Device for washing cell culture plates

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for cleaning a cell culture plate, characterized in that it comprises: a placement platform (12) having a placement position for placing a cell culture plate to be cleaned; a storage component (5) arranged side by side with the placement platform (12) in a horizontal direction and configured to store a plurality of cell culture plates to be cleaned which are stacked in a vertical direction, wherein a side surface of one end of the storage component (5) in the vertical direction is provided with a culture plate outlet for allowing the cell culture plates to extend out; a pushing part configured to push the cell culture plates in the storage component (5) one by one from the culture plate outlet to the placement position of the placement platform (12); and a cleaning component (10) comprising a cleaning head (19) for outputting cleaning liquid and configured to be movable in a vertical direction relative to the placement platform (12) to approach or move away from the placement position, thereby improving the problem of high labor intensity of manually cleaning the cell culture plates (20) existing in the related art.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of experimental equipment, in particular to a device for cleaning a cell culture plate. Background Art

[0002] There are three main types of experiments in biological ELISA experiments: ELISA spot assay, ELISA assay, and ELISA chemiluminescence assay. All three experiments require the cleaning of a large number of 96-well cell culture plates. With the rapid development of biological research and medical fields, the tasks of ELISA experiments have increased dramatically, so the efficiency of cell culture plate cleaning is increasingly required. The cell culture plate includes multiple cell culture wells arranged in rows and columns.

[0003] Usually, ELISA experiments are performed using handheld plate washers or pipettes. Although the liquid addition force of handheld plate washers and pipettes can be controlled and the angle can be adjusted, they are mechanical and laborious to use and prone to fatigue. Long-term operation may cause tendon damage or even joint deformation. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention aims to provide a device for cleaning a cell culture plate, so as to improve the problem of high labor intensity in manual cleaning of the cell culture plate in the related art.

[0005] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, a device for cleaning a cell culture plate is provided, the device comprising:

[0006] A placement platform having a placement position for placing a cell culture plate to be cleaned;

[0007] A storage component is arranged side by side with the placement platform in a horizontal direction and is configured to store a plurality of cell culture plates to be cleaned which are stacked in a vertical direction, and a culture plate outlet for allowing the cell culture plates to extend out is provided on a side surface of one end of the storage component in the vertical direction;

[0008] A pushing unit configured to push the cell culture plates in the storage component one by one from the culture plate outlet to the placement position of the placement platform; and

[0009] The cleaning component includes a cleaning head for outputting cleaning liquid and is configured to be movable in a vertical direction relative to the placement platform so as to be close to or away from the placement position.

[0010] In some embodiments, the pushing portion includes a pushing plate, which is configured to move in a horizontal direction to push the cell culture plate to a placement position on the placement platform, and the pushing plate includes a first plate arranged in a vertical direction and a second plate located at an upper end of the first plate and arranged in a horizontal direction.

[0011] In some embodiments, the pushing portion further includes a first screw connected to the pushing plate and a first motor driving the first screw to move horizontally through a screw transmission mechanism.

[0012] In some embodiments, it also includes:

[0013] A driving unit configured to push the cleaning component toward a placement position;

[0014] A first detection component is configured to detect whether the cell culture plate is located at the placement position;

[0015] The control component is connected to the driving component and the first detection component through signals respectively, so as to control the driving component to push the cleaning component toward the placement position after the cell culture plate reaches the placement position.

[0016] In some embodiments, a cleaning liquid pump connected to the cleaning head is further included, and the control component is connected to the cleaning liquid pump signal to control the cleaning liquid pump to start after the driving part pushes the cleaning component to a predetermined position.

[0017] In some embodiments, the control component is connected to the push part signal and is configured to control the push part to return after the cell culture plate reaches the placement position and / or control the push part to push the next cell culture plate to the placement position after the cell culture plate on the placement position is no longer detected.

[0018] In some embodiments, the driving unit includes:

[0019] an elastic member configured to move in a vertical direction to push the cleaning member;

[0020] a second screw connected to the elastic component; and

[0021] The second motor drives the second screw to move in the vertical direction through the screw transmission mechanism.

[0022] In some embodiments, the cleaning device further comprises an elastic pushing component, wherein the elastic pushing component is configured to push the cleaning component in a direction away from the seating position.

[0023] In some embodiments,

[0024] The culture plate outlet is located at the bottom end of the storage component, so that a plurality of cell culture plates stacked in a vertical direction can move to the culture plate outlet at the bottom end of the storage component in sequence under the action of gravity; or

[0025] The culture plate outlet is located at the top of the storage component, and the storage component is also provided with an elastic pushing component for pushing the cell culture plate toward the top of the storage component.

[0026] In some embodiments,

[0027] The cleaning component is located above the placement position; or

[0028] The cleaning component includes a substrate, and a plurality of cleaning heads are arranged below the substrate, and the plurality of cleaning heads are arranged in rows and columns; or

[0029] The outlet of the cleaning head deviates from the vertical direction.

[0030] By applying the technical solution of the present invention, the pushing part of the device for cleaning cell culture plates in this embodiment can push the cell culture plates in the storage component to the placement platform one by one for cleaning, thereby improving the problem of high labor intensity of manual cleaning of cell culture plates in related technologies.

[0031] Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or related technologies, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or related technical descriptions are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0033] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0034] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the top view of the device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0035] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing the three-dimensional structure of a placement platform of a device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 4 A schematic diagram showing the three-dimensional structure of a placement platform of a device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0037] Figure 5 A schematic structural diagram of a storage component of a device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0038] In the figure:

[0039] 1. Base; 2. First motor; 3. First screw; 4. Push plate; 5. Storage component; 6. Second motor; 7. Motor bracket; 8. Second screw; 9. Elastic component; 10. Cleaning component; 11. Elastic pushing component; 12. Placement platform; 13. Control component; 14. Cleaning liquid pump; 15. Electric control box; 16. Through hole; 17. First detection component; 18. Second detection component; 19. Cleaning head; 20. Cell culture plate; 21. Culture plate outlet. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is actually only illustrative and is by no means intended to limit the present invention and its application or use. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0041] Combination Figures 1 to 5 As shown, the device for cleaning a cell culture plate in this embodiment comprises a placement platform 12, a storage component 5, a pushing portion and a cleaning component 10. The placement platform 12 has a placement position for placing a cell culture plate 20 to be cleaned.

[0042] The storage part 5 and the placement platform 12 are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction and are configured to store a plurality of cell culture plates 20 to be cleaned which are stacked in the vertical direction. A culture plate outlet 21 is provided on the side of one end of the storage part 5 in the vertical direction to allow the cell culture plates 20 to extend out. The pushing part is configured to push the cell culture plates 20 in the storage part 5 one by one (the pushing part pushes one at a time and repeatedly pushes the stacked plates in sequence) from the culture plate outlet 21 to the placement position of the placement platform 12. The cleaning part 10 includes a cleaning head 19 for outputting cleaning liquid and is configured to be movable in the vertical direction relative to the placement platform 12 to approach or move away from the placement position.

[0043] The pushing part of the device for cleaning the cell culture plates of this embodiment can push the cell culture plates 20 in the storage part 5 onto the placement platform 12 one by one for cleaning, thereby improving the problem of high labor intensity of manually cleaning the cell culture plates 20 in the related art.

[0044] The cleaning component 10 is located above the placement position. The cleaning component 10 includes a substrate, and a plurality of cleaning heads 19 are arranged below the substrate, and the plurality of cleaning heads 19 are arranged in rows and columns.

[0045] The cleaning component 10 moves downward in the vertical direction, so that the cleaning head can extend into the cell culture wells on the cell culture plate 20. Preferably, the cleaning heads 19 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the culture wells on the cell culture plate 20 to improve the cleaning efficiency.

[0046] The outlet of the cleaning head 19 deviates from the vertical direction to prevent the cleaning liquid sprayed from the cleaning head 19 from directly impacting the substances at the bottom of the culture hole and causing damage to the above substances.

[0047] The pushing portion includes a pushing plate 4, which is configured to move in a horizontal direction to push the cell culture plate 20 to the placement position of the placement platform 12. The pushing plate 4 includes a first plate arranged in a vertical direction and a second plate located at the upper end of the first plate and arranged in a horizontal direction. The vertically arranged first plate abuts against the pushed cell culture plate 20, and the horizontally arranged second plate is used to support the culture plate above the pushed cell culture plate 20 to prevent the upper culture plate from tilting.

[0048] The pushing part further includes a first screw rod 3 connected to the pushing plate 4 and a first motor 2 driving the first screw rod 3 to move horizontally through a screw transmission mechanism.

[0049] The first motor 2 is arranged on a side of the storage component 5 away from the placement platform 12. The device for cleaning the cell culture plate also includes a base 1, and the first motor 2, the storage component 5 and the placement platform 12 are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction on the base 1. The device for cleaning the cell culture plate also includes an electric control box 15 installed on the base 1, and a switch and a power supply connected to the motor are arranged in the electric control box 15.

[0050] The device for cleaning the cell culture plate further comprises a driving unit, a first detection unit 17 and a control unit. The driving unit is configured to push the cleaning unit 10 toward the placement position. The first detection unit 17 is configured to detect whether the cell culture plate 20 is located at the placement position. The control unit 13 is signal-connected to the driving unit and the first detection unit 17, respectively, to control the driving unit to push the cleaning unit 10 toward the placement position after the cell culture plate 20 reaches the placement position.

[0051] The device for cleaning the cell culture plate also includes a cleaning liquid pump 14 connected to the cleaning head 19. The control component 13 is connected to the cleaning liquid pump 14 by signal to control the cleaning liquid pump 14 to start after the driving part pushes the cleaning component 10 to a predetermined position.

[0052] The control component 13 is connected to the push part signal and is configured to control the push part to return after the cell culture plate 20 reaches the placement position and / or control the push part to push the next cell culture plate 20 to the placement position after the cell culture plate 20 at the placement position is no longer detected.

[0053] The driving part includes an elastic member 9, a second screw 8 and a second motor 6. The elastic member 9 is configured to move in a vertical direction to push the cleaning member 10. The second screw 8 is connected to the elastic member 9. The second motor 6 drives the second screw 8 to move in a vertical direction through a screw transmission mechanism.

[0054] In some embodiments, the elastic component 9 is made of rubber.

[0055] The device for cleaning the cell culture plate further comprises a motor bracket 7 mounted on the base 1, and a second motor 6 is mounted on the motor bracket 7. The second screw 8 extends in a vertical direction, and an elastic component 9 is arranged at the lower end of the second screw 8. A cleaning component 10 is arranged below the elastic component 9.

[0056] The device for cleaning the cell culture plate further comprises an elastic pushing component 11, and the elastic pushing component 11 is configured to push the cleaning component 10 in a direction away from the placement position.

[0057] After the first detection component 17 detects that the cell culture plate 20 reaches the placement position, the control component 13 controls the second motor 6 to rotate to move the cleaning component 10 toward the cell culture plate 20 below.

[0058] The device for cleaning the cell culture plate further includes a second detection component 18 located on a side of the first detection component 17 close to the storage component 5, and the second detection component 18 is connected to the control component 13 by signal. In some embodiments, both the first detection component 17 and the second detection component 18 are proximity switches. When the cell culture plate 20 reaches the position of the proximity switch, the proximity switch feeds back a signal to the control component 13.

[0059] In some embodiments, the control component 13 includes a PLC.

[0060] In some embodiments, the placement platform 12 is a shell structure, and a culture plate inlet is disposed on the side of the shell structure and is disposed opposite to the culture plate outlet 21 of the storage component 5. The cell culture plate 20 is pushed by the pushing part through the culture plate inlet into the placement position inside the shell structure. The cleaning component 10 is disposed inside the shell structure, and the elastic pushing component 11 is configured to push the cleaning component 10 toward the top wall of the shell structure.

[0061] The second motor 6 and the second screw 8 are located above the shell structure. A through hole 16 is provided above the shell structure to allow the elastic component to pass through. The elastic component 9 passes through the through hole 16 to overcome the elastic force of the elastic pushing component 11 and push the cleaning component 10 toward the cell culture plate 20 on the placement position.

[0062] The culture plate outlet 21 is located at the bottom end of the storage part 5 , so that the multiple cell culture plates 20 stacked in the vertical direction can move to the culture plate outlet 21 at the bottom end of the storage part 5 in sequence under the action of gravity.

[0063] In other embodiments, the culture plate outlet 21 is located at the top of the storage component, and the storage component 5 is further provided with an elastic pushing component for pushing the cell culture plate toward the top of the storage component 5 .

[0064] The device for cleaning the cell culture plate of this embodiment works as follows:

[0065] When the first detection component 17 fails to detect the presence of the cell culture plate 20 at the placement position, the control component 13 will give the first motor 2 a working signal, so that the push plate 4, driven by the first screw 3, pushes the cell culture plate 20 to move to the placement position. When passing through the second detection component 18, the second detection component 18 feeds back information to the control component 13, and the control component 13 will get a new signal to let the first motor 2 continue to work. When the first detection component 17 detects the cell culture plate 20, the control component 13 controls the first motor 2 to reverse and move back to the initial position, and controls the second motor 6 to rotate so that the elastic component 9 moves downward to push the cleaning component 10. After the elastic component 9 moves downward for a certain period of time, the second motor 6 is controlled to stop. Then the cleaning liquid pump 14 is controlled to start to provide cleaning liquid to the cleaning component 10, and the cell culture plate 20 completes a cleaning process after obtaining sufficient cleaning hydraulic pressure. After a certain period of time, the cleaning liquid pump 14 receives a stop signal from the control component 13, and the second motor 6 reverses and returns to the original position. The cleaning component 10 is lifted up and returned to the original position under the action of the elastic pushing component 11. At this time, we take out the cleaned cell culture plate 20, and the first detection component 17 will not sense the cell culture plate 20 and feedback to the controller component 13, and then the control component 13 controls the first motor 2 of the push part to start cleaning the next plate.

[0066] The above are merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A device for cleaning a cell culture plate, characterized in that: include: A placement platform (12) having a placement position for placing a cell culture plate to be cleaned; A storage component (5) is arranged side by side with the placement platform (12) in a horizontal direction and is configured to store a plurality of cell culture plates to be cleaned which are stacked in a vertical direction, wherein a culture plate outlet is provided on a side surface of one end of the storage component (5) in the vertical direction to allow the cell culture plates to extend out; a pushing unit configured to push the cell culture plates in the storage component (5) one by one from the culture plate outlet to the placement position of the placement platform (12); and A cleaning component (10) comprising a cleaning head (19) for outputting cleaning liquid and configured to be movable in a vertical direction relative to the placement platform (12) so as to approach or move away from the placement position; A driving unit configured to push the cleaning component (10) toward the placement position; A first detection component (17) is configured to detect whether the cell culture plate is located at the placement position; The control component (13) is connected to the driving component and the first detection component (17) by signals respectively, so as to control the driving component to push the cleaning component (10) toward the placement position after the cell culture plate reaches the placement position. The control component (13) is connected to the pushing component by signals and is configured to control the pushing component to return after the cell culture plate reaches the placement position and / or control the pushing component to push the next cell culture plate to the placement position after the cell culture plate on the placement position is no longer detected.

2. The device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pushing portion comprises a pushing plate (4), the pushing plate (4) being configured to move in a horizontal direction to push the cell culture plate to a placement position of the placement platform (12), the pushing plate (4) comprising a first plate arranged in a vertical direction and a second plate located at an upper end of the first plate and arranged in a horizontal direction.

3. The device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to claim 2, characterized in that: The pushing portion further comprises a first screw rod (3) connected to the pushing plate (4) and a first motor (2) driving the first screw rod (3) to move horizontally via a screw transmission mechanism.

4. The device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a cleaning liquid pump (14) in communication with the cleaning head (19), and the control component (13) is connected to the cleaning liquid pump (14) by signal so as to control the cleaning liquid pump (14) to start after the driving unit pushes the cleaning component (10) to a predetermined position.

5. The device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving unit comprises: An elastic component (9) is configured to move in a vertical direction to push the cleaning component (10); a second screw (8) connected to the elastic component (9); and The second motor (6) drives the second screw rod (8) to move in a vertical direction through a screw transmission mechanism.

6. The device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also comprises an elastic pushing component (11), wherein the elastic pushing component (11) is configured to push the cleaning component (10) in a direction away from the placement position.

7. The device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The culture plate outlet is located at the bottom end of the storage component (5), so that a plurality of cell culture plates stacked in a vertical direction can move sequentially toward the culture plate outlet at the bottom end of the storage component (5) under the action of gravity; or The culture plate outlet is located at the top of the storage component, and the storage component (5) is also provided with an elastic pushing component for pushing the cell culture plate toward the top of the storage component.

8. The device for cleaning a cell culture plate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cleaning component (10) is located above the placement position; or The cleaning component (10) comprises a substrate, a plurality of cleaning heads (19) are arranged below the substrate, and the plurality of cleaning heads (19) are arranged in rows and columns; or The outlet of the cleaning head (19) deviates from the vertical direction.

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