Sealing assembly, automated genetic amplification device and method of operation thereof

Abstract

The present application relates to a kind of sealing assembly, automated gene amplification device and its working method, sealing assembly includes support plate and sealing pad.Support plate is used to place on full apron, support plate is equipped with multiple through holes, the through hole on support plate is used to correspond with the sample hole on full apron is set;Multiple convex parts are formed on one surface of sealing pad, multiple convex parts are correspondingly set with multiple through holes, sealing pad is placed on the surface of support plate away from full apron, convex part passes through corresponding through hole and is used to extend into sample hole to seal sample hole.Sealing support cooperates with plug type silica gel pad, not only sealing performance is completely controllable, but also can be realized in the whole process mechanical arm operability on automated gene amplification device, centrifugation and subsequent experimental application can also be realized automation, solve the bottleneck on full apron automation application, it is conducive to the popularization and promotion of automated gene amplification device.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of molecular diagnostics, in particular to a sealing assembly, an automated gene amplification device and a working method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the depth and breadth of the development of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, the frequency and complexity of experiments have greatly improved, the types of samples are various, and the risk to operators is increasing day by day. The original manual operation based on laboratory has not adapted to the needs of development, and the automated gene amplification device and the fully automatic nucleic acid detection workstation have opened up a powerful trend of upgrading.

[0003] Traditional automated gene amplification devices usually use full-skirt consumables to improve work efficiency. Since sample extraction, sample processing, amplification and various analysis of large throughput need to be assisted by mechanical arms, robots and assembly lines to realize experimental automation, the automated experimental system usually uses standardized full-skirt consumables (such as 96-well and 384-well). The use of full-skirt may highlight the risk problems such as experimental aerosol pollution, sample hole anti-mixing, reagent evaporation and experimental reproducibility decline, which seriously affects the popularization and application of the automated gene amplification device, and therefore the automated experiment has high requirements for the sealing of the full-skirt.

[0004] The sealing method of the traditional full-skirt consumable usually includes manual film covering, machine film covering, surface film covering, hole-plugging type silicone gasket sealing and sealing by cooperating an arched stainless steel plate with a silicone gasket, which can achieve a certain sealing of the full-skirt, but either the sealing effect still needs to be improved or the sealing operation cannot be automated. SUMMARY

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to overcome the defects of the prior art and provide a sealing assembly, an automated gene amplification device and a working method thereof, which can realize process automation and ensure the sealing effect.

[0006] The technical scheme is as follows: a sealing assembly, the sealing assembly comprising:

[0007] a support plate for being placed on a full-skirt, the support plate being provided with a plurality of through holes, the through holes of the support plate being arranged correspondingly to sample holes on the full-skirt; and

[0008] a sealing gasket, one surface of the sealing gasket being formed with a plurality of convex portions, the convex portions being arranged correspondingly to the through holes, the sealing gasket being placed on the surface of the support plate away from the full-skirt, the convex portions penetrating through the corresponding through holes and extending into the sample holes to seal the sample holes.

[0009] The sealing assembly described above, when the sample holes on the full skirt plate need to be sealed, the sealing gasket is placed on the support plate, the support plate has a certain rigidity sufficient to support the sealing gasket and drive the sealing gasket to move, and can be grabbed and moved to the full skirt plate by a mechanical arm or other grabbing mechanism, or moved from the full skirt plate to another position. In addition, after the support plate is moved and placed on the full skirt plate, the sealing gasket is pressed against the support plate, so that the convex part of the sealing gasket passes through the corresponding through hole and extends into the sample hole to seal the sample hole, thereby ensuring good sealing of the full skirt plate. In addition, when the sealing gasket needs to be removed, the moving support plate of the grabbing mechanism drives the support plate, and the support plate is separated from the full skirt plate together with the sealing gasket above it, that is, there is no phenomenon that the sealing gasket is bonded to the full skirt plate and cannot be separated. As can be seen, the sealing bracket cooperates with the plug hole type silica gel gasket, not only the sealing performance is completely controllable, but also the full process mechanical arm operability on the automatic gene amplification device can be realized, and the centrifugation and subsequent experimental application can also be automated, solving the bottleneck of full skirt plate automation application, which is conducive to the popularization and promotion of automatic gene amplification device.

[0010] In one of the embodiments, the thickness of the support plate is defined as d, d≤0.45mm.

[0011] In one of the embodiments, the support plate is stamped from stainless steel plate material; and / or, the support plate is a medical grade material; and / or, the sealing gasket is an elastic gasket or a soft gasket.

[0012] In one of the embodiments, the edge of the support plate is provided with a bending part; the bending part is circumferentially arranged around the edge of the support plate; or, the bending part is provided with at least two, and is sequentially and spacedly arranged along the edge of the support plate.

[0013] In one of the embodiments, the support plate is provided with at least two support feet, and the at least two support feet are respectively arranged on the opposite two parts on the support plate.

[0014] In one of the embodiments, at least two support feet are arranged on one side edge of the support plate, and at least two support feet are arranged on the other opposite side edge of the support plate.

[0015] An automatic gene amplification device, the automatic gene amplification device comprising the sealing assembly, the automatic gene amplification device further comprising: a full skirt plate and an electric heating cover arranged above the full skirt plate, a plurality of sample holes are arranged on the full skirt plate, the support plate is placed on the full skirt plate, the convex part passes through the corresponding through hole and extends into the sample hole to seal the sample hole, and the electric heating cover is pressed above the sealing gasket.

[0016] The automatic gene amplification device described above, when it is necessary to seal the sample holes on the full apron, the sealing pad is placed on the support plate, the support plate has a certain rigidity to support the sealing pad and drive the sealing pad to move, and can be grabbed by a mechanical arm or other grabbing mechanism to drive the movement to the full apron, or moved from the full apron to another position. In addition, after the support plate is moved and placed on the full apron, the sealing pad is pressed against the support plate, so that the convex part of the sealing pad passes through the corresponding through hole and extends into the sample hole to seal the sample hole, thereby ensuring good sealing of the full apron. In addition, when it is necessary to remove the sealing pad, the moving support plate of the grabbing mechanism drives the support plate, and the support plate is separated from the full apron together with the sealing pad above it, that is, there is no phenomenon that the sealing pad is bonded to the full apron and cannot be separated. As can be seen, the sealing support cooperates with the plug hole type silica gel pad, not only the sealing performance is completely controllable, but also the full process mechanical arm operability on the automatic gene amplification device can be realized, and the centrifugation and subsequent experimental application can also be realized. Automatic, solves the bottleneck of full apron automation application, is conducive to the popularization and promotion of automatic gene amplification device.

[0017] In addition, when the sealing assembly is placed on the full apron and specifically extruded, the electrically controlled moving and pressing of the electrically heated cover extrudes the sealing pad-support plate-full apron as a whole, thereby forming a relatively fixed good seal; then the PCR experiment is formally run according to the programmed procedure; at the end of the experiment, the electrically heated cover rises and moves away from the sealing assembly, at this time the "sealing pad-support plate-full apron" as a whole is still in a relatively fixed good sealing state, effectively preventing aerosol leakage.

[0018] In one embodiment, the automatic gene amplification device further comprises a separation frame and a grabbing mechanism; the grabbing mechanism is used to clamp the support plate to transfer the support plate and the sealing pad located on the support plate to the full apron, and is used to clamp the full apron and transfer the full apron and the sealing assembly located on the full apron to the separation frame.

[0019] In one embodiment, the support surface of the separation frame is provided with a support column, the support column is used to support the support feet of the support plate, so that the support plate and the support surface form a spaced apart space, the support column avoids the full apron, and the length of the support column is greater than the thickness of the full apron.

[0020] In one embodiment, the support column is provided with a recess adapted to the support feet of the support plate.

[0021] A working method of the automatic gene amplification device, the working method comprises the following steps:

[0022] Sealing step: the support plate is grabbed by the grabbing mechanism, and the support plate is placed on the full apron plate, and the sealing gasket is compressed so that the convex part of the sealing gasket passes through the corresponding through hole and is used to extend into the inside of the sample hole to seal the sample hole;

[0023] Separation step: the full apron plate is grabbed by the grabbing mechanism, and the full apron plate is transferred to the separation support together with the sealing assembly on the full apron plate, and the full apron plate falls to the support surface of the separation support by its own gravity, and the support plate is located on the support column.

[0024] The working method of the automatic gene amplification device described above, the sealing support cooperates with the plug hole type silica gel pad, not only the sealing performance is completely controllable, but also the full process mechanical arm operability on the automatic gene amplification device can be realized, and the centrifugation and subsequent experimental application can also be realized automatically, the bottleneck of the full apron plate automatic application is solved, and the popularization and promotion of the automatic gene amplification device are beneficial. In addition, after the experiment is completed, the experimental product may need to be transferred and transported, or transferred to other equipment for next step processing and detection. At this time, the good sealing state of the full apron plate effectively guarantees the safety of the reagent and the laboratory safety. In addition, the subsequent experiment usually still needs to carry out the centrifugation and liquid collection operation of the full apron plate, and the structure of the sealing assembly makes that the "sealing gasket-support plate-full apron plate" whole can be put into the plate type centrifuge, which makes an important link in the whole sealing operation process of the full apron plate to be reliably guaranteed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0025] The accompanying drawings which form a part of this application are intended to provide further understanding of the application and are incorporated herein in connection with this application. The schematic embodiments of the application and the description thereof are used to explain the application, and do not constitute undue limitation on the application.

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the application, the accompanying drawings needed to be used in the embodiment description will be briefly introduced. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the application, and other accompanying drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creating labor.

[0027] Figure 1 A perspective view structure schematic diagram of the sealing assembly of an embodiment of the application installed on the full apron plate and the separation rack;

[0028] Figure 2 Another perspective view structure schematic diagram of the sealing assembly of an embodiment of the application installed on the full apron plate and the separation rack;

[0029] Figure 3 Still another perspective view structure schematic diagram of the sealing assembly of an embodiment of the application installed on the full apron plate and the separation rack;

[0030] Figure 4 A perspective view of a support plate of a sealing assembly according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] 10 support plate; 11 through hole; 12 bending part; 13 support leg; 20 sealing gasket; 21 protrusion; 30 full skirt plate; 40 separation frame; 41 support column; 411 recess; 42 operation space. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In order to make the above objectives, characteristics and advantages of the present application more apparent and comprehensible, the specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, a large number of specific details are set forth in order to fully understand the present application. However, the present application can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without departing from the spirit of the present application, so the present application is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0033] It is found through research that the following analysis is made on several sealing methods of the conventional full skirt plate.

[0034] Manual film coating method, in which manual operation takes a long time, and a special scraper is needed to assist in film pasting, which is largely dependent on the operator, and human errors cannot be completely avoided. At the same time, the sealing performance is also affected by the film material properties, the adhesive viscosity, the environmental temperature and pressure during sealing, and the film deformation caused by temperature changes (especially around the full skirt plate), and actual application often has evaporation, liquid leakage and other adverse effects, resulting in experimental failure and loss of reagents.

[0035] Machine film coating method, which uses special film coating equipment to provide appropriate high film pasting temperature and pressure, and avoids human errors, and the initial effect is better than that of manual film coating at room temperature. However, during the PCR experiment, the changes in heat cover pressure and temperature, the deep cooling and rapid heating caused by the PCR temperature program, make the adhesive state of the film body in a stretching and relaxing fatigue process; at the same time, the reagent liquid has a large vapor pressure at high temperature, which increases the risk of reagent evaporation and leakage; with the PCR experiment, not only the adhesive and film material properties change, but also the relative sliding between the film material and the full skirt plate, and the film material wrinkles and twists, resulting in the destruction of the air tightness. Therefore, machine film coating still has a high probability of poor sealing and aerosol pollution.

[0036] Surface film coating method, which actually only has a small circle of 1mm width of the planar sealing area on the edge of the full skirt plate cone pipe, and the sealing pressure is only maintained by the heat cover, so the sealing effect cannot be completely guaranteed in theory and practice.

[0037] The sealing mode of the plug hole type silica gel sealing gasket is that there is an independent, bottom protruding flexible silica gel plug for each hole, which can be completely extruded into the full apron conical hole. Its characteristics are to form a wide wall belt sealing area, the sealing path is longer, the silica gel elastic pressure is large, each hole is independent and does not affect each other, so that the actual sealing effect is more excellent, which is an ideal sealing mode for automation experiment. However, when applied to the automatic gene amplification device, the plug hole type silica gel sealing gasket is soft and cannot be smoothly grabbed by the mechanical arm, so it cannot meet the automation process requirements.

[0038] The sealing mode of the plug hole type silica gel sealing gasket is that there is an independent, bottom protruding flexible silica gel plug for each hole, which can be completely extruded into the full apron conical hole. Its characteristics are to form a wide wall belt sealing area, the sealing path is longer, the silica gel elastic pressure is large, each hole is independent and does not affect each other, so that the actual sealing effect is more excellent, which is an ideal sealing mode for automation experiment. However, when applied to the automatic gene amplification device, the plug hole type silica gel sealing gasket is soft and cannot be smoothly grabbed by the mechanical arm, so it cannot meet the automation process requirements.

[0039] Based on this, the application provides a sealing assembly which can guarantee good sealing performance and facilitate the realization of automation process.

[0040] Referring to Figures 1 to 4 , Figures 1 to 3 respectively show three different perspective structural schematic diagrams of the sealing assembly of an embodiment of the application installed on the full apron 30 and the separation frame 40, Figure 4 A perspective structural schematic diagram of the support plate 10 of the sealing assembly of an embodiment of the application is shown. The sealing assembly provided by an embodiment of the application comprises a support plate 10 and a sealing gasket 20. The support plate 10 is used to be placed on the full apron 30, and the support plate 10 is provided with a plurality of through holes 11, which are used to be correspondingly arranged with the sample holes (not shown in the figure) on the full apron 30. A plurality of protrusions 21 are formed on one surface of the sealing gasket 20. The plurality of protrusions 21 are correspondingly arranged with the plurality of through holes 11. The sealing gasket 20 is placed on the surface of the support plate 10 away from the full apron 30, the protrusions 21 pass through the corresponding through holes 11 and are used to extend into the sample holes to seal the sample holes.

[0041] It should be noted that the through holes 11 on the support plate 10 correspond to the sample holes on the full skirt plate 30, that is, on the one hand, the number of through holes 11 on the support plate 10 is the same as the number of sample holes on the full skirt plate 30, for example, the number of holes on the full skirt plate 30 is 96 or 384, and the number of through holes 11 on the support plate 10 is also 96 or 384; on the other hand, the positions of the through holes 11 on the support plate 10 correspond to the positions of the sample holes on the full skirt plate 30.

[0042] It should also be noted that the plurality of convex portions 21 correspond to the plurality of through holes 11, that is, on the one hand, the number of convex portions 21 on the sealing gasket 20 is the same as the number of through holes 11 on the support plate 10; on the other hand, the positions of the convex portions 21 on the sealing gasket 20 correspond to the positions of the through holes 11 on the support plate 10.

[0043] The sealing assembly described above, when the sample holes on the full skirt plate 30 need to be sealed, the sealing gasket 20 is placed on the support plate 10, the support plate 10 has a certain rigidity to support the sealing gasket 20 and drive the sealing gasket 20 to move, and can be grabbed and moved to the full skirt plate 30 by a mechanical arm or other grabbing mechanism, or moved from the full skirt plate 30 to another position. In addition, after the support plate 10 is moved and placed on the full skirt plate 30, the sealing gasket 20 is compressed against the support plate 10, so that the convex portions 21 of the sealing gasket 20 pass through the corresponding through holes 11 and extend into the sample holes to seal the sample holes, thereby ensuring good sealing of the full skirt plate 30. In addition, when the sealing gasket 20 needs to be removed, the support plate 10 is moved by the grabbing mechanism, and the support plate 10 is separated from the full skirt plate 30 together with the sealing gasket 20 above it, that is, there is no phenomenon that the sealing gasket 20 is bonded to the full skirt plate 30 and cannot be separated. As can be seen, the sealing support cooperates with the hole-type silicone gasket, not only the sealing performance is completely controllable, but also the full-process mechanical arm operability on the automatic genetic amplification device can be realized, and the centrifugation and subsequent experimental application can also be realized. Automatic, solves the bottleneck of the application of the full skirt plate 30 in automation, and is conducive to the popularization and promotion of the automatic genetic amplification device.

[0044] Please refer to Figure 4 In one embodiment, the thickness of the support plate 10 is defined as d, and d≤0.45mm. Thus, it is found through research that when the thickness d is set to be not greater than 0.45mm, the sealing performance of the sealing gasket 20 to the sample holes on the full skirt plate 30 can be avoided due to the excessive thickness of the plate.

[0045] Optionally, the plate thickness d includes but is not limited to 0.25mm, 0.3mm, 0.35m, 0.38mm, 0.4mm, 0.42mm, 0.44mm, 0.45mm, etc. In the embodiment, the plate thickness d is set to 0.38mm-0.42mm. The inventor has found that the thickness of the plate is appropriate. On the one hand, the plate is not too thick, which does not cause the sealing gasket 20 to occupy too much sealing height on the support plate 10, thereby weakening the sealing effect of the conical tube of the full apron 30. On the other hand, the plate is not too thin, which does not cause the flatness and rigidity to decrease, and the deformation after clamping is large, which is not conducive to reliable grabbing by the mechanical arm. Optionally, when the plate thickness d is set to 0.4mm, the sealing and rigidity can be considered at the same time, and the effect is better.

[0046] In a specific embodiment, a medical-grade stainless steel plate with a plate thickness d of 0.45mm or less is used and is formed by stamping, which can lift the sealing gasket 20. At the same time, the plate thickness does not affect the sealing performance of the sealing gasket 20 on the sample hole of the full apron 30.

[0047] In an embodiment, the support plate 10 is formed by stamping a stainless steel plate material. And / or, the support plate 10 is a medical-grade material. In this way, the support plate 10 has a certain rigidity and is not easy to deform and damage under stress. In addition, the use of a medical-grade material for the support plate 10 will not cause contamination of the reagent and can ensure cleanliness.

[0048] Of course, the support plate 10 can also not be limited to the stainless steel material in the above embodiment, and can also not be limited to the stamping forming process. The support plate 10 can also be formed by using other rigid materials, such as iron, aluminum, copper, etc. metal materials, or other hard non-metallic materials. The support plate 10 can also be produced by using other processing methods, such as forging processing, grinding processing, cutting processing, injection molding, etc. As long as the support plate 10 with the plate thickness meeting the preset requirements and the hardness meeting the preset requirements can be obtained, the specific selection of the material and the processing method can be flexibly adjusted and set according to the actual needs, and the specific selection of the material and the processing method is not limited here.

[0049] Please refer to Figures 1 to 4 In an embodiment, the edge of the support plate 10 is provided with a bent portion 12. In this way, the bent portion 12 provided at the edge of the support plate 10 can enhance the rigidity of the support plate 10, and the support plate 10 is not easy to bend under stress. The bent portion 12 can be bent towards any side of the support plate 10. Specifically, when bent towards the bottom, the bent portion 12 can be located at the side of the full apron 30, i.e. the side of the full apron 30; when bent towards the top, the bent portion 12 does not interfere with the placing and taking operation of the sealing gasket 20 on the support plate 10.

[0050] In one embodiment, the bending portion 12 is circumferentially arranged around the edge of the support plate 10; alternatively, the bending portion 12 is provided with at least two, which are sequentially and spacedly arranged along the edge of the support plate 10.

[0051] Referring to Figures 1 to 4 In one embodiment, the support plate 10 is provided with at least two support legs 13, which are respectively arranged on the opposite sides of the support plate 10. In this way, when the sealing assembly and the full apron 30 need to be separated from each other, the full apron 30 is transferred to the separation rack 40 by the grabbing mechanism grabbing the full apron 30, and after the at least two support legs 13 are supported on the separation rack 40, the grabbing mechanism releases the full apron 30, and the full apron 30 falls onto the separation rack 40 under its own gravity and is separated from the sealing assembly, and the sealing assembly can be removed, so that the automatic separation operation between the sealing assembly and the full apron 30 can be realized.

[0052] Referring to Figures 1 to 4 In one embodiment, at least two support legs 13 are arranged on one side edge of the support plate 10, and at least two support legs 13 are arranged on the other opposite side edge of the support plate 10. In this way, when the sealing assembly and the full apron 30 are placed on the separation rack 40, the support plate 10 contacts the separation rack 40 through the at least four support legs 13, which can ensure that the support plate 10 is stably placed on the separation rack 40.

[0053] Specifically, at least two support legs 13 are arranged on one side edge of the support plate 10, and at least two support legs 13 are arranged on the other opposite side edge of the support plate 10. The spacing of the two support legs 13 on one side edge of the support plate 10 can avoid the mechanical arm, and the spacing of the two support legs 13 on the other opposite side edge of the support plate 10 can also avoid the mechanical arm, which will not interfere with the movement of the mechanical arm, ensuring the smooth pick-and-place operation of the mechanical arm. In addition, when the parts on the separation rack 40 for contacting each support leg 13 are on the same plane, the bottom surfaces of each support leg 13 on the support plate 10 are on the same plane. Of course, when the parts on the separation rack 40 for contacting each support leg 13 are on different planes, the bottom surfaces of each support leg 13 on the support plate 10 are correspondingly on different planes and can respectively contact the separation rack 40.

[0054] In one embodiment, the sealing gasket 20 is an elastic gasket or a soft gasket. Specifically, the sealing gasket 20 includes but is not limited to an elastic rubber gasket, an elastic plastic gasket, an elastic resin gasket, etc. As a specific example, the sealing gasket 20 is a silica gel gasket.

[0055] In one embodiment, in order to ensure the sealing performance of the convex portion 21 after being inserted into the sample hole, the diameter of the convex portion 21 is not less than the hole diameter of the sample hole, that is, the convex portion 21 exerts a certain degree of pressing force on the hole wall of the sample hole after being inserted into the sample hole, so as to ensure the sealing performance.

[0056] Please refer to Figures 1 to 4 In one embodiment, an automatic gene amplification device, the automatic gene amplification device comprises the sealing assembly of any one of the above embodiments, and further comprises a full apron 30 and an electric heating cover (not shown in the figure) arranged above the full apron 30. The full apron 30 is provided with a plurality of sample holes, the support plate 10 is placed on the full apron 30, the convex portion 21 passes through the corresponding through hole 11 and extends into the sample hole to seal the sample hole, and the electric heating cover is pressed above the sealing gasket 20.

[0057] The automatic gene amplification device described above, when the sample holes on the full apron 30 need to be sealed, since the sealing gasket 20 is placed on the support plate 10, the support plate 10 has a certain rigidity sufficient to support the sealing gasket 20 and drive the sealing gasket 20 to move, and can be grabbed and moved to the full apron 30 by a grabbing mechanism such as a mechanical arm, or moved from the full apron 30 to another position. In addition, after the support plate 10 is moved and placed on the full apron 30, the sealing gasket 20 is pressed against the support plate 10, so that the convex portion 21 of the sealing gasket 20 passes through the corresponding through hole 11 and extends into the sample hole to seal the sample hole, thereby ensuring good sealing performance of the full apron 30. In addition, when the sealing gasket 20 needs to be removed, the support plate 10 is driven by the movement of the grabbing mechanism, and the support plate 10 is separated from the full apron 30 together with the sealing gasket 20 above it, that is, there is no phenomenon that the sealing gasket 20 is bonded to the full apron 30 and cannot be separated. As can be seen, the sealing support combined with the plug hole type silica gel gasket not only has completely controllable sealing performance, but also has full-process mechanical arm operability on the automatic gene amplification device, and centrifugation and subsequent experimental applications can also be automated, solving the bottleneck of the automatic application of the full apron 30, and being conducive to the popularization and promotion of the automatic gene amplification device.

[0058] In addition, when the sealing assembly is placed on the full apron 30 and is specifically pressed, the sealing gasket 20-support plate 10-full apron 30 is pressed as a whole by the electric heating cover which is electrically controlled to move and press down, so as to form a relatively fixed good seal. Then the PCR experiment is formally run according to the prepared program. When the experiment is finished, the electric heating cover rises and moves away from the sealing assembly, at this time, the “sealing gasket 20-support plate 10-full apron 30” as a whole is still in a relatively fixed good sealing state, effectively preventing aerosol leakage.

[0059] Please refer to Figures 1 to 4In one embodiment, the automated gene amplification device further comprises a separating frame 40 and a grabbing mechanism (not shown in the figure). The grabbing mechanism is used to clamp the support plate 10 to transfer the support plate 10 and the sealing gasket 20 located on the support plate 10 to the full apron 30, and is used to clamp the full apron 30 to transfer the full apron 30 and the sealing assembly located on the full apron 30 to the separating frame 40. In this way, when the sealing operation of the full apron 30 is needed, the sealing assembly can be transferred to the full apron 30 under the action of the grabbing mechanism by clamping the support plate 10 by the grabbing mechanism; when the separating operation of the full apron 30 and the sealing assembly is needed, the full apron 30 can be transferred to the separating frame together with the sealing assembly located above it under the action of the grabbing mechanism by clamping the full apron 30 by the grabbing mechanism. Thus, manual operation is not needed, and the degree of automation is high.

[0060] Optionally, the grabbing mechanism includes but is not limited to a mechanical arm, a mechanical hand, a vacuum suction cup, a clamping jaw, and the like.

[0061] Please refer to Figures 1 to 4 In one embodiment, the support surface of the separating frame 40 is provided with a support column 41, which is used to support the support feet 13 of the support plate 10 to form a spaced-apart space between the support plate 10 and the support surface. The support column 41 avoids the full apron 30, and the length of the support column 41 is greater than the thickness of the full apron 30. In this way, when the separating operation of the full apron 30 and the sealing assembly is performed, the support feet 13 of the support plate 10 are supported by the support column 41 to form a spaced-apart space between the support plate 10 and the support surface, that is, the support column 41 can prevent the support plate 10 from falling onto the support surface. At the same time, since the support column 41 avoids the full apron 30, and the length of the support column 41 is greater than the thickness of the full apron 30, under the action of the gravity of the full apron 30 itself, the full apron 30 falls smoothly onto the support surface and is separated from the support plate 10, and does not interfere with the support column 41.

[0062] Please refer to Figures 1 to 4 In one embodiment, when the support feet 13 are provided in four, the support column 41 is correspondingly provided in four, and the four support columns 41 correspond to the four support feet 13 respectively. Of course, the support feet 13 and the support column 41 can also be provided in other numbers, which are not limited herein, as long as the stability of the support plate 10 on the separating frame 40 can be ensured when the support feet 13 are placed on the support column 41. Specifically, the four support columns 41 are located at the four corners of the separating frame 40 respectively, and an operation space 42 is left between the adjacent two support columns 41. The operation space 42 can avoid the taking and placing actions of the grabbing mechanism when the full apron 30 is taken and placed, and the full apron 30 can be smoothly taken and placed on the separating frame 40.

[0063] Please refer to Figures 1 to 4In an embodiment, the support column 41 is provided with a recess 411 which is adapted to the support foot 13 of the support plate 10. In this way, the support foot 13 of the support plate 10 is placed in the recess 411, and the recess 411 limits the support foot 13, thereby ensuring that the support plate 10 can be stably supported, avoiding the phenomenon of the support plate 10 slipping and falling, and also ensuring that the full apron 30 can be smoothly separated and fallen onto the support surface.

[0064] Please refer to ​ In an embodiment, a working method of the automatic gene amplification device of any of the above embodiments, the working method comprising the following steps:

[0065] The sealing step: the support plate 10 is grabbed by the grabbing mechanism and placed on the full apron 30, and the sealing gasket 20 is compressed to make the convex part 21 of the sealing gasket 20 pass through the corresponding through hole 11 and extend into the sample hole to seal the sample hole;

[0066] The separation step: the full apron 30 is grabbed by the grabbing mechanism, and the full apron 30 and the sealing assembly on the full apron 30 are transferred to the separation support, and the full apron 30 falls to the support surface of the separation support by its own gravity, and the support plate 10 is located on the support column 41.

[0067] The working method of the automatic gene amplification device described above, the sealing support cooperates with the plug-hole type silica gel gasket, not only the sealing performance is completely controllable, but also the full process mechanical arm operability on the automatic gene amplification device can be realized, and the centrifugation and subsequent experimental application can also be realized automatically, solving the bottleneck of the automatic application of the full apron 30, and being conducive to the popularization and promotion of the automatic gene amplification device.

[0068] In addition, after the experiment is completed, the experimental product may need to be transferred and transported, or transferred to other equipment for next step processing and detection. At this time, the good sealing state of the full apron 30 effectively guarantees the safety of the reagent and the laboratory safety.

[0069] In addition, the subsequent experiment usually still needs to perform the centrifugation and liquid collection operation of the full apron 30, and the structure of the sealing assembly makes the "sealing gasket 20-support plate 10-full apron 30" whole can be put into the plate type centrifuge, which makes an important link in the whole sealing operation process of the full apron 30 to be reliably guaranteed.

[0070] In an embodiment, in the sealing step, during the specific extrusion, the electric hot cover is electrically controlled to move and press down the sealing gasket 20, and the "sealing gasket 20-support plate 10-full apron 30" whole is extruded to form a relatively fixed good sealing; then the PCR experiment is formally operated according to the programmed procedure; at the end of the experiment, the electric hot cover rises and moves away, at this time, the "sealing gasket 20-support plate 10-full apron 30" whole is still in a relatively fixed good sealing state, effectively preventing aerosol leakage.

[0071] In one embodiment, after the separation step is completed, the sealing assembly can be transferred to another station by a gripping mechanism, and the full skirt 30 that has been completely separated can be transferred to another station.

[0072] It should be noted that the "bent part 12, support leg 13" can be "part of the support plate 10", that is, the "bent part 12, support leg 13" is integrally formed with the "other part of the support plate 10"; or it can be a separate component that can be separated from the "other part of the support plate 10", that is, the "bent part 12, support leg 13" can be independently manufactured, and then combined with the "other part of the support plate 10" to form an integral whole.

[0073] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any manner. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described, but as long as the combinations of the technical features do not contradict, they should be considered within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0074] The above embodiments only express several embodiments of the present application, and the description is more specific and detailed, but it should not be understood as limiting the scope of the patent. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the concept of the present application, a number of modifications and improvements can be made, which are within the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent should be subject to the appended claims.

[0075] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and therefore cannot be understood as indicating or implying that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application.

[0076] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined with "first" and "second" can explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality of" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically limited.

[0077] In the present application, unless specifically defined otherwise, the terms "mounting", "connected", "connecting", "fixed", and "fixing" should be construed as broad terms, for example, can be fixed connection, can also be detachable connection, or integrated; can be mechanical connection, can also be electrical connection; can be directly connected, can also be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, can be the internal communication of two elements or the interaction relationship of two elements, unless otherwise explicitly defined. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0078] In the present application, unless specifically defined otherwise, the first feature is "on" or "under" the second feature can be that the first and second features are in direct contact, or the first and second features are indirectly in contact through an intermediate medium. Moreover, the first feature "above", "over" and "on" the second feature can be that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or only indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is higher than that of the second feature. The first feature "below", "under" and "under" the second feature can be that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or only indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is less than that of the second feature.

[0079] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as "fixed to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there can be a middle element. When an element is considered to be "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there can be a middle element. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "up", "down", "left", "right" and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not the only implementation.

Claims

1. An automated gene amplification device, characterized in that, The automated gene amplification device includes a sealing assembly, which comprises: A support plate having multiple through holes, the through holes on the support plate being configured to correspond to sample holes on the full skirt plate; and A sealing gasket, wherein a plurality of protrusions are formed on one surface of the sealing gasket, the plurality of protrusions being disposed corresponding to a plurality of through holes, and the sealing gasket being placed on the surface of the support plate opposite to the full skirt panel; The automated gene amplification device further includes: a full skirt plate and an electrically heated cover disposed above the full skirt plate. The full skirt plate is provided with multiple sample holes. The support plate is placed on the full skirt plate. The protrusion passes through the corresponding through hole and extends into the sample hole to seal the sample hole. The electrically heated cover is pressed against the top of the sealing gasket. The automated gene amplification device further includes a separation frame and a gripping mechanism; the gripping mechanism is used to grip the support plate and transfer the support plate and the sealing gasket located on the support plate to the full skirt plate, and to grip the full skirt plate and transfer the full skirt plate and the sealing assembly located on the full skirt plate to the separation frame.

2. The automated gene amplification device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thickness of the support plate is defined as d, where d ≤ 0.45 mm.

3. The automated gene amplification device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The support plate is made of stainless steel sheet material by stamping.

4. The automated gene amplification device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The support plate is made of medical-grade material.

5. The automated gene amplification device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sealing gasket is an elastic gasket or a soft gasket.

6. The automated gene amplification device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The support plate has a bent portion at its edge; the bent portion is arranged circumferentially around the edge of the support plate; or, at least two bent portions are provided and are arranged at intervals along the edge of the support plate.

7. The automated gene amplification device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The support plate is provided with at least two support feet, which are respectively disposed on two opposite parts of the support plate.

8. The automated gene amplification device according to claim 7, characterized in that, At least two support feet are provided on one side edge of the support plate, and at least two support feet are provided on the other opposite side edge of the support plate.

9. The automated gene amplification device according to claim 7, characterized in that, The separation frame has a support column on its support surface. The support column is used to support the support foot so that the support plate and the support surface form a space. The support column avoids the full skirt panel. The length of the support column is greater than the thickness of the full skirt panel.

10. A method of operating the automated gene amplification device as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The working method includes the following steps: Sealing step: The support plate is gripped by the gripping mechanism and placed on the full skirt plate. The sealing gasket is pressed so that the protrusion of the sealing gasket passes through the corresponding through hole and is used to extend into the sample hole to seal the sample hole. Separation steps: The full skirt panel is grasped by the gripping mechanism and transferred together with the sealing components on the full skirt panel to the separation frame. The full skirt panel falls onto the support surface of the separation frame by its own weight. The support plate is located on the support column of the separation frame.

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