Liquid level detection type automatic liquid receiving device

Abstract

The invention relates to an automated device for collecting liquids in batches, comprising: a movable laser emission support (1), inside which a laser emitter capable of freely moving up and down is arranged; the light guide column (2) can transmit a laser signal to a control mainboard in the device; the double-layer test tube fixing bracket (3) is used for fixing a test tube, the bracket and the turntable upper cover are of a separable structure, and containers with different specifications can be handled by replacing the bracket; the turntable upper cover (4) is connected with the double-layer test tube fixing bracket through a cylindrical pin; a control main board, a stepping motor, a battery and a control main board light guide column connecting block are arranged in the base plate, and the side wall hole position is an IO interface of the control main board. The liquid level detection type automatic liquid receiving device is low in cost, small in size and suitable for being used in batches in occasions with the requirement for quantitatively collecting fractions in batches.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an automated device for collecting liquids in batches, and the device has low cost and small size, and is suitable for batch use in occasions where there is a need to collect fractions in batches and in a quantitative manner. Background Art

[0002] Column chromatography belongs to liquid-solid adsorption chromatography, which is a separation technology based on the adsorption and solubility properties of substances. In column chromatography, the adsorbent is the stationary phase and the eluent is the mobile phase. Due to the difference in adsorption strength between the components in the sample and the adsorbent, the components are repeatedly adsorbed, desorbed, re-adsorbed, and re-desorbed on the column chromatography to finally complete the separation of the substances. During separation, the mobile phase flows through the chromatographic column from the top and flows out continuously. The components that are firmly adsorbed are less distributed in the mobile phase and move downward at a slower rate, while the components that are weakly adsorbed are more distributed in the mobile phase and move downward at a faster rate. As the mobile phase moves, it is newly distributed on the surface of the newly contacted stationary phase according to this adsorption-desorption process. This process is repeated when the fresh mobile phase flows over the stationary phase surface that has reached equilibrium. As a result, the components form a band distribution in the chromatographic column and finally flow out of the chromatographic column in sequence. The purpose of separating the components can be achieved by receiving the eluent that flows out step by step.

[0003] Laboratory researchers generally use test tubes, beakers, vials, etc. to collect eluents. However, during the manual operation, they face problems such as long waiting time, product crossover, sample loss caused by eluent overflow, and inability to scale up. To this end, the present invention provides a low-cost, safe and reliable automated device that can collect column chromatography eluents in batches. At the same time, the device can also meet the needs of quantitative batch collection of fractions in other fields. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a liquid level detection type automatic liquid connecting device to solve the existing problems raised in the above background technology. Its technical solution is: a liquid level detection type automatic liquid connecting device, including a movable laser emitting bracket, a light guide column, a double-layer test tube fixing bracket, a turntable upper cover, and a circular bottom plate.

[0005] The movable laser emission bracket comprises: a bracket rear panel, a panel groove for embedding and fixing the guide rail, a panel protrusion for connecting the bracket front panel and providing a certain space for the laser emission mainboard extension structure to move up and down; a guide rail, which is equipped with a guide rail slider for sliding the laser emission mainboard and ensuring the accuracy of movement; a laser emission mainboard, on which a laser emission circuit and an electrical connection structure are designed, specifically: a laser emitter, which can emit focused visible light after being powered on; a conductive spring needle, which is conductive in contact with the positive and negative electrodes of the nickel sheet and is subjected to the pressure of the front and rear panels of the bracket and has a large friction force with the nickel sheet to offset its own weight; the laser emission mainboard extension structure is used to manually control the vertical movement of the mainboard; the laser emission mainboard positioning hole is used to connect the guide rail slider; a nickel sheet pressure plate, which is used to stabilize the positive and negative electrodes of the nickel sheet, and the V-shaped groove and the central large hole on the pressure plate are wire channels; a nickel sheet positive electrode; a nickel sheet negative electrode; a bracket front panel, a panel with a groove of the thickness of the nickel sheet engraved inside, which is used to fix the positive and negative electrodes of the nickel sheet; the movable laser emission bracket as a whole has through holes on the top, middle and bottom, which are used to connect and fix the bracket as a whole and the circular chassis.

[0006] The light guide column comprises: a light guide column shell, which is used to reflect laser signals; a light guide groove, through which laser light can be transmitted into the light guide inner core; a light guide column cap, which is used to block external light signals to prevent signal interference; and a light guide column inner core, which transmits light signals to a control mainboard.

[0007] The double-layer test tube fixing bracket includes: 20mm test tube bracket, 30mm test tube bracket, and 50mm beaker bracket. The common features of the three brackets are as follows: the upper plate of the bracket has a hole diameter slightly larger than the corresponding container diameter; the lower plate of the bracket, except for the lower plate of the 50mm beaker bracket, has no hole position, and the hole diameters of the lower plates of other brackets are slightly smaller than the corresponding container diameter; the upper plate of the bracket and the lower plate of the bracket are connected by hexagonal studs; the lower plate of the test tube bracket is provided with a cylindrical pin hole that is engaged with the cylindrical pin of the turntable cover; the lower plate of the test tube bracket has a heightening column, which is used to isolate the contact between the bottom of the test tube and the turntable cover.

[0008] The turntable upper cover comprises: a cylindrical pin, which can be connected with the cylindrical pin hole of the lower plate of the test tube support by insertion, and drive the double-layer test tube fixed support to rotate; a light guide column hole; and an internal gear, which can mesh with the stepping motor gear for transmission.

[0009] The circular chassis includes: a chassis laser emission bracket connecting block for connecting a movable laser emission bracket; steel balls provide support and sliding for the turntable cover; a lithium battery serves as a backup power supply for the control mainboard; the control mainboard mainly processes optical signals and controls the operation of the stepper motor, and its key components are: control buttons; power supply download interface; power switch; optical signal detector; the mainboard light guide column connecting block is used to fix the control mainboard and provide support for the light guide column, specifically: light guide column support hole; optical signal detector insertion hole; control mainboard positioning hole; stepper motor, whose upper gear is meshed with the inner gear of the turntable cover; stepper motor support column, used to fix the stepper motor.

[0010] The present invention adopts a circular rotating platform controlled by a single stepping motor, and all test tubes rotate around the central axis to complete the test tube replacement action. This solution has lower cost than a dual-axis moving platform.

[0011] The movable laser emission bracket designed by the present invention adopts a contact connection scheme, which overcomes the limitations of traditional wire connection devices, and the laser emitter can be moved freely during the power-on process. Another advantage of this scheme is that the laser emitter can move up and down with the laser emission mainboard, and the adjustment range, that is, the liquid level detection height, can be freely controlled by the user, which increases the application range of the product.

[0012] The present invention designs a double-layer test tube fixing bracket according to the unique property of the round bottom and flat mouth of the test tube. The bracket is divided into two layers, the upper layer has a large hole structure, the hole diameter is slightly larger than the test tube diameter and is used for positioning the container, and the lower layer has a small hole structure, the hole diameter is smaller than the test tube diameter, and can stably support the test tube, while the bottom flask bracket lower plate adopts a hole-free structure. The installation height between the upper and lower layers of the double-layer test tube fixing bracket can be set by screws or hexagonal studs. At the same time, the bracket and the turntable upper cover are detachable structures, and can adapt to containers of different specifications by replacing test tube brackets of different specifications, which enhances practicality on the one hand and saves costs on the other.

[0013] The internal control mainboard of the circular chassis of the present invention uses a single chip microcomputer as a control chip to process the received optical signal data, and is integrated with a UPS circuit module to ensure the stability of the device operation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the main structure of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of the movable laser emitting bracket of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of the guide rail slider and the laser emission mainboard of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of the light guide column of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of a double-layer 20mm test tube fixing bracket of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of the double-layer 30mm test tube fixing bracket of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of a double-layer 50mm beaker fixing bracket of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 8 The figure is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the turntable upper cover of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid receiving device of the present invention.

[0022] Fig. 9 It is a schematic diagram of the circular chassis structure of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device of the present invention.

[0023] Fig.10 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the control mainboard of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device of the present invention.

[0024] Fig.11 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the light guide column connection block of the control mainboard of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The basic working principle of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device: the movable laser emission bracket will emit laser after the device is turned on. The laser will penetrate the test tube on the double-layer test tube fixed bracket, irradiate the groove of the light guide column shell, and be transmitted to the optical signal detector on the control main board by the inner core of the light guide column. As the liquid level in the test tube continues to rise, the concave liquid surface at the top cannot effectively transmit light, thereby reducing the intensity of light entering the light guide column. The control main board will analyze the change in the intensity of the light signal and drive the stepper motor to work when the light intensity reaches the critical value. The turntable cover drives the test tube bracket to rotate to complete the action of replacing the test tube.

[0026] Working principle of movable laser emission bracket: The positive and negative electrodes of the nickel sheet are fixed on the front panel of the bracket by the nickel sheet pressure plate, and the lower end of the nickel sheet is connected to the positive and negative electrode ports inside the control main board through the V hole and the inner hole on the nickel sheet pressure plate through a wire. There are 4 conductive spring pins distributed on the laser emission main board, divided into two positive and two negative electrodes. On the one hand, the spring pins can contact with the nickel sheet for conductivity, and on the other hand, they are subject to the pressure of the front and rear panels of the bracket, and the friction between the nickel sheet and the nickel sheet is greater than the gravity of the laser emission main board and the guide rail slider. The main board can only move when the laser emission main board extension structure is manually moved. Since the guide rail slider and the laser emission main board are connected and fixed, the laser emission main board can only move between the guide rails, which also ensures the movement accuracy so that the laser can be accurately transmitted to the inside of the light guide column.

[0027] Working principle of the light guide column: The outer shell of the light guide column is used to reflect the laser signal. The light guide groove and the light guide column cap are used to reduce external light interference and reflect the internal laser at the same time. The inner core of the light guide column is made of transparent light-guiding material and can transmit the laser to the optical signal detector of the control mainboard.

[0028] Working principle of double-layer test tube fixed bracket: The upper plate of the bracket has a hole diameter slightly larger than the corresponding container diameter, which is mainly used for positioning. The lower plate of the bracket has a hole diameter slightly smaller than the corresponding container diameter, which is mainly used for support. The height of the upper plate and the lower plate of the bracket can be freely adjusted by hexagonal studs. The lower plates of the three test tube brackets are equipped with cylindrical pin holes of the same specifications, which can be engaged with the cylindrical pins on the turntable cover for transmission. The needs of containers of different specifications can be met by replacing the test tube bracket.

[0029] Working principle of the turntable cover: the inner gear of the cover can mesh with the stepper motor gear for transmission, and the cylindrical pin drives the double-layer test tube fixing bracket to rotate.

[0030] The circular chassis mainly provides support and connection. The outside can be connected to the movable laser emission bracket through a connecting block. The side wall opening is a reserved hole for the control motherboard IO port. The upper steel ball can reduce the friction with the turntable cover. The stepper motor support column is used to fix the stepper motor to ensure accurate gear meshing.

[0031] The control mainboard light guide column connection block is mainly used to fix the light guide column and the control mainboard. The internal light guide column hole and the optical signal detector insertion hole are connected structures to facilitate the transmission of laser signals. After the structure is connected with the mainboard and the circular chassis, it has a certain strength to ensure the stability of the light guide column.

[0032] The control motherboard is the core of the device. The single-chip microcomputer is the main control chip, which detects the changes of the light signal in real time. When the light intensity reaches the critical value, it drives the stepper motor to work. The control button on the control motherboard can set the rotation amplitude, that is, the longer the stepper motor works, the larger the rotation amplitude of the turntable cover, and vice versa. The 20mm test tube holder rotates a small amplitude each time, and the 50mm beaker holder rotates a large amplitude. The motherboard integrates a UPS power supply module, which can work plugged in or offline.

[0033] Attached Figure 1 It is the main structure of the liquid level detection type automatic liquid receiving device. Users can choose a suitable double-layer test tube fixed bracket according to actual needs, and complete the initialization of the device after filling the corresponding test tube or beaker. Place the device under the chromatographic column or other droplet, turn on the control motherboard switch, and the laser will penetrate the test tube from the movable laser emission bracket and irradiate into the groove of the light guide column. The test tube penetrated by the laser is the working test tube. Slightly adjust the position of the device so that the center of the test tube is aligned with the center of the drop. The user can freely adjust the laser emission height by turning the extended structure of the laser emission motherboard. As the liquid level in the test tube continues to rise, when the liquid level touches the set laser emission height, the device will automatically rotate a fixed amplitude to complete the test tube replacement action. The 20mm test tube bracket rotates 15 times as a cycle, the 30mm test tube bracket rotates 9 times as a cycle, and the 50mm beaker bracket rotates 5 times as a cycle. When the last test tube starts to receive liquid, the device will stop rotating and emit a dripping alarm sound, and the spare test tube needs to be manually replaced or the work is ended.

Claims

1. Liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device, characterized in that: A movable laser emission bracket (1); a light guide column (2); a double-layer test tube fixing bracket (3); a turntable upper cover (4); and a circular bottom plate (5).

2. The liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The movable laser emission bracket (1) comprises: a bracket rear panel (101) for fixing a guide rail (102) and connecting the bracket front panel (107); the guide rail (102) is provided with a guide rail slider (102.2) for sliding the laser emission mainboard (103); a laser emission circuit and an electrical connection structure are designed on the laser emission mainboard (103); a nickel sheet pressing plate (104) for stabilizing the positive and negative electrodes of the nickel sheet and providing a wire channel; a nickel sheet positive electrode (105); a nickel sheet negative electrode (106); and a bracket front panel (107) for fixing the positive and negative electrodes of the nickel sheet.

3. The guide rail (102) and the laser emission mainboard (103) according to claim 2, characterized in that: The guide rail (102) comprises: a guide rail slider (102.2); the laser emission mainboard (103) comprises: a laser emitter (103.1); a conductive spring pin (103.2) and a positive and negative electrode of a nickel sheet in contact and conduct electricity; a laser emission mainboard extension structure (103.3) for controlling the vertical movement of the mainboard; and a laser emission mainboard positioning hole (103.4) for connecting the guide rail slider (102.2).

4. The liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The light guide column (2) comprises: a light guide column outer shell (201) for reflecting laser signals; a light guide groove (202) through which laser light can be transmitted into a light guide inner core; a light guide column cap (203) for blocking external light signals; and a light guide column inner core (204) for transmitting light signals to a control mainboard (504).

5. The liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The double-layer test tube fixing bracket (3) comprises: a 20 mm test tube bracket upper plate (301), whose aperture is slightly larger than the 20 mm test tube diameter; a 20 mm test tube bracket lower plate cylindrical pin hole (302); a 20 mm test tube bracket hexagonal connecting column (303); a 20 mm test tube bracket lower plate (304), whose aperture is slightly smaller than the 20 mm test tube diameter; and a 20 mm test tube bracket lower plate heightening column (305).

6. The liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The double-layer test tube fixing bracket (3) comprises: a 30 mm test tube bracket upper plate (306) whose aperture is slightly larger than the 30 mm test tube diameter; a 30 mm test tube bracket lower plate cylindrical pin hole (307); a 30 mm test tube bracket hexagonal connecting column (308); a 30 mm test tube bracket lower plate (309) whose aperture is slightly smaller than the 30 mm test tube diameter; and a 30 mm test tube bracket lower plate heightening column (310).

7. The liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The double-layer test tube fixing bracket (3) comprises: a 50 mm beaker bracket upper plate (311), the aperture of which is slightly larger than the diameter of a 50 mm beaker; a 50 mm beaker bracket lower plate cylindrical pin hole (312); a 50 mm beaker bracket hexagonal connecting column (313); a 50 mm beaker bracket lower plate (314); and a 50 mm beaker bracket lower plate heightening column (315).

8. The liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The turntable upper cover (4) comprises: a cylindrical pin (401) connected to a cylindrical pin hole (302)(307)(312) of a test tube support lower plate (304)(309)(314) by insertion, and driving the double-layer test tube fixed support (3) to rotate; a light guide column hole (402); and an internal gear (403) meshing with a stepping motor gear.

9. The liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The circular chassis (5) comprises: a chassis laser emission bracket connection block (501) for connecting a movable laser emission bracket (1); a steel ball (502) for providing support and sliding for a turntable upper cover (4); a lithium battery (503) as a backup power supply for a control main board (504); a control main board (504) for processing optical signals and controlling the operation of a stepper motor; a main board light guide column connection block (505) for fixing the control main board (504) and providing support for the light guide column (2); a stepper motor (506) having an upper gear meshing with an inner gear (403) of the turntable upper cover (4); and a stepper motor support column (507).

10. The liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device according to claim 9, characterized in that: The control mainboard (504) comprises: a lithium battery (503); a control button (504.1); a power supply download interface (504.2); a power switch (504.3); and an optical signal detector (504.4).

11. The liquid level detection type automatic liquid connection device according to claim 9, characterized in that: The control mainboard light guide column connection block (505) comprises: a light guide column support hole (505.1); an optical signal detector insertion hole (505.2); and a control mainboard positioning hole (505.3).

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