WO2015118638A1 - Device for automatically exchanging culture medium, and cell culture device - Google Patents

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a device or the like for automatically exchanging culture medium, which can be implemented at low cost, and which facilitates the exchange of culture medium in a plurality of culture vessels for simultaneous culturing. This device for automatically exchanging the culture medium of cell cultures is provided with: tables (2) which have a plurality of cell culture vessels (1) disposed thereon in the circumferential direction; a multi-level structure including the plurality of tables; a rotation mechanism (5) for rotating the tables; position-holding jigs (3) which hold the culture vessels in position; a lid-opening mechanism (3B) for opening culture-vessel lids; a tilting mechanism which operates in conjunction with the lid-opening mechanism, and which tilts culture-vessel main bodies; a culture-medium extraction/injection pump (7); and a raising/lowering mechanism (9) which causes the lid-opening mechanism and the culture-medium extraction/injection pump to move up and down.

Description

Automatic medium changer and cell culture device

The present invention relates to a medium replacement technique for automatically replacing a medium used for cell culture.

Conventionally, for culturing various cells (floating cells, adherent cells), a medium containing nutrients is regularly exchanged. In particular, it is necessary to change the medium frequently for culturing rapidly metabolized cells. Conventionally, cell culture operations including such medium exchange have been performed by a skilled operator using a pipette. However, there has been a problem that cell culture in a large number of culture containers requires much labor. Recently, development of automated systems for medium replacement work and culture work has been actively conducted.

Patent Document 1 proposes an apparatus for exchanging a medium of a plurality of culture vessels by an articulated robot mechanism. Patent Document 2 proposes an apparatus for exchanging the medium in the culture container by automatically opening and closing the open / close lid of the target culture container.

JP 2006-149268 A JP 2009-251297 A

However, the robot mechanism described in Patent Document 1 has problems such as structural complexity, large installation area, and high cost. The mechanism described in Patent Document 2 has a mechanism for opening and closing the culture vessel lid when replacing the medium. However, every time the culture vessel lid is opened and closed, the pin for lifting the culture vessel lid must be driven. Therefore, there is a problem that the structure of the drive mechanism and the control mechanism becomes complicated, and the substance in the culture vessel may be contaminated by bacteria attached to the pins. Furthermore, in order to efficiently exchange the medium, it is useful to incline the culture container, but there is no means for inclining such a culture container, and the problem that the medium exchange becomes inefficient. was there.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic medium changing apparatus capable of efficiently performing medium exchange of a large number of culture vessels, a cell culture method using the same, and an apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a table in which a plurality of culture vessels having a lid are arranged, a moving mechanism for moving the table, and a lid of the culture vessel installed on the table as the table moves. An automatic culture medium exchange device is provided that includes a jig that can be opened and closed.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the lid of the culture vessel is opened and closed in accordance with the rotation of the table on which a plurality of jigs for holding the lid of the culture vessel so that the lid can be opened and closed. Provided is a cell culturing method for culturing cells by exchanging medium using a medium exchanging unit that interlocks and tilts the culture container and discharges and injects the medium into the culture container.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the lid of the culture vessel is opened and closed with the rotation of the table on which a plurality of jigs for holding the lid of the culture vessel so that the lid can be opened and closed. Provided is a cell culture device for culturing cells by exchanging the medium using a medium exchange unit that interlocks and tilts the culture container and discharges and injects the medium into the culture container.

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the efficiency of automatic medium exchange of a large number of culture vessels with a small and simple configuration.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an automatic medium changing device according to Example 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a jig for a culture container according to Example 1. It is a figure which shows one structural example of the state before the culture medium replacement | exchange of the automatic culture medium exchange apparatus which concerns on Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows one structural example of the culture container lid open state of the automatic culture medium exchange apparatus which concerns on Example 1. FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to Example 1 in a state where a culture container lid is opened. FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the culture container lid opened according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows one structural example of the culture medium exchange state of the automatic culture medium exchange apparatus which concerns on Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows one structural example of the state after the culture medium replacement | exchange of the automatic culture medium exchange apparatus which concerns on Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the movement state to the following culture container of the automatic culture medium exchange apparatus which concerns on Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the culture medium exchange of the culture container installed in the lower stage table of the automatic culture medium exchange apparatus which concerns on Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the culture medium exchange of the culture container installed in the upper stage table of the automatic culture medium exchange apparatus which concerns on Example 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of medium replacement in the automatic medium replacement apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows one structural example of the automatic culture medium exchange apparatus with an observation system which concerns on Example 2. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the automatic medium replacement device according to Example 2. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control system configuration of an automatic medium exchange device according to Example 2. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of a cell culture device according to a third embodiment.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings corresponding to each embodiment, the same components are given the same number.

Based on FIG. 1, one structural example of the automatic culture medium changer according to the first embodiment will be described. The present embodiment includes a table on which a plurality of culture vessels having a lid are arranged, a moving mechanism for moving the table, a jig that is installed on the table and holds the lid of the culture vessel so that it can be opened and closed as the table moves. It is an Example of an automatic culture medium exchange apparatus provided with. Needless to say, the liquid to be exchanged is applicable not only to the culture medium but also to the main liquid for cell culture, and may be implemented as an automatic liquid exchange device.

In the figure, 1 is a culture vessel, 2 is a rotary table, and 3 is a culture vessel fixing unit. A plurality of culture vessels 1 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the turntable 2 and are fixed by culture vessel fixing units, respectively. Reference numeral 4 denotes a rotary shaft of a multi-stage structure table constituted by a plurality of rotary tables 2, and 5 denotes a table rotating motor. 6 is a medium exchange unit, 7 is a pump, 8 is a lifting motor of the medium replacement unit, and 9 is a lifting mechanism rail. The culture medium exchange unit 6 can be raised and lowered along the lift mechanism rail 9 by the rotation of the lift motor 8 of the culture medium exchange unit. Reference numeral 10 denotes a notch of the rotary table. 12 is a CO ₂ incubator, 13 is a flow tube, 14 is a drain bottle, 15 is a medium bottle, and 16 is a weight sensor. In FIG. 1, the CO ₂ incubator 12 is shown as a perspective view in a state where the front door is opened.

The automatic culture medium changing apparatus of the present embodiment has a multistage rotating table 2 in which a large number of culture vessels 1 are arranged, and a culture medium exchange unit 6 mounted on a lifting mechanism rail 9 in a CO ₂ incubator 12, and a pump 7 And the flow path tube 13 is used to discharge the old medium in the culture container to the medium bottle 14 and then supply a new medium from the medium bottle 15 to the culture container 1. The weight sensor 16 is used for evaluating the amount of liquid drained and the amount of liquid fed in the culture vessel 1.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged perspective view of the culture vessel 1 and the fixed unit 3 in the automatic medium changing apparatus of the present embodiment. In the figure, 1A is a lid of the culture vessel 1, 1B is the main body of the culture vessel 1, 3A of the fixed unit 3 is a culture vessel lid holding jig, 3B is a culture vessel lid opening jig, and 3C is a culture vessel position holding jig. is there.

Although details will be described later, in this embodiment, when the culture vessel is opened and closed, the culture vessel is opened and closed by applying a pressing force to the jig. By using a jig, for example, the pressing force used to open and close the culture vessel can be transmitted without direct contact between the action mechanism such as a rod and the culture vessel, so that the action mechanism is repeatedly used for other culture vessels. It is possible to avoid contamination risk from Further, as described above, the fixing unit 3 is constituted by the culture vessel lid holding jig 3A, the culture vessel lid opening jig 3B, and the culture vessel position holding jig 3C. The portion (3B) through which the pressing force is transmitted, and the culture vessel Is held in such a way that it wraps and the pressing force is evenly transmitted to the entire culture vessel (3A, 3C), thereby reducing the risk of breakage due to the load on the culture vessel and the culture lid. .

Hereinafter, the operation principle of medium exchange in the automatic medium exchange apparatus of the present embodiment will be sequentially described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing one rotary table 2 and the medium exchange unit 6 shown in FIG. 17 is a lid opening rod, 18 is a slit, 19 is a drainage port, and 20 is a liquid feed port. The lid opening bar 17 is configured to be movable up and down in the slit 18.

In the automatic culture medium changing apparatus of the present embodiment, first, as shown in FIG. 3, the rotary shaft 4 of the multistage structure table is rotated by the table rotating motor 5, and the lifting mechanism rail 9 is aligned with the notch 10 of the rotating table 2. . Thus, by providing the rotary table 2 with a notch through which the medium exchange unit 6 can pass, the device space can be reduced and the size can be reduced. Furthermore, since it becomes possible to execute the waste liquid operation from above the rotating culture container, the liquid spills, or the liquid scatters toward the culture container other than the target culture container for performing the waste liquid. Risks such as quality degradation can be reduced. Thereafter, the lifting / lowering motor 8 of the medium exchange unit 6 is operated to move the medium exchange unit 6 to a predetermined table position of the multistage structure table.
In this embodiment, an example in which the table has a multi-stage structure is described, but it goes without saying that the table may have only one stage.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the lid opening rod 17 is moved by the rotation of the turntable 2 indicated by the arrow and reaches the predetermined position, and the lid opening rod 17 is attached to the culture vessel lid opening jig 3 </ b> B of the culture vessel fixing unit 3. The culture vessel lid holding jig 3A integrated with the culture vessel lid opening jig 3B opens the culture vessel lid 1A along the lid opening rotation shaft 3D by generating a pressing force by contacting the plate. With such a configuration, since the culture vessel lid can be opened and closed simply by bringing the lid opening jig 17 into contact with the lid opening rod 17 to the culture vessel in which the turntable 2 has moved, a drive mechanism for driving the rod is provided. It is possible to open and close the lid efficiently and reliably without causing a drive failure due to complicated operations.
In the present embodiment, the case where the rotary table 2 moves has been described, but the rotary table 2 is not limited to the rotary type as long as the table on which the culture vessel is placed moves. For example, the moving direction of the table may be appropriately determined depending on the way the culture vessel table is arranged, such as moving the culture vessel table arranged in a row in the direction of the arrangement axis.
Further, the member that contacts the lid opening jig is not limited to a rod-shaped member such as the lid opening rod 17, and may be any member that has some form and gives a pressing force to the jig as an action mechanism.
The method of giving the pressing force may not be by contact. For example, a magnet is installed in each of the jig and the action mechanism, a magnetic force is repelled to give a pressing force, a culture vessel that reaches a predetermined position is detected by a sensor, and the culture vessel is detected by the detected culture vessel jig. It may be opened and closed without contact. The operation mechanism for opening and closing may be provided in the medium exchange unit 6 or may be separately installed as a member other than the medium exchange unit 6. The predetermined position for opening and closing the culture vessel lid is not limited to this embodiment. In short, the culture vessel lid is moved to a position where the culture vessel lid can be opened before the liquid feeding is started by the liquid feeding means. Just do it.

5A and 5B show an enlarged perspective view and a side view of the culture container 1 in a state where the lid is opened. That is, simultaneously with the opening operation of the culture vessel lid opening jig 3B shown in FIG. 5A, as shown in FIG. 5B, the culture vessel main body 1B is lifted by the culture vessel tilting projection 3E and tilted with the surface of the turntable 2 Angled. 3E in the same figure shows the projection for tilting the culture vessel. By this mechanism, the operation of contacting the lid opening jig and the lid opening rod can incline the culture container at the same time as the lid is opened, that is, the culture container can be inclined at the timing of medium replacement. Can be concentrated on the lower side of the inclined culture vessel, and the medium can be exchanged efficiently.
Furthermore, by exchanging the medium while the medium is stored on the lower side of the culture container, the impact of the medium sent to the culture container is absorbed, and the risk of the medium scattering outside the culture container is reduced. Is possible.
Moreover, the supply port 19 and the discharge port 20 which supply the liquid in a culture container shown in FIG. 6 each play the role of the supply part which has the shape of a nozzle, and a discharge part, The length of the nozzle of a discharge part It is formed so that the length is longer than the length of the nozzle of the supply unit, and the discharge port 20 is disposed closer to the lower end side of the inclined culture vessel than the supply port 19. Thereby, in the culture container inclined as described above, the discharge port can be lowered to the lower end side of the inclined culture container where the liquid is accumulated, and the discharge rate in the culture container can be increased, and at the same time In such a case, it is possible to prevent the supply port from coming into contact with the discharge port or the liquid to be discharged.

As shown in FIG. 6, the culture medium exchange unit 6 is lowered by the lifting motor 8 in the direction of the arrow (downward when the side on which the culture container is placed is defined as the upper side) with the culture container lid open, and drained. The mouth 19 and the liquid feeding port 20 are inserted into the culture vessel 1. Then, after the old culture medium in the culture vessel 1 is discharged from the liquid discharge port 19 by the operation of the pump 7, the medium is exchanged by supplying a new medium from the liquid supply port 20.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7, after the medium is exchanged, the medium exchange unit 6 is raised in the direction of the arrow (upward when the side on which the culture vessel of the table is placed is defined as the upper side), to the position before the descent. return. During the ascending / descending operation of the series of medium exchange units 6, the lid opening rod 17 does not move up and down in the slit 18 and remains in contact with the culture vessel opening jig 3B. By such a mechanism, the drainage port 19 and the liquid feeding port 20 can be moved to a position suitable for medium exchange while maintaining the state where the culture container lid is opened, so that the medium exchange can be performed efficiently. Is possible. Furthermore, while the rotary table is moving, the culture medium exchange unit 6 can be raised and retracted to a position where it does not come into contact with the culture vessel opening jig 3B of each culture vessel.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 8, the turntable 2 is rotated and moved to the next predetermined culture vessel 1. The above-described series of steps is repeated to change the medium in each culture vessel.

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show the state of the medium exchange unit 6 for exchanging the medium in the culture container installed on the lowermost and uppermost table 2 of the automatic medium changing apparatus of the present embodiment, respectively.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the whole medium replacement process in the automatic medium replacement apparatus of the present embodiment. In the figure, when the medium exchange process is started, the notch 10 of the turntable 2 is aligned with the lifting mechanism rail 9 (ST1). The raising / lowering motor 8 of the culture medium exchange unit 6 operates to move the culture medium exchange unit 6 to the position of the rotary table 2 at a predetermined stage (ST2).

Subsequently, the table rotating motor 5 operates to rotate the rotating table 2 (ST3). Thereby, the lid of the predetermined culture vessel 1 is opened, and the culture vessel 1 body is tilted (ST4). In this state, the liquid discharge port 19 and the liquid supply port 20 are lowered to the culture vessel 1 (ST5). And after draining an old culture medium from the culture container 1, a new culture medium is supplied (ST6), and the drainage port 19 and the liquid feeding port 20 are raised (ST7). Thereafter, the table rotating motor 5 is actuated to return the culture vessel 1 body to a horizontal position and close the lid of the culture vessel 1 (ST8). Further, the rotary table 2 is rotated and moved to the next predetermined culture vessel 1 (ST9), and the above-described steps ST4 to ST8 are sequentially executed to complete the necessary culture vessel exchange processing on the table. (ST10).

Next, in order to move to processing of the different table 2 of the multistage structure table, the notch of the rotary table 2 is aligned with the lifting mechanism rail 9 (ST11). The raising / lowering motor 8 of the culture medium exchange unit 6 is actuated to move the culture medium exchange unit 6 to the next table position (ST12) and execute the above-described steps ST3 → ST13 (ST13), thereby exchanging the culture medium in a predetermined culture vessel. Are all finished (ST14).

In the automatic culture medium changing apparatus of the present embodiment, it is desirable to use materials that can withstand high humidity and sterilization, such as aluminum, stainless steel, and resin, for the table member, jig member, and rotating shaft member. Thereby, the inside of the apparatus can be sterilized such as hydrogen peroxide mist, and can be applied to physics and chemistry applications and regenerative medicine applications.

According to Example 1 described in detail above, automatic medium exchange that is small and easy to control, can be installed in a commercial CO ₂ incubator, and realizes two operations of opening the culture vessel lid and tilting the culture vessel with one operation of the table rotation. It becomes possible. Moreover, since the conventional cell culture container of manual culture can be utilized, it is highly versatile. Furthermore, according to the present Example, the contamination risk at the time of culture medium replacement | exchange can be reduced by implementing culture medium replacement | exchange in a short time, without changing culture | cultivation environment.

In the present embodiment, the sequential medium exchange has been described, but it is also possible to carry out the medium exchange of a predetermined culture container. If the order of the culture containers is set in advance, the automatic culture apparatus can automatically perform medium exchange. Of course, it is also possible to change the medium exchange amount for each culture container according to the setting by using the weight sensor 16 and controlling the liquid feeding pump 7. In the present embodiment, the notch 10 provided in the rotary table 2 is described as one place, but two or several places may be provided, and a plurality of lifting mechanisms, drainage ports 19 and liquid feeding ports 20 may be provided. . In the present embodiment, a circular culture container is taken as an example, but the present invention can be applied to culture containers of other shapes on the same principle. In addition, in the case of the lid opening configuration of the present embodiment, it is possible to use a commercially available normal culture container and lid, so that there is no need for single processing such as sterilization of the lid.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case where the drainage and the liquid supply flow channel tube 17 are not washed during the medium exchange has been described. However, the distilled water for washing, physiological saline, and the like can be switched by switching the electromagnetic valve. It is also possible to introduce the tube into the tube for cleaning treatment.

As a second embodiment, an embodiment of an automatic medium changing apparatus with an observation system will be described.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an automatic culture apparatus according to the second embodiment. In the figure, the parts other than the observation unit 22, the CCD camera 23, the observation light source 24, and the lifting motor 25 of the observation unit have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted here. In addition to the function of the automatic medium changer of Example 1, the automatic medium changer of this example further has an observation system.

The processing operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. At the time of cell observation, the observation unit 22 is moved to a predetermined observation culture vessel 1 by a lifting motor 25 of the observation unit 22 attached to the lifting mechanism rail 9, and a set of the CCD camera 23 and the observation light source 24 in the observation unit 22 is set. Use this to observe the cells in the culture vessel. It is also possible to record an image photographed by the CCD camera 23 on the control terminal. Since the culture mechanism exchange unit 6 is attached to the elevating mechanism rail 9, it is possible to observe the cells in the culture containers installed in other stages simultaneously with the culture medium exchange described in the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows another configuration example of the automatic culture medium changing apparatus of the present embodiment. In the configuration shown in the figure, in addition to the lifting mechanism rail 9 provided with the medium replacement unit 6, another lifting mechanism rail 9A is prepared, and the observation unit 22 is attached to the rail 9A, whereby the medium replacement is performed. Since the processing and the observation processing can be executed independently, more efficient processing can be performed.
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the medium exchange process and the observation process can be linked to perform the observation process in order from the culture container after a predetermined period has passed since the medium exchange. For example, after the medium exchange of the culture container on the first table is completed, the observation process is performed by the observation means. During the observation process, the culture container is exchanged on the second table, and after the medium exchange is completed, the observation means is used. The observation process may be performed. As a result, it is possible to perform observation after a certain period of time has passed since the medium exchange, and thus it is possible to make the conditions of the data to be observed constant.
In addition, by setting the table during the medium exchange process and the table during the observation process to be always different, the rotation speed of the rotation mechanism (the movement speed of the movement mechanism if not rotating) The speed may be changed to a suitable speed for each of the exchange process and the observation process. In other words, a different rotation speed may be set for each table. For example, if the rotation speed is a table during the medium exchange process, the rotation speed is set according to the flow rate flowing in / out from the drainage port 19 and the liquid supply port 20, or if the table is being observed, Depending on the state of the culture medium for each culture container, the rotation speed may be lowered during the period of observing the culture container to be observed intensively, and the rotation speed may be increased for culture containers whose importance is lower than that. FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control system of the automatic medium changing apparatus of the present embodiment. A control terminal 29 such as a personal computer (PC) having a computer configuration including a normal central processing unit (CPU), a storage unit, an input / output interface unit, etc. 8. The weight sensor 16, the lifting motor 25 of the observation unit, the liquid feeding pump 30 and the drainage pump 31 constituting the pump 7 are controlled. Further, an observation camera image is input from the CCD camera 23 and transmitted to the server in the control terminal 29 or via the network, and image processing is executed by various image processing software. It is needless to say that the control system of the figure can be configured as the control system of the first embodiment with the configuration excluding the CCD camera 23 and the lifting motor 25 of the observation unit.

According to the present embodiment, it is small and easy to control, can be installed in a commercial CO ₂ incubator, and can automatically change the culture medium to realize two operations of opening the culture vessel lid and inclining the culture vessel by one operation of the table rotation. By eliminating the environmental change at the time of replacement, higher quality cell culture can be realized, and cell observation can also be realized in the same incubator, so that movement such as observation during cell culture can be omitted.
In addition, it cannot be overemphasized that the automatic culture medium apparatus demonstrated above may arrange | position and implement each structure, for example in a factory etc., as a culture medium exchange system.

The third embodiment is an embodiment of a cell culture apparatus and a cell culture system using the automatic medium apparatus described above. That is, in this example, with the rotation of the table on which a plurality of jigs for holding the lid of the culture vessel so that the lid can be opened and closed, the lid of the culture vessel is opened and closed, and the culture vessel is tilted in conjunction with the opening and closing of the lid, It is the Example of the cell culture method and cell culture apparatus which culture | cultivate a cell, exchanging a culture medium using the culture medium exchange unit which discharges | emits / injects a culture medium to a culture container.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall schematic configuration of the cell culture device according to the present embodiment. In the cell culture apparatus of FIG. 15, 26 is a clean bench, 27 is a clean bench door, and 28 is a control box of the cell culture apparatus. The automatic medium changer such as the CO ₂ incubator 12 installed in the clean bench 26 with the front door closed, and the control terminal 29 are the same as those of the automatic medium changer of Example 1 or Example 2. It is the composition.

The cell culture apparatus of this example has mechanisms such as automatic cell seeding, automatic medium exchange, and automatic observation, and can manage more uniform culture quality.

Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments unless the characteristics of the present invention are impaired, and can be considered within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. Various other modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for better understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

Furthermore, although each of the above-described configurations, functions, control terminals, and the like has been described as an example of creating a program that realizes part or all of them, the hardware can be obtained by designing some or all of them with an integrated circuit, for example. Needless to say, it can be realized with this.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Culture container 1A Culture container lid 1B Culture container main body 2 Rotary table 3 Culture container fixing unit 3A Culture container lid holding jig 3B Culture container lid opening jig 3C Culture container position holding jig 3D Lid opening rotating shaft 3E Projection part 4 Rotating shaft of table with multi-stage structure 5 Motor for table rotation 6 Medium changing unit 7 Pump 8 Lifting motor 9, 9A for medium changing unit Lifting mechanism rail 10 Notch 12 for rotating table 12 CO ₂ incubator 13 Channel tube 14 Drain bottle 15 Medium bottle 16 Weight sensor 17 Opening bar 18 Slit 19 Drain port 20 Liquid feed port 21 UV generation LED
22 Observation unit 23 CCD camera 24 Observation light source 25 Observation unit lifting motor 26 Clean bench 27 Clean bench door 28 Control box 29 Control terminal 31 Observation camera image 32 Observation lifting mechanism motor 33 Medium changing lifting mechanism motor 34 Rotating table motor 35 Liquid feed pump

Claims (15)

A table on which a plurality of culture vessels having lids are arranged;
A moving mechanism for moving the table;
A jig that is installed on the table and holds the lid of the culture container in an openable / closable manner as the table moves.
An automatic medium changer characterized by that. The automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to claim 1,
The jig has a lid opening mechanism that opens and closes the lid of the culture vessel as the table is moved by the moving mechanism.
An automatic medium changer characterized by that. 3. The automatic culture medium exchange according to claim 2, further comprising an action mechanism that generates a pressing force with respect to the lid opening mechanism of the culture container that has reached a predetermined position by movement of the table among the plurality of culture containers. apparatus. The automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the pressing force is generated by the action mechanism and the lid opening mechanism coming into contact with movement of the table. The automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to claim 1,
A supply unit for supplying a culture medium to the culture container; and a discharge unit for supplying the culture medium to the culture container,
The jig has an inclination mechanism for inclining the culture vessel for exchanging the medium,
The discharge part is arranged below the inclined culture vessel from the supply part,
An automatic medium changer characterized by that. The automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to claim 1,
The table is circular, and a plurality of the culture vessels are arranged in a circumferential direction of the table,
The moving mechanism is a rotating mechanism that rotates the table.
An automatic medium changer characterized by that. The automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to claim 2,
A plurality of the tables are arranged in multiple stages,
A medium exchange unit;
An elevating mechanism for moving the medium exchange unit up and down further,
An automatic medium changer characterized by that. The automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to claim 7,
The medium exchange unit is
A tilting mechanism that tilts the culture vessel in conjunction with the lid opening mechanism;
A pump for discharging / injecting the medium into the culture vessel,
An automatic medium changer characterized by that. The automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to claim 8,
The table is circular, and a plurality of the culture vessels are arranged in a circumferential direction of the table,
The moving mechanism is a rotating mechanism that rotates the tables arranged in multiple stages coaxially.
An automatic medium changer characterized by that. The automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to claim 9,
The table has a notch that allows the elevating mechanism to be raised and lowered on its circumference.
An automatic medium changer characterized by that. The automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to claim 9,
The tilt mechanism is
A slit formed in the medium exchange unit;
A rod that contacts the lid opening mechanism by rotation of the table by the rotation mechanism, moves the slit up and down, and operates the lid opening mechanism;
An automatic medium changer characterized by that. The automatic culture medium changing apparatus according to claim 3,
A medium exchange unit;
An elevating mechanism for moving the medium exchange unit up and down further,
The medium exchange unit is formed with a slit for moving the action mechanism up and down,
An automatic culture medium changer, wherein the medium exchange unit is moved up and down by the elevating mechanism in a state where the action mechanism is fixed at a predetermined position. Along with the rotation of the table on which a plurality of jigs for holding the lid of the culture container so that it can be opened and closed, the lid of the culture container is opened and closed,
Inclining the culture container in conjunction with opening and closing of the lid, exchanging the medium using a medium exchange unit that discharges and injects the medium into the culture container, and cultures the cells.
A cell culture device. The cell culture device according to claim 13,
The jig has a lid opening mechanism that opens and closes the lid of the culture vessel as the table rotates.
The culture medium exchange unit is interlocked with the lid opening mechanism, and an inclination mechanism for inclining the culture vessel;
A pump for discharging / injecting the medium into the culture vessel;
The table is arranged in a plurality of stages on the same axis,
An elevating mechanism for moving the medium exchange unit up and down;
A cell culture device. The cell culture device according to claim 13,
The automatic medium changer further includes an observation mechanism for observing cells in the culture container,
A cell culture device.

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