Reagent Strip Automatic Positioning and Levelling Device

Abstract

The present invention discloses an automatic positioning and leveling device for reagent strips, comprising: a bracket, a translation mechanism disposed on the bracket and having a moving platform; an incubation mechanism disposed on the moving platform and having: an incubation table fixedly connected to the moving platform, and a reagent strip placement position provided on the top surface of the incubation table; and a reagent rack for fixing the reagent strip, the reagent rack having a pressing plate located above the reagent strip; a locking mechanism disposed on the moving platform for moving the pressing plate towards the incubation table to position and level the reagent strip. The structure of the present invention is simple and the layout is compact. After the reagent rack loaded with reagent strips is placed in the incubation tray, with the forward movement of the incubation tray, the clamping of the reagent rack and the leveling of the reagent strips can be automatically achieved, without complex signal judgment and logical timing control, which is safe and reliable and improves the detection accuracy.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of reagent strip detection, and particularly relates to an automatic positioning and leveling device for reagent strips. Background Art

[0002] Chemiluminescence analyzers have the characteristics of high sensitivity, high automation, and fast processing speed for batch samples. POCT has the characteristics of miniaturization of experimental instruments, simplification of operation, and instant reporting of results. Applying chemiluminescence immunoassay technology to POCT products can combine the advantages of chemiluminescence analysis and POCT, enabling instant detection beside patients and obtaining diagnostic results quickly. With the popular application of single-dose reagent strips, the luminescent POCT technology that matches the reagent strips to complete the detection function has been rapidly promoted. However, in practice, it is found that due to the lack of a fixed clamping function in the existing reagent rack structure, when the reagent rack carrying the reagent strips is placed in the instrument, it will shake and shift left and right or up and down during operation, resulting in deviation between the photometric aperture and the photodetector during detection, causing exposure or photometric values higher than the actual values, and affecting the liquid extraction accuracy. Secondly, the reagent rack cannot level the reagent strips, and the deformed reagent strips cannot be fully positioned against the base, resulting in poor incubation effects and seriously affecting the stability of magnetic attraction and liquid extraction. Summary of the Invention

[0003] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides an automatic positioning and leveling device for reagent strips, and specifically can adopt the following technical solutions:

[0004] The automatic positioning and leveling device for reagent strips according to the present invention includes

[0005] a bracket,

[0006] a translation mechanism, arranged on the bracket and having a moving platform;

[0007] an incubation mechanism, arranged on the moving platform and having

[0008] an incubation table, fixedly connected to the moving platform, and a reagent strip placement position is arranged on the top surface of the incubation table;

[0009] a reagent rack for fixing reagent strips, and the reagent rack has a pressing plate located above the reagent strips;

[0010] a locking mechanism, arranged on the moving platform, for moving the pressing plate towards the incubation table to position and level the reagent strips.

[0011] The pressing plates are arranged in pairs on both sides of each reagent strip.

[0012] The pressing plate is provided with legs extending downward, and the legs are provided with slots opening backward.

[0013] The reagent strip placement position is a groove adapted to the reagent strip, and a leg placement position adapted to the legs is further provided on the top surface of the incubation table.

[0014] The locking mechanism includes

[0015] A connecting plate, arranged on the moving platform, having a horizontal rotating shaft perpendicular to the advancing direction of the reagent strip;

[0016] A rotating member, which is a Z-shaped structure hinged to the connecting plate in the middle, having a locking arm and an unlocking arm, and a tongue adapted to the card slot is arranged on the locking arm;

[0017] A return spring, one end connected to the connecting plate and the other end connected to the locking arm;

[0018] Wherein, the tongue and the card slot have a locked state of mutual engagement and an unlocked state of mutual separation; the return spring is used to keep the tongue in a tendency to change from the unlocked state to the locked state.

[0019] The locking mechanism is arranged below the moving platform, and working holes adapted to the locking arm are provided on the moving platform and the incubation table.

[0020] An unlocking block is arranged on the bracket, and the unlocking block is arranged opposite to the unlocking arm for changing the tongue from the locked state to the unlocked state.

[0021] The unlocking arm is inclined downward from top to bottom toward the unlocking block.

[0022] An L-shaped plate for connecting the return spring is arranged on the connecting plate.

[0023] A guiding slide rail connected to the moving platform is arranged on the bracket, and a linear driving mechanism connected to the moving platform is further arranged on the bracket.

[0024] The reagent strip automatic positioning and leveling device provided by the present invention has a simple structure and a compact layout. After the reagent rack loaded with reagent strips is placed in the incubation tray, with the forward movement of the incubation tray, it can automatically realize the clamping of the reagent rack and the leveling of the reagent strips, without complex signal judgment and logic timing control, is safe and reliable, and improves the detection accuracy. Description of the Drawings

[0025] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 2 is Figure 1 a schematic connection structure diagram of the reagent rack and the locking mechanism in

[0027] Figure 3 is Figure 2 a schematic structural diagram of the locking mechanism in

[0028] Figure 4 is Figure 1 The structural schematic diagram when the locking mechanism in [the device] is in the unlocked state.

[0029] Figure 5 is Figure 1 The structural schematic diagram when the locking mechanism in [the device] is in the locked state. Specific embodiments

[0030] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are implemented on the premise of the technical solution of the present invention, and detailed implementation manners and specific working processes are given. However, the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0031] As Figures 1-5 shown, the reagent strip automatic positioning and leveling device of the present invention includes a bracket 1 and a translation mechanism located thereon. The translation mechanism includes a guiding slide rail installed on the top surface of the bracket 1 and a lead screw nut motor located below the top surface of the bracket 1. The guiding slide rail is connected to the moving platform 2, and the lead screw nut motor is used to drive the moving platform 2. In addition to the above method, the moving platform 2 can also be connected to other forms of linear drive mechanisms. The moving platform 2 is used to install a warming mechanism that moves simultaneously with it, which includes a warming table 3 and a reagent rack 4. Among them, the warming table 3 is fixedly connected to the moving platform 2, and a groove adapted to the reagent strip M is provided on its top surface as a reagent strip placement position, and three transverse grooves are also provided as the placement positions for the legs of the reagent rack 4. The reagent rack 4 is composed of a pressing plate and legs. There are multiple pairs of pressing plates and three rows of legs, and the bottom is connected by a bottom plate. The reagent strip M is installed in the cavity between the pressing plate and the legs, and then placed on the warming table 3. At this time, the reagent strip M is located between the warming table 3 and the pressing plate (there is sufficient clearance between the two to facilitate the installation of the reagent strip M), and each pair of pressing plates is located on both sides of the reagent strip M inside it. When the pressing plate moves downward towards the warming table 3, it forms a pressing and positioning, and at the same time realizes the leveling operation.

[0032] The above positioning and leveling operations are realized through a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism includes a connecting plate 51 fixed to the bottom of the moving platform 2, on which a horizontal rotating shaft 52 perpendicular to the advancing direction of the reagent strip M is installed. A rotating member with a Z-shaped structure is installed on the horizontal rotating shaft 52. The middle part is the rotation center, the upper part is the locking arm 53, and the lower part is the unlocking arm 54. The locking arm 53 is located behind the legs of the reagent rack 4, and a tongue is provided at the end of the locking arm 53. An opening-back slot is provided on the leg, and the two have a locked state of mutual engagement (see Figure 5 ), and an unlocked state of mutual separation (see Figure 4). To make the tongue tend to change from the unlocked state to the locked state, a return spring 55 is installed between the locking arm 53 and the connecting plate 51. Usually, an L-shaped plate 56 is fixedly installed in front of the horizontal rotating shaft 52 of the connecting plate 51, so that the spring connection end of the L-shaped plate 56 is located below the return spring 55, facilitating the installation of the two. An unlocking block 6 is also installed on the bracket 1. The unlocking block 6 is arranged opposite to the unlocking arm 54 and is used to change the tongue from the locked state to the unlocked state. Usually, the unlocking arm 54 is inclined downward from top to bottom towards the unlocking block 6, and rubber flexible buffer layers are coated on both the locking arm 53 and the unlocking arm 54 to reduce the noise generated by movement collision. The above locking mechanisms are arranged in pairs, and the locking tongues of their locking arms 53 are respectively locked with the leg card slots on the left and right sides in the middle of the reagent rack 4. Further, working holes adapted to the locking arm 53 are provided on the moving platform 2 and the incubation table 3.

[0033] During operation, first load the reagent strip M into the reagent rack 4, and then load the reagent rack 4 into the incubation table 3. At this time, the moving platform 2 is in the initial position (see Figure 4 ), the unlocking block 6 abuts against the unlocking arm 54, the rotating member rotates counterclockwise around the horizontal rotating shaft 52, the return spring 55 is stretched, and the locking tongue at the end of the locking arm 53 moves away from the card slot of the middle leg of the reagent rack 4, so that the reagent rack 4 can be smoothly loaded into the incubation table 3. After that, start the lead screw nut motor to make the moving platform 2 move forward to the right. After the unlocking arm 54 leaves the unlocking block 6 (see Figure 5 ), under the action of the rebound of the return spring 55, the rotating member rotates clockwise around the horizontal rotating shaft 52, and the locking tongue at the end of the locking arm 53 automatically snaps into the card slot of the middle leg of the reagent rack 4, causing the legs of the reagent rack 4 to move downward, and the pressing plate connected thereto also moves downward accordingly. The downward pressing plate presses and fixes the reagent strip M in place, and at the same time, flattens and corrects its deformed part. After the moving platform 2 completes the test at the test position, it moves leftward back to the initial position under the action of the lead screw nut motor, and the unlocking block 6 touches the unlocking arm 54 again, unlocking the tongue and the card slot, so that the reagent rack 4 can be taken out smoothly, completing this operation.

[0034] It should be noted that in the description of the present invention, terms indicating orientation or positional relationships such as "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside", etc. are based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic positioning and leveling device for reagent strips, characterized in that: Comprising a bracket a translation mechanism disposed on the bracket and having a moving platform an incubation mechanism disposed on the moving platform and having an incubation table fixedly connected to the moving platform, and a reagent strip placement position is provided on the top surface of the incubation table a reagent rack for fixing a reagent strip, and the reagent rack has a pressing plate located above the reagent strip a locking mechanism disposed on the moving platform for moving the pressing plate towards the incubation table to position and level the reagent strip the pressing plates are arranged in pairs on both sides of each reagent strip the pressing plate is provided with legs extending downward, and a card slot with an opening facing backward is provided on the legs the locking mechanism includes a connecting plate disposed on the moving platform and having a horizontal rotating shaft perpendicular to the advancing direction of the reagent strip a rotating member, which is a Z-shaped structure hinged to the connecting plate in the middle, has a locking arm and an unlocking arm, and a tongue adapted to the card slot is provided on the locking arm a return spring, one end of which is connected to the connecting plate and the other end is connected to the locking arm wherein, the tongue and the card slot have a locked state of mutual engagement and an unlocked state of mutual separation; the return spring is used to keep the tongue in a tendency to change from the unlocked state to the locked state 2. The reagent strip automatic positioning and leveling device according to claim 1, characterized in that: the reagent strip placement position is a groove adapted to the reagent strip, and a leg placement position adapted to the legs is also provided on the top surface of the incubation table 3. The reagent strip automatic positioning and leveling device according to claim 1, characterized in that: the locking mechanism is disposed below the moving platform, and working holes adapted to the locking arm are provided on the moving platform and the incubation table 4. The reagent strip automatic positioning and leveling device according to claim 1, characterized in that: an unlocking block is provided on the bracket, and the unlocking block is disposed opposite to the unlocking arm for changing the tongue from the locked state to the unlocked state 5. The reagent strip automatic positioning and leveling device according to claim 4, wherein: the unlocking arm is inclined downward from top to bottom towards the unlocking block 6. The reagent strip automatic positioning and leveling device according to claim 1, characterized in that: an L-shaped plate for connecting the return spring is provided on the connecting plate 7. The reagent strip automatic positioning and leveling device according to claim 1, characterized in that: a guiding slide rail connected to the moving platform is provided on the bracket, and a linear driving mechanism connected to the moving platform is also provided on the bracket

Images