Cell and drug dispensing device and method for drug screening

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cell and drug dispensing device and method for drug screening, comprising a base, a tray supply mechanism, a transfer tray transfer mechanism, a liquid injection mechanism, a culture box positioning mechanism, and a pipetting mechanism. The tray supply mechanism moves a transfer tray to the transfer tray transfer mechanism, which selectively positions the transfer tray to correspond to the liquid injection mechanism or the liquid pipetting mechanism. A culture box is fixed in the culture box positioning mechanism, and the liquid pipetting mechanism moves back and forth above the transfer tray and the culture box to dispense cells or drugs from the transfer tray into the culture tank of the culture box. Thus, the present invention automates the dispensing of trace cells and trace drugs, significantly reducing manpower and improving work quality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an automated device for a biochemical laboratory, in particular to an injection device and method for injecting trace cells or trace medicines into different positions on a culture box. Background Art

[0002] Currently, during the drug screening process, a small amount of cells is first injected into multiple culture tanks in a culture box. After several days of culture, multiple screening drugs are manually mixed and then manually aspirated with a pipette to obtain a precise amount of the drug. The drugs are then injected into each culture tank containing cells one by one.

[0003] However, a single screening culture box contains dozens of cell culture tanks, and more than one type of drug must be prepared and injected. This means that in the current drug screening process, each culture box requires hundreds of simple and repetitive manual micro-injection operations of cells or drugs, which is extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

[0004] In addition, before injecting different types of cells or drugs, the pipette tip at the front end of the pipette must be replaced to avoid cross contamination caused by the drug, which makes the existing drug screening process very troublesome.

[0005] Therefore, the cell and drug dispensing devices and methods used in the prior art for drug screening need to be improved. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings and deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a cell and drug dispensing device and method for drug screening to automate the drug screening process.

[0007] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention employs a device for dispensing cells and drugs for drug screening, wherein one or more cells are first injected into a plurality of solvent tanks in an adapter tray, and then the liquid (containing cells) in each solvent tank of the adapter tray is injected into a plurality of culture tanks of a culture box using a pipette. After several days of culture, several drugs to be tested are then injected into the plurality of solvent tanks in the adapter tray, and then the liquid (containing drugs) in each solvent tank of the adapter tray is injected into a plurality of culture tanks of a culture box containing existing cells using a pipette. At least one pipette tip is detachably connected to the bottom of the pipette. The dispensing device comprises:

[0008] A base having a tray entry area, a liquid injection area, and a liquid extraction area spaced apart on its upper portion;

[0009] A tray feeding mechanism is provided on the base and adjacent to the tray entry area; the tray feeding mechanism is used to accommodate the adapter tray and move the adapter tray to the tray entry area on the base, and the tray feeding mechanism has:

[0010] A stacking rack is formed with a stacking space in which a plurality of spare transfer trays can be vertically stacked; a tray drop opening is formed at the bottom of the stacking rack, through which the plurality of spare transfer trays in the stacking space can drop;

[0011] Two locking plate clamps are respectively arranged at opposite positions of the plate placement opening; the two locking plate clamps can move toward each other to prevent the plurality of spare transfer plates from passing through the plate placement opening;

[0012] A tray delivery seat is provided below the tray placement opening and is used to receive the transfer tray or a plurality of spare transfer trays dropped from the tray placement opening; the tray delivery seat can be moved to the tray entry area on the base; the tray delivery seat has:

[0013] A top plate opening extends vertically through two opposite sides of the plate feeding seat;

[0014] a top plate actuator disposed below the top plate opening and capable of moving upward to protrude from the top plate opening;

[0015] A transfer tray transfer mechanism is provided on the base and adjacent to the tray supply mechanism; the transfer tray transfer mechanism comprises:

[0016] an adapter tray slide for connecting the adapter tray; the adapter tray slide is movably disposed on the base and selectively positioned to correspond to the tray input area, the liquid injection area, or the liquid extraction area; the tray delivery seat of the tray feeding mechanism is movable to above the adapter tray slide;

[0017] A liquid injection mechanism is provided on the base and adjacent to the transfer plate transfer mechanism, the liquid injection mechanism having:

[0018] a plurality of injection heads; each of the injection heads is connected to one of the solvents and can be moved to the injection area of ​​the base; wherein the adapter tray slide is used to make any of the solvent tanks of the adapter tray correspond to the injection head located in the injection area, so that the injection head is used to inject one of the solvents into the corresponding solvent tank;

[0019] A culture box positioning mechanism is provided on the base and is used to connect to the culture box; the culture box positioning mechanism comprises:

[0020] a positioning platform disposed on the base; the positioning platform is used for placing the culture box;

[0021] a main positioning assembly, which is disposed on the positioning platform and is used to clamp the culture box;

[0022] A pipetting mechanism, which is disposed on the base and has:

[0023] A pipette seat is used to fix the pipette and to control the pipette's aspiration and injection actions; the pipette seat is movably arranged on the base and can move back and forth above the liquid collection area of ​​the base and above the incubator positioning mechanism; when the pipette seat is located above the liquid collection area, the pipette seat is used to insert at least one pipette tip of the pipette into any one of the solvent tanks of the adapter tray on the adapter tray slide, and the pipette seat enables the pipette to perform aspiration; when the pipette seat is located above the incubator positioning mechanism, the pipette seat enables the pipette to inject the liquid therein into one of the incubator tanks of the incubator.

[0024] To achieve the above-mentioned object of the invention, the present invention further provides a method for cell and drug injection for drug screening, comprising the following steps:

[0025] Cell or drug transfer: prepare a tray supply mechanism, which has a stacking rack, two locking tray clamps, a tray feeding seat and a top tray actuator; the stacking rack forms a stacking space in which multiple spare transfer trays can be stacked vertically; the bottom of the stacking rack forms a tray drop opening, and multiple spare transfer trays in the stacking space can fall through the tray drop opening; the two locking tray clamps are respectively arranged at opposite positions of the tray drop opening; the two locking tray clamps can move toward each other to limit multiple The spare transfer tray cannot pass through the tray drop opening; the tray delivery seat is arranged below the tray drop opening and is used to receive the transfer tray or multiple spare transfer trays dropped from the tray drop opening; the tray delivery seat can move to a tray entry area on a base; the tray delivery seat has a top tray opening, which passes through the two opposite side surfaces of the tray delivery seat from top to bottom; the top tray actuator is arranged below the top tray opening and can move upward to protrude from the top tray opening; the locking tray clamps move in a direction away from each other and The spare transfer tray in the stacking space is allowed to fall, and the top tray actuator moves upward to protrude from the top tray opening, so that only the bottom spare transfer tray is located below the tray opening, and the rest of the spare transfer trays are located above the tray opening; the locking tray clamps move toward each other to restrict the rest of the spare transfer trays from falling, and the top tray actuator moves downward to reset, so that the bottom spare transfer tray moves to the tray delivery seat; the tray delivery seat of the tray feeding mechanism moves a transfer tray to the bottom of the tray The transfer tray moves to the tray entry area on the base, where a plurality of solvent tanks are formed on the transfer tray; a transfer tray transfer mechanism is adjacent to the tray supply mechanism, a transfer tray slide of the transfer tray transfer mechanism moves to the tray entry area, the tray feed seat of the tray supply mechanism moves above the transfer tray slide, and the transfer tray slide is connected to the transfer tray; the transfer tray slide moves the transfer tray to a liquid injection area on the base; a liquid injection mechanism injects a plurality of solvents into the plurality of solvent tanks of the transfer tray located in the liquid injection area;

[0026] Cell or drug dispensing: the transfer tray slide moves the transfer tray to a liquid collection area on the base; a culture box has multiple culture tanks; a pipetting mechanism moves a pipette to the liquid collection area and enables the pipette to dispense the liquid in each solvent tank in the transfer tray on the transfer tray slide into the multiple culture tanks of the culture box.

[0027] The advantage of this invention lies in the coordinated operation of the tray supply mechanism, the transfer tray transfer mechanism, and the liquid injection mechanism to automatically prepare the drug and place the prepared drug in the transfer tray for use. The transfer tray transfer mechanism and the liquid transfer mechanism then cooperate to automatically dispense the liquid from each solvent tank in the transfer tray into the culture tanks of the culture box. This automates the dispensing of cells and drugs for drug screening, significantly reducing manpower and improving work quality.

[0028] Furthermore, the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening, wherein the cell or drug dispensing device further has a pipette tip feeding mechanism, which is arranged on the base and has a feed conveyor belt; a pipette positioning assembly, which is arranged at one end of the feed conveyor belt; the pipette seat of the pipette mechanism can move to above the pipette positioning assembly of the pipette tip feeding mechanism, and can move toward the pipette positioning assembly.

[0029] Furthermore, the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening, wherein the pipetting seat of the pipetting mechanism can rotate around a pivot axis; the pivot axis is non-parallel to the vertical line; the pipetting mechanism further has a tilt actuator, which is connected to the pipetting seat and controls the rotation angle of the pipetting seat around the pivot axis.

[0030] Furthermore, the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening, wherein the pipette tip feeding mechanism further has: a discharge conveyor belt, which is arranged below the feed conveyor belt; the discharge conveyor belt runs in the opposite direction to the feed conveyor belt; the pipette positioning assembly can move downward to one end of the discharge conveyor belt.

[0031] Furthermore, the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening, wherein the culture box has an upper cover that can be detachably covered on the culture tank; the culture box positioning mechanism further includes a cover opening member that can move up and down and laterally and is arranged above the positioning platform; the cover opening member can move to the top of the culture box; at least one suction cup, which is arranged on the bottom surface of the cover opening member and is used to adsorb and fix the upper cover of the culture box.

[0032] Furthermore, in the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening, the transfer tray slide of the transfer tray transfer mechanism can move up and down; when the position of the transfer tray slide corresponds to the tray input area, the tray delivery seat of the tray supply mechanism can move to the top of the transfer tray slide, and the transfer tray slide can move upward and protrude from the top tray opening.

[0033] Furthermore, the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening, wherein the transfer plate transfer mechanism has a transfer plate slide cover, which is movably disposed on the transfer plate slide and can be moved above the transfer plate slide to cover the openings of the multiple solvent tanks of the transfer plate.

[0034] Furthermore, the cell and drug dispensing method for drug screening is described, wherein during the cell or drug transfer step, after the injection mechanism injects multiple solvents into the multiple solvent tanks of the adapter plate, the openings of the multiple solvent tanks of the adapter plate are covered with an adapter plate slide; during the cell or drug dispensing step, before the pipette dispenses the liquid in one of the solvent tanks, the adapter plate slide is removed to expose the opening of one of the solvent tanks; after the pipette has dispensed the liquid in one of the solvent tanks, the adapter plate slide is restored to cover the openings of the multiple solvent tanks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way. In addition, the shapes and proportional dimensions of the various components in the drawings are merely illustrative and are used to help understand the present invention, and are not intended to specifically limit the shapes and proportional dimensions of the various components of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can select various possible shapes and proportional dimensions to implement the present invention according to specific circumstances under the guidance of the present invention.

[0036] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional appearance diagram of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0037] Figure 2 This is a top view of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention, wherein the outer cover above the base is hidden.

[0038] Figure 3 This is a partial three-dimensional appearance diagram of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 4 This is a perspective exploded view of some components of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0040] Figure 5 This is a three-dimensional appearance diagram of the tray supply mechanism, tray collection mechanism and transfer tray transfer mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0041] Figure 6 This is a three-dimensional appearance diagram from another angle of the tray supply mechanism, tray collection mechanism, and transfer tray transfer mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0042] Figure 7 This is a three-dimensional exploded view of the tray supply mechanism, tray collection mechanism, and transfer tray transfer mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0043] Figure 8 and Figure 9 This is a side view of the operation of the tray supply mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention, viewed along the horizontal direction.

[0044] Figures 10 to 13 This is a longitudinal sectional view of the tray supply mechanism and the transfer tray transfer mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention, showing the transfer tray moving from the tray supply mechanism to the transfer tray transfer mechanism.

[0045] Figures 14 to 16 This is a side view of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention, showing that the transfer plate is driven by the transfer plate transfer mechanism and moves between the injection mechanism and the pipette of the injection mechanism.

[0046] Figure 17 This is a three-dimensional appearance diagram of the culture box positioning mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0047] Figure 18 This is a three-dimensional component exploded view of the culture box positioning mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0048] Figure 19 and Figure 20 This is a cross-sectional action diagram of the culture box positioning mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention, viewed along the horizontal direction.

[0049] Figure 21 and Figure 22 This is a top-down action diagram of the culture box positioning mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0050] Figure 23 and Figure 24 This is a cross-sectional action diagram of the culture box positioning mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention, viewed along the horizontal direction, showing that the upper cover of the culture box is moved to one side after being opened by the cover opening member.

[0051] Figure 25 This is a three-dimensional appearance diagram of the pipetting mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0052] Figure 26 This is a three-dimensional exploded view of the pipetting mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0053] Figures 27 to 29 This is a side view of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention as viewed longitudinally, showing that the pipette is driven by the pipetting mechanism to move between the transfer plate transfer mechanism, the culture box positioning mechanism and the pipette tip feeding mechanism.

[0054] Figure 30 This is a three-dimensional component exploded view of the pipette tip feeding mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention.

[0055] Figure 31 and Figure 32 This is a side view of the pipetting mechanism and pipette tip feeding mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention, viewed along the horizontal direction, showing that the pipette slide cover can slide to cover the unused pipette tips.

[0056] Figures 33 to 36 This is a side view of the pipetting mechanism and pipette tip feeding mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention, viewed horizontally, showing the operation process of the pipette connected to the pipette tip.

[0057] Figure 37 This is a schematic side view of the pipette tip feeding mechanism of the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention, viewed along the horizontal direction, showing that the pipette positioning component can move up and down.

[0058] Figure 38 The flowchart of the cell and drug injection method for drug screening of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] The details of the present invention can be more clearly understood by referring to the accompanying drawings and the description of the specific embodiments of the present invention. However, the specific embodiments of the present invention described herein are only for the purpose of explaining the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention in any way. Based on the teachings of the present invention, a skilled person can conceive of any possible variations based on the present invention, and such variations should be considered to fall within the scope of the present invention.

[0060] See also Figure 2 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 6 、 Figure 24 、 Figure 25 and Figure 27 As shown, the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention is used to inject multiple solvents 91 into multiple solvent tanks 921 in a transfer tray 92, and then use a pipette 93 to dispense the liquids in each solvent tank 921 of the transfer tray 92 into multiple culture tanks 941 of a culture box 94 (as shown in FIG. Figure 24 As shown in FIG. 1 ). Each solvent 91 contains a single drug or a single cell. The culture box 94 has an upper cover 942 that detachably covers the culture tank 941. However, the present invention is also applicable to a culture box 94 without the upper cover 942. The bottom of the pipette 93 has at least one cylindrical tip connection portion 931 (as shown in FIG. Figure 25 As shown), at least one pipette tip 95 (as Figure 27 As shown in FIG. 1 , the tip connection portion 931 of the pipette 93 is detachably mounted on the bottom of the pipette 93 .

[0061] Please refer to Figures 2 to 4 As shown, the cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening of the present invention includes: a base 10, a supply plate mechanism 21, a transfer plate transfer mechanism 30, an injection mechanism 40, a culture box positioning mechanism 60, a pipette mechanism 80; and in this embodiment, it further has: a supply box mechanism 50, a pipette tip feeding mechanism 70 and a closing mechanism 22.

[0062] The base 10 has a tray entry area 101, a liquid injection area 102, and a liquid extraction area 103 spaced apart from each other on its upper side. In this embodiment, the tray entry area 101, the liquid injection area 102, and the liquid extraction area 103 are spaced apart along the longitudinal direction L of the base 10.

[0063] Please refer to Figures 5 to 7 As shown, the aforementioned tray feeding mechanism 21 is disposed on the base 10 and is adjacent to the tray loading area 101. The tray feeding mechanism 21 houses a transfer tray 92 and is capable of moving the transfer tray 92 to the tray loading area 101 on the base 10. In this embodiment, the tray feeding mechanism 21 comprises a stacking frame 211, two tray locking clamps 212, a tray feeding base 213, and a tray lifting actuator 214.

[0064] Please refer to Figure 8 and Figure 9 As shown, the stacking rack 211 defines a stacking space in which multiple spare adapter trays 96 can be vertically stacked. A tray placement opening 2111 is formed at the bottom of the stacking rack 211, through which the spare adapter trays 96 in the stacking space can be dropped. Two locking tray clamps 212 are disposed at opposing positions of the tray placement opening 2111 and are movable toward each other to prevent the spare adapter trays 96 from passing through the tray placement opening 2111.

[0065] The tray delivery seat 213 is located below the tray placement opening 2111 and is used to receive the transfer tray 92 or one of the spare transfer trays 96 dropped from the tray placement opening 2111. Figure 10 and Figure 11 As shown, the tray delivery seat 213 can be moved to the tray entry area 101 on the base 10. Figure 8 and Figure 9As shown, the tray delivery seat 213 has a top tray opening 2131, and the top tray opening 2131 passes through the two opposite sides of the tray delivery seat 213. Figure 7 and Figure 8 As shown, the top plate actuator 214 is disposed below the top plate opening 2131 and can move upward to protrude from the top plate opening 2131 .

[0066] The transfer tray transfer mechanism 30 is disposed on the base 10 and adjacent to the tray feeding mechanism 21. The transfer tray transfer mechanism 30 comprises a transfer tray slide 31, a first transfer linear module 32, a second transfer linear module 33, a transfer tray slide 34, a slide drive motor 35, and a slide rack 36.

[0067] Please refer to Figure 6 、 Figure 7 、 Figures 14 to 16 As shown, the adapter tray slide 31 is used to connect to the adapter tray 92. The adapter tray slide 31 is movably mounted on the base 10 and can be moved to the tray entry area 101, the liquid injection area 102, or the liquid removal area 103. Specifically, a first adapter linear module 32 is mounted on the base 10 and extends along the transverse direction T of the base 10. A second adapter linear module 33 is mounted on the first adapter linear module 32 and extends along the longitudinal direction L of the base 10. The adapter tray slide 31 is mounted on the second adapter linear module 33. This allows the adapter tray slide 31 to be movably mounted on the base 10 in the longitudinal direction L and the transverse direction T via the first and second adapter linear modules 32 and 33.

[0068] In this embodiment, the tray feed seat 213 of the tray feeding mechanism 21 can be moved above the transfer tray slide 31, and the transfer tray slide 31 can be moved up and down so that the transfer tray 92 on the tray feed seat 213 is connected to the transfer tray slide 31. The specific steps are as follows:

[0069] 1. Please refer to Figure 10 and Figure 11 As shown, the transfer tray slide 31 is moved to the tray entry area 101 , and the tray delivery seat 213 is moved above the transfer tray slide 31 .

[0070] 2. Please refer to Figure 11 and Figure 12 As shown, the transfer plate slide 31 moves upward and protrudes from the top plate opening 2131 of the disk delivery seat 213 , thereby lifting the transfer plate slide 31 and connecting to the transfer plate 92 on the disk delivery seat 213 .

[0071] 3. Please refer to Figure 12 and Figure 13 As shown, the disk feeding seat 213 moves away from above the transfer disk slide 31, and then the transfer disk slide 31 moves downward back to the original height position.

[0072] Please refer to Figure 6 、 Figure 15 and Figure 16 As shown, the slide drive motor 35 is provided on the transfer tray slide 31, and the slide rack 36 is slidably provided on the transfer tray slide 31 along the longitudinal direction L and is coupled to the output shaft of the slide drive motor 35. The transfer tray slide 34 is fixed with the slide rack 36, whereby the slide rack 36 and the transfer tray slide 34 can slide relative to the transfer tray slide 31, thereby allowing the transfer tray slide 34 to move above the transfer tray slide 31 to cover the opening of the solvent tank 921 of the transfer tray 92, thereby preventing foreign matter from falling into the solvent tank 921 and causing contamination. In other preferred embodiments, the transfer tray slide 34 only needs to be able to move along the moving direction of the transfer tray slide 31 to above the transfer tray slide 31 to cover the opening of the solvent tank 921 of the transfer tray 92. The method of controlling the position of the transfer tray slide 34 is not limited to the above, and the transfer tray slide 34 can even be omitted.

[0073] The aforementioned liquid injection mechanism 40 is disposed on the base 10 and is adjacent to the transfer tray transfer mechanism 30. The liquid injection mechanism 40 comprises a plurality of liquid injection heads 41, each of which is connected to a solvent 91 and is movable to the liquid injection area 102 of the base 10. The transfer tray slide 31 allows any solvent tank 921 of the transfer tray 92 to be positioned in correspondence with the liquid injection head 41 located in the liquid injection area 102, allowing the liquid injection head 41 to inject one of the solvents 91 into the corresponding solvent tank 921.

[0074] In this embodiment, the liquid injection mechanism 40 includes a rotating base 42 rotatably mounted on the base 10. Liquid injection heads 41 are spaced apart and disposed on the rotating base 42 around the rotation axis of the rotating base 42. The liquid injection mechanism 40 rotates the rotating base 42 to move the liquid injection heads 41 into the liquid injection area 102. The liquid injection mechanism 40 then controls the longitudinal and transverse positions of the adapter plate slider 31 to align the solvent reservoir 921 of the adapter plate 92 with the liquid injection head 41 in the liquid injection area 102.

[0075] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the aforementioned cell culture cassette supply mechanism 50 is located on one side of the base 10, and is used to transport the culture cassettes 94 to be processed from a cell culture device (not shown) to the base 10, and to move the culture cassettes 94 that have been processed on the base 10 back to the cell culture device. The cassette supply mechanism 50 has an inlet conveyor belt 51, an outlet conveyor belt 52, and a lifting mechanism 53. The inlet conveyor belt 51 is used to transport the culture cassettes 94 toward the culture cassette positioning mechanism 60. The outlet conveyor belt 52 is arranged below the inlet conveyor belt 51, and the running direction of the inlet conveyor belt 51 is opposite. The lifting mechanism 53 is arranged at one end of the inlet conveyor belt 51, and can be moved down to one end of the outlet conveyor belt 52 to transfer the culture cassettes 94 from the inlet conveyor belt 51 to the outlet conveyor belt 52.

[0076] Please refer to Figure 17 and Figure 18 As shown, the aforementioned culture box positioning mechanism 60 is arranged on the base 10 and is used to connect the culture box 94. The culture box positioning mechanism 60 includes a positioning platform 61 and a main positioning component 62; and in this embodiment, it further has a cover opening member 63, multiple suction cups 64, a box transfer component 65 and a secondary positioning component 66.

[0077] The positioning table 61 is provided on the base 10 and is used to place the culture cassettes 94. In this embodiment, the culture cassettes 94 are automatically fed to the positioning table 61 by the aforementioned cassette feeding mechanism 50. The processed culture cassettes 94 are also automatically returned to the cell culture apparatus by the cassette feeding mechanism 50.

[0078] Please refer to Figure 21 and Figure 22 As shown, the main positioning assembly 62 is mounted on the positioning platform 61 and is capable of gripping two opposite sides of the culture box 94. Specifically, the main positioning assembly 62 is a clamping jaw that can be controlled to grip the culture box 94, thereby securing the culture box 94 in the horizontal direction T. Specifically, the main positioning assembly 62 grips two opposite sides of the culture box 94 facing the horizontal direction T.

[0079] Please refer to Figure 23 and Figure 24 As shown, the cover opening member 63 is disposed above the positioning platform 61 so as to be movable vertically and laterally. The cover opening member 63 can be moved above the culture box 94. A suction cup 64 is disposed on the bottom surface of the cover opening member 63 and is used to secure the upper cover 942 of the culture box 94 by suction. In this embodiment, the suction cup 64 is connected to a vacuum generator (not shown), which enables the suction cup 64 to secure the upper cover 942 by vacuum suction.

[0080] Please refer to Figures 18 to 20 As shown, the cassette transfer assembly 65 is disposed within the positioning platform 61 and, more specifically, comprises two parallel, spaced-apart conveyor belts. The cassette transfer assembly 65 moves the culture cassette 94 placed on the positioning platform 61 toward or away from the cassette supply mechanism 50. The auxiliary positioning assembly 66 is disposed within the positioning platform 61 so as to be movable up and down and to lift the culture cassette 94 placed on the positioning platform 61 upward. When the culture cassette 94 is lifted by the auxiliary positioning assembly 66, the two ends of the auxiliary positioning assembly 66 respectively contact opposite sides of the culture cassette 94 in the longitudinal direction L, thereby securing the position of the culture cassette 94 in the longitudinal direction L.

[0081] The specific operation steps of the culture box positioning mechanism 60 are as follows:

[0082] 1. The box supply mechanism 50 transports the culture box 94 to be processed to the positioning platform 61 , and the box transfer assembly 65 performs preliminary positioning of the culture box 94 on the positioning platform 61 .

[0083] 2. Please refer to Figure 19 and Figure 20 As shown, the auxiliary positioning assembly 66 moves upward to lift the culture box 94 and fix the position of the culture box 94 in the longitudinal direction L.

[0084] 3. Please refer to Figure 21 and Figure 22 As shown, the main positioning assembly 62 clamps the two opposite side surfaces of the culture box 94 in the transverse direction T to fix the culture box 94 in the transverse direction T position.

[0085] 4. Please refer to Figure 23 As shown, the cover opening member 63 moves downward and fixes the upper cover 942 by the suction cup 64 , and then the cover opening member 63 moves upward to separate the upper cover 942 from the culture box 94 .

[0086] 5. Please refer to Figure 23 and Figure 24 As shown, the cover opening member 63 moves laterally away from the top of the culture box 94, so that the culture groove 941 of the culture box 94 is opened and exposed.

[0087] Please refer to Figures 30 to 32 As shown, the aforementioned straw tip feeding mechanism 70 is disposed on the base 10 and is used to supply boxed straw tips 95. The straw tip feeding mechanism 70 comprises: an infeed conveyor 71, an outfeed conveyor 72, a straw positioning assembly 73, a straw sliding cover 74, and at least one ultraviolet lamp 75.

[0088] A straw positioning assembly 73 is located at one end of the infeed conveyor 71. An outfeed conveyor 72 is located below the infeed conveyor 71 and runs in the opposite direction of the infeed conveyor 71. The straw positioning assembly 73 is movable downward to one end of the outfeed conveyor 72. The infeed conveyor 71 delivers unused, boxed straw tips 95 to the straw positioning assembly 73, which then precisely positions the tips for use by other mechanisms of the present invention.

[0089] The straw slide cover 74 is mounted on the infeed conveyor 71 and is movable along its length. It is movable above the straw positioning assembly 73 to cover the straw tips 95 not in the positioning assembly 73, thereby preventing foreign matter from contaminating unused straw tips 95. At least one ultraviolet lamp 75 is mounted on the inner side of the straw slide cover 74 to illuminate the straw tips 95 and maintain them in a sterile state.

[0090] Please refer to Figures 25 to 27As shown, the aforementioned pipetting mechanism 80 is disposed on the base 10. The pipetting mechanism 80 has a pipetting base 81, and in this embodiment, further has a first pipetting linear module 82, a second pipetting linear module 83, a third pipetting linear module 84, a tip changing assembly 85, a tilt actuator 86, and a pivot axis 87.

[0091] The pipette seat 81 is used to secure the pipette 93 and control the pipette's aspiration and injection operations. The pipette seat 81 is movably mounted on the base 10 and can move back and forth above the liquid extraction area 103 of the base 10 and above the incubator positioning mechanism 60. When the pipette seat 81 is positioned above the liquid extraction area 103, the pipette seat 81 allows the pipette tip 95 of the pipette 93 to be inserted into any solvent reservoir 921 of the transfer tray 92 on the transfer tray slide 31. The pipette seat 81 then causes the pipette 93 to aspirate liquid within the solvent reservoir 921. When the pipette seat 81 is positioned above the incubator positioning mechanism 60, the pipette seat 81 causes the pipette 93 to inject the solvent 91 into one of the incubator reservoirs 941 of the incubator 94.

[0092] In this embodiment, the pipetting station 81 is movable relative to the base 10 and capable of inserting a pipette tip 95 into a culture tank 941 through a first pipetting linear module 82, a second pipetting linear module 83, and a third pipetting linear module 84. Specifically, the first pipetting linear module 82 is mounted on the base 10 and extends along the transverse direction T; the second pipetting linear module 83 is mounted on the first pipetting linear module 82 and extends along the longitudinal direction L; the third pipetting linear module 84 is mounted on the second pipetting linear module 83 and extends vertically; the pipetting station 81 is mounted on the third pipetting linear module 84. Thus, the pipetting station 81 has three degrees of freedom through the pipetting linear modules 82, 83, and 84.

[0093] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the pipetting seat 81 can be further moved above the pipette positioning assembly 73 of the pipette tip feeding mechanism 70 and can be moved toward the pipette positioning assembly 73 to connect a new pipette tip 95. Specifically, the pipetting seat 81 is pivotally mounted to the base 10. Rotation of the pipetting seat 81 relative to the base 10 can cause the tip connecting portion 931 of the pipette 93 to extend parallel to the direction of extension of the pipette tip 95 on the pipette positioning assembly 73. Furthermore, rotation of the pipetting seat 81 relative to the base 10 can cause the tip connecting portion 931 to extend obliquely relative to the direction of extension of the pipette tip 95.

[0094] Please refer to Figure 25 、 Figure 32 and Figure 33As shown, the pipetting station 81 is pivotally mounted on the base 10. Specifically, the pipetting station 81 is pivotally mounted on a base 841 on the third pipetting linear module 84 about a pivot axis 87. The direction in which the pivot axis 87 extends is non-parallel to the direction in which the tip connection portion 931 of the pipette 93 extends. More specifically, the pivot axis 87 extends generally along the transverse direction T (i.e., the pivot axis 87 is non-parallel to the vertical line) and is generally perpendicular to the tip connection portion 931 of the pipette 93. Thus, the pipetting station 81 can rotate the tip connection portion 931 until it is generally parallel to the vertical line. Furthermore, the pipetting station 81 can also rotate relative to the base 841, maintaining an angle between the tip connection portion 931 and the vertical line. The aforementioned tilt actuator 86 is specifically a linear actuator installed on the base 841. The spindle 861 of the tilt actuator 86 is connected to the pipetting base 81, thereby controlling the rotation angle of the pipetting base 81 around the pivot axis 87.

[0095] The tip changing assembly 85 is provided on the pipette base 81 and is used to push against the pipette 93 to force the pipette tip 95 to separate from the pipette 93. Figure 26 As shown, specifically, the tip changing assembly 85 has a motor 851 and a rack 852 . The motor 851 drives the rack 852 to press a button (not shown) on the pipette 93 to separate the pipette tip 95 from the pipette 93 .

[0096] The pipette tip feeding mechanism 70 cooperates with the pipetting mechanism 80 to automatically replace the pipette tip 95. The specific steps are as follows:

[0097] 1. Use the tip changer assembly 85 to press the button on the pipette 93 to force the pipette tip 95 to separate from the pipette 93.

[0098] 2. Please refer to Figure 29 and Figure 31 As shown, the pipetting seat 81 moves to above the pipette positioning assembly 73.

[0099] 3. Please refer to Figure 32 As shown, the straw slide cover 74 is moved away from above the straw positioning assembly 73, so that the straw tip 95 on the straw positioning assembly 73 is exposed.

[0100] 4. Please refer to Figure 33 As shown, the tilt actuator 86 is used to tilt the pipette base 81, that is, the tilt actuator 86 is used to keep the tip connecting portion 931 at an angle to the vertical line.

[0101] 5. Please refer to Figure 33 and Figure 34 As shown, the pipetting seat 81 moves downward, so that the outer end 9311 (as shown in FIG. Figure 33 Insert the pipette tip 95 ).

[0102] 6. Please refer to Figure 35 and Figure 36 As shown, the tilt actuator 86 gradually straightens the pipette base 81, causing the tip connection portion 931 to gradually return to being roughly parallel to the vertical line. Simultaneously, the pipetting linear modules 82, 83, and 84 drive the pipette base 81, causing the tip connection portion 931 to gradually press down and secure the pipette tip 95. After the pipette tip 95 is connected, the pipette base 81 moves upward to continue the pipetting operation.

[0103] 7. Please refer to Figure 37 As shown, after the straw tips 95 in one box are used up, the straw positioning assembly 73 is moved downward to one end of the discharge conveyor belt 72 so that the empty box can be discharged by the discharge conveyor belt 72 .

[0104] The aforementioned closing mechanism 22 has roughly the same structure as the supply mechanism 21. The difference is that the closing mechanism 22 is used to recycle the used transfer trays 92. Therefore, the operating sequence of the closing mechanism 22 is opposite to that of the supply mechanism 21. That is, the closing mechanism 22 will separate the used transfer trays 92 from the transfer tray transfer mechanism 30 and stack the used transfer trays 92 from bottom to top.

[0105] Please refer to Figure 38 As shown, the cell and drug dispensing method for drug screening of the present invention includes the following steps: cell or drug transfer S1 and cell or drug dispensing S2. The cell and drug dispensing method for drug screening of this embodiment is performed using the aforementioned cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening, but is not limited thereto.

[0106] Cell or drug transfer S1: Please refer to Figures 10 to 15 As shown, the transfer tray 92 is moved to the tray entry area 101 on the base 10 by the tray feeder 213 of the tray feeding mechanism 21. As previously described, the transfer tray 92 is formed with a plurality of solvent tanks 921. The transfer tray slide 31 of the transfer tray transfer mechanism 30 moves to the tray entry area 101 and connects to the transfer tray 92. The transfer tray slide 31 moves the transfer tray 92 to the liquid injection area 102 on the base 10.

[0107] The injection mechanism 40 injects multiple portions of solvent 91 into the multiple solvent tanks 921 of the transfer tray 92. Each solvent tank 921 may contain only a single solvent 91 or a mixture of multiple solvents 91. In this embodiment, after the solvent 91 is injected into the transfer tray 92, the transfer tray slide 34 moves with the transfer tray slide 31 to cover the opening of the solvent tank 921 of the transfer tray 92, thereby preventing foreign matter from falling into the solvent tank 921 and causing contamination.

[0108] Please refer to Figure 8 and Figure 9As shown, multiple spare transfer trays 96 can be further stacked on the tray supply mechanism 21. After the tray delivery seat 213 moves the transfer tray 92 to the tray entry area 101 on the base 10, the tray supply mechanism 21 moves the lowest spare transfer tray 96 onto the tray delivery seat 213. By preferentially using the lowest spare transfer tray 96, foreign matter and contamination of the spare transfer trays 96 can be avoided. Specifically, the locking tray clamps 212 will first move away from each other to allow the spare transfer trays 96 in the stacking space to fall, while the top tray actuator 214 moves upward and protrudes from the top tray opening 2131, so that only the lowest spare transfer tray 96 is located below the tray drop opening 2111, while the remaining spare transfer trays 96 are located above the tray drop opening 2111. Then, the locking plate clamps 212 move toward each other to restrict the remaining spare transfer plates 96 from falling, and the top plate actuator 214 moves downward to reset and move the lowest spare transfer plate 96 onto the plate delivery seat 213.

[0109] Cell or drug injection S2: Please refer to Figures 14 to 16 As shown, the transfer tray slide 31 moves the transfer tray 92 to a liquid collection area 103 on the base 10; an incubation box 94 has multiple incubation wells 941; and the pipetting mechanism 80 moves the pipette 93 to the liquid collection area 103, causing the pipette 93 to inject the solvent 91 from each solvent well 921 in the transfer tray 92 into the multiple incubation wells 941 of the incubation box 94. Before the pipette 93 draws liquid from one of the solvent wells 921, the transfer tray slide 34 is removed, exposing the opening of the solvent well 921 to be drawn. After the pipette 93 has finished drawing liquid from the solvent well 921, the transfer tray slide 34 is restored to cover the opening of the solvent well 921.

[0110] In summary, the present invention utilizes the interplay of the tray supply mechanism 21, the transfer tray transfer mechanism 30, and the liquid injection mechanism 40 to automatically prepare solvent 91 and place the prepared solvent 91 in the transfer tray 92 for later use. The transfer tray transfer mechanism 30 and the liquid transfer mechanism 80 then cooperate to automatically draw liquid from the transfer tray 92 and inject it sequentially into the various culture wells 941 of the culture box 94. This automates the cell and drug dispensing process for drug screening, significantly reducing labor and improving operational quality.

[0111] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not constitute any form of limitation to the present invention. Although the present invention has been described above as a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art can make some changes or modifications to equivalent embodiments using the technical contents described above without departing from the scope of the technical solution of the present invention. However, any simple modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the content of the technical solution of the present invention are still within the scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening, characterized in that: The cell and drug dispensing device is used to inject multiple solvents into multiple solvent tanks in an adapter tray, and then use a pipette to inject the liquid in each solvent tank of the adapter tray into multiple culture tanks of a culture box; at least one pipette tip is detachably connected to the bottom of the pipette. The cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening includes: A base having a tray entry area, a liquid injection area, and a liquid extraction area spaced apart on its upper portion; A tray feeding mechanism is provided on the base and adjacent to the tray entry area; the tray feeding mechanism is used to accommodate the adapter tray and move the adapter tray to the tray entry area on the base, and the tray feeding mechanism has: A stacking rack is formed with a stacking space in which a plurality of spare transfer trays can be vertically stacked; a tray drop opening is formed at the bottom of the stacking rack, through which the plurality of spare transfer trays in the stacking space can drop; Two locking plate clamps are respectively arranged at opposite positions of the plate placement opening; the two locking plate clamps can move toward each other to prevent the plurality of spare transfer plates from passing through the plate placement opening; a tray delivery seat, which is disposed below the tray placement opening and is used to receive the transfer tray or a plurality of spare transfer trays dropped from the tray placement opening; The tray delivery seat can be moved to the tray entry area on the base; the tray delivery seat has: A top plate opening extends vertically through two opposite sides of the plate feeding seat; a top plate actuator disposed below the top plate opening and capable of moving upward to protrude from the top plate opening; a transfer tray transfer mechanism, which is disposed on the base and adjacent to the tray supply mechanism; The transfer plate transfer mechanism has: an adapter tray slide for connecting the adapter tray; the adapter tray slide is movably disposed on the base and selectively positioned to correspond to the tray input area, the liquid injection area, or the liquid extraction area; the tray delivery seat of the tray feeding mechanism is movable to above the adapter tray slide; A liquid injection mechanism is provided on the base and adjacent to the transfer plate transfer mechanism, the liquid injection mechanism having: a plurality of injection heads; each of the injection heads is connected to one of the solvents and can be moved to the injection area of ​​the base; wherein the adapter tray slide is used to make any of the solvent tanks of the adapter tray correspond to the injection head located in the injection area, so that the injection head is used to inject one of the solvents into the corresponding solvent tank; A culture box positioning mechanism is provided on the base and is used to connect to the culture box; the culture box positioning mechanism comprises: a positioning platform disposed on the base; the positioning platform is used for placing the culture box; a main positioning assembly, which is disposed on the positioning platform and is used to clamp the culture box; A pipetting mechanism, which is disposed on the base and has: A pipette seat is used to fix the pipette and to control the pipette's aspiration and injection actions; the pipette seat is movably arranged on the base and can move back and forth above the liquid collection area of ​​the base and above the incubator positioning mechanism; when the pipette seat is located above the liquid collection area, the pipette seat is used to insert at least one pipette tip of the pipette into any one of the solvent tanks of the adapter tray on the adapter tray slide, and the pipette seat enables the pipette to perform aspiration; when the pipette seat is located above the incubator positioning mechanism, the pipette seat enables the pipette to inject the liquid therein into one of the incubator tanks of the incubator.

2. The cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cell and drug dispensing device also has A straw tip feeding mechanism is provided on the base and has a feeding conveyor belt; a straw positioning assembly, which is provided at one end of the infeed conveyor belt; The pipetting seat of the pipetting mechanism can be moved above the pipette positioning assembly of the pipette tip feeding mechanism and can be moved toward the pipette positioning assembly.

3. The cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening according to claim 2, characterized in that: The pipetting base of the pipetting mechanism can rotate about a pivot axis; the pivot axis is non-parallel to the vertical line; The pipetting mechanism has a tilt actuator which is connected to the pipetting seat and controls the rotation angle of the pipetting seat with the pivot axis as the axis.

4. The cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening according to claim 2, characterized in that: The pipette tip feeding mechanism also features: a discharge conveyor belt disposed below the feed conveyor belt; the discharge conveyor belt and the feed conveyor belt run in opposite directions; The straw positioning assembly can move downward to one end of the discharge conveyor belt.

5. The cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The culture box has an upper cover which can be detachably covered on the plurality of culture tanks. The culture box positioning mechanism also includes a cover opening member, which is movable up and down and laterally disposed above the positioning platform; the cover opening member is movable to the top of the culture box; At least one suction cup is arranged on the bottom surface of the cover opening member and is used for adsorbing and fixing the upper cover of the culture box.

6. The cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The transfer plate slide of the transfer plate transfer mechanism can move up and down; When the position of the transfer tray slide corresponds to the tray entry area, the tray delivery seat of the tray feeding mechanism can move to above the transfer tray slide, and the transfer tray slide can move upward to protrude from the top tray opening.

7. The cell and drug dispensing device for drug screening according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The transfer plate transfer mechanism also has An adapter tray slide cover is movably arranged on the adapter tray slide seat and can be moved to the top of the adapter tray slide seat to cover the openings of the plurality of solvent tanks of the adapter tray.

8. A cell and drug injection method for drug screening, characterized in that: The cell and drug injection method comprises the following steps: Cell or drug transfer: A tray feeding mechanism is prepared, comprising a stacking rack, two tray locking fixtures, a tray feeding seat, and a tray top actuator; the stacking rack forms a stacking space in which a plurality of spare transfer trays can be vertically stacked; a tray dropping opening is formed at the bottom of the stacking rack, through which the plurality of spare transfer trays in the stacking space can drop; the two tray locking fixtures are respectively disposed at opposite positions of the tray dropping opening; the two tray locking fixtures can move toward each other to prevent the plurality of spare transfer trays from passing through the tray dropping opening; The tray delivery seat is arranged below the tray placement opening and is used to receive the transfer tray or a plurality of spare transfer trays dropped from the tray placement opening; The tray delivery seat can be moved to a tray entry area on a base; The tray delivery seat has a top tray opening, which passes through the two opposite side surfaces of the tray delivery seat from top to bottom; the top tray actuator is arranged below the top tray opening and can move upward to protrude from the top tray opening; the locking tray clamps move in a direction away from each other to allow the spare transfer trays in the stacking space to fall, and the top tray actuator moves upward to protrude from the top tray opening, so that only the lowest spare transfer tray is located below the tray drop opening, and the rest of the spare transfer trays are located above the tray drop opening; the locking tray clamps move toward each other to restrict the rest of the spare transfer trays from falling. The transfer tray cannot fall, and the top tray actuator moves downward and resets to move the lowest spare transfer tray to the tray feeding seat; the transfer tray is moved to the tray entry area on the base by the tray feeding seat of the tray feeding mechanism, and a plurality of solvent tanks are formed on the transfer tray; a transfer tray transfer mechanism is adjacent to the tray feeding mechanism, and a transfer tray slide of the transfer tray transfer mechanism moves to the tray entry area, and the tray feeding seat of the tray feeding mechanism moves above the transfer tray slide, and the transfer tray slide is connected to the transfer tray; the transfer tray slide moves the transfer tray to a liquid injection area on the base; A liquid injection mechanism injects a plurality of solvents into the plurality of solvent tanks of the adapter plate located in the liquid injection area; Cell or drug dispensing: the transfer plate slide moves the transfer plate to a liquid collection area on the base; A culture box has multiple culture tanks; a pipetting mechanism moves a pipette to the liquid collection area and enables the pipette to dispense liquid from each solvent tank in the transfer tray on the transfer tray slide into the multiple culture tanks of the culture box.

9. The cell and drug injection method for drug screening according to claim 8, wherein: During the cell or drug transfer step, after the injection mechanism injects multiple solvents into the multiple solvent tanks of the transfer tray, a transfer tray sliding cover is used to cover the openings of the multiple solvent tanks of the transfer tray; During the cell or drug dispensing step, before the pipette dispenses the liquid in one of the solvent tanks, the adapter plate slide cover is removed to expose the opening of one of the solvent tanks; after the pipette finishes dispensing the liquid in one of the solvent tanks, the adapter plate slide cover is restored to cover the openings of multiple solvent tanks.

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