Automatic liquid nitrogen sample extraction manipulator of cryoelectron microscope

Abstract

The invention provides a cryoelectron microscope liquid nitrogen sample automatic extraction mechanical arm, and relates to the technical field of mechanical arms with special purposes, the cryoelectron microscope liquid nitrogen sample automatic extraction mechanical arm comprises a lower ring beam, a plurality of lifting rods are arranged on the lower ring beam, the lifting rods vertically penetrate through the lower ring beam and are in sliding connection with the lower ring beam, the bottom of each lifting rod is provided with a storage bin, and the storage bins are used for storing a plurality of copper mesh samples; the cover body is fixedly connected with the lower ring beam and used for being connected with a liquid nitrogen tank, and the cover body and the liquid nitrogen tank form a sealing structure; the manipulator is arranged at the top of the lower ring beam through a bracket and is used for sampling, and the manipulator lifts the corresponding lifting rod and enables the storage bin to be close to the position of the cover body of the liquid nitrogen tank. The device has the beneficial effects that through the structures of the lower ring beam, the lifting rod and the storage bin, copper wire mesh samples are convenient to find and take; due to the annular and multi-layer storage bin structure, the number of stored copper wire mesh samples can be greatly increased; due to the structure that the sampling opening is connected with the storage bin cavity, the copper wire mesh sample is prevented from falling off during sampling; the joint mechanical arm and the lifting type mechanical arm can automatically take out copper wire mesh samples, and the test efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of manipulators for special purposes, in particular to a manipulator for automatically extracting liquid nitrogen samples for a cryo-electron microscope. Background Art

[0002] In some biological experiments, samples need to be stored in a liquid nitrogen environment. The temperature of liquid nitrogen can reach -196°C to maintain the biological activity and integrity of the samples and prevent degradation or mutation. The technical difficulty is that if the number of samples is large, using more liquid nitrogen tanks for storage will greatly increase the cost of the experiment. Although placing multiple samples in a liquid nitrogen tank can reduce costs, it is very troublesome to take them out during the experiment because the copper mesh that carries the samples is about 1-3mm, which is very troublesome to take out and there is a certain risk of error. No better solution has been found in the prior art. Summary of the invention

[0003] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an automatic extraction robot for liquid nitrogen samples of a cryo-electron microscope, which can greatly simplify the difficulty of taking out a specific copper mesh sample and improve the efficiency of the experiment.

[0004] In order to solve the above technical problems, the technical solution of the present invention is: a cryo-electron microscope liquid nitrogen sample automatic extraction manipulator, comprising:

[0005] A lower ring beam, wherein a plurality of lifting rods are arranged on the lower ring beam, the lifting rods vertically pass through the lower ring beam and are slidably connected with the lower ring beam, and a storage bin is arranged at the bottom of the lifting rods, and the storage bin is used to store a plurality of copper mesh samples;

[0006] A cover body, which is fixedly connected to the lower ring beam and is also used to connect to the liquid nitrogen tank and form a sealing structure with the liquid nitrogen tank;

[0007] A manipulator for sampling is provided on the top of the lower ring beam through a bracket. The manipulator lifts the corresponding lifting rod and makes the storage bin close to the cover of the liquid nitrogen tank.

[0008] In a preferred solution, an upper cover is provided on the top of the cover body, the upper cover is located between the lower ring beam and the manipulator, and a snap, thread or interference connection is adopted between the upper cover and the cover body to form a seal between the cover body and the liquid nitrogen tank.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of radially distributed cavities are provided on the storage bin for storing copper mesh samples. An opening is provided on the outer edge of the storage bin, and a corresponding sampling port is provided on the side wall of the cover body for taking out the copper mesh samples from the cavity.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, a door is provided at the sampling port of the cover body, and a channel extending inward is provided to connect with the opening of the storage bin to prevent the copper mesh sample from falling. Guide rails are provided on both sides of the cavity of the storage bin, and the copper mesh sample is arranged on the guide rails. The two sides of the cavity form an interference structure with the copper mesh sample to fix the copper mesh sample, and the upper and lower ends of the cavity form a space with the copper mesh sample to facilitate tweezers to clamp the copper mesh sample from the top and bottom to take out the copper mesh sample.

[0011] In a preferred solution, a damping layer is provided at the position of the lower ring beam, and the lifting rod passes through the damping layer, so that the lifting rod can stop at any height position and any rotation angle position.

[0012] In a preferred solution, a knob is provided on the top of the lifting rod, and a mark is provided near the knob, and the mark is used to distinguish the current lifting rod from other lifting rods and the rotation angle position of the lifting rod;

[0013] A plurality of limit grooves are arranged on the lifting rod, and a limit mechanism is arranged on the lower ring beam. The connection between the limit mechanism and the limit groove prompts the lifting height of the lifting rod, and at least one of the lifting heights makes the cavity opening of the storage bin aligned with the sampling port.

[0014] In a preferred solution, a basket is also provided at the bottom of the cover body, and the storage bins are all located in the space of the basket;

[0015] There are multiple storage bins on the lifting rod, and the multiple storage bins are arranged along the axial direction of the lifting rod;

[0016] In the storage bin, the radially distributed cavities are arranged in multiple layers, and the number and positions of the limiting grooves correspond to the number and positions of the layers of the cavities.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment, the manipulator is an articulated manipulator with 4 to 6 joints.

[0018] In a preferred solution, an upper ring beam is provided on the top of the bracket, the upper ring beam is connected to the ring rail, the ring rail trolley is installed on the ring rail and moves along the ring rail;

[0019] An electric push rod is fixedly arranged at the bottom of the ring rail trolley, the bottom of the electric push rod is connected to the motor, and the bottom of the motor is connected to the clamping claw.

[0020] The movement of the ring track trolley is used to select the alignment with each lifting rod;

[0021] The gripper is used to grab the selected lifting rod;

[0022] The motor is used to rotate the angle of the lifting rod so that the selected cavity is aligned with the angle of the sampling port;

[0023] The electric actuator is used to raise the lifting rod to a preset height.

[0024] In the preferred solution, the structure of the ring rail trolley is as follows: the base is suspended on the ring rail through a plurality of suspension rollers and provides a torque basis for the ring rail trolley;

[0025] A servo motor is arranged on the base, the servo motor is connected with a travel gear, a synchronous belt is arranged on one side of the ring track, the travel gear is meshed and connected with the synchronous belt to drive the ring track trolley to travel.

[0026] The present invention provides a cryo-electron microscope liquid nitrogen sample automatic extraction manipulator, which has the following beneficial effects:

[0027] 1. The present invention can conveniently find and take out copper mesh samples through the lower ring beam, lifting rod and storage bin structure, thereby improving the test efficiency.

[0028] 2. The annular and multi-layer storage structure provided in the present invention can greatly increase the number of copper mesh samples stored, and is very convenient to search and use.

[0029] 3. The structure of the horizontally arranged sampling port and the storage cavity connected to the present invention can prevent the copper mesh sample from falling when being taken out.

[0030] 4. The articulated robotic arm and the lifting robotic arm provided in the present invention can realize the automatic removal of the copper mesh sample with the help of the control system, thus avoiding mistakes and further improving the test efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments:

[0032] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the main structure of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 2 It is a schematic cross-sectional view of the position of the lower ring beam of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 3 It is a top view of the position of the upper ring beam of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the partial structure of the ring track trolley of the present invention.

[0036] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure when taking out the copper mesh sample in the present invention.

[0037] Figure 6 It is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of the connection structure between the lower ring beam and the lifting rod of the present invention.

[0038] Figure 7 It is a schematic structural diagram of a cross section of the storage bin of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 8It is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of the sampling port position when taking out the copper mesh sample in the present invention.

[0040] Fig. 9 This is a workflow diagram for automatically taking out samples according to the present invention.

[0041] In the figure: bracket 1, ring rail trolley 2, electric push rod 3, motor 4, transmission 5, clamping claw 6, upper cover 7, knob 8, lifting rod 9, cover body 10, sampling port 11, liquid nitrogen tank 12, storage bin 13, copper mesh sample 14, lifting basket 15, lower ring beam 16, upper ring beam 17, ring rail 18, synchronous belt 19, walking gear 20, base 21, servo motor 22, suspension roller 23, damping layer 24, limit groove 25, spring piece 26, tweezers 27, guide rail 28. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] Embodiment 1:

[0043] like Figure 1 As shown in , a cryo-electron microscope liquid nitrogen sample automatic extraction robot comprises:

[0044] like Figure 1 , 2 As shown in the figure, a lower ring beam 16 is provided with a plurality of lifting rods 9 on the lower ring beam 16, the lifting rods 9 vertically pass through the lower ring beam 16, and are slidably connected with the lower ring beam 16, and a storage bin 13 is provided at the bottom of the lifting rods 9, and the storage bin 13 is used to store a plurality of copper mesh samples 14;

[0045] The cover body 10 is fixedly connected to the lower ring beam 16. The cover body 10 is also used to connect to the liquid nitrogen tank 12 and form a sealing structure with the liquid nitrogen tank 12;

[0046] A manipulator for sampling is provided on the top of the lower ring beam 16 through the bracket 1. The manipulator lifts the corresponding lifting rod 9 and makes the storage bin 13 close to the cover 10 of the liquid nitrogen tank 12. According to the above structure, the lifting rod 9 is raised to conveniently take out the corresponding storage bin 13 and the copper mesh sample 14 in the storage bin 13, avoiding searching for the corresponding copper mesh sample 14 in the lifting basket, and greatly improving the sampling efficiency.

[0047] The preferred solution is Figure 1 , 5 In the embodiment, an upper cover 7 is provided on the top of the cover body 10, and the upper cover 7 is located between the lower ring beam 16 and the manipulator. The upper cover 7 and the cover body 10 are connected by snaps, threads or interference fit to form a seal between the cover body 10 and the liquid nitrogen tank 12. When sampling, the sampling operation can be performed by simply removing the upper cover 7.

[0048] The preferred solution is Figure 7 , 8In the embodiment, a plurality of radially distributed cavities are provided on the storage bin 13 for storing the copper mesh samples 14. An opening is provided on the outer edge of the storage bin 13, and a corresponding sampling port 11 is provided on the side wall of the cover body 10 for taking out the copper mesh samples 14 from the cavity.

[0049] The preferred solution is Figure 8 In the invention, a door is provided at the sampling port 11 of the cover body 10. Preferably, a self-closing door that opens outward is selected, and the door can be automatically closed by a spring or a magnetic force after sampling. A channel extending inward is also provided to connect with the opening of the storage bin 13 to prevent the copper mesh sample 14 from falling during the sampling process. Guide rails 28 are provided on both sides of the cavity of the storage bin 13. The copper mesh sample 14 is arranged on the guide rails 28 so that the upper and lower parts of the copper mesh sample 14 are not touched. The two sides of the cavity form an interference structure with the copper mesh sample 14, and a structure such as a spring is used to fix the copper mesh sample 14. The upper and lower ends of the cavity form a space with the copper mesh sample 14, so that the tweezers 27 can clamp the copper mesh sample 14 from the upper and lower parts to conveniently take out the copper mesh sample 14.

[0050] The preferred solution is Figure 6 In the embodiment, a damping layer 24 is provided at the position of the lower ring beam 16, and the lifting rod 9 passes through the damping layer 24, so that the lifting rod 9 can stop at any height position and any rotation angle position.

[0051] The preferred solution is Figure 6 In the embodiment, a knob 8 is provided on the top of the lifting rod 9, and a mark is provided near the knob 8, and the mark is used to distinguish the current lifting rod 9 from other lifting rods 9 and the angular position of the lifting rod 9. By adjusting the angular position of the lifting rod 9, different cavities of the storage bin 13 are aligned with the sampling port 11;

[0052] A plurality of limit grooves 25 are provided on the lifting rod 9 , and a limit mechanism is provided on the lower ring beam 16 . The connection between the limit mechanism and the limit grooves 25 indicates the lifting height of the lifting rod 9 , and at least one of the lifting heights aligns the cavity opening of the storage bin 13 with the sampling port 11 .

[0053] The preferred solution is Figure 1 , 5 In the embodiment, a basket 15 is provided at the bottom of the cover body 10, and the storage bins 13 are all located in the space of the basket 15; this structure prevents the copper mesh sample 14 from falling.

[0054] There are multiple storage bins 13 on the lifting rod 9, and the multiple storage bins are arranged along the axial direction of the lifting rod 9. In this example, there are three storage bins 13 from top to bottom. Preferably, the position of the storage bin 13 is an adjustable structure.

[0055] like Figure 8 As shown in FIG. 1 , in the storage bin 13 , the radially distributed cavities are arranged in multiple layers, and the number and positions of the limiting grooves 25 correspond to the number and positions of the cavities.

[0056] Embodiment 2:

[0057] Further explanation in conjunction with Example 1, the manipulator is an articulated manipulator with 4 to 6 joints. The articulated manipulator is not shown in the figure.

[0058] Embodiment 3:

[0059] Further illustrate with reference to Example 1, Figure 3 , 4 As shown in , an upper ring beam 17 is provided on the top of the bracket 1, and the upper ring beam 17 is connected to the ring rail 18. The ring rail trolley 2 is installed on the ring rail 18 and moves along the ring rail 18;

[0060] An electric push rod 3 is fixedly arranged at the bottom of the ring rail trolley 2, the bottom of the electric push rod 3 is connected to the motor 4, and the bottom of the motor 4 is connected to the clamping claw 6.

[0061] The movement of the circular rail trolley 2 is used to select alignment with each lifting rod 9; for example, to align with the lifting rod 9 at the 90° position on the circumference, the circular rail trolley 2 is driven to move from the initial 0° position to the 90° position on the circular rail 18.

[0062] The clamping jaw 6 is used to grab the selected lifting rod 9, and the clamping jaw model used is preferably the EPG26-015 clamping jaw produced by Suzhou Industrial Park Dongmao Equipment Co., Ltd.;

[0063] The motor 4 is used to rotate the angle of the lifting rod 9 so that the selected cavity is aligned with the angle of the sampling port 11. The motor model used is preferably a PMX series stepper motor or an AKD series servo motor produced by Kollmorgen.

[0064] The telescopic action of the electric push rod 3 is used to lift the lifting rod 9 to a preset height.

[0065] The preferred solution is Figure 4 In the embodiment, the structure of the ring rail trolley 2 is as follows: the base 21 is suspended on the ring rail 18 through a plurality of suspension rollers 23, and provides a torque basis for the ring rail trolley 2; preferably, the suspension roller 23 in this example is separately connected to the base 21 through a screw rod, thereby overcoming the influence of the annular structure of the ring rail 18, being more convenient for processing, and also being convenient for adjusting the installation accuracy.

[0066] A servo motor 22 is provided on the base 21. Preferably, a groove is provided on the base 21, and the servo motor 22 is fixed in the groove. The servo motor 22 is connected to the travel gear 20. A synchronous belt 19 is provided on one side of the ring rail 18. The travel gear 20 is meshed and connected with the synchronous belt 19 to drive the ring rail trolley 2 to travel.

[0067] Embodiment 4:

[0068] like Figures 4-5 , 7 to 9, the use process of the present invention is described by taking a customized manipulator as an example;

[0069] S1, put the copper mesh sample 14 into the storage bin 13, and bind the characteristics of the current copper mesh sample 14 with the position of the storage bin 13 when putting it in, that is, the characteristic data of the copper mesh sample 14, such as the sample name, characteristics, precautions, test conditions, test process, test person, test time and other data are stored in the control system, such as the database of the host computer, and the storage location of the copper mesh sample 14, such as the lifting rod 9 number, the storage bin 13 number, the storage bin 13 layer number, the corresponding cavity number and other data are bound to the copper mesh sample 14, and also stored in the database of the control system;

[0070] S2, placing the copper mesh sample 14 into a preset position in the storage bin 13; and then placing the entire manipulator device on the top of the liquid nitrogen tank 12;

[0071] S3. When the selected copper mesh sample 14 needs to be taken out separately, the characteristic associated words of the copper mesh sample 14 are input into the control system, such as sample name, characteristics, precautions, test conditions, test process, tester, test time, etc. for query; the query can also be performed on an authorized terminal connected to the control system network.

[0072] S4, the control system matches the corresponding copper mesh sample 14, and inquires the specific position of the copper mesh sample 14 in the lifting rod and the storage bin according to the reserved data, and sends the data to the manipulator through network communication, such as bus structure, wired LAN, wireless LAN, etc.;

[0073] S5, the control system of the manipulator, such as PLC or STM32F series control chip, etc., converts the specific position of the copper mesh sample 14 into the data instruction of the operation, including the circumferential position on the ring track 18, corresponding to the specific lifting rod 9, driving the ring track trolley 2 to execute; height data, corresponding to the height that the lifting rod 9 needs to be lifted, so that the copper mesh sample 14 is aligned with the sampling port 11 in height, driving the electric push rod 3 to execute; angle data, so that the selected copper mesh sample 14 is aligned with the sampling port 11 on the circumference, executed by the motor 4; the gripper 6 grabs the knob 8 of the lifting rod 9, executed by the gripper 6;

[0074] S6, the manipulator executes the instruction to align the copper mesh sample 14 to be taken out with the sampling port 11, and opens the sampling port 11, and the selected copper mesh sample 14 can be conveniently taken out with the tweezers 27.

[0075] Embodiment 5:

[0076] This embodiment also provides a simplified implementation scheme, which eliminates the manipulator and directly manually extracts the lifting rod for sampling. This scheme is more economical.

[0077] The above-mentioned embodiments are only preferred technical solutions of the present invention and should not be regarded as limitations of the present invention. The embodiments and features in the embodiments of the present application can be arbitrarily combined with each other without conflict. The protection scope of the present invention shall be the technical solutions recorded in the claims, including the equivalent replacement solutions of the technical features in the technical solutions recorded in the claims. That is, equivalent replacement improvements within this scope are also within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cryo-electron microscope liquid nitrogen sample automatic extraction manipulator, characterized in that include: A lower ring beam, wherein a plurality of lifting rods are arranged on the lower ring beam, the lifting rods vertically pass through the lower ring beam and are slidably connected with the lower ring beam, and a storage bin is arranged at the bottom of the lifting rods, and the storage bin is used to store a plurality of copper mesh samples; A cover body, which is fixedly connected to the lower ring beam and is also used to connect to the liquid nitrogen tank and form a sealing structure with the liquid nitrogen tank; A manipulator for sampling is provided on the top of the lower ring beam through a bracket. The manipulator lifts the corresponding lifting rod and makes the storage bin close to the cover of the liquid nitrogen tank.

2. The automatic extraction manipulator for cryo-electron microscopy liquid nitrogen samples according to claim 1 is characterized in that: An upper cover is provided on the top of the cover body, and the upper cover is located between the lower ring beam and the manipulator. The upper cover and the cover body are connected by snaps, threads or interference fit to form a seal between the cover body and the liquid nitrogen tank.

3. The automatic extraction manipulator for cryo-electron microscopy liquid nitrogen samples according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The storage bin is provided with a plurality of radially distributed cavities for storing copper mesh samples. An opening is provided at the outer edge of the storage bin, and a corresponding sampling port is provided on the side wall of the cover body for taking out the copper mesh samples from the cavity.

4. The automatic extraction manipulator for cryo-electron microscopy liquid nitrogen samples according to claim 3 is characterized in that: A door is provided at the sampling port of the cover body, and a channel extending inward is provided to be connected to the opening of the storage bin to prevent the copper mesh sample from falling. Guide rails are provided on both sides of the cavity of the storage bin, and the copper mesh sample is arranged on the guide rails. The two sides of the cavity form an interference structure with the copper mesh sample to fix the copper mesh sample, and the upper and lower ends of the cavity form space with the copper mesh sample to facilitate tweezers to clamp the copper mesh sample from the top and bottom to take out the copper mesh sample.

5. The automatic extraction manipulator for cryo-electron microscopy liquid nitrogen samples according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: A damping layer is arranged at the position of the lower ring beam, and the lifting rod passes through the damping layer, so that the lifting rod can stop at any height position and any rotation angle position.

6. The automatic extraction manipulator for cryo-electron microscopy liquid nitrogen samples according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: A knob is provided on the top of the lifting rod, and a mark is provided near the knob, and the mark is used to distinguish the current lifting rod from other lifting rods and the rotation angle position of the lifting rod; A plurality of limit grooves are arranged on the lifting rod, and a limit mechanism is arranged on the lower ring beam. The connection between the limit mechanism and the limit groove prompts the lifting height of the lifting rod, and at least one of the lifting heights makes the cavity opening of the storage bin aligned with the sampling port.

7. The automatic extraction manipulator for cryo-electron microscopy liquid nitrogen samples according to claim 6 is characterized in that: A basket is also provided at the bottom of the cover body, and the storage bins are all located in the space of the basket; There are multiple storage bins on the lifting rod, and the multiple storage bins are arranged along the axial direction of the lifting rod; In the storage bin, the radially distributed cavities are arranged in multiple layers, and the number and positions of the limiting grooves correspond to the number and positions of the layers of the cavities.

8. The automatic extraction manipulator for liquid nitrogen samples for cryo-electron microscopy according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and 7, characterized in that: The manipulator is an articulated manipulator with 4 to 6 joints.

9. The automatic extraction manipulator for liquid nitrogen samples for cryo-electron microscopy according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and 7, characterized in that: An upper ring beam is provided on the top of the bracket, the upper ring beam is connected to the ring rail, the ring rail trolley is installed on the ring rail and moves along the ring rail; An electric push rod is fixedly arranged at the bottom of the ring rail trolley, the bottom of the electric push rod is connected to the motor, and the bottom of the motor is connected to the clamping claw. The movement of the ring track trolley is used to select the alignment with each lifting rod; The gripper is used to grab the selected lifting rod; The motor is used to rotate the angle of the lifting rod so that the selected cavity is aligned with the angle of the sampling port; The electric actuator is used to raise the lifting rod to a preset height.

10. The automatic extraction manipulator for liquid nitrogen samples for cryo-electron microscopy according to claim 9 is characterized in that: The structure of the ring rail trolley is as follows: the base is suspended on the ring rail through multiple suspension rollers and provides a torque basis for the ring rail trolley; A servo motor is arranged on the base, the servo motor is connected with a travel gear, a synchronous belt is arranged on one side of the ring track, the travel gear is meshed and connected with the synchronous belt to drive the ring track trolley to travel.

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