CN112246452A

CN112246452A - Centrifugal machine, automatic centrifugal system and operation method of automatic centrifugal system

Info

Publication number: CN112246452A
Application number: CN202010880031.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周连群; 姚佳; 王天一; 周永战; 李传宇; 吴炎凡; 李金泽; 李超
Original assignee: Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology of CAS
Current assignee: Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology of CAS
Priority date: 2020-08-27
Filing date: 2020-08-27
Publication date: 2021-01-22

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of automatic production, in particular to a centrifugal machine, an automatic centrifugal system and an operation method of the automatic centrifugal system. Comprises a centrifugal tray; the centrifugal tray is arranged on the bracket; a first magnetic device is fixedly arranged on the lower end face of the support, a second magnetic device is arranged below the first magnetic device, and the centrifugal tray is driven to achieve a fixed position after being centrifuged through magnetic attraction between the first magnetic device and the second magnetic device; and the driving device is positioned below the support and is rotationally connected with the support through a rotating shaft. The driving device drives the centrifugal tray on the support to rotate through the rotating shaft, and after centrifugation is finished, the centrifugal tray is driven to be at a fixed position through magnetic attraction between the first magnetic device and the second magnetic device, so that centrifugal operation can be automated. The centrifugal tray is controlled to be fixed at a fixed position by magnetic attraction, and compared with a friction mode, the centrifugal tray fixing device is simpler in structure and safer.

Description

Centrifugal machine, automatic centrifugal system and operation method of automatic centrifugal system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of automatic production, in particular to a centrifugal machine, an automatic centrifugal system and an operation method of the automatic centrifugal system.

Background

In the automated production/inspection line of biology and medicine, centrifugation is a common operation step to separate components with different density characteristics in a sample by centrifugal force. In automated production/inspection lines, accurate and repeatable angular positioning of sample tubes at the end of centrifugation is required for convenient handling of the sample tubes by mechanical arms/jaws.

In general, conventional centrifuges do not provide an absolute angular positioning when the motor is stopped, and the position of the centrifuge tray when the motor is stopped is random, so that the requirement for the operation of the automated process cannot be met.

In order to realize absolute positioning in a centrifugal angle, in the existing scheme, on one hand, a rotary encoder is added on hardware for assisting in identifying an angle position, on the other hand, a software algorithm is required to realize accurate control on a required stalling angle, the expenditure of hardware and software is increased, the actual use is only one angle, an encoder with a lower line number cannot provide an accurate position, and an encoder with a higher line number is relatively redundant. For example, patent document CN 202078972U discloses a full-automatic centrifugal device, which includes a rotor, a positioning bolt, a spring, a cylinder and a positioning disk, wherein four baskets are provided on the rotor at four equal intervals, and four positioning holes are provided around the center hole of the rotor at four equal intervals. When the centrifugation finishes and needs to make the rotor stop, the cylinder drives the positioning disk to be close to the rotor, the positioning bolt on the positioning disk contacts with the rotor to enable the rotor to apply downward acting force to the spring to compress the spring, when the positioning hole contacts with the positioning bolt, the spring applies upward acting force to the positioning bolt to enable the positioning bolt to extend into the positioning hole, the combined action of the positioning bolt and the positioning hole enables the rotor to stop rotating, and then the four hanging baskets stop at fixed positions in sequence. The device adopts the mode that the positioning holes and the positioning bolts generate resistance to the rotor to enable the hanging basket to stay at the fixed position, the structure of the device is complex, and because the positioning bolts and the positioning holes generate resistance to stop the rotor from rotating, dangerous behaviors such as breakage of the positioning bolts can occur in the process, so that certain danger is realized.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to overcome the defects of complicated structure and certain dangerousness of the devices in the prior art, and to provide a centrifuge, comprising: a centrifugal tray; the centrifugal tray is arranged on the bracket; a first magnetic device is fixedly arranged on the lower end face of the support, a second magnetic device is arranged below the first magnetic device, and the centrifugal tray is driven to achieve a fixed position after being centrifuged through magnetic attraction between the first magnetic device and the second magnetic device; and the driving device is positioned below the support and is rotationally connected with the support through a rotating shaft.

Furthermore, the centrifuge also comprises a fixed frame, the second magnetic device comprises at least two second magnetic rods, south poles and north poles of the two second magnetic rods are arranged in the same direction, and the two second magnetic rods are symmetrically arranged on the fixed frame about the rotating shaft;

the support includes the fixed part, and first magnetic means includes two at least first bar magnets, and south pole, the north pole syntropy of two first bar magnets are arranged, and two first bar magnets are about axis of rotation symmetry to the fixed lower terminal surface that sets up at the fixed part.

Further, the arrangement direction of the two first magnetic rods is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the two second magnetic rods.

Furthermore, the lower end of the bracket is provided with a measured mechanism;

the centrifuge also comprises a fixed frame, and a detection mechanism is arranged on the fixed frame at a position corresponding to the detected mechanism and used for determining the rotating speed of the centrifugal tray or whether the centrifugal tray reaches a fixed position after centrifugation by detecting the detected mechanism.

Furthermore, the detection mechanism is a color sensor, and the detected mechanism is a color marking area; or the detection mechanism is a photoelectric sensor, and the mechanism to be detected is a mechanical mechanism; or the detection mechanism is a Hall sensor, and the mechanism to be detected is a magnet.

Furthermore, the support is I-shaped, the support comprises a fixing part and blocking parts connected to two ends of the fixing part, and the fixing part and the blocking parts form an accommodating groove;

the centrifugal tray rotates to be connected in the holding tank, and the weight that fixed part one end was kept away from to centrifugal tray is heavier than the weight that centrifugal tray is close to fixed part one end, and one side that the holding tank lateral wall is close to the fixed part has first dog.

Furthermore, the quantity of holding tank is the even number, and holding tank evenly distributed sets up, and the axis of rotation is located the center of fixed part, when placing the sample cell on one of them centrifugation tray, has placed the balancing weight in rather than the centrifugation tray about axis of rotation centrosymmetry.

Furthermore, two sides of the centrifugal tray perpendicular to the blocking part are provided with second stop blocks.

The invention also provides an automatic centrifugal system which comprises the centrifugal machine.

The present invention also provides a method of operating an automated centrifugation system, comprising the steps of,

after the sample tube is placed in the centrifugal tray, the upper computer sends a centrifugal starting signal to a processing unit of the centrifugal machine, and the processing unit controls the driving device to rotate;

after centrifugation is finished, the processing unit controls the driving device to stop rotating, and the centrifugal tray returns to a fixed position under the interaction of the first magnetic device and the second magnetic device;

and the upper computer controls the mechanical arm to take out the centrifuged sample tube at a fixed position.

Further, the upper computer sends a centrifugal starting signal to a processing unit of the centrifuge and gives a centrifugal rotating speed and centrifugal time at the same time, the processing unit calculates the rotating speed of the centrifuge according to a fluctuation signal fed back by the detection mechanism, and the rotating speed of the centrifuge is controlled to be the centrifugal rotating speed given by the upper computer.

Further, after the centrifugation is finished, when the processing unit calculates that the rotating speed of the centrifuge is zero according to the fluctuation signals fed back by the detection mechanism, the processing unit sends a centrifugation finishing signal to the upper computer, and the upper computer controls the mechanical arm to take out the centrifuged sample tube at a fixed position.

The technical scheme of the invention has the following advantages:

1. according to the centrifuge provided by the invention, the driving device drives the centrifugal tray on the support to rotate through the rotating shaft, and after centrifugation is finished, the centrifugal tray is driven to reach a fixed position through magnetic attraction between the first magnetic device and the second magnetic device, so that the centrifugation operation can be automated. The centrifugal tray is controlled to be fixed at a fixed position by magnetic attraction, and compared with a friction mode, the centrifugal tray fixing device is simpler in structure and safer.

2. The centrifugal device provided by the invention adopts the modes of the color sensor-color marking area, the photoelectric sensor-mechanical mechanism and/or the Hall sensor-magnet when measuring the rotating speed of the centrifugal machine, and can save the cost compared with the mode of adopting the encoder.

3. According to the automatic centrifugation system provided by the invention, after the centrifugation of the centrifuge is finished, the centrifugation tray can be fixed at a fixed position, so that the sample tube can be conveniently placed or taken out by the mechanical arm controlled by an upper computer, the centrifugation can be fully automated, and no danger is generated in the process.

4. According to the operation method of the automatic centrifugal system, after centrifugation is finished, the centrifugal tray can return to the fixed position under the action of the magnetic attraction force of the first magnetic device and the second magnetic device, and the upper computer can control the mechanical arm to take out the centrifuged sample tube at the fixed position, so that the mode is simpler and safer.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the centrifuge of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the tray of FIG. 1 with the tray removed;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of the first magnetic device, the second magnetic device, the driving device and the bracket of the centrifuge;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of another structure of the first magnetic device, the second magnetic device, the driving device and the bracket of the centrifuge of the present invention cooperating with each other;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of the interaction between the detection mechanism and the mechanism to be detected in the centrifuge of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the interaction of the photosensor and the mechanical structure of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method of operation of the automated centrifuge system of the present invention.

Description of reference numerals:

100. a centrifuge; 101. a mechanical arm; 102. a support; 1021. a first magnetic device; 1022. a color marking region; 1023. a fixed part; 1024. a blocking portion; 1025. a mechanical structure; 103. a centrifugal tray; 1031. a rotating part; 1032. a second stopper; 1033. a first stopper; 104. a balancing weight; 105. a fixed mount; 1051. a second magnetic device; 1052. a detection mechanism; 106. a drive device; 1061. a rotating shaft; 107. a work table; 1071. a separator.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions of the present invention will be described clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it should be understood that the described embodiments are some, but not all embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience of description and simplicity of description, but do not indicate or imply that the device or element being referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific cases to those skilled in the art.

In addition, the technical features involved in the different embodiments of the present invention described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

The invention provides a centrifuge, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 3, a centrifuge 100 includes a centrifuge tray 103 and a bracket 102, the centrifuge tray 103 is disposed on the bracket 102, a first magnetic device 1021 is fixedly disposed on a lower end surface of the bracket 102, and the first magnetic device 1021 can be fixed on the lower end surface of the bracket 102 by using a fastener, welding or a way of embedding the first magnetic device 1021 in a groove formed on the bracket 102. The second magnetic means 1051 is arranged below the first magnetic means 1021, the second magnetic means 1051 is fixed below the first magnetic means 1021, and when the centrifugation is finished, the magnetic attraction between the second magnetic means 1051 and the first magnetic means 1021 makes the first magnetic means 1021 always stay at a fixed position near the second magnetic means 1051, so that the centrifugation tray 103 always stays at a fixed position after the centrifugation is finished.

As shown in fig. 2, the bracket 102 is h-shaped, the bracket 102 includes a fixing portion 1023 and blocking portions 1024 connected to both ends of the fixing portion 1023, the fixing portion 1023 and the blocking portions 1024 form a receiving groove, the centrifugal tray 103 is rotatably connected in the receiving groove by a rotating portion 1031, and the rotating portion 1031 may be in a hinged form.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the first magnetic device 1021 may be two or more first magnetic rods, and the second magnetic device 1051 may also be two or more second magnetic rods, where south poles and north poles of the two first magnetic rods are arranged in the same direction, south poles and north poles of the two second magnetic rods are also arranged in the same direction, and the south poles and north poles of the first magnetic rods are opposite to the south poles and north poles of the second magnetic rods. Two first magnetic rods may be symmetrically disposed about the rotation axis 1061 at a lower end surface of the fixing portion 1023, and correspondingly, two second magnetic rods are symmetrically disposed about the rotation axis 1061 at both sides near the rotation axis and fixed to the fixing frame 105, and an arrangement direction of the two first magnetic rods is perpendicular to an arrangement direction of the two second magnetic rods. The first magnetic rod may also be disposed at the blocking portion 1024, and the magnetic rod may be a permanent magnet magnetic rod or an electromagnetic rod. When the magnetic rod is an electromagnetic rod, the system can control the magnetic strength of the electromagnetic rod, so that the bracket 102 can be accurately controlled to always stay at a fixed position.

As shown in fig. 1, the centrifuge 100 is mounted on the upper end surface of the table 107, and a partition 1071 is fixed to the lower end. The support 102 is rotatably connected to a driving device 106 through a rotating shaft 1061, the driving device 106 is located below the support 102, a driving circuit (not shown) is disposed on the partition 1071, and a processing unit is disposed on the driving circuit and drives the support 102 to rotate by controlling the driving device 106 to rotate. The driving device 106 may be a brushless motor, a brush motor, etc., preferably a brushless motor, which has the advantage of long service life.

As shown in fig. 5, a mechanism to be tested is provided at the lower end of the bracket 102, and a detection mechanism 1052 is provided at a position on the fixing frame 105 corresponding to the mechanism to be tested, for determining the rotation speed of the centrifugal tray 103 or whether the position reaches a fixed position after centrifugation by detecting the mechanism to be tested. The detecting mechanism 1052 can be a color sensor, correspondingly, the detected mechanism is a color mark area 1022, the color mark area 1022 is a special color area, and the color of the area is different from the color of other parts; the detection mechanism 1052 may be a photosensor, and accordingly, the mechanism to be detected is a mechanical structure 1025 (see fig. 6), and the mechanical structure 1025 may be a bump or the like. The detection mechanism 1052 may be a hall sensor and correspondingly the mechanism under test is a magnet. The processing unit can calculate the rotating speed of the centrifuge 100 according to the fluctuation signal fed back by the detection mechanism 1052, after the centrifugation is finished, the processing unit transmits the centrifugation finished signal to the upper computer after detecting that the rotating speed of the centrifuge 100 is zero, and the upper computer controls the mechanical arm to take out the sample tube.

The centrifugal tray 103 is rotatably coupled in the receiving groove by the rotating portion 1031, and the centrifugal tray 103 rotates in a direction toward the fixing portion 1023 around the rotating portion 1031 during centrifugation. As shown in fig. 4, at the end of centrifugation, the centrifugation tray 103 may not be in a horizontal position, and in order to avoid this, the weight of the end of the centrifugation tray 103 away from the fixing portion 1023 is heavier than the weight of the end of the centrifugation tray 103 close to the fixing portion 1023; when the centrifugation is stopped, the centrifuge tray 103 is rotated in a direction away from the fixing portion 1023 with the rotating portion 1031 as a rotation axis, and a first stopper 1033 is provided on a side of the accommodating groove side wall close to the fixing portion 1023 in order to keep the centrifuge tray 103 horizontal. Meanwhile, in order to prevent the sample tubes from flying out of the edge of the centrifuge tray 103 during centrifugation, second stoppers 1032 are provided on both sides of the centrifuge tray 103 perpendicular to the stoppers 1024.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the number of the centrifugal trays 103 may be two or an even number more than two, and the centrifugal trays are uniformly distributed. The rotating shaft 1061 is located at the center of the fixing portion 1023, and when a sample tube is placed on one of the centrifugal trays, a weight block 104 is placed in the centrifugal tray that is symmetrical with the rotating shaft 1061 about the center. The weight of the weight block 104 is equal to the total weight of the sample tube to be centrifuged, so as to avoid the damage of the driving device 106 due to the excessive stress on the rotating shaft 1061 caused by uneven weight.

The invention also provides an automatic centrifugal system which comprises the centrifugal machine. As shown in fig. 1, after the centrifuge 100 finishes centrifuging, the centrifuge tray 103 on which the sample tubes are placed always stops at a fixed position, and the upper computer can control the mechanical arm 101 to take out the centrifuged sample tubes and place the next sample tube to be centrifuged in the centrifuge tray 103. This automatic centrifugal system adopts the mode of magnetic attraction will centrifuge the tray 103 always return to in fixed position, safe and reliable more.

The present invention also provides a method of operating an automated centrifugation system, as shown in fig. 7, comprising the steps of:

s1, after the sample tube is placed in the centrifugal tray 103, the upper computer sends a centrifugal start signal to the processing unit of the centrifuge 100, and the processing unit controls the driving device 106 to rotate;

in the above steps, after the upper computer controls the mechanical arm 101 to place the sample tube to be centrifuged in the centrifugation tray 103, the upper computer gives a centrifugation start signal to the processing unit of the centrifuge 100 and sets a centrifugation rotation speed and a centrifugation time at the same time, the processing unit calculates the rotation speed of the centrifuge 100 according to the fluctuation signal fed back by the detection mechanism 1052, and controls the rotation speed of the centrifuge 100 to be the centrifugation rotation speed set by the upper computer.

S2, after the centrifugation, the processing unit controls the driving device 106 to stop rotating, and the centrifugation tray 103 returns to the fixed position under the interaction of the first magnetic device 1021 and the second magnetic device 1051;

in the above steps, after the centrifugation is finished, when the processing unit calculates that the rotation speed of the centrifuge 100 is zero according to the fluctuation signal fed back by the detection mechanism 1052, the processing unit sends a centrifugation finishing signal to the upper computer, and the upper computer controls the mechanical arm 101 to take out the centrifuged sample tube at a fixed position.

And S3, taking out the centrifuged sample tube at a fixed position by the upper computer control mechanical arm 101.

It should be understood that the above examples are only for clarity of illustration and are not intended to limit the embodiments. Other variations and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art in light of the above description. And are neither required nor exhaustive of all embodiments. And obvious variations or modifications therefrom are within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A centrifuge, comprising:

a centrifuge tray (103);

a rack (102), the centrifugal tray (103) being arranged on the rack (102); a first magnetic device (1021) is fixedly arranged on the lower end face of the bracket (102), a second magnetic device (1051) is arranged below the first magnetic device (1021), and the centrifugal tray (103) is driven to reach a fixed position after being centrifuged by magnetic attraction between the first magnetic device (1021) and the second magnetic device (1051);

the driving device (106) is positioned below the bracket (102), and the driving device (106) is rotatably connected with the bracket (102) through a rotating shaft (1061).

2. The centrifuge according to claim 1, wherein the centrifuge further comprises a fixed frame (105), the second magnetic means (1051) comprises at least two second magnetic bars, south and north poles of which are arranged in the same direction, the two second magnetic bars being arranged on the fixed frame (105) symmetrically with respect to the rotation axis (1061);

the support (102) comprises a fixing part (1023), the first magnetic device (1021) comprises at least two first magnetic bars, south poles and north poles of the two first magnetic bars are arranged in the same direction, the two first magnetic bars are symmetrical about the rotating shaft (1061), and the two first magnetic bars are fixedly arranged on the lower end face of the fixing part (1023).

3. The centrifuge of claim 2, wherein the arrangement direction of the two first magnetic rods and the arrangement direction of the two second magnetic rods are perpendicular.

4. The centrifuge of claim 1, wherein the lower end of the bracket (102) is provided with a mechanism to be measured;

the centrifuge further comprises a fixing frame (105), wherein a detection mechanism (1052) is arranged on the fixing frame (105) at a position corresponding to the mechanism to be detected, and is used for determining the rotating speed of the centrifugal tray (103) or whether the centrifugal tray reaches a fixed position after centrifugation by detecting the mechanism to be detected.

5. The centrifuge of claim 4, wherein the detection mechanism (1052) is a color sensor and the mechanism to be detected is a color mark zone (1022); or

The detection mechanism (1052) is a photoelectric sensor, and the mechanism to be detected is a mechanical mechanism (1025); or

The detection mechanism (1052) is a Hall sensor, and the mechanism to be detected is a magnet.

6. The centrifuge of claim 1, wherein the bracket (102) is h-shaped, the bracket (102) comprises a fixing portion (1023) and a blocking portion (1024) connected to both ends of the fixing portion (1023), the fixing portion (1023) and the blocking portion (1024) forming a receiving groove;

centrifugal tray (103) rotate connect in the holding tank, centrifugal tray (103) are kept away from the weight of fixed part (1023) one end is heavier than centrifugal tray (103) are close to the weight of fixed part (1023) one end, one side that the holding tank lateral wall is close to fixed part (1023) has first dog (1033).

7. The centrifuge of claim 6, wherein the number of the receiving grooves is even, and the receiving grooves are uniformly distributed, the rotating shaft (1061) is located at the center of the fixing portion (1023), and when a sample tube is placed on one of the centrifuge trays, a weight block (104) is placed in the centrifuge tray which is symmetrical with respect to the center of the rotating shaft (1061).

8. The centrifuge according to claim 6, characterized in that the centrifuge tray (103) is provided with second stops (1032) on both sides perpendicular to the blocking section (1024).

9. An automated centrifugation system, comprising a centrifuge (100) according to any of claims 1 to 8.

10. A method of operating an automated centrifugal system, comprising the steps of,

after the sample tube is placed in a centrifugal tray (103), an upper computer sends a centrifugal start signal to a processing unit of a centrifugal machine, and the processing unit controls a driving device (106) to rotate;

after centrifugation is finished, the processing unit controls the driving device (106) to stop rotating, and the centrifugal tray (103) returns to a fixed position under the interaction of the first magnetic device (1021) and the second magnetic device (1051);

and the upper computer controls the mechanical arm to take out the centrifuged sample tube at the fixed position.

11. The operating method of the automated centrifuge system according to claim 10, wherein the upper computer sends a centrifuge start signal to a processing unit of the centrifuge while setting a centrifuge rotational speed and a centrifuge time, the processing unit calculates a rotational speed of the centrifuge (100) according to a fluctuation signal fed back by the detection mechanism (1052), and controls the rotational speed of the centrifuge (100) to be the centrifuge rotational speed set by the upper computer.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein after centrifugation is finished, when the processing unit calculates the rotation speed of the centrifuge (100) to be zero according to the fluctuation signal fed back by the detection mechanism (1052), the processing unit sends a centrifugation finishing signal to the upper computer, and the upper computer controls the mechanical arm to take out the centrifuged sample tube at a fixed position.