WO2011126391A1

WO2011126391A1 - Device for placing slides into containers

Info

Publication number: WO2011126391A1
Application number: PCT/RU2010/000169
Authority: WO
Inventors: Илья Борисович ИЗВОЗЧИКОВ; Анатолий Иванович КУРАПОВ
Original assignee: Izvozchikov Ilya Borisovitch; Kurapov Anatoliy Ivanovitch
Priority date: 2010-04-07
Filing date: 2010-04-07
Publication date: 2011-10-13

Abstract

A device for placing slides with histological sections equipped with a code to be read into containers for archive storage comprises at least one container for arranging plates with the slides, said container being connected to a drive for performing a reciprocal movement of said container in the vertical plane, a horizontal push rod which has, at the working end, a fitting for clamping the plates and is equipped with a drive for moving the plates into the working zone arranged outside the container, as well as a clamp for the slides, said clamp being equipped with a drive for performing a reciprocal movement in the horizontal plane over the working zone. The clamp for the slides is in the form of a head having at least two downwardly directed clamping elements. The head is mounted so as to be capable of being rotated through 180° in the horizontal plane and of being raised and lowered vertically with the aid of an additional drive.

Description

DEVICE FOR LAYING SUBJECTS OF GLASSES IN CONTAINERS

Technical field

5 The invention relates to laboratory equipment and may find application in medical and biological laboratories specializing in histological and cytological studies.

Tissue sections of biological and histological samples,

10 placed on glass slides and enclosed in an optical medium, after microscopic examination, as a rule, are stored in the archive. Slices of tissues taken for histological examination for diagnostic purposes, surgical surgical material, autopsy material, criminological research material and others are stored. In all

15 cases for storage collect together all glasses related to one case, patient or object of study. The second requirement for storage is freedom of access, that is, glass should be easily removed from the archive.

The prior art.

0 For the storage of glasses, for example, cabinets are used, such as file cabinets, with drawers the width of which slightly exceeds the double standard width of the slide, and the height of the side walls and the separation wall is at least half the standard length of the slide. Glasses are placed in boxes 5 vertically in two rows; with more than two rows, the box becomes too heavy. Glasses are usually positioned so that in each row there is enough free space so that the glasses can be moved apart to read a number or designation.

0 Stacking glasses in boxes for archival storage is still done manually. This is done as follows.

Microscopic slides return to the laboratory spread out on tablets. A tablet can have 10-30 (most often 20) cells for glass, and can be filled partially or completely. All glasses of one case are placed, as a rule, on one tablet; however, two or more cases may be collected on the tablet. The researcher sequentially takes the glasses for microscopy and after viewing returns them to the tablet. However, he can not put the glass in the place where it was lying before; he may also not see that the inscribed or coded ends of all the glasses are in the same direction.

When stacking in an archive box, the laboratory assistant takes each glass and determines to which case it refers. If the glasses are coded, the technician uses a code reader. Glasses of one case are collected in a stack, a stack of glasses is placed in an archive box, arranging cases in series. On the front wall of the box is marked what cases it contains.

Manual folding is time consuming and time consuming. Tablets, boxes, stacks of glasses with this layout take up a lot of space in the laboratory.

A device for placing slides in tablets [WO 2007/049994, M.cl. B65B 5/10, 2007]. The specified device includes at least one container for placing tablets connected to a drive for reciprocating movement in a vertical plane, a horizontal pusher having a gripper on the working end of the tablets and equipped with a drive for moving the tablets into the working area located outside the container, as well as a gripper for a glass slide, equipped with a drive for moving in a horizontal plane above the working area.

The known device is effective when stacking slides in tablets, but cannot be used for the inverse task of removing glasses from tablets.

Disclosure of invention The basis of the invention is the task of creating a device that allows you to mechanize the time-consuming procedure of laying slides in containers for archival storage.

According to the invention, a device for laying slides with histological sections, equipped with a readable code, in containers for archival storage, comprising at least one container for placing tablets with glasses, connected to a drive for reciprocating movement of the specified container in a vertical plane, according to the invention at the working end, a device for gripping tablets and equipped with a drive for moving the tablets into the working area located outside the container, and e grip for slides, equipped with a drive for reciprocating it in a horizontal plane above the working area, in which the grip for the slides is made in the form of a head having at least two downhill gripping elements mounted rotatably 180 ° to horizontal plane and vertical lifting and lowering, for which the head is equipped with an additional drive.

The device may additionally include means for placing archive containers, executed in the form of a truncated cone in which a bed is made for placing archive containers with an inclination of 3-7 °, equipped with a drive for rotating the cone and a lever for raising and lowering the archive containers having a separate drive.

The device may include two containers for tablets with glasses, each of which has a separate reciprocating drive in a vertical plane.

The slide head for the slide can have 4-6 downwardly extending gripping elements.

A brief description of the figures of the drawings.

The inventive device can be described with reference to the drawings shown in FIG. 1-6.

In FIG. 1 is a general front view of a device with means for accommodating archive containers.

In FIG. 2 shows a side view of the same device.

In FIG. 3 is a top view of the same device with means for accommodating archive containers.

In FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a gripping view of a glass slide.

In FIG. 5 presents in axonometric projection a General view of the inventive device with a means for placing archive containers.

In FIG. 6 presents an archive container (top view and side view) used in the inventive device.

The container 1 for accommodating tablets 2 with glasses has a drive 3 (Fig. 1 and 3) of the reciprocating movement in a vertical plane. The pusher 4 (Fig. 3) has a gripper 5 for tablets on the working end. This grip may be mechanical or magnetic. The pusher 4 is moved by the drive 6 along the guide 7 (Fig. 2 and 3). The grip for the slides 9 is moved above the working area along the guide 10 using the actuator 11 (Fig. 1 and 3). The capture head 12 (see FIG. 4) has at least 2 or 4 gripping elements 13. The gripping elements 13 may be spring loaded. The head 12 is connected to the actuator 14, which rotates the head 180 ° and vice versa, and the actuator 15, which lowers and raises the head. However, both of these movements (in the vertical plane and in the horizontal) can be carried out using one drive. On the capture 9 is a code reader (not shown).

The working area, that is, the place where the pusher 5 extends the tablets with glasses, is limited by the guides 16 (Fig. 3). Under the working area there is an unloading table 17 (Fig. 1), installed with the possibility of lifting to the working area and lowering (as unloading empty tablets), for which the table 17 is equipped with a drive 18.

The device may also include means for placing archive containers for loading them (see Fig. 1, 3 and 5). The tool is made in the form of a truncated cone 19, in which a bed 20 is made for installing fillable archive containers 21. The inclination of each bed is necessary to hold the glasses in the archive containers during rotation of the cone.

The cone 19 is provided with an actuator 22 (Fig. 1) for rotating the cone, as well as a lever 23 with an actuator 24 for raising and lowering the archive containers in the position when the archive container is placed against glass. On the casing 25 means guiding groove 26 is implemented to maintain the archive container (see Fig. 1, 3 and 5) when filling it.

The archive container is made in the form of a box (Fig. 6) having, for example, one longitudinal 27 and three transverse partitions 28. However, a different number of transverse partitions is possible. Archive container can be made of plastic or metal.

The device operates as follows.

In the container 1, tablets 2 are laid with the slides entering the archive. Each tablet is sequentially displayed stepwise by pusher 4 into the working area. The step equals the distance between the transverse rows of cells in the tablet. Capture 9 passes over the transverse row of cells of the tablet; the code reader notes the presence or absence of glass in the tablet cell, the identification numbers of the existing glasses and their location in the cell. In this way, all the tablets 2 embedded in the container 1 are examined, the data are sent to the control computer.

Having found that the embedded tablets, or parts of them, have a complete set of glasses related to one or several consecutive cases, the computer gives a signal to the container 1 drive, which brings the desired tablet to the level of the working area, to the pusher 4, outputting the corresponding row of tablet cells in the working area, and to capture 9, which brings the head 12 to the desired cell, if necessary, rotates it through 180 ° so that all the glasses are oriented in the same direction, and lowers the head 12 to capture the glass. The gripping elements 13 capture the glass, hold it, the head 12 rises, the pusher 4 moves the tablet 2 if necessary, and the gripper 9 moves to the next glass of the series, where the operation is repeated. Thus, between the elements 13, a stack of glasses related to one or more successive cases accumulates.

During the collection of glasses from the tablets, the cone 19 is rotated by the drive 22 so that the desired archive container is placed opposite the capture 9. The lever 23 with the help of the actuator 24 raises the container 21 so that the required compartment of the container is against the working area. The head 12 of the capture 9 is moved towards the container 21 and puts a stack of glasses in the compartment of the container 21.

After unloading, the empty tablet 2 is lowered onto the unloading stage 17, which is lowered by the drive 18, so that the empty plates can be unloaded without stopping the device.

The inventive device allows to mechanize and automate a time-consuming operation, save work space and reduce the risk of errors.

Industrial applicability

The inventive device for laying slides with histological sections in archive containers can be used in laboratories, especially large ones specializing in histological and cytological studies.

Claims

Claim

1. Device for laying slides with histological sections, equipped with a readable code, in containers for archival storage, including at least one container for placing tablets with glasses, connected to a drive for reciprocating movement of the specified container in a vertical plane, a horizontal pusher having on the working end a device for gripping tablets and equipped with a drive for moving the tablets into the working area located outside the container, as well as behind cotton for slides, equipped with a drive for reciprocating its movement in a horizontal plane above the working area, characterized in that the grip for the slides is made in the form of a head having at least two downward capturing elements mounted rotatably 180 ° in the horizontal plane and vertical lifting and lowering, for which the head is equipped with an additional drive.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that it further includes means for accommodating archive containers, made in the form of a truncated cone, in which a bed for accommodating archive containers is made with an inclination of 3-7 °, said means is provided with a drive for rotation and a lever for raising and lowering the archive containers having a separate drive.