A micro-dosing system

Abstract

The present invention discloses a micro-injection system, which includes a mounting frame, a cutting assembly, a sample plate and at least one capillary. The cutting assembly includes a cutting knife and a matching block arranged on the mounting frame, wherein the cutting knife is arranged on the matching block in a directionally movable manner and matches with the matching block. The capillary is arranged on the mounting frame in a manner capable of reciprocating between the microporous plate and the cutting knife, so that after the capillary contacts the sample or reagent, the end of the capillary that has contacted the sample or reagent can be cut by the cooperation of the cutting knife and the matching block. The micro-injection system cuts off the end of the capillary that absorbs liquid by the cutting knife, so that during the next injection or sampling process of the capillary, there is no liquid on the inner wall of the capillary to avoid mutual contamination.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of micro-sampling, in particular to a micro-sampling system. Background Art

[0002] At present, the aspiration range of conventional micropipette is generally between 1 and 1000 microliters, which is particularly suitable for use in biological experiments or chemical laboratories. Some high-precision micropipette implements sampling or adding samples through capillaries with small diameters.

[0003] However, when this high-precision micropipette is sampling or adding samples through the capillary, liquid will adhere to the inner and outer walls of the capillary. Since the micropipette strictly controls the volume of the liquid during the sampling or adding process, the liquid adhering to the inner and outer walls of the capillary will cause the volume of the liquid to change during the sampling or adding process, affecting the test results of the experiment. In addition, after the capillary is sampled once, liquid will adhere to the inner and outer walls of the capillary. Sampling different liquids again through the capillary will cause the liquid on the inner and outer walls of the capillary to contaminate the sample liquid, thereby affecting the test results of the experiment. Summary of the invention

[0004] The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a micro-sample addition system, wherein the micro-sample addition system cuts off the end of the capillary tube that is adhered with liquid through the cooperation of a cutting knife and a matching block, so that during the next sample addition or sampling process of the capillary tube, no liquid exists on the inner and outer walls of the capillary tube, thereby preventing cross contamination of the micro-sample addition system during sample addition, thereby improving the sample addition or sampling accuracy of the micro-sample addition system.

[0005] Another object of the present invention is to provide a micro-injection system, wherein the micro-injection system drives the cutting knife to cut the capillary through a directional driving element, and automatically cuts the capillary, which can effectively improve work efficiency and reduce labor costs. At the same time, it can effectively ensure the neatness of the cutting, which is convenient for the next sampling.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a micro-injection system, wherein the micro-injection system drives the capillary to move through a moving component, so that the capillary can move back and forth between the cutting location and the sampling location, thereby automating the capillary cutting process and further reducing labor costs.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a micro-injection system, wherein the micro-injection system makes the capillary tube vertical through the sleeve, which is beneficial for sampling the capillary tube, and at the same time, after the capillary tube is cut, the length of the capillary tube can be kept consistent.

[0008] To achieve at least one of the above objectives, the present invention provides a micro-injection system, characterized in that it includes a mounting frame, a cutting assembly, a sample plate and at least one capillary.

[0009] The sample plate is arranged on the mounting frame to hold samples or reagents.

[0010] The cutting assembly comprises a cutting knife and a matching block arranged on the mounting frame. The cutting knife is arranged on the matching block in a directionally movable manner and matches with the matching block.

[0011] At least one capillary is arranged on the mounting frame in a manner that allows it to reciprocate between the sample plate and the cutting knife, so that after the capillary contacts the sample or reagent, the end of the capillary that has contacted the sample or reagent can be cut by the cooperation of the cutting knife and the matching block.

[0012] The cutting assembly also includes a directional drive element, the cutting knife is arranged at the output end of the directional drive element, and the directional drive element is arranged on the matching block in a manner that can drive the cutting knife to move toward the matching block, and the blade of the cutting knife faces the matching block.

[0013] The matching block is provided with a groove matching with the blade of the cutting knife.

[0014] The micro-injection system also includes a moving component, which includes a vertical moving element and a transverse moving element. The transverse moving element is horizontally arranged on the mounting frame, and the vertical moving element is arranged at the moving end of the transverse moving element. The end of the capillary away from the mounting frame is adjustably arranged at the moving end of the vertical moving element.

[0015] The moving assembly further comprises at least one sleeve fixedly arranged on the moving end of the vertical moving element along the vertical direction, and the sleeve is correspondingly sleeved on the outer wall of the capillary.

[0016] The moving assembly further comprises a fixing plate, which is arranged at the moving end of the vertical moving element along the horizontal direction, and at least one sleeve is fixedly arranged on the fixing plate.

[0017] The micro-injection system also includes a clamping assembly, which includes a clamping block and a driving element. The driving element is arranged on the matching block and is located below the cutting knife. The clamping block is arranged at the output end of the driving element in a manner capable of clamping the capillary.

[0018] The clamping assembly further comprises a fixing block, which is arranged on the matching block and located below the cutting knife, and the fixing block is provided with a through hole corresponding to the capillary;

[0019] The driving element is implemented as a motor, the motor is fixedly disposed on the fixing block, and the output shaft of the motor passes through the plurality of through holes in sequence;

[0020] The clamping block is implemented as a cam corresponding to the capillary tube, the cam is sleeved on the output shaft of the motor and is correspondingly located in the through hole.

[0021] The moving component further includes a controller and a camera. The camera is disposed on the fixing plate and faces the capillary. The controller is electrically connected to the camera.

[0022] The mounting frame is provided with a plurality of winding frames, and the capillaries are wound on the winding frames accordingly. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 The overall structural diagram of the present invention is shown;

[0024] Figure 2 A three-dimensional diagram showing the cooperation between the mounting frame and the cutting knife of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 A top view of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The following description is used to disclose the present invention so that those skilled in the art can implement the present invention. The preferred embodiments described below are only examples, and those skilled in the art can think of other obvious variations. The basic principles of the present invention defined in the following description can be applied to other embodiments, variations, improvements, equivalents, and other technical solutions that do not deviate from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0027] Those skilled in the art should understand that, in the disclosure of the present invention, the terms "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicating the orientation or position relationship are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, which are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operate in a specific orientation. Therefore, the above terms should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0028] It is to be understood that the term "one" should be understood as "at least one" or "one or more", that is, in one embodiment, the number of an element may be one, while in another embodiment, the number of the element may be multiple, and the term "one" should not be understood as a limitation on the quantity.

[0029] refer to Figures 1 to 3 A micro-injection system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is used for pumping liquid, which will be specifically explained below. The micro-injection system includes a mounting frame 10, a cutting assembly 20, a sample plate 11 and at least one capillary 30.

[0030] The sample plate 11 is disposed on the mounting frame 10 and is used to hold samples or reagents. The samples or reagents are used to add or remove samples from the capillary 30 .

[0031] The cutting assembly 20 includes a cutting blade 21 and a matching block 24 disposed on the mounting frame 10. The cutting blade 21 is disposed on the matching block 24 so as to be directional and movable, and matches with the matching block 24. When the capillary 30 exists between the cutting blade 21 and the matching block 24, the capillary 30 can be cut by the cutting blade 21 moving toward the matching block 24.

[0032] The capillary 30 is disposed on the mounting frame 10 in a manner that it can reciprocate between the sample plate 11 and the cutting knife 21. After the capillary 30 contacts the sample or reagent, liquid will adhere to the inner and outer walls of the capillary 30, and at this time, one end of the capillary 30 with liquid is cut off by the cutting knife 21. The experiment is carried out by using the cut capillary 30, which avoids the problem that the liquid adhered to the inner and outer walls of the capillary 30 contaminates the sample or reagent or causes the volume of the sample or reagent to change, thereby improving the accuracy of the experiment.

[0033] The cutting assembly 20 also includes a directional drive element 22 and a support frame 23. The support frame 23 is arranged on the mounting frame 10. The matching block 24 is arranged on the top of the support frame 23. The cutting knife 21 is arranged at the output end of the directional drive element 22. The directional drive element 22 is arranged on the matching block 24 in a manner that it can drive the cutting knife 21 to move toward the matching block 24. The blade of the cutting knife 21 faces the matching block 24. The directional drive element 22 has a fixed end and an output end, and the fixed end and the output end are respectively located on both sides of the matching block 24. This installation method can save space for installing the directional drive element 22. The fixed end and the output end of the directional drive element 22 can also be installed on the same side of the matching block 24. This installation method is simple. When the capillary 30 is moved between the cutting knife 21 and the support frame 23 , the cutting knife 21 is driven by the output end of the directional driving element 22 to move toward the matching block 24 to cut the capillary 30 .

[0034] The directional driving element 22 can be implemented as an electric push rod or a cylinder. The cutting knife 21 is driven automatically to cut the capillary 30, thereby avoiding manual operation and reducing labor costs.

[0035] The matching block 24 is provided with a groove 201 matching with the blade of the cutting knife 21. When the cutting knife 21 cuts the capillary 30, the cutting knife 21 extends to the inside of the groove 201 to ensure that the capillary 30 is cut stably.

[0036] The micro-injection system further includes a moving assembly 40. The moving assembly 40 includes a vertical moving element 41 and a horizontal moving element 42, wherein the horizontal moving element 42 is arranged on the mounting frame 10 in a horizontal direction, wherein the vertical moving element 41 is arranged at the moving end of the horizontal moving element 42. One end of the capillary 30 away from the mounting frame 10 is adjustably arranged at the moving end of the vertical moving element 41.

[0037] The vertical moving element 41 and the horizontal moving element 42 can both be implemented as ball screws or synchronous belt structures.

[0038] The capillary 30 is moved to any point on the vertical plane by the cooperation of the moving end of the vertical moving element 41 and the moving end of the horizontal moving element 42. Therefore, the capillary 30 is moved between the cutting knife 21 and the support frame 23 by the moving assembly 40, and then the cutting knife 21 cuts the capillary 30 by the directional driving element 22. The whole process can be processed automatically, avoiding manual operation, and improving the accuracy of cutting the capillary 30.

[0039] The moving assembly 40 also includes at least one sleeve 43 fixedly arranged at the moving end of the vertical moving element 41 in the vertical direction. The sleeve 43 is correspondingly sleeved on the outer wall of the capillary 30 so that the capillary 30 is in close contact with the sleeve 43. Since the capillary 30 and the sleeve 43 are closely matched, external force is required to cause the capillary 30 and the sleeve 43 to be relatively displaced. When the moving assembly 40 drives the capillary 30 to sample the sample or reagent, the capillary 30 is closely matched through the sleeve 43 so that the capillary 30 does not move, ensuring that the capillary 30 can stably implement sampling or adding samples. At the same time, through the cooperation of the vertical sleeve 43 and the capillary 30, the capillary 30 is vertical. The vertical moving element 41 drives the capillary 30 to move between the cutting knife 21 and the matching block 24 through the sleeve 43, so that the multiple capillaries 30 can be cut vertically by the cutting knife 21, so that the lengths of the multiple capillaries 30 after cutting remain consistent.

[0040] The moving assembly 40 also includes a fixed plate 46. The fixed plate 46 is horizontally arranged at the moving end of the vertical moving element 41. At least one sleeve 43 is fixedly arranged on the fixed plate 46. When the sleeve 43 is implemented as four, the connecting line of the four sleeves 43 in the vertical direction is horizontal, and the connecting line is parallel to the moving direction of the transverse moving element 42. The connecting line of the plurality of sleeves 43 is a straight line parallel to the moving direction of the transverse moving element 42, so that the plurality of capillaries 30 can sample or add the sample or reagent in a straight line, and the plurality of capillaries 30 can be cut in a straight line, which is conducive to a one-time solution.

[0041] The micro-injection system further includes a clamping assembly 50. The clamping assembly 50 includes a clamping block 52 and a driving element 53. The driving element 53 is disposed on the matching block 24 and is located below the cutting knife 21. The clamping block 52 is disposed at the output end of the driving element 53 in a manner capable of clamping the capillary 30. When the capillary 30 is moved between the matching block 24 and the clamping block 52, the driving element 53 drives the clamping block 52 to clamp the capillary 30.

[0042] First, the capillary 30 is moved between the clamping block 52 and the matching block 24 by the moving assembly 40, and then the clamping block 52 is driven by the driving element 53 to clamp the capillary 30, and then the sleeve 43 is driven upward by the moving assembly 40. The capillary 30 slides inside the sleeve 43, thereby changing the distance between the mouth of the capillary 30 and the bottom of the sleeve 43, so that the capillary 30 can reserve a certain distance to be cut by the cutting knife 21. Since one end of the capillary 30 is tightly matched with the sleeve 43, and the other end of the capillary 30 is clamped by the clamping block 52, the capillary 30 is in a tensioned state, which is conducive to neatly cutting the capillary 30.

[0043] The clamping assembly 50 further includes a fixing block 51. The fixing block 51 is disposed on the matching block 24 and is located below the cutting blade 21. The fixing block 51 is provided with through holes 501 corresponding to the capillary 30, where the correspondence includes the correspondence in quantity and position.

[0044] The driving element 53 is implemented as a motor. The motor is fixedly disposed on the fixing block 51, and the output shaft of the motor passes through the plurality of through holes 501 in sequence.

[0045] The clamping block 52 is implemented as a cam corresponding to the capillary 30, and the correspondence here includes quantity correspondence and position correspondence. The cam is sleeved on the output shaft of the motor and is correspondingly located in the through hole 501. When the capillary 30 is moved to the inside of the through hole 501, the cam is driven to rotate by the output shaft of the motor. Since the cam is located inside the through hole 501, the raised part on the cam pushes the capillary 30 to fit with the inner wall of the through hole 501, thereby clamping the capillary 30. Guided by the through hole 501, the capillary 30 can be smoothly moved between the cam and the fixed block 51. After the capillary 30 is clamped, the sleeve 43 is driven upward by the vertical displacement element 41, so that the capillary 30 is relatively displaced on the sleeve 43, so that the capillary 30 can reserve a certain distance to be cut by the cutting knife 21.

[0046] A plurality of winding frames 60 are disposed on the mounting frame 10 . The capillary tube 30 is wound on the winding frames 60 accordingly, so that the capillary tube 30 is rolled up by the winding frames 60 .

[0047] The winding frame 60 includes a winding drum 61 and a wire rack 62. The winding drum 61 is fixedly arranged on the top of the mounting frame 10; the winding drum 61 is cylindrical and thick at the bottom and thin at the top. The capillary 30 is wound on the winding drum 61 from bottom to top. The wire rack 62 is arranged on the top of the winding drum 61. When the capillary 30 is wound out from the top of the winding drum 61, the wire rack 62 can guide the capillary 30 so that the capillary 30 can be wound out from the winding frame 60 smoothly, thereby preventing the capillary 30 from being entangled and knotted.

[0048] The moving assembly 40 further includes a controller and a camera 44. The camera 44 is disposed below the fixing plate 46 and faces the capillary 30. The controller is electrically connected to the camera 44.

[0049] The moving assembly 40 is also provided with a light source 45 facing the camera 44. The light source 45 is used to illuminate the capillary 30 to increase the exposure rate of the camera 44 to the capillary 30, so that the camera 44 can clearly photograph the liquid level inside the capillary 30.

[0050] Since the inner diameter of the capillary 30 is consistent, the liquid forms a liquid column inside the capillary. The camera 44 takes a picture of the liquid level inside the capillary 30, and the camera transmits the data to the controller, which calculates the length of the liquid column and thus the volume of the liquid inside the capillary 30. After the liquid inside the capillary 30 changes, the camera 44 first takes a picture of the capillary 30 and then transmits the data to the controller. The controller calculates the volume of the liquid inside the capillary 30 through the data to obtain the change in the liquid in the capillary 30.

[0051] The material of the sleeve 43 can be implemented as an acrylic tube, which has good physical properties and good light transmittance, so that the camera can take pictures and identify the liquid level of the capillary tube 30.

[0052] The micro-injection system also includes a control pump 70. The control pump 70 is connected to the capillary 30. The control pump 70 is implemented as a high-precision microfluidic pressure pump, which is specifically a Fluigent positive and negative pressure high-precision microfluidic pressure pump Push-Pull, which is suitable for microfluidic manipulation, fluid circulation, and fluid micro-injection. The high-precision microfluidic pressure pump has accurate and stable flow control. The high-precision microfluidic pressure pump can generate positive and negative pressures in the range of -800mbar to 1000mbar, and can control tiny pressures, thereby improving the accuracy of the capillary 30 during liquid aspiration and discharge. The high-precision microfluidic pressure pump can be used to discharge and extract liquid quantitatively, and the high-precision microfluidic pressure pump is electrically connected to the controller. When the high-precision microfluidic pressure pump quantitatively discharges the liquid inside the capillary 30, the camera 44 and the controller simultaneously calculate the change in the liquid inside the capillary 30. The controller calculates the volume of the liquid actually discharged from the capillary 30, and compares the actual volume of the discharged liquid with the set volume discharged by the high-precision microfluidic pressure pump to determine the error between the actual liquid discharge volume and the set liquid discharge volume, thereby being able to more accurately control the liquid inside the capillary 30.

[0053] When the directional drive element 22 drives the cutting knife 21 to move and cut the capillary 30, the control pump 70 introduces positive pressure into the interior of the capillary 30, and the gas is continuously discharged from the tube mouth of the capillary 30. The pressurized gas stretches the tube mouth of the capillary 30, so that the tube mouth of the capillary 30 can quickly restore to a circle after cutting, thereby preventing the tube mouth of the capillary 30 from sticking together after cutting.

[0054] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present invention described above and shown in the accompanying drawings are only examples and do not limit the present invention. The advantages of the present invention have been fully and effectively achieved. The functional and structural principles of the present invention have been demonstrated and explained in the embodiments, and the embodiments of the present invention may be deformed or modified in any way without departing from the principles.

Claims

1. A micro-dosing system, characterized in that: include: a mounting frame; a sample plate, the sample plate being arranged on the mounting frame to hold samples or reagents; A cutting assembly, comprising a cutting knife and a matching block disposed on the mounting frame, wherein the cutting knife is disposed on the matching block in a directionally movable manner and matches with the matching block; and at least one capillary, the capillary being arranged on the mounting frame in a manner capable of reciprocating between the sample plate and the cutting knife, so that after the capillary contacts the sample or reagent, the end of the capillary that has contacted the sample or reagent can be cut by the cooperation of the cutting knife and the matching block; The cutting assembly further comprises a directional drive element, the cutting knife is arranged at the output end of the directional drive element, and the directional drive element is arranged on the matching block in a manner capable of driving the cutting knife to move toward the matching block, and the cutting edge of the cutting knife faces the matching block; The matching block is provided with a groove matching with the blade of the cutting knife; The micro-injection system further comprises a moving assembly, the moving assembly comprising a vertical moving element and a horizontal moving element, the horizontal moving element being arranged on the mounting frame in a horizontal direction, the vertical moving element being arranged on a moving end of the horizontal moving element, and an end of the capillary away from the mounting frame being adjustably arranged on the moving end of the vertical moving element; The moving assembly further comprises at least one sleeve fixedly arranged on the moving end of the vertical moving element along the vertical direction, and the sleeve is correspondingly sleeved on the outer wall of the capillary.

2. The micro-injection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The moving assembly further comprises a fixing plate, which is arranged at the moving end of the vertical moving element along the horizontal direction, and at least one sleeve is fixedly arranged on the fixing plate.

3. The micro-injection system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The micro-injection system also includes a clamping assembly, which includes a clamping block and a driving element. The driving element is arranged on the matching block and is located below the cutting knife. The clamping block is arranged at the output end of the driving element in a manner capable of clamping the capillary.

4. The micro-injection system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The clamping assembly further comprises a fixing block, which is arranged on the matching block and located below the cutting knife, and the fixing block is provided with a through hole corresponding to the capillary; The driving element is implemented as a motor, the motor is fixedly disposed on the fixing block, and the output shaft of the motor passes through the plurality of through holes in sequence; The clamping block is implemented as a cam corresponding to the capillary tube, the cam is sleeved on the output shaft of the motor and is correspondingly located in the through hole.

5. The micro-injection system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The moving component further includes a controller and a camera. The camera is disposed on the fixing plate and faces the capillary. The controller is electrically connected to the camera.

6. The micro-injection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mounting frame is provided with a plurality of winding frames, and the capillaries are wound on the winding frames accordingly.

Images