Low temperature sample storage and access device and storage and access method

Abstract

The present invention provides a low-temperature sample storage and access device, which includes: a sample rack, wherein the interior of the rack maintains a low-temperature environment, the exterior of the rack is a sub-low-temperature environment, and the sample rack is provided with at least one outlet; a sample carrier for loading sample containers, comprising a first magnet; a carrier transport device located outside the rack, comprising a movable block and a drive device thereof, wherein the movable block has a second magnet, and the second magnet can generate non-contact mutual attraction with the first magnet, and the drive device can drive the movable block to move along the outer surface of the rack and drive the carrier to move inside the rack by means of the mutual attraction; a control system, which can record the position of the sample carrier and control the movement of the movable block. In the sample storage and access device of the present invention, all mechanical moving parts are in a sub-low-temperature environment, which reduces the occurrence of faults. At the same time, the machine can be inspected and repaired at a sub-low temperature without affecting the ambient temperature of the stored samples.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of life sciences, and in particular to a low-temperature sample storage and access device and a method for storing and taking out low-temperature samples using the device. Background Art

[0002] Biological samples are extremely valuable scientific research resources. The sample library mainly collects and preserves various biological samples, such as blood, urine, saliva, tissues, cells, etc., to meet the needs of clinical diagnosis and treatment and scientific research. It is the core link in conducting precision medicine and translational medicine research.

[0003] Traditionally, biological samples are stored in cryogenic tubes, each of which has a unique barcode on it to facilitate querying and tracking of the sample and ensure the safety of the sample. The sample is then placed in a cryogenic box and stored somewhere in the refrigerator.

[0004] This traditional storage method is prone to errors in management. For example, when samples are in and out of the warehouse, in order to pick a sample, the whole box of samples needs to be taken out, resulting in multiple openings and closings of the refrigerator door, making the temperature inside the refrigerator unstable, which can easily cause the sample quality to substandard; or samples from multiple departments are stored together, and space and permissions must be allocated based on the current situation and future development. In addition, there are widespread phenomena such as incomplete sample data and substandard quality, which seriously affect the reliability of related research results. Therefore, efficiently acquiring and storing biological samples with qualified quality and complete data, so that they can serve medical big data research more effectively, has become the key to the development of the biological industry.

[0005] At present, there are two main ways to store and retrieve samples from a low-temperature environment: mechanical movement and pneumatic transmission. The mechanical movement method mainly stores samples in a container of fixed shape, uses a robotic arm to put in or take out the container in a low-temperature environment, and then picks out the required samples from the fixed container in a sub-low-temperature environment, and then puts the container containing the unnecessary samples back into the low-temperature environment for storage. The pneumatic transmission method mainly uses positive or negative pressure to transfer samples in a low-temperature environment to a fixed container through a gas pipeline, thereby realizing the removal and storage of samples without using mechanical movement.

[0006] Since the sample storage temperature is below -70℃, or even up to -196℃, the main problem of using mechanical motion to store and retrieve samples in such a low-temperature environment is that the mechanical moving parts are directly exposed to the low-temperature environment, and parts with poor low-temperature tolerance such as motors are prone to motion control failures or sensor failures, causing the machine to be unable to operate normally. In addition, storage devices are expensive and complex in structure. Once a mechanical moving part fails, the maintenance requirements are high and the maintenance process is also complicated. The low-temperature environment where the sample is located is prone to large temperature fluctuations, which has a certain impact on the stable storage of the sample.

[0007] Although pneumatic transmission is used to store samples in a low-temperature environment without complex mechanical moving parts, the gas pipeline has high requirements on the shape, size and consistency of the sample container, and is not suitable for the storage of a variety of sample container types.

[0008] At the same time, the existing sample storage equipment costs more than millions of RMB per device, which is extremely expensive. The number of samples stored in a single device ranges from tens of thousands to 200,000. Due to the extremely high unit price of storage equipment and limited disaster recovery and backup capabilities, once the equipment fails, it can only wait for professional repairs. The sample transfer process is cumbersome and requires high user usage. Summary of the invention

[0009] The present invention aims to provide an automated low-temperature sample storage and retrieval device with higher reliability and less impact on the storage environment.

[0010] To this end, the present invention provides a low-temperature sample access device, which includes:

[0011] - A sample rack, wherein the interior of the rack is kept in a low temperature environment, and the exterior of the rack is in a sub-low temperature environment. The sample rack is provided with at least one exit, and each exit is provided with an openable and closable hatch;

[0012] - a sample carrier for loading sample containers, comprising a first magnet, located inside the shelf in a storage state, and capable of entering and exiting the sample shelf from the outlet;

[0013] - a carrier plate transport device located outside the shelf, comprising a movable block and a driving device thereof, wherein the movable block has a second magnet, the second magnet being able to generate a non-contact mutual attraction with the first magnet, and the driving device being able to drive the movable block to move along the outer surface of the shelf and drive the carrier plate to move inside the shelf by means of the mutual attraction;

[0014] - A control system capable of recording the position of the sample support and controlling the movement of the movable mass.

[0015] In the sample access device of the present invention, all mechanical moving parts are in a normal temperature or sub-low temperature environment (-40°C and above, preferably -20°C and above), and there are no mechanical moving parts in a low temperature environment (-70°C and below) or an ultra-low temperature environment (-196°C and below). As a result, the core components such as motors and sensors are subjected to less low temperature pressure, reducing the occurrence of failures. At the same time, even if a failure occurs, the machine can be quickly repaired in a sub-low temperature or normal temperature environment without affecting the temperature of the low temperature or ultra-low temperature environment in which the sample is stored. The present invention can be widely used in low temperature storage of samples in laboratories and medical institutions, and through multiple parallel connections, a high degree of disaster recovery and backup capabilities can be achieved.

[0016] The present invention can introduce dry gas with a low dew point (such as compressed air or high-purity nitrogen) into a low-temperature environment to keep the low-temperature environment free of condensation of water vapor.

[0017] The sample access device may also include one or more of the following features, which may be used alone or in combination:

[0018] - The device comprises a plurality of sample racks, which are stacked or arranged side by side to form a larger sample storage space. The low temperature environment inside each sample rack can be the same or different, and can be controlled by a unified low temperature control system, or each rack can be equipped with a separate low temperature control system, which can be the same system as the aforementioned control system or can be independent of each other. Preferably, the outlet of each sample rack is located on the side or top surface of the sample rack to facilitate the entry and exit of the sample carrier.

[0019] -The sample rack is a hollow box, and the box wall separating the first magnet and the second magnet is set to a multi-layer structure, including two demagnetizing material layers and a vacuum layer sandwiched therein, and the surface of the demagnetizing material layer facing the outside of the box wall is covered with a heat insulating material layer. Preferably, the surface of the demagnetizing material layer facing the inside of the box wall is also covered with a heat insulating material layer. The function of the vacuum layer is to block heat conduction without hindering the mutual attraction between the first magnet and the second magnet. As the main material of the wall of the box, the demagnetizing material layer provides a rigid structure for the box without hindering the mutual attraction between the magnets. The demagnetizing material layer is, for example, a demagnetizing stainless steel layer with a thickness of 1-2mm. Preferably, the heat insulating material layer is a nano material layer, for example, a nano material layer that has been treated with rust prevention and wear resistance. The overall thickness of the box wall is, for example, less than or equal to 15mm, and is preferably set to between 3 and 8mm.

[0020] The sample carrier is provided with an auxiliary moving device to reduce the friction resistance when the carrier moves in the shelf, so as to facilitate the movement of the carrier and the sample container loaded thereon in the sample shelf. The auxiliary moving device is, for example, a rolling wheel, preferably a universal wheel.

[0021] - The sample carrier can carry sample containers including reagent bottles and test tubes of various sizes, for example, by carrying a standard multi-well plate or a deep-well plate to carry the above containers.

[0022] -The second magnet can switch between an attraction configuration and a release configuration. Preferably, the second magnet has two attraction configurations, one above and one below. When the movable block is aligned with the carrier that needs to be moved, the second magnet is placed in the attraction configuration, attracting the first magnet of the carrier and thereby driving the carrier to move in the shelf. When the movable block does not need to drive the carrier to move, the second magnet is placed in the release configuration, so that the movable block can move freely outside the shelf without accidentally attracting any carrier inside the shelf during the movement. When the movable block is located between two sample racks, the second magnet is set to be flipped up or down, so that the same movable block can be used to drive the carriers in the upper and lower shelves to move, thereby saving equipment.

[0023] -The device comprises a plurality of sample racks stacked horizontally and parallel to each other, wherein each sample rack has a layer of sample carriers or two layers of sample carriers separated from each other and stacked, wherein a plurality of sample carriers are arranged in an array in each layer and at least one sample carrier is vacant. For example, the sample rack and the sample carriers are both roughly rectangular in shape, and the sample carriers are arranged in an array in the rack. The position of at least one vacant carrier in the array is to facilitate the rearrangement of the carriers when the required carrier is moved out, that is, the vacant position is used as the transfer position, and the carriers are gradually moved through the position for transposition to move the required carrier to the exit. When only one layer of carriers is arranged in the sample rack, the carrier may, for example, only have a first magnet arranged downward, and a movable block is arranged outside the lower surface of the rack, and the attraction configuration of the second magnet is arranged upward to attract the first magnet of the carrier. Of course, the arrangement may also be reversed, or the carrier may be provided with the first magnet both upward and downward. When the carrier has an upwardly disposed first magnet, the carrier may, for example, include an upwardly extending first magnet rigid bracket, the height of which is set so that the first magnet is close enough to the upper wall of the shelf to generate mutual attraction with a second magnet outside the shelf.

[0024] In one embodiment, two adjacent sample shelves each having only one layer of sample carriers are stacked without gaps, the carrier in the upper shelf has a first magnet arranged upward, and the carrier in the lower shelf has a first magnet arranged downward, preferably, the carriers have first magnets on the top and bottom. That is, two adjacent sample shelves can be stacked, and the advantage of this embodiment is that it can save space, and at the same time, the same low temperature environment does not have to be maintained in two adjacent sample layers.

[0025] Similarly, when the sample carriers are arranged in two layers stacked in the same sample rack, the upper carrier has a first magnet arranged upward, and the lower carrier has a first magnet arranged downward. Preferably, the carriers have first magnets on the top and bottom. It should be understood that in this arrangement, the two layers of sample carriers can be separated by a rigid partition. When the carriers have first magnets on the top and bottom, the rigid partition can be set to be magnetically isolated.

[0026] In one embodiment, the carrier transport device is provided with a Y-direction guide rail, an X-direction guide rail that can slide along the Y-direction guide rail, and at least one movable block between two adjacent and non-seamlessly stacked sample shelves, and the movable block slides along the X-direction guide rail under the drive of the driving device. Thus, the movable block can be moved in the X direction and the Y direction. Of course, any driving device that can control the movable block to move along the outer surface of the shelf can be used, such as directly setting a motor drive on the movable block, or driving by a cylinder. At the same time, when the carrier is provided with a first magnet on both the upper and lower sides, the movable block can be provided between any two adjacent and non-seamlessly stacked sample shelves, or can be arranged only between the required shelves. For example, when only one layer of sample carrier is arranged inside several adjacent shelves, and the second magnet carried by the movable block has two upper and lower attraction configurations, the movable block can be provided only in the interval of the odd-numbered shelves, and not in the interval of the even-numbered shelves, or conversely, the shelf interval refers to the gap between adjacent shelves.

[0027] In one embodiment, the tray transport device includes a vertical Z-axis that can move along the Y-guide rail and an X-guide rail that can make linear motion along the Z-axis and rotational motion around the Z-axis, and the movable block can slide along the X-guide rail under the drive of the driving device. In this arrangement, the structure of the transport device is relatively simple, and a small number of movable blocks can be set, so that they can move in different shelf intervals. Specifically, the X-guide rail can slide up and down along the Z-axis, so that it can be positioned between different shelves from the side of the shelf, and then the X-guide rail rotates around the Z-axis to the shelf interval, and the movable block is in the shelf interval and can move in the X direction; at the same time, the Z axis can slide along the Y-guide rail, so that the movable block can complete any plane movement through movement in the X and Y directions.

[0028] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a method for taking out a sample from a low temperature environment using the above sample access device, comprising the following steps:

[0029] A-The control system receives an instruction to take out a sample and determines the sample rack and sample carrier where the sample is located;

[0030] B- drives the movable block to move the sample carrier to the exit of the sample rack through the mutual attraction between the second magnet carried by the movable block and the first magnet carried by the sample carrier;

[0031] C-Open the door and remove the sample tray or take out the sample directly.

[0032] In this method, all mechanical moving parts are operated and moved in a sub-low temperature environment, which minimizes the exposure time to the low temperature environment and the resulting damage risk. At the same time, the sample is still in a sealed low temperature environment during the movement process, and no heat exchange occurs with the external environment, thereby minimizing the risk of sample deterioration due to temperature changes.

[0033] When the sample rack contains a plurality of sample carriers, it is conceivable that the above step A includes a step of calculating the removal path. The step of calculating the removal path is implemented by the control system executing an operation program. When the sample carriers are arranged in an array in the sample rack and spare positions are reserved, step B includes rearranging the positions of some sample carriers by using the spare positions of each layer of sample carriers, using a movable block to attract these sample carriers and move them to the calculated positions, and recording the new positions. The step of moving the sample carrier to the new position can be repeated until all the carriers that need to be moved are moved to the positions calculated in step A and the required carriers are moved to the exit.

[0034] In the present invention, the term "sample" refers to a component containing biologically active substances to be extracted, such as blood, urine, saliva, tissue, cells, etc. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that these drawings are only for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. The same reference numerals in the figures represent the same or similar components. For illustrative purposes, these figures are not drawn entirely to scale.

[0036] Figure 1 This is a schematic top view of a low-temperature sample access device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In order to clearly show its internal structure, the top wall of the uppermost sample shelf is not shown in the figure.

[0037] Figure 2 The arrangement of multiple sample racks in a low-temperature sample storage and access device according to another embodiment of the present invention is schematically shown, wherein the tray transport device is omitted.

[0038] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the structure of the wall of the sample rack according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 4 is a schematic bottom perspective view of a sample carrier according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] Figure 5 is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of a sample carrier according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] Figure 6 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a tray transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the sample rack is omitted.

[0042] Figure 7 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a tray transport device according to another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the sample rack is omitted.

[0043] Figure 8 is a perspective schematic diagram of a movable block according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] First, refer to Figure 1 The cryogenic sample access device according to one embodiment of the present invention is described as a whole. The cryogenic sample access device 1 includes a plurality of sample shelves 10, which are stacked horizontally and parallel to each other, and there is a gap 12 between adjacent shelves 10. Each shelf 10 includes at least one outlet 14, for example, located on the side of the shelf as shown in the figure, and a hatch 16 that can be opened and closed is provided at the outlet to maintain a low temperature environment inside the shelf, for example, -70°C and below, or even -196°C and below. The outside of the shelf is a sub-low temperature environment, for example, -40°C and above, or even -20°C and above.

[0045] from Figure 1 In the sample rack 10 at the top, which is not shown on the top wall, multiple sample trays 20 can be seen. Each tray can carry one or more sample containers (not shown), or the above containers can be loaded through a sample tray (such as a standard porous tray or a deep well tray, not shown). In this example, the trays 20 are roughly rectangular and arranged in an array inside the rack 10, so that the samples are stored in a low temperature environment. In the array, a number of empty positions 22 are reserved to facilitate moving each tray 20 to a specified position and moving the required tray to the outlet 14. The specific moving method will be described later.

[0046] Figure 1 The tray transport device 30 is also shown in the figure. Referring to the XYZ coordinate axis, it includes a support member 46 arranged along the Z direction, a plurality of Y guide rails 42 fixed on the support member 46, and an X guide rail 44 movable along the Y guide rail. Each Y guide rail 42 is located at the interval 12 of the sample rack 10 in the Z direction, so that each X guide rail 44 extends into the interval 12. Figure 6 and Figure 8It can be seen that each X-guide rail 44 is provided with a movable block 32, which moves along the X-guide rail 44 under the drive of a driving device (not shown, such as a motor). In this way, the movable block 32 can be moved in the X direction and the Y direction. The lengths of the X-guide rail 44 and the Y-guide rail 42 are set so that the range of movement of the movable block 32 in the shelf interval 12 covers the range in which the sample carrier 20 is arranged in the sample shelf 10. It can be seen that the carrier transport device 30 is located outside the shelf as a whole, thereby preventing it from being placed in a low-temperature environment and being damaged, thereby improving the reliability and availability of the equipment. At the same time, since the components of the transport device 30 do not have to resist low temperatures, the equipment cost can be saved to a certain extent.

[0047] Figure 2 FIG. 1 shows another arrangement of the sample rack 10, wherein the sample tray and the tray transport device are omitted for clarity. Figure 2 It can be seen that some shelves 10 are stacked in pairs without any gaps in between. In this way, the shelf interval 12 does not exist between all adjacent sample shelves 10, but only exists between the shelf groups 10' stacked in pairs, or between the shelf groups 10' and individual shelves 10. However, in order to be able to attract the magnets of the carrier plate 20 inside the shelf 10 from the outside of the shelf 10, especially the upper surface or the lower surface, at most two shelves 10 are stacked on each other in the vertical direction, and no more. Of course, multiple sample shelves can be set at the same horizontal position. Figure 2 In the embodiment described, it is conceivable that movable blocks are provided only in the spaces 12 of the shelf group 10 ′.

[0048] In addition, another arrangement of the sample rack 10 can be envisioned, that is, in the same sample rack 10, two layers of sample carriers 20 arranged in an array as described above are provided, with at least one empty position 22 for a sample carrier reserved in each layer, and the two layers are separated by a rigid partition.

[0049] In the above two arrangements, the carrier plate 20 located in the upper shelf of the seamlessly stacked shelf group 10' or located in the upper layer inside the same shelf 10 has a first magnet 24' arranged upward, while the carrier plate 20 located in the lower shelf of the seamlessly stacked shelf group 10' or located in the lower layer inside the same shelf 10 has a first magnet 24 arranged downward. Preferably, the carrier plate 20 has first magnets 24, 24' on both the upper and lower sides. Figure 5 shown.

[0050] Similarly, in the above two arrangements, for the movable block 32 with double-layer carriers on the upper and lower sides, its second magnet 34 has two attraction configurations, that is, it can be arranged upward to attract the first magnet 24 of the lower carrier, and can also be arranged downward to attract the first magnet 24' of the upper carrier. The construction and configuration of the movable block 32 will be described in detail below.

[0051] Reference below Figure 3 The structure of the wall 50 of the sample rack 10 is described as follows. Figure 1 As shown, the sample rack 10 is a hollow box, which has an overall shape of a roughly rectangular parallelepiped and thus has six faces. In the embodiment of the present application, the first magnet 24 of the sample carrier 20 and the second magnet 34 of the movable block are separated by their lower surface and / or upper surface. For this or two faces, the box wall 50 is set to a multi-layer structure, mainly including two layers of demagnetizing material layers 52 and a vacuum layer 54 sandwiched therein, and the surface of the demagnetizing material layer 52 facing the outside of the box wall is covered with a heat insulation material layer 56. The vacuum layer 54 can block heat conduction without hindering the mutual attraction between the first magnet 24 and the second magnet 34. As the main material of the wall 50 of the box, the demagnetizing material layer 52 provides a rigid structure for the box, while not hindering the mutual attraction between the magnets 24 and 34. The demagnetizing material layer 52 is, for example, a demagnetizing stainless steel layer with a thickness of 1-2 mm. However, those skilled in the art can select other demagnetizing metals or other demagnetizing materials to form the layer 52 according to actual needs, and can also set its thickness according to actual needs (such as the number, capacity and expected weight of samples). In this embodiment, the thermal insulation material layer 56 is a nano material layer, such as a nano material layer that has been treated with rust prevention and wear resistance. Preferably, the surface of the demagnetizing material layer 52 facing the inner wall of the box body is also covered with a thermal insulation material layer.

[0052] Figure 4 and Figure 5 An embodiment of the sample carrier 20 is shown respectively. Figure 4 2 is a top-down stereoscopic view of the sample carrier 20, in which four first magnets 24 are mounted in the middle of the bottom surface of the carrier 20, and four rollers 26 are mounted at the four corners of the bottom surface. In the present embodiment, the rollers 26 are all universal wheels. Of course, the positions and numbers of the first magnets 24 and the rollers 26 can be changed. In addition, it can be seen that the carrier 20 includes a sample accommodating area 21, i.e., an area for storing sample containers. The sample accommodating area 21 can be a tray for carrying sample containers (e.g., a standard porous tray or a deep-hole tray, not shown), or can be directly set to a card hole that matches the shape of the sample container, so that the sample container is firmly connected to the sample carrier 20 in the accommodating area, even when the sample carrier 20 is moved.

[0053] Figure 5 The carrier plate 20 and Figure 4, and also includes a first magnet 24 disposed in the middle of the bottom surface and rollers 26 disposed at the four corners of the bottom surface. In addition, in this embodiment, the carrier 20 also includes an upwardly extending rigid bracket 25, on the upper surface of which an upwardly arranged first magnet 24' is disposed, and the height of the bracket 25 is set so that the first magnet 24' is close enough to the upper wall 50 of the shelf 10 to generate mutual attraction with the second magnet 34 outside the shelf 10.

[0054] Of course, the carrier plate 20 may also include only the first magnet 24 ′ arranged upward.

[0055] When the carrier 20 only includes the first magnet 24 arranged downward, it can only be placed in the lower layer in the seamlessly stacked shelf group 10' or the shelf 10 of the double-layer carrier; similarly, when the carrier 20 only includes the first magnet 24' arranged upward, it can only be placed in the upper layer in the seamlessly stacked shelf group 10' or the shelf 10 of the double-layer carrier. If the carrier 20 includes both the first magnet 24 arranged downward and the first magnet 24' arranged upward, it can be placed in the upper layer or the lower layer in the above shelf arrangement.

[0056] Combine the following Figures 6 to 8 A pallet transport device 30 according to the present invention is described. Figure 6 The tray transport device in Figure 1 The same as in , so I won’t go into details. Figure 7 FIG. 2 shows a tray transport device 30 according to another embodiment of the present invention, which includes a vertical Z-axis 46' that can move along the Y-guide rail 42' and an X-guide rail 44' that can make a linear motion along the Z-axis 46' and a rotational motion around the Z-axis 46'. The movable block 32 can move along the X-guide rail 44' under the drive of a driving device. In the example shown in the figure, there are two X-guide rails 44'. The upper X-guide rail 44' rotates to the X direction, so that the movable block 32 is located between shelves (not shown); and the lower X-guide rail 44' rotates to the Y direction, so that the movable block 32 is located outside the shelves, that is, in a non-working position. It can be seen that Figure 6 Compared with the tray transport device shown, Figure 7 The number of guide rails in the structure is greatly reduced, so that the structure of the transport device is relatively simple, and a small number of movable blocks can be set, so that they can move in different shelf intervals. Of course, the number of X-guide rails 44' can be changed. Specifically, the X-guide rail 44' can slide up and down along the Z-axis 46', so that it can be positioned between different shelves from the side of the shelf, and then the X-guide rail 44' rotates around the Z-axis 46' to the shelf interval, and the movable block 32 is in the shelf interval and can move in the X direction; simultaneously or successively, the Z-axis 46' can slide along the Y-guide rail 42'. As a result, the movable block can complete any plane movement through movement in the X and Y directions.

[0057] Figure 8 A movable block 32 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, which is slidably connected to the X-guide rail 44 through a connecting device 36. The movable block 32 includes a main body 38 and a second magnet 34 arranged on the main body 38. In this embodiment, the number of the second magnets 34 is two, and the distance between the two is equal or almost equal to the distance between the two first magnets 24 carried by the sample carrier 20. The movable block 32 also includes a switching device 35 for switching the second magnet 34 between the attraction configuration and the release configuration. Specifically, in this embodiment, the switching device 35 is a rotating device, which can rotate the main body 38 by 180° so that it is sequentially located in the upper attraction configuration shown in the figure, the release configuration rotated by 90°, and the lower attraction configuration rotated by 180°. When the movable block 32 is aligned with the carrier to be moved, the second magnet 34 is placed in the attraction configuration, and the first magnet 24 of the carrier 20 is attracted and thereby drives the carrier 20 to move in the shelf 10. When the movable block 32 does not need to drive the carrier to move, the second magnet 34 is placed in the de-attracting configuration, so that the movable block can move freely outside the shelf 10 without accidentally attracting any carrier 20 located inside the shelf 10 during the movement. When the movable block 32 is located between two sample shelves 10, the second magnet 34 is set to be able to flip up or down, so that the same movable block 32 can be used to drive the carriers 20 in the upper and lower shelves 10 to move, thereby saving equipment. It should be understood that the number and arrangement of the second magnets 34 correspond to the first magnets 24, and can be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual conditions.

[0058] According to another embodiment, the switching device 35 is a micro cylinder, which can push the second magnet 34 to rise and fall inside the main body 38, so as to achieve the attraction and release configurations. In this embodiment, it is considered that the second magnet 34 is set on the push block, and the push block is pushed out of the main body 38 by the micro cylinder to achieve the attraction configuration, and the release configuration is achieved when it is retracted into the main body 38. The second magnet can be set on the upper and lower parts of the push block to achieve the upper and lower attraction configurations.

[0059] The operation of the low temperature sample storage and access device according to the present invention will be described below. Using the above low temperature sample storage and access device, the following steps are performed:

[0060] A- The control system receives an instruction to take out a certain sample, and determines the sample rack 10 and the sample carrier 20 where the sample is located based on the current record of the position of the sample carrier array;

[0061] B- The control system controls the driving device to drive the movable block 32 corresponding to the sample shelf 10, and moves it idly to the position outside the shelf 10 corresponding to the sample carrier 20 to be moved, and switches the second magnet 34 carried by it to the release attraction configuration during the idling movement; after moving to the position, the second magnet 34 is switched to the attraction configuration by the configuration switching device 35, so as to attract the first magnet 24 carried by the sample carrier 20 through the wall 50 of the shelf 10; and then the control system controls the driving device to drive the movable block 32, so as to move the sample carrier 20 to the exit 14 of the sample shelf 10;

[0062] C-Open the cabin door 16 and use the robotic arm to take out the sample tray or directly take out the sample.

[0063] In this method, all mechanical moving parts are operated and moved in a sub-low temperature environment, which minimizes the exposure time to the low temperature environment and the resulting damage risk. At the same time, the sample is still in a sealed low temperature environment during the movement process, and no heat exchange occurs with the external environment, thereby minimizing the risk of sample deterioration due to temperature changes.

[0064] When the sample rack contains a plurality of sample carriers, it is conceivable that the above step A includes a step of calculating a removal path. The step of calculating a removal path is implemented by the control system executing a calculation program.

[0065] by Figure 1 For example, assuming that the sample carrier to be removed is 202, and using Figure 1 The operation of moving the carrier 202 out is performed by the carrier transport device (i.e., the frame composed of the support member 46, the Y guide rail 42, and the X guide rail 44), then the step of calculating the path includes a series of steps of sliding the X guide rail 44 on the Y guide rail 42 to the Y direction position Y1 corresponding to the carrier 202, and moving the movable block 32 on the X guide rail 44 to the X direction position X1 corresponding to the carrier 202, and moving it to the X direction position X2 and the Y direction position Y2 corresponding to the exit after being attracted to the carrier 202. Of course, if other forms of transport devices are used, such as directly using a linear motor to drive the movable block 32, the movable block 32 does not have to move along the X direction and the Y direction, but can move in any direction in the XY plane, then the step of calculating the path may include calculating the shortest path, and verifying whether the path can be executed without encountering obstacles.

[0066] When the sample carriers are arranged in an array in the sample rack and empty positions are reserved, the above step B includes rearranging some sample carriers using the empty positions of each layer of sample carriers, using the movable block to attract these sample carriers and move them to the calculated positions, and recording the new positions. The step of moving the sample carriers to the new positions can be repeated until all the carriers that need to be moved are moved to the positions calculated in step A and the required carriers are moved to the exit.

[0067] Still Figure 1 For example, in the array of sample carriers shown, one of the reserved free positions is marked as 220. Assume that the sample carrier 201 needs to be moved to the exit 14. It can be seen that another sample carrier 202 blocks the path for the carrier 201 to move out. At this time, it is necessary to use the free position 220 to rearrange the sample carriers 202 and 203 to remove the obstacles for moving out the required sample carrier 201. Specifically, the carrier 203 is first moved to the free position 220 using the movable block 32, and the original position of 203 becomes the new free position. Then, the carrier 202 is moved to the new free position, and the original position of 202 becomes the latest free position, and the carrier 201 can be moved out to the exit 14. It can be imagined that after each movement, the new position of the moved carrier is recorded for subsequent calculations.

[0068] Of course, the arrangement of the shelves 10 and the carriers 20 can be varied in many ways within the scope of the present invention. For example, according to another embodiment of the present invention, only one layer of sample carriers 20 is arranged inside each shelf 10, and the movable block 32 can also be switched to two upper and lower attraction configurations. In this case, it is not necessary to provide a movable block 32 in each shelf interval 12, but only in non-adjacent intervals 12, which can drive the sample carriers 20 in the two sample shelves 10 above and below the interval 12. According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, Figure 6 In the sample transport device shown, other Z-direction supports 46 are added to fix more Y-guide rails 42, or multiple X-guide rails 44 are set on each Y-guide rail, so as to increase the number of movable blocks 32 and improve the efficiency of moving the sample carrier 20.

[0069] The accompanying drawings and the above description describe non-limiting specific embodiments of the present invention. In order to teach the principles of the invention, some conventional aspects have been simplified or omitted. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variations derived from these embodiments fall within the scope of the present invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above features can be combined in various ways to form multiple variations of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the above specific embodiments, but is only limited by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A low temperature sample storage and access device (1), characterized in that: It includes: A plurality of sample racks (10), wherein the interior of the racks maintains a low temperature environment and the exterior of the racks is a sub-low temperature environment, each sample rack (10) is provided with at least one outlet (14), the outlet (14) is located on the side or top surface of the sample rack (10), and each outlet is provided with an openable and closable hatch (16); A sample carrier (20) for loading sample containers, comprising a first magnet (24), which is located inside the shelf in a storage state and can enter and exit the sample shelf through the outlet; A carrier plate transport device (30) located outside the shelf comprises a movable block (32) and a driving device thereof, wherein the movable block has a second magnet (34) which can generate non-contact mutual attraction with the first magnet (24), and the driving device can drive the movable block to move along the outer surface of the sample shelf (10) and drive the sample carrier plate (20) to move inside the shelf by means of the non-contact mutual attraction generated between the second magnet (34) and the first magnet (24); The tray transport device (30) is provided with a Y-guide rail (42), a vertical Z axis (46') movable along the Y-guide rail (42), an X-guide rail (44) movable along the Y-guide rail and capable of linear motion along the Z axis and rotational motion around the Z axis, and at least one movable block (32) between two adjacent and non-seamlessly stacked sample racks (10), wherein the movable block (32) moves along the X-guide rail (44) under the drive of a driving device; A control system is provided which is capable of recording the position of the sample carrier (20) and controlling the movement of the movable mass (32).

2. The cryogenic sample storage and access device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sample rack is a hollow box, and the box wall (50) separating the first magnet and the second magnet is set as a multi-layer structure, including two demagnetization material layers (52) and a vacuum layer (54) sandwiched therebetween, the surface of the demagnetization material layer facing the outside of the box wall is covered with a heat insulation material layer (56), and the surface of the demagnetization material layer facing the inside of the box wall is also covered with a heat insulation material layer (56).

3. The cryogenic sample storage and access device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sample carrier is provided with universal wheels.

4. The cryogenic sample storage and access device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The device comprises a plurality of sample racks stacked horizontally and parallel to each other, each sample rack having a layer of sample carriers or two layers of sample carriers separated from each other and stacked, a plurality of sample carriers being arranged in an array in each layer and leaving at least one free position (22) for a sample carrier.

5. The cryogenic sample storage and access device (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that: When two adjacent sample racks (10) each having only one layer of sample carriers arranged therein are stacked seamlessly to form a rack group (10'), or when the sample carriers are stacked in two layers within the same sample rack (10), the carriers located in the upper rack or in the upper layer have first magnets (24) arranged upward, and the carriers located in the lower rack or in the lower layer have first magnets (24) arranged downward.

6. The cryogenic sample storage and access device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second magnet (34) can be switched between an attraction configuration and a release configuration, and the second magnet (34) has two attraction configurations, an upper and a lower attraction configuration.

7. A method for taking out a sample from a cryogenic environment using the cryogenic sample storage and access device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising the following steps: A-the control system receives an instruction to take out a certain sample and determines the sample rack (10) and the sample carrier (20) where the sample is located; B- drives the movable block (32) to move the sample carrier to the exit (14) of the sample rack (10) through the mutual attraction between the second magnet (34) carried by the movable block (32) and the first magnet (24) carried by the sample carrier; C-Open the door (16) and remove the sample tray or directly remove the sample.

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