Nucleic Acid Electrophoresis Gel Precast Machine

Abstract

The present invention provides a nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabricator, which includes a buffer storage tank, a buffer liquid extraction device, an agarose storage tank, an agarose weighing device, a nucleic acid dye storage tank, a nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device, a distilled water storage tank, a distilled water extraction device, a mixing and heating cylinder, a gel casting chamber, and an automatic control system. The automatic control system is electrically connected to the buffer liquid extraction device, the agarose weighing device, the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device, the distilled water extraction device, the mixing and heating cylinder, and the gel casting chamber respectively. The main problem to be solved by this device is to construct a nucleic acid electrophoresis gel preparation process including all procedures of weighing, liquid extraction, heating, stirring, and gel casting.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of nucleic acid gel preparation, and in particular relates to a nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabricator. Background Art

[0002] Currently, nucleic acid gel preparation, whether in experimental teaching or scientific research, is still done entirely manually. This manual process is time-consuming and laborious, involving a series of steps such as weighing, extracting liquids, heating, stirring, filling the gel, and combing. It requires dedicated personnel and any mistakes require redoing the entire process. More importantly, nucleic acid gel preparation requires the addition of nucleic acid gel dyes such as ethidium bromide. These dyes can embed into the base molecules of double-stranded DNA and bind tightly to them, making them highly carcinogenic and prone to indirect exposure during experiments.

[0003] Currently, there is no comparable equipment on the market. Existing manual methods are inefficient, fail to guarantee operator safety, and excessive manual intervention leads to unstable gel quality. There is an urgent need to develop an intelligent, automated nucleic acid gel production device to address these issues. A relatively close competitor is CN200510124547, "Automatic Device and Method for Preparing Electrophoresis Gradient Gel Films," which is designed for preparing gradient concentration gels. However, due to its precise structure and high cost, it has not yet been commercialized. Similar equipment has the following problems: 1. The automatic agarose powder weighing device is not designed to be closed, and it is easy to absorb moisture and form lumps, which interferes with the accuracy of automatic weighing; 2. The automatic agarose powder weighing device adjusts the weighing weight per unit through the quantitative volume system, but cannot fine-tune different batches of reagents, and the error is large. If an electronic scale system is used, the cost is very high; 3. The automatic micro-liquid extraction device has poor accuracy control, and there is a lot of residue due to adsorption of liquid surface tension when extracting liquid; 4. The manual micro-liquid extraction device has the risk of operators being exposed to toxic reagents; 5. The gel is not poured evenly, and there is no way to remove the bubbles generated, which will seriously interfere with subsequent experiments; 6. The filling mold environment does not have a rapid temperature adjustment function, and the temperature cannot be changed quickly, so the preparation time is long; 7. There is no refrigeration function, and the refrigerator needs to be used to cool down to improve the quality of the gel, and the prepared gel cannot be stored for a long time; 8. After use, the gel is prone to pipeline blockage or contamination due to liquid residue or excessive humidity. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a nucleic acid electrophoresis gel precast machine for solving the technical problem of unstable gel quality caused by excessive manual operation.

[0005] The present invention is implemented as follows. A nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine includes a buffer storage tank, a buffer liquid extraction device, an agarose storage tank, an agarose weighing device, a nucleic acid dye storage tank, a nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device, a mixing and heating cylinder, a gel casting chamber, and an automatic control system. A plurality of gel casting molds are provided in the gel casting chamber. One end of the buffer liquid extraction device communicates with the buffer storage tank. One end of the agarose weighing device communicates with the agarose storage tank. One end of the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device communicates with the nucleic acid dye storage tank. The other ends of the buffer liquid extraction device, the agarose weighing device, and the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device all communicate with one end of the mixing and heating cylinder. The other end of the mixing and heating cylinder communicates with the gel casting chamber and injects the mixed material into the plurality of gel casting molds. The automatic control system is electrically connected to the buffer liquid extraction device, the agarose weighing device, the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device, the mixing and heating cylinder, and the gel casting chamber.

[0006] Preferably, the agarose weighing device includes a sample outlet valve, a sampler, and a vibrator. The sampler is provided with a plurality of sampling leak pipes. The sample outlet valve is fixed at the bottom of the agarose storage tank and is arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of sampling leak pipes. The vibrator is fixed on the sampler.

[0007] Preferably, a discharge block for finely adjusting the capacity of the sampling leak pipe by changing the height and an adjustment guide rail for adjusting the height of the discharge block are provided at the bottom of the sampling leak pipe.

[0008] Preferably, an electronic dryer is provided in the agarose storage tank.

[0009] Preferably, the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device includes a peristaltic pump, a capillary dropper, a movable sealing block, and a micro-drop device. One end of the peristaltic pump is connected to the nucleic acid dye storage tank. The other end of the peristaltic pump is connected to the liquid inlet of the capillary dropper. The movable sealing block can be hermetically connected to the liquid outlet of the capillary dropper. The liquid inlet of the micro-drop device communicates with a distilled water storage tank. The micro-drop outlet valve of the micro-drop device is arranged directly above the liquid outlet, and both the micro-drop outlet valve and the liquid outlet communicate with the mixing and heating cylinder.

[0010] Preferably, the mixing and heating cylinder includes a cylinder body, and a magnetic stirrer, a first temperature sensing device, a first heating device, and a first refrigeration device fixed inside the cylinder body.

[0011] Preferably, a vacuum pumping device, a second temperature sensing device, a second heating device, and a second refrigeration device are also provided in the gel casting chamber.

[0012] Preferably, the nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine further includes a distilled water storage tank and a distilled water extraction device. One end of the distilled water extraction device communicates with the distilled water storage tank, and the other end of the distilled water extraction device communicates with the mixing and heating cylinder. The automatic control system is provided with a cleaning module, and the cleaning module is communicatively connected to the distilled water extraction device.

[0013] Preferably, the automatic control system includes a main controller, a feeding control module, a first temperature control module, a mixing control module, a second temperature control module, and a gel injection control module. The feeding control module, the first temperature control module, the mixing control module, the second temperature control module, and the gel injection control module are respectively communicatively connected to the main controller. The feeding control module is respectively communicatively connected to the buffer solution extraction device, the agarose weighing device, and the nucleic acid dye micro-extraction device. The first temperature control module and the mixing control module are respectively communicatively connected to the mixing and heating cylinder. The second temperature control module and the gel injection control module are respectively communicatively connected to the gel casting chamber.

[0014] Preferably, the automatic control system further includes a cleaning module, and the cleaning module is electrically connected to the distilled water extraction device, the mixing and heating cylinder, and the gel casting chamber respectively.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0016] In the nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine of the present invention, the buffer solution extraction device automatically controls the quantity of the buffer solution and extracts it into the mixing and heating cylinder. The agarose weighing device automatically weighs and extracts the agarose, and the nucleic acid dye micro-extraction device automatically micro-extracts the nucleic acid dye, thereby ensuring the automatic material extraction and its extraction accuracy of each material. The automatic control system real-time controls the temperature of the mixing and heating cylinder during the mixing process and the temperature of the gel casting chamber during the gel preparation process, accurately controls the stability of the mixing and gel preparation processes, and ensures the preparation stability and operation convenience of the nucleic acid electrophoresis gel. Description of the Drawings

[0017] Figure 1 is a structural schematic block diagram of the nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 is a structural principle schematic diagram of the agarose automatic weighing device;

[0019] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional structural schematic diagram of the sampling leak tube;

[0020] Figure 4 is a structural principle schematic diagram of the nucleic acid dye micro-extraction device;

[0021] Figure 5 It is a schematic block diagram of the principle of an automatic control system;

[0022] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the prefabrication process of a nucleic acid electrophoresis gel.

[0023] Description of the reference numerals in the drawings:

[0024] 11. Buffer storage tank; 12. Buffer liquid extraction device;

[0025] 13. Agarose storage tank; 131. Electronic dryer; 14. Agarose weighing device; 141. Sampling valve; 142. Sampler; 1421. Sampling leakage tube; 1422. Discharge block; 1423. Adjusting guide rail;

[0026] 15. Nucleic acid dye storage tank; 16. Nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device; 161. Peristaltic pump; 162. Capillary dropper; 163. Movable sealing block; 164. Micro-drop device;

[0027] 17. Distilled water storage tank; 18. Distilled water liquid extraction device;

[0028] 19. Mixing and heating cylinder; 191. Cylinder body; 192. Magnetic stirrer; 193. First temperature sensing device; 194. First heating device; 195. First refrigeration device;

[0029] 20. Gel casting chamber; 201. Vacuum pumping device; 202. Second temperature sensing device; 203. Second heating device; 204. Second refrigeration device; 205. Gel casting mold;

[0030] 1000. Automatic control system;

[0031] 100. Main controller;

[0032] 200. Inlet control module; 210. Agarose unit; 220. Drying unit; 230. Dye unit; 240. Buffer unit;

[0033] 300. First temperature control module; 310. First temperature acquisition unit; 320. First heating unit; 330. First refrigeration unit;

[0034] 400. Mixing control module;

[0035] 500. Second temperature control module; 510. Second temperature acquisition unit; 520. Second heating unit; 530. Second refrigeration unit;

[0036] 600. Cleaning module; 610. Water outlet unit; 620. Drying unit; 630. Stirring unit;

[0037] 700, Glue injection control module; 710, Vacuum pumping unit; 720, Glue injection unit. Detailed implementation manners

[0038] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer and more understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0039] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "rear", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. It is 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 thus should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention; the terms "first", "second", "third" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance; in addition, unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be the communication inside two components. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0040] Please refer to Figures 1 - 5, this embodiment provides a nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine, which includes a buffer storage tank 11, a buffer liquid extraction device 12, an agarose storage tank 13, an agarose weighing device 14, a nucleic acid dye storage tank 15, a nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device 16, a distilled water storage tank 17, a distilled water extraction device 18, a mixing and heating cylinder 19, a gel casting chamber 20 and an automatic control system 1000. There are several gel casting molds 205 in the gel casting chamber 20. One end of the buffer liquid extraction device 12 communicates with the buffer storage tank 11, one end of the agarose weighing device 14 communicates with the agarose storage tank 13, one end of the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device 16 communicates with the nucleic acid dye storage tank 15. The other ends of the buffer liquid extraction device 12, the agarose weighing device 14 and the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device 16 all communicate with one end of the mixing and heating cylinder 19. The other end of the mixing and heating cylinder 19 communicates with the gel casting chamber 20 and injects the mixed material into several gel casting molds 205. One end of the distilled water extraction device 18 communicates with the distilled water storage tank 17, and the other end of the distilled water extraction device 18 communicates with the mixing and heating cylinder 19. The automatic control system 1000 is electrically connected to the buffer liquid extraction device 12, the agarose weighing device 14, the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device 16, the distilled water extraction device 18, the mixing and heating cylinder 19 and the gel casting chamber 20 respectively.

[0041] Please refer further to Figure 5 , the automatic control system 1000 includes a main controller 100, a feeding control module 200, a first temperature control module 300, a mixing control module 400, a second temperature control module 500, a cleaning module 600 and a glue injection control module 700. The feeding control module 200, the first temperature control module 300, the mixing control module 400, the second temperature control module 500, the glue injection control module 700 and the cleaning module 600 are respectively communicatively connected to the main controller 100. The feeding control module 200 is respectively communicatively connected to the buffer liquid extraction device 12, the agarose weighing device 14 and the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device 16. The first temperature control module 300 and the mixing control module 400 are respectively communicatively connected to the mixing and heating cylinder 19. The second temperature control module 500 and the glue injection control module 700 are respectively communicatively connected to the gel casting chamber 20. The cleaning module 600 is communicatively connected to the distilled water extraction device 18.

[0042] Specifically, the main controller 100 of the automatic control system 1000 is controlled by its self-written program. The built-in single-chip microcomputer controls the feeding concentration and quality at different times through program settings. Then, the feeding control module 200 controls the buffer liquid extraction device 12 to quantitatively introduce the electrophoresis buffer liquid into the mixing and heating cylinder 19, and then controls the agarose weighing device 14 to add a quantitative amount of agarose powder. The first temperature control module 300 controls the temperature of the mixing and heating cylinder 19. While heating, the mixing control module 400 controls the magnetic stirrer 192 to continuously agitate the mixed solution; when the temperature reaches above 99 °C, it is maintained for 1 minute, and then the heating is stopped; until the temperature drops to 60 °C (the temperature is maintained at 55 - 66 °C), nucleic acid electrophoresis dye is added, and magnetic stirring is performed for 10 seconds; the gel casting chamber 20 is preheated to 60 °C in advance, and the injection control module 700 introduces the mixed nucleic acid electrophoresis gel liquid into different molds through the positioning catheter; the vacuum pump is started for 30 seconds to assist in removing the bubbles in the liquid gel; the gel casting chamber 20 is quickly cooled to 4 °C, and after standing for 30 minutes, the finished nucleic acid electrophoresis gel is obtained. Since the temperature in the chamber is maintained at 4 °C, the gel can be stored for a long time; after all the precast gels are taken out, the cleaning module 600 is started. Two-thirds of distilled water is added to the mixing and heating cylinder 19, and while heating, the stirring is maintained at 80 - 90 °C for 3 minutes. At the same time, the gel casting chamber 20 is also preheated to this temperature range in advance to assist in the cleaning process. Then, the automatic gel-making area is heated to 100 - 105 °C until the drying process is completed.

[0043] Please refer further to Figures 2 - 3 , the agarose weighing device 14 includes a sample outlet valve 141, a sampler 142, and a vibrator. The sampler 142 is provided with a plurality of sampling leak tubes 1421. The sample outlet valve 141 is fixed at the bottom of the agarose storage tank 13 and is arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of sampling leak tubes 1421. The vibrator is fixed on the sampler 142. The bottom of the sampling leak tube 1421 is provided with a discharge block 1422 for fine-tuning the capacity of the sampling leak tube 1421 by changing the height and an adjustment guide rail 1423 for adjusting the height of the discharge block 1422.

[0044] Specifically, the agarose weighing device 14 can finely adjust the weight per weighing unit through a quantitative volume system because the density of common agarose powder is low (the density of common powder is about 0.9 g / cm³, and the density will vary slightly with different powder particle sizes). The agarose weighing device 14 is a series-connected fine-tuning sampler 142 cooperating with a sample outlet valve 141. There are 10 sampling leak tubes 1421 on a long strip-shaped sampler 142. The sampling weight of each sampling leak tube 1421 is 0.1 ± 0.01 g, and the bottom is an adjustable discharge block 1422. When in the sampling position, the 10 series-connected sampling leak tubes 1421 correspond to the sample outlet valves 141 of 10 agarose storage tanks 13. The agarose weighing device 14 will open 1 - 10 sample outlet valves 141 according to the parameter settings. When only one valve is opened, 0.1 g of sample is taken, and when all 10 are opened, 1 g of sample is taken. When adding powder to the sampling leak tubes 1421 in the sampling position, the vibrator on the sampler 142 will vibrate for 10 seconds to increase the sampling stability. The discharge block 1422 at the bottom of the sampling leak tube 1421 is in the shape of a 90-degree sector cut of a cylinder. The height of the running track of the discharge block 1422 can be adjusted through the adjustment guide rail 1423 to push the bottom of the sector leak tube to move up and down around the axis, thereby finely adjusting the capacity of the sampling leak tube 1421 to obtain an accurate sampling amount. In the feeding control module 200, there is an agarose unit 210. The agarose unit 210 is electrically connected to the sample outlet valve 141 and the adjustment guide rail 1423 respectively to accurately control the weighing of agarose powder.

[0045] Furthermore, after the agarose powder absorbs moisture, it cakes, interfering with the automatic weighing accuracy (the accuracy is 0.01 g), and it is necessary to always keep it dry. An electronic dryer 131 is set on the top of the agarose storage tank 13 to ensure that the humidity is controlled below 40°C; the sample outlet valve 141 is designed to be sealed and only opened during discharging. The feeding control module 200 also has a drying unit 220 electrically connected to the electronic dryer 131 to control the dryness of the agarose storage tank 13.

[0046] Please refer further to Figure 4 , the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device 16 includes a peristaltic pump 161, a capillary dropper 162, a movable sealing block 163, and a micro-drop device 164. One end of the peristaltic pump 161 is connected to the nucleic acid dye storage tank 15, the other end of the peristaltic pump 161 is connected to the liquid inlet of the capillary dropper 162. The movable sealing block 163 can be hermetically connected to the liquid outlet of the capillary dropper 162. The micro-drop outlet valve of the micro-drop device 164 is arranged directly above the liquid outlet, and both the micro-drop outlet valve and the liquid outlet communicate with the mixing and heating cylinder 19.

[0047] Specifically, the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device 16 is a peristaltic pump 161 with a driving accuracy of 0.1 microliter. When the liquid extraction volume is 1 microliter, the reagent taken out due to the surface tension of the liquid will adhere to the liquid outlet to form a liquid droplet that cannot fall. During manual operation, a pipette gun is used with a disposable pipette tip to directly flow 1 microliter of the reagent into the mixed liquid system, and no contamination will occur. However, in an automatic operation instrument, this will inevitably increase the functions of the robotic arm, with a complex structure and increased costs. In the present invention, a micro-droplet device 164 is added directly above the liquid outlet. After the liquid is discharged, a drop of distilled water is automatically dripped out and falls into the heating cylinder along the direction of the liquid outlet and enters the mixed liquid. Compared with the evaporation during heating and the volume of a drop of distilled water being extremely small in the total system, it will not affect the quality of the finally prepared gel. There is a movable silica gel sealing block at the liquid outlet, which usually seals the liquid outlet first and only automatically moves away when the liquid is discharged, also ensuring that the toxic reagent does not evaporate. Among them, the feeding control module 200 further includes a dye unit 230, and the dye unit 230 is electrically connected to the peristaltic pump 161 and the micro-droplet device 164 respectively.

[0048] In this embodiment, the mixing and heating cylinder 19 includes a cylinder body 191, and a magnetic stirrer 192, a first temperature sensing device 193, a first heating device 194, and a first refrigeration device 195 fixed inside the cylinder body 191. The main functions of the mixing and heating cylinder 19 are heating and mixing. The first heating device 194 currently used for heating is a bottom electric heating sheet, and microwave heating can also be used, but the cost and volume are too large. When necessary, refrigeration treatment can also be performed through the first refrigeration device 195. The refrigeration device is a semiconductor refrigeration device attached to the side wall of the mixing and heating cylinder 19; the first temperature sensing device 193 measures the temperature inside the cylinder body 191 in real time, and generally a temperature sensor is used. The mixing function is realized by the magnetic stirrer 192 at the bottom driving the rotor inside the heating cylinder, with a simple structure and easy to clean. The mixing can also be realized by installing a stirring paddle in the cylinder, etc., but the cost is higher. The first temperature control module 300 includes a first temperature acquisition unit 310, a first heating unit 320, and a first refrigeration unit 330. The first heating unit 320 is electrically connected to the electric heating sheet, the first refrigeration unit 330 is electrically connected to the semiconductor refrigeration device, and the first temperature acquisition unit 310 is electrically connected to the temperature sensor. The mixing control module 400 is electrically connected to the magnetic stirrer 192.

[0049] In this embodiment, a positioning catheter, a vacuum pumping device 201, a second temperature sensing device 202, a second heating device 203, and a second refrigeration device 204 are further provided in the gel casting chamber 20. If the mold temperature is low or too many bubbles are generated when the glue solution is poured into the mold, it will cause uneven pouring of the gel and seriously interfere with subsequent experiments. The glue solution has good fluidity at 55-60 °C, and this temperature does not affect the performance of the added nucleic acid dye. Therefore, in the present invention, the gel casting chamber 20 is preheated to 55-60 °C by the second heating device 203, and after the glue solution is poured into the mold, the vacuum pump is used to evacuate air bubbles. The second heating device 203 and the second refrigeration device 204 of the gel casting chamber 20 have both heating and refrigeration functions, can realize rapid temperature change of the pouring glue environment, shorten the preparation time, and also have a 4 °C refrigeration function to store the prepared gel for a long time. Specifically, the second temperature sensing device 202 is a temperature sensor attached to the chamber wall, the second heating device 203 is a bottom electric heating sheet, and the second refrigeration device 204 is a semiconductor refrigeration device attached to the chamber wall. The second temperature control module 500 includes a second temperature acquisition unit 510, a second heating unit 520, and a second refrigeration unit 530. The second heating unit 520 is electrically connected to the electric heating sheet, the second refrigeration unit 530 is electrically connected to the semiconductor refrigeration device, and the second temperature acquisition unit 510 is electrically connected to the temperature sensor. The glue injection control module 700 includes a vacuum pumping unit 710 electrically connected to the vacuum pump for evacuation and a glue injection unit 720 electrically connected to the positioning catheter.

[0050] In this embodiment, the microdroplet device 164 and the distilled water liquid extraction device 18 are arranged side by side without interference. Moreover, the liquid inlet of the microdroplet device 164 communicates with the distilled water storage tank 17. The distilled water liquid extraction device 18 is used to clean the mixing and heating cylinder 19 and the gel casting chamber 20, and the microdroplet device 164 is used to accurately and microscopically extract nucleic acid dye.

[0051] Specifically, the nucleic acid electrophoresis solution will turn into gel after cooling. Therefore, after use, it is necessary to perform heating, rinsing, and drying to remove the residual gel in the pipeline, and then dry the instrument for standby. After the present invention starts the cleaning and drying program, it will run automatically. Open the cleaning liquid outlet valve of the cleaning structure, and the precast gel mold 205 can be cleaned together. Distilled water reaches two-thirds of the volume of the mixing and heating cylinder 19. The mixing and heating cylinder 19 and the gel casting chamber 20 start to heat up at the same time, and the mixing and heating cylinder 19 is magnetically stirred at the same time. When the temperature reaches 99 °C, the pipeline and each gel-making mold 205 are directly rinsed through the glue injector outlet. To ensure that the residual glue is washed clean, this process is set to cycle 2 times. After the cycle ends, it is automatically dried and ready for use. The cleaning module 600 includes a water outlet unit 610 electrically connected to the cleaning liquid outlet valve, a drying unit 620 electrically connected to the heating sheets in the mixing and heating cylinder 19 and the gel casting chamber 20, and a stirring unit 630 electrically connected to the magnetic stirrer 192.

[0052] It should be noted that for the buffer solution liquid taking device 12 and the distilled water liquid taking device 18, due to the large liquid taking volume, currently, the most cost-effective way to control the liquid output accuracy by the electronic valve in terms of time is adopted. It can be replaced by the peristaltic pump 161 scheme, and the liquid taking volume will be more accurate, but it doesn't have much significance for the finished product quality. It can also adopt the quantitative movement of the reciprocating piston combined with the one-way valve for liquid taking, but continuous liquid taking cannot be achieved. The feeding control module 200 also includes a buffer solution unit 240 electrically connected to the electronic valve.

[0053] Please further refer to Figure 6 , the basic production process of the agarose nucleic acid electrophoresis gel is as follows:

[0054] S1. Start the instrument to prepare for the experiment: Add sufficient distilled water to the distilled water storage tank 17,

[0055] Inject the prepared electrophoresis buffer solution into the buffer solution storage tank 11, inject the agarose powder into the agarose storage tank 13, and inject the nucleic acid dye into the nucleic acid dye storage tank 15;

[0056] S2. Set parameters and insert the mold: Set the concentration of the nucleic acid electrophoresis gel and the mass of the nucleic acid electrophoresis gel, and insert the mold into the gel preparation module;

[0057] S3. Mix the materials: Add agarose powder in units of 0.1 grams (the most common agarose content in nucleic acid electrophoresis gels is 0.5 - 2%. When preparing a 0.5% gel for a single 20 - ml volume of nucleic acid electrophoresis gel, add it once; for a 1% gel, add it twice; for a 1.5% gel, add it three times; for a 2% gel, add it four times);

[0058] S4. Stir and heat: Mix and stir while heating to 99 degrees, maintain for 1 minute after reaching, and wait for the temperature to drop to 55 - 60 °C;

[0059] S5. Add the dye: Add 1 microliter of nucleic acid dye solution, continue to stir until evenly mixed, and pre - heat the temperature of the gel pouring chamber 20 to 60 °C at the same time;

[0060] S6. Pre - prepare the nucleic acid electrophoresis gel: The injection control module 700 injects the nucleic acid electrophoresis gel into the mold at the specified position through the positioning catheter, starts the vacuum pump to discharge the bubbles that may form on the mold, restores to normal air pressure after 1 minute, starts the cooling program to 4 °C, and after 30 minutes, prompts that the pre - preparation of the gel is completed.

[0061] The main problem to be solved by this device is to construct a nucleic acid electrophoresis gel preparation process including weighing, liquid taking, heating, stirring, and gel pouring in the whole process.

[0062] The following components and functions are newly added to this product: with a simple structure, the produced gel features high quality, low cost, and easy maintenance, meeting the requirements of relevant scientific research and teaching experiments. 1) The agarose weighing device 14 has a semi-closed design and is equipped with an electronic dryer 131 to prevent the reagent from caking after absorbing moisture, avoiding affecting the automatic weighing accuracy; 2) The agarose weighing device 14 can adjust its per-unit weighing weight to calibrate the errors of reagents in different batches; 3) The micro liquid-taking device 16 for nucleic acid dyes has an accuracy controlled within 0.1 microliter, and automatically drips and rinses without residue during liquid taking; 4) The micro liquid-taking device 16 for nucleic acid dyes automatically seals after liquid taking without evaporation; 5) The mixing and heating cylinder 19 is isolated from various feeding devices connected above it, and the top of the cylinder has a closable cylinder cover, which is only opened during feeding; 6) The gel casting chamber 20 has a vacuum pumping function to assist in exhausting the bubbles generated when the gel solution flows into the mold; 7) The gel casting chamber 20 has a temperature adjustment function and can be preheated to 55 - 60 °C when pouring the gel solution. When the gel solution flows into the mold, its viscosity is small, fewer bubbles are generated, and the prepared gel is more uniform; 8) The gel casting chamber 20 has a temperature adjustment function and can quickly cool down to 4 °C after gel preparation, greatly reducing the waiting time and enabling the prepared gel to be stored for a longer time; 9) After use, automatic flushing and drying can be performed to prevent pipeline blockage and biological contamination caused by high humidity due to liquid residue.

[0063] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, and improvements made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine, characterized in that, It includes a buffer storage tank, a buffer liquid extraction device, an agarose storage tank, an agarose weighing device, a nucleic acid dye storage tank, a nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device, a mixing and heating cylinder, a gel casting chamber, and an automatic control system. There are several gel casting molds in the gel casting chamber. One end of the buffer liquid extraction device communicates with the buffer storage tank. One end of the agarose weighing device communicates with the agarose storage tank. One end of the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device communicates with the nucleic acid dye storage tank. The other ends of the buffer liquid extraction device, the agarose weighing device, and the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device all communicate with one end of the mixing and heating cylinder. The other end of the mixing and heating cylinder communicates with the gel casting chamber and injects the mixed material into several of the gel casting molds. The automatic control system is electrically connected to the buffer liquid extraction device, the agarose weighing device, the nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device, the mixing and heating cylinder, and the gel casting chamber respectively; The nucleic acid dye micro-liquid extraction device includes a peristaltic pump, a capillary dropper, a movable seal block, and a micro-drop device. One end of the peristaltic pump is connected to the nucleic acid dye storage tank. The other end of the peristaltic pump is connected to the liquid inlet of the capillary dropper. The movable seal block can be hermetically connected to the liquid outlet of the capillary dropper. The liquid inlet of the micro-drop device communicates with a distilled water storage tank. The micro-drop outlet valve of the micro-drop device is arranged directly above the liquid outlet, and both the micro-drop outlet valve and the liquid outlet communicate with the mixing and heating cylinder.

2. The nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine according to claim 1, wherein The agarose weighing device includes a sample outlet valve, a sampler, and a vibrator. The sampler is provided with several sampling leak tubes. The sample outlet valve is fixed at the bottom of the agarose storage tank and is arranged corresponding to the several sampling leak tubes one by one. The vibrator is fixed on the sampler.

3. The nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine according to claim 2, wherein The bottom of the sampling leak tube is provided with a discharging block for finely adjusting the capacity of the sampling leak tube by height change and an adjusting guide rail for adjusting the height of the discharging block.

4. The nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, An electronic dryer is provided in the agarose storage tank.

5. The nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine according to claim 1, wherein The mixing and heating cylinder includes a cylinder body, and a magnetic stirrer, a first temperature sensing device, a first heating device, and a first refrigeration device fixed inside the cylinder body.

6. The nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, A vacuum pumping device, a second temperature sensing device, a second heating device, and a second refrigeration device are also provided in the gel casting chamber.

7. The nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine further includes a distilled water storage tank and a distilled water liquid extraction device. One end of the distilled water liquid extraction device communicates with the distilled water storage tank. The other end of the distilled water liquid extraction device communicates with the mixing and heating cylinder. The automatic control system is provided with a cleaning module, and the cleaning module is communicatively connected to the distilled water liquid extraction device.

8. The nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabrication machine according to claim 7, wherein The automatic control system includes a main controller, a feeding control module, a first temperature control module, a mixing control module, a second temperature control module, and a glue injection control module. The feeding control module, the first temperature control module, the mixing control module, the second temperature control module, and the glue injection control module are respectively communicatively connected to the main controller. The feeding control module is respectively communicatively connected to the buffer solution extraction device, the agarose weighing device, and the nucleic acid dye micro-extraction device. The first temperature control module and the mixing control module are respectively communicatively connected to the mixing heating cylinder. The second temperature control module and the glue injection control module are respectively communicatively connected to the gel casting chamber.

9. The nucleic acid electrophoresis gel prefabricator according to claim 7, wherein The automatic control system further includes a cleaning module, and the cleaning module is electrically connected to the mixing heating cylinder and the gel casting chamber respectively.

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