Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N35/00—Automatic analysis not limited to methods or materials provided for in any single one of groups G01N1/00 - G01N33/00; Handling materials therefor
  • G01N35/0099—Automatic analysis not limited to methods or materials provided for in any single one of groups G01N1/00 - G01N33/00; Handling materials therefor comprising robots or similar manipulators
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25B—TOOLS OR BENCH DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, FOR FASTENING, CONNECTING, DISENGAGING OR HOLDING
  • B25B11/00—Work holders not covered by any preceding group in the subclass, e.g. magnetic work holders, vacuum work holders
  • B25B11/005—Vacuum work holders
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N35/00—Automatic analysis not limited to methods or materials provided for in any single one of groups G01N1/00 - G01N33/00; Handling materials therefor
  • G01N35/02—Automatic analysis not limited to methods or materials provided for in any single one of groups G01N1/00 - G01N33/00; Handling materials therefor using a plurality of sample containers moved by a conveyor system past one or more treatment or analysis stations
  • G01N35/04—Details of the conveyor system
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H10P72/00—Handling or holding of wafers, substrates or devices during manufacture or treatment thereof
  • H10P72/70—Handling or holding of wafers, substrates or devices during manufacture or treatment thereof for supporting or gripping
  • H10P72/76—Handling or holding of wafers, substrates or devices during manufacture or treatment thereof for supporting or gripping using mechanical means, e.g. clamps or pinches
  • H10P72/7602—Handling or holding of wafers, substrates or devices during manufacture or treatment thereof for supporting or gripping using mechanical means, e.g. clamps or pinches the wafers being placed on a robot blade or gripped by a gripper for conveyance
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H10P72/00—Handling or holding of wafers, substrates or devices during manufacture or treatment thereof
  • H10P72/70—Handling or holding of wafers, substrates or devices during manufacture or treatment thereof for supporting or gripping
  • H10P72/78—Handling or holding of wafers, substrates or devices during manufacture or treatment thereof for supporting or gripping using vacuum or suction, e.g. Bernoulli chucks
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N35/00—Automatic analysis not limited to methods or materials provided for in any single one of groups G01N1/00 - G01N33/00; Handling materials therefor
  • G01N35/02—Automatic analysis not limited to methods or materials provided for in any single one of groups G01N1/00 - G01N33/00; Handling materials therefor using a plurality of sample containers moved by a conveyor system past one or more treatment or analysis stations
  • G01N35/04—Details of the conveyor system
  • G01N2035/0401—Sample carriers, cuvettes or reaction vessels
  • G01N2035/0418—Plate elements with several rows of samples
  • G01N2035/042—Plate elements with several rows of samples moved independently, e.g. by fork manipulator
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T29/00—Metal working
  • Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
  • Y10T29/49998—Work holding
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T29/00—Metal working
  • Y10T29/53—Means to assemble or disassemble
  • Y10T29/53991—Work gripper, anvil, or element

Definitions

• Microplates are generally utilized in the performance of biological assays, wherein the effects of a drug, bacte ⁇ a or virus on living cells is characte ⁇ stized, e.g. toxicity, metabolism, etc. Microplates are also utilized to store chemical compounds. More particularly, biological assays are utilized to determine the mter-reaction of pharmaceutical compositions.
• microplates will generally contain a large mat ⁇ x of sample collection wells.
• the microplates can be arranged in mat ⁇ ces of 5x6, 6x8, 8x10, 8x12, etc. After samples are collected in microplate wells, a lid is generally placed thereupon to prevent evaporation and contamination, and the microplate can be held in cold storage until ready for screening.
• the present invention provides an apparatus that can be automated for utilization with robotic handling systems to securely grip and hold a container such as a microplate dunng lid removal, mixing or oscillation operations
• a container such as a microplate dunng lid removal, mixing or oscillation operations
• the apparatus of the invention can also be adapted to grip and hold a vanety of containers, e.g microplates, jars, vials, dishes, etc , while removing lids, rotating, oscillating, agitating, removing samples therefrom, and other operations as will become apparent to those skilled in the art SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• a honzontally positioned, flat surfaced base compnsing: 1) a vertical aperture partially extending through the top of the base, n) a honzontal aperture extending through a side of the base and intersecting the vertical aperture, in) a plurality of intermittent, vertical, raised edges on the top of the base, and IV) means for attaching the base to a support,
• a flat, elastic plate gasket conforming to the shape of the base, resting on top of the base between the raised edges, the gasket having a vertical aperture therethrough aligning with the vertical aperture of the base, wherein the height of the raised edges extend above the height of the plate gasket;
• a flat, bottom container having a d thereon and conforming to the shape of the base being placed on top of the plate gasket, fitting within and abutting against the raised edges of the base, and a vacuum being applied to the base, the container is suctionally pulled down towards the base and securely held there without loss of vacuum while means for removing the lid is being applied thereto
• FIG. 1 is an isometnc view in elevation of the microplate gnpping apparatus illustrating a lidded microplate being held by robotic fingers, wherein the microplate is aligned with and positioned above the apparatus,
• FIG. 2 is a side view in elevation of the the microplate gnpping apparatus illustrating aligned vertical apertuies through the base and plate gasket, and a honzontal aperture through the base that intersects with the vertical aperture of the base
• FIG. 3 is an isometnc view in elevation of the gnpping apparatus, wherein the raised, vertical edges, apertures, and attachment means are shown;
• FIG. 4 is an isometnc view in elevation of a lidded microplate resting on the apparatus, wherein the robotic fingers are positioned against the plate.
• the invention descnbed herein is a static apparatus for gnpping and securely holding a microplate dunng an automated or robotic process of removing a hd from the top of the plate to expose fluid samples in the wells of the plate.
• the shape of the apparatus will generally conform to the shape of a microplate, e.g square, oval or rectangular. Typically, the shape of a microplate will be square or rectangular.
• the apparatus for gnppmg and securely holding a rectangular-shaped, microplate dunng robotic de-hd operations can be charactenzed as-
• a honzontally positioned, rectangular-shaped, flat-top base 10 compnsing I) a centrally positioned, vertical aperture 12 partially extending through the top of the base, n) a horizontal aperture 14 partially extending through a side of the base and intersecting the vertical aperture to form a conduit, in) vertical, raised edges 16 proximal to the corners of the top of the base, and IV) means for attaching 18 the base to a support, e g a chemical adherent, bolts and nuts, screws or clamps,
• a lidded, flat, bottom microplate the lid 50 having bottom edges protruding from the side of the plate, the plate being held on opposing sides by robotic, fingers 60, the microplate being placed on top of the plate gasket, the bottom of the fingers proximal on the ledge of the base, the microplate fitting within and abutting against the raised edges, a vacuum being drawn on base, the microplate being suctionally pulled towards the base and securely held there without loss of vacuum, the robotic fingers releasing the microplate, and the fingers being raised to contact the protruding, bottom edges of the lid, and the fingers being raised to remove the lid.
• FIG. 2 a side view in elevation of the microplate gripping apparatus 10 illustrating the conduit utilized for applying the vacuum means formed by vertical aperture 12 and horizontal aperture 14 extending through the base is shown. More particularly, the horizontal aperture is bored through a side of the base, extending partially through, and intersects the vertical aperture bored through the top of the base, extending partially therethrough. The two apertures intersect to form a conduit having a first end on the top of the base and a second end on the side of the base. To the side aperture, the vacuum means, in the form of a vacuum pump or other vacuum device can be connected.
• the plate gasket also has vertical aperture 22 completely bored therethrough, wherein the aperture aligns with the horizontal aperture of the base.
• the vacuum means can be automatically controlled by a solenoid valve programmed to operate in sequence with the robotic fingers. That is, the solenoid valve can be timed to apply a vacuum after the microplate has been placed on the apparatus, and release the vacuum after the fingers have removed the lid of the microplate.
• a flat, bottom microplate placed between the raised edges onto the plate gasket will be suctionally held in place by a vacuum force.
• the vacuum force actually pulls the plate onto the plate gasket, wherein the elastic material of the plate gasket compresses, wherein none of the vacuum is lost and the microplate is gripped and held securely.
• an isometric view of the apparatus illustrates the raised edges 16 proximal to the corners of gripping apparatus 10, wherein the edges have a height greater than the base.
• these raised edges will exhibit a height of at least about one-half or greater than the height of the microplate placed thereon.
• the raised edges of the base will possess inwardly angled chamfers, wherein the chamfers will angle downward towards the top of the base at an angle of from about 30° to about 60°; preferably the chamfers will be at an angle of about 45°.
• the height of the lower side of the chamfer edge will partially extend up the side of the top of the microplate. Since the robotic fingers will not always release the microplate exactly within the raised edges, the chamfered, raised edges are designed to guide the microplate down onto the apparatus after the robotic fingers release the plate.
• FIG. 4 there is illustrated an isometnc view in elevation of lidded microplate 10 resting on the gnpping apparatus.
• Ledges 24 defined as the honzontal spacing between the vertical edges of base and vertical edges of the plate gasket, are shown as being adjacent to the outer penmeter of the base. These ledges are adapted for abutting and protecting robotic fingers 60 from damage if the fingers are mis-aligned as they deliver and retneve the microplate.
• the surface area dimensions of the microplate and base (within the raised edges) should be similar so that the microplate will fit on top of the plate gasket without any overhang
• the robotic fingers should be about equal to the thickness of the plate gasket.
• the plate gasket will be constructed of a flexible, resilient matenal such as natural and synthetic rubbers, nitnle, ethylene-propylene-diene monomer, silicon or thermoplastic elastomers Suitable thermoplastic elastomers will include polypropylene, polyethylene and polyurethane
• the base of the apparatus will be constructed of a solid, non-flexible matenal such a metals or non- elastic, thermoplastic matenals
• the metallic matenal of constructions can consists of pure metals, e g copper, zinc, magnesium, etc , or alloys thereof, such as aluminum, brass, vanous steels, e g stainless steel
• the thermoplastic matenals can include polyvinylchlonde, polyacetals, polycarbonates, polyamides, polyimides, and nylons

Landscapes

• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Pathology (AREA)
• Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Biochemistry (AREA)
• Immunology (AREA)
• Robotics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Automatic Analysis And Handling Materials Therefor (AREA)
• Manipulator (AREA)
• Sampling And Sample Adjustment (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=22580324

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Cited By (4)

Families Citing this family (17)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (18)

• 2000
  • 2000-10-10 US US09/686,645 patent/US6449827B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-10-18 WO PCT/US2000/028781 patent/WO2001030541A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-10-18 EP EP00973626A patent/EP1226004A4/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-10-18 AU AU12121/01A patent/AU774002B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-10-18 CA CA002386760A patent/CA2386760C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-10-18 JP JP2001532931A patent/JP4565791B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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