Coding device and method

Abstract

The present application relates to a kind of code equipment, including the tray for the product to be placed for code, also include the clamping component for taking out the product to be coded from tray, for finding the code area of the product to be coded edge finding component and for coding in the optical component of code area, after edge finding component finds code area, optical component codes code area.It also provides a kind of coding method, using the code equipment described above to code.The present application can prevent fading deformation, prevent wear and tear, resist DMSO and other organic solvents by using laser coding on cryopreservation tube, ensure clear and readable, sample code uniqueness is high, while using the code equipment, the full-automatic coding of cryopreservation tube can be realized, various defects brought by manual operation mode are solved, efficiency can be greatly improved, and there is no error, product yield is higher, operation mode is more flexible, no longer need label consumables, reduce the production cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of medical technology, specifically to a coding device and method. Background Technology

[0002] Cryopreservation tubes are a commonly used storage container in the medical industry. To distinguish the stored items, labels with corresponding information need to be affixed to the cryopreservation tubes. This process is mostly done manually: the labels are first printed, then peeled off manually, and finally affixed to the cryopreservation tube by hand. This traditional manual method is inefficient, prone to errors, inflexible, and has high labeling costs. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this invention is to provide a coding device and method that can at least solve some of the defects in the prior art.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution: a coding device, including a tray for placing products to be coded, a gripping component for removing the products to be coded from the tray, an edge-finding component for finding the coding area of ​​the products to be coded, and an optical component for coding the coding area. After the edge-finding component finds the coding area, the optical component codes the coding area.

[0005] Furthermore, while the edge-finding component is searching for the coding area, the gripping component drives the product to be coded to rotate, and during the rotation, the edge-finding component searches for the coding area.

[0006] Furthermore, the edge-finding component includes a sensor for sensing the coding area on the product, and the gripping component operates according to the signal fed back by the sensor.

[0007] Furthermore, it also includes a drive component for moving the gripping component to grasp the product.

[0008] Furthermore, it also includes a smoke collection component for collecting the smoke generated during coding.

[0009] This invention provides another technical solution: a coding method, which uses the aforementioned coding device for coding, and includes the following steps:

[0010] S1, a tube body with a coding area is prefabricated, wherein the coding area is dark on the tube body and the other parts of the tube body are transparent;

[0011] S2, several tubes to be coded are installed in the material tray;

[0012] S3, the clamping component will take out one of the tubes to be coded from the material tray and move the tube into the working range of the edge finding component;

[0013] S4, the edge-finding component searches for the coding region;

[0014] S5, after the edge-finding component finds the coding area, the optical component performs coding in the coding area.

[0015] Furthermore, while the edge-finding component is searching for the coding area, the gripping component drives the tube to be coded to rotate. During the rotation, the edge-finding component searches for the coding area.

[0016] Furthermore, the edge-finding component employs a sensor. When the sensor detects a dark area, it outputs a signal of 1; when it detects a transparent area, it outputs a signal of 0; and when it detects a false alarm area directly opposite the dark area, it outputs a signal of 1 or 0.

[0017] Furthermore, if the sensor detects more than 3 signals, it will rotate again to find the edge until there are 2 signals, at which point the coding area can be found.

[0018] Furthermore, when the tube to be coded rotates, if the signal output by the sensor is 1, the clamping assembly drives the tube to rotate at a low speed; if the signal output by the sensor is 0, the clamping assembly drives the tube to rotate at a high speed.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are: by using laser coding on the tube body, fading and deformation can be prevented, wear can be prevented, organic solvents such as DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) can be resisted, clear readability can be ensured, and the sample code has high uniqueness. At the same time, after adopting coding equipment, fully automatic coding of cryopreservation tubes can be realized, which solves the various defects brought about by manual operation, greatly improves efficiency, eliminates errors, increases product yield, makes operation more flexible, eliminates the need for label consumables, and reduces production costs. Attached Figure Description

[0020] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an encoding device provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the working principle of edge finding in an encoding method provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] In the attached diagram, the following labels are used: 1-material tray; 2-material bin; 3-moving Y-axis; 4-moving Z-axis; 5-clamping assembly; 6-moving X-axis; 7-processing area; 8-edge finding assembly; 9-optical assembly; 10-smoke collection assembly; 11-coding area; 12-false alarm area; 13-transparent area. Detailed Implementation

[0023] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0024] Please see Figure 1 This invention provides a coding device, including a tray 1 for placing products to be coded, a gripping component 5 for removing the products to be coded from the tray 1, an edge-finding component 8 for locating the coding area 11 of the products to be coded, and an optical component 9 for coding the coding area 11. After the edge-finding component 8 locates the coding area 11, the optical component 9 codes the coding area 11. In this embodiment, the product is a cryopreservation tube to be manufactured. By using laser coding on the tube body, fading and deformation can be prevented, wear can be prevented, and organic solvents such as DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) can be resisted, ensuring clear readability and high sample code uniqueness. At the same time, the use of coding equipment can realize fully automated tube production, solving various defects caused by manual operation, greatly improving efficiency, eliminating errors, increasing product yield, making the operation more flexible, eliminating the need for label consumables, and reducing production costs. Specifically, existing technologies mostly involve manual labeling of cryopreservation tubes. In this case, the cryopreservation tube is a completely transparent tube, and workers simply affix labels without worrying about their placement. However, if a fully automated coding system is used instead of labeling, coding cannot be done arbitrarily on the tube, otherwise it may lead to inconsistent coding positions, such as skewed codes or poor coding accuracy. Therefore, a dedicated coding area 11 needs to be marked out on the tube for coding, thus avoiding the aforementioned problems. Furthermore, since this coding device is fully automated, and the tubes in the container may not all face the same direction, a new problem arises: how to ensure that the gripping component 5 grasps the tube with the coding area 11 aligned with the optical component 9. This embodiment uses an edge-finding component 8 to locate the coding area 11 to solve this problem, enabling fully automated coding operations.

[0025] Please see Figure 1When the edge-finding component 8 searches for the coding area 11, the clamping component 5 drives the product to be coded to rotate. During the rotation, the edge-finding component 8 searches for the coding area 11. In this embodiment, the clamping component 5 is required to cooperate with the edge-finding operation. That is, during the edge-finding process, the clamping component 5 drives the tube to be coded to rotate until the edge-finding component 8 finds the coding area 11. The clamping component 5 can drive the tube to rotate by having its own rotation function, or it can be driven by another rotation mechanism. This embodiment does not limit this.

[0026] Please see Figure 1 The edge-finding component 8 includes a sensor for sensing the coding area 11 on the product, and the gripping component 5 operates according to the signal fed back by the sensor. In this embodiment, the edge-finding principle of the edge-finding component 8 is to use a sensor for edge finding, that is, when the coding area 11 is sensed, a signal of 1 can be output, and when the coding area 11 is not sensed, a signal of 0 can be output, thereby determining whether the position to be coded is the coding area 11.

[0027] Please see Figure 1 The device also includes a drive component for moving the gripping assembly 5 to grasp the product. In this embodiment, the drive component can be decomposed into several parts. The first is to move the material tray 1 within the working range of the edge-finding assembly 8. The second is to drive the gripping assembly 5 to translate and move up and down. The material tray 1 can be set on the material bin 2, which is then set on the moving Y-axis 3. The moving Y-axis 3 moves the material bin 2 to the processing area 7 of the optical assembly 9. Then, the moving Z-axis 4 drives the gripping assembly 5 to move up and down to grasp the tube. After finding the marking area 11, the moving X-axis 6 moves the gripping assembly 5 to translate, thereby adjusting the marking focal length of the optical assembly 9. When adjusting the marking focal length, coarse adjustment is performed first, followed by fine adjustment. After reaching the vicinity of the focal point, the adjustment is made by 0.1mm each time. The size of the laser spot on the product is observed, and the smallest and brightest spot on the upper surface is taken as the focal position.

[0028] Please see Figure 1 The optical component 9 includes a laser. Before coding, the laser parameters are adjusted, and appropriate speed, power, and frequency are selected to optimize the coding effect. The laser is a CO2 laser, preferably with a power of 20W and a wavelength of 1064nm. This laser is preferably a pulsed laser. The optical component 9 also includes a beam expander, a red light indicator, a galvanometer, and lenses. Furthermore, the coding principle is that when marking in a dark area, simply etching away the dark area to make it transparent will create a visually raised code.

[0029] Please see Figure 1The device also includes a smoke collection component 10 for collecting the smoke generated during coding. In this embodiment, a lot of smoke is generated during laser marking, which can be collected by the smoke collection component 10.

[0030] Please see Figure 1 In this embodiment, the tube body is made of medical polymer plastic, the diameter of the processed tube is 8-13mm, the area of ​​the dark area is smaller than the area of ​​the transparent area 13, and the time for the clamping component 5 to pass through the dark area is greater than 1 second when it rotates at low speed.

[0031] Please see Figure 1 This invention provides a coding method using the aforementioned coding device, comprising the following steps: S1, pre-fabricating a tube with a coding area 11, wherein the coding area 11 is dark-colored on the tube and the other parts of the tube are transparent; S2, placing several tubes to be coded in the material tray 1; S3, the clamping component 5 removing one of the tubes to be coded from the material tray 1 and moving the tube to the working range of the edge-finding component 8; S4, the edge-finding component 8 locating the coding area 11; S5, after the edge-finding component 8 locates the coding area 11, the optical component 9 performs coding on the coding area 11. In this embodiment, laser coding on the tube body prevents fading and deformation, wear, and resistance to organic solvents such as DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide), ensuring clear readability and high sample code uniqueness. Furthermore, the use of coding equipment enables fully automated coding of the tube body, solving various defects associated with manual operations, significantly improving efficiency, eliminating errors, increasing product yield, and making the operation more flexible. It also eliminates the need for label consumables, reducing production costs. Specifically, existing technologies mostly involve manual labeling of the tube body, which is essentially a transparent tube where workers simply affix labels without regard to placement. However, with fully automated coding replacing labeling, coding cannot be arbitrarily applied to the tube body, potentially leading to inconsistent coding positions, such as skewed codes or poor coding accuracy. Therefore, a dedicated coding area 11 needs to be designated on the tube body for coding, thus avoiding these problems. However, since this coding device is fully automatic, and the tubes placed in the material box may not all face the same direction, a new problem arises: how to ensure that the tube gripped by the clamping component 5 is aligned with the coding area 11 facing the optical component 9. This embodiment uses an edge-finding component 8 to locate the coding area 11 to solve this problem, enabling fully automated coding operations. Because the coding area 11 is dark, it has an edge, and the purpose of the edge-finding component 8 is to locate the coding area 11 based on this edge.

[0032] As an optimized embodiment of the present invention, when the edge-finding component 8 searches for the coding area 11, the clamping component 5 drives the tube to be coded to rotate. During the rotation, the edge-finding component 8 searches for the coding area 11. In this embodiment, the clamping component 5 is required to cooperate with the edge-finding operation. That is, during the edge-finding process, the clamping component 5 drives the tube to be coded to rotate until the edge-finding component 8 finds the coding area 11. The clamping component 5 can drive the tube to rotate by having its own rotation function, or it can be driven by another rotation mechanism. This embodiment does not limit this. The rotation speed can be adjusted according to the signal output to achieve high-speed or low-speed rotation. For example, when the tube to be coded rotates, if the signal output by the sensor is 1, the clamping component drives the tube to rotate at a low speed; if the signal output by the sensor is 0, the clamping component drives the tube to rotate at a high speed. Using a high-speed and low-speed approach can filter out false alarm signals, thereby greatly improving the edge-finding success rate.

[0033] Preferably, the edge-finding component 8 uses a sensor. The sensor outputs a signal of 1 when it detects a dark area, a signal of 0 when it detects a transparent area 13, and a signal of either 1 or 0 when it detects a false alarm area 12 directly opposite the dark area. In this embodiment, the edge-finding principle of the edge-finding component 8 is based on using a sensor. It outputs a signal of 1 when it detects the coding area 11 and a signal of 0 when it does not detect the coding area 11. This determines whether the position to be coded is the coding area 11. The false alarm area 12 is part of the transparent area 13, but because it faces the coding area 11, a false alarm occurs; we call this the false alarm area 12. The dark area can be a black area, as black absorbs light and is easier to mark, improving marking efficiency. However, a situation arises where, when viewing a dark area from the transparent area 13, the sensor may falsely alarm. In this case, the sensor outputs a signal of 1, indicating that it is a dark area, when in reality it is the transparent area 13. To address false alarms, this embodiment employs a combination of high and low speeds to filter out such signals, significantly improving the edge-finding success rate. Furthermore, unlike the coding region 11, the false alarm region 12 does not consistently provide a stable signal; it alternates between signal 1 and signal 0. If the sensor detects more than three signals, it restarts the edge-finding process until only two signals are detected, at which point the coding region 11 can be found.

[0034] Specifically, edge finding involves two scenarios. In the first scenario, when the sensor outputs a signal of 1, the clamping assembly 5 drives the tube to rotate slowly until the sensor outputs a signal of 0. Then, the clamping assembly 5 drives the tube to rotate at high speed. When the sensor outputs a signal of 1, the clamping assembly 5 again drives the tube to rotate slowly until the sensor signal is 0, at which point the rotation stops. Finally, the clamping assembly 5 drives the tube to rotate by a fixed compensation angle, completing the edge finding. This corresponds to when a dark area is detected facing the sensor. In the second scenario, when a transparent area 13 is detected facing the sensor and the sensor outputs a signal of 1, the clamping assembly 5 drives the tube to rotate slowly until the sensor outputs a signal of 0, at which point the rotation stops. Then, the clamping assembly 5 drives the tube to rotate by a fixed compensation angle, completing the edge finding. Using these two edge finding methods covers various scenarios, ensuring a high success rate for edge finding.

[0035] by Figure 2 For example, area A is the coding area 11, area B is the transparent area 13 (including the false alarm area 12), and area C is the false alarm area 12.

[0036] During edge finding: For example, starting from the transparent area 13 (excluding the false alarm area 12), edge finding begins at a low speed and proceeds into area C. When entering area C, if the sensor output signal is 1, edge finding continues at a low speed. However, after leaving area C, if the sensor output signal is 0, edge finding will proceed at a high speed. When the actual coded area 11 (black area) is reached, the sensor will output signal 1, and edge finding will resume at a low speed. When the black edge of the black area is reached, the sensor will output signal 1 again. At this point, more than 3 signals may be given in one cycle, so the edge finding process will be repeated a second, third, or even more times. By comparing multiple edge finding processes, it can be determined which interval has a stable signal, and that interval is the coded area 11 (black area).

[0037] As an optimized solution of this embodiment of the invention, when the time for the clamping component 5 to drive the tube body to rotate at low speed is less than 1 second and the signal output by the sensor is 0, the edge finding is invalid and the edge finding process needs to be restarted. When designing the size of the coding area 11, ensure that the time for the clamping component 5 to pass through the coding area 11 during its low-speed rotation is greater than 1 second. If the time is less than 1 second, it means that the edge finding process is invalid and the above edge finding action needs to be restarted.

[0038] As an optimized embodiment of the present invention, after coding is completed, the driving component can be used to drive the clamping component 5 to place the coded tubes back into the material tray 1. After all tubes have been coded, the material tray 1 is sent away by moving the Y-axis 3, and the material tray 1 is manually removed to complete the coding of this batch of tubes. The return action here can be a return along the original path.

[0039] Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A coding device, comprising a tray for placing products to be coded, characterized in that: It also includes a gripping component for removing the product to be coded from the tray, an edge-finding component for locating the coding area of ​​the product to be coded, and an optical component for coding the coding area. After the edge-finding component finds the coding area, the optical component codes the coding area. The coding area is dark in color on the tube body, while other parts of the tube body are transparent. The edge-finding component uses a sensor. When the tube body to be coded rotates, if the signal output by the sensor is 1, the gripping component drives the tube body to rotate at a low speed; if the signal output by the sensor is 0, the gripping component drives the tube body to rotate at a high speed. During the rotation, the edge-finding component searches for the coded area using a high-speed and low-speed method to filter out false alarm signals. By comparing multiple edge-finding attempts, it determines which interval has a stable signal and thus identifies the coded area. During the edge-finding process, the sensor outputs a signal of 1 when it detects a dark area, and a signal of 0 when it detects a transparent area. When it detects a false alarm area directly opposite the dark area, the output signal is either 1 or 0. If the sensor detects more than 3 signals, it rotates again to find the edge until it outputs 2 signals. Then, the clamping component drives the tube to rotate by a fixed compensation angle to determine the coded area.

2. The coding device as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The gripping component operates based on the signal fed back by the sensor.

3. The coding device as described in claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a drive component for moving the gripping assembly to grasp the product.

4. The coding device as described in claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a smoke collection component for collecting the smoke and dust generated during coding.

5. A coding method, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1, a tube body with a coding area is prefabricated, wherein the coding area is dark on the tube body and the other parts of the tube body are transparent; S2, several tubes to be coded are placed in the material tray; S3, the clamping component is used to remove one of the tubes to be coded from the material tray and move the tube to the working range of the edge finding component, which uses a sensor; S4, the edge-finding component searches for the coding region; S5, after the edge-finding component finds the coding area, the optical component performs coding in the coding area; When the tube to be coded rotates, if the sensor outputs a signal of 1, the gripping assembly drives the tube to rotate at a low speed; if the sensor outputs a signal of 0, the gripping assembly drives the tube to rotate at a high speed. During rotation, the edge-finding assembly searches for the coded area, using a high-speed and low-speed method to filter out false alarm signals. Through multiple edge-finding comparisons, it determines which interval has a stable signal and thus identifies the coded area. During the edge-finding process, the edge-finding component uses a sensor. When the sensor detects a dark area, it outputs a signal of 1; when it detects a transparent area, it outputs a signal of 0; when it detects a false alarm area directly opposite the dark area, it outputs a signal of 1 or 0. If the sensor detects more than 3 signals, it rotates again to find the edge until it outputs 2 signals. Then, the clamping component drives the tube to rotate by a fixed compensation angle to determine the coding area.

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