Replaceable lid holder cartridge for test tube capping and uncapping

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a cap holder cartridge for releasably connecting to a head unit of a test tube capper-uncapper apparatus, the cap holder cartridge comprising a cap holder bracket rotatably carrying a plurality of cap holders arranged in a two-dimensional array; and a cap ejection plate including a plurality of through-holes disposed between the cap holder holder and a respective cap socket included in a respective cap holder, respectively, around the respective cap holder of the plurality of cap holders, the cap ejection plate including a plurality of through-holes disposed between the cap holder holder and the respective cap socket included in the respective cap holder; the cap ejection plate is arranged to move relatively away from the cap holder bracket for engaging the at least one cuvette cap held by the respective cap socket and effecting a release of the at least one cuvette cap by the movement.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a replaceable cap holder box for capping and decapping test tubes, a capper-decapper device including the box, and a method for capping and decapping test tubes. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the automated capping and decapping of test tubes has become an important technical field due to the increasing use of standardized sizes and formats of test tubes used, for example, in biology and microbiology. In these fields, often a large number of test tubes have to be decapped and capped for sample examination, for example for large-scale testing during the COVID-19 pandemic, under which conditions, for the safety and reliability of the diagnostics, as well as for the efficacy and speed of the tests, human intervention during the automated sample processing must be kept to a minimum. However, also for reasons of ergonomic safety in the workplace, human capper-decapper operations should be minimized, since repetitive capping and decapping operations, in particular when the operations involve rotational movements for tightening and loosening threaded test tube caps, can, if repeated frequently, lead to tendinitis in the person performing the capping and decapping of such threaded test tube caps. Automation has therefore become a necessity.

[0003] A particularly important step in increasing the use of automatic capper-decapper equipment is the introduction of standardization in the field of test tubes and in the field of standardized racks for holding standardized test tubes. Currently, the main standard for racks for biological and microbiological test tubes is the so-called SBS format rack according to the ANSI standard ANSI SLAS x-2004, where x=1, 2, ..6. Such SBS racks can contain, for example, 96 test tubes, arranged in an array of 8×12 wells, designed to hold the tubes securely, but 4×6, 8×6 arrays are also commonly used. The advantage of automation is that the test tube positions are predetermined by the standard and the automation device can rely on these predetermined positions within the manufacturing tolerances.

[0004] When considering automated capping and decapping operations, the number of test tubes suitable for storage in SBS format racks is large, and for each test tube type and associated caps, special problems arise. In the prior art, screw cap type and click cap type test tubes are predominant. The present invention relates to the field of automated capping and decapping of screw cap type test tubes for storage in standardized test tube racks (e.g., SBS format test tube racks).

[0005] In the field of capping and decapping test tubes, especially screw-capped test tubes, a problem that is repeatedly encountered is that existing test tube capper-decapper devices, such as the screw-capped test tube capper-decapper device detailed in WO 2014023683, are not universal in terms of the number of test tubes that the prior art capping and decapping devices can handle. Instead, these are locked to a predetermined rack format defined by the number of wells of a particular test tube rack, for example 8×12; the prior art test tube capping and decapping devices provide them with the same number (here 8×12) of test tube capping grippers for capping and decapping test tubes arranged in the wells of the predetermined rack format.

[0006] In FIG. 1 , a prior art test tube capper-decapper device disclosed in WO 2014023683 is shown. According to the prior art, the capper-decapper device may include a fixed base plate, which holds an SBS-rack containing screw-capped test tubes, and wherein, in the device, a spindle mechanism moves a cap holder support comprising a two-dimensional array of individually actuated cap holders toward or away from the test tubes contained in the SBS-rack, respectively, to cap or decap the test tubes, respectively, while a plurality of corresponding individual rotors contained in the head unit respectively rotate corresponding cap drivers, each of which comprises a cap holder, along or against the closing or opening direction of the screw cap. A special feature of this prior art device is that, after capping, the screw cap is ejected from the corresponding cap holder by a corresponding ejector pin, which is coaxially slidably arranged in each corresponding cap holder, and when actuated by the relevant control logic, the screw cap is ejected by applying force only on the screw cap without applying force on the cap sleeve seat.

[0007] It has been found that a problem with the versatility of this prior art device is the time required to individually replace the cap seat on the cap driver in order to switch between different test tube caps, and furthermore, the configuration of the ejector pins may cause the screw caps they engage to break over time.

[0008] In the context of the present invention, elements of the prior art are applicable to the present discussion and have been represented as numbered elements in Figure 1 in accordance with the annotations used in this disclosure, including a screw cap tube capper-decapper device (1), a head unit (2), a cap drive (4), a test tube (5), a screw cap (51), a spindle mechanism (28), a cap gripper support (31) and control logic (27).

[0009] Due to the structural restrictions of the SBS standard to which the present invention is primarily applicable, the relative positions of these structural elements shown in FIG. 1 and in the present invention are similar or identical, and guidance for the present application can be derived therefrom if not otherwise specified herein.

[0010] The screw cap test tube capper-decapper device (1) of the present invention comprises a drive system (28) for moving a cap holder support (31) towards or away from a test tube held in a suitable test tube rack during capping or decapping of the test tube, respectively, wherein in a preferred embodiment the drive system (28) comprises a spindle mechanism (28) for moving the cap holder support (31) towards or away from the test tube (5) during capping or decapping of the test tube, respectively.

[0011] Furthermore, a plurality of corresponding individual rotors in the form of actuator units (6) are arranged in a two-dimensional array in the head unit (2) for rotating the corresponding cap drive in or against the closing or opening direction of the screw cap, respectively. However, in contrast to the prior art, there is a further difference between the head unit (2) of the screw cap tube capper-decapper device (1) of the present invention and the prior art due to the use of a cap holder box (3) comprising an ejector plate. In particular, when the cap holder box (3) comprises a transmission system (7), the number of actuator units (6) in the device (1) of the present invention can be less than the number of cap holders (4) contained in the cap holder box (3).

[0012] In US 9199755, a replaceable cap holder cassette is proposed, which in WO 2018142361 is used to obtain a solution to the problem of lack of versatility in switching times, which problem is sought to be alleviated by introducing a replaceable cassette comprising a row of capping and decapping grippers, each gripper comprising a cap sleeve seat for engaging the screw caps on the tubes in the test tube rack, however, after the capping and decapping operation, the ejection of the individual screw caps is caused by individual ejection pins arranged in the capper-decapper head.

[0013] The present disclosure is directed to providing a creative solution to the general problem of increasing the versatility of prior art test tube capper-decapper devices to allow the test tube capper-decapper devices according to the present disclosure to be used to cap and decap test tubes stored in a wider variety of test tube racks than just a single pre-set test tube rack. Although generally applicable to the art of test tube capping and decapping, in the present invention, however, the dimensions are particularly and preferably in accordance with the SBS type test tube rack standard.

[0014] The present disclosure discusses the creative solutions to the above-described general problems in the context of SBS format test tube racks, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the teachings of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, as will be discussed in more detail below. Summary of the invention

[0015] According to the present invention, there is disclosed herein: a cap holder cassette (3) for releasably connecting to a head unit (2) of a screw cap tube capper-decapper device (1) and having a common engagement axis (22) after connection, the cap holder cassette (3) comprising:

[0016] a cap holder support (31) defining a head unit side (311) and a tube side (312) and rotatably carrying a plurality of cap holders (4) arranged in a two-dimensional array (313), the common engagement axis (22) being perpendicular to the two-dimensional array (313), wherein

[0017] - a respective cap holder (4) comprising a respective cap seat (41) arranged to engage and hold the test tube screw cap (51) during and after capping or decapping the test tube screw cap (51) to or from the screw cap test tube (5),

[0018] - the respective cover sleeve seat (41) is connected to the respective head unit connector (43) via the respective cover holder shaft (42) arranged parallel to the common joint axis (22), the respective head unit connector (43) being arranged for connection to the head unit (2) and for transforming the rotation received from the head unit (2) into a rotation of the respective cover sleeve seat (41) after connection, and wherein

[0019] - each corresponding cover seat (41) is located on the test tube side (312), and each corresponding head unit connector (43) is located on the head unit side (311);

[0020] The cover holder box (3) also includes:

[0021] - a cover ejection plate (32) comprising a plurality of corresponding through holes (321), the corresponding through holes (321) being arranged between the cover holder support (31) and the corresponding cover sleeve seat (41) around the corresponding cover holder shaft (42) of the corresponding cover holder (4) included in the two-dimensional array (313); and

[0022] - at least one actuatable cover ejection plate displacer (33);

[0023] in,

[0024] - The cover ejection plate (32) is arranged to be moved relatively away from the cover clamp support (31) along the common engagement axis (22) by the actuatable cover ejection plate displacer (33) to engage with all corresponding test tube screw caps (51) held in all corresponding cover sleeve seats (41) included in all corresponding cover clamps (4) held by the cover clamp box (3), and through the movement, all the held test tube screw caps (51) are released from all corresponding cover sleeve seats (41) holding the screw caps.

[0025] When it is desired to cap or uncap all test tubes held in a two-dimensional array in one step, by incorporating an ejection device, here in the form of a cap ejection plate (32), into the cap holder box (3), an improvement in the capping and uncapping operations of screw-capped test tubes (5) is achieved, while at the same time alleviating the problem of the ejection pins in the prior art causing damage to the screw caps ejected from the prior art cap holder box. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1: Prior art capper-decapper device.

[0027] Figure 2A : Replaceable cover holder box – cover holder bracket.

[0028] Figure 2B : Replaceable cover holder box – cover ejector plate.

[0029] Figure 3 : Cross section of replaceable cover holder box.

[0030] Figure 4 : Actuator unit and cover holder.

[0031] Figure 5A : Head unit for capper-decapper equipment.

[0032] Figure 5B : Head unit with cover holder box installed.

[0033] Figure 6 : Transmission system on cover holder bracket.

[0034] Figure 7 : Transmission system on cover holder bracket.

[0035] Figure 8 : Transmission system on cover holder bracket.

[0036] It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, the accompanying drawings are intended to be read together with the specification (e.g., cross-hatching, component arrangement, proportion, degree, etc.) and are considered to be part of the entire written description of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] According to the present disclosure, a cap holder box (3) for releasably connecting to a head unit (2) of a test tube capper-decapper device (1) is disclosed herein, the cap holder box (3) comprising a cap holder bracket (31), the cap holder bracket rotatably carrying a plurality of cap holders (4) arranged in a two-dimensional array (313); and a cap pop-up plate (32) comprising a plurality of through holes (321), the through holes being respectively arranged around corresponding cap holders among the plurality of cap holders (4) between the cap holder bracket (31) and corresponding cap sleeve seats (41) included in the corresponding cap holders (4); the cap pop-up plate (32) is arranged to move relatively away from the cap holder bracket (31) for engaging at least one test tube cap held by the corresponding cap sleeve seat (41), and the release of at least one test tube cap is achieved through the movement.

[0038] According to this (see Figure 2A and Figure 2B ), a cap holder box (3) for releasably connecting to a head unit (2) of a screw cap test tube capper-decapper device (1) is disclosed, the cap holder box (3) comprising:

[0039] - a cap holder support (31) defining a head unit side (311) and a test tube side (312) and rotatably carrying a plurality of cap holders (4) arranged in a two-dimensional array (313); a respective cap holder (4) comprising a cap sleeve seat (41) arranged to engage and retain a test tube screw cap (51) during and after capping or decapping a test tube screw cap (51) from a screw-capped test tube (5) and connected to a head unit connector (43) via a cap holder shaft (42), the head unit connector being arranged to connect to the head unit (2) and convert a rotation received from the head unit (2) after connection into a rotation of the cap sleeve seat (41); each respective cap sleeve seat (41) being located on the test tube side (312) and each respective head unit connector (43) being located on the head unit side (311); and

[0040] - A cover ejection plate (32), comprising a plurality of through holes (321), wherein the corresponding through holes (321) are arranged around the corresponding cover holder axis (42) between the cover holder support (31) and the corresponding cover sleeve seat (41); the cover ejection plate (32) is arranged to move relatively away from the cover holder support (31) along the corresponding cover holder axis (42) to engage with at least one test tube screw cap (51) held by the corresponding cover sleeve seat (41) included in the corresponding cover holder (4), and the release of the at least one test tube screw cap (51) from the cover sleeve seat (41) is achieved through the movement.

[0041] According to this (see Figure 2A and Figure 2B), a cap holder box (3) for releasably connecting to a head unit (2) of a screw cap test tube capper-decapper device (1) and having a common engagement axis (22) after connection is disclosed, the cap holder box (3) comprising:

[0042] a cap holder support (31) defining a head unit side (311) and a tube side (312) and rotatably carrying a plurality of cap holders (4) arranged in a two-dimensional array (313), the common engagement axis (22) being perpendicular to the two-dimensional array (313), wherein

[0043] - a respective cap holder (4) comprising a respective cap seat (41) arranged to engage and hold the test tube screw cap (51) during and after capping or decapping the test tube screw cap (51) onto or from the screw cap test tube (5),

[0044] - the respective cover sleeve seat (41) is connected to the respective head unit connector (43) via the respective cover holder shaft (42) arranged parallel to the common joint axis (22), the respective head unit connector (43) being arranged for connection to the head unit (2) and for transforming the rotation received from the head unit (2) into a rotation of the respective cover sleeve seat (41) after connection, and wherein

[0045] - each corresponding cover seat (41) is located on the test tube side (312), and each corresponding head unit connector (43) is located on the head unit side (311);

[0046] The cover holder box (3) also includes:

[0047] - a cover ejection plate (32) comprising a plurality of corresponding through holes (321), the corresponding through holes (321) being arranged between the cover holder support (31) and the corresponding cover sleeve seat (41) around the corresponding cover holder shaft (42) of the corresponding cover holder (4) included in the two-dimensional array (313); and

[0048] - at least one actuatable cover ejection plate displacer (33);

[0049] in,

[0050] -The cover ejection plate (32) is arranged to be moved relatively away from the cover clamp support (31) along the common engagement axis (22) by an actuatable cover ejection plate displacer (33), so as to engage with all corresponding test tube screw caps (51) held in all corresponding cover sockets (41) included in all corresponding cover clamps (4) held by the cover clamp box (3), and through this movement, all the held test tube screw caps (51) are released from all corresponding cover sockets (41) holding the screw caps.

[0051] The invention is based on the recognition of the inventors that, since the test tube screw cap has a free surface along the periphery of the screw cap facing the head unit (2) of the screw cap test tube capper-decapper device (1), engaging the screw cap at this periphery allows a simplified construction of the head unit (2), which no longer needs to hold separately actuated ejection pins and cap drives, but the cap holder box (3) can hold the ejection device, here in the form of an ejection plate.

[0052] While this reduces the ability to customize the ejection operation in favor of simultaneously ejecting screw caps attached to the cap holder, the present invention produces other advantages, including greater versatility and reduced damage to screw caps.

[0053] In addition, in the preferred embodiment detailed herein, in which the cap holder box (3) of the present invention includes a transmission system (7), the capper-decapper device of the present invention can use a greater number of test tube racks of different sizes compared to the capper-decapper devices of the prior art, which are limited to one specific rack per device.

[0054] As described in detail herein (see Figure 6-8 ), which ultimately allows the current individually actuated cap drives to be dispensed with in favor of one or only a small number of actuators for performing the screw capping and decapping operations, since in the present system the cap holder box (3) can be adapted to include a transmission system (7) for allowing a single or a small number of actuators (6) contained in the head unit (2) of the capping and decapping device (1) to rotate all the cap holders (4) contained in the cap holder box of the present invention, or, if more than one actuator (6) is present in the head unit (2), to rotate a limited number of groups of cap holders, rather than rotating each cap holder individually.

[0055] A particular advantage of this drive system (7) is that the head unit (2) can now actuate screw capping or decapping operations regardless of the predetermined two-dimensional array given by the SBS format, since the array is now determined by the cap gripper cassette drive system rather than the number of actuators included in the head unit. It also allows compatibility between head units (2), which are designed for one standard rack format, for example, to cap and decap other rack formats, since now the entire rack format information is contained in the cassette rather than in the head unit of the capper-decapper device.

[0056] In some embodiments of the present invention, the cap holder box (3) of the present invention has a transmission system (7) that is adapted to utilize some, but not all, of the actuators (6) in the head unit (2). The system is adapted to be backwards compatible with already marketed capper-decapper devices that were designed for, e.g., 8×12 test tube racks, but with the box (3) of the present invention, can now also be used for, e.g., 4×6 test tube racks. However, going forward, the ability to construct a head unit (2) with a smaller number of actuators (6) and use the box (3) of the present invention to be compatible with a greater number of test tubes provides a significant simplification in the manufacture of the head unit (2) of the capper-decapper device of the present invention.

[0057] Therefore, in a preferred embodiment, the cover clamp box (3) of the present invention includes a transmission system (7) for allowing multiple actuators included in the head unit (2), the number of actuators being different from but preferably less than the number of cover clamps (4) included in the two-dimensional array (313), to actuate the capping or decapping operation of all cover clamps (4) included in the two-dimensional array (313) of the cover clamp box (3).

[0058] exist Figure 2A and Figure 2B In the embodiment, a cover holder bracket (31) is shown, a simple structure for rotatably supporting the above-mentioned multiple cover holders (4) arranged in the above-mentioned two-dimensional array (313) on the cover holder bracket (31), wherein the cover holder bracket (31) includes a first set of through holes (313a) matching the above-mentioned two-dimensional array (313) in number and position. Then, the corresponding cover holder (4) can be supported by the cover holder bracket (31) by providing a supporting surface (421) toward the head unit side (311) of the cover holder bracket (31). Figure 2A ), and / or the corresponding cover holder (4) can be mounted on the cover holder support (31) using a clamp (45) used as a support and providing a support surface (421) toward the head unit side (311) of the cover holder support (31), see Figure 2B and Figure 6 The part related to the above-mentioned preferred transmission system (7).

[0059] According to all embodiments of the present invention (see Figure 2A), discloses a cap holder box (3), comprising a cap holder support (31), which defines a head unit side (311) and a test tube side (312), and rotatably carries a plurality of cap holders (4) arranged in a two-dimensional array (313); the corresponding cap holders (4) include a cap sleeve seat (41), which is arranged to engage and hold the test tube screw cap (51) during and after the test tube screw cap (51) is capped onto or removed from the screw cap test tube (5), and is connected to a head unit connector (43) via a cap holder shaft (42), which head unit connector is arranged to be connected to the head unit (2) and convert the rotation after receiving the connection from the head unit (2) into the rotation of the cap sleeve seat (41); each corresponding cap sleeve seat (41) is located on the test tube side (312), and each corresponding head unit connector (43) is located on the head unit side (311).

[0060] exist Figure 2A In the embodiment shown, the cap sleeve holder (41) is connected to the head unit (43) by using the latching devices (46a, 46b) held on the cap holder shaft (42) and the head unit connector (43) in this example, and the corresponding cap holders (4) are assembled in the cap holder bracket (31) in a two-dimensional array (313). However, in general, and for the purpose of this disclosure, a person skilled in the art is capable of rotatably assembling two parts connected by a shaft in a bearing.

[0061] According to all embodiments of the present invention (see Figure 2B ), the disclosed cover holder box (3) also includes a cover pop-up plate (32), which includes a plurality of through holes (321), and the corresponding through holes (321) are arranged around the corresponding cover holder axis (42) between the cover holder bracket (31) and the corresponding cover sleeve seat (41); the cover pop-up plate (32) is arranged to move relatively away from the cover holder bracket (31) along the corresponding cover holder axis (42) to engage with at least one test tube screw cap (51) held by the corresponding cover sleeve seat (41) included in the corresponding cover holder (4), and the release of the at least one test tube screw cap (51) from the cover sleeve seat (41) is achieved through the movement.

[0062] In all embodiments according to the invention (see Figure 2B ) discloses a cover holder box (3), wherein at least one actuatable pop-up plate displacer (33) engages a cover pop-up plate (32) for displacing the cover pop-up plate (32) relatively away from a cover holder bracket (31) when actuated.

[0063] In an embodiment thereof, a cover holder box (3) is disclosed, further comprising at least two, at least three, but preferably at least four actuatable pop-up plate displacers (33a-d). In Figs. 2-3, an embodiment is shown, wherein the actuatable pop-up plate displacers (33a-d) are in the form of respective pop-up pistons, each acting on a respective surface portion of the pop-up plate (32). This is a preferred embodiment, as it requires a minimum amount of space to be reserved in the head unit (2) for the pop-up actuation, however, the inventors believe that a person skilled in the art would be able to design other positions or arrangements of at least one actuatable pop-up plate displacer (33) based on their common knowledge.

[0064] In an embodiment thereof, a cover holder box (3) is disclosed, wherein the at least one actuatable ejection plate displacer (33) includes a biasing device (331) for limiting the movement of the cover ejection plate (32) between a first position, wherein the first position does not engage a corresponding test tube screw cap (51) held by a corresponding cover sleeve seat (41), and a second position, wherein the corresponding test tube screw cap (51) is ejected from the corresponding cover sleeve seat (41).

[0065] Although it is possible to extend the cover ejection plate (32) to the outside of at least one side of the cover clamp bracket (31), and it is possible to make at least one ejection plate displacer (33) act on the cover ejection plate (32) at a free position not affected by the cover clamp bracket (31), unfortunately, this embodiment will cause the cover ejection plate (32) to swing during the cover ejection process. Therefore, it is preferred to expand the cover clamp bracket (31) to include a second group of corresponding through holes (317) for closing the corresponding ejection plate displacer (33) and allowing the corresponding ejection plate displacer (33a-d) of the at least one ejection plate displacer (33) to slide and move in the corresponding through holes (317a-d) of the second group of corresponding through holes (317) (see Figure 2B ).

[0066] From Figure 2 and Figure 3 As can be seen in the figure, the pop-up plate (32) of the present invention need not be carried by the cap holder support (31), it can rest on the multiple cap sleeve seats (41) during the capping and decapping operations, and is only actuated to engage one or more screw caps (51) attached to one or more of the multiple cap sleeve seats (41) without retracting after contact and ejection. The subsequent reconnection of the screw cap pushes the pop-up plate (32) back to the ready position of the pop-up plate. However, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least one actuatable pop-up plate displacer (33) is attached to the pop-up plate (32) and carried by the cap holder support (31).

[0067] In Figure 2 and Figure 3In the embodiment shown, at least one actuatable ejection plate displacer (33) in the form of an ejection piston (33) is carried by the cap holder support (31) by the action of a biasing means (331) on an ejection piston head (332), which is arranged at one end of the ejection piston (33) on the head unit side (311). In the embodiment shown, preferably, the biasing means (331) is a coil spring arranged around the ejection piston (33) between the ejection piston head (332) and the cap holder support (31) on the head unit side (311). This preferred arrangement allows at least the actuatable ejection plate displacer (33), here in the form of at least one ejection piston (33), to be reversibly moved between a first position, which does not engage a corresponding test tube screw cap (51) held by a corresponding cap sleeve seat (41), and a second position, which ejects the corresponding test tube screw cap (51) from the corresponding cap sleeve seat (41).

[0068] exist Figure 2B and Figure 3 A and Figure 3 B, the detailed embodiment also shows one or two ejection steering pins (34, 34a, 34b) fixed to the ejection plate (32) and slidingly passing through the cover holder bracket (31) in corresponding through holes. Thereby, the swing caused by the action of the ejection plate shifter (33a-d) on the ejection plate (32) is minimized and the operational stability is improved. Therefore, in one embodiment of the cover holder box (3) of the present invention, the ejection plate (32) includes at least one fixed ejection steering pin (34), which is slidingly and laterally arranged in a matching through hole (318) included in the cover holder bracket. Preferably, a plurality of ejection steering pins (34a-i) are respectively arranged in matching through holes (318a-i), which matching through holes (318a-i) are included in a third group of through holes (318a-i) arranged laterally in the cover holder bracket (31).

[0069] In an embodiment according to any embodiment of the present disclosure (see FIGS. 2 and Figure 5A ), a cover holder box (3) is disclosed herein, wherein a cover holder bracket (31) includes at least two corresponding cover holder bracket positioning elements (314a, 314b), which are suitable for being received and maintained in a fixed use position by corresponding and opposite box positioning elements (214a, 214b) included in a head unit (2) during capping and decapping operations.

[0070] In an embodiment thereof, a cover holder box (3) is disclosed, wherein a cover holder bracket positioning element (314a, 314b) or a relative box positioning element (214a, 214b) includes at least two corresponding flanges (314a, 314b), which are suitable for being accommodated in at least two corresponding relative grooves (214a, 214b), which are included in the remaining and relative positioning elements (314a, 314b, 214a, 214b) of the cover holder bracket (31) or the head unit (2).

[0071] In an embodiment thereof, a cap holder box (3) is disclosed, wherein a cap holder support (31) is held in a fixed use position in a head unit (2) using at least one fixing device (215, 315a, 315b) during capping and decapping operations.

[0072] In an embodiment thereof, a cover holder box (3) is disclosed, wherein at least one fixing device (215, 315a, 315b) comprises a ball lock fixing device (215, 315a, 315b), wherein at least one of the cover holder bracket positioning elements (314a, 314b) or the relative box positioning elements (214a, 214b) carries a ball portion (215) of the ball lock fixing device, and the remaining and relative positioning elements (314a, 314b, 214a, 214b) carry a container (315a, 314b) for the ball portion of the ball lock fixing device.

[0073] In an embodiment thereof, a cap holder cassette (3) is disclosed wherein a cap holder (41) is arranged to receive and hold a test tube screw cap (51) within an interior (411) of the cap holder.

[0074] In an embodiment thereof, a cap holder box (3) is disclosed, wherein a cap ejection plate (32) includes at least one corresponding ejection tap (322a-d) for each corresponding cap sleeve seat (41), and each corresponding cap sleeve seat (41) includes a corresponding ejection tap opening (412a-d) for each corresponding ejection tap (322a-d), the ejection tap opening being arranged to allow the corresponding ejection tap (312a-d) to engage and eject a test tube screw cap (51) held by the cap sleeve seat when the cap ejection plate (32) moves relatively away from the cap sleeve seat.

[0075] In an embodiment thereof, a cover holder box (3) is disclosed, wherein at least one corresponding ejection boss (322a-d) is included on a boss carrier (322), which is slidably arranged around a cover holder shaft (42) between a cover ejection plate (32) and a cover sleeve seat (41).

[0076] In an embodiment thereof, a cover holder box (3) is disclosed wherein a cover ejection plate (32) includes at least two, at least three, but preferably four corresponding ejection bosses (322a-d) for each corresponding cover sleeve seat (41).

[0077] In an embodiment of a cover holder cassette (3), a cover holder cassette (3) is disclosed, wherein each respective cover holder (4) is individually actuated by a respective actuator unit (6) held in a head unit (2).

[0078] As described above, the use of an ejection plate (31) to eject a cover held in a cover socket in the box (3) of the present invention, rather than an internal and separate ejection device, such as an ejection pin, of the prior art, allows the use of a transmission system (7) in the box (3) of the present invention, thereby achieving increased versatility in the construction of the head unit (2).

[0079] Therefore, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a cover clamp box (3) according to any of the aforementioned embodiments is described in detail herein, wherein the cover clamp box (3) includes a transmission system (7) for allowing a plurality of actuators (6) included in the head unit (2), the number of actuators (6) being different from but preferably less than the number of cover clamps (4) included in the two-dimensional array (313), to actuate the capping or decapping operation of all cover clamps (4) included in the two-dimensional array of cover clamps.

[0080] Although those skilled in the art will now have many ways to construct a suitable transmission system (7) suitable for the lid holder box (3) of the present invention to obtain the above-mentioned benefits, a simple (and therefore preferred) transmission system is described in detail below, which can be easily implemented into the lid holder box (3) of the present invention.

[0081] In an exemplary transmission system (7) (see Figure 6 , Figure 7 and Figure 8 ) and its embodiments, in the transmission system (7), each corresponding head unit connector (43) included in the cover holder box (3) includes a corresponding cogwheel (43a-d) having teeth perpendicular to the common engagement axis (22) and having no rotational diameter overlapping with another corresponding cogwheel of another corresponding head unit connector (43) in the cover holder box (3).

[0082] In one embodiment thereof, in the transmission system (7), each corresponding head unit connector (43) is rotatably retained in a corresponding through hole of a bracket plate (71), which is arranged parallel to the cover holder bracket (31) and opposite to the pop-up plate (32) relative to the cover holder bracket (31).

[0083] In one embodiment thereof, in the transmission system (7), a transmission cogwheel (72) is arranged to rotatably engage a group of at least two corresponding cogwheels (43a-d) of at least two corresponding head unit connectors (43), and the transmission cogwheel (72) also includes a device for connecting to a cover drive connector unit (63) of an actuator unit (6) included in the head unit (2), so that the rotation actuated by the actuator unit (6) is transformed into the rotation of each corresponding cogwheel (43a-d) of the group of at least two corresponding cogwheels via the transmission cogwheel (72).

[0084] In an embodiment thereof, the group of at least two corresponding cogwheels (43a-d) is a group of two or four, preferably four cogwheels (43a-d). Figure 7 and Figure 8 As shown, a set of four cogwheels (43a-d) can increase (or decrease if operating in reverse) the head unit of a 4x6 actuator unit (6) for use with an 8x12 test tube rack.

[0085] exist Figure 8 In the embodiment shown, a two-layer transmission system of cogwheels is used, which is suitable for a head unit of 24 actuator units, but in which the test tube rack accommodates 48 test tubes. Here, a first layer (71a) with a set of four cogwheels forms the middle layer, wherein each set of four cogwheels drives a single connector cogwheel, which interacts with a set of two cogwheels in the second (lower) layer (71b), each of these cogwheels of the two cogwheel sets being a head unit connector (43) for a cap holder (4) held by the aforementioned cap holder bracket (31).

[0086] One problem with the use of the cogwheel drive system (7) detailed herein is that when the individual screw caps are applied to the test tubes, the torques to which they are subjected can no longer be measured in the actuator unit as in the prior art. To overcome this problem (see Figure 6 ), preferably, a dog clutch (73) having a predetermined slip torque is provided on each corresponding cap holder shaft (42), the dog clutch being provided between the support plate (71) and the cap holder support (31). Therefore, when the slip torque is exceeded, the dog clutch slips to prevent the screw cap from being further tightened onto the test tube, thereby preventing damage to the components.

[0087] For use with the head unit (2) of the present invention, in the case of Figure 4In one embodiment shown, the corresponding actuator unit (6) includes an actuator (61), which includes a motor (611) and a drive shaft (62), which is used to be connected to a cap holder (4) forming a rotating assembly, and is used to convert the rotation of the motor (611) into a rotation of the cap holder (4), so as to allow a screw capping or decapping operation to be performed when the head unit (2) including the actuator unit (61) is moved toward or away from the test tube as required by the desired capping or decapping operation.

[0088] For use with the head unit (2) of the present invention, Figure 4 In one embodiment shown in detail in the figure, the drive shaft (62) has a cap driver connector unit (63) which is configured to be connected to the head unit connector (43) and, when connected, allows the rotation of the motor (611) to be converted into the rotation of the cap holder (4), thereby allowing the screw capping or decapping operation to be performed when the head unit (2) including the actuator unit (61) and holding the screw cap (51) on the cap holder (4) is moved toward or away from the test tube as required by the desired capping or decapping operation.

[0089] For use with the head unit (2) of the present invention, in one embodiment, the cover driver connector unit (63) is in the form of a connector boss (631) arranged to engage an aligned complementary receptacle (431), here in the form of an aligned boss receptacle (431), included in the head unit connector (43), whereby after the cover driver connector unit (63) is connected to the head unit connector (43), here in the form of inserting the connector boss (631) into the boss receptacle (431), the rotation of the drive shaft (62) caused by the actuator unit (6) can be transformed into the desired rotation of the cover driver (4). By connecting the actuator unit (6) and the cover driver (4), a cover driver rotation assembly is formed. For illustrative purposes, Figure 4 The drive shaft (62) shown in FIG. 1 is exaggerated in length relative to the cover drive. Generally, in order to avoid rotational vibrations, the geometry is kept as short as possible in a given head unit (2).

[0090] exist Figure 4 In the embodiment shown, the connector boss (631) and the aligned boss receptacle (431) are shown as rectangular, but other geometric shapes may be used as the boss and aligned receptacle as is known to those skilled in the art. Instead, but not shown, the boss (631) may be included on the head unit connector 43 of the cover drive (4), and the boss receptacle (431) may be retained at the end of the drive shaft (62). Typically, however, the drive shaft (62) will carry the boss (631) because this is the easiest embodiment to manufacture and assemble, and the invention is discussed based on this embodiment.

[0091] In order to install the cover holder box (3) of the present invention into the head unit (2), the cover holder box (3) is first inserted into its use position in the head unit (2), and finally fixed to the same use position using a fixing device (215) for keeping the cover holder box (3) in a fixed use position during the capping and decapping operations, and the cover holder box (3) and the head unit (2) are then brought together to allow the cover driver connector unit (63) and the head unit connector (43) to be connected, and when connected, to allow the rotation of the motor (611) to be converted into the rotation of the cover holder (4). In the example shown, the corresponding boss (621) included on the corresponding drive shaft (62) is inserted into the corresponding aligned boss receptacle (441) on the corresponding cover driver (4) held in the cover holder box (3).

[0092] In its embodiments (see Figure 3 and Figure 5), discloses a cover holder box (3), wherein each corresponding cover holder (4) includes a corresponding steering pin container (44), preferably a corresponding steering pin through hole (44), which is concentrically arranged in the corresponding cover holder shaft (42) for receiving the corresponding steering pin (622) held by the head unit (2), and during the movement of the cover ejection plate (32), the corresponding steering pin (622) can be moved in the corresponding steering pin container (44) for ejecting the test tube screw cap (51), but does not engage the same test tube screw cap (51) held by the cover sleeve seat (41).

[0093] In an embodiment thereof, a cover holder box (3) is disclosed in which each respective actuator unit (6) held in a head unit (2) rotatably holds a respective kingpin (62).

[0094] In the cap holder box (3) of the present invention (see FIG. 2), if in the cap holder box (3) of the present invention, the cap holder support (31) includes a skirt (316) surrounding the cap ejection plate (32), it is advantageous in many use cases when assembled with a plurality of corresponding through holes (321) around the corresponding cap holder axis. In one embodiment, the presence of the skirt (316) surrounding the assembled cap ejection plate (32) on the cap holder support (31) provides a means for protecting the assembled cap holder from unwanted or accidental user contact during the replacement of the box; and in another embodiment, it provides a fixing device for adapting the cap ejection plate (32) and the skirt (316) with complementary deflections so that the swinging or similar movement of the test tube or box during decapping does not cause misalignment of the ejection plate (32) and the screw cap (51) before recapping and subsequent ejection. As an example of a complementary turn (not shown), one of the skirt (316) or pop-up panel (32) may include one or more corresponding slits for guiding corresponding complementary flanges on the remaining portion of the skirt (316) or pop-up panel (32).

[0095] However, as described above, a particularly advantageous aspect of the present invention is that the box of the present invention can be equipped with a transmission system (7) or a part thereof, thereby reducing the number of actuators included in the head unit (2) required to rotate the cover drive (4) held by the box of the present invention (3) during the capping or decapping operation.

[0096] In the second aspect of the present invention (see Figure 5A and Figure 5B ), a head unit (2) for a test tube capper-decapper device (1) is disclosed herein, the head unit being suitable for receiving a cap holder box (3) according to any of the aforementioned embodiments, and comprising at least two box positioning elements (214a, 214b) opposite to at least two corresponding cap holder support positioning elements (314a, 314b), whereby the cap holder box (3) can be received and maintained in a fixed use position by the corresponding and opposite box positioning elements during capping and decapping operations.

[0097] In its embodiments, the present invention discloses a head unit (2) for a test tube capper-decapper device (1), comprising additional fixing means (215) for holding a cap holder box (3) in a fixed use position during capping and decapping operations.

[0098] In its embodiments, the present invention discloses a head unit (2) for a test tube capper-decapper device (1), further comprising a plurality of steering pins (622) arranged in number and position to match corresponding steering pin containers within corresponding cap holder axes (42) concentrically arranged in a two-dimensional array (313) of cap holders (4).

[0099] In its embodiments, the present invention discloses a head unit (2) for a test tube capper-decapper device (1), further comprising a drip tray (26) arranged to be located below a cap holder box (3) when loaded into the head unit (2), for preventing residual liquid retained in a corresponding test tube screw cap (51) separated from a corresponding test tube (5) from dripping onto a surface below the cap holder box (3).

[0100] In an embodiment thereof, disclosed herein is a head unit (2) for a test tube capper-decapper device (1), further comprising control logic (27).

[0101] In its embodiment, the present invention discloses a head unit (2) for a test tube capper-decapper device (1), further comprising at least one engagement surface (not shown, hidden in Figure 5A and Figure 5B The engaging surface matches at least one ejection plate displacer (33) in number and position, so that the ejection plate displacer (33) can be actuated by an actuating device (not shown) contained in the head unit (2) to eject the test tube screw cap (51) held by the cap sleeve seat (41) contained in the cap drive box (3).

[0102] In the capper-decapper device (1) of the present invention, before the box (3) is assembled into the head unit (2), the movement of the head unit (2) relative to and away from the cap holder box (3) is accomplished by the spindle (28). In order to ensure that the box (3) can be removed from the head unit (2), the head unit (2) should have a travel distance that is not shared with the box (3). Therefore, introducing a restriction on the height of the spindle mechanism (28) will allow the cap holder box (3) to travel relatively away from the test tubes (5) held in the test tube rack below the head unit (2), and it is beneficial to not have the same restriction on the head unit (2) itself.

[0103] Advantageously, in one embodiment, the head unit (2) includes a disengagement device for allowing the head unit (2) to be reversibly moved to a position where a corresponding cover drive connector unit (63) of the head unit (2) engages a corresponding head unit connector (43) of a cover drive (4) held in a cover holder box (3) to allow the cover holder box (3) to be inserted into or removed from the head unit (2).

[0104] In a third aspect, disclosed herein is a screw cap tube capper-decapper device (1) comprising a head unit (2) according to any of the embodiments detailed herein.

[0105] In an embodiment thereof, the screw cap tube capper-decapper device (1) further comprises a cap holder box (3) according to any embodiment disclosed herein, preferably, wherein the cap holder box (3) according to any embodiment disclosed herein has been installed in the head unit (2) as a box-head unit assembly.

[0106] Conclusion

[0107] Although the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that such detail is for illustrative purposes only and that variations can be made by one skilled in the art in practicing the claimed subject matter, upon study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.

[0108] The term "comprising" used in the claims does not exclude other elements or steps. The indefinite article "a" or "an" used in the claims does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several means recited in the claims. Reference signs used in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Claims

1. A cap holder cassette (3) for releasably connecting to a head unit (2) of a screw cap tube capper-decapper device (1) and having a common engagement axis (22) after connection, the cap holder cassette (3) comprising: - a cap holder support (31) defining a head unit side (311) and a tube side (312) and rotatably carrying a plurality of cap holders (4) arranged in a two-dimensional array (313), the common engagement axis (22) being perpendicular to the two-dimensional array (313), wherein - a respective cap holder (4) comprising a respective cap seat (41) arranged to engage and retain the test tube screw cap (51) during and after capping or decapping the test tube screw cap (51) onto or from the screw cap test tube (5), - a respective cover sleeve seat (41) is connected to a respective head unit connector (43) via a respective cover holder shaft (42) arranged parallel to the common joint axis (22), the respective head unit connector (43) being arranged for connection to the head unit (2) and for converting a rotation received from the head unit (2) into a rotation of the respective cover sleeve seat (41) after connection, and wherein - each corresponding cover seat (41) is located on the test tube side (312), and each corresponding head unit connector (43) is located on the head unit side (311); The cover holder box (3) also includes: - a cover ejection plate (32) comprising a plurality of corresponding through holes (321), the corresponding through holes (321) being arranged between the cover holder support (31) and the corresponding cover sleeve seat (41) around the corresponding cover holder shaft (42) of the corresponding cover holder (4) included in the two-dimensional array (313); and - at least one actuatable cover ejection plate displacer (33); in, - The cover ejection plate (32) is arranged to be moved relatively away from the cover clamp support (31) along the common engagement axis (22) by the actuatable cover ejection plate displacer (33) to engage with all corresponding test tube screw caps (51) held in all corresponding cover sleeve seats (41) included in all corresponding cover clamps (4) held by the cover clamp box (3), and through the movement, all the held test tube screw caps (51) are released from all corresponding cover sleeve seats (41) holding the screw caps.

2. A cover holder box (3) according to claim 1, comprising at least two, at least three, but preferably at least four actuatable cover ejection plate displacers (33a-d).

3. The cover holder box (3) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The actuatable ejection plate displacer (33) is biased (331) for limiting the movement of the cover ejection plate (32) to reversible movement between a first position in which the corresponding test tube screw cap (51) held by the corresponding cover sleeve seat (41) is not engaged, and a second position in which the corresponding test tube screw cap (51) is ejected from the corresponding cover sleeve seat (41).

4. A cover holder box (3) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The cover holder bracket (31) includes at least two corresponding cover holder bracket positioning elements (314a, 314b), which are suitable for being received and maintained in a fixed use position by corresponding and opposite box positioning elements (214a, 214b) included in the head unit (2) during capping and decapping operations.

5. The cover holder box (3) according to claim 4, wherein: The cover clamp bracket positioning element (314a, 314b) or the relative box positioning element (214a, 214b) includes at least two corresponding flanges (314a, 314b), which are suitable for being received in at least two corresponding relative grooves (214a, 214b), which are included in the remaining and relative positioning elements (314a, 314b, 214a, 214b) of the cover clamp bracket (31) or the head unit (2).

6. The cover holder box (3) according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: The cap holder support (31) is arranged to be held in a fixed use position in the head unit (2) during capping and decapping operations using at least one fixing device (215, 315a, 315b).

7. The cover holder box (3) according to claim 6, wherein: The at least one fixing device (215, 315a, 315b) comprises a ball lock fixing device (215, 315a, 315b), wherein at least one of the cover clamp bracket positioning elements (314a, 314b) or the relative box positioning elements (214a, 214b) carries a ball portion (215) of the ball lock fixing device, and the remaining and relative positioning elements (314a, 314b, 214a, 214b) carry a container (315a, 315b) for the ball portion of the ball lock fixing device.

8. A cover holder box (3) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein The cap sleeve seat (41) is arranged to receive and hold a test tube screw cap (51) in the interior (411) of the cap sleeve seat.

9. A cover holder box (3) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The cover ejection plate (32) includes at least one corresponding ejection boss (322a-d) for each corresponding cover sleeve seat (41), and each corresponding cover sleeve seat (41) includes a corresponding ejection boss opening (412a-d) for each corresponding ejection boss (322a-d), and the ejection boss opening is arranged to allow the corresponding ejection boss (312a-d) to engage and eject the test tube screw cap (51) held by the cover sleeve seat when the cover ejection plate (32) is relatively displaced away from the cover holder support (31).

10. The cover holder box (3) according to claim 9, wherein The at least one corresponding ejection boss (322a-d) is included on a boss carrier (322), which is slidably arranged between the cover ejection plate (32) and the cover sleeve seat (41) around the cover holder shaft (42).

11. The cover holder box (3) according to claim 9 or 10, wherein: The cover ejection plate (32) includes at least two, at least three, but preferably four corresponding ejection protrusions (322a-d) for each corresponding cover sleeve seat (41).

12. A cover holder box (3) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein Each corresponding cap holder (4) includes a corresponding steering pin container (44), preferably a corresponding steering pin through hole (44), which is concentrically arranged in the corresponding cap holder shaft (42) for receiving the corresponding steering pin (622) held by the head unit (2), and during the movement of the cap ejection plate (32), the corresponding steering pin (622) can move in the corresponding steering pin container (44) without engaging the test tube screw cap (51) held by the cap sleeve seat (41).

13. A cover holder box (3) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein The rotation of each corresponding cover clamp (4) is individually actuated by a corresponding actuator unit (6) retained in the head unit (2), and each corresponding actuator unit (6) includes a cover drive connector unit (63) and a steering pin (622) for connecting to a pair of corresponding head unit connectors (43) of the corresponding cover clamp (4).

14. A cover holder box (3) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein The cover clamp box (3) includes a transmission system (7) for allowing a plurality of actuators (6) included in the head unit (2), the plurality of actuators (6) being different from but preferably less than the number of cover clamps (4) included in the two-dimensional array (313), to actuate the capping or decapping operation of all cover clamps (4) included in the two-dimensional array of the cover clamp box (3).

15. The cover holder box (3) according to claim 14, wherein In the transmission system (7), each corresponding head unit connector (43) included in the cover holder box (3) includes a corresponding cogwheel (43a-d) having teeth perpendicular to the common engagement axis (22) and having no rotational diameter overlapping with another corresponding cogwheel of another corresponding head unit connector (43) in the cover holder box (3).

16. The cover holder box (3) according to claim 15, wherein In the transmission system (7), each corresponding head unit connector (43) is rotatably held by a corresponding through hole of a bracket plate (71), which is arranged parallel to the cover holder bracket (31) and opposite to the pop-up plate (32) relative to the cover holder bracket (31).

17. The cover holder box (3) according to claim 15 or 16, wherein In the transmission system (7), a transmission cogwheel (72) is arranged to rotatably engage a group of at least two corresponding cogwheels (43a-d) of at least two corresponding head unit connectors (43), and the transmission cogwheel (72) also includes a device for connecting to a cover drive connector unit (63) of an actuator unit (6) included in the head unit (2), so that the rotation actuated by the actuator unit (6) is converted into a rotation of each corresponding cogwheel (43a-d) of the group of at least two corresponding cogwheels via the transmission cogwheel (72).

18. The cover holder box (3) according to claim 17, wherein The set of at least two corresponding cogwheels (43a-d) is a set of two or four, preferably four cogwheels (43a-d).

19. The cover holder box (3) according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein In the transmission system (7), each corresponding cover holder shaft (42) includes a dog clutch (73) having a predetermined slip torque arranged between the bracket plate (71) and the cover holder bracket (31).

20. A head unit (2) for a test tube capper-decapper device (1), the head unit being suitable for receiving a cap holder box (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 19, and comprising at least two box positioning elements (214a, 214b), the at least two box positioning elements being opposite to at least two corresponding cap holder support positioning elements (314a, 314b) on the cap holder support (31), whereby the cap holder box (3) can be received and maintained in a fixed use position by the corresponding and opposite positioning elements (214a-b, 314a-b) during capping and decapping operations.

21. The head unit (2) for a test tube capper-decapper device (1) according to claim 20, further comprising fixing means (215) for keeping the cap holder box (3) in a fixed use position during capping and decapping operations.

22. The head unit (2) for the test tube capper-decapper device (1) according to claim 20 or 21, further comprising a plurality of steering pins (622), which are arranged in number and position to match corresponding steering pin containers within corresponding cap holder axes (42) concentrically arranged in the two-dimensional array (313) of cap holders (4).

23. The head unit (2) for the test tube capper-decapper device (1) according to any one of claims 20 to 22, further comprising a drip tray (26), wherein the drip tray (26) is arranged to be located below the cap holder box (3) when loaded into the head unit (2), for preventing residual liquid retained in the corresponding test tube screw cap (51) separated from the corresponding test tube (5) from dripping onto the surface below the cap holder box (3).

24. A head unit (2) for a test tube capper-decapper device (1) according to any one of claims 20 to 23, further comprising control logic (27).

25. The head unit (2) for a test tube capper-decapper device (1) according to any one of claims 20 to 24, further comprising at least one engagement surface, which matches the at least one pop-up plate displacer (33) in number and position, so that the pop-up plate displacer (33) can be actuated by an actuating device contained in the head unit (2) to pop out the test tube screw cap (51) held by the cap sleeve seat (41) contained in the cap drive box (3).

26. A screw cap test tube capper-decapper device (1) comprising a head unit (2) according to any one of claims 20 to 25.

27. The screw cap tube capper-decapper device (1) according to claim 26, comprising a head unit (2) according to any one of claims 20 to 25, and further comprising a cap holder box (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 19.

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