GB2607918A

GB2607918A - Carrier for consumables in automated analyzer systems and system comprising said carrier

Info

Publication number: GB2607918A
Application number: GB2108553.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Blank Rouven
Original assignee: Stratec SE
Current assignee: Stratec SE
Priority date: 2021-06-16
Filing date: 2021-06-16
Publication date: 2022-12-21
Also published as: GB2607918A9; GB202108553D0

Abstract

A carrier 1 for consumables in automated analyzer systems and a system comprising said carrier, wherein the carrier 1 comprises a handling interface 5 that has an identical form as the cap 10 of the consumable. The handling interface is formed by at least one circular protrusion as a surrounding collar. The system comprises the carrier and a gripper 20 with vertically arranged gripper fingers 21 to grip the handling interface of the carrier or cap located on a vial 15.

Description

CARRIER FOR CONSUMBALES IN AUTOMATED ANALYZER SYSTEMS AND

SYSTEM COMPRISING SAID CARRIER

DESCRIPTION

Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a carrier for consumables in automated analyzer systems and a system comprising said carrier.

Brief description of the related art

[0002] Automated analyzer systems for use in clinical diagnostics and life sciences are produced by a number of companies. For example, STRATEC'm SE, Birkenfeld, Germany, produces a number of devices for specimen handling and detection for use in automated analyzer systems and other laboratory instrumentation.

[0003] Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) thermal cycling is a method for amplification of specific DNA target sequences. The reaction solutions comprise a reaction buffer, enzymes, primer and nucleotides. This mixture is applied to a consumable, a reaction vessel for instance, which have to be loaded into a PCR thennocycler for its processing.

[0004] It is advantageous to arrange the consumables in a carrier to facilitate their loading Carrier are stacked so that multiple carriers can be transported [0005] A gripper is used to transport a single carrier from a stack of carriers for further processing of the loaded consumables. The gripper engages into identical interfaces of each carrier for taking it up from the stack.

[0006] Published US patent application no. US 2014/0331618 A] teaches carrier with a knob as interface that provide a contact surface for gripping parts of the gripper. A disadvantage of the device according to this document is that the interfaces for moving the carrier and handling of the vials are different so that a finger gripper has to be employed enabling handling of different diameters of the respective interfaces.

[0007] The published European patent application EP 2 913 677 Al discloses a transport tool for transporting a laboratory article using a pipette of a pipetting system, and having a plug-in sleeve at a top end, an article holder at a bottom end, and a connecting part which connects the plug-in sleeve to the article holder. The plug-in sleeve has a side sleeve wall and a bottom which surround an interior space of the plug-in sleeve having a cylindrical or conically tapering shape. The plug-in sleeve further has an upward-facing opening for receiving an end of a pipette of an automated pipetting system. The article holder has a holding element oriented downward away from the connecting part. The holding element having at least two elongated projections which has one or more snap hooks protruding outwards to hook under a storage opening of a pipette tip carrier. A specific gripper is substituted by the transfer tool in this document, which requires disadvantageously an additional part for handling of the carrier.

[0008] A disadvantage of available solutions is that either a gripper has to be customized in terms of being able to grip vials with different diameter or an additional gripper or handling tool is necessary. The prior art does further not disclose an integrated tool for detecting a successful gripping of vials.

Object of the Invention [0009] It is therefore the object of this invention to provide a tool for handling carrier of consumables comprising samples that can additional detect a successful gripping of a vial.

Summary of the Invention

[0010] The present disclosure provides a carrier for consumables in automated analyser systems, wherein the carrier comprises a handling interface that has an identical form as the cap of the consumable.

[0011] In a further aspect of the invention, the handling interface of the carrier is formed by at least one circular protrusion like a surrounding collar.

[0012] In a further embodiment of the invention, the handling interface is centrally located with respect to the surface for taking up consumables.

[0013] It may further be intended that the upper surface of the carrier has an inwards displaced edge that fits into the surrounding edge on the carrier's underside.

[0014] In another aspect of the invention, the carrier may comprise a cover enclosing at least one carrier.

[0015] Another object of the invention is a system for handling carrier and consumables in automated analyser systems, comprising - a carrier as described above, and - a gripper with vertically arranged gripper fingers configured to grip the handling interface of the carrier or a cap located onto a vial.

[0016] The system of the invention may comprise in a further aspect of the invention a drive that is connected to the gripper fingers.

[0017] In another embodiment of the system according to the invention, the drive is configured to rotate the gripper finger around their longitudinal axis.

[0018] It may further be intended that the gripper fingers comprise at their lower end protrusions configured to enclose the handling interface of a carrier or a cap for a vial [0019] In another aspect of the invention, the at least one gripper finger comprise an optical light guide.

[0020] The system may further comprise a cap for a vial comprising at least one optical window.

[0021] Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply by illustrating preferable embodiments and implementations. The present invention is also capable of other and different embodiments and its several details can be modified in various obvious respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive. Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Summary of the Figures

[0022] The invention will be described based on figures. It will be understood that the embodiments and aspects of the invention described in the figures are only examples and do not limit the protective scope of the claims in any way. The invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents. It will be understood that features of one aspect or embodiment of the invention can be combined with a feature of a different aspect or aspects of other embodiments of the invention, in which: [0023] FIG. 1 shows a carrier with handling interface, the vials are located in the lateral rows and the caps are located in the inner rows.

[0024] FIG. 2 shows stacked carrier with a cover that are placed onto a loading drawer.

[0025] FIG. 3 shows a gripper with gripper fingers: left part = open state; right part = closed state.

[0026] FIG 4 shows a gripper finger in detail [0027] FIG. 5 shows sectional views of gripper fingers in an open state (left) and closed state (right).

[0028] FIG. 6 shows a cap comprising a transparent window. The optical fibers belong to the device.

Detailed Description of the Invention and the Figures [0029] The technical problem is solved by the independent claims. The dependent claims cover further specific embodiments of the invention.

[0030] A core element of the invention is a carrier for diagnostic consumables with an integrated handling interface. The form or shape of the handling interface is identical to the form or shape of the handling interface of the cap for the consumable, which can be a container for liquids. This enables the carrier to be grasped and moved with the same handling device that is used in the clinical diagnostic analysis system for the consumable itself.

[0031] The carriers themselves can be stacked in a space-optimized manner and transported to the process position without the need for an additional gripper. After use, they can be transported from there to a removal or ejection position for disposal, where they can also be stacked for intermediate storage, if necessary.

[0032] FIG I shows that a carrier I has a handling interface 5 in a central position or in its middle part, which has an identical shape like the handling interface of a cap 10 that is located onto a vial 1_5 comprising a liquid for instance. The vials 15 themselves are located in the carrier 1 and are arranged side by side. FIG. 1 shows caps 10 for vials 15 with handling interface 13 which are located in two middle rows of the carrier. Vials 15 without caps 10 are located in the two rows on the sidelines. The frame 6 of carrier 1 has a shape that allows stacking of carriers 1 so that they are not movable against each other.

[0033] A stack of carriers 7 consists of several stacked carriers 1 and may further comprise a cover 8 for forming a blister packaging. The user inserts the stack of carriers 7 with cover 8 vertically into or onto a loading drawer 9 of an automated analyzer (FIG. 2). The cover 8 can be unlocked and removed from the stack of carriers 7 (right part of FIG. 2).

[0034] FIG. 3 shows in its left part a gripper 20 in a so-called open state and in its right part a gripper 20 in a closed state. The gripper 20 is with its gripper fingers 21 positioned above a cap 10. The gripper 20 comprises in its upper part a drive that is connected to each gripper finger 21. The gripper fingers 21 can be moved by a rotatory motion along their longitudinal axis.

Each gripper finger 21 is at least in its upper part connected to the drive so that it can rotate around its longitudinal axis [0035] The lower part of a gripper finger 21 extending from the upper part of the gripper 20 can be a half cylinder having protrusions 23 on both sides neighboring a recess 24 for accommodating a handling interface 13 of a cap 10. Rotating a gripper finger 21 around its longitudinal axis lets the recesses 24 of each gripper finger enclose the handling interfaces 5 of a carrier (not shown) or the handling interface 13 of a cap 10 which can be formed like a collar (FIG. 3 right part). Each gripper finger 21 may comprise an optical light guide 22 so that a cap 10 or its content can be identified. It is an advantage that the time for gripping and identifying a cap or its content will be reduced.

[0036] FIG. 4 shows a gripper finger 21 in more detail. The optical light guide 22 is shown and the recess 24 which is neighbored by protrusions 23 above and below.

[0037] FIG. 5 shows in its left part a vial 15 comprising a liquid 16 with cap 10 which has a transparent window 14 so that an optical fiber 12 belonging to a device like an automated analyser (not shown) can obtain information relating to optical properties of the liquid 16 in the vial 15. Gripper finger 21 are arranged next to vial 15 in manner that protrusion 23 and recess 24 are averted from handling interface 13 of vial 15 characterizing an open state of the gripper 20.

[0038] The right part of FIG. 5 shows gripper finger 21 which have been rotated around their longitudinal axis so that protrusions 23 and recess 24 enclose handling interface 13 of vial 15 characterizing a closed state of gripper 20 [0039] The gripper 20 may place the cap 10 on vials 15 already filled with a liquid 16 for instance and locks them. FIG. 6 shows a cap 10 that has been placed onto a vial 15. The left part of FIG. 6 shows a perspective view and the right part a sectional view. The collar of the cap serves as a handling interface 13. A cap 10 may further comprise at least one optical window for transmitting optical signals or for identifying a vial IS or its content onto which the cap 10 is located.

[0040] Empty vials 15 may also be gripped as described above for removing them from a carrier.

[0041] The gripper 20 may transport the cap 10 together with the vial 15 through gripper fingers 21 enclosing the collar serving as the integrated handling interface 13 and may transfer it to a thermal cycler. Here, precisely defined temperature ranges are cyclically generated to enable the DNA chain reaction. After the DNA amplification an optical evaluation is performed. The sample liquid is prepared in such a way that the sought DNA sequence emits a fluorescent signal. The sample liquid is irradiated by a light source via the optical fibers 12 and the optical window (FIG. 6). If a fluorescence is present, a positive signal can be detected. The gripper then transports the closed vial with cap for disposal.

[0042] The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto, and their equivalents. The entirety of each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated by reference herein.

Reference Numerals 1 carrier handling interface of carrier 6 frame of carrier 7 stack of carrier 8 cover 9 loading drawer cap 12 optical fiber (device) 13 handling interface of cap 14 transparent window vi al 16 liquid gripper 21 gripper finger 22 optical light guide 23 protrusion 24 recess

Claims

A carrier for consumables in automated analyser systems, wherein the carrier comprises a handling interface that has an identical form as the cap of the consumable The carrier of claim 1, wherein the handling interface of the carrier is formed by at least one circular protrusion like a surrounding collar.
3. The carrier of claim t or 2, wherein the handling interface is centrally located with respect to the surface for taking up consumables.The carrier of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the upper surface of the carrier has an inwards displaced edge that fits into the surrounding edge on the carrier's underside.The carrier of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a cover enclosing at least one carrier.A system for handling carrier and consumables in automated analyser systems, comprising a a carrier according to any one of claims Ito 5; and b a gripper with vertically arranged gripper fingers configured to grip the handling interface of the carrier or a cap located onto a vial.The system of claim 6, wherein the gripper comprises a drive that is connected to the gripper fingers.The system of claim 6, wherein the drive is configured to rotate the gripper finger around their longitudinal axis.The system of any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the gripper fingers comprise at their lower end protrusions configured to enclose the handling interface of a carrier or a cap for a vial The system of any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein at least one gripper finger comprises an optical light guide 11 The system of any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein a cap for a vial comprises at least one optical window.