CN216696355U - Reaction vessel loader and sample analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a reaction vessel loader and a sample analyzer. The reaction vessel loader comprises: a carrier housing including a first end and a second end opposite to the first end, the first end being higher than the second end, an entrance portion for putting in a reaction vessel being formed at the first end, the second end being configured to be engageable with an organizing mechanism for adjusting a posture of the reaction vessel, a receiving space for receiving a reaction vessel being formed in the carrier housing between the first end and the second end; and a limiting mechanism configured to change a passing section of the accommodating space.

Description

Reaction vessel loader and sample analyzer

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of biochemical detection experiments, in particular to a reaction container loader.

The utility model also relates to a sample analyzer.

Background

A sample analyzer is an instrument for performing biochemical analysis on a sample to be measured (e.g., blood, plasma, etc.), and generally includes a biochemical analyzer, a chemiluminescent analyzer, and the like. The cuvette is an element for carrying a sample to be tested in the sample analyzer, and is used for providing a reaction site for the sample to be tested. To ensure the accuracy of the detection assay, the cuvettes are typically disposable plastic cuvettes. Different cuvettes are used for each sample to be tested.

In a typical detection scenario, detection is usually not less than a few hundred times, or even thousands of times per day. To ensure the efficiency of the test and to reduce manual labor, sample analyzers are typically provided with a cuvette sorter. An operator can put the reaction cups into the cup arranging device at will, and the cup arranging device adjusts the positions and the orientations of the reaction cups so as to ensure that the cup arranging devices can orderly enter the sample analyzer and smoothly carry out subsequent steps of loading samples to be detected, detecting and the like. However, the number of reaction cups which can be put in at one time is relatively small for the existing cup arranging device. If more reaction cups (e.g., hundreds) are placed into the cup sorter at a time, the cup sorter may be clogged, and the cup sorter may not operate properly to adjust and arrange the reaction cups in order. In such a case, manual unclogging of the cup cleaner by a person is still required.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

Based on this, the present invention proposes a reactor loader capable of avoiding clogging. The utility model also provides a sample analyzer.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a reaction vessel loader comprising: a carrier housing including a first end and a second end opposite to the first end, the first end being higher than the second end, an entrance portion for receiving a reaction vessel being formed at the first end, and a receiving space for receiving a reaction vessel being formed in the carrier housing; an organizing mechanism disposed at a second end of the carrier housing, the organizing mechanism configured to adjust a pose of the reaction vessel; and a restricting mechanism configured to change a passage section of the accommodating space.

The number of reaction vessels that can be moved from the first end to the second end of the carrier housing is controlled by adjusting the passage cross section of the receiving space by the limiting mechanism. That is, even if the operator has placed more reaction vessels into the first end of the load-bearing housing, there may be relatively fewer reaction vessels moving toward the second end (and thus toward the finishing mechanism) per unit time. This can effectively avoid a large amount of reaction vessel to pile up and take place the jam in arrangement mechanism department, influence the normal work of arrangement mechanism.

In one embodiment, the restraining mechanism is configured such that the area of the pass-through cross-section does not exceed 1/3 of the maximum inside cross-sectional area of the load-bearing enclosure.

In one embodiment, the limiting mechanism includes a stopper provided in the accommodating space, the stopper forming an opening portion that allows the reaction vessel to pass through.

In one embodiment, a notch is configured at an edge of the stopper, the notch forming the opening.

In one embodiment, the edge of the stop surrounding the notch may be linear, dog-leg, or curved.

In one embodiment, the carrier housing is configured to be tilted with respect to a vertical direction to allow the reaction vessels to slide along a relatively lower sidewall portion of the carrier housing from a first end to a second end, the notch being formed between the stop and the relatively lower sidewall portion of the carrier housing.

In one embodiment, a hole is formed in the middle of the stopper, and the hole forms the opening portion.

In one embodiment, the stop is configured as a flap, the extension of which is perpendicular to the extension of the load-bearing housing between the first and second ends.

In one embodiment, the stop is configured to be movable along the carrier housing between a first end and a second end to adjust a distance between the opening and an organizing mechanism engaged at the second end.

In one embodiment, the opening is selectively opened to allow the reaction vessel to pass through.

In one embodiment, the stopper is configured to be capable of vibrating and/or rotating in a plane perpendicular to the extending direction of the carrier housing to adjust the position of the reaction vessel relative to the opening portion.

In one embodiment, the vibration is achieved by a cam or linkage mechanism.

In one embodiment, the stop is configured to be able to oscillate about any axis perpendicular to and intersecting the axis of extension of the load-bearing housing and/or to translate in a direction perpendicular to the direction of extension of the load-bearing housing, in order to vary the area of the passage section.

In one embodiment, the translation and/or oscillation can be adjusted manually or automatically.

In one embodiment, the stop is configured to be retractable to vary the area of the pass through section.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a sample analyser comprising, or usable in conjunction with, a reaction vessel loader as described above.

Drawings

The utility model will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic structural view of a reaction vessel loader according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawings, like parts are provided with like reference numerals. In the present application, the drawings are all schematic and are used only for illustrating the principles of the utility model and are not drawn to scale.

Detailed Description

The utility model is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a reaction vessel loader (hereinafter simply referred to as "loader") 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The reaction vessel may be a reaction cup. The cartridge 10 may also be referred to as a cup sorter.

As shown in fig. 1, the cartridge 10 includes a carrier housing 11. The load bearing housing 11 includes a first end 111 provided with an access portion and a second end 112 opposite and connected (e.g., directly or indirectly) to the first end 111. The load bearing housing 11 extends between the first and second ends 111, 112 to form a generally cylindrical structure. A receiving space for receiving the reaction vessel is formed in the carrier housing 11. An operator can place the reaction vessel into the receiving space of the carrying housing from the access portion of the first end.

The first end 111 of the load bearing housing 11 is higher than the second end 112 so that a reaction vessel placed in from the entrance of the first end can move towards the second end under the influence of gravity. In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 1, the carrier housing 11 is configured to be tilted such that the reaction vessels can slide along the relatively lower sidewall portions of the carrier housing 11 from the first end to the second end. In this case, the first end of the load-bearing housing 11 may be configured with only a relatively low side wall portion and be entirely hollowed out at a relatively high portion to form a large entry space. This allows the operator to more conveniently place reaction vessels into the loader 10.

It should be understood, however, that the load-bearing enclosure 11 may also be configured to extend in a vertical direction, depending on other requirements, such as space savings.

The first end 111 and the second end 112 of the load-bearing housing 11 may be constructed as a single body or may be constructed separately and joined together. The carrier housing 11 is preferably made of a transparent material to facilitate the operator's view of the reaction vessels therein. It should be understood, however, that the load bearing enclosure 11 may be made of translucent or opaque material, as desired.

In addition, a collating mechanism 13 may be provided at the lower, second end 112 of the loader 10. The collating mechanism may be used to adjust the attitude (e.g., including position, orientation, etc.) of the reaction vessels moved to the bottom of the second end so that the reaction vessels are arranged in a sequence in a particular orientation. The arranging mechanism 13 may be a rotary cup arranging tray on which a cup slot is arranged. When the cup arranging disc rotates (for example, rotates clockwise or anticlockwise), the reaction vessel contacted with the cup arranging disc can be driven to rotate and translate. Reaction vessels oriented and positioned exactly in correspondence with the cups may be introduced into the cups and thus into the alignment of the prepared reaction vessels. The collating mechanism 13 may be any suitable collating mechanism currently commercially available that collates reaction vessels.

A transfer passage (not shown) may be provided below the collating mechanism 13. The reaction vessels in the individual wells can be queued into the transport channel and transported therefrom towards the sample analyzer or other part of the sample analyzer.

The collating mechanism 13 and/or transport path may be part of the loader 10, part of the sample analyzer, or separate from the loader 10 and sample analyzer.

The cartridge 10 may also be provided with a restraining mechanism. The restriction mechanism may be used to change the passage section of the accommodation space. The "through section" described herein refers to a section substantially perpendicular to the extension direction of the load bearing housing 11.

Fig. 1 shows an example of a restriction mechanism. The limiting mechanism comprises a stopper 12 disposed in the receiving space. The stop 12 may be formed in the form of a baffle extending perpendicular to the extension direction of the load bearing housing 11. The stop 12 may be made of plastic.

The stopper 12 may form an opening portion allowing the reaction vessel to pass therethrough. In the embodiment shown in fig. 1, a notch is formed at the edge of the stopper 12, the notch forming an opening. That is, the opening is surrounded by the stopper 12 and the carrier case 11. In the case of an inclined arrangement of the carrier housing 11, the recess is arranged adjacent to a relatively lower side wall section of the carrier housing. Therefore, in the case of a large number of reaction vessels entering the receiving space, the reaction vessels stacked relatively above are blocked by the stopper 12 and cannot move to the sorting mechanism 13 at the second end 112. The reaction vessels stacked below can be moved smoothly through the opening toward the sorting mechanism 13 at the second end 112.

The edge of the stop 12 surrounding the notch may be linear, dog-leg or curved.

In order to avoid that the reaction vessels (especially in the case of few reaction vessels) get stuck at the stop 12, the stop 12 may be rotated relative to the carrier housing 11 (e.g. around the extension axis of the carrier housing) to adjust the position of the reaction vessels relative to the opening, thereby ensuring that the reaction vessels can continue to move towards the second end. Alternatively or additionally, the stopper 12 and/or the carrier housing 11 may also be vibrated to adjust the position of the reaction vessel relative to the opening.

The vibration may be achieved by a cam or linkage mechanism or any other suitable mechanism.

In order to accommodate reaction vessel loading requirements of different fluxes, the block 12 is provided as a movable structure. The movable structure is a swinging structure or a translation structure, that is, the stopper 12 can translate along a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the bearing housing 11, or the stopper 12 can swing in a plane of the extending direction of the bearing housing, so as to obtain opening portions with different opening degrees (i.e., different cross-sectional areas), thereby adapting to the loading requirements of reaction vessels with different speeds.

The above-mentioned translational movement or oscillating movement can be realized in particular by manual adjustment or automatic adjustment. The manual adjustment may be by a toggle lever arrangement or any other suitable mechanism, and the automatic adjustment may be by an electrical push rod or hydraulic rod arrangement or any other suitable mechanism. In particular, the stopper 12 may be designed to be telescopic, i.e. a part of the stopper may be translated to obtain openings with different opening degrees.

In another embodiment, a hole (not shown) is configured in the middle of the block 12. The hole forms an opening. In this case, the stopper 12 may be formed in a funnel-type structure so as to facilitate the reaction vessel to pass through the hole.

Further, the opening portion may be configured to be selectively opened to allow the reaction vessel to pass therethrough. The selective opening of the opening portion may be manually controlled, performed at predetermined time intervals, and/or performed at a specific rule based on another controller. For example, when the reaction container at the second end is detected to be too small, the opening portion is opened to allow the reaction container to pass therethrough.

In addition, the stopper 12 may also be configured to be movable between the first end 111 and the second end 112 in the extending direction of the carrier housing 11 to adjust the distance between the opening portion and the tidying mechanism 13 at the second end to leave a sufficient space near the tidying mechanism 13 as needed.

For the cartridge 10, the area of the passage section can be adjusted according to the actual requirements. Preferably, the area of the through section does not exceed 1/3 of the largest inside cross-sectional area of the load bearing housing 11. The inner side sectional area herein refers to an area of a section perpendicular to an extending direction of the bearing housing 11 inside the bearing housing 11.

The cartridge 10 of the present invention can avoid clogging in the case of putting a large number of reaction vessels at a time, thereby ensuring high efficiency in sorting the reaction vessels.

The sample analyzer of the present invention may include the cartridge 10 described above, or may be used in conjunction with the cartridge 10.

The sample analyzer of the present invention can be used for any appropriate chemical or biological reaction analysis method such as a light-activated chemiluminescence reaction, an enzyme-linked reaction, a fluorescence reaction, and the like.

Finally, it should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the embodiments described in the foregoing examples, or that equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (16)

1. A reaction vessel loader comprising:

a carrier housing including a first end and a second end opposite to the first end, the first end being higher than the second end, an entrance portion for putting in a reaction vessel being formed at the first end, the second end being configured to be engageable with an organizing mechanism for adjusting a posture of the reaction vessel, a receiving space for receiving the reaction vessel being formed in the carrier housing; and

a limiting mechanism configured to change a passing cross section of the accommodating space.

2. The reactor vessel loader of claim 1 wherein the restraining mechanism is configured such that the area of the pass-through cross-section does not exceed 1/3 of the maximum inside cross-sectional area of the carrier housing.

3. The reaction vessel loader of claim 1 or 2 wherein the limiting mechanism comprises a stopper provided in the accommodating space, the stopper forming an opening portion that allows the reaction vessel to pass through.

4. The reaction vessel loader of claim 3 wherein a notch is configured at an edge of the stopper, the notch forming the opening.

5. The reaction vessel loader of claim 4 wherein the edge of the stop surrounding the notch can be linear, dog-leg, or curved.

6. The reaction vessel loader of claim 4 wherein the carrier housing is configured to tilt relative to vertical to allow the reaction vessels to slide along a relatively lower side wall portion of the carrier housing from a first end to a second end, the notch being formed between the stop and the relatively lower side wall portion of the carrier housing.

7. The reaction vessel loader of claim 3 wherein a hole is formed in the middle of the stopper, the hole forming the opening.

8. The reaction vessel loader of claim 3 wherein the stop is configured as a baffle that extends perpendicular to the direction of extension of the load bearing housing between the first end and the second end.

9. The reaction vessel loader of claim 3 wherein the stop is configured to be movable along the load housing between a first end and a second end to adjust a distance between the open section and an organizing mechanism engaged at the second end.

10. The reaction vessel loader of claim 3 wherein the open section is selectively opened to allow passage of reaction vessels.

11. A reaction vessel loader as claimed in claim 3 wherein the stop is configured to be able to vibrate and/or rotate in a plane perpendicular to the direction of extension of the load bearing housing to adjust the position of a reaction vessel relative to the opening.

12. The reaction vessel loader of claim 11 wherein the vibration is achieved by a cam or linkage mechanism.

13. A reaction vessel loader as claimed in claim 3 wherein the stop is configured to be able to swing about and/or translate in a direction perpendicular to the direction of extension of the load bearing housing about any axis perpendicular to and intersecting the axis of extension of the load bearing housing to vary the area of the pass through cross section.

14. The reaction vessel loader of claim 13 wherein the translation and/or oscillation can be achieved manually or automatically.

15. The reaction vessel loader of claim 3 wherein the stop is configured to telescope to change the area of the pass through section.

16. A sample analyser comprising or usable in conjunction with a reaction vessel loader according to any of claims 1 to 15.

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