Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – With air blast or suction
Patent
1983-04-29
1985-12-24
Moore, Chris K.
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
With air blast or suction
15304, 134171, B67C 106
Patent
active
045596646
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a washing and rinsing device for titration plates or the like having a multitude of cavities to receive a medium to be examined or to be determined, e.g. antigens, the device being of the type having feeding means with nozzles feeding a rinsing liquid into each cavity, suction and/or blow-out means to discharge liquid from the cavities, and guide means for moving the titration plate to the washing location and retaining it in a precise position thereat.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STATE OF THE ART
In medical laboratories, the Elisa technique (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) and various methods of this type are employed, for example, for measuring antigens and/or antibodies. When measuring antigens, for example, antibodies are absorbed at the titration plate in a first method step, subsequently the titration plate is washed, then in a further step a residual solution which contains the antigen is admixed, then washing follows again, whereupon enzyme-marked specific antibodies are placed on the titration plate, then the titration plate is washed again, whereupon the enzyme substrate is admixed.
The actual measuring is effected in a photometer.
As can be seen from the afore-described example, washing of the titration plate is an essential component of such method and is, on the one hand, relatively time-consuming and has, on the other hand, the further disadvantage that often highly poisonous, i.e. highly pathogenic, living substance has to be handled, which makes manual handling of the titration plates undesirable.
However, the essential problem arising when washing the titration plates is the following:
The titration plates presently in use have 96 cavities, each of them substantially corresponding to a vessel. During the known method, when identifying and determining the antigens or antibodies, there are specimens in each cavity (e.g. specimens from various patients). It must be positively prevented that, when handling the plate, parts of the specimens pass from one cavity into another, and this is particularly difficult to prevent during washing.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, the object of the invention to provide a washing and rinsing device of the above-mentioned type, by means of which titration plates can be washed in a failsafe manner and which prevents the occurrence of parts of specimens passing from one cavity into another one and thus obviates altogether any contamination of the specimens.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, this object is achieved by the provision of a washing plate provided with nozzles and to which the titration plate to be rinsed is, by means of guide means, movable into sealing contact and at which the titration plate is held through pressure during a washing and rinsing operation. A nozzle and an annular gap connecting the cavity with a discharge channel is associated with each cavity of the titration plate, and each individual cavity is sealed with respect to the other cavities.
The above-described method is only an example of the environments in which the automatic device of the invention is employable. Similar methods and similar determinations are also required in agriculture and in biology and biochemistry. Furthermore, the term "titration plate" is not to be taken in a limited sense, and is intended to encompass any plate having a multitude of adjacently arranged cavities which have to be washed simultaneously. There could naturally be a row of cavities in a single plate, or individual vessels could also be held in a support frame and, thus arranged, by fed to the automatic washing and rinsing device.
In the basic version, tap water is used as the washing and rinsing liquid for the automatic rinsing device according to the invention, and compressed air serves as a drying medium. In the device according to the invention it may, however, be provided that other liquids, e.g. distilled water or a buffer solution, are used, and other gaseous mediums, e.g. oxygen, are used instead o
REFERENCES:
patent: 2814575 (1957-11-01), Lange
patent: 3448743 (1969-06-01), Berry
patent: 3533744 (1970-10-01), Unger
patent: 3856572 (1974-12-01), Hildebrand
patent: 3922750 (1975-12-01), Cioni et al.
patent: 3949771 (1976-04-01), Dodge et al.
patent: 4341568 (1982-07-01), Christensen
Bohme Eike
Rubenzer Peter
Moore Chris K.
Prolic AG
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