CN116481886A - Liquid mixing device suitable for in-vitro diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a liquid mixing device suitable for in-vitro diagnostic equipment, which comprises a reaction cup conveying track which is horizontally arranged, a guide groove which is arranged on the reaction cup conveying track, a mixing unit which is respectively arranged below the reaction cup conveying track, and a reaction cup pressure head which is arranged above the reaction cup conveying track; the mixing unit comprises an upper opening base connected to the lower part of the reaction cup conveying track, a mixing cylinder and an inclined wheel which are vertically arranged in the upper opening base, and a push rod which is vertically arranged with a gap penetrating through the inclined wheel; the top surface of the tilting wheel is provided with a bearing hole, and the upper end of the ejector rod extends into the bearing hole; the reaction cup pressure head, the reaction cup through hole, the belt wheel shaft hole and the ejector rod are coaxially arranged; the bearing hole is eccentrically arranged on the top surface of the dip wheel, and the included angle between the axis of the bearing hole and the axis of the shaft hole of the belt wheel is alpha. The reaction cup conveying track and the mixing unit are arranged up and down, the structure is compact, limited plane space of the in-vitro diagnosis equipment is saved, and meanwhile, stations are switched to single degree of freedom, and the failure rate is low.

Description

Liquid mixing device suitable for in vitro diagnostic equipment

technical field

The present invention relates to in vitro diagnostic equipment, in particular to a liquid mixing device suitable for in vitro diagnostic equipment.

Background technique

In the field of in vitro diagnostics, such as fully automatic chemiluminescent immunoassay analyzers, biochemical analyzers, laboratory assembly lines, biochemical analysis and chemiluminescence instruments, etc., the liquids involved in the reaction need to be mixed well before the relevant parameters can be analyzed; therefore, the mixing effect of the liquid is directly related to the accuracy of the test results.

In order to avoid cross-contamination, the mixing devices currently used on in vitro diagnostic instruments are mainly non-contact mixing devices. For example, Chinese invention patent CN201821889407-mobile reagent mixing device for in vitro diagnostic equipment. This patent uses a mobile reagent mixing device, which not only avoids the surface wear of the cuvette, but also realizes multi-station mixing to meet the mixing needs of different stations. However, the positioning of the reagent mixing device requires a position sensor and a sensor block (sensing sheet) to ensure that the top surface of the mixing cylinder is in a horizontal state and the axis is vertical before the cuvette can be taken and placed by the grasping mechanism after the mixing cylinder stops. Therefore, it is time-consuming to confirm the posture of the mixing head, and the grasping mechanism needs to move with multiple degrees of freedom, which has the disadvantages of high failure rate, low efficiency, and high cost. At the same time, in order to achieve mixing in this patent, the power shaft driving the mixing cylinder must be set eccentrically, and the corresponding drive motor needs to be set obliquely, which also adversely affects the service life and work performance of the drive motor.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a liquid mixing device suitable for in vitro diagnostic equipment, to improve the mixing test throughput of the in vitro diagnostic equipment (the number of completed tests per unit time), and to reduce the occupied space of the reagent mixing device on the in vitro diagnostic equipment.

To achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following technical solutions:

The liquid mixing device suitable for in-vitro diagnostic equipment of the present invention comprises a cuvette delivery track arranged horizontally, a guide groove set on the cuvette delivery track, a mixing unit below the cuvette delivery track and a cuvette pressure head above it respectively;

The mixing unit includes: an upper opening base connected to the lower part of the cuvette conveying track, a mixing cylinder and an inclination wheel vertically arranged in the upper opening base, and a vertically arranged ejector pin passing through the inclination wheel;

The top surface of the inclination wheel is provided with a bearing hole for accommodating the mixing cylinder, and the upper end of the ejector rod extends into the bearing hole; the lower part of the outer peripheral surface of the mixing cylinder is rollingly connected with the inner wall of the bearing hole through the first bearing; the middle part of the outer peripheral surface of the inclination wheel is in rolling connection with the inner wall of the upper opening base through the second bearing; the lower part of the inclination wheel is a transmission wheel structure, and is connected to the power source through a transmission mechanism;

The top of the outer peripheral surface of the mixing cylinder is connected to the inner wall of the upper opening base through a radial stopper; the guide groove above the mixing cylinder is provided with a cuvette passing hole;

The cuvette head, the cuvette passing hole, the pulley shaft hole and the ejector rod are coaxially arranged; the bearing hole is eccentrically opened on the top surface of the inclination wheel, and the angle between the axis of the bearing hole and the axis of the pulley shaft hole is α.

Optionally, the included angle α is selected between 0°-10°.

Optionally, the barrel hole of the mixing barrel is composed of a straight hole section and an inverted horn section from top to bottom; in order to facilitate the entry of the cuvette, the barrel opening of the mixing barrel is set in the shape of a bell mouth.

The purpose of the setting of the inverted bell mouth is to prevent the ejector rod from interfering in the process of passing through the mixing cylinder, and that the mixing cylinder does not interfere when it moves without load.

Optionally, the bearing hole is a stepped hole, the purpose of which is to facilitate the installation, disassembly and maintenance of the first bearing.

Optionally, during manufacture, the cuvette pressure head and ejector pin move up and down through a synchronous driving mechanism to ensure that the cuvette enters and exits the mixing cylinder smoothly.

Optionally, during production, the cuvette indenter is connected to the driving mechanism, and the ejector is connected to a positioning structure with at least two stations; the driving mechanism drives the cuvette indenter to press the cuvette and the ejector for positioning, so as to ensure that the cuvette enters and exits the mixing cylinder smoothly;

The advantages of the present invention are reflected in the following aspects:

1. The reaction cup conveying track and the mixing unit are arranged up and down, and the structure is compact, which saves the limited plane space of in vitro diagnostic equipment;

2. When mixing is required, the reaction cup moves up and down with the ejector rod, and the mixing can be started when it is in place. There is no status confirmation, which shortens the time of mixing operation and improves the mixing test throughput of in vitro diagnostic equipment;

3. The mixing unit adopts the linkage drive of an external motor, which separates the rotation and mixing operation, with more reliable functions and low failure rate;

4. The cuvette conveying track and the mixing unit are arranged up and down. Only one cuvette pressure head drive or one lifting drive is needed to switch between mixing and non-mixing states. The station switching is a single degree of freedom, and the failure rate is low.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of the present invention.

Fig. 1.1 is a top view schematic diagram of the positional relationship among the guide groove, the cuvette and the transmission claw according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of the mixing unit.

Figure 3.1 is a schematic structural view of the mixing cylinder.

Figure 3.2 is a schematic top view of Figure 3.1.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the oscillating state of the mixing cylinder in operation.

Fig. 5 is a structural schematic diagram of the tilt wheel.

FIG. 6 is a schematic top view of the structure of FIG. 5 .

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below in conjunction with accompanying drawings. This embodiment is implemented under the premise of the technical solution of the present invention, and detailed implementation methods and specific operating procedures are provided, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

It should be noted that, in the present invention, unless otherwise specified and limited, the terms "installation", "connection" and "connection" that may appear should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediary, or it can be an internal connection between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention through specific situations.

As shown in Figures 1 and 1.1, the liquid mixing device suitable for in vitro diagnostic equipment according to the present invention includes a cuvette transport track 1 arranged horizontally, a guide groove 1.1 provided on the cuvette transport track 1, a mixing unit below the cuvette transport track 1 and a cuvette indenter 2 above.

As shown in Figures 1, 1.1, and 2, the mixing unit includes: an upper opening base 3 connected to the lower plate surface of the cuvette delivery track 1, a mixing cylinder 4 and an angled wheel 5 arranged in the upper opening base 3, and a push rod 6 vertically arranged through the angled wheel 5; the top surface of the angled wheel 5 is provided with a bearing hole 7 for accommodating the mixing cylinder 4, and the upper end of the ejector rod 6 extends into the bearing hole 7. The lower part of the outer peripheral surface is rollingly connected with the inner wall of the bearing hole 7 through the first bearing 8; the middle part of the outer peripheral surface of the tilting wheel 5 is rollingly connected with the inner wall of the upper opening base 3 through the second bearing 9; the lower part of the tilting wheel 5 is a belt pulley structure, and is connected with the motor 11 through a transmission belt 10; certainly, the bottom of the tilting wheel 5 can also be a gear or sprocket structure, which is connected with a power source by a gear or a chain.

The top of the outer peripheral surface of the mixing cylinder 4 is connected to the hole groove on the inner wall of the upper opening base 3 through a radial limit rod 12. The radial limit rod 12 is used to limit the swing of the top end of the mixing cylinder 4; the guide groove 1.1 is located above the mouth of the mixing cylinder 4 and has a cuvette through hole 13;

Beneficially or exemplary, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the bearing hole 7 is provided eccentrically on the top surface of the bevel wheel 5, and the included angle α between the axis 7.1 of the bearing hole 7 and the axis 7.3 of the pulley shaft hole 7.2 is selected between 0°-10°.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the cuvette head 2 , the cuvette passage hole 13 , the pulley shaft hole 7.2 and the push rod 6 are coaxially arranged, that is, the axis 7.3 .

Beneficially or exemplarily, as shown in Figures 3.1 and 3.2, the cylinder hole of the mixing cylinder 4 is composed of a rectangular hole section 4.1 and an inverted trumpet square hole section 4.2 from top to bottom; in order to facilitate the entry of the cuvette, the cylinder mouth of the mixing cylinder 4 is set in the shape of a square bell mouth 4.3; of course, the cylinder hole of the mixing cylinder 4 can also be set as a round hole or other shapes.

The cuvette swings along the conical track with the mixing tube 4 when it is working, as shown in FIG. 4 .

Beneficially or exemplarily, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , the bearing hole 7 is a stepped hole, the purpose of which is to facilitate the avoidance, installation, disassembly and maintenance of the first bearing 8 .

During manufacture, the reaction cup head 2 and ejector rod 6 move up and down through the synchronous driving mechanism to ensure that the reaction cup enters and exits the mixing cylinder 4 smoothly.

The working principle of the present invention is briefly described as follows:

As shown in Figures 1, 1.1, and 2, during the movement of the cuvette 14 along the guide groove 1.1 driven by the support of the transmission claw 15, the cuvette head 2 hovers above the cuvette passage hole 13. At this time, the ejector rod 6 is located in the cuvette passage hole 13, and its upper end surface is flush with the bottom of the guide groove 1.1, waiting for the cuvette 14 to come to play a supporting role.

When the cuvette 14 moves along the guide groove 1.1 to the position of the cuvette passing hole 13, the controller sends a control command to control the transmission claw 15 to stop moving, and then controls the cuvette head 2 and the ejector rod 6 to move downward synchronously. The cuvette pressure head 2 presses the top surface of the cuvette 14 , and the push rod 6 supports the bottom surface of the cuvette 14 to move the cuvette 14 into the mixing cylinder 4 .

When the cuvette 14 reaches the preset height in the mixing cylinder 4, the controller sends a control command to the cuvette head 2 to drive the cuvette head 2 to move upward to the preset height, and the cuvette 14 performs a mixing action in the mixing cylinder 4; after the mixing action is completed, the controller sends a control command to the ejector rod 6 and the cuvette head 2, and the ejector rod 6 supports the bottom surface of the cuvette 14 and moves upward to the initial position, and at the same time, the indenter 2 moves upward to the initial position.

The mixing action process of cuvette 14 in mixing cylinder 4 is:

When the cuvette 14 reaches the preset height in the mixing cylinder 4, the controller sends a control command to the motor 11, and the motor 11 drives the tilting wheel 5 to rotate through the transmission belt 10. Because the axis 7.1 of the bearing hole 7 and the axis 7.3 of the pulley shaft hole 7.2 have an included angle α, and because the top of the mixing tube 4 is constrained by the radial limit rod 12, the lower part of the mixing tube 4 is driven by the tilting wheel 5. Driven by the tilting wheel 5, the lower part of the mixing tube 4 moves (swings) in a conical track within a certain range, thereby driving the cuvette 14 to move within a certain range. The conical trajectory movement (swing) achieves the purpose of mixing the liquid in the cuvette 14 evenly.

Claims (5)

1. A liquid mixing device suitable for in vitro diagnostic equipment, characterized in that: it comprises a horizontally arranged cuvette transport track, a guide groove provided on the cuvette transport track, a mixing unit below the cuvette transport track and a cuvette pressure head above it respectively; The mixing unit includes: an upper opening base connected to the lower part of the cuvette conveying track, a mixing cylinder and an inclination wheel vertically arranged in the upper opening base, and a vertically arranged ejector pin passing through the inclination wheel; The top surface of the inclination wheel is provided with a bearing hole for accommodating the mixing cylinder, and the upper end of the ejector rod extends into the bearing hole; the lower part of the outer peripheral surface of the mixing cylinder is rollingly connected with the inner wall of the bearing hole through the first bearing; the middle part of the outer peripheral surface of the inclination wheel is in rolling connection with the inner wall of the upper opening base through the second bearing; the lower part of the inclination wheel is a transmission wheel structure, and is connected to the power source through a transmission mechanism; The top of the outer peripheral surface of the mixing cylinder is connected to the inner wall of the upper opening base through a radial stopper; the guide groove above the mixing cylinder is provided with a cuvette passing hole; The cuvette head, the cuvette passing hole, the pulley shaft hole and the ejector rod are coaxially arranged; the bearing hole is eccentrically opened on the top surface of the inclination wheel, and the angle between the axis of the bearing hole and the axis of the pulley shaft hole is α. 2. The liquid mixing device suitable for in vitro diagnostic equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: the included angle α is selected between 0°-10°. 3. The liquid mixing device suitable for in vitro diagnostic equipment according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: the barrel hole of the mixing barrel is composed of a straight hole section and an inverted horn section from top to bottom, and the barrel mouth of the mixing barrel is a bell mouth. 4. The liquid mixing device suitable for in vitro diagnostic equipment according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: the carrying hole is a stepped hole. 5 . The liquid mixing device suitable for in vitro diagnostic equipment according to claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that: the cuvette indenter and ejector rod are moved up and down by a driving mechanism. 6 .