Apparatus for culturing cells

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9732314-B2
Application number	US-201615075109-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2016
Priority date	Apr 10, 2015
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

An apparatus for culturing cells of the present disclosure includes: a cabinet that has a main surface and a side surface, the main surface having a window; a main surface aspiration port disposed at the main surface of the cabinet; and a side surface aspiration port disposed at the side surface of the cabinet. In the cross section of the cabinet taken along the horizontal direction, a first vessel supplying part for supplying a first vessel is disposed at a midportion of the cabinet, and a second vessel supplying part for supplying a second vessel is disposed at an inner peripheral portion of the cabinet. The first vessel supplying part has a first lid capable of entirely covering the first vessel supplying part. The first vessel has no lid. The second vessel supplying part has no lid. The second vessel has a second lid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for culturing cells comprising:
a cabinet that has a main surface having a window, and a side surface;
a main surface aspiration port disposed at the main surface of the cabinet and provided below the window; and
a side surface aspiration port disposed at the side surface of the cabinet,
wherein in a cross section of the cabinet taken along a horizontal direction,
a first vessel supplying part for supplying a first vessel is disposed at a midportion of the cabinet, and
a second vessel supplying part for supplying a second vessel is disposed at an inner peripheral portion of the cabinet,

the first vessel supplying part has a first lid capable of entirely covering the first vessel supplying part,
the first vessel has no lid,
the second vessel supplying part has no lid, and
the second vessel has a second lid.

2. The apparatus for culturing cells according to claim 1 , wherein
the first vessel supplying part supplies at least one vessel including the first vessel, and
the second vessel supplying part supplies at least one vessel including the second vessel.

3. The apparatus for culturing cells according to claim 1 , wherein, in the cross section of the cabinet taken along the horizontal direction, the first vessel supplying part is positioned nearer to a center of a cabinet than the second vessel supplying part is.

4. The apparatus for culturing cells according to claim 1 , wherein
the first vessel is one of a pipet chip for drawing in and discharging a reagent and a reagent storage bottle for storing a reagent, and
the second vessel is one of a tube for storing a reagent or cells and a petri dish for culturing cells.

5. The apparatus for culturing cells according to claim 1 , wherein the first vessel is more frequently used in cell cultivation and less influenced by contamination with dust when outside air is aspirated than the second vessel.

6. The apparatus for culturing cells according to claim 1 , further comprising a vessel lid opener including an air chuck configured to open and close the second lid.

7. The apparatus for culturing cells according to claim 1 , wherein the window is provided with a cover configured to open or close to provide interior access to the cabinet.

8. The apparatus for culturing cells according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second vessel supplying parts are disposed higher than the main surface aspiration port, and the side surface aspiration port is disposed lower than the main surface aspiration port.

Assignees

• Panasonic Corp

Inventors

• Shibata Norihiro
• Yamauchi Toshiaki
• Ando Takeshi

Classifications

• C12M23/50 Primary

  Means for positioning or orientating the apparatus (C12M41/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C12M41/48

  Automatic or computerized control (automatic analysis G01N35/00) · CPC title

• C12M37/00

  Means for sterilizing, maintaining sterile conditions or avoiding chemical or biological contamination (C12M23/38 takes precedence; filtration in general and filters per se B01D24/00-B01D41/00; autoclaves B01J3/04; treatment of microorganisms with electrical or wave energy C12N13/00) · CPC title

• C12M33/04

  by injection or suction, e.g. using pipettes, syringes, needles (pipettes in general B01L3/02) · CPC title

• C12M29/00

  Means for introduction, extraction or recirculation of materials, e.g. pumps (pumps per se F04B) · CPC title