CN218932107U - Accessory device and culture container thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides an accessory device and a culture container thereof, which aims to solve the problem that a cover body of an original culture container is easy to fall off by adding the design of the accessory device on the premise of not improving the existing commercial culture container, and further realize additional functions, such as preferably preventing the culture solution from splashing and polluting, so as to be convenient for moving and transporting. The attachment device is used for connecting a cell/microorganism culture container and forming the same culture container cavity, and comprises an attachment side wall with a wall body and a connecting part which is positioned on the attachment side wall and connected with the culture container, wherein one end of the connecting part, which is far away from a culture area of the culture container, on the attachment side wall forms a first connecting part, one end of the connecting part, which is close to the culture area of the culture container, on the attachment side wall forms a second connecting part, and the first connecting part and the second connecting part are configured to be connected with the culture container respectively without improving the original parts of the culture container.

Description

Accessory device and culture container thereof

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of cell/microorganism culture, in particular to a culture container for culturing cells/microorganisms, and specifically relates to an accessory device for the cell/microorganism culture container and the culture container thereof.

Background

Culture vessels are biological devices that perform small scale cultures, commonly used to culture cells and microorganisms. Common such cell/microorganism culture vessels include, for example, culture plates (also known as multi-well plates), flasks, dishes, and the like. The cell/microorganism culture vessel commonly used in the prior art is generally composed of a body containing a culture area and a cover body matched with the culture area. Wherein, to ensure gas exchange within the culture vessel during cell culture, the cover is typically releasably (e.g., a multi-well culture plate, a culture dish) or unsealably (e.g., a common culture flask) capped on the body; for the culture bottle provided with the sealing cover body, the sealing cover body is required to be loosened when gas exchange is carried out, so that a gap is formed at the joint of the cover body and the bottle neck, and the requirement of gas exchange is met. Therefore, these culture vessels, particularly petri dishes, capable of achieving gas exchange are extremely prone to release of the cover, often cause problems of liquid spillage in case of trans-regional transfer carried from one laboratory to another, or in case of accidental touch or the like, and are prone to contamination of cell culture fluids, particularly bacterial and fungal contamination, upon gas exchange.

To the above-mentioned technical problem, to the culture dish or the porous culture plate that comprise the lid and the single cavity body or the multicavity body (or porous) that contains the cultivation district, prior art sets up connection structure (such as screw thread or block portion) on this cultivation container body outer wall and the lid inner wall rather than corresponding to connect body and lid to prevent that the lid pine from taking off and (if required) realize further sealedly, and simultaneously, trompil and set up the membrane that can permeate gas or filtered air in hole or hole below on the lid, in order to carry out gas exchange and prevent the pollution. For a cell culture flask comprising a flask body with an opening, a bottleneck fixedly connected with the opening end of the flask body and a bottle cap, the improvement in the prior art is basically: the bottle cap is constructed to be capable of being connected to the bottle body in a sealing way, and meanwhile, the top wall of the bottle cap is provided with a hole and a membrane capable of carrying out gas exchange is arranged below the hole, so that gas can enter and exit the bottle body while leakage and pollution of culture solution are prevented, and normal growth of cells is guaranteed.

It can be seen that the prior art is directed to improvements of the original parts of the culture vessel, especially the original cover. Although these improvements can effectively solve the above technical problems, on the one hand, the above improvements require special processing of the original components of the culture vessel, which is inconvenient to operate in a laboratory, and on the other hand, the above improved culture vessel cannot be used in a compatible manner with the commercial culture vessels currently widely accepted for use, and the new and purchased new improved culture vessel not only causes a significant increase in cost, but also has a problem of use reliability, and partial replacement causes waste of the original corresponding components of the existing culture vessel, so that in practical application, especially for porous culture plates or culture dishes, there are few improvements to be popularized and applied.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present utility model to provide an attachment device for a cell/microorganism culture vessel and a culture vessel thereof, which can be operatively attached and mounted to an existing culture vessel in, for example, a laboratory, and which is particularly compatible with commercial culture vessels commonly accepted and used, while being capable of solving the technical problems of easy detachment of the cover of the existing culture vessel as described above, and also of imparting additional functions to the assembled culture vessel as needed, wherein preferably, leakage of liquid and/or contamination of the culture liquid is further prevented while ensuring gas exchange, so that the culture vessel is more convenient to use in moving, transporting.

To achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present utility model provides an accessory device for connecting a cell/microorganism culture vessel and constituting the same culture vessel cavity as the culture vessel, the accessory device comprising an accessory side wall having a wall body, and a connecting portion located on the accessory side wall and connected to the culture vessel, wherein the connecting portion constitutes a first connecting portion at an end of the accessory side wall remote from a culture zone of the culture vessel, the connecting portion constitutes a second connecting portion at an end of the accessory side wall near the culture zone of the culture vessel, the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion being configured to be capable of being connected to the culture vessel, respectively, without modifying original components of the culture vessel.

In a second aspect of the present utility model there is provided a combination culture vessel for cell/microorganism culture comprising a cover and a body comprising a culture zone, the combination culture vessel further comprising an accessory device as described above, wherein the connection part on the side wall of the accessory and connected to the cover constitutes a first connection part, the connection part on the side wall of the accessory and connected to the body constitutes a second connection part, wherein the first connection part is fixedly connected to the cover and/or the second connection part is fixedly connected to the body. Preferably, the fixed connection is an adhesive connection.

According to the present utility model, the cell/microorganism culture vessel refers to a culture vessel mainly used for culturing cells or microorganisms on a small scale. The term "cell/microorganism" is used herein to refer to the type of culture vessel in which it is cultured, and may be, for example, a multi-well plate, a petri dish, a flask, or other suitable culture vessel, without limiting the type of culture. The culture vessel may be any self-made or commercially available cell/microorganism culture vessel capable of performing the culture independently (i.e. without the attachment means described above), but at the same time having the above-mentioned technical problem of easy release/further sealing and/or additional functions to be added. In a preferred embodiment according to the present utility model, the culture vessel is a commercially available standard culture vessel (e.g., but not limited to, a commercially available culture vessel for laboratory use such as Nunc, corning, eppendorf, millicell, luxCell, BKMAM, NORMAX, NEST, etc.). The number or size of the wells of the commercial standard culture container can be selected according to actual needs (such as the number, type and characteristics of the cultures, and the like), and common multi-well culture plates with 96 wells, 48 wells, 24 wells, 12 wells and 6 wells, circular or rectangular culture dishes with the sizes of 25mm,60mm and 100mm, culture flasks with the volumes of 4-250mL, and the like; the commercial standard culture vessel can also be a confocal culture dish for optical imaging, which is mostly used for in situ (in situ) experiments combined with imaging characterization means such as fluorescence microscopy, confocal microscopy, atomic force microscopy and the like.

According to the utility model, the accessory device and the culture container form the same culture container cavity, namely, the cavity formed by the side wall of the accessory and the cavity originally provided by the culture container form the same continuous culture container cavity. In the case that the culture container (such as a multi-well culture plate) originally has a plurality of cavities (or holes), at least two cavities originally possessed by the culture container can be jointly provided with a cavity formed by the side wall of the accessory according to the practical requirement of use; alternatively, it is preferable that the culture vessel originally has a cavity corresponding to the cavity formed by the side wall of the accessory one by one. The cavity formed by the side wall of the accessory may have the same or different cross-sectional shape or size as the cavity originally possessed by the culture container.

According to the utility model, the accessory side wall comprises a wall body to constitute the main body structure of the accessory device. The wall body may be a straight-line-shaped wall portion, or may be configured to be able to alleviate shaking of the culture medium at least at one end adjacent to the second connection portion, such as a meandering wall portion or an arc-shaped wall portion, etc., to alleviate splatter of the culture medium due to shaking during movement, and the acting surface thereof may be increased as needed in the case where an additional functional area such as gas exchange is provided. The wall may extend in the longitudinal direction of the culture vessel from the entire shape, or may extend obliquely from the second connecting part toward the first connecting part with respect to the longitudinal direction of the culture vessel. In an embodiment according to the present utility model, when the culture vessel has a plurality of culture vessel cavities, the wall body may be configured to extend obliquely from the second connecting part toward the first connecting part with respect to the longitudinal direction of the culture vessel and to be connected to each other so as to intersect, such a configuration ensuring that the wall bodies of the attachment side walls corresponding to the plurality of cavities of the culture vessel can be integrally connected together without additionally providing a structure for connecting them together on the attachment device.

The accessory sidewall may also include a skirt structure that protrudes inwardly or outwardly relative to a cavity formed by the wall of the accessory sidewall; preferably, the skirt structure extends circumferentially inwardly or outwardly along the end face of the cavity formed by the wall. The skirt structure provides more flexibility in the connection of the accessory device to the culture container, especially in the following cases: for example, when the cavity formed by the side wall of the accessory has a cross-sectional shape or size different from that of the cavity originally possessed by the culture container, the consistency of shape and size can be realized at the joint by the skirt structure, so that the two are smoothly connected together; also for example, as described above, when the culture vessel has a plurality of culture vessel cavities, it is more convenient by the skirt structure to connect together the side walls of the accessory corresponding to one or more of the culture vessel cavities according to design requirements. In addition, the skirt edge structure can also prevent the culture solution from shaking in the moving process to a certain extent, so that the splashing of the culture solution is relieved. In an embodiment according to the utility model, the skirt structure may be configured as a boss, tab or combination thereof extending inwardly or outwardly relative to the cavity formed by the wall of the accessory sidewall, preferably the skirt structure may be configured as a boss, tab or combination thereof extending circumferentially inwardly or outwardly along the end face of the cavity formed by the wall. The skirt structure may partially or fully cover the cross-section of the end of the cavity formed by the walls of the accessory sidewall. The skirt structures may be distributed continuously or intermittently in the plane of the cross section.

According to the utility model, the accessory side wall of the accessory device can be provided with an additional functional area, so that other technical problems can be additionally solved, such as realizing, enhancing or regulating natural gas exchange, slowing down or preventing liquid splashing, preventing culture solution pollution and the like, on the basis that the difficult loosening of the accessory device and/or further sealing are realized; for another example, the additional functional region may be configured to simplify the operation of adjusting the internal culture atmosphere of the culture vessel (e.g., adjusting the gas atmosphere in the sealed culture vessel, adjusting the liquid atmosphere and the in-situ liquid exchange operation, applying an electric field, etc.). The accessory function areas may be selected or combined as desired by those skilled in the art.

In a preferred embodiment according to the utility model, the additional functional area is a gas exchange section. The gas exchange part comprises a window and a gas permeable membrane arranged corresponding to the window so as to ensure or enhance the natural exchange of the gas required in the culture process and prevent bacteria and viruses from entering the culture container, thereby effectively preventing pollution.

The window may be configured to be comprised of at least one through hole/slot. It will be appreciated that the number, shape and size of the through holes/slots can be designed as desired to ensure the rate and effect of gas exchange while having the mechanical strength required of the side walls of the attachment. Further, a gas exchange regulating member may be provided at the periphery of the accessory sidewall corresponding to the window, and the gas exchange regulating member may be configured to be able to regulate the degree of coverage of the window by its displacement, thereby more flexibly regulating the rate and effect of gas exchange as required. In an embodiment according to the utility model, the adjustment member is an adjustment ring which is arranged to be adapted to the peripheral shape of the accessory side wall and which is movable longitudinally along the accessory side wall. It is thereby easily understood that when both the first connection part and the second connection part of the accessory device according to the utility model are in sealing connection with the culture container, an environmental switch from unsealed to sealed or vice versa can be achieved in the same culture container by adjusting the gas exchange regulator.

The gas permeable membrane may be made of any gas permeable material that is capable of freely passing gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide while preventing the passage of microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. Preferably, the gas permeable membrane also has a function of preventing the passage of liquid, for example, the gas permeable membrane may be a polytetrafluoroethylene filter membrane. Different kinds of gas permeation membranes with different permeabilities are selected according to actual needs, and are conventional technical means in the field, and are not described in detail herein.

In another preferred embodiment according to the present utility model, the additional functional area is a culture environment regulating part. The culture environment adjusting part may include a mounting hole provided on a side wall of the accessory, and a culture environment adjusting part fixedly or detachably provided in the mounting hole. According to the use requirement, the culture environment regulating piece can be a vent pipe for inputting/outputting gas (such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide and the like) so as to facilitate the observation of the whole process of cell state transition when researching the influence of the gas environment on cell growth or other physiological processes; the liquid-passing tube may be used for in situ (in situ) replacement of liquid, so as to observe the influence of drugs, macromolecules, nanoparticles and the like contained in the liquid on cells in real time; electrodes may also be present to apply an electric field in the culture environment, for example to facilitate the observation of its effect on the cells. It should be understood that the culture environment adjusting member may be a vent pipe, a liquid-passing pipe, an electrode, etc. which are originally provided in a laboratory. Thus, in a simplified case, the culture environment regulating part provided on the accessory device may also include a mounting hole provided on a side wall of the accessory to match the use of a culture environment regulating member originally provided in a laboratory; preferably, the culture environment adjusting part is further provided with a dust-proof member matched with the mounting hole so as to prevent foreign matters such as dust from entering the culture container through the mounting hole at least when the culture environment adjusting part is not placed.

In addition, ribs may be provided on the accessory side walls and/or within the cavity formed thereby to increase the mechanical robustness of the accessory side walls. In a preferred embodiment according to the utility model, the ribs may be axial ribs provided on the side wall of the attachment or radial ribs provided in the cavity formed by the side wall of the attachment. In the case of radial ribs, a support ring is preferably further disposed in the cavity formed by the side wall of the attachment, the side wall of the support ring is connected to the side wall of the attachment by the radial ribs, the support ring and the radial ribs are configured to radiate linearly divergent structures circumferentially around a hollow ring shape, and the position of the hollow ring shape corresponds to the position of the culture area in the culture container, so as to avoid interference of the ribs when the culture is observed under a microscope.

According to the utility model, the attachment portion of the attachment means may be provided on the skirt structure or directly on the wall of the attachment side wall. The specific structure of the connecting part is designed according to the original covering mode of the culture container, so that the original parts of the culture container do not need to be improved: when the culture vessel does not originally have a connection structure at the time of closure, for example, in the case of a multi-well culture plate or a culture dish, the connection part is connected with the culture vessel in a shape-fitting manner or by adhesion; when the culture container originally has a connection structure at the time of covering, for example, in the case of a culture bottle in which the cover body is screwed with the body, the connection part is adapted to be connected with the structure of the culture container. The connection part of the accessory device may be two or more depending on the type of the culture container or the original shape and structure. All the connecting parts positioned at one end of the side wall of the accessory, which is far away from the culture area of the culture container, form a first connecting part, and all the connecting parts positioned at one end of the side wall of the accessory, which is close to the culture area of the culture container, form a second connecting part. The specific form of the shape-fitting connection, adhesive connection or structural-fitting connection described above is a conventional technical means in the art, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual needs.

In a preferred embodiment according to the utility model, the connection between the accessory device and the culture vessel may be sealed by means of a seal or a sealing adhesive. The seal may be, for example, a sealing ring. In an embodiment according to the utility model, the first connection part or the second connection part is sealingly connected with the culture container; more preferably, the first connection part and the second connection part are both hermetically connected to the culture container.

In an embodiment according to the utility model, the attachment part of the attachment device can be snapped directly into the culture container by way of the attachment side wall in which it is located, i.e. the attachment side wall corresponding to the attachment part of the attachment device is dimensioned to be just larger or smaller than the corresponding culture container, so that the two snap together, i.e. a clearance fit.

In another embodiment according to the utility model, a recess is provided in the attachment means connection, which recess is configured to be able to snap fit in shape with the culture vessel. The recess may be provided on the inside, outside or above the end of the accessory side wall or in the boss when the accessory side wall is a boss. The recess may be formed based on the accessory sidewall or may be a recessed structure provided independently of the accessory sidewall.

In both embodiments, the snap connection is made based on the friction between the contact surfaces formed during the shape adaptation. Therefore, further, an anti-slip portion may be provided at the contact surface of the connection portion of the accessory device and the culture device to increase the friction force between the contact surfaces within a tolerance range allowed in the size processing, thereby ensuring a more stable snap connection. The anti-slip portion may be a roughened surface of the contact surface, or an anti-slip pattern provided on the contact surface, or the like.

Meanwhile, in the two embodiments, it can be seen that there is a high machining precision requirement for the dimension machining operation of the accessory sidewall corresponding to the connecting portion of the accessory device. Therefore, in order to facilitate the dimension processing operation while ensuring the stability of the snap connection, a snap-fit member, such as a seal ring (e.g., a rubber seal ring, a silicone seal ring, etc.), a snap-fit structure, etc., may be provided at the connection portion of the accessory device, so as to more flexibly, conveniently and excellently achieve the shape-adaptive snap-fit of the connection portion of the accessory device and the culture container. In a preferred embodiment according to the utility model, an elastic sealing ring is provided on the outside, inside or around the circumference of the end of the side wall of the accessory. Accordingly, in a further preferred embodiment according to the utility model, an elastic sealing ring is provided on the side wall of the groove of the connection. In a further preferred embodiment according to the utility model, a sealing ring, for example a U-shaped sealing ring, with a concave engagement structure is provided in the groove, which is configured to be able to engage with the culture vessel in a form-fitting manner.

More preferably, the connection portion of the accessory device is further provided with a limiting structure configured to limit the position of the sealing ring, so as to ensure that the sealing ring is not displaced in at least one direction during the connection process. The limiting structure can be a continuous or discontinuous limiting protrusion arranged above and/or below the elastic sealing ring, and preferably, the circumferential protrusion height of the limiting protrusion is smaller than the circumferential thickness of the elastic sealing ring; alternatively, the limiting structure may be a groove configured to enable the elastic sealing ring to be partially embedded; alternatively, the limiting structure may be a protrusion, such as a T-shaped protrusion, disposed on an end of the side wall of the accessory and engaged with the inside of the elastic sealing ring.

In another embodiment according to the utility model, the attachment part of the attachment device is directly connected to the culture vessel by way of the attachment side wall in which it is located, and the attachment side wall corresponding to the attachment part of the attachment device is dimensioned to be larger than the corresponding culture vessel, wherein the attachment side wall forms a receiving space at the connection with the culture vessel for partially or completely receiving the corresponding culture vessel, and wherein a catch is provided on the outside of the attachment side wall, which catch is configured to be able to prevent the culture vessel from loosening from the receiving space. In an embodiment according to the present utility model, the claw is detachably or integrally mounted on a claw mounting portion provided outside the accessory side wall, and the claw may be an outer claw (e.g., an L-shaped claw) extending from the claw mounting portion to an end of the culture container along the accessory side wall toward an end where the accommodation chamber is provided and extending into a cross section of the end, or may be an inner claw (e.g., a U-shaped claw, or a flexible material with a convex structure capable of being inserted into the accommodation chamber) extending from the claw mounting portion to an end of the culture container along the accessory side wall toward an end where the accommodation chamber is provided and inserting into the accommodation chamber at a cross section of the end. In another embodiment according to the utility model, the accessory side wall and the culture container have overlapping portions, and the claw may be a U-shaped clamp clamping the overlapping portions. In a preferred embodiment according to the utility model, the jaws are symmetrically arranged to ensure stability of the culture vessel when placed after assembly.

In a further embodiment according to the utility model, the first connection part and/or the second connection part is provided with an adhesive area for a fixed connection with the culture vessel. In an embodiment according to the utility model, the adhesive area for adhesive connection may be provided on the wall of the side wall of the attachment which is in contact with the culture vessel, or may be provided on the side and/or top of the end face of the skirt structure which is in contact with the culture vessel as described above. Wherein the adhesive area is preferably provided on a wall of the side wall of the attachment or on a side edge of the skirt structure when the attachment means is adhesively attached to the culture container by the second attachment part; more preferably, the adhesive area is arranged above or at a distance from the liquid surface of the culture medium in the culture zone after assembly to ensure the adhesive connection effect and the normal growth of the culture.

In another embodiment according to the utility model, the connection part of the accessory device is adapted to be connected with the culture container structure originally having the connection structure, for example, when the culture container is a screw-connected culture bottle, the accessory device is adapted to be connected with the culture container screw-thread; meanwhile, the accessory side wall of the accessory mounting device is provided with an additional functional area. In a preferred embodiment according to the utility model, the additional functional area is a gas exchange section. The gas exchange portion includes a window and a gas permeable membrane, which may preferably be a polytetrafluoroethylene filter membrane, overlying the window. The structural adapting connection is a conventional technical means in the art, and a person skilled in the art can select the structural adapting connection according to actual needs, so that details are not repeated herein.

Through the technical scheme, the utility model realizes the following technical effects:

the accessory device according to the present utility model can be conveniently attached and installed to an existing cell/microorganism culture vessel in a laboratory in an operation, and particularly can be used in a compatible manner with a commonly accepted and used commercial culture vessel, thereby further realizing additional functions such as prevention of leakage of liquid and/or contamination of culture liquid while ensuring gas exchange, on the basis of realizing a technical effect of making the cover less likely to come off and/or further realizing sealing, so as to be more convenient to use in a move; for example, the operation of regulating the internal culture atmosphere of the culture container can be simplified, so that in-situ, dynamic and real-time observation of cell state transition and the like can be realized when the influence of the culture environment on cell growth or other physiological processes is studied; in addition, the original components of the culture container are not required to be replaced or improved in assembly, so that the manufacturing operation of the culture container capable of achieving the technical effects is simplified, the additional cost is low, the waste of the components of the existing culture container is avoided, and the culture container has wider application prospect.

It should be understood that all combinations of the foregoing concepts, as well as additional concepts described in more detail below, may be considered a part of the inventive subject matter of the present disclosure as long as such concepts are not mutually inconsistent. In addition, all combinations of claimed subject matter are considered part of the disclosed inventive subject matter.

Drawings

The drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures may be represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. Embodiments of various aspects of the utility model will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an assembled structure of an accessory device according to an embodiment of the present utility model when a culture container such as a culture dish is used.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the assembled structure of the example of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the accessory device shown in fig. 1 according to the present utility model.

Fig. 4 a-4 c are schematic views of window structures of an accessory device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present utility model.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of an assembly structure of another embodiment of the accessory device according to the present utility model, wherein sealing rings are sleeved on the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion of the accessory device.

FIGS. 6 a-6 c are schematic views of another embodiment of an accessory device in accordance with the present utility model; wherein, fig. 6a and 6b show that the wall body of the side wall of the accessory and/or the cavity formed by the wall body is provided with reinforcing ribs; figure 6c shows an alternate view of the gas exchange modifier positioned on the periphery of the side wall of the attachment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing an assembled structure of another embodiment of the attachment device according to the present utility model when the culture vessel is, for example, a culture multi-well plate.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the example culture vessel of FIG. 7 when capped.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view of an accessory device of the exemplary embodiment of the present utility model shown in fig. 7.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing a main structure of an accessory device according to another embodiment of the present utility model in a culture container such as a flask.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the main structure of an embodiment of a combined culture vessel according to the utility model.

Fig. 12 is another exemplary side view of an accessory sidewall in accordance with the present utility model.

FIGS. 13 a-13 f are exemplary side views of one embodiment of a shape-fitting connection of an accessory device to a culture container according to the present disclosure.

FIGS. 14 a-14 e are exemplary side views of another embodiment of a shape-fitting connection of an accessory device to a culture container according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 15 a-15 e are exemplary side views of a snap-fit element disposed on a side wall of an accessory according to the present utility model.

FIGS. 16 a-16 d are exemplary side views of an accessory device provided with a culture environment adjusting part according to the present utility model.

In the drawings, the meaning of each reference numeral is defined as follows:

100-culture vessel; 110-a cover; 120-body;

130-accessory device; 131-accessory side walls; 132—a first connection; 133-a second connection; 134-a gas exchange section; 135-sealing rings; 136-T-shaped bumps; 137-limit protrusions; 138-reinforcing ribs; 139-a regulatory ring; 140-jaw mounting; 141-a claw; 142-an adhesive zone; 143-a tongue structure; 144-grooves; 145-a culture environment adjustment section;

1201-a culture zone; 1311-walls; 1312-skirt structure; 1313-accommodation chamber; 1341-window; 1342-gas permeable membrane; 1381-axial ribs; 1382-a support ring; 1383-radial stiffener; 1451-mounting holes; 1452-breather pipe; 1453-liquid-passing tube; 1454-electrode.

Detailed Description

For a better understanding of the technical content of the present utility model, specific examples are illustrated herein and described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The foregoing and other aspects, embodiments, and features of the present teachings will be more fully understood from the following description, taken together with the accompanying drawings. Other additional aspects of the utility model, such as features and/or advantages of the exemplary embodiments, will be apparent from the description which follows, or may be learned by practice of the embodiments according to the teachings of the utility model.

Aspects of the utility model are described in this disclosure with reference to the drawings, in which are shown a number of illustrative embodiments. The embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily intended to include all aspects of the utility model. It should be understood that the various concepts and embodiments described above, as well as those described in more detail below, may be implemented in any of a number of ways, as the disclosed concepts and embodiments are not limited to any implementation. Additionally, some aspects of the disclosure may be used alone or in any suitable combination with other aspects of the disclosure.

The accessory device for the cell/microorganism culture container according to the embodiment of the utility model aims to solve the problem that the cover body of the original culture container is easy to fall off and further realize additional functions, and can realize additional functions, preferably prevent the culture solution from being easy to splash and pollute on the premise of not changing the existing culture container (especially the existing commercial standard culture container), thereby being more convenient to move and transport by adding the design of the accessory device.

Taking the culture vessel as a round culture dish for example, fig. 1-3 show an embodiment of an accessory device according to the utility model, which is applicable to a single-cavity culture vessel that does not have a connection structure when the lid is not originally provided. In fig. 1, the culture container 100 originally includes a body 120 and a cover 110 that is releasably cover the body 120, and when the culture container is closed, the body 120 and the cover 110 form a cavity (i.e. a single-cavity culture container) that the culture container originally has, wherein the body 120 defines an open internal culture area 1201 for culturing a culture such as a cell/microorganism.

As shown in fig. 1 to 3, the accessory device 130 including the accessory sidewall 131 and the connection parts 132 and 133 is provided between the body 120 and the cover 110. Wherein the accessory sidewall 131 includes a wall 1311. The attachment means 130 is installed between the body 120 and the cover 110 of the culture container 100 in an additional coupling manner and is respectively form-fitted with the body 120 and the cover 110 of the culture container, thereby forming the same culture container cavity after being combined. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, in correspondence with the body 120 and the cover 110, the accessory sidewall 131 of the accessory device 130 includes a wall 1311 having an annular linear wall portion, and the accessory device 130 is coupled to the body 120 and the cover 110, respectively, for example, by a snap-fit manner.

In this embodiment, the attachment device 130 has a first connection portion 132 provided at an upper end of the wall 1311, respectively, and a second connection portion 133 provided at a lower end of the wall 1311, the first connection portion 132 being configured to be shape-fittingly connected with the cover 110 of the culture container, and the second connection portion 133 being configured to be shape-fittingly connected with the body 120 of the culture container. Wherein, in an alternative embodiment, the outer diameter of the first connecting part 132 is just smaller than the inner diameter of the cover body 110 of the culture container, and the outer diameter of the second connecting part 133 is just smaller than the inner diameter of the body 120 of the culture container, so that the accessory device 130 is smoothly and fittingly snap-connected with the cover body 110 and the body 120. For example, the outer diameter of the first connecting portion 132 is in clearance fit with the inner diameter of the cover 110 of the culture container, and the outer diameter of the second connecting portion 133 is also in clearance fit with the inner diameter of the body 120 of the culture container.

Further, a gas exchanging portion 134 is provided on the accessory side wall 131. The gas exchanging part 134 includes a window 1341, and a gas permeable membrane 1342 provided to cover the window 1341, three windows 1341 being shown in fig. 3, so that gas exchange between the inner culture zone 1201 defined by the body 120 of the culture container and the outer area is achieved at the position of the window 1341 of the attachment means 130. As a preferred example, the gas permeable membrane 1342 used in this embodiment is a polytetrafluoroethylene filter membrane.

In connection with the window designs shown in fig. 4a, 4b and 4c, the window 1341 of the accessory device 130 may be arranged to be constituted by at least one through hole/slot. For example, in fig. 4a in the form of a large circular aperture covered with a gas permeable membrane 1342. It will be appreciated that in the window design of fig. 4a, the size of the circular aperture should be suitable, too large resulting in reduced mechanical strength of the attachment side wall 131, too small resulting in a rate and effect of gas exchange, thereby affecting the growth of the culture. In fig. 4b, the window 1341 is provided in the form of a rectangular slot, covered on its outside with a gas permeable membrane 1342. In further embodiments, the windows 1341 may be provided to be comprised of randomly or continuously distributed through holes/slots. For example, in the example shown in fig. 4c, a plurality of small circular holes are formed in a continuous distribution manner to form a window 1341, and the gas permeable membrane 1342 is integrally covered on the outside thereof.

Fig. 5 shows an assembly schematic of another embodiment of the accessory device. In fig. 5, the attachment side wall 131 of the attachment device 130 includes a wall body 1311 having an annular linear wall portion, the first and second connection portions 132 and 133 are provided at upper and lower ends of the wall body 1311, respectively, the first connection portion 132 is configured to be shape-fittingly engaged with the cover body 110 of the culture container, and the second connection portion 133 is configured to be shape-fittingly engaged with the body 120 of the culture container; wherein, the first connecting part 132 and/or the second connecting part 133 is sleeved with a sealing ring 135, thereby realizing the sealing connection between the accessory device and the culture container; and, a limit protrusion 137 is further provided above and/or below the sealing ring 135. In a preferred embodiment according to the utility model, the first connection portion 132 and the second connection portion 133 are each sleeved with an O-ring 135, and an elastic sealing ring, such as a rubber sealing ring, a silicone sealing ring, or the like, is particularly preferably used. Thus, on the one hand, the sealing of the attachment means 130 can be achieved when the attachment means 132, 133 are inserted into the cover bodies 110, 120, respectively, and on the other hand, the tightness and stability of the mounting can be ensured while the dimensional accuracy requirements are reduced, thereby achieving the sealing of the entire culture vessel without the occurrence of spillage problems. In combination with the gas exchange part 134, the design ensures the sealing performance of the cavity of the culture container, prevents liquid from splashing, and ensures the free exchange of gas between the inner area and the outside of the culture container so as to maintain the gas exchange environment required by cells, and meanwhile, can prevent the pollution of bacteria.

Fig. 6a-6b show another embodiment of the accessory device described above. Wherein ribs 138 are provided on the accessory side walls 131 and/or in the cavity formed by them. As shown in fig. 6a, the stiffener 138 is an axial stiffener 1381. Axial ribs 1381 are disposed along the inside of the accessory sidewall 131 to enhance the axial load carrying capacity of the accessory device 130. In fig. 6b, the stiffener 138 may be a radial stiffener 1383 with a support ring 1382 in addition to the axial stiffener 1381. The support ring 1382 is located inside the accessory device 130. The side wall of the support ring 1382 is coupled to the accessory side wall 131 by radial ribs 1383 to further enhance the radial load carrying capacity of the accessory device 130. The support ring 1382 and radial ribs 1383 disposed within the cavity of the accessory device 130 are configured to radiate circumferentially a linearly diverging structure around a hollow ring shape, with the hollow ring shape corresponding in position to the culture zone in the culture vessel to avoid interference of the ribs during microscopic observation of the culture.

Furthermore, a gas exchange regulator-regulator ring 139 may be provided on the periphery of the wall 1311 of the accessory side wall 131, the regulator ring 139 being movable in the longitudinal direction of the accessory side wall 131, whereby the degree of coverage of the window may be varied to regulate the gas exchange rate and effect. Fig. 6c shows the case where the adjusting ring 139 covers the gas exchanging part 134 from the case where the adjusting ring 139 covers the gas exchanging part 134 completely. In a preferred embodiment according to the present utility model, in combination with the design of the sealed connection of both the first connection part 132 and the second connection part 133 to the culture vessel, not only can the gas exchange rate and effect be adjusted by adjusting the gas exchange adjusting member 139, but also the switching of the culture environment from unsealed to sealed or vice versa can be achieved in the same culture vessel.

Taking the example of such a culture vessel as a six-well culture plate, fig. 7-9 illustrate another embodiment of an accessory device according to the utility model, which is applicable to multi-well culture vessels that otherwise do not have a connection structure for the closure. In fig. 7, the culture vessel 100 originally includes a body 120 having a plurality of cavities (six holes in this embodiment) each having a respective culture area 1201 for culturing a culture of cells/microorganisms or the like, and a cover 110 releasably covering the body 120.

As shown in fig. 7-9, an accessory device 130 is disposed between the body 120 and the cover 110, and includes an accessory sidewall 131 and connecting portions 132, 133. The accessory sidewall 131 includes a wall 1311 and a skirt structure 1312. A gas exchanging portion 134 is also provided on the accessory side wall 131. The attachment means 130 connects the body 120 and the cover 110 of the culture container 100 in an additional coupling manner, and six cavities formed by the wall 1311 are provided in the attachment means 130 corresponding to the original six cavities of the culture container, so that the attachment means forms the same culture container cavity as the culture container for each cavity. The skirt structure 1312 of the attachment side wall 131 extends outwardly relative to the cavities formed by the wall 1311 in the circumferential direction of the cavity end faces thereof, connects the cavities formed by the wall 1311 together and extends at the edge of the attachment means to form-fittingly connect the culture device.

In fig. 7 to 9, the first and second connection parts 132 and 133 of the attachment device 130 are provided on the above-mentioned projected skirt structures 1312 formed at the upper and lower parts of the attachment device 130, respectively, the first connection part 132 is provided for shape-fittingly connecting with the cover body 110 of the culture container, and the second connection part 133 is provided for shape-fittingly connecting with the body 120 of the culture container. Wherein, in an alternative embodiment, the first connecting part 132 formed by the fins formed by the skirt edge structure 1312 at the edge of the accessory device is sleeved with the sealing ring 135, and the sealing ring is just smaller than the inner diameter of the cover body 110 of the culture container in size and can be in shape-fit engagement with the cover body 110; at the second connection part 133, a tab formed by the skirt structure 1312 at the edge of the accessory device extends downward along the outside of the connection part of the culture container and forms a receiving cavity 1313 capable of partially or entirely receiving the body 120, a sealing ring 135 is provided at the top edge of the receiving cavity 1313 to seal the connection between the accessory device and the culture container, and a jaw mounting part 140 overlapping the culture container body 120 is provided at the accessory sidewall outside 131, and the body 120 can be prevented from being released from the receiving cavity 1313 by sandwiching the jaw mounting part 140 with the body 120 by a U-clip serving as a jaw 141. Alternatively (not shown in the drawings), for example, four hole-shaped jaw mounting portions and an L-shaped jaw made of a rigid material rotatably mounted thereon may be symmetrically opened on the side wall of the attachment, and the rotated and engaged jaw may extend to the bottom of the culture container along the side wall 131 of the attachment and into the end face of the bottom to prevent the body 120 from being released from the receiving chamber 1313.

Alternatively, the accessory side wall according to the present utility model may also be exemplarily shown in fig. 12, wherein the wall 1311 is configured to extend from the second connection part 133 toward the first connection part 132 obliquely outward or inward with respect to the longitudinal direction of the culture container and to be connected to each other so as to be intersected with each other, thereby ensuring that the wall 1311 of the accessory side wall corresponding to the plurality of cavities of the culture container can be integrally connected together without additionally providing a structure for connecting them together on the accessory device. Preferably (not shown in the figures), the wall 1311 abuts against the junction area between the cavities on the body 120 at the junction of one end of the second junction 133, thereby isolating the cavities; more preferably, a seal is provided at the junction against the connection region.

Taking this culture vessel as an example, for example, a sealed culture flask, fig. 10 shows an embodiment of an accessory device according to the present utility model, which is applied to a culture vessel originally having a connection structure at the time of closure. In fig. 10, the culture vessel 100 originally includes a body 120 and a cover 110 screwed on the body 120, and when the culture vessel is closed, the body 120 and the cover 110 form a cavity originally possessed by the culture vessel, wherein the body 120 defines an open internal culture area 1201 for culturing a culture of cells/microorganisms or the like.

As shown in fig. 10, an accessory device 130 including an accessory sidewall 131 and connection portions 132, 133 is provided between the body 120 and the cover 110. Wherein the fitment sidewall 131 includes a wall 1311 having an arcuate wall portion that expands outwardly relative to the culture container cavity. The first and second connection parts 132 and 133 of the attachment device 130 are provided at the upper and lower ends of the wall 1311, respectively, and are screw-coupled with the cover 110 and the body 120 of the culture container, respectively, so that the same culture container cavity is formed after the combination. The arc-shaped wall portion of the wall 1311 is further provided with a gas exchange portion 134 capable of securing free exchange of gas between the inner region and the outside thereof without releasing the sealing cover and at the same time preventing bacterial contamination.

Taking this culture vessel as a circular dish for example, FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of a combined culture vessel according to the utility model. In FIG. 11, the combined culture vessel comprises a cover 110, a body 120 and an accessory device 130 according to the utility model. The accessory device includes an accessory sidewall 131 and connecting portions 132, 133. In accordance with the body 120 and the cover 110, the accessory sidewall 131 of the accessory device 130 includes a wall 1311 having an annular linear wall portion. A first connection portion 132 is provided at an upper end of the wall 1311 for shape-fittingly engaging with the cover 110, and a second connection portion 133 is provided at a lower end of the wall 1311, having an adhesive region 142, for shape-fittingly sealing-bonding with the body 120. A gas exchange portion 134 covered with a polytetrafluoroethylene filter 1342 is further provided on the attachment side wall 131. In an alternative embodiment, an elastic sealing ring 135 is sleeved around the periphery of the end of the wall 1311 at the first connecting portion 132 and is in shape-fit engagement with the cover 110, and a T-shaped protrusion embedded in the elastic sealing ring is further provided on the end of the wall 1311 to ensure that the elastic sealing ring 135 cannot shift during the engagement process; the outer diameter of the wall 1311 provided with the second connection part 133 is in clearance fit with the inner diameter of the body 120, and can be bonded together by the bonding region 142 in a shape-fitting manner with the body 120. The adhesive area 142 is positioned at a distance from the surface of the broth after assembly to ensure adhesive attachment and proper growth of the culture.

For embodiments of the shape-fitting engagement of the accessory device 130 with the culture container 100 according to the utility model, it is also possible to show, by way of example and not limitation, in fig. 13 a-13 f, 14 a-14 e (the connection being provided with a groove 144). 100 in the drawing represents only a portion of the culture vessel corresponding to the connection portion of the attachment device 130, and is not intended to limit whether it is specifically a body or a cover of the culture vessel. The gap between the engagement portions is enlarged in the drawing, and only the positional relationship between the attachment 130 and the culture vessel 100 is clearly shown. Furthermore, one skilled in the art can vary the wall 1311 and/or skirt structure 1312 of the accessory device 130 in accordance with the teachings of the present utility model and is not limited to that shown in the figures.

15 a-15 e illustrate an example of a snap seal ring disposed on a side wall of an accessory according to the present utility model, by way of example and not limitation.

FIGS. 16a to 16d show an accessory device provided with a culture environment adjusting part 145 according to the present utility model. The culture environment adjusting part 145 includes a mounting hole 1451 provided on a side wall of the accessory, and a culture environment adjusting part fixedly or detachably provided in the mounting hole. In fig. 16b, the culture environment regulator is a vent pipe 1452 for inputting/outputting gas (e.g., oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, etc.), and a natural gas exchanging part 134 is not provided as needed; in FIG. 16c, the culture environment regulator is a liquid tube 1453 for in situ (in situ) replacement of liquid; in FIG. 16d, the culture environment adjusting member is an electrode 1454. The culture environment adjusting parts shown in fig. 16c to 16d are only examples, and may be selected and set as needed by those skilled in the art, and are not described herein.

In addition, in other embodiments, for special requirements of the culture object or special requirements of the culture environment, a plurality of accessory devices 130 can be arranged for superposition, at the time, the combination positions of the adjacent accessory devices 130 adopt a jogged design, and sealing rings can be preferably sleeved to realize airtight and stable assembly so as to provide a larger window and a larger gas exchange channel.

According to the present utility model, the body 120 of the culture container 100 may be made of plastic (e.g., PP) or glass material, and particularly made transparent. The cover 110 may be made of the same material as the body 120.

In alternative embodiments, the attachment means 130 may be configured as a transparent structure, and may be of the same design as the body 120 of the culture vessel 100, or may be of a different material than the body 120 of the culture vessel 100. In other embodiments, the accessory device 130 may be made of PP plastic.

In an alternative embodiment, the accessory device 130 is provided with a color marking to facilitate marking different culture objects or different culture containers for use by the experimenter.

While the utility model has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, it is not intended to be limiting. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and adaptations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present utility model. Accordingly, the scope of the utility model is defined by the appended claims.

Claims (35)

1. An accessory device for connecting a cell/microorganism culture vessel and forming the same culture vessel cavity as the culture vessel, the accessory device comprising an accessory side wall having a wall body, and a connection portion located on the accessory side wall and connected to the culture vessel, wherein the connection portion forms a first connection portion at an end of the accessory side wall remote from a culture zone of the culture vessel, the connection portion forms a second connection portion at an end of the accessory side wall near the culture zone of the culture vessel, the first connection portion and the second connection portion being configured to be connectable to the culture vessel, respectively, without modification of original components of the culture vessel.

2. The accessory device of claim 1, wherein the culture container is a multi-well plate, a culture dish, or a culture flask.

3. The accessory device of claim 1, wherein the wall is a linear wall or a wall configured to dampen shaking of the culture medium at least at one end adjacent to the second connection.

4. The accessory device of claim 3, wherein the wall portion capable of reducing shaking of the culture medium is a meandering wall portion or an arc-shaped wall portion.

5. The accessory device according to claim 1, wherein the wall body extends in a longitudinal direction of the culture container or extends obliquely from the second connection portion toward the first connection portion with respect to the longitudinal direction of the culture container in terms of an overall shape.

6. The accessory device of claim 1, wherein the accessory side wall further comprises a skirt structure that protrudes inwardly or outwardly relative to a cavity formed by the wall of the accessory side wall.

7. The accessory device of claim 6, wherein the skirt structure extends circumferentially inwardly or outwardly along a cavity end surface defined by the wall.

8. The accessory device of claim 6 or 7, wherein the skirt structure is shaped as a boss, a tab, or a combination thereof.

9. The accessory device of claim 1, wherein the accessory sidewall further has an additional functional area disposed thereon.

10. The attachment device according to claim 1 or 6, wherein the culture container originally has no connection structure when it is covered, and the connection part is connected with the culture container in a shape-fit manner or by adhesion.

11. The accessory device of claim 10, wherein the connection portion directly engages the culture container with a shape fit through the accessory sidewall where it is located.

12. Accessory device according to claim 10, characterized in that a groove is provided in the connection part, which groove is configured to be form-fittingly snap-engageable with the culture container.

13. Accessory device according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the connection part is provided with a snap-in element.

14. The accessory device of claim 13, wherein the engagement member is a sealing ring or a snap-in structure.

15. The accessory device of claim 14, wherein the connection portion is further provided with a limit structure configured to define a position of the seal ring.

16. The attachment device according to claim 10, wherein the attachment portion is directly connected to the culture container by the attachment side wall in which it is located in a form-fitting manner, and the attachment side wall corresponding to the attachment portion is configured to be larger in size than the corresponding culture container, wherein the attachment side wall forms a receiving chamber capable of partially or entirely receiving the corresponding culture container at the connection with the culture container, and a claw is provided outside the attachment side wall, the claw being configured to prevent the culture container from being released from the receiving chamber.

17. The accessory device of claim 16, wherein the pawl is removably or integrally mounted on a pawl mounting portion provided on an outside of the accessory sidewall.

18. The attachment device according to claim 17, wherein the claw is an outer claw extending from the claw mounting portion along the attachment side wall toward the end provided with the accommodation chamber to an end of the culture container and extending into a cross section of the end, or an inner claw extending from the claw mounting portion along the attachment side wall toward the end provided with the accommodation chamber to an end of the culture container and inserting into the accommodation chamber at a cross section of the end.

19. The accessory device of claim 16, wherein the accessory sidewall and the culture container have overlapping portions, and the jaws are U-shaped clips that sandwich the overlapping portions.

20. The accessory device according to claim 1, wherein the culture container originally has a connection structure at the time of covering, the connection part is adapted to be connected with the culture container structure, and an additional functional area is provided on the accessory side wall.

21. The attachment device of claim 6, wherein the culture container originally has a connection structure at the time of closure, the connection portion is adapted to be connected with the culture container structure, and an additional functional area is provided on the attachment side wall.

22. Accessory device according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the connection is a threaded connection.

23. Accessory device according to any of claims 9, 20, 21, characterized in that the additional functional area is a gas exchange part and/or a culture environment conditioning part.

24. The accessory device of claim 23, wherein the culture environment adjustment portion comprises a mounting hole configured for assembling a culture environment adjustment member.

25. The accessory device of claim 24, wherein the culture environment adjustment part further comprises a culture environment adjustment member fixedly or detachably disposed in the mounting hole.

26. The accessory device of claim 23, wherein the gas exchange portion comprises a window and a gas permeable membrane disposed in correspondence of the window, wherein the gas permeable membrane is made of any gas permeable material capable of freely passing gas while preventing passage of microorganisms.

27. The accessory device of claim 26, wherein the gas permeable membrane is further capable of preventing the passage of liquid.

28. The accessory device of claim 27, wherein the gas permeable membrane is a polytetrafluoroethylene filter membrane.

29. The accessory device of claim 26, wherein a gas exchange regulator is disposed on a periphery of the accessory sidewall corresponding to the window, the gas exchange regulator configured to regulate the extent of coverage of the window by displacement of the gas exchange regulator itself.

30. The accessory device of claim 29, wherein the adjustment member is an adjustment ring longitudinally movable along the accessory sidewall that is adapted to be positioned in a shape of a periphery of the accessory sidewall.

31. The accessory device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second connection portions is sealingly connected to the culture container.

32. The accessory device of claim 31, wherein the sealed connection is in the form of a seal or a seal bond.

33. Accessory device according to claim 1, characterized in that ribs are provided on the accessory side walls and/or in the cavities formed therein.

34. A culture vessel, being a combined culture vessel for cell/microorganism culture, comprising a cover and a body comprising a culture zone, the combined culture vessel further comprising an accessory device according to any one of the preceding claims 1-33, wherein the connection part on the accessory side wall and connected to the cover constitutes a first connection part, the connection part on the accessory side wall and connected to the body constitutes a second connection part, wherein the first connection part is fixedly connected to the cover and/or the second connection part is fixedly connected to the body.

35. The culture vessel of claim 34, wherein the fixed connection is an adhesive connection.

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