CN210613742U

CN210613742U - Mechanical arm liquid transferring system of microfluidic sample processing equipment

Info

Publication number: CN210613742U
Application number: CN201921339510.6U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 颜菁; 朱海龟
Original assignee: Kunshan Huixian Medical Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Jiangsu Huixian Pharmaceutical Technology Co.,Ltd.
Priority date: 2019-08-19
Filing date: 2019-08-19
Publication date: 2020-05-26
Anticipated expiration: 2029-08-19

Abstract

The utility model discloses a liquid system is moved to arm of micro-fluidic sample processing equipment, its automatic handling to micro-fluidic sample of being convenient for realize. A robotic arm pipetting system for microfluidic sample processing equipment, comprising: the mechanical arm is provided with a gun head for loading the chip clamp, and an airflow channel for communicating an inner cavity of the chip clamp is formed in the gun head; the lifting device is used for driving the gun head to lift so as to load the chip clamp or enable the chip clamp to be inserted into or separated from a reagent; the translation device is used for driving the gun head to move above the chip clamp or move above the reagent; the mechanical arm is arranged on the translation device and connected with the lifting device.

Description

Mechanical arm liquid transferring system of microfluidic sample processing equipment

Technical Field

The utility model belongs to the technical field of biological detection, a arm liquid-transfering system of micro-fluidic sample processing equipment is related to.

Background

Microfluidic technology is an important method for sorting and analyzing cells or biomolecules, such as capturing Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs), and has the advantages of simple operation and low amount of required antibodies. The microfluidic chip is a core component of the microfluidic technology, is provided with a micro-channel and is attached with a specific antibody, and is used for intercepting and capturing target cells or biomolecules of a sample flowing through the microfluidic chip. These captured cells or biomolecules often require a series of post-treatments for analysis, such as washing, primary or secondary antibody treatment, staining, and the like. At present, most of the treatments are carried out manually, the operation is complex and inconvenient, the efficiency is low, and the automation degree is low.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The utility model aims at providing a micro-fluidic sample treatment facility's arm liquid-transfering system, its automatic processing of being convenient for realize the micro-fluidic sample.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the utility model adopts the technical scheme that:

a robotic arm pipetting system for microfluidic sample processing equipment, comprising:

the mechanical arm is provided with a gun head for loading the chip clamp, and an airflow channel for communicating an inner cavity of the chip clamp is formed in the gun head;

the lifting device is used for driving the gun head to lift so as to load the chip clamp or enable the chip clamp to be inserted into or separated from a reagent; and

the translation device is used for driving the gun head to move above the chip clamp or move above the reagent;

the mechanical arm is arranged on the translation device and connected with the lifting device.

Preferably, the mechanical arm further comprises a housing and a lifting rod which is arranged on the housing in a penetrating manner in a sliding manner along the vertical direction, and the gun head is fixedly arranged at the lower end part of the lifting rod.

More preferably, the lifting device includes a lifting rotary shaft assembly driven by a lifting power mechanism to rotate, one or more circles of teeth are formed on an outer circumferential surface of the lifting rotary shaft assembly, the lifting rod has a rack portion extending in an up-down direction, and the rack portion and the teeth on the lifting rotary shaft assembly are engaged with each other.

Furthermore, the lifting rotating shaft assembly comprises a lifting rotating shaft driven by the lifting power mechanism to rotate and one or more gears rotating along with the lifting rotating shaft, wherein the gears are provided with polygonal holes, and the lifting rotating shaft is inserted into the polygonal holes and can allow the gears to horizontally move relative to the lifting rotating shaft.

Further, the gear is fixedly arranged in the shell.

Furthermore, the translation device comprises an x-direction component for driving the mechanical arm to move along the left-right direction, and the mechanical arm is arranged on the x-direction component.

Specifically, x includes the mounting panel to the subassembly and follows the lead screw that left right direction extended, the lead screw can set up with rotating around self axial lead on the mounting panel, the lead screw wear to locate in the arm and with the arm passes through threaded connection, be provided with the guide part that extends along left right direction on the mounting panel, the casing of arm can follow left right direction and set up with sliding on the guide part.

Specifically, the translation device further comprises a y-direction component for driving the mechanical arm to move in the front-back direction, and the x-direction component is arranged on the y-direction component.

More preferably, the lifting rod is arranged in a hollow mode, and the upper end portion of the lifting rod is arranged on a connector used for being communicated with a negative pressure liquid suction device.

In an embodiment, the lance tip comprises a body, a first flange and a second flange extending outwardly from an outer surface of a lower portion of the body, the first flange being located a distance above the second flange.

More preferably, the outer diameter of the first flange is smaller than the outer diameter of the second flange.

In a further preferred embodiment, the robotic pipetting system further comprises a negative pressure pipetting device for providing negative pressure for pipetting and positive pressure for pipetting for the lance head.

More preferably, the negative pressure liquid suction device comprises a piston driven by a negative pressure motor to reciprocate linearly and a piston shell provided with a gas cavity, and the piston is inserted in the gas cavity of the piston shell.

More preferably, the negative pressure imbibition device further comprises an air duct, one end of the air duct is fixedly connected to the piston shell and is communicated with the air cavity, and the other end of the air duct is fixedly connected to the mechanical arm.

In a further preferred embodiment, the robotic pipetting system further comprises fault detection means for detecting whether the robotic arm has exceeded a maximum set stroke.

More preferably, the fault detection device includes at least one detection unit, the detection unit includes a pair of photoelectric detection switches disposed at intervals and a blocking piece moving along with the mechanical arm, and the blocking piece is disposed between the pair of photoelectric detection switches.

Further, the fault detection device further comprises a controller, the controller is electrically connected with each photoelectric detection switch, and the controller is used for controlling the mechanical arm to stop moving after any one photoelectric detection switch is triggered.

Furthermore, the fault detection device also comprises a fault indicator light, the controller is electrically connected with the fault indicator light, and the controller is also used for controlling the fault indicator light to switch the light color after any one photoelectric detection switch is triggered.

Further, the fault detection device further comprises a sound alarm device, the controller is electrically connected with the sound alarm device, and the controller is further used for controlling the sound alarm device to give out alarm sound after any one of the photoelectric detection switches is triggered.

The utility model adopts the above scheme, compare prior art and have following advantage:

the utility model discloses a manipulator liquid-transfering system of micro-fluidic sample treatment facility, rifle head can load chip anchor clamps and imbibition, flowing back, and combine elevating gear, translation device to make rifle head go up and down and the translation, make the micro-fluidic chip in the chip anchor clamps through catch, fixed, antibody hatch, processing such as dyeing, realize automatically that the manual work is intervened to above-mentioned a series of processing of micro-fluidic sample, and degree of automation is higher, has improved the treatment effeciency.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a microfluidic sample processing device;

fig. 2a is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a microfluidic sample processing device, with part of the housing not shown;

FIG. 2b is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2a at A;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a microfluidic sample processing device, with a portion of the housing not shown;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a microfluidic sample processing device with a portion of the housing not shown;

FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are perspective views of tray devices, respectively, with portions of the upper plate and the baffle of FIG. 7 not shown;

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of a robotic arm;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a single robotic arm;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a single robotic arm, with the housing not shown;

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of the robotic arm, lifting device and translation device;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the negative pressure wicking apparatus.

In the above-described figures of the drawings,

1. a frame; 10. a housing; 101. a door;

2. a kit; 20. a box body; 21. a waste liquid collection well; 22. a stationary liquid port; 23. a buffer liquid hole; 24. a first primary antibody pore; 25. a second primary antibody pore; 26. a second antibody hole; 27. a staining solution well; 28. a chip recovery hole;

3. a chip clamp; 30. a body; 31. a flow guide pipe; 32. a barrel portion;

4. a tray device; 40. mounting grooves; 41. a base plate; 42. an upper plate; 421. a left and right extension portion; 422. front and rear extensions; 423. a slot; 424. positioning the projection; 43. a baffle plate;

5. a mechanical arm; 50. a housing; 51. a gun head; 511. a first flange; 512. a second flange; 52. a lifting rod; 521 a rack portion; 53. a joint;

6. a negative pressure imbibition device; 61. a negative pressure motor; 611. pushing the plate; 62. a piston; 63. a piston housing; 631. a gas chamber; 64. a photoelectric detection switch; 65. a baffle plate;

7. a lifting device; 71. a lifting rotating shaft; 72. a gear; 721. a square hole; 73. a lifting motor;

8. a translation device; 81. mounting a plate; 811. a guide rail; 82. an x-direction motor; 83. a lead screw; 84. a y-direction motor; 85. a synchronous belt transmission mechanism; 86. a slide rail; 87. a slider;

9. a fault detection device; 91. a first photoelectric detection switch; 92. a first baffle plate; 93. a second photoelectric detection switch; 94. a second baffle plate; 95. a third photoelectric detection switch; 96. and a fault indicator lamp.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, enables the advantages and features of the invention to be more readily understood by those skilled in the art. It should be noted that the description of the embodiments is provided to help understanding of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Fig. 1 to 11 show a microfluidic sample processing device employing the robotic pipetting system of this embodiment. Referring to fig. 1 to 11, the mechanical arm pipetting system mainly includes a mechanical arm 5, a negative pressure pipetting device 6, a lifting device 7 and a translation device 8, wherein the mechanical arm 5, the negative pressure pipetting device 6 and the translation device 8 are all disposed on a rack 1 of the microfluidic sample processing apparatus, a housing 10 is covered on the periphery of the rack 1, and all the devices are covered in the housing 10. The microfluidic sample processing equipment mainly comprises a tray device 4, wherein the tray device 4 is used for accommodating a reagent and a chip clamp 3 provided with a microfluidic chip; the mechanical arm 5 is provided with a gun head 51 used for loading the chip clamp 3, and an airflow channel used for communicating the inner cavity of the chip clamp 3 is formed in the gun head 51; the negative pressure liquid suction device 6 is used for providing air pressure for an air flow channel of the gun head 51, and comprises liquid suction negative pressure and liquid discharge positive pressure; the lifting device 7 is used for driving the gun head 51 to lift so as to load the chip clamp 3 or enable the chip clamp 3 to be inserted into or separated from a reagent; the translation device 8 is used for driving the gun head 51 to move above the chip clamp 3 or move above the reagent. The tray device 4 is positioned below the mechanical arm 5, and the mechanical arm 5 is arranged on the translation device 8 and connected with the lifting device 7. Specifically, one or more reagent kits 2 are installed on the tray device 4, chip clamps 3 are stored in the reagent kits 2, and the microfluidic chip is installed in the chip clamps 3 and fixed through the chip clamps 3. As shown in fig. 1, a door 101 is provided on the housing 10, the door 101 is slidably provided in the vertical direction, the door 101 is provided to face the tray unit 4, and when the door 101 is slid upward, the tray unit 4 is exposed, and the reagent cartridge 2 can be easily mounted or replaced.

In this embodiment, a plurality of reagent cartridges 2 arranged side by side in the left-right direction are mounted on the tray device 4 (as shown in fig. 3, four reagent cartridges 2 can be mounted on the tray device 4 at a time). Referring to fig. 5, the kit 21 includes a case 20, and the case 20 is provided with a waste liquid collecting hole 21 for inserting the chip holder 3 and storing waste liquid, one or more reagent holes for storing reagents, and a chip recycling hole 28 for recycling the chip holder 3. The reagent wells specifically include a fixative well 22 for holding fixative, a buffer well 23 for holding buffer, a primary antibody well for holding a primary antibody, a secondary antibody well 26 for holding a secondary antibody, and a staining solution well 27 for holding staining solution. Wherein, the primary antibody hole specifically comprises a first primary antibody hole 24 for storing a first primary antibody and a second primary antibody hole 25 for storing a second primary antibody. Waste liquid collecting hole 21 and chip recovery hole 28 are stepped holes having an upper aperture larger than a lower aperture, respectively, to fit the shape of chip holder 3, facilitating insertion of chip holder 3. The chip recovery holes 28 are long holes or waist-shaped holes, and the length direction of the chip recovery holes 28 is consistent with the length direction of the box body 20. In the reagent kit 21, the reagent and the chip holder 3 are used in the reagent kit 21 at one time; can process a plurality of steps such as liquid transferring, sorting, waste liquid and the like; internal operation and small pollution risk. Moreover, the reagent kit 21 is designed integrally, and reagents in reagent holes are stored separately without mixing, so that the reagent kit is suitable for different use concentrations in different steps and can be suitable for long-term storage. The reagent storage section and the reagent kit 21 are of an integral structure, so that the reagent is stored more stably and is more stable in operation. The waste liquid collecting hole 21 in the reagent kit 21 is not only the mounting position of the chip holder 3 but also the waste liquid disposal position, which saves the reagent kit 21 space and does not require an operator to prepare a container for collecting waste liquid.

The waste liquid collecting hole 21 and the chip recovery hole 28 are respectively located on the front end and the rear end of the box body 20, the fixing liquid hole 22, the buffer liquid hole 23 and the primary antibody hole are sequentially arranged between the waste liquid collecting hole 21 and the chip recovery hole 28, and the secondary antibody hole 26 and the dyeing liquid hole 27 are arranged between the primary antibody hole and the chip recovery hole 28 in a left-right parallel mode. That is, the waste liquid collecting well 21, the fixing liquid well 22, the buffer liquid well 23, the primary antibody well, the secondary antibody well 26, the staining liquid well 27, and the chip recovering well 28 are arranged in this order at intervals along the longitudinal direction (i.e., the front-rear direction) of the cartridge 20. In this embodiment, the waste liquid collecting hole 21 is used for storing samples (such as blood, urine, interstitial fluid, spinal fluid, and other body fluids), reagents, and the like discharged from the microfluidic chip; the stationary liquid hole 22 is filled with stationary liquid; PBS buffer is stored in the buffer hole 23; a primary antibody A is stored in the first primary antibody hole 24, and a primary antibody B is stored in the second primary antibody hole 25; the secondary antibody hole 26 stores secondary antibody; DAPI staining solution is stored in the staining solution well 27.

Referring to fig. 8, the chip holder 3 includes a body 30 and a flow guide tube 31 for sucking and discharging liquid, the microfluidic chip is mounted in the inner cavity of the body 30, and the flow guide tube 31 extends downward from the body 30 and communicates with the inner cavity. The body 30 has a cylindrical portion 32 formed at an upper portion thereof, into which a lower end portion of the robot arm 5 is inserted. The barrel portion 32 is hollow and in communication with the interior of the body 30. The body 30 of the chip clamp 3 can store a sample, the flow guide pipe 31 at the lower part can discharge waste liquid and absorb reagent, the waste liquid flowing through the microfluidic chip is guided and the reagent is absorbed to flow through the microfluidic chip for incubation or cleaning, and the like, so that the microfluidic chip can capture target cells or biomolecules in the sample conveniently and absorb or discharge the reagent conveniently.

The microfluidic sample processing device has a waste liquid collection state, a chip recovery state and a liquid transfer state. When the microfluidic sample processing device is in a waste liquid collecting state, the chip holder 3 is inserted into the waste liquid collecting hole 21 of the reagent cartridge 21, the body 30 thereof is positioned at the upper part of the stepped hole, and the flow guide tube 31 is inserted into the lower part of the stepped hole, as shown in fig. 5 to 7 where the leftmost chip holder 3 is positioned. When the microfluidic sample processing device is in a chip recovery state, the chip holders 3 are inserted into the chip recovery holes 28 of the reagent kit 21, the body 30 thereof is positioned at the upper part of the stepped hole, and the flow guide tube 31 is inserted into the lower part of the stepped hole, as shown in fig. 5 to 7 where the middle two chip holders 3 are positioned. When the microfluidic sample processing device is in a pipetting state, the chip holder 3 is detached from the waste liquid collecting well 21, the chip holder 3 is positioned above one of the reagent wells, and the flow guide tube 31 is inserted into the reagent well.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 5 to 7, the tray device 4 is provided with a plurality of mounting grooves 40 arranged side by side in the left-right direction, and one reagent cartridge 2 is inserted into each mounting groove 40. In this embodiment, the tray device 4 includes a bottom plate 41 fixedly disposed on the frame 1 and an upper plate 42 fixedly disposed on the bottom plate 41, the upper plate 42 includes a left and right extending portion 421 and a plurality of front and rear extending portions 422 extending forward from the left and right extending portion 421, the plurality of front and rear extending portions 422 are disposed side by side and at intervals in the left and right direction, and the mounting groove 40 having an open front side and an open upper side is formed between any two adjacent front and rear extending portions 422, respectively. Each front and rear extension 422 is provided with a slot 423 extending in the front and rear direction, the slots 423 of two adjacent front and rear extensions 422 are arranged oppositely, and the left and right edges of the reagent kit 2 are inserted into the two corresponding slots 423. The upper plate 42 is formed by stacking an upper plate and a lower plate, and the insertion groove 423 is formed between the upper plate and the lower plate.

The upper plate 42 is provided with a positioning mechanism for positioning the reagent cartridge 2. In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, the positioning mechanism includes an upwardly extending positioning projection 424 formed on the upper plate 42, and the reagent cartridge is provided with a downwardly facing recess. When the reagent kit is installed in place, the positioning protrusions 424 are inserted into the concave portions of the reagent kit, and the reagent kit is fixed in the installation grooves 40 by matching with the insertion grooves 423 on the two sides, so that the reagent kit is prevented from shaking. When mounting, the left and right side edges of the reagent cartridge 2 are inserted into the insertion grooves 423 at both sides, and are pushed in from the front side of the mounting groove 40 until being caught on the positioning projections 424.

Further, the tray device 4 further includes a baffle 43, and a part of the chip recovery hole is located directly below the baffle 43. The baffle 43 is fixedly arranged on the bottom plate 41 or the rack 1, and the baffle 43 is positioned above the upper plate 42 and partially covers the chip recovery holes 28 of the reagent kit below, so as to prevent the chip clamps 3 from separating from the chip recovery holes 28. When the microfluidic sample processing device is in the waste liquid collecting state, the chip holder 3 is slidably inserted in the chip recovery hole 28 in the front-rear direction. When the microfluidic chip is recovered, the chip holder 3 is inserted downward into the chip recovery hole 28 from the front end of the chip recovery hole 28 (as shown in fig. 5 to 7 where the second chip holder 3 is located on the left side), and then moved along the chip recovery hole 28 to the rear end thereof (as shown in fig. 5 to 7 where the third chip holder 3 is located on the left side), and is confined in the chip recovery hole 28 by the stopper 43, thereby detaching the chip holder 3 from the robot arm 5.

In this embodiment, the number of the robot arms 5 is plural, and four robot arms are illustrated in fig. 8. The plurality of robot arms 5 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction and respectively correspond to the plurality of reagent cartridges 2 below one by one. As shown in fig. 8 to 11, each robot arm 5 includes a housing 50, a lifting rod 52 vertically movably inserted in the housing 50, a gun head 51 provided at a lower end of the lifting rod 52, and a joint 53 provided at an upper end of the lifting rod 52. The connector 53 is used for communicating with the connector 53 of the negative pressure liquid suction device 6, the lifting rod 52 is arranged in a hollow mode, and air pressure for sucking liquid or discharging liquid is provided for the gun head 51 through the negative pressure liquid suction device 6.

As shown in fig. 9, the lance tip 51 comprises a body 30, a first flange 511 and a second flange 512 extending outwardly from an outer surface of a lower portion of the body 30, the first flange 511 being located a distance above the second flange 512, and the first flange 511 having an outer diameter smaller than that of the second flange 512. The lower end of the lance head 51 is substantially gourd-shaped, and when the lance head is inserted into the barrel portion 32 of the chip holder 3, the connection is firm, and the chip holder 3 is prevented from falling from the lance head 51.

As shown in fig. 3, 4, 10 and 11, the lifting device 7 includes a lifting shaft assembly driven by a lifting power mechanism to rotate, one or more circles of teeth are formed on an outer circumferential surface of the lifting shaft assembly, the lifting rod 52 has a rack portion 521 extending in the up-down direction, and the rack portion 521 and the teeth on the lifting shaft assembly are engaged with each other. Specifically, the lifting power mechanism is a lifting motor 73, the lifting rotating shaft assembly includes a lifting rotating shaft 71 driven by the lifting motor 73 to rotate and one or more gears 72 rotating along with the lifting rotating shaft 71, a polygonal hole is formed in the gear 72, and the lifting rotating shaft 71 is inserted into the polygonal hole and can allow the gear 72 to horizontally move relative to the lifting rotating shaft 71. The gear 72 is fixedly disposed within the housing 50. The number of the gears 72 corresponds to the number of the mechanical arms 5, that is, one gear 72 is fixedly arranged in the housing 50 of each mechanical arm 5. As shown in fig. 11, the polygonal hole is specifically a square hole 721, the cross section of the lifting spindle 71 is square, the lifting spindle 71 extends in the left-right direction and sequentially passes through the square holes 721 of the gears 72 in the plurality of robot arms 5, and when the lifting spindle 71 rotates, the gears 72 are driven to rotate, and the lifting rod 52 is driven to move up and down under the coordination of the gear rack. Meanwhile, when the robot arm 5 is subjected to a force applied to the left or right by the translation device 8, the gear 72 can be allowed to slide on the lifting rotating shaft 71, so that the robot arm 5 can move in the left-right direction by the translation device 8.

Referring to fig. 3, 4 and 11, the translation device 8 includes an x-direction component for driving the robot arm 5 to move in the left-right direction and a y-direction component for driving the robot arm 5 to move in the front-back direction, wherein the robot arm 5 is disposed on the x-direction component, the x-direction component is disposed on the y-direction component, and the y-direction component is disposed on the frame 1. Specifically, the x-direction component includes a mounting plate 81 and a lead screw 83 extending in the left-right direction, the lead screw 83 is rotatably disposed on the mounting plate 81 around its axis, and the lead screw 83 is inserted into the mechanical arm 5 and is connected to the mechanical arm 5 through a thread. A guide rail 811 extending in the left-right direction is fixedly provided on the mounting plate 81, and each robot arm 5 is slidably provided on the guide rail 811 in the left-right direction, and specifically, the housing 50 of the robot arm 5 is connected to the guide rail 811 in a sliding fit. The x-direction assembly also includes an x-direction motor 82 for driving the lead screw 83 to rotate. The screw 83 is parallel to the lifting shaft 71, the screw 83 is located above the lifting shaft 71, the screw 83 passes through the upper portion of the robot arm 5, and the lifting shaft 71 passes through the lower portion of the robot arm 5. The y-direction component comprises a slide rail 86 extending along the front-back direction and a slide block 87 slidably arranged on the slide rail 86, the slide rail 86 is fixedly arranged on the rack 1, and the mounting plate 81 of the x-direction component is fixedly arranged on the slide block 87. The y-direction assembly further comprises a y-direction motor 84 and a synchronous belt transmission mechanism 85 driven by the y-direction motor 84, and the synchronous belt transmission mechanism 85 is connected with the sliding block 87.

Referring to fig. 2b and 12, the vacuum liquid suction device 6 includes a piston 62 driven by a vacuum motor 61 to reciprocate in a straight line, and a piston housing 63 provided with a gas chamber 631, wherein the piston housing 63 is fixedly disposed on a mounting plate 81, and the piston 62 is movably inserted into the gas chamber 631 of the piston housing 63. The vacuum imbibing device 6 further includes an air duct (not shown), one end of the air duct is fixedly connected to the piston housing 63 and is communicated with the air chamber 631, and the other end of the air duct is fixedly connected to the mechanical arm 5. In this embodiment, the number of the pistons 62, the number of the gas cavities 631 and the number of the gas ducts correspond to the number of the mechanical arms 5. That is, a plurality of independent gas chambers 631 are formed in the piston housing 63, a piston 62 is slidably disposed in each gas chamber 631, and when the negative pressure motor 61 drives the piston 62 to reciprocate, the gas pressure in the gas chamber 631 and the gun head 51 communicated with the gas chamber 631 through the gas guide tube changes, so that the reagent can be sucked or discharged. The negative pressure liquid suction device 6 utilizes the principle of the piston 62 to generate pressure to control suction or discharge liquid in a closed state, the piston 62 moves backwards to generate negative pressure when the head is under the liquid level so as to achieve the purpose of sucking the liquid, and conversely, when liquid exists in the gun head 51, the piston 62 moves forwards to generate positive pressure so as to discharge the liquid. The front end of the piston 62 is provided with a rubber pad, and the sealing performance is improved through the rubber pad.

The vacuum imbibing device 6 also includes a piston detection mechanism for monitoring the displacement of the piston 62. In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 2b, the piston detection mechanism includes a photo detection switch 64 fixedly disposed on the piston housing 63 and a blocking piece 65 moving synchronously with the piston 62, when the piston 62 moves to the maximum setting displacement, the blocking piece 65 moves to the photo detection switch position 64, and the photo detection switch 64 is triggered to send out a detection signal. The photoelectric detection switch 64 of the piston detection mechanism is electrically connected with the controller through a lead, the negative pressure motor 61 is electrically connected with the controller through a lead, when the photoelectric detection switch 64 is triggered, a detection signal is sent, the controller receives the detection signal and sends a control signal for stopping the operation to the negative pressure motor 61, the negative pressure motor 61 stops the operation in response to the control signal, and the piston 62 stops moving. Specifically, the negative pressure motor 61 is mounted on the piston housing 63, a motor shaft of the negative pressure motor 61 is connected with a push plate 611 and drives the push plate 611 to reciprocate linearly, the plurality of pistons 62 are all fixedly disposed on the push plate 611 and are driven by the push plate 611 to move synchronously, and the blocking piece 65 is fixedly disposed on the push plate 611.

The robotic arm pipetting system further comprises a malfunction detection means 9. The failure detection device 9 comprises at least one detection unit, the detection unit comprises a pair of photoelectric detection switches arranged at intervals and a blocking piece moving along with the gun head 51, and the blocking piece is arranged between the pair of photoelectric detection switches. The baffle is a metal baffle. Specifically, in this embodiment, the number of the detecting units is three, and the detecting units are respectively the first detecting unit, the second detecting unit and the third detecting unit. The first detection unit is used for detecting the moving distance of the gun head 51 along the up-down direction, the second detection unit is used for detecting the moving distance of the gun head 51 along the left-right direction, and the third detection unit is used for detecting the moving distance of the gun head 51 along the front-back direction. As shown in fig. 8, the first detecting unit includes a pair of first photoelectric detecting switches 91 and a first blocking piece 92, the pair of first photoelectric detecting switches 91 are disposed near the mechanical arms 5, and are specifically fixedly disposed on the housing 50 of one of the mechanical arms 5, the first photoelectric detecting switches and the housing 50 are disposed along the vertical direction and have a first interval, the first interval is greater than the maximum set stroke of the lifting rod 52 moving along the vertical direction, and the first blocking piece 92 is fixedly connected to the lifting rod 52 and is located between the pair of first photoelectric detecting switches 91. As shown in fig. 3, the second detecting unit includes a pair of second photoelectric detection switches 93 and a second blocking piece 94, the pair of second photoelectric detection switches 93 is disposed near the robot arm 5, and is specifically and fixedly disposed at a position of the mounting plate 81 near the robot arm 5, the pair of second photoelectric detection switches 93 is disposed along the left-right direction and has a second interval, the second interval is greater than a maximum set stroke of the robot arm 5 moving along the left-right direction, and the second blocking piece 94 is fixedly connected to one of the robot arms 5 (specifically, the housing 50 of the robot arm 5) and is located between the pair of second photoelectric detection switches 93. Referring to fig. 2b and fig. 3, the third detecting unit includes a pair of third photoelectric detecting switches 95 and a third blocking piece (not shown in the figure), the pair of third photoelectric detecting switches 95 are fixedly disposed at a position of the rack 1 close to the sliding block 87, specifically, at a side of the sliding rail 86, and are disposed along the front-back direction and have a third interval, the third interval is greater than a maximum set stroke of the mechanical arm 5 moving along the front-back direction, and the third blocking piece is fixedly connected to the sliding block 87 and is located between the pair of third photoelectric detecting switches 95.

The fault detection device 9 further comprises a controller, the controller is electrically connected with each photoelectric detection switch, and the controller is used for controlling the mechanical arm 5 to stop moving after any one photoelectric detection switch is triggered. The fault detection device 9 further comprises a fault indicator lamp 96, the controller is electrically connected with the fault indicator lamp 96, and the controller is further used for controlling the fault indicator lamp 96 to switch the light color after any one photoelectric detection switch is triggered. Specifically, the controller is electrically connected to the pair of first photoelectric detection switches 91, the pair of second photoelectric detection switches 93, and the pair of third photoelectric detection switches 95 through wires, and the controller is also electrically connected to the lift motor 73, the x-direction motor 82, and the y-direction motor 84 through wires. When the mechanical arm 5 moves in the up-down direction beyond the maximum set displacement, the first blocking piece 92 moves to a certain first photoelectric detection switch 91 to trigger the first photoelectric detection switch 91 to send out a fault signal, the controller sends out first control signals for stopping operation to the lifting motor 73, the x-direction motor 82 and the y-direction motor 84 after receiving the fault signal, and simultaneously sends out a second control signal for switching the indication color to the fault indicator lamp 96, the lifting motor 73, the x-direction motor 82 and the y-direction motor 84 stop operating in response to the first control signals, and the color of the fault indicator lamp 96 is changed from green to red in response to the second control signals. As shown in fig. 1, the fault indicator light 96 is specifically disposed on the housing 10, and includes an elongated LED light; when the microfluidic sample processing device is operating normally, the fault indicator light 96 is displayed green in color; when the movement of the mechanical arm 5 in any direction exceeds the maximum set stroke, it is determined that the microfluidic sample processing device is in failure, each motor stops operating, the mechanical arm 5 stops moving, and the failure indicator lamp 96 is displayed in red. Avoiding damage to the sample and to the machine itself by incorrect operation of the robotic arm 5.

The detection principle of the photoelectric detection switch adopted in the embodiment is as follows: after the separation blade moves to the photoelectric detection position, the detection light of the photoelectric detection switch is shielded, so that the photoelectric detection switch is triggered. The photoelectric detection switch is typically an infrared detection switch, and the infrared detection switch is triggered when the blocking piece blocks infrared rays emitted by the infrared detection switch.

In other embodiments, the fault detection device 9 further comprises an audible alarm device, and the controller is electrically connected to the audible alarm device, and the controller is further configured to control the audible alarm device to emit an alarm sound after any one of the photoelectric detection switches is triggered.

In the fault detection device 9, a small distance is arranged between the normal operation range of the mechanical arm 5 and the photoelectric detection switch, so that the probability of mistakenly triggering the photoelectric detection switch is greatly reduced. Once the mechanical arm 5 breaks down, the blocking piece reaches the position of the photoelectric detection switch, the mechanical arm 5 stops moving immediately, and the safety of the machine is effectively improved. The operation is simple, and the fault reaction is visual.

The mechanical arm pipetting system has the working process that:

1. the kit 2 is loaded into the mounting groove 40 of the tray device 4, the translation device 8 drives the mechanical arm 5 to move horizontally to enable each gun head 51 to be positioned right above the corresponding chip clamp 3, the lifting device 7 drives the mechanical arm 5 to lift so that the lower end part of each gun head 51 is inserted into the barrel part 32 of the corresponding chip clamp 3, and the chip clamp 3 is loaded on the gun head 51; at this time, the chip holder 3 is initially located in the waste liquid collecting hole 21, the sample (body fluid, such as blood, urine, tissue fluid, spinal fluid, etc.) is stored in the upper section of the chip holder 3, the robotic arm is inserted into the barrel portion 32 to carry the whole chip holder 3 to move, and when inserted, the negative pressure liquid suction device 6 provides positive pressure to push the sample into the inner cavity of the chip holder 3 to flow through the microfluidic chip for cell capture, the waste liquid flows out from the lower end flow guide tube 31 of the chip holder 3 after passing through the microfluidic chip to remain in the waste liquid collecting hole 21, and the waste liquid involved in the following operation is all recovered into the waste liquid collecting hole 21.

2. The lifting device 7 drives the mechanical arm to move upwards, and the chip clamp 3 is integrally moved out of the waste liquid collecting hole 21; the y-direction motor 84 of the translation device 8 acts to enable the mechanical arm 5 to drive the chip clamp 3 to move to the position above the fixed liquid hole 22; the lifting device 7 operates to enable the mechanical arm 5 to drive the chip clamp 3 to move downwards, the guide pipe 31 is inserted into the fixing liquid hole 22, the negative pressure liquid suction device 6 provides negative pressure to enable the guide pipe 31 to suck the fixing liquid in the fixing liquid hole 22, and the fixing liquid passes through the chip from bottom to top to fix cells captured on the chip; the y-direction motor 84 of the translation mechanism acts, the mechanical arm 5 moves back to the position above the waste liquid collecting hole 21, the negative pressure liquid suction device 6 provides positive pressure to discharge the stationary liquid to the waste liquid collecting hole 21, and waste liquid treatment is performed at the same position in the later step.

3. Arm 5 control chip anchor clamps 3 move to the top in buffer solution hole 23, and insert honeycomb duct 31 in buffer solution hole 23, absorb PBS buffer solution, wash the chip, arm 5 moves back waste liquid collection hole 21 top, and waste liquid is handled waste liquid collection hole 21, repeats 2 times.

4. The mechanical arm 5 controls the chip clamp 3 to move to the upper side of the first anti-hole 24 in sequence, the guide pipe 31 is inserted into the first anti-hole 24 to suck the first anti-A, the chip is incubated for 60 minutes for the first anti-A, the chip returns to the position of the buffer hole 23 after the waste liquid is discharged from the waste liquid collecting hole 21 and is washed for 2 times, the chip is moved to the position of the second anti-hole 25 and is incubated for 60 minutes for the first anti-B, the chip returns to the position of the buffer hole 23 after the waste liquid is discharged from the waste liquid collecting hole 21 and is washed for 2 times.

5. The translation device 8 acts to enable the mechanical arm to drive the chip clamp 3 to move to the front end of the chip recovery hole 28; the lifting device 7 acts, and the mechanical arm 5 drives the chip clamp 3 to move downwards and insert into the front end of the chip recovery hole; the y-direction motor 84 of the translation device 8 operates to enable the mechanical arm 5 to drive the chip clamp 3 to move in the chip recovery hole to the rear end of the chip recovery hole, and at the moment, part of the chip clamp 3 is positioned right below the baffle 43; the lifting device 7 moves, the mechanical arm 5 moves upwards, the chip clamp 3 is blocked by the baffle 43 and is left in the chip recovery hole, and the chip clamp 3 is separated from the gun head 51.

The microfluidic sample processing device of the embodiment integrates the functions of cell or biomolecule capture, fixation, cleaning, antibody incubation, dyeing and the like, automatically realizes a series of processing on the microfluidic sample, reduces manual intervention, has high automation degree and improves processing efficiency; the chip clamps 3 can be synchronously operated at the same time, so that parallel tests are convenient to perform, and the processing efficiency is further improved; in addition, the structure is compact, the layout is reasonable, and the space occupied by the equipment is reduced.

The above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical concept and features of the present invention, and are preferred embodiments, which are intended to enable persons skilled in the art to understand the contents of the present invention and to implement the present invention, and thus, the protection scope of the present invention cannot be limited thereby. All equivalent changes or modifications made according to the principles of the present invention are intended to be covered by the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A robotic arm pipetting system for microfluidic sample processing equipment, comprising:

2. The robotic pipetting system of claim 1, wherein: the mechanical arm further comprises a shell and a lifting rod which can be arranged on the shell in a penetrating mode in a sliding mode in the vertical direction, and the gun head is fixedly arranged at the lower end portion of the lifting rod.

3. The robotic pipetting system of claim 2, wherein: the lifting device comprises a lifting rotating shaft assembly driven to rotate by a lifting power mechanism, one or more circles of teeth are formed on the outer circumferential surface of the lifting rotating shaft assembly, the lifting rod is provided with a rack portion extending in the vertical direction, and the rack portion and the teeth on the lifting rotating shaft assembly are meshed with each other.

4. The robotic pipetting system of claim 3, wherein: the lifting rotating shaft assembly comprises a lifting rotating shaft driven by the lifting power mechanism to rotate and one or more gears rotating along with the lifting rotating shaft, polygonal holes are formed in the gears, and the lifting rotating shaft is inserted into the polygonal holes and can allow the gears to horizontally move relative to the lifting rotating shaft.

5. The robotic pipetting system of claim 4, wherein: the gear is fixedly arranged in the shell.

6. The robotic pipetting system of claim 4, wherein: the translation device comprises an x-direction assembly used for driving the mechanical arm to move in the left-right direction, and the mechanical arm is arranged on the x-direction assembly.

7. The robotic pipetting system of claim 6, wherein: the x includes the mounting panel to the subassembly and follows the lead screw that the left right direction extends, the lead screw can set up with rotating around self axial lead on the mounting panel, the lead screw wear to locate in the arm and with the arm passes through threaded connection, be provided with the guide part that extends along the left right direction on the mounting panel, the casing of arm can follow left right direction and set up with sliding on the guide part.

8. The robotic pipetting system of claim 6, wherein: the translation device further comprises a y-direction component used for driving the mechanical arm to move in the front-back direction, and the x-direction component is arranged on the y-direction component.

9. The robotic pipetting system of claim 2, wherein: the lifting rod is arranged in a hollow mode, and the upper end portion of the lifting rod is arranged on a connector used for being communicated with the negative pressure liquid suction device.

10. The robotic pipetting system of claim 1, wherein: the mechanical arm pipetting system further comprises a negative pressure pipetting device for providing negative pressure for pipetting and positive pressure for draining for the gun head and/or a fault detection device for detecting whether the mechanical arm exceeds the maximum set stroke.