectric vibrator can be attached to and detached from the connection portion, and the sample fluid is passed through the upper surface of the piezoelectric vibrator by being placed on the piezoelectric sensor. A holding member that holds a space forming member made of an elastic material that forms a flow space for the sample fluid and is provided with a supply hole and a discharge hole for the sample fluid in a state of being stacked on the piezoelectric sensor;
A sample fluid supply section having a sample fluid supply path in communication with the supply hole, and a sample fluid discharge section having a sample fluid discharge path in communication with the discharge hole;
A cover member placed on the space forming member in a state where the piezoelectric vibrator is connected to the connection portion;
A pressing portion for pressing the cover member placed on the space forming member with a preset force toward the space forming member;
A first position for raising and lowering the pressing portion between a pressing position that presses the cover member by the pressing portion and a release position that retreats from the pressing position and releases the cover member from the pressed state. And an elevating mechanism.

The sensing device may have the following features.
(A) The sample fluid supply unit and the sample fluid discharge unit are shared with the cover member.
(B) The pressing portion includes a spring member biased in a direction of pressing the cover member and a contact member provided at a distal end portion of the spring member and contacting the cover member.
(C) a mounting position where the cover member is mounted on the space forming member, and a mounting position where the piezoelectric sensor retracted from the mounting position and held by the holding member is removable from the connecting portion. A second elevating mechanism for elevating the cover member between them;
(D) The first lifting mechanism and the second lifting mechanism are made common.
(E) A holding position that is set on the front side of the connecting portion and for holding the piezoelectric sensor on the holding member, and the piezoelectric sensor is mounted on the measuring instrument body with the piezoelectric vibrator connected to the connecting portion. And a moving mechanism for moving the holding member back and forth in the horizontal direction between the connecting position and the connecting position.

  According to the present invention, a piezoelectric sensor provided with a piezoelectric vibrator and a space which is placed on the piezoelectric sensor and forms a flow space for allowing a sample fluid to flow on the upper surface side of the piezoelectric vibrator. The cover member is set in advance when the cover member for holding the space forming member on the space forming member is placed on the space forming member by holding the forming member on the holding member in a state of being stacked vertically. A pressing portion that presses with the applied force is provided. For this reason, by appropriately adjusting the aforementioned preset force, the piezoelectric sensor and the space forming member are brought into close contact with each other to prevent leakage of the sample fluid from the flow space, and the space made of an elastic material. Excessive deformation of the forming member can be suppressed, and occurrence of problems such as the passage space being crushed so that the sample fluid cannot flow or the sensing characteristics are changed can be suppressed.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance structure of the sensing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the internal structure of the said sensing apparatus. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the chassis part provided in the said sensing apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the flow cell base provided in the said sensing apparatus, and its moving mechanism. It is a partially broken perspective view which shows the flow cell cover provided in the said sensing apparatus, and its raising / lowering mechanism. It is a partially vertical side view which shows the said flow cell cover and its raising / lowering mechanism. It is a vertical side view which shows the structure of the spring plunger which comprises the press part of the said flow cell cover. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the structural example of the said flow cell base, a flow cell cover, and the piezoelectric sensor attached between these. It is a side view of the flow cell base. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the piezoelectric vibrator provided in the said piezoelectric sensor. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state by which the said piezoelectric vibrator was connected to the oscillation circuit part. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance structure of the microchannel chip | tip for forming the flow space of sample fluid between the said piezoelectric sensor and a flow cell cover. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the other example of a structure of the said flow cell base, a flow cell cover, and the piezoelectric sensor mounted | worn between these. It is a block diagram which shows the electric structure which concerns on the moving mechanism and raising / lowering mechanism which were provided in the said sensing apparatus. It is a 1st explanatory view showing an operation of the sensing device. It is the 2nd explanatory view showing an operation of the sensing device. It is the 3rd explanatory view showing an operation of the sensing device. It is a 4th explanatory view showing an operation of the sensing device. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the said flow cell cover.

  Hereinafter, as an example of a sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, a configuration of a sensing device 1 including a mechanism for automatically mounting a piezoelectric sensor 7 including a crystal resonator 72 that is a piezoelectric resonator is illustrated in FIGS. This will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sensing device 1 includes a chassis portion 41 that stores oscillation circuit portions 81 a and 81 b (described later) that oscillate the piezoelectric sensor 7, and a holding portion that holds the piezoelectric sensor 7 toward the chassis portion 41. A microchannel chip 73 or a rubber packing 73a, which is a space forming member that forms a flow space for a sample fluid, between the moving mechanism 2 that moves the flow cell base 6 that is a member in the horizontal direction and the piezoelectric sensor 7 is a piezoelectric sensor. 7 is provided with a flow cell cover 51 that is pressed against and fixed to the plate surface 7 and a lifting mechanism 3 that lifts and lowers the flow cell cover 51, and these are arranged on a common base 11. Hereinafter, in each of FIGS. 1 to 4, 9, and 15 to 16, the left hand is the front side and the right hand is the back side toward the drawings.

  FIG. 3 shows a state in which the chassis portion 41 is removed from the base 11, and the chassis portion 41 is configured as a metal casing. A connection port 411 for inserting the piezoelectric sensor 7 is provided on the side wall surface on the front side of the chassis portion 41, and the piezoelectric sensor 7 is connected to the oscillation circuit units 81a and 81b in the connection port 411. A terminal portion 412 forming a connection portion is disposed (see FIG. 14).

  As shown in FIG. 3, a guide member 42 made of a plate-like member extending in the horizontal direction from the lower end portion of the connection port 411 toward the front side is disposed on the front side of the connection port 411. The upper surface of the guide member 42 is processed to be flat, and a later-described flow cell base 6 holding the piezoelectric sensor 7 moves toward the connection port 411 while being placed on the upper surface of the guide member 42. It has become. Further, a guide surface 421 formed of an inclined surface is formed on the top surface of the front end portion of the guide member 42 so as to gradually increase from the near side toward the far side.

  In order to keep the temperature of the sample fluid flowing in the crystal resonator 72 and the flow space constant, the chassis portion 41 and the guide member 42 that are in contact with the piezoelectric sensor 7 via the flow cell base 6 are provided on the lower surface of the chassis portion 41. A Peltier element 43 for adjusting the temperature is provided. The Peltier element 43 is connected to a power supply unit (not shown) and a control unit 8 described later, and is applied from the power supply unit based on the result of detecting the temperature of the chassis unit 41 and the guide member 42 by a thermocouple (not shown). By increasing or decreasing the power, the amount of heat absorbed from the heat absorbing surface of the Peltier element 43 is adjusted, and the temperature of the crystal resonator 72 and the sample fluid can be kept constant via the chassis 41 and the guide member 42.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 442 denotes a heat radiating body for radiating heat received from the heat radiating surface of the Peltier element 43, and the heat radiating body 442 is provided with a number of fins 443 for increasing the heat radiating efficiency. Reference numeral 441 denotes a heat transfer plate that transfers heat from the heat dissipation surface of the Peltier element 43 to the heat radiator 442.
Here, the temperature adjusting mechanism for keeping the temperature of the crystal unit 72 constant is not limited to the case where the Peltier element 43 is used, and heating means such as a tape heater may be used depending on the set temperature.

  In the sensing device 1 of this example, as shown in FIG. 2, the chassis portion 41 projects from the upper surface side of the base 11, and the heat transfer plate 441 and the radiator 442 are positioned on the lower surface side of the base 11. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the chassis portion 41 is disposed in the housing 12 that supports the rotary motor 314 and the like of the lifting mechanism 3.

  Next, the moving mechanism 2 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, when the chassis portion 41 that protrudes from the upper surface side of the base 11 is viewed from the front side, the left and right sides extend in the front-rear direction along the left and right side walls of the chassis portion 41. Two arm members 212 are arranged. As shown in FIG. 4, these arm members 212 are connected to each other by a support plate 24 provided at the front end position on the near side and a connecting member 214 provided at the rear end position on the far side. Here, the support plate 24 connecting the two arm members 212 at the tip position plays a role of supporting the flow cell base 6 holding the piezoelectric sensor 7 from the lower surface side. This will also be described later.

  Rail members 211 are attached to the arm members 212 on the outer side surfaces with the chassis portion 41 in between, and these rail members 211 are guided by the guide portions 22 disposed on the base 11 in the front-rear direction. It can be moved. The guide unit 22 includes a guide wheel 222 that guides the rail member 211 from above and below while rotating in the moving direction of the rail member 211 and a support member 221 that supports the guide wheel 222. As shown in FIG. 2, two guide portions 22 are arranged on the front and rear along the moving direction of the rail member 211, two on the left and right sides of the chassis portion 41.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a rack gear 213 is formed on the lower surface of the arm member 212 on one side of the two arm members 212, for example, the right hand side when viewed from the front side, and the rack gear 213 is formed on the lower surface side of the base 11. The pinion rack mechanism is formed by meshing with the pinion member 231 disposed on the surface. The pinion member 231 is further engaged with a gear portion 233 that is rotated by a rotary motor 235, and the arm member 212 can be moved via the pinion member 231 by rotating the gear portion 233.

  Further, the rotation motor 235 can switch the rotation direction of the gear portion 233, thereby switching the movement direction of the arm member 212. In the drawing, reference numeral 232 denotes a rotation shaft of the pinion member 231, 234 denotes a rotation shaft of the gear portion 233, and 236 denotes a support base that supports the rotation shafts 232 and 234 and the rotation motor 235.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting member 214 that connects the two arm members 212 at the rear end position is provided with a projecting piece portion 215 that extends downward. On the other hand, a notch portion 216 formed by notching the lower edge side of the arm member 212 is provided at a substantially central portion of the arm member 212 on the left hand side when viewed from the front side. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, the infrared shielding sensor 13 is arranged on the trajectory of the projecting piece 215 that moves in the front-rear direction as the arm member 212 moves. Yes. For example, an infrared transmission sensor 14 is disposed on the moving track of the arm member 212 on the left hand side.

  When the projecting piece 215 reaches the shielding sensor 13 by moving the arm member 212 forward from the back side to the near side, the infrared conductive state is shielded by the projecting piece 215. The change in the conduction state is output to the control unit 8 described later, and the forward movement of the arm member 212 can be stopped by outputting a stop signal from the control unit 8 to the rotary motor 235 based on the state change. At this time, the position where the support plate 24 provided at the tip of the arm member 212 is stopped is the holding position of the piezoelectric sensor 7 on the flow cell base 6 supported on the support plate 24.

  On the other hand, when the notch 216 reaches the transmissive sensor 14 by moving the arm member 212 backward from the near side to the far side, the infrared rays shielded by the arm member 212 become conductive. This state change is output to the control unit 8 which will be described later, and a stop signal is output from the control unit 8 to the rotary motor 235 based on this state change, whereby the backward movement of the arm member 212 is stopped. At this time, the flow cell base 6 supported by the support plate 24 stops at a position below the flow cell cover 51, and this position is a connection position for connecting the piezoelectric sensor 7 held by the flow cell base 6 to the oscillation circuit portions 81a and 81b. Become.

  Next, the configuration of the lifting mechanism 3 for lifting and lowering the flow cell cover 51 will be described with reference to FIG. As will be described in detail later, the flow cell cover 51 is configured as a substantially rectangular parallelepiped member, and is placed on the upper surface of the flow cell base 6 that has moved to the connection position. Support members 331 for raising and lowering the flow cell cover 51 are provided on the left and right sides of the flow cell cover 51 as viewed from the front side so as to extend in the vertical direction. The flow cell cover 51 is provided at the lower end of each support member 331. A chuck portion 334 that is bent inward to support from the lower surface side is formed.

  By placing the flow cell cover 51 on the chuck portion 334, the flow cell cover 51 is supported by the support member 331, and the flow cell cover 51 can be moved up and down as the support member 331 moves up and down. As shown in FIGS. 2, 5, 6, etc., the support member 331 has a spring that forms a pressing portion for pressing the flow cell cover 51 toward the microchannel chip 73 disposed under the flow cell cover 51. A plunger 35 is provided. Here, in FIG. 6, the flow cell cover 51, the microchannel chip 73, the piezoelectric sensor 7, and the flow cell base 6 are shown in a longitudinal section.

  As shown in FIG. 2, one spring plunger 35 is provided at each of the four corners of a holder 36 having a U-shaped planar shape. Then, by fixing the holder 36 to the support member 331 with the U-shaped notch portion facing forward, the four spring plungers 35 are simultaneously raised and lowered in a state where the height positions of the lower ends are aligned, The upper surface of the flow cell cover 51 can be pressed with a uniform force.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the spring plunger 35 is provided with a spring member 352 inside a cylindrical plunger main body 351 having an open lower end surface, and the tip end of the spring member 352 is rounded into a hemispherical shape. The cylindrical contact member 353 is provided. The spring member is urged in a direction to push the contact member 353 downward, and the contact member 353 is opened from the opening of the plunger main body 351 as shown in FIG. The lower half is protruding.

  In the range of movement from the state in which the lower end portion of the contact member 353 protrudes from the plunger main body 351 to the accommodation of the entire contact member 353 inside the plunger main body 351, the contact The member 353 can press the flow cell cover 51 downward with a constant force corresponding to the spring constant of the spring member 352.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the distance between the upper surface of the chuck portion 334 that supports the flow cell cover 51 from the lower surface side and the lower end portion of the spring plunger 35 that presses the flow cell cover 51 from the upper surface side is determined by these chuck portions. 334 and the distance between the upper and lower surfaces of the flow cell cover 51 in contact with the spring plunger 35 are longer. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, when the flow cell cover 51 is placed on the micro-channel chip 73, the chuck portion 334 moves away from the flow cell cover 51 to the lower side, and instead of the chuck portion 334, a spring is used. The plunger 35 is in a state of pressing the flow cell cover 51 from the upper surface side. As a result, almost all of the force with which the spring plunger 35 presses the flow cell cover 51 is used as the force for bringing the microchannel chip 73 into close contact with the pressure sensor 7.

  Returning to the description of the entire lifting mechanism 3, as shown in FIG. 5, a crankshaft 332 is provided at the upper end of each support member 331, and the crankshaft 332 is inserted into the bearing hole 322 of the arm member 321. ing. The arm member 321 extends from the position where the crankshaft 332 is provided toward the back side, and is connected to the rotating shaft 313 at the rear end thereof. The rotating shaft 313 extends in the left-right direction so as to penetrate the two arm members 321, and the arm members 321 are disposed at both left and right ends of the rotating shaft 313.

  Further, the rotary shaft 313 is provided with a worm wheel 312 at an intermediate position sandwiched between arm members 321 arranged at both left and right ends. A worm 311 meshes with the worm wheel 312, and a worm gear mechanism is configured by the worm 311 and the worm wheel 312. The worm 311 is rotationally driven by the rotary motor 314, and the worm wheel 312 meshing with the worm 311 is rotated by the rotation of the worm 311, and the arm member 321 connected to the worm wheel 312 is rotated via the rotation shaft 313. Rotate around axis 313.

  Then, the rotation operation of the arm member 321 is converted into the raising / lowering operation of the support member 331 via the crankshaft 332, and the flow cell cover 51 supported by the support member 331 is placed on the flow cell base 6 (piezoelectric sensor 7). The piezoelectric sensor 7 can be moved up and down from the mounting position so that the piezoelectric sensor 7 held on the flow cell base 6 can be detached from the terminal portion 412. Further, in parallel with the lifting and lowering operation of the flow cell cover 51, the support member 331 releases the release position that presses the flow cell cover 51 and retreats upward from the pressed position to release the flow cell or bar 51 from the pressed state. It also plays the role of raising and lowering the spring plunger 35 between the positions. In the above viewpoint, the lifting mechanism 3 has a common function as a first lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the spring plunger 34 and a function as a second lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the flow cell cover 51. It can be said that.

  Here, the bearing hole 322 provided in the arm member 321 and through which the crankshaft 332 passes is formed elongated in the radial direction of a circle formed around the rotation shaft 313. As a result, the crankshaft 332 can freely move within the bearing hole 322 without interfering with the bearing hole 322 when the rotation operation of the arm member 321 is converted into the raising / lowering operation of the support member 331. .

  Reference numeral 323 in the figure denotes a connecting member that connects the left and right arm members 321. As shown in FIG. 6, the lifting mechanism 3 is also provided with an upper limit sensor 372 and a lower limit sensor 373 made of, for example, a shielding sensor. The L-shaped working piece connected to the support member 331 is moved up and down as the support member 331 moves up and down, and the sensors 372 and 373 are operated to stop driving the rotary motor 314. ing. As a result, the flow cell cover 51 and the spring plunger 35 are raised to a predetermined position, and the spring plunger 35 is lowered to a predetermined position on the upper surface side of the flow cell cover 51 placed on the microchannel chip 73. Can be made. In FIG. 6, the distal end portion of the operating piece 371 extends from the near side to the far side in the direction orthogonal to the drawing, and the distal end portion is hidden behind the proximal end portion of the operating piece 371 and cannot be seen.

  Further, in FIG. 5, 342 is arranged to extend in the vertical direction at the left and right outer positions of each support member 331, and a guide rail that guides the elevating orbit of the support member 331, and 341 fixes the guide rail 342 on the base 11. This is a strut member. Further, traveling wheels 333 are provided on the surfaces of the supporting members 331 facing the support members 341 so as to sandwich the guide rails 342 from both the front and rear sides. When the supporting members 331 are moved up and down, the traveling wheels 333 are arranged. The traveling direction of the support member 331 is guided by traveling along the guide rail 342 while rotating.

  Next, referring to FIGS. 8 to 12, the piezoelectric sensor 7, the flow cell base 6 that holds the piezoelectric sensor 7, the microchannel chip 73 that forms a flow space for the sample fluid between the piezoelectric sensor 7, The configuration of the flow cell cover 51 that presses and fixes the microchannel chip 73 toward the plate surface of the piezoelectric sensor 7 will be described. FIG. 8 shows the flow cell base 6, the piezoelectric sensor 7, the crystal resonator 72, and the flow cell cover 51 in order from the lower side.

  The flow cell base 6 is formed of a square plate-like piece made of metal or the like, and is formed in a size that can be disposed on the upper surface of the support plate 24 provided at the distal ends of the two arm members 212. The flow cell base 6 is composed of a base main body 61 and a projecting piece 62, and a concave 63 for arranging the piezoelectric sensor 7 is formed in the base main body 61. The protruding piece 62 is formed so as to protrude laterally from the recess 63, and the rear portion of the piezoelectric sensor 7 is placed on the protruding piece 62 (FIGS. 8 and 9). On the lower surface of the projecting piece 62, the height gradually increases in a direction in which the projecting piece 62 projects (corresponding to a direction extending from the front side to the back side when the flow cell base 6 is attached to the lifting mechanism 3). A guided surface 621 made of an inclined surface is formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, an attachment screw hole 641 for attaching the flow cell base 6 to the arm member 212 is formed on the side surface of the base main body 61. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the flow cell base 6 is disposed on the support plate 24 with the projecting piece 62 facing the back side, and the mounting screw 25 is inserted into the mounting screw hole 641 from the arm member 212 side, whereby the flow cell base is arranged. 6 is attached to the moving mechanism 2. As shown in FIG. 9, the attachment screw hole 641 is formed in a long and narrow elongated hole shape. By inserting the attachment screw 25 into the elongated hole, the flow cell base 6 has a play that can move in the vertical direction. It is attached to the moving mechanism 2.

  On the side wall surface of the base main body portion 61, a notch portion 642 is formed at the front side and back side positions so as to sandwich the mounting screw hole 641, and the side wall surface is notched toward the lower surface side. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, on the inner surface of the support plate 24 attached to the arm member 212, there are provided projections 26 projecting toward the notches 642, and these projections 26 are cut. It is inserted into the notch 642.

  Here, these protrusions 26 are arranged at a slightly lower height than the mounting screws 25, and the support plate 24 that supports the flow cell base 6 is cut out in a square shape on the back side as shown in FIG. Yes. With these configurations, when the flow cell base 6 is attached to the arm member 212 with the mounting screw 25, the flow cell base 6 with the protruding piece 62 side being heavy is moved in the direction in which the protruding piece 62 is provided around the mounting screw 25. Will rotate. However, since the projection 26 is provided on the back side of the mounting screw 25, the rotation of the flow cell base 6 is restricted at a position where the projection 26 comes into contact with the upper end of the notch 642. As a result, FIG. ) Stop while leaning toward the back as shown in.

The bottom surface of the flow cell base 6 is provided with a region protruding downward corresponding to the notch of the support plate 24. Further, as described above, the flow cell base 6 has a play that can move in the vertical direction. Are attached to the arm member 212. With these configurations, when the protruding piece 62 side is lifted so that the flow cell base 6 is in a horizontal state, the lower surface of the flow cell base 6 protrudes from the notch of the support plate 24, and the flow base 6 is mounted on the guide member 42. It can be set in a state of being placed.
Further, in FIG. 8, reference numeral 631 arranged in the recess 63 of the flow cell base 6 is an alignment pin for aligning the piezoelectric sensor 7 and the microchannel chip 73. Reference numerals 65 provided on the left and right sides of the recess 63 are positioning holes for positioning the flow cell cover 51 with respect to the flow cell base 6 by inserting a guide shaft 514 provided on the flow cell cover 51 side.

  The piezoelectric sensor 7 is configured by disposing a crystal resonator 72 on a wiring board 71. As shown in FIG. 10, the crystal resonator 72 is a center of both front and back surfaces of a circular plate-shaped crystal piece 721 that is a piezoelectric piece. Excitation electrodes 722, 723, 726, and 727 for exciting the crystal piece 721 are provided in the portion. FIG. 10A is a plan view of the surface of the crystal resonator 72 as viewed from the upper surface side. The crystal piece 721 has a Y direction (corresponding to the horizontal direction when the sensing device 1 is viewed from the front side). Two strip-like excitation electrodes 722 and 723 extending in parallel to each other are arranged in parallel to each other with a space therebetween. These two excitation electrodes 722 and 723 are connected to each other by a connection line 724, and an extraction electrode 725 is extracted from the connection line 724 in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the excitation electrodes 722 and 723. Extends toward the back side of the crystal piece 721.

  FIG. 10B is a plan view of the back surface of the crystal resonator 72 viewed from the lower surface side, and strip-shaped excitation electrodes 726 and 727 are arranged at positions facing the respective excitation electrodes 722 and 723 on the front surface side. Yes. From each excitation electrode 726, 727, extraction electrodes 728, 729 are drawn in directions opposite to each other in a direction orthogonal to the excitation electrodes 726, 727.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the excitation electrodes 722 and 726 on one side facing vertically and the crystal piece 721 sandwiched between them form the first vibration region 70a, and are sandwiched between the excitation electrodes 723 and 727 on the other side and these. The crystal piece 721 thus formed forms a second vibration region 70b. These vibration regions 70a and 70b are elastically insulated from each other, and each vibration region 70a and 70b functions as an independent crystal resonator. For example, an adsorption layer 720 for adsorbing a sensing object is formed on the excitation electrode 722 on the surface side of the first vibration area 70a, whereas the adsorption layer 720 is not provided in the second vibration area 70b, and the reference Used as an electrode. Then, by taking the difference between the oscillation frequency from the first vibration area 70a where the sensing object is adsorbed and the oscillation frequency from the second vibration area 70b where the sensing object is not adsorbed, the viscosity change of the sample fluid or the sensing object is detected. The influence of the frequency change due to the adhesion of a substance other than the object is subtracted, and the change in the oscillation frequency (decrease in the oscillation frequency) caused only by the adsorption of the sensing object to the adsorption layer 720 can be detected.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the wiring board 71 is processed into a placard shape in which the front portion disposed in the recess 63 of the flow cell base 6 is wider than the rear portion disposed on the protruding piece 62 of the flow cell base 6. A through-hole 711 for ensuring free vibration of the crystal resonator 72 is formed in the front portion thereof. The crystal resonator 72 is fixed on the wiring board 71 so as to cover the through hole 711, and the excitation electrodes 722, 726, 723, and 727 are arranged inside the outline of the through hole 711.

  Around the through-hole 711, electrode portions 712 to 714 connected to the respective extraction electrodes 725, 728, and 729 drawn to the back surface side of the crystal resonator 72 are arranged at intervals. In this example, the electrode portion 712 disposed on the front side of the front portion of the wiring board 71 is connected to the extraction electrode 728 of the excitation electrode 726 on the back surface side of the crystal resonator 72, and the electrode portion 714 disposed on the back side is provided. Similarly, it is connected to the extraction electrode 729 of the excitation electrode 727 on the back surface side of the crystal resonator 72. In addition, an electrode portion 713 disposed at an intermediate position between these two electrode portions 712 and 714 is connected to the excitation electrodes 722 and 723 on the front surface and is connected to the extraction electrode 725 extracted to the back surface side.

  Each of the electrode portions 712 to 714 is drawn toward the back side of the wiring board 71, and terminal portions 715 to 717 connected to these electrode portions 712 to 714 are formed at the rear end portion of the wiring board 71. Yes. The piezoelectric sensor 7 is connected to the sensing device 1 by inserting the rear end portion of the wiring board 71 provided with the terminal portions 715 to 717 into the connection port 411 of the chassis portion 41. Terminal portions 715 to 717 correspond to the connected terminals of this embodiment. Reference numeral 718 formed on the wiring board 71 is an alignment hole for fixing and aligning the piezoelectric sensor 7 by inserting an alignment pin 631 on the flow cell base 6 side.

  Here, the electrical configuration of the sensing device 1 in a state where the piezoelectric sensor 7 is connected will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG. The respective terminal portions 715 to 717 of the wiring board 71 inserted into the connection port 411 are connected to the terminal portion 412 on the chassis portion 41 side, whereby the excitation electrode 726 on the back surface side of the first vibration region 70a in this example is The excitation electrode 727 connected to the first oscillation circuit unit 81a and the back surface side of the second vibration region 70b is connected to the second oscillation circuit unit 81b. The excitation electrodes 722 and 723 on the surface side of both vibration regions 70a and 70b are grounded.

  The first oscillation circuit portion 81a has a configuration in which an oscillation circuit such as a Colpitts circuit is formed by being connected to the first vibration region 70a, and oscillates from the first vibration region 70a that acts as an independent crystal resonator. The frequency can be extracted. Similarly, the second oscillation circuit portion 81b is connected to the second vibration region 70b to form an oscillation circuit, and the oscillation frequency of the second vibration region 70b can be taken out. These oscillation circuit units 81 a and 81 b are connected to the frequency measurement unit 82 via the changeover switch unit 821, and the frequency measurement unit 82 can acquire a frequency signal that is time-divided by the changeover switch unit 821.

  For example, by dividing 1 second into n (n is an even number) and sequentially obtaining the oscillation frequency of each channel by processing of 1 / n seconds, it is not strictly measured simultaneously, but in 1 second. Since the frequency signal is acquired at least once, the oscillation frequencies of the vibration regions 70a and 70b can be acquired substantially in parallel.

  The oscillation frequencies of the vibration regions 70a and 70b acquired by the frequency measuring unit 82 are output to an analysis device such as the personal computer 100. In the analyzer, the difference between the oscillation frequencies of the first vibration region 70a and the second vibration region 70b is taken to eliminate the influence of the change in the viscosity of the sample fluid and the frequency change due to the adhesion of substances other than the sensing object. In addition, by measuring the oscillation frequency frequency before and after the sample fluid is supplied, it is possible to acquire the amount of change in the transmission frequency caused only by the adsorption of the sensing object. Based on this amount of change, it is possible to create a calibration curve representing the correspondence between the concentration of the sensing object in the sample fluid and the amount of decrease in oscillation frequency, and the sample is checked against the calibration curve created in advance. It is possible to obtain the concentration of the sensing object in the fluid and to detect the presence or absence of the sensing object.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 8, the microchannel chip 73 constituting the space forming member of the present embodiment is placed on the upper surface of the piezoelectric sensor 7 held by the flow cell base 6. The micro-channel chip 73 corresponds to the space forming member of the present embodiment formed of an elastic material such as silicon rubber such as PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane), and the dimensions in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction are the front of the piezoelectric sensor 7. Since it is aligned with the size of the part, the microchannel chip 73 can be placed in the recess 63 of the flow cell base 6 while being placed on the piezoelectric sensor 7.

  The microchannel chip 73 is processed into a thin piece having a thickness of several millimeters, and a concave portion 731 is formed on the lower surface thereof as shown in FIG. 12, and the quartz crystal disposed on the wiring board 71 in the concave portion 731. The vibrator 72 is fitted, and the upper surface (surface) of the crystal vibrator 72 can be sealed. Further, a recess 732 for flowing the sample fluid (hereinafter referred to as a flow recess) is formed inside the recess 731 to a depth of about submillimeter to 1 mm. A flow space for allowing a sample fluid to flow between the microchannel chip 73 and the crystal resonator 72 by disposing the microchannel chip 73 having the flow recess 732 on the piezoelectric sensor 7. Is formed.

  The planar shape of the flow recess 732 is formed in a flat rhombus that is long in the left-right direction, and a supply hole 733 for supplying a sample fluid into the flow space and a flow in the left and right ends of the long axis of the rhombus A discharge hole 734 for discharging the sample fluid from the space is formed. Since the flow space formed between the microchannel chip 73 and the crystal resonator 72 is a minute space of, for example, several microliters, the sample fluid is not diluted even if the amount of the sample including the sensing object is small. It becomes possible to supply to the flow space, and the sensitivity in the low concentration region can be improved.

  Further, by making the planar shape of the flow recess 732 into a flat rhombus, the sample fluid supplied from the supply hole 733 flows in the long axis direction while spreading in the short axis direction of the rhombus, and eventually the channel width in the short axis direction. Reaches the discharge hole 734 so as to be guided by the gradually narrowing flow path. In the flow space formed in this way, there is no narrow-angle portion on the flow path where the sample fluid is difficult to reach or stay, and the direction of the stream line of the sample fluid flowing in the space also changes. small. For this reason, even in a very narrow space of about submillimeters, an air reservoir or the like is hardly formed, and the sample fluid can be spread smoothly throughout the flow space.

However, the planar shape of the flow recess 732 is not limited to the flat rhombus shown in FIG. 12, and may be a shape in which an air pocket or the like is difficult to form, for example, a circle.
The alignment hole 735 formed in the microchannel chip 73 is an alignment hole for fixing and aligning the microchannel chip 73 by inserting the alignment pin 631 on the flow cell base 6 side.

  Next, the flow cell cover 51 will be described. As shown in FIG. 8, the flow cell cover 51 is a member formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a supply path 511 for supplying a sample fluid and a discharge path 512 for discharging are formed in the inside thereof. The supply path 511 and the discharge path 512 are opened at positions on the lower surface of the flow cell cover 51 that can be connected to the supply hole 733 and the discharge hole 734 provided on the microchannel chip 73 side.

  When the piezoelectric sensor 7 and the microchannel chip 73 are vertically stacked and disposed in the recess 63 of the flow cell base 6, the upper surface of the microchannel chip 73 protrudes slightly above the upper surface of the flow cell base 6. The microchannel chip 73 is fixed by pressing the top surface of the microchannel chip 73 with the bottom surface of the flow cell cover 51 and pressing the microchannel chip 73 toward the plate surface of the piezoelectric sensor 7. While being sealed, the supply path 511 and the discharge path 512 on the flow cell cover 51 side are connected to the supply hole 733 and the discharge hole 734 on the microchannel chip 73 side, respectively. The flow cell cover 51 has the functions of the sample fluid supply unit and the sample fluid discharge unit of the present embodiment in that the supply channel 511 and the discharge channel 512 are formed.

  However, the height of the flow space formed between the flow recess 732 of the microchannel chip 73 and the quartz crystal vibrator 72 is very narrow as about submillimeters as described above, and the microchannel chip 73 is formed. Since it is made of an elastic material such as silicon rubber, the flow space may be crushed if pressed with an excessively strong force. Therefore, the flow cell cover 51 of this example is configured by pressing the flow cell cover 51 downward with a uniform force using the spring plunger 35 provided on the lifting mechanism 3 side as described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the adhesion of the microchannel chip 7 to the piezoelectric sensor 7 is maintained while not crushing the flow space.

  As shown in FIG. 8, a U-shaped notch is formed on the upper surface of the flow cell cover 51 when viewed from the upper surface, and the holder 36 holding the spring plunger 35 can be fitted into the notch. . The flow cell cover 51 can be pushed down toward the micro-channel chip 73 by bringing the spring plunger 35 into contact with the lower surface of the flow cell cover 51 formed in two upper and lower stages by this notch. .

  As shown in FIG. 6, a cylindrical guide shaft 514 protrudes downward from the lower surface of the flow cell cover 51, and when the flow cell cover 51 is placed on the microchannel chip 73, The guide shaft 515 is inserted into the positioning hole 65 described above. Thereby, the flow cell cover 51 is positioned with respect to the flow cell base 6, and the supply path 511 and the discharge path 512 on the flow cell cover 51 side communicate with the supply hole 733 and the discharge hole 734 on the microchannel chip 73 side, respectively. It becomes.

As shown in FIG. 1, the supply path 511 and the discharge path 512 of the flow cell cover 51 are connected to the supply pipe 131 and the discharge pipe 132, respectively, and the supply pipe 131 stores a sample solution that is a sample fluid containing a sensing object. The discharge pipe 132 is connected to a discharge section (not shown) that is a discharge destination of the sample fluid. The sample fluid may be supplied from the sample supply unit to the flow space by pushing the sample fluid from the sample supply unit side with a syringe pump or the like, or the sample fluid may be drawn from the discharge unit side with a vacuum pump or the like. You may supply by.
133 shown in FIG. 1 is a guide member that guides the pipes 131 and 132 so that the supply pipe 131 and the discharge pipe 132 are not bent or entangled even when the flow cell cover 51 is moved up and down. This is a clip member that bundles the pipes and guides them to the sample supply unit and the discharge unit side.

  As described above, with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12, each of the members 6, 7 for fixing the microchannel chip 73 against the plate surface of the piezoelectric sensor 7 by the flow cell cover 51 using the microchannel chip 73 as a space forming member. The configuration of 73 and 51 has been described. Here, the sensing device 1 according to the present example may form a flow space for the sample fluid using a space forming member other than the microchannel chip 73 by replacing the flow cell base 6, the piezoelectric sensor 7, and the flow cell cover 51. Is possible.

  For example, FIG. 13 shows an example in which a flow space is formed between the rubber packing 73a and the piezoelectric sensor 7a. In FIG. 13, the same components as those shown in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 13, a through hole 736 having a mortar-like inclined surface is formed at the center of the rubber packing 73a, the piezoelectric sensor 7 is held in the flow cell base 6a, and the rubber packing 73a is attached to the flow cell cover 51a. Then, a flow space is formed between the upper surface of the piezoelectric sensor 7 (the crystal resonator 72), the side peripheral surface of the through hole 736, and the lower surface of the flow cell cover 51a. In the example using the rubber packing 73a, the volume of the flow space is about several tens of microliters, which is larger than that of the microchannel chip 73. This is selected when analyzing a sample fluid or the like that is difficult to flow through the narrow flow space of the path chip 73. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 13, the rubber packing 73 a corresponds to a space forming member, and the supply hole and the discharge hole of the rubber packing 73 a are shared by the through hole 736.

  Here, on the lower surface of the flow cell cover 51a of this example, a sealing portion 513 for fitting into the opening on the upper surface side of the through hole 736 and sealing the flow space is provided so as to protrude downward. In addition, the supply path 511 and the discharge path 512 formed in the flow cell cover 51 a are open on the lower surface of the sealing portion 513. Further, in order to adsorb as much as possible the sensing object contained in a very small amount of sample fluid, the quartz vibrator 72 of the piezoelectric sensor 7a is compared with the piezoelectric sensor 7 for the micro-channel chip 73 formed slightly larger. The diameter is slightly smaller. Accordingly, the front portion of the wiring board 71 and the concave portion 63 of the flow cell base 6 are also slightly smaller than the flow cell base 6 and the piezoelectric sensor 7 shown in FIG.

  The sensing device 1 of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration is connected to the control unit 8 as shown in FIG. The control unit 8 is composed of a computer having a CPU and a storage unit (not shown). The storage unit operates the moving mechanism 2 of the flow cell base 6 and the lifting mechanism 3 of the flow cell cover 51 to attach the piezoelectric sensor 7 to the sensing device 1. Then, a step (command) for controlling the operation of supplying the sample fluid to the flow space formed between the crystal unit 72 and the micro-channel chip 73 or the rubber packing 73a to detect the sensing object. ) A grouped program is recorded. This program is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk, a compact disk, a magnetic optical disk, or a memory card, and installed in the computer therefrom.

  Reference numeral 83 shown in FIG. 14 denotes a motor driver for supplying electric power to the rotary motors 235 and 314 of the moving mechanism 2 and the lifting mechanism 3 (in the block diagram of FIG. 14, one motor of the moving mechanism 2 and the lifting mechanism 3). 85 is generally indicated by a driver 83), 85 is a resistance portion provided on the ground line of the motor driver 83 in order to detect a load applied to each of the rotary motors 235 and 314, and 84 is a voltage of the resistance portion 85. It is a voltmeter that monitors. When the voltage value of the resistance unit 85 acquired from the voltmeter 84 exceeds a preset threshold value, the control unit 8 operates a power cutoff circuit (not shown) provided in the motor driver 83 to perform each rotation. The motors 235 and 314 can be stopped.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the sensing device 1 will be described. 15 to 18 show the case where the microchannel chip 73 is used as the space forming member. In the sensing device 1, the temperature of the chassis 41 and the guide member 42 is adjusted to a preset temperature by the Peltier element 43. In this state, the flow cell cover 51 is moved to the retracted position as shown in FIG. The flow cell base 6 is moved to the holding position. After that, when the piezoelectric sensor 7 is held on the flow cell base 6 and the microchannel chip 73 is placed on the upper surface thereof, the flow cell base 6 is directed to the back side around the mounting screw 25 due to the weight of the projecting piece 62 side. As a result, the guided surface 621 of the projecting piece 62 is directed downward. At this time, at least the lower end portion of the projecting piece portion 62 moves to a position lower than the upper end portion of the guide surface 421 of the guide member 42.

  Thereafter, when the rotary motor 235 of the moving mechanism 2 is operated to move the flow cell base 6 toward the connection position side, the guided surface 621 of the projecting piece 62 comes into contact with the guide surface 421 of the guide member 42. At this time, since the flow cell base 6 is attached to the arm member 212 with play that is movable in the vertical direction as described above, the projecting piece 62 is obliquely upward so as to be guided by the guide surface 421. It moves toward the side (FIG. 15B).

  When the bottom surface of the flow cell base 6 reaches the upper end portion of the guide surface 421, the flow cell base 6 rides on the top surface of the guide member 42, and the flow cell base 6 is placed on the guide member 42. In this state, the flow cell base 6 moves on the guide member 42 in the horizontal direction, and when the piezoelectric sensor 7 reaches the connection position, the moving mechanism 2 stops the movement of the flow cell base 6. As a result, as shown in FIG. 16A, the terminal portions 715 to 717 provided at the rear end portion of the wiring board 71 come into contact with the terminal portions 412 on the oscillation circuit portions 81a and 81b side in the chassis portion 41. The vibration regions 70a and 70b are connected to the oscillation circuit portions 81a and 81b.

  If foreign matter is caught between the time when the flow cell base 6 moves from the holding position to the connection position, an excessive load is applied to the rotary motor 235. As a result, the switch circuit in the motor driver 83 is activated and the flow cell base 6 is activated. Stops moving. For example, when the user removes the cause of the stop such as a foreign object and receives an operation start command from an operation switch (not shown), the movement of the flow cell base 6 is resumed.

  Further, the flow cell base 6 is mounted on the guide member 42 and attached to the arm member 212 with play that is movable in the vertical direction, so that the pinion rack mechanism (rack gear 213, pinion member 231) is used. Even in the case of using the moving mechanism 2 having a mechanism that is likely to cause rattling in the vertical direction, the flow cell base 6 is positioned on the upper surface of the guide member 42 and has the same height position each time. Guided towards 411. For this reason, compared with the case where the piezoelectric sensor 7 is connected to the connection port 411 manually, it is possible to smoothly mount the piezoelectric sensor 7 without inadvertently hitting the surrounding device.

  In the above operation, the flow cell base 6 moves while being pressed against the guide member 42 by its own weight due to the flow cell base 6, the piezoelectric sensor 7 and the microchannel chip 73. The piezoelectric sensor 7 can be connected to the first oscillation circuit portions 81a and 81b while keeping the child 72 in a horizontal state. As a result, for example, compared with a case where the mounting operation is performed manually, and the piezoelectric sensor 7 is mounted in a tilted state due to a displacement in the insertion direction to the connection port 411 and is pressed as it is from the upper surface side by the flow cell cover 51. The stress applied to 72 is small, and there is little possibility that the characteristics when sensing the sensing object will be lost.

  When the piezoelectric sensor 7 is thus connected to the first oscillation circuit portions 81a and 81b, the support member 331 raises the flow cell cover 51 to the attachment / detachment position as shown in FIG. Waiting in the released position. At this time, the flow cell cover 51 is retracted to a height position at which the guide shaft 514 protruding from the lower surface thereof does not interfere with the flow cell base 6 that transports the piezoelectric sensor 7 to the connection position. There is no contact. In this example, the spring plunger 35 is also retracted to a position further above the flow cell cover 51 in the release position, and the contact member 353 is separated from the upper surface of the flow cell cover 51. However, when the flow cell cover 51 is in the open position, the contact member 353 is kept in contact with the upper surface of the flow cell cover 51 while sufficiently securing the movement range of the contact member 353, so The positional deviation of the flow cell cover 51 may be prevented.

  Thus, when the piezoelectric sensor 7 reaches the connection position and is connected to the oscillation circuit portions 81a and 81b, the rotary motor 314 is operated to lower the support member 331 and lower the flow cell cover 51 retracted to the release position. (FIG. 16A). When the flow cell cover 51 is lowered, the guide shaft 514 first enters the positioning hole 65 of the flow cell base 6 and is guided to the positioning hole 65 as shown in FIG. The cover 51 is positioned.

  When the flow cell cover 51 is further lowered, the flow cell cover 51 is placed on the microchannel chip 73. At this time, the positioning between the flow cell base 6 and the flow cell cover 51 makes the supply path 511 and the discharge path 512 on the flow cell cover 51 side communicate with the supply hole 733 and the discharge hole 734 on the microchannel chip 73 side, respectively. It becomes a state.

  When the support member 331 is further lowered, the chuck portion 334 moves away from the lower surface of the flow cell cover 51 as shown in FIG. 18, and the state holding the flow cell cover 51 is released. The contact member 353 reaches the upper surface of the flow cell cover 51. Thereafter, when the support member 331 descends to the position where the lower limit sensor 373 shown in FIG. 6 operates, the rotation motor 314 stops and the movement of the support member 331 stops (FIG. 16B).

  At this time, the stop position of the support member 331 is set to, for example, an intermediate height position within the movement range of the contact member 353 described with reference to FIG. For this reason, the four spring plungers 35 apply an equal pressing force according to the spring constant of the spring member 352 to the flow cell cover 51. At this time, even if the height of the piezoelectric sensor 7 or the micro-channel chip 73 is changed within a range of, for example, about a submillimeter due to processing tolerances, the change width is within the moving range of the contact member 353. In this case, the pressing force of the spring plunger 35 does not change.

  In this way, the pressure between the microchannel chip 73 and the pressure sensor 7 is secured by pressing the flow cell cover 51 toward the microchannel chip 73 with the spring plunger 35. In addition, since the flow cell cover 51 can be pressed with a constant force within the moving range of the contact member 353 of the spring plunger 35, the height position of the upper surface of the micro-channel chip 73 is on the upper side for reasons such as processing tolerances. Even if it moves, it is possible to prevent an excessive force from being applied to the micro-channel chip 73 to crush or distort the flow space, and adversely affect the sensing characteristics of the sensing object by the crystal unit 72. Less is. On the other hand, even if the height position of the upper surface of the previous period is moved downward, the force for pressing the micro-channel chip 73 is weakened so that sufficient adhesion with the piezoelectric sensor 7 cannot be maintained, and the sample fluid leaks. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of problems such as

  Even in these operations, if foreign matter or the like is caught between the flow cell cover 51 moving from the retracted position to the fixed position, an excessive load is applied to the rotary motor 314, and the switch circuit of the motor driver 83 is activated to operate the flow cell cover 51. The descent operation is stopped. When the cause of the stop, such as a foreign object, is removed, an operation start command is accepted and the descent of the flow cell cover 51 is resumed.

  When the flow cell cover 51 is lowered to the fixing position and the microchannel chip 73 is fixed, and the supply and discharge paths 511 and 512 on the flow cell cover 51 side and the supply and discharge holes 733 and 734 on the microchannel chip 73 side are connected. For example, the supply of the buffer solution from the supply pipe 131 into the flow space is started, and the generation of the oscillation frequencies from the vibration regions 70a and 70b is started by operating the circuit units 81a and 81b.

  After that, for example, when the temperature of the crystal unit 72 is stabilized and the oscillation frequency becomes constant, a sample solution that is a sample fluid is supplied to the supply pipe 131, and the sample solution reaches the flow space, whereby the sample When the sensing object is included in the solution, the sensing object is adsorbed on the adsorption layer 720. As a result, the oscillation frequency of the vibration region (the first vibration region 70a in the example shown in FIG. 11) in which the adsorption layer 720 is provided can be decreased, and the presence of the sensing object can be sensed. It is also possible to quantify the amount of adsorption of the sensing object based on the amount of decrease in.

  When the detection of the sensing object is completed, the sample fluid is expelled from the flow space by supplying a purge gas from the supply pipe 131, and the flow cell cover 51 and the spring plunger 35 are respectively attached to and detached from the connecting space and released from the connecting position. Raise to. Thereafter, by moving the flow cell base 6 to the holding position, the piezoelectric sensor 7 after completion of the sensing operation can be detached from the flow cell base 6. Also in this case, as a matter of course, when the foreign object is caught, the raising operation of the flow cell cover 51 and the moving operation of the flow cell base 6 are stopped.

  The sensing device 1 according to the present embodiment has the following effects. A piezoelectric sensor 7 provided with a crystal resonator 72, and a space forming member which is placed on the piezoelectric sensor 7 and forms a flow space for allowing a sample fluid to flow on the upper surface side of the crystal resonator 72. (Microchannel chip 73, rubber packing 73a) are held on the flow cell base 6 in a state where they are stacked one above the other, and a flow cell cover 51 for closely attaching the space forming member to the piezoelectric sensor is placed on the space forming member. A spring plunger 35 that presses the flow cell cover 51 with a preset force is provided. For this reason, by appropriately adjusting the aforementioned preset force, the piezoelectric sensor 7 and the space forming member are brought into close contact with each other to prevent leakage of the sample fluid from the flow space and the elastic material. Excessive deformation of the space forming member can be suppressed, and occurrence of problems such as the passage space being crushed and the sample fluid not being allowed to flow or the sensing characteristics being changed can be suppressed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the sample fluid supply path 511 and the discharge path 512 are formed in the flow cell cover 51 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, and the sample fluid supply section and the sample fluid discharge section are provided. Although the example shared with the flow cell cover 51 has been described, these may be configured independently. In the sensing device 1 shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B, a sample fluid supply hole 731 and a discharge hole 732 are provided on the side surface of the microchannel chip 73, and are configured separately from the flow cell cover 51. The sample fluid supply unit 523 and the sample fluid discharge unit 521 are provided. In FIG. 19, the same components as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 18 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in these drawings.

  In this example, a supply path 511 and a discharge path 512 communicating with the supply hole 731 and the discharge hole 732 are formed in the sample fluid supply part 523 and the sample fluid discharge part 521, respectively, These flow paths 511 and 512 are not formed. The holder 36 that holds the spring plunger 35 is configured as a rod-like member that is horizontally mounted on the lower ends of the two support members 331 that move up and down, and the lower surface of the holder 36 is used for moving the flow cell cover 51 up and down. Two lift arms 38 extend downward. A chuck portion 334 that is engaged with the lower surface of the flow cell cover 51 and lifts the flow cell cover 51 is provided at the lower ends of the elevating arms 38. Then, the lifting mechanism 38 is moved up and down by the common lifting mechanism 3 (only a part of the support member 331 and the like is shown in FIG. 19), and the flow cell cover 51 is moved up and down between the mounting position and the mounting position. Similarly, the holder 36 is lifted and lowered by the lifting mechanism 3 to lift and lower the spring plunger 35 between the open position and the pressing position.

  On the other hand, the sample fluid supply unit 523 and the sample fluid discharge unit 521 are provided with a moving mechanism 522 that moves them in the left-right direction. When the piezoelectric sensor 7 is carried in and out of the flow cell base 6, these members 523 and 521 are retracted outward in the left-right direction as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the piezoelectric sensor 7 is attached to the sensing device 1, the sample fluid supply unit 523 and the sample fluid discharge unit 521 are moved inward as shown in FIG. The supply path 511 and the discharge path 512 are communicated with 732.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the crank mechanism (arm member 321, crankshaft 332, and support member 331) is used as the lifting mechanism 3 that lifts and lowers the flow cell cover 51 and the spring plunger 35 is exemplified. The mechanism for raising and lowering these members 51 and 35 is not limited to this example, and may be moved using a cylinder mechanism, a ball screw mechanism, a pinion rack mechanism, or the like. Further, the moving mechanism 2 for moving the flow cell base 6 is not limited to the pinion rack mechanism (pinion member 231 and rack gear 213), and it goes without saying that a cylinder mechanism or a ball screw mechanism may be used.

  Furthermore, the elevating mechanism 3 of the flow cell cover 51 and the spring plunger 35 is not limited to being shared, and the elevating operation of these members 51 and 35 may be performed using separate elevating mechanisms. Furthermore, the flow cell cover 51 is not limited to the case where it is moved up and down by the lifting mechanism 3. For example, the flow cell cover 51 is manually placed on the microchannel chip 73 stacked on the piezoelectric sensor 7 moved to the connection position, and then the elevating mechanism 3 is operated to move the microplunger to the pressing position. 3 may be moved.

  In addition, the pressing portion that presses the flow cell cover 51 is not limited to the case where the spring plunger 35 is used. For example, the lower end portion of the exposed spring member 352 that is biased in the extending direction and is not stored in the plunger main body 351 may be brought into contact with the flow cell cover 51. Alternatively, cushion pieces made of an elastic material such as rubber or sponge may be used, and the flow cell cover 51 may be pressed within a range in which the spring constant of these cushion pieces is substantially constant.

And the piezoelectric sensor 7 which can apply this sensing device 1 is not limited to the above-mentioned example. For example, the number of vibration regions 70a and 70b provided in the crystal resonator 72 is not limited to two, and may be one or three or more. In this case, it is preferable that the sensing device 1 includes the oscillation circuit units 81a and 81b corresponding to the number of vibration regions, but one oscillation circuit may be shared by a plurality of vibration regions. In addition, the piezoelectric vibrator may be configured by using a piezoelectric material other than quartz, and the shape of the piezoelectric sensor 7, the flow cell base 6, the space forming member (microchannel chip 73, rubber packing 73 a), and the flow cell cover 51 is also necessary. It can be changed accordingly.
In addition, the sample fluid supplied to the flow space is not limited to a liquid, but may be a gas.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sensing apparatus 2 Movement mechanism 3 Elevating mechanism 35 Spring plunger 41 Chassis part 411 Connection port 412 Terminal part 42 Guide member 421 Guide surface 51, 51a
Flow cell cover 6 Flow cell base 62 Projection piece 621 Guided surface 7 Piezoelectric sensor 70a First vibration region 70b Second vibration region 72 Crystal resonator 73 Microchannel chip 73a Rubber packing 8 Control unit 81a First oscillation circuit unit 81b Second oscillation circuit section 83 Motor driver

Claims (6)

A piezoelectric vibrator of a piezoelectric sensor is connected to an oscillation circuit via a connection part provided in the measuring instrument body, and the piezoelectric vibration is generated when a sensing object is adsorbed to an adsorption layer provided on the upper surface of the piezoelectric vibrator. In a sensing device that senses a sensing object based on a change in the oscillation frequency of a child,
A piezoelectric sensor is held so that the piezoelectric vibrator can be attached to and detached from the connection portion, and the sample fluid is passed through the upper surface of the piezoelectric vibrator by being placed on the piezoelectric sensor. A holding member that holds a space forming member made of an elastic material that forms a flow space for the sample fluid and is provided with a supply hole and a discharge hole for the sample fluid in a state of being stacked on the piezoelectric sensor;
A sample fluid supply section having a sample fluid supply path in communication with the supply hole, and a sample fluid discharge section having a sample fluid discharge path in communication with the discharge hole;
A cover member placed on the space forming member in a state where the piezoelectric vibrator is connected to the connection portion;
A pressing portion for pressing the cover member placed on the space forming member with a preset force toward the space forming member;
A first position for raising and lowering the pressing portion between a pressing position that presses the cover member by the pressing portion and a release position that retreats from the pressing position and releases the cover member from the pressed state. And a lifting mechanism.   The sensing device according to claim 1, wherein the sample fluid supply unit and the sample fluid discharge unit are shared with the cover member.   2. The pressing portion includes a spring member biased in a direction in which the cover member is pressed and a contact member that is provided at a distal end portion of the spring member and contacts the cover member. Or the sensing device of 2.   Between the mounting position where the cover member is mounted on the space forming member, and the mounting position where the piezoelectric sensor retracted from the mounting position and held by the holding member is removable from the connection portion. The sensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a second lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the cover member.   The sensing device according to claim 4, wherein the first lifting mechanism and the second lifting mechanism are shared. A holding position for setting the holding member to hold the piezoelectric sensor on the front side of the connecting portion, and for attaching the piezoelectric sensor to the measuring instrument main body in a state where the piezoelectric vibrator is connected to the connecting portion. The sensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a moving mechanism that moves the holding member back and forth in a horizontal direction between the connection position and the connection position.

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