Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
  • C12M23/00—Constructional details, e.g. recesses, hinges
  • C12M23/50—Means for positioning or orientating the apparatus
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
  • C12M23/00—Constructional details, e.g. recesses, hinges
  • C12M23/02—Form or structure of the vessel
  • C12M23/10—Petri dish

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to apparatus involved in the inoculation of solid growth culture media with a microbiological sample, and the subsequent streaking of the inoculum to produce isolated bacterial colonies, principally for diagnostic purposes in a laboratory, such as medical diagnostic purposes.
• the present invention specifically relates to a method and an apparatus for orientating a solid growth culture medium plate, both before and after a streaking operation, in an automated streaking apparatus.
• the invention is not to be limited to only that application.
• the hand-tool typically includes a terminal loop to make multiple streaks of increasing dilution of the inoculum across the medium.
• the streaks of increasing dilution tend to provide, generally towards the tail of the streaks, a number of single cells that allow for the growth of isolated microbiological colonies after incubation. These isolated colonies may then be analysed for colony morphology, and may undergo staining and other procedures which are necessary for determining, for example, the genus, the species and the strain of the previously unidentified organism.
• the WyNe and Naccarato patents describe automated and semi-automated apparatus that utilize re-usable streaking tools similar to the hand streaking tools mentioned above, although only the Naccarato patent suggests that its apparatus is capable of orientating a plate from an inverted orientation prior to processing.
• the Naccarato patent describes placing an inverted plate on a conveyor belt, gripping the (uppermost) bottom portion of the plate, and lifting that bottom portion off the lid and away from the belt with an arm that pivots about a horizontal axis that is adjacent to, and lies in the same plane as, the conveyor belt.
• This suggestion seems to require the lid to already be loose on the plate and is clearly likely to be imprecise and have a high failure rate. At the very least, it seems to be likely to give rise to a reasonably slow operation.
• spatial references throughout this specification will generally be based upon a plate ultimately being inoculated and streaked in an automated streaking apparatus in an upright orientation, with the surface of the medium in the plate being generally flat and horizontal (having previously been stored in an inverted orientation for the reasons mentioned above).
• the present invention provides an apparatus for orientating a solid growth culture medium plate from an original orientation to a worked orientation, the plate having a lid and a bottom, the apparatus including an orientation mechanism that includes opposed jaws able to receive and hold a plate therebetween in a held position that defines a notional tube above and below the plate, the orientation mechanism being mounted on a jaw support member such that the jaw support member is rotatable such that at least the plate bottom rotates about a generally horizontal axis that intersects the notional tube to orientate at least the plate bottom from the original orientation to the worked orientation.
• the present invention also provides a method for orientating a solid growth culture medium plate from an original orientation to a worked orientation, the plate having a lid and a bottom and, the method including the steps of: a) clamping a plate in its original orientation between opposed jaws mounted on a jaw support member of an orientation mechanism, thus forming a held position that defines a notional tube above and below the plate; and b) rotating at least the plate bottom about a generally horizontal axis that intersects the notional tube to orientate at least the plate bottom from the original orientation to the worked orientation.
• the apparatus is not only able to orientate a plate from an original orientation to a worked orientation, but is also able to de-lid the plate either before, during or after the orientation. Ideally, one continuous movement will orientate the plate from the original orientation to the worked orientation and de-lid the plate. Also ideally, the apparatus is configured such that the orientation and the de-lidding are both able to occur substantially within the notional tube and thus in essentially the same vertical axis.
• the apparatus will firstly rotate both the lid and the plate bottom, when in the held position, to orientate both from the original orientation to the worked orientation, following which the lid and plate bottom can be separated to de-lid the plate for subsequent processing of the plate bottom.
• the apparatus will rotate only the plate bottom, leaving the lid retained in its original orientation, thus de-lidding and orientating in essentially one motion.
• the present invention also provides an apparatus for orientating a solid growth culture medium plate from an original orientation to a worked orientation, the plate having a lid and a bottom, the apparatus including:
• an orientation mechanism that includes opposed jaws able to receive and hold a plate therebetween in a held position that defines a notional tube above and below the plate, one of the jaws including a plate-bottom gripping device and being rotatably mounted on a jaw support member such that the plate bottom rotates about a generally horizontal axis that intersects the notional tube to orientate the plate bottom from the original orientation to the worked orientation, the other jaw including a lid-gripping device that retains the lid in its original orientation during rotation of the plate bottom; and
• ⁇ a plate platform having a plate clamping member able to receive, from the orientation mechanism, the plate bottom in its worked orientation.
• the plate bottom in its worked orientation will preferably lie below and underneath the retained lid (which will have been retained in its original orientation) and thus still lies generally within the notional tube.
• the de-lidding will also have occurred generally within the notional tube.
• the present invention thus also provides a further method for orientating a solid growth culture medium plate from an original orientation to a worked orientation, the plate having a lid and a bottom, the method including the steps of: a) clamping a plate in its original orientation between opposed jaws, one of the jaws including a plate-bottom gripping device rotatably mounted on a jaw support member of an orientation mechanism, thus forming a held position that defines a notional tube above and below the plate, the other jaw including a lid-gripping device; b) rotating the plate bottom about a generally horizontal axis that intersects the notional tube to orientate the plate bottom from the original position to the worked position, while retaining the lid in its original orientation; and c) engaging the orientated plate bottom with a plate clamping member of a plate platform to clamp the plate bottom.
• the plates for use with this invention are likely to be circular, with the lid and bottom therefore defining therebetween a perimetric sidewalk
• the notional tube defined above and below the plate is merely a continuation of the partial circular tube formed by the sidewall, continuing indefinitely above and below the plate, and would include that partial circular tube.
• the tube is notional in that it is an imaginary surface defined as mentioned above for the purposes of defining the present invention.
• the plate were to be, for example, a square shaped plate, the notional tube would be an imaginary surface defined by the continuation of the square sectioned tube formed by four sidewalls, again continuing indefinitely above and below the plate and including the square sectioned tube.
• the notional tube defined by the held position is likely to be a notional vertical tube.
• the horizontal axis about which the plate bottom (in the preferred form) is rotated is to intersect this notional vertical tube.
• the axis of rotation will actually intersect the partial tube defined within the lid, the bottom and the side walls of the plate, and will most preferably intersect that partial tube so as to intersect the center or very close to the center (the radial centre for a circular plate) of the plate.
• the plate bottom will then be rotated about its own radial centre (or very nearly about its own radial centre), which is likely to represent the fastest form of orientation of the plate bottom from the original orientation to the worked orientation.
• the opposed jaws will then be an upper jaw and a lower jaw, the upper jaw including the preferred plate-bottom gripping device, the lower jaw including the preferred lid-gripping device, and the notional tube being a notional vertical tube.
• the jaw support member of the orientation mechanism is not only able to rotate such that the plate bottom rotates about a generally horizontal axis that intersects the notional vertical tube to orientate the plate bottom from its original orientation to its worked orientation (which will preferably be a rotation of 180 degrees and thus an orientation 180 degrees removed from the original orientation), but the jaw support member will also be movable generally vertically such that the plate bottom, ideally at the commencement of the rotation, can be raised slightly away from the lid to release the bottom from the lid in the same continuous motion that then moves into the rotation of the plate bottom down and underneath the retained lid.
• the plate bottom can be lowered onto the plate platform from above (ideally still within the notional vertical tube, as mentioned above) such that the bottom of the plate is moved downwardly to engage with the plate clamping member.
• the most preferred form of the present invention will allow for the de-lidding, orientation and lowering of the plate bottom to the platform to occur in one smooth continuous motion.
• the de-lidded and orientated plate bottom will then be clamped into the plate platform and the plate platform is then preferably able to be moved horizontally, independently of the other jaw that has retained the lid in its original orientation, away from the notional vertical tube, into some other position (such as a plate work position) where easy access to the medium in the plate can be provided.
• the apparatus of the present invention is primarily suitable for use with an automated streaking apparatus, ideally of the type generally described in the present applicant's international patent application filed on 11 January 2008 titled “Method and Apparatus for Inoculating and Streaking a Medium in a Plate", claiming priority from Australian provisional patent application 2007900146, the full content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
• streaking apparatus generally includes:
• a plate transfer feed mechanism capable of obtaining an inverted raw plate (this being the plate's original orientation) from the plate supply, orientating the raw plate such that its bottom is lowermost and it is de- lidded (this being its worked orientation), and transferring the orientated plate bottom to a plate work position in an inoculating and streaking station;
• an inoculating device capable of dispensing inoculum on the surface of the medium in the positioned plate;
• a streaking device capable of obtaining a streaking applicator from a streaking applicator supply and then moving the streaking applicator such that its line of spaced apart contact surfaces contacts the surface of the medium in the positioned plate, prior to rotation of the positioned plate for streaking;
• a plate transfer store mechanism capable of retrieving a processed plate from the plate work position, re-lidding and re-orientating the processed plate to its inverted orientation (its original orientation), and transferring the processed plate to the plate store.
• the apparatus of the present invention is intended to be suitable for use as a part of either or both of the plate transfer feed mechanism and the plate transfer store mechanism in the de-lidding and orientation of a plate, and its subsequent placement in the plate work position in such an automated streaking apparatus.
• the opposed plate-receiving jaws of the orientation mechanism are preferably configured so as to contact the top and bottom walls of a plate, of course being the lid and bottom mentioned above, as opposed to the perimetric side wall of a plate.
• one or both of the jaws will be retractable such that the jaws can be brought together to clamp a plate therebetween, and one or both of the jaws will include a vacuum-actuated gripping device,.
• the plate-receiving jaws are mounted for rotation of at least a plate bottom about a horizontal axis in one of the x or y directions such that the plate bottom can be orientated by 180 degrees about that axis to bring the plate bottom into its worked orientation.
• this worked orientation will be the plate's normal, upright (lid upwards) orientation.
• the orientation mechanism is able to move to be located over the platform mentioned above, or will already be located over that platform, ideally in a smoothly continuous motion as part of the orientation action.
• the plate bottom may thus be lowered onto the platform in the same motion as the orientation, ideally to be both centralized upon the platform and clamped thereby.
• the jaw holding the plate bottom will be formed from a pair of elongate prongs spaced apart by a distance no larger than the diameter of the bottom of a plate, such that the prongs can be being loosely received within a plate clamping member of the platform such that they are not clamped when the plate is clamped.
• the plate bottom can be left centralized and clamped upon the platform, in a manner that permits the platform holding the clamped plate bottom to be moved away (if necessary) and into a plate work position, also as mentioned above.
• the reverse operation then moves the platform, with the clamped plate bottom (after processing and with no lid), out of the plate work position into a position below the retained lid (still in its original position).
• the plate bottom can then be rotated back up over the lid, to re-join the plate bottom with the lid, such that the plate is returned to its original orientation.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view from above of an apparatus in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention
• Figure 2 is a perspective view from above of the apparatus of Figure 1 showing a plate in the held position still in its original orientation;
• Figure 3 is a perspective view from above of the apparatus of Figure 1 showing the plate bottom being orientated from its original orientation to its worked orientation;
• Figure 4 is a perspective view from above of the apparatus of Figure 1 showing the orientated plate bottom clamped in a platform in its worked orientation having been de-lidded;
• Figure 5 is a perspective view from above of the apparatus of Figure 1 showing the orientated and de-lidded plate bottom in a plate work position in an automated streaking apparatus.
• FIG. 1 shows the apparatus at rest before a plate 12 (shown in Figures 2 to 5) has been placed within it, while Figure 5 shows the apparatus having been used to orientate and de-lid the plate 12 for subsequent transfer to the plate work position A adjacent a sensor B of an automated streaking apparatus (not shown).
• the plate 12 has a lid 12a and a bottom 12b and, in this embodiment, is a circular plate that has a single perimetric sidewall 12c.
• the plate 12 is provided to the apparatus in the inverted orientation that is common in most laboratories, namely with the bottom 12b uppermost and the lid 12a lowermost, as is shown in Figure 2.
• the apparatus 10 includes an orientation mechanism, generally indicated by the reference numeral 14, that includes opposed jaws (being a lower jaw 16a and an upper jaw 16b when viewed before use and at rest as in Figure 1 ) able to receive and hold the plate 12 therebetween.
• one of the jaws (in this case the lower jaw 16a) is a retractable, vacuum-actuated lid-gripping device 36
• the other (the upper jaw 16b) is a pair of retractable elongate prongs 38 spaced apart by a distance no larger than the diameter of the bottom 12b of the plate 12
• the upper jaw 16b also including a vacuum-actuated plate-bottom gripping device in the form of vacuum actuated suction caps 39a,39b arranged on respective prongs 38.
• the plate 12 When initially placed between the jaws (16a,16b), the plate 12 is held therebetween in a position that is thus defined herein as a "held position". As can be seen from Figure 2, the held position defines a notional tube X above and below the plate 12, the notional tube X being a continuation of the partial circular tube formed by the sidewall 12c of the plate 12, which continues indefinitely above and below the plate 12.
• the notional tube X thus includes the partial circular tube formed by the sidewall 12c.
• the orientation mechanism 14 includes a jaw support member 20 upon which at least one of the opposed jaws (16a,16b) are mounted.
• the upper jaw 16b is integral with the support member 20 such that it is retractable and such that the jaw support member 20 is rotatable such that at least the plate bottom12b rotates about a generally horizontal axis Y that intersects the notional tube X to orientate at least the plate bottom 12b from the original orientation to the worked orientation.
• the jaw support member 20 can be seen mounted to a movable mount 50 that is able to both rotate and move vertically to provide the jaw support member 20 with the range of movement required.
• the jaw support member 20 itself may also be configured to move vertically independent of the movable mount 50, thus providing extra ranges of movement if required, perhaps utilizing the central slot 52 and a movable pivot (not shown) therewithin. Indeed, such an arrangement would also provide the jaw support member 20 with a range of movements in the horizontal direction lateral to line y, thus assisting with any required movement of the plate bottom 12b away from the lid 12a as it is rotated off the lid 12a.
• FIGs 4 and 5 also show the mounting of the lower jaw 16a independently of the upper jaw 16b, such that the lower jaw 16a can be retained in its original orientation as the lower jaw 16b (and thus the plate bottom 12b) is raised therefrom and rotated around thereunder during the orientation of the plate bottom 12b from its original orientation to its worked orientation.
• the horizontal axis Y it is preferred to locate the horizontal axis Y as close as possible to the radial centre of the plate 12 (or rather to ensure that the plate 12 is held in a position between the jaws (16a,16b) that is such that the radial centre of the plate 12 is close to the horizontal axis Y), in order to minimize the time for rotation and also the space required within the apparatus to conduct this re-orientation task.
• this is due to the preferred retention of the lid 12a in its original orientation and the need to thus slightly raise the plate bottom 12b upwardly and away from the lid 12a and then rotate the plate bottom 12b around the stationary lid 12a, requiring the plate bottom 12b to be moved out of the notional tube X before being returned to within the notional tube X below the lid 12a.
• the aim is then to provide enough space in the apparatus for the plate bottom 12b to be rotated in this manner, whilst still ensuring a short distance of travel for the plate bottom 12b as the orientation is occurring, and then downwardly to the plate platform 30, ideally still generally within the notional tube X.
• the relative spacings illustrated in the figures have been found to be optimal for the conflicting timing requirements outlined above.
• the jaw support member 20 of the orientation mechanism 14 is able to rotate such that the plate bottom 12b rotates about a generally horizontal axis Y that intersects the notional tube X to orientate the plate bottom 12b from its original orientation to its worked orientation (which will preferably be a rotation of 180 degrees and thus an orientation 180 degrees removed from the original orientation).
• the jaw support member 20 is also movable generally vertically (in the direction of arrow Z 1 in Figure 1 ) such that the plate bottom 12b, during orientation or after orientation, can be lowered onto the plate platform 30 from above (still within the notional tube X) in a smoothly continuous motion such that the plate bottom 12b is moved downwardly to engage with a plate clamping member 32, with the prongs 38 being loosely received within a cooperatively shaped channel 40 of the platform 30 such that they are not clamped when the plate 12 is clamped (such as the position shown in Figure 4).
• the plate clamping member 32 is in the form of three movable lugs operated by a camming device (not shown), which lugs are preferably also able to function as a plate centralizing means for centralizing the position of the plate on the platform 30. This can be useful for subsequent operations with the plate bottom 12b.
• the clamped plate bottom 12b can then be moved away from the prongs 38 horizontally (in the direction of arrow Z 2 in Figure 5), and independently of the orientation mechanism 14, away from the notional tube X and into a plate work position A, where easy access to the medium in the plate bottom 12b can be provided.
• the reverse operation then moves the platform 30, with the clamped plate bottom 12b (after processing in the plate work position A and with no lid), out of the plate work position A into position back within the notional tube X, where the prongs 38 are again loosely received within the channel 40 of the platform 30 by the plate clamping member 32 of the platform 30 (and are arranged under the plate bottom 12b).
• the lid 12a can then be re-applied to the plate bottom 12b by slightly raising the plate bottom 12b off the platform 30 and then again rotating the plate bottom 12b, by the jaw support member 20, to be returned to its original orientation in association with the lid 12a.

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• 2008
  • 2008-01-11 AU AU2008204729A patent/AU2008204729B2/en active Active
  • 2008-01-11 WO PCT/AU2008/000017 patent/WO2008083440A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2008-01-11 CN CN2008800019231A patent/CN101636482B/zh active Active
  • 2008-01-11 US US12/520,972 patent/US8408860B2/en active Active
  • 2008-01-11 EP EP08700007.1A patent/EP2092053B1/en active Active
  • 2008-01-11 JP JP2009545040A patent/JP5344622B2/ja active Active
• 2013
  • 2013-02-28 US US13/780,291 patent/US8696294B2/en active Active

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