A reaction tube automatic continuous loading device

Abstract

The present invention discloses an automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes, which relates to the field of in vitro diagnosis of medical devices. A swinging guide rod mechanism is provided on a fixed seat, and the swinging guide rod mechanism includes: a swinging member and a slider connected to the swinging member, and the swinging member and the slider are connected to form a first channel; the feed end of the swinging member is connected to the reaction tube container; a slideway assembly, and the feed end of the slideway assembly is connected to the discharge end of the swinging member; a tube drop device includes: a branch guide rod driving assembly, a pair of branch guide rods connected to the branch guide rod driving assembly, and a drop barrel, wherein a pair of branch guide rods alternately extend forward and enter the slideway assembly; the feed end of the drop barrel is connected to the discharge end of the slideway assembly. The present invention has a simple and compact structure, low cost, high reaction tube loading efficiency, greatly reduces manual operation, has a low tube jam rate and failure rate, is easy to repair when a failure occurs, and is simple and easy to perform daily maintenance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of in vitro diagnosis of medical devices, and in particular relates to an automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes. Background Art

[0002] In the field of in vitro diagnostics of medical devices, for example, in chemiluminescent immunoassay analyzers, a consumable material is used, namely the reaction tube, which is the reaction site for reagents and samples. To prevent cross contamination, the reaction tubes used are disposable. As the automation of instruments and equipment becomes higher and higher, the test throughput becomes higher and higher, and in order to reduce user operations and improve user experience, there will be an even greater need for a device that can automatically add reaction tubes.

[0003] In the prior art, most reaction tubes are neatly arranged in a reaction tube box in advance. When in use, the reaction tube box is placed in an instrument, and the instrument uses a gripper to move the reaction tube to a specified position. This method reduces the working efficiency of the equipment. Since fewer reaction tubes can be loaded at one time, the operator is required to frequently replenish the reaction tubes manually, which increases the operator's labor intensity.

[0004] Most of the currently used automatic loading devices for reaction tubes adopt a chain or conveyor belt structure, such as the device proposed in the invention patent with publication number CN105116160B. This structure is complex, the assembly is complicated, the cost is high, and the tube is prone to stuck failure, and the reaction tube loading rate is not high.

[0005] Based on this, designing a continuous automatic loading device for reaction tubes with simple structure and higher efficiency is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the invention

[0006] In order to overcome the problems existing in the related art, the present invention provides an automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes. The specific technical solution is as follows:

[0007] The reaction tube automatic continuous loading device comprises a fixing seat and a reaction tube container located above the fixing seat, wherein a swing guide rod mechanism is provided on the fixing seat, and the swing guide rod mechanism comprises:

[0008] A swinging member and a sliding block connected to the swinging member, wherein the swinging member and the sliding block are butted against each other to form a first channel; a feed end of the swinging member is connected to a reaction tube container;

[0009] A slideway assembly, wherein the feed end of the slideway assembly is connected to the discharge end of the swing member;

[0010] The pipe dropping device specifically comprises: a branch guide rod driving assembly, a pair of branch guide rods respectively connected to the branch guide rod driving assembly, and a drop barrel, wherein:

[0011] A pair of branch guide rods extend forward alternately and enter the slideway assembly;

[0012] The feeding end of the blanking barrel is connected to the discharging end of the slideway assembly.

[0013] Optionally, the swing guide rod mechanism further includes:

[0014] A motor fixing plate, arranged on the upper surface of the fixing seat;

[0015] A first motor is disposed on the motor fixing plate, and a telescopic end of the first motor enters the slideway assembly;

[0016] A swing rod, the swing rod is connected to the telescopic end of the first motor, and a first guide tube groove is formed on the swing rod. The end of the swing rod connected to the telescopic end of the first motor forms an arc structure, and the arc structure is connected to the discharge end of the reaction tube container to form a reaction tube slideway;

[0017] The slider is slidably connected to the swing rod through a limit piece, and a second conduit groove is formed on the slider. The first conduit groove is butted with the second conduit groove to form a front section conveying channel.

[0018] Optionally, the limiter includes:

[0019] A first bearing is disposed on the surface of the swing rod;

[0020] The first limiting groove is arranged on the surface of the slider, and the first bearing is embedded in the first limiting groove. When the swing rod swings, the slider realizes relative rotation with the swing rod through the sliding of the first bearing in the first limiting groove.

[0021] Optionally, the slide assembly includes:

[0022] A slide base, the slide base is arranged obliquely relative to the upper surface of the fixing base;

[0023] The left side plate and the right side plate of the slide are arranged parallel to the surface of the slide base to form a middle section conveying channel;

[0024] A reflective optical coupler assembly is arranged on the right side plate of the slide;

[0025] The slideway pad is arranged on the slideway base between the left side plate and the right side plate of the slideway.

[0026] Optionally, the guide rod drive assembly includes:

[0027] A branch base is arranged on the left side plate of the slide;

[0028] A second motor is connected to the branch base, and a telescopic end of the second motor is arranged on the outer side of the left side plate of the slide;

[0029] The lever is connected to the rotating end of the second motor; at the same time, the lever is respectively connected to a pair of branch guide rods through the second bearing.

[0030] Optionally, a pair of second limiting grooves parallel to each other are provided on the branch pipe base, the branch pipe guide rod is embedded in the second limiting groove, and the branch pipe guide rod extends out or retracts relative to the second limiting groove.

[0031] Optionally, the branch pipe guide rods close to the feeding end of the blanking barrel are alternately extended forward to cover or stagger the feeding end of the blanking barrel.

[0032] Furthermore, the above-mentioned automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes further comprises:

[0033] The photocoupler in charge of detection is set on the left side plate of the slide through the support seat;

[0034] The detection baffle in charge is arranged on the upper part of the second motor. The detection baffle in charge rotates with the second motor and reciprocates through the detection optocoupler in charge.

[0035] Optionally, a material drop detection optocoupler is also included, and the material drop detection optocoupler is arranged on the material drop barrel.

[0036] The technical solution of the automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes provided by the present invention can have the following beneficial effects:

[0037] First, the swing rod is connected to the slider to form a front conveying channel connected to the discharge end of the reaction tube container;

[0038] Second, the swing rod cooperates with the first motor to realize that the reaction tubes in the reaction tube container enter the front section conveying channel at intervals, and the reaction tubes are neatly and orderly arranged after entering and sliding;

[0039] Third, the branch guide rod cooperates with the second motor, and the branch guide rod slides in the slide groove on the branch base, and finally realizes the branch guide rod to reciprocate forward and backward, so that only one reaction tube can be dropped at a time, ensuring the orderly dropping of the reaction tubes;

[0040] Fourth, the drop detection optocoupler cooperates with the drop detection baffle to detect whether the reaction tube drops normally.

[0041] The automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes of the present invention has a simple and compact structure, low cost, high reaction tube loading efficiency, greatly reduces manual operations, has low tube sticking rate and failure rate, is easy to repair when a failure occurs, and is simple and easy to perform daily maintenance.

[0042] It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] The accompanying drawings herein are incorporated into and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments consistent with the present invention, and together with the description, are used to explain the basic principles of the technical solutions of the present invention.

[0044] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of an automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a swing guide rod mechanism in a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 3 It is a structural principle diagram of the crank swing guide rod mechanism in the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 4 The motion principle diagram of the swing guide rod mechanism in the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0048] Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram of a slideway assembly in a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 6 It is a partial top view of the slideway assembly in the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0050] Figure 7 It is a structural schematic diagram of a drop pipe device in a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0051] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of assembling the branch guide rod driving assembly and the branch guide rod in the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0052] Fig. 9 It is an assembly perspective view of the branch guide rod driving assembly and the branch guide rod in the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0053] Fig.10 It is a schematic diagram of the swing guide rod mechanism in the preferred embodiment of the present invention being in the extreme position 1;

[0054] Fig.11 It is a schematic diagram of the swing guide rod mechanism in the preferred embodiment of the present invention being in the second extreme position.

[0055] Description of reference numerals:

[0056] 100-fixed seat;

[0057] 200-slideway assembly; 201-slideway base; 202-slideway right side plate; 203-slideway left side plate; 204-reflective optical coupler assembly; 205-slideway pad;

[0058] 300-swing guide rod mechanism; 301-motor fixing plate; 302-first motor; 303-swing rod; 304-first bearing; 305-slider;

[0059] 400-reaction tube container;

[0060] 500-dropping device; 501-dropping barrel; 502-dropping detection optical coupler; 503-sub-management device; 5031-second motor; 5032-sub-management base; 5033-sub-management detection optical coupler; 5034-sub-management detection baffle; 5035-lever; 5036-sub-management guide rod; 50361-second bearing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present invention. Instead, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present invention as detailed in the appended claims.

[0062] The technical solution provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to an automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes. In the prior art, the reaction tubes are generally neatly arranged in a reaction tube box in advance, and the reaction tube box is placed in the instrument when in use, and the instrument then uses a gripper to move the reaction tube to a specified position. This method reduces the working efficiency of the equipment. Since there are fewer reaction tubes loaded at one time, the operator needs to manually replenish the reaction tubes frequently, which increases the labor intensity of the operator. Based on this, the automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes provided by the technical solution of the preferred embodiment of the present invention has a simple and compact structure, low cost, high reaction tube loading efficiency, greatly reduces manual operation, has a low tube jam rate and failure rate, is easy to repair when a failure occurs, and is simple and easy to perform daily maintenance.

[0063] Figure 1 The schematic diagram of the structure of the automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes provided by the technical solution of this preferred embodiment is shown as an example. Figures 1 to 10It can be known that the automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes includes: a fixed seat 100 and a reaction tube container 400 located above the fixed seat 100, and a swing guide rod mechanism 300 is provided on the fixed seat 100; further, the swing guide rod mechanism 300 includes: a swing member and a slider 305 connected to the swing member, and the swing member and the slider 305 are connected to form a first channel; the feed end of the swing member is connected to the reaction tube container 400; a slide assembly 200, and the feed end of the slide assembly 200 is connected to the discharge end of the swing member; a tube drop device 500, specifically including: a branch guide rod drive assembly, a pair of branch guide rods 5036 respectively connected to the branch guide rod drive assembly, and a drop barrel 501, wherein a pair of branch guide rods 5036 extend forward alternately and enter the slide assembly 200; the feed end of the drop barrel 501 is connected to the discharge end of the slide assembly 200.

[0064] Preferably, the swing guide rod mechanism 300 further includes: a motor fixing plate 301, the motor fixing plate 301 is arranged on the upper surface of the fixing seat 100; a first motor 302, the first motor 302 is arranged on the motor fixing plate 301, and the telescopic end of the first motor 302 enters the slideway assembly 200; a swing rod 303, the swing rod 303 is connected to the telescopic end of the first motor 302, and a first guide tube groove is formed on the swing rod 303, and the end of the swing rod 303 connected to the telescopic end of the first motor 302 forms an arc structure, and the arc structure is opposite to the discharge end of the reaction tube container 400. The slide block 305 is connected to the swing rod 303 through a limiter, and a second conduit groove is formed on the slide block 305. The first conduit groove and the second conduit groove are connected to form a front section conveying channel. It should be further pointed out that the first motor 302 drives the swing rod 303 to swing back and forth within a certain angle range, and the first bearing 304 provided on the swing rod 303 slides in the first limiter groove on the slide block 305, and drives the slide block 305 to swing up and down at the same time. The front section conveying channel formed by the slide block 305 and the swing rod 303 is the entrance of the reaction tube. As shown in the attached figure Fig.10 and attached Fig.11 The swing guide rod mechanism is shown in the extreme position 1 and the extreme position 2.

[0065] The swing guide rod slider mechanism is evolved from the crank swing guide rod mechanism. The basic principle of the crank swing guide rod mechanism is as shown in the attached figure. Figure 3 As shown, the crank 2 rotates at a constant speed, and the guide rod 4 performs reciprocating variable speed motion with the swing of the slider 3; at the same time, the motion principle of this preferred embodiment is as shown in the attached Figure 4 As shown, crank b rotates back and forth within a certain angle, and guide rod a swings back and forth with the swing of slider c.

[0066] Preferably, the limiting member includes: a first bearing 304, which is arranged on the surface of the rocker arm 303; a first limiting groove, which is arranged on the surface of the slider 305, and the first bearing 304 is embedded in the first limiting groove. When the rocker arm 303 swings, the slider 305 realizes relative rotation with the rocker arm 303 through the sliding of the first bearing 304 in the first limiting groove.

[0067] Preferably, the slide assembly includes: a slide base 201, which is inclined relative to the upper surface of the fixed base 100; a slide left side plate 203 and a slide right side plate 202, which are arranged parallel to the surface of the slide base 201 to form a middle section conveying channel; a reflective optical coupling assembly 204, which is arranged on the slide right side plate 202; a slide pad 205, which is arranged on the slide base 201 between the slide left side plate 203 and the slide right side plate 202; it should be further pointed out that the reaction tubes entering from the reaction tube entrance of the front section conveying channel will be neatly and orderly arranged together after entering the slide, and the function of the slide pad 205 is to support the bottom of the reaction tube so that the reaction tube is tilted between the slide left side plate and the slide right side plate to prevent the reaction tube from flipping over.

[0068] Preferably, the branch guide rod driving assembly includes: a branch base 5032, which is arranged on the left side plate 203 of the slide; a second motor 5031, which is connected to the branch base 5032, and the telescopic end of the second motor 5031 is arranged on the outer side of the left side plate 203 of the slide; a lever 5035, which is connected to the rotating end of the second motor 5031, and the lever 5035 is respectively connected to a pair of branch guide rods 5036 through second bearings 50361; it should be further pointed out that the branch motor 503 drives the lever 5035 to swing back and forth within a certain angle range, and the branch guide rod 5036 slides in the slide groove on the branch base, and finally realizes the branch guide rod 5036 to reciprocate back and forth, so that only one reaction tube can be dropped at a time, ensuring the orderly dropping of the reaction tubes, and adopts a stop-and-pass alternating lever-type reaction tube feeding mechanism, which can ensure that only one reaction tube falls from the tube dropping device each time.

[0069] Preferably, a pair of second limiting grooves parallel to each other are provided on the branch pipe base 5032, and the branch pipe guide rod 5036 is embedded in the second limiting grooves, and the branch pipe guide rod 5036 extends out or retracts relative to the second limiting grooves.

[0070] Preferably, the branch pipe guide rods 5036 close to the feeding end of the blanking barrel 501 extend forward alternately to block or stagger the feeding end of the blanking barrel 501 .

[0071] Preferably, the reaction tube automatic continuous loading device also includes: a branch detection optical coupler 5033, which is arranged on the left side plate 203 of the slide through a support seat; a branch detection baffle 5034, which is arranged on the upper part of the second motor 5031, and the branch detection baffle 5034 rotates with the second motor 5031 and reciprocates through the branch detection optical coupler.

[0072] Furthermore, it also includes a material dropping detection optical coupler 502, which is arranged on the material dropping cylinder 501 and is used to detect whether the reaction tube is dropped normally.

[0073] After referring to the technical solutions disclosed in this specification and the examples, those skilled in the art will easily think of other embodiments of the present invention. This application is intended to cover any modification, use or adaptation of the present invention, which follows the general principles of the present invention and includes common knowledge or customary technical means in the art that are not disclosed in the present invention. The description and examples are to be regarded as exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the present invention are indicated by the appended claims.

[0074] It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise structure that has been described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present invention should be limited by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes, comprising a fixing seat and a reaction tube container located above the fixing seat, characterized in that: The fixing seat is provided with a swing guide rod mechanism, and the swing guide rod mechanism comprises: A motor fixing plate, the motor fixing plate being arranged on the upper surface of the fixing seat; A first motor, wherein the first motor is disposed on the motor fixing plate, and a rotating shaft of the first motor enters into the slideway assembly; A swing rod, the swing rod is connected to the rotating shaft of the first motor, and a first guide tube groove is formed on the swing rod, and an end of the swing rod connected to the rotating shaft of the first motor forms an arc structure, and the arc structure is connected to the discharge end of the reaction tube container to form a reaction tube slideway; A slider, wherein the slider is slidably connected to the swing rod through a stopper, and a second conduit groove is formed on the slider, and the first conduit groove is butted with the second conduit groove to form a front-end conveying channel; the stopper comprises: a first bearing, which is arranged on the surface of the swing rod; a first stopper groove, which is arranged on the surface of the slider; the first bearing is embedded in the first stopper groove, and when the swing rod reciprocates, the slider swings up and down by sliding the first bearing in the first stopper groove; A slide assembly, wherein the feed end of the slide assembly is connected to the discharge end of the front conveying channel; the slide assembly comprises a slide base, a slide left plate and a slide right plate, wherein the slide base is inclined relative to the upper surface of the fixed seat, and the slide left plate and the slide right plate are parallel to the surface of the slide base to form a middle conveying channel; A pipe dropping device, the pipe dropping device comprising a branch guide rod driving assembly, a pair of branch guide rods connected to the branch guide rod driving assembly and a drop barrel, wherein the pair of branch guide rods extend forward alternately and enter the slideway assembly; the feed end of the drop barrel is connected to the discharge end of the slideway assembly; The branch guide rod driving assembly includes: a branch base, which is arranged on the left side plate of the slide; a second motor, which is connected to the branch base, and the rotating shaft of the second motor is arranged on the outer side of the left side plate of the slide; a lever and a second bearing, the lever is connected to the rotating end of the second motor, the second motor drives the lever to swing back and forth within a certain angle range, and the lever is respectively connected to the pair of branch guide rods through the second bearing; a pair of second limiting grooves parallel to each other are provided on the branch base, the pair of branch guide rods are embedded in the second limiting grooves, and the pair of branch guide rods extend or retract relative to the second limiting grooves; the pair of branch guide rods close to the feeding end of the blanking barrel extend forward alternately, so that the reaction tube at the feeding end of the blanking barrel can only fall one at a time.

2. The automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes according to claim 1, characterized in that: The slide assembly also includes: A reflective optical coupler component, wherein the reflective optical coupler component is disposed on the right side plate of the slide; A slide pad block is arranged on the slide base between the left side plate of the slide and the right side plate of the slide.

3. The automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes according to claim 2, characterized in that: Also includes: A detection optical coupler in charge, wherein the detection optical coupler in charge is arranged on the left side plate of the slide through a support seat; The branch detection baffle is arranged on the upper part of the second motor and rotates with the second motor to reciprocate through the branch detection optical coupler.

4. The automatic continuous loading device for reaction tubes according to claim 3, characterized in that: It also includes a material drop detection optical coupler, and the material drop detection optical coupler is arranged on the material drop cylinder.

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