A life science laboratory robot

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of equipment for taking and placing stem cell culture vessels, and in particular to a life science laboratory robot, comprising a translation track and a six-axis mechanical arm, comprising: a bottom arm, a first shaft arm mounted on the bottom arm so as to be horizontally rotatable, a second shaft arm mounted on the first shaft arm so as to be longitudinally swingable, a third shaft arm mounted on the second shaft arm so as to be longitudinally swingable, a fourth shaft arm mounted on the third shaft arm so as to be longitudinally swingable and rotatable, and a fifth shaft arm mounted on the fourth shaft arm so as to be longitudinally swingable and rotatable, wherein a material taking and placing module is detachably provided at the end of the fifth shaft arm; and the fourth shaft arm is provided with an air blowing mechanism so as to blow cold air or hot air toward the material taking and placing module, thereby greatly maintaining the temperature of the stem cell culture vessel, and cooling or heating the air around the material taking and placing module and the stem cell culture vessel, thereby reducing or eliminating the influence of the temperature generated by the operation of the machine on the culture vessel, and improving the accuracy of biological experiments. The robot is suitable for scenes in life science laboratories.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of stem cell culture vessel picking and placing equipment, and in particular to a life science laboratory robot. Background Art

[0002] Stem cells are cells with self-replication and multidirectional differentiation potential. Under certain conditions, they can regenerate various cells, tissues or organs of the human body. They are called "universal cells" in the medical field. Stem cells are of great significance in basic research and translational medical applications. They have broad application prospects in the fields of regenerative medicine, disease models, drug screening, precision medicine, etc. Stem cell culture is the most core link in stem cell engineering.

[0003] In biopharmaceuticals and biological experiments, stem cells are often cultured. At this time, stem cell culture vessels are needed, and the culture vessels need to be operated in various links such as production lines, which inevitably involves the placement of culture vessels. The existing technology mainly relies on robots of the mechanical arm type to place and take the culture vessels. However, the existing technology robots have the following areas for improvement:

[0004] 1. The existing robot is fixed on the laboratory table. The range of the robot's movement depends on the length of the robot, which is greatly limited. However, an overly long robot arm will cause technical problems such as unstable movement. When a large-scale operation of the culture vessel is required, multiple robots need to be arranged for transfer operation, which increases the cost.

[0005] 2. The existing robot fixture is single, and generally one fixture is fixed at the working end. However, in reality, there are different culture vessels, including culture boxes suitable for adsorption operation and culture tubes suitable for clamping operation. Therefore, the existing technology needs to configure different robots for different culture vessels, which takes up a large space.

[0006] 3. Stem cell cultivation generally requires differentiation in a relatively low-temperature incubator environment. Although the impact of temperature changes when leaving the incubator can be reduced by increasing the speed during the transfer process, there will inevitably be a certain degree of impact in the middle, which reduces the accuracy of biological experiments. Summary of the invention

[0007] In view of the above technical problems in the prior art, the present invention provides a life science laboratory robot.

[0008] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0009] A life science laboratory robot is provided, comprising a translation track and a six-axis robotic arm, wherein the translation track comprises a supporting base body, a shifting guide rail, a traveling mechanism and a driving mechanism, wherein two shifting guide rails are laid flat and fixed in parallel on the supporting base body; the traveling mechanism comprises a loading plate and a moving slider, wherein the moving slider comprises a left traveling block and a right traveling block respectively slidably mounted on the two shifting guide rails, wherein the left traveling block and the right traveling block are respectively fixed with an adjustment guide rail, wherein the adjustment guide rail is arranged perpendicularly to the shifting guide rail, wherein an adjustment slide is arranged on the adjustment guide rail, wherein the adjustment slide can slide on the adjustment guide rail and be fixed at a preset position, and the loading plate is fixed on the adjustment slide; wherein the driving mechanism is fixedly connected to the loading plate and drives the traveling mechanism as a whole to slide on the shifting guide rail;

[0010] The six-axis robot arm includes: a bottom arm fixed on a loading plate, a first axis arm mounted on the bottom arm so as to be horizontally rotatable, a second axis arm mounted on the first axis arm so as to be longitudinally swingable, a third axis arm mounted on the second axis arm so as to be longitudinally swingable, a fourth axis arm mounted on the third axis arm so as to be longitudinally swingable and rotatable, a fifth axis arm mounted on the fourth axis arm so as to be longitudinally swingable and rotatable, a material taking and putting module being detachably provided at the end of the fifth axis arm, the material taking and putting module being one of a vacuum adsorption head and a clamping member; the fourth axis arm is provided with an air blowing mechanism so as to blow cold air or hot air toward the material taking and putting module.

[0011] Specifically, the fifth axis arm is provided with an electromagnetic suction cup, and the material picking and placing module is provided with an iron block. When the electromagnetic suction cup is powered on, the iron block is adsorbed and fixed; after the electromagnetic suction cup is powered off, the iron block and the entire material picking and placing module are separated from the fifth axis arm.

[0012] Specifically, the clamping member includes two finger cylinders arranged back to back, the output shaft of each finger cylinder is provided with a clamping arm, the side of the clamping arm is provided with a clamping groove, and the wall surface of the clamping groove is provided with a soft rubber layer.

[0013] Specifically, the vacuum suction head includes a frame, which is provided with more than two parallel rods, the rods are provided with arranged vacuum suction nozzles, and the distance between adjacent vacuum suction nozzles can be adjusted. The suction end of the vacuum suction nozzle is provided with an arc-shaped silicone sheet, and the vacuum suction nozzle is connected to an external air pump to achieve suction or ejection.

[0014] Specifically, the material taking and placing module is provided with a temperature sensor, and the temperature sensor is electrically connected to the blowing mechanism to control the blowing temperature and wind force.

[0015] Specifically, the first shaft arm includes a base arm and an auxiliary arm. The base arm is L-shaped, including a base installed on the bottom arm and a standing portion. The standing portion and the auxiliary arm are arranged side by side on both sides of the base, and the lower end of the second shaft arm is installed at the groove between the standing portion and the auxiliary arm; the second shaft arm includes an arm body whose cross-section gradually decreases from bottom to top and extension arms fixed on both sides of the upper end of the arm body, one of the extension arms is integrally formed with the arm body.

[0016] Specifically, the driving mechanism includes a driving motor, a synchronous pulley and a belt. The belt is fixed in parallel between two displacement guide rails. The two ends of the belt are respectively fixedly connected to the two ends of the supporting base seat. The driving motor is fixedly connected to the loading plate. The driving motor can drive the synchronous pulley to move along the belt.

[0017] Specifically, a suspension air groove is provided at the bottom of the movable slider, and the suspension air groove is connected to a high-pressure air pump to form an air film between the movable slider and the shift guide rail.

[0018] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the life science laboratory robot of the present invention has the following advantages:

[0020] 1. The translation track is set up, which enables the six-axis robot to move along the set track, expanding the range of picking and placing materials; and the position of the slide along the adjustment track can be adjusted to cover the installation errors of the two shift guide rails and realize accurate translation;

[0021] 2. The same six-axis robotic arm can be replaced with different loading and unloading modules, which is suitable for clamping stem cell culture tubes and switching between vacuum adsorption and unloading methods of stem cell culture boxes. There is no need to configure different independent robots separately, saving space and cost and achieving multi-functions.

[0022] 3. By setting up an air blowing mechanism, cold air or hot air is blown to the loading and unloading module. On the one hand, the temperature of the stem cell culture vessel is maintained to a great extent. On the other hand, the air around the loading and unloading module and the stem cell culture vessel is also cooled or heated, reducing or eliminating the impact of the temperature generated by the operation of the machine on the culture vessel, thereby improving the accuracy of biological experiments and being suitable for life science laboratory scenarios. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of a life science laboratory robot in an embodiment.

[0024] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the structure of the six-axis robotic arm in the embodiment.

[0025] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the structure of the clamping member in the embodiment.

[0026] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the structure of the vacuum adsorption head in the embodiment.

[0027] Reference numerals:

[0028] Translation track 1, supporting base body 11, shift guide rail 12; travel mechanism 13, loading plate 131, moving slide block 132; adjustment guide rail 14, adjustment slide seat 15; pipe joint 16;

[0029] Driving mechanism 2, driving motor 21, synchronous pulley 22, belt 23;

[0030] Six-axis robot arm 3; bottom arm 31; first axis arm 32, base arm 321, base 3211, vertical part 3212, auxiliary arm 322; second axis arm 33, arm body 331, extension arm 332; third axis arm 34, fourth axis arm 35, fifth axis arm 36;

[0031] The material taking and discharging module 4, the vacuum adsorption head 41, the bracket 411, the rod body 412, the vacuum suction nozzle 413, the silicone sheet 414; the clamping part 42, the finger cylinder 421, the clamping arm 422, the clamping groove 423;

[0032] Electromagnetic chuck 5, iron block 6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with specific embodiments and drawings.

[0034] A life science laboratory robot in this embodiment, such as Figures 1 to 4 As shown, it includes a translation track 1 and a six-axis robot 3, and the six-axis robot 3 includes: a bottom arm 31, a first axis arm 32 installed on the bottom arm 31 and rotatable horizontally, a second axis arm 33 installed on the first axis arm 32 and swung longitudinally, a third axis arm 34 installed on the second axis arm 33 and swung longitudinally, a fourth axis arm 35 installed on the third axis arm 34 and rotatable longitudinally, and a fifth axis arm 36 installed on the fourth axis arm 35 and swung longitudinally. The fifth axis arm 36 is T-shaped, and a material taking and placing module 4 is detachably provided at its end. The material taking and placing module 4 is one of a vacuum adsorption head 41 and a clamping member 42, so that the same six-axis robot 3 can replace different material taking and placing modules 4, which is suitable for clamping stem cell culture tubes and switching the vacuum adsorption material taking mode of stem cell culture boxes. There is no need to configure different independent robots separately, saving space and cost. Specifically, the fifth shaft arm 36 is provided with an electromagnetic suction cup 5, and the material taking and placing module 4 is provided with an iron block 6. When the electromagnetic suction cup 5 is powered on, the iron block 6 is adsorbed and fixed; after the electromagnetic suction cup 5 is powered off, the iron block 6 and the entire material taking and placing module 4 are separated from the fifth shaft arm 36. In practice, a latch positioning structure and a manual pre-tightening mechanism such as a hook can be provided between the fifth shaft arm 36 and the material taking and placing module 4. The rotation and swing of each shaft arm are driven by a servo motor through a pulley transmission.

[0035] Specifically, Figure 3As shown, the clamping member 42 includes two finger cylinders 421 arranged back to back, the output shaft of each finger cylinder 421 is provided with a clamping arm 422, the side of the clamping arm 422 is provided with a clamping groove 423 (adapting to the test tube), and the wall of the clamping groove 423 is provided with a soft rubber layer.

[0036] Specifically, Figure 4 As shown, the vacuum suction head 41 includes a bracket 411, the bracket 411 is provided with two or more parallel rod bodies 412, the rod bodies 412 are provided with arranged vacuum suction nozzles 413, and the distance between adjacent vacuum suction nozzles 413 can be adjusted, the suction end of the vacuum suction nozzle 413 is provided with an arc-shaped silicone sheet 414, and the vacuum suction nozzle 413 is connected to an external air pump to achieve suction or ejection.

[0037] The fourth axis arm 35 is provided with a blowing mechanism (not shown in the figure), specifically, a blowing pipe connected to the evaporative condenser to blow cold air or hot air toward the material discharging module 4, on the one hand, the temperature of the stem cell culture vessel is maintained to a great extent, and the temperature fluctuation range between cells is between 18 degrees Celsius and 24 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, the air around the material discharging module 4 and the stem cell culture vessel is also cooled or heated together, reducing or eliminating the temperature effect of the machine operation on the culture vessel, thereby improving the accuracy of biological experiments. Furthermore, the dust around the culture vessel can be blown away, playing a cleaning and protective role. Specifically, the material discharging module 4 is provided with a temperature sensor, and the temperature sensor is electrically connected to the blowing mechanism to control the blowing temperature and wind force, and its principle is similar to air conditioning cooling and heating. When a cold environment is required, when the temperature sensor detects that the real-time temperature of the culture vessel is lower than the temperature setting value, the controller controls the compressor to stop, or when the temperature is too low, it is changed to blowing hot air; when the temperature sensor detects that the real-time temperature is higher than the temperature setting value + Δt, the compressor is turned on for cooling and blowing. In practice, the air blowing pipe can be connected to a spray mechanism through a bypass pipe so that the blown gas contains low-temperature water mist to maintain a certain humidity in the stem cell culture vessel environment. In practice, the direction of the air blowing pipe can be electrically adjusted to blow cold air to cool other modules that have high temperatures. In practice, the method for controlling the temperature of the refrigeration and air blowing mechanism can adopt the following steps:

[0038] Step 1: Set different temperature preset values ​​SV according to different types of cell culture in IPS;

[0039] Step 2: Calculate the temperature control deviation value ER between the real-time temperature and the temperature preset value by obtaining the real-time temperature PV of the culture dish held by the material taking and placing module, including three states: state 1: the next set temperature > the previous operating temperature, ER > 0; state 2: the next set temperature = the previous operating temperature, ER = 0; state 3: the next set temperature < the previous operating temperature, ER < 0;

[0040] Step 3, determine the state of the difference between the current temperature and the next set temperature. When ER>0, the controller controls the evaporative condenser to operate in the first preset state; when ER=0, the controller controls the evaporative condenser to operate in the second preset state; when ER<0, the controller controls the evaporative condenser to operate in the third preset state.

[0041] Specifically, the first shaft arm 32 includes a base arm 321 and an auxiliary arm 322. The base arm 321 is L-shaped as a whole, and includes a base 3211 installed on the bottom arm 31 and an upright portion 3212. The upright portion 3212 and the auxiliary arm 322 are arranged in parallel on both sides of the base 3211, and the lower end of the second shaft arm 33 is installed at the notch between the upright portion 3212 and the auxiliary arm 322. The second shaft arm 33 includes an arm body 331 whose cross section gradually decreases from bottom to top and extension arms 332 fixed on both sides of the upper end of the arm body 331, and one of the extension arms 332 is integrally formed with the arm body 331. In this way, the entire robot structure is compact and stable.

[0042] The translation track 1 includes a supporting base body 11, a shift guide rail 12, a travel mechanism 13 and a driving mechanism 2. The two shift guide rails 12 are laid flat and fixed in parallel on the supporting base body 11. The travel mechanism 13 includes a carrier plate 131 and a moving slider 132. The bottom arm 31 is fixed on the carrier plate 131. The moving slider 132 includes a left travel block and a right travel block respectively slidably mounted on the two shift guide rails 12. The left travel block and the right travel block are respectively fixed with an adjustment rail 14. The adjustment rail 14 is arranged perpendicular to the shift guide rail 12. An adjustment slide 15 is provided on the adjustment rail 14. The adjustment slide 15 can slide on the adjustment rail 14 and be fixed at a preset position. Specifically, the adjustment rail 14 is fixed by tightening the bolts penetrating the adjustment slide 15. The carrier plate 131 is fixed on the adjustment slide 15.

[0043] The driving mechanism 2 is fixedly connected to the carrier plate 131 and drives the traveling mechanism 13 as a whole to slide on the shifting guide rail 12. Specifically, the driving mechanism 2 includes a driving motor 21, a synchronous pulley 22 and a belt 23. The belt 23 is fixed in parallel between the two shifting guide rails 12. Both ends of the belt 23 are respectively fixedly connected to both ends of the supporting base body 11. The driving motor 21 is fixedly connected to the carrier plate 131. The driving motor 21 can drive the synchronous pulley 22 to move along the belt 23.

[0044] Specifically, a suspension air groove is provided at the bottom of the movable slider 132, and the suspension air groove is connected to a high-pressure air pump through a pipe joint 16 to form an air film between the movable slider 132 and the shift guide rail 12 to reduce friction and wear, and at the same time, the dust between them can be blown away to further reduce sliding wear.

[0045] In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", and "fixed" 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 a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0046] The standard parts used in the present invention can all be purchased from the market, and special-shaped parts can be customized according to the instructions and the drawings. The specific connection methods of each part adopt conventional means such as mature bolts, rivets, welding, etc. in the prior art. Machinery, parts and equipment all adopt conventional models in the prior art, and the circuit connection adopts the conventional connection method in the prior art, which will not be described in detail here.

[0047] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and that the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0048] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, rather than to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solution of the present invention can be modified or replaced by equivalents without departing from the essence and scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A life science laboratory robot, characterized by: It includes a translation track and a six-axis robot arm, the translation track includes a supporting base body, a shift guide rail, a travel mechanism and a driving mechanism, the two shift guide rails are laid flat and fixed in parallel on the supporting base body; the travel mechanism includes a carrier plate and a moving slider, the moving slider includes a left travel block and a right travel block that are slidably mounted on the two shift guide rails, the left travel block and the right travel block are respectively fixed with an adjustment guide rail, the adjustment guide rail is arranged perpendicular to the shift guide rail, an adjustment slide is provided on the adjustment guide rail, the adjustment slide can slide on the adjustment guide rail and be fixed at a preset position, and the carrier plate is fixed on the adjustment slide; the driving mechanism is fixedly connected to the carrier plate and drives the travel mechanism as a whole to slide on the shift guide rail; the driving mechanism includes a driving motor, a synchronous pulley and a belt, the belt is fixed in parallel between the two shift guide rails, the two ends of the belt are respectively fixedly connected to the two ends of the supporting base body, the driving motor is fixedly connected to the carrier plate, and the driving motor can drive the synchronous pulley to move along the belt; The six-axis robot arm includes: a bottom arm fixed on a loading plate, a first axis arm mounted on the bottom arm so as to be horizontally rotatable, a second axis arm mounted on the first axis arm so as to be longitudinally swingable, a third axis arm mounted on the second axis arm so as to be longitudinally swingable, a fourth axis arm mounted on the third axis arm so as to be longitudinally swingable and rotatable, and a fifth axis arm mounted on the fourth axis arm so as to be longitudinally swingable and rotatable, and a material taking and discharging module is detachably provided at the end of the fifth axis arm, and the material taking and discharging module is one of a vacuum adsorption head and a clamping member; the fourth axis arm is provided with an air blowing mechanism, and the air blowing mechanism is an air blowing pipe connected to an evaporative condenser so as to blow cold air or hot air toward the material taking and discharging module; the air blowing pipe is connected to a spray mechanism through a bypass pipe so that the blown gas carries low-temperature water mist; the material taking and discharging module is provided with a temperature sensor, and the temperature sensor is electrically connected to the air blowing mechanism so as to control the blowing temperature and wind force.

2. A life science laboratory robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fifth axis arm is provided with an electromagnetic suction cup, and the material taking and placing module is provided with an iron block. When the electromagnetic suction cup is powered on, the iron block is adsorbed and fixed; after the electromagnetic suction cup is powered off, the iron block and the entire material taking and placing module are separated from the fifth axis arm.

3. A life science laboratory robot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The clamping member comprises two finger cylinders arranged back to back, the output shaft of each finger cylinder is provided with a clamping arm, the side of the clamping arm is provided with a clamping groove, and the wall surface of the clamping groove is provided with a soft rubber layer.

4. A life science laboratory robot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The vacuum suction head includes a frame, which is provided with more than two parallel rods, and the rods are provided with arranged vacuum suction nozzles, and the distance between adjacent vacuum suction nozzles can be adjusted. The suction end of the vacuum suction nozzle is provided with an arc-shaped silicone sheet, and the vacuum suction nozzle is connected to an external air pump to achieve suction or ejection.

5. The life science laboratory robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first shaft arm includes a base arm and an auxiliary arm. The base arm is L-shaped, and includes a base installed on the bottom arm and a standing portion. The standing portion and the auxiliary arm are arranged side by side on both sides of the base, and the lower end of the second shaft arm is installed at the groove between the standing portion and the auxiliary arm; the second shaft arm includes an arm body with a cross-section gradually decreasing from bottom to top and extension arms fixed on both sides of the upper end of the arm body, wherein one of the extension arms is integrally formed with the arm body.

6. The life science laboratory robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: A suspension air groove is provided at the bottom of the moving slider, and a high-pressure air pump is connected to the suspension air groove to form an air film between the moving slider and the shift guide rail.

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