JP2022117861A - holding block - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a holding block that has a simple configuration, allows a storage object to be touched at the top part thereof, eliminates a complicated operation, prevents damage and opening of the storage object due to accidental contact with the storage object, and allows the storage object to be quickly inserted and taken out.SOLUTION: A holding block 100 allows storage objects W to be inserted and held respectively in work insertion portions 110. The work insertion portion 110 has: a contact wall portion 111 surrounding a periphery of the inserted storage object W; and slits 112 cut at predetermined intervals in the contact wall portion 111. The slits 112 are open on an opening side of the work insertion portion 110.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a holding block for heating and/or cooling while holding an object to be stored, and in particular, for heating and/or cooling while holding a sample or the like used in the process of drug discovery and design in medicine, biotechnology and pharmacy. or with respect to a cooling holding block.

Conventionally, a holding block (THERMAL ENERGY TRANSFER DEVICE) described in Patent Document 1 is known as a holding block that heats and/or cools while holding a container containing a sample.

The holding block (THERMAL ENERGY TRANSFER DEVICE) described in this patent document includes a core (core 210) of thermally conductive material surrounding most of the surface area of the vessels (vessels) and a housing (housing 230) surrounding the core (core 210). When objects to be stored (vessels) are inserted into the core (core 210), the objects to be stored (vessels) are surrounded and held by the core (core 210) except for the upper part.
Further, when the core (210) is covered with the housing (230), the housing (230) is mounted to surround the core (210) and the top of the vessels to be stored, thereby enclosing the vessels around the vessels. Due to the temperature difference between the contacting core (210) and housing (230) and the vessel, the vessel can be efficiently heated and/or cooled and quickly brought to the desired temperature. It is.

U.S. Patent No. 10702870

However, the holding blocks known in the above patent documents and the like have room for further improvement.

That is, the low-temperature storage system described in Patent Document 1 may increase the number of work procedures because the object to be stored is surrounded by a housing after the object to be stored is inserted into the core.
In addition, when taking out the storage object inserted in the core, it is necessary to remove the housing, which may complicate the work.
In addition, when the housing is covered from above the object to be stored, there is a risk that the lid of the object to be stored may come into contact with the lid and be accidentally opened or damaged.
Furthermore, when the upper part of the object to be stored is opened, there is a risk that impurities may be mixed into the object to be stored when the housing is put on or removed.

The present invention solves these problems, has a simple structure, can touch up to the upper part of the object to be stored, does not complicate the work, prevents damage and opening due to unexpected contact with the object to be stored, It is an object of the present invention to provide a holding block in which objects to be stored can be quickly inserted and removed.

A holding block according to the present invention is a holding block capable of holding an object to be stored by inserting it into a hole-shaped work inserting portion, wherein the work inserting portion includes a contact wall portion surrounding the inserted object to be stored, The above problem is solved by having a slit formed by cutting the contact wall portion at a predetermined interval, and by opening the opening side of the workpiece inserting portion to the slit.

According to the holding block of claim 1, the workpiece inserting portion has a contact wall portion surrounding the inserted object to be stored, and slits formed by cutting the contact wall portion at predetermined intervals. Since the opening side of the insertion part is open, when inserting the storage target into the work insertion part with a picking unit, etc., by aligning the direction so that the claws of the picking unit, etc. that hold the storage target pass through the slit, The object to be stored can be reliably inserted into the work insertion portion even if the contact wall portion is provided up to a height that surrounds the upper portion of the object to be stored.
As a result, there is no need to provide a separate member surrounding the upper part of the object to be stored, the number of work procedures is reduced, and complicated work is not increased.
In addition, since the contact wall portion surrounds the object to be stored up to the upper portion, the entire object to be stored can be heated and/or cooled, and the object to be stored can be rapidly brought to a desired temperature.

According to the configuration of claim 2, the slit is formed only at a position where the claws of the picking unit can enter on the opening side of the workpiece inserting portion. The contact wall is formed so as to make contact with the entire surroundings, ensuring a wider contact area between the object to be stored and the contact wall. can be brought to the desired temperature.
According to the configuration of claim 3, a plurality of work inserting portions are arranged at predetermined intervals, and the slit communicates with other adjacent work inserting portions, so that the object to be stored can be inserted into the work inserting portion. If the space between the adjacent work insertion sections is secured by the amount of movement when the picking unit expands the claws, the picking unit can be used without interfering with the storage objects inserted in the adjacent work insertion sections. can be inserted into and removed from the storage target workpiece insertion section.
In addition, it is possible to improve the integration efficiency of the workpiece inserting portion and reduce the size of the holding block itself.
Furthermore, by sharing the slits between the adjacent work insertion sections, the number of slits provided in the holding block can be reduced compared to the case where each work insertion section is provided with a dedicated slit, thereby suppressing the processing cost of the holding block. can be done.

According to the configuration of claim 4, the workpiece insertion portions are arranged in a matrix, and the slits communicate with diagonally adjacent workpiece insertion portions. Since the slits of the work inserting portion provided in the two communicate with each other on a straight line, the holding block can be easily processed, and the efficiency of stacking the work inserting portion can be further improved.
In addition, by designing the claws of the picking unit to open and close diagonally in the same manner as the slits, and by aligning the orientation of the picking unit in advance in the same direction as the slits, the picking unit can move horizontally, move up and down, and move the claws. The object to be stored can be inserted into and removed from the workpiece inserting portion only by the opening and closing operation of the picking unit.
According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the workpiece inserting portion is configured to be detachable at least above the position where the slit is formed. In addition, the specifications of the holding block can be easily adjusted according to changes in specifications such as the number of claws of the picking unit.
Furthermore, by making the lower part of the holding block below where the slit is formed a common part, the space for storing holding blocks with different specifications can be minimized, and storage costs can be reduced. .

1 is a perspective view of a holding block 100 according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 1 is a top view of holding block 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A' of the holding block 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention; B-B' cross-sectional view of the holding block 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an A-A' cross-sectional view showing a procedure 1 for inserting an object W to be stored into the holding block 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view along line B-B' showing a procedure 2 for inserting an object W to be stored into the holding block 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view along line B-B' showing procedure 3 for inserting an object W to be stored into the holding block 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 is an A-A′ cross-sectional view showing a procedure 4 for inserting an object W to be stored into the holding block 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a top view of holding block 200 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

A holding block 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A holding block 100, which is an embodiment of the present invention, holds an object W to be stored by inserting it into a hole-shaped work insertion portion 110. As shown in FIGS. It has a hole-shaped workpiece inserting portion 110 which is open on the upper surface side of the portion 101 .
Twenty-five workpiece insertion portions 110 are provided in a matrix of five rows and five columns. It is formed to be accessible.
The body portion 101 is provided with a slit 112 which is open on the upper surface side and has a predetermined depth shallower than the work insertion portion 110 . formed to communicate with each other.

Next, a procedure for inserting a storage target W into the holding block 100, which is an embodiment of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8. FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, the upper part of the storage target W is gripped by the gripping claws N of the picking unit ∪, and the workpiece W is inserted into the workpiece insertion portion 110 .
At this time, by rotating the picking unit ∪ and aligning the development direction of the gripping claws N with the slit, the gripping claws N do not interfere with the main body 101 as shown in FIG. can be inserted all the way into the

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the gripping claws N gripping the object W to be stored are expanded to release the object W to be stored.
At this time, the gripping claws N can be expanded by the width of the slit 112, and by raising the picking unit ∪ while the gripping claws N are expanded, the holding block 100 and the object to be stored W can be reliably kept without contact. Picking unit ∪ can be removed.

The storage object W inserted into the work insertion portion 110 is in surface contact with the contact wall portion 111 except for the portion facing the slit 112 on the outer peripheral surface.
At this time, if the contents of the object to be stored W are frozen specimens, the main body 101 is made of a material with high thermal conductivity, and if it is preheated, the entire outer peripheral surface of the object to be stored W from the contact wall portion The contents can be heated directly, and the contents can be thawed quickly and efficiently.
In addition, after inserting the storage object W into the work insertion part 110, the upper part of the storage object W can be directly heated without needing to cover the storage object W with another member. There is no danger of unintentional unsealing, and even if the storage object W is in an open state, an accident may occur in which a foreign object or the like falls from another member into the storage object W during the process of covering it with another member. do not have.

After the contents have been thawed, the object to be stored W is lowered by the gripping claws N into the slit 112 in the reverse order of the insertion operation into the work insertion section 110, and the picking unit ∪ is moved while the object to be stored W is being gripped by closing the gripping claws N. By rising, it can be taken out from the holding block 100 and transferred to the next process.
Since the slits 112 are formed so as to communicate with the respective workpiece inserting portions 110 along the diagonal line, if the orientation of the gripping claws N is aligned with the orientation of the slits 112 in advance, the picking unit ∪ rotates. The object to be stored can be transferred only by vertical movement, horizontal movement, and opening/closing operation of the gripping claws N, and the configuration for operating the picking unit ∪ can be simplified.
In addition, since the slit 112 can be used in common when the object W to be stored is inserted into the workpiece inserting portion 110 with which the slit 112 communicates, the length of the slit 112 communicating with the adjacent workpiece inserting portion 110 is the length of the gripping claw N. It is only necessary to secure the amount of movement during opening and closing, and the work insertion sections 110 can be arranged in a more stacked state than when an independent slit 112 is provided for each work insertion section 110 .

In this embodiment, the slit 112 communicates with each workpiece insertion part 110 along a diagonal line, and the storage target W can be gripped using a picking unit ∪ provided with two to four gripping claws N. However, the slits do not necessarily have to communicate with the workpiece insertion portions along the diagonal line, and the workpiece insertion portions arranged in a staggered manner on the main body portion 201 like the holding block 200 shown in FIG. 210, slits may be communicated every 60 degrees so as to connect adjacent work insertion portions 210. In this case, a picking unit ∪ provided with two to six gripping claws N is provided. can be used to transport the object W to be stored.

In addition, although the body portion 101 integrally forms the workpiece insertion portion 110, the contact wall portion 111, and the slit 112, the body portion 101 can be divided above CC' as shown in FIG. With this configuration, the slits can be adjusted when the specifications of the gripping claws N of the picking unit ∪ are changed, and the storage space and cost can be reduced compared to storing the entire main body 101 with various specifications. .
The holding block 100 is generally made of a metal material such as aluminum, but the material of the holding block is not particularly limited. It can be selected as appropriate.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention described in the claims. It is possible.

In the above-described embodiment, the workpiece insertion sections are arranged in a matrix, but the arrangement of the workpiece insertion sections is not limited to this. You can arrange them side by side.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the slits are arranged along the diagonal so as to communicate with each work insertion section, but the arrangement of the slits is not limited to this. Independent slits may be arranged in each direction, slits may be arranged so that only some adjacent work insertion parts communicate, or slits may be arranged so as to communicate only between work insertion parts arranged at arbitrary angles. may be placed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the holding block is used to heat and defrost the object to be stored. However, the application of the holding block is not limited to this. It may also be used for keeping the temperature of the object to be stored so that it does not change from when it is inserted into the workpiece inserting portion.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100, 200... Holding block 101, 201... Main-body part 110, 210... Work insertion part 111, 211... Contact wall part 112, 212... Slit ∪... Picking unit N...・ Grasping claw W ・・・ Object to be stored

Claims (5)

A holding block capable of holding an object to be stored by inserting it into a hole-shaped work insertion part,
The work insertion portion has a contact wall portion surrounding the inserted object to be stored, and slits formed by notching the contact wall portion at predetermined intervals,
The holding block, wherein the slit opens the opening side of the workpiece inserting portion. 2. The holding block according to claim 1, wherein the slit is formed only at a position where the claw of the picking unit can enter, on the opening side of the workpiece inserting portion. A plurality of the work insertion portions are arranged at predetermined intervals,
3. The holding block according to claim 1, wherein the slit communicates with another adjacent workpiece inserting portion. 4. The holding block according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the work inserting portions are arranged in a matrix, and the slit communicates with the work inserting portions that are diagonally adjacent to each other. . 5. The holding block according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the workpiece inserting portion is detachable at least above a position where the slit is formed.

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