Fluid flow channel control system

Abstract

The invention discloses a fluid flow channel control system which comprises a centrifugal clamping gate, a valve plug, a bolt, a driving module and a control unit. The centrifugal clamping gate comprises a clamping gate body, a valve seat, an upper flow channel, a lower flow channel and a communicating flow channel. The valve seat is arranged on the surface of the clamping gate body, the valve seat is arranged on the communicating flow channel, the upper flow channel and the lower flow channel are arranged at different positions in the clamping gate body, and the upper flow channel and the lower flow channel are communicated through the communicating flow channel to form a flow channel. The valve plug is movably accommodated on the valve seat, and the valve plug comprises a plugging hole and a flange. A bolt driving element of the driving module is in signal connection with the bolt. And the control unit is in signal connection with the driving module and controls the bolt driving element to drive the bolt to move, so that when the bolt head of the bolt is inserted into the plugging hole, the flange can move between the first position and the second position to close or open the flow channel.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a control system for a fluid flow channel. Background Art

[0002] In response to the development of the environment and trends, a type of testing mode called point-of-care testing (POCT) has emerged. POCT generally refers to relevant testing activities performed near the test subject, eliminating the need to go to a large hospital for testing, enabling rapid and effective detection, and timely discovery of health-threatening factors to increase the cure rate or prevent the occurrence of diseases. In addition, with different user requirements, the application scope of POCT is also diverse, especially for the corresponding instruments and equipment.

[0003] With the increasing global prevalence of diseases in recent years, POCT has received more attention. To instantaneously monitor these tiny molecules, many manufacturers have developed microfluidic chips for sample detection. In addition to being small and portable, this technology must also be user-friendly. Therefore, various automated liquid manipulations are required in the chip, such as mixing of multiple liquids, centrifugal separation, liquid transfer, etc., to make the operation simpler and more user-friendly, thereby lowering the user threshold. In a microfluidic chip, the flow of liquid can be controlled by gas pressure, capillary action, centrifugal force, or hydrophilic / hydrophobic methods. However, the diversity and complexity of samples can result in different hydrophilic / hydrophobic effects, making it difficult to precisely control the liquid in the chip.

[0004] On the other hand, when dealing with some highly complex samples, it is necessary to remove most of the impurities by high-speed centrifugation. At this time, the selected centrifugation cartridge needs to have good liquid barrier ability to prevent loss of precious samples during centrifugation. Therefore, valves play an important role in fluid chips, not only requiring effective barrier ability but also simple control to reduce the complexity of detection equipment and achieve effective fluid manipulation. Summary of the Invention

[0005] An embodiment of the present invention provides a fluid flow channel control system that can effectively control the flow direction of the fluid for detection purposes.

[0006] An embodiment of the present invention provides a fluid flow channel control system, which includes a centrifugal brake, a valve plug, a bolt, a driving module, and a control unit. The centrifugal brake includes a brake body, at least one valve seat, at least one upper flow channel, at least one lower flow channel, and a communication flow channel. At least one valve seat is arranged on the surface of the brake body. At least one upper flow channel and the corresponding at least one lower flow channel are arranged at different positions inside the brake body and are connected through the corresponding at least one communication flow channel, so that at least one lower flow channel, at least one communication flow channel, and at least one upper flow channel form a flow channel. At least one valve seat is arranged on the communication flow channel. At least one valve plug is movably accommodated on the corresponding at least one valve seat. The valve plug includes a plug hole and a flange. The bolt includes a bolt head. The driving module includes a bolt driving element, and the bolt driving element is signal-connected to the bolt. The control unit is signal-connected to the driving module. The control unit controls the bolt driving element to drive the bolt, so that when the bolt head is inserted into the plug hole, the flange can move between a first position and a second position to close or open the flow channel.

[0007] Based on the above, the fluid flow channel control system of the present invention effectively controls the flow direction of the fluid through the cooperation structure of the bolt and the valve plug, and cooperates with centrifugal rotation to achieve the purpose of detection.

[0008] To make the present invention more obvious and understandable, specific embodiments are given below and are described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Description of the Drawings

[0009] Figure 1 It is a system architecture diagram of an embodiment of the fluid flow channel control system of the present invention;

[0010] Figure 2 It is a separated schematic diagram of an embodiment of the flow channel and the valve plug of the present invention;

[0011] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the valve plug of the present invention;

[0012] Figure 4 It is a sectional view of the valve plug of the present invention;

[0013] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the bolt of the present invention;

[0014] Figure 6 It is a partial sectional schematic diagram of the relative positions of the valve plug, the bolt, and the film of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 7 It is a partial sectional schematic diagram of the bolt inserted into the valve plug of the present invention;

[0016] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of a perspective view of the valve plug at the first position of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of another perspective of the valve plug of the present invention in the first position;

[0018] Figure 10 Actuation schematic diagram of the bolt and the valve plug of the present invention in the first position;

[0019] Figure 11 Actuation schematic diagram of the bolt and the valve plug of the present invention in the second position;

[0020] Figure 12 Schematic diagram of one perspective of the valve plug of the present invention in the second position.

[0021] Symbol description

[0022] 100: Fluid flow channel control system

[0023] 110: Centrifugal brake

[0024] 112: Brake body

[0025] 114: Valve seat

[0026] 116: Up - flow channel

[0027] 117: Down - flow channel

[0028] 118: Connecting flow channel

[0029] 120: Valve plug

[0030] 122: Upper valve body

[0031] 124: Lower valve body

[0032] 124A: Connecting section

[0033] 124B: Plunger section

[0034] 126: Insertion / extraction hole

[0035] 127: Flange

[0036] 128: Accommodating groove

[0037] 129: Groove

[0038] 130: Bolt

[0039] 132: Shaft body part

[0040] 134: Bolt head

[0041] 136: Head

[0042] 137: Central part

[0043] 138: Connecting part

[0044] 140: Thin film

[0045] 142: Thin film body

[0046] 144: Thin film hole

[0047] 150: Driving module

[0048] 152: Pin driving element

[0049] 154: Centrifugal brake driving element

[0050] 160: Control unit

[0051] L1: Axial direction

[0052] L2: Radial direction

[0053] MA: Flow channel

[0054] ML: Fluid

[0055] P1: First position

[0056] P2: Second position Detailed implementation manners

[0057] Examples are listed below and described in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the provided examples are not intended to limit the scope covered by the present invention. In addition, the drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not drawn to the original scale. For ease of understanding, the same elements will be denoted by the same reference numerals in the following description.

[0058] The terms "including", "comprising", "having", etc. mentioned in the present invention are open-ended terms, that is, "including but not limited to".

[0059] In the description of each embodiment, when elements are described using terms such as "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc., these are only used to distinguish these elements from each other and do not limit the order or importance of these elements.

[0060] In the description of each embodiment, the so-called "coupled" or "connected" may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, or are in indirect physical or electrical contact with each other, and "coupled" or "connected" may also mean that two or more elements operate or act on each other.

[0061] Figure 1 It is a system architecture diagram of an embodiment of the fluid flow channel control system of the present invention, where the elements that can be provided according to the actual situation are represented by dashed lines. Figure 2 It is a separation schematic diagram of an embodiment of the flow channel and the valve plug of the present invention. Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2, the fluid flow channel control system 100 of the present invention includes a centrifugal cassette 110, a valve plug 120, a bolt 130, a thin film 140, a drive module 150, and a control unit 160. The control unit 160 can be implemented by hardware (such as integrated circuits, CPUs), software (such as program instructions executed by a processor), or a combination thereof. The control unit 160 is signal-connected to the drive module 150. The control unit 160 can provide program instructions to the drive module 150 according to the manufacturing process requirements to perform related actions. The drive module 150 can set related components according to the actual situation, including a bolt drive element 152 and a centrifugal cassette drive element 154. The bolt drive element 152 is signal-connected to the bolt 130 to drive the bolt 130 to move, for example, move or rotate in the space formed by the axial direction L1 and the radial direction L2 of the cassette body 112. The axial direction L1 is the vertical movement direction, and the radial direction L2 is the horizontal movement direction. The centrifugal cassette drive element 154 is signal-connected to the centrifugal cassette 110 to drive the centrifugal cassette 110 to perform a centrifugal rotational movement.

[0062] For Figure 2 example, this shows the valve plug 120 and a partial centrifugal cassette 110. The centrifugal cassette 110 includes a cassette body 112, a valve seat 114, an upstream channel 116, a downstream channel 117, and a connecting channel 118. The number of the valve seat 114, the upstream channel 116, the downstream channel 117, and the connecting channel 118 can be adjusted according to the actual situation. The valve seat 114 is disposed on the surface of the cassette body 112, so that an accommodation space is formed within the cassette body 112 for the valve plug 120 to be disposed. The upstream channel 116 and the downstream channel 117 are disposed at different positions within the cassette body 112. The upstream channel 116 and the downstream channel 117 are, for example, two grooves respectively disposed along the radial direction L2 of the cassette body 112. Along the axial direction L1 of the cassette body 112, the upstream channel 116 and the downstream channel 117 are, for example, in an upper and lower positional relationship. The connecting channel 118 is a groove disposed along the axial direction L1 of the cassette body 112. The sizes of the upstream channel 116, the downstream channel 117, and the connecting channel 118 are adjusted according to the actual situation.

[0063] In this embodiment, along the axial direction L1 of the cassette body 112, the upstream channel 116 and the downstream channel 117 are connected through the connecting channel 118, so that the downstream channel 117, the connecting channel 118, and the upstream channel 116 form a flow channel MA flowing from the downstream channel 117 to the upstream channel 116, and the valve seat 114 is disposed on the connecting channel 118.

[0064] Figure 3Schematic diagram of the valve plug of the present invention. Figure 4 Cross-sectional view of the valve plug of the present invention. Please refer to Figures 1 to 4 , the valve plug 120 of the present invention is movably accommodated in the valve seat 114 along the axial direction L1. The valve plug 120 is made of a soft material, and the material of the valve plug 120 is softer than that of the plug 130. The valve plug 120 includes an upper valve body 122, a lower valve body 124, a plugging hole 126, a flange 127, a receiving groove 128, and a cutting groove 129. The upper valve body 122 is connected to the lower valve body 124, and the width of the upper valve body 122 is greater than the width of the lower valve body 124. The plugging hole 126 penetrates through the inside of the upper valve body 122 and is not a through hole. The receiving groove 128 is provided inside the upper valve body 122, and the receiving groove 128 communicates with the plugging hole 126. The width of the receiving groove 128 is greater than the diameter of the plugging hole 126, forming a shape with an internal space larger than the plugging hole. The position of the cutting groove 129 is different from that of the plugging hole 126. The cutting groove 129 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the upper valve body 122 and is a through groove.

[0065] The flange 127 protrudes from the outer surface of the lower valve body 124. Specifically, the lower valve body 124 includes a connecting section 124A and a plunger section 124B. The connecting section 124A is connected between the upper valve body 122 and the plunger section 124B. The flange 127 is provided on a section of the plunger section 124B and is away from the upper valve body 122. The flange 127 is a protruding structure on the outer peripheral side of the plunger section 124B, and the diameter of the flange 127 is greater than the diameter of the plunger section 124B.

[0066] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the plug of the present invention. Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 5 , the plug 130 of the present invention includes a rod body portion 132, a plug head 134, a head portion 136, a central portion 137, and a connecting portion 138. The plug head 134 is connected to the bottom of the rod body portion 132, and the diameter dimension of the rod body portion 132 is smaller than the diameter dimension of the plug head 134, so that the bottom of the plug 130 has a protruding structure protruding from the rod body portion 132. The central portion 137 is connected between the head portion 136 and the connecting portion 138. The connecting portion 138 is connected to the rod body portion 132. The dimension of the rod body portion 132 is smaller than the diameter dimension of the connecting portion 138, and the dimension of the connecting portion 138 is larger than the dimension of the plug head 134. The plug 130 is, for example, an electromagnetic or pneumatic-hydraulic cylinder, and the rod body portion 132 is a connecting rod.

[0067] Figure 6 Partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of the relative positions of the valve plug, the plug, and the film of the present invention. Figure 7 Partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of the plug inserted into the valve plug of the present invention. Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 6 andFigure 7 In this invention, the film 140 includes a film body 142 and a plurality of film holes 144. The shape of the film body 142 generally conforms to the shape of the latch body 112, and the film body 142 covers the latch body 112. The film holes 144 penetrate through the film body 142. The film holes 144 are, for example, circular holes or holes of any shape, and the positions of the film holes 144 correspond to the positions of the valve seats 114. The diameter size of the film holes 144 is smaller than the diameter size of the valve plug 120, and the diameter size of the film holes 144 is larger than the diameter size of the pin head 134, so that the pin head 134 can pass through the film holes 144, and the pin 130 can be withdrawn from the film 140, but the valve plug 120 cannot be withdrawn from the film 140.

[0068] In addition, the diameter size of the pin head 134 is larger than the diameter size of the insertion / extraction hole 126. However, because the material of the valve plug 120 is softer than the material of the pin 130, as Figure 7 shown, the pin head 134 can be inserted into the insertion / extraction hole 126 and located in the accommodation groove 128. Moreover, by taking advantage of the characteristic of the soft material of the valve plug 120 again, the insertion / extraction hole 126 can shrink back to its original size, enabling the pin head 134 to be firmly inserted into the insertion / extraction hole 126. In this way, the position of the valve plug 120 can be moved by the pin 130.

[0069] Furthermore, the pin head 134 can be inserted into the accommodation groove 128. The width size of the accommodation groove 128 is larger than the diameter of the pin head 134, rather than a tightly fitting groove. This makes it easier to move the valve plug 120 up and down.

[0070] Figure 8 For a schematic view of the valve plug of the present invention in the first position, please refer to Figure 8 When the flange 127 in the valve plug 120 of the present invention is in the first position P1, the first position P1 is where the flange 127 is located within the communication flow channel 118 to block the flow of the fluid ML in the downstream channel 117, so that the fluid ML cannot flow from the downstream channel 117 to the upstream channel 116, thereby closing the flow of the fluid ML in the flow channel MA. It can be seen from this that the present invention can move the valve plug 120 to open or close the flow channel MA, achieving the purpose of controlling the flow direction of the fluid.

[0071] Furthermore, the upper valve body 122 is movably accommodated on the valve seat 114 along the axial direction L1. Through the grooving structure of the cut groove 129, the upper valve body 122 is not in a sealed structure with the valve seat 114, so that the valve plug 120 can be moved more smoothly.

[0072] In addition, since the flange 127 and the communication flow channel 118 are approximately the same size, but the size of the lower valve body 124 is smaller than the size of the communication flow channel 118, it is convenient for moving up and down.

[0073] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of another perspective of the valve plug of the present invention in the first position. Figure 10 Actuation schematic diagram of the bolt and the valve plug of the present invention in the first position. Figure 11 Actuation schematic diagram of the bolt and the valve plug of the present invention in the second position. Figure 12 Schematic diagram of one perspective of the valve plug of the present invention in the second position. Please first refer to Figure 1 、 Figure 6 、 Figures 8 to 10 , the present invention provides different inspection grooves or mixing grooves according to the manufacturing process requirements, and can use the control unit 160 to provide program instructions to the centrifugal brake driving element 154 in the driving module 150 to drive the centrifugal brake 110 to rotate centrifugally, and the bolt driving element 152 to drive the bolt 130 to move towards the corresponding valve plug 120. The bolt head 134 of the bolt 130 passes through the film hole 144, and the bolt head 134 is inserted into the insertion and extraction hole 126. As described above, due to the soft material of the valve plug 120 and the relatively soft material compared to the bolt head 134, the bolt head 134 can be tightly combined with the valve plug 120.

[0074] Next, as shown in Figure 11 and Figure 12 , by the upward movement of the bolt 130, the valve plug 120 is separated from the communication flow channel 118, so that the flange 127 is moved from the first position P1 to the second position P2. Since the flange 127 does not block the communication flow channel 118, the flow of the fluid ML in the flow channel MA is opened, so that the fluid ML flows from the downstream flow channel 117 to the upstream flow channel 116.

[0075] In addition, since the diameter size of the bolt head 134 is smaller than the diameter size of the film hole 144, but the diameter 144 of the film hole is smaller than the diameter of the valve plug 120, while the bolt head 134 continues to move upward, the film hole 144 can allow the bolt head 134 to pass through and limit the upward movement of the valve plug 120, so as to achieve the purpose of separating the bolt 130 from the valve plug 120 and enable repeated insertion and extraction.

[0076] In addition, the present invention can move the valve plug 120 to control the flow direction of the fluid, and drive the centrifugal brake 110 to rotate centrifugally to achieve high-speed centrifugation, avoid liquid loss, and achieve the purpose of mixing fluid detection.

[0077] In summary, the fluid flow channel control system of the present invention effectively controls the flow direction of the fluid through the cooperation structure of the bolt and the valve plug, and cooperates with centrifugal rotation to achieve the purpose of detection.

[0078] Furthermore, the present invention enables the bolt to be tightly combined with the valve plug through the different material characteristics of the valve plug and the bolt.

[0079] In addition, the present invention separates the plug and the valve plug by setting the relationship between the film, the hole sizes of the plug and the valve plug, and can be repeatedly inserted and pulled out.

[0080] Although the present invention is disclosed in combination with the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person of ordinary skill in the art can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A fluid flow channel control system, comprising: A centrifugal brake, comprising a brake body, at least one valve seat, at least one upper flow channel, at least one lower flow channel, and at least one connecting flow channel, wherein the at least one valve seat is disposed on the surface of the brake body, the at least one upper flow channel and the corresponding at least one lower flow channel are disposed at different positions within the brake body, and are connected through the corresponding at least one connecting flow channel, so that the at least one lower flow channel, the at least one connecting flow channel and the at least one upper flow channel form a flow channel, and the at least one valve seat is disposed on the at least one connecting flow channel; At least one valve plug, the at least one valve plug is movably received on the corresponding at least one valve seat, and the at least one valve plug includes a plugging hole and a flange; A latch, comprising a latch head; A drive module, comprising a latch drive element, the latch drive element being signal-connected to the latch; And A control unit, signal-connected to the drive module, the control unit controlling the latch drive element to drive the latch, so that when the latch head is inserted into the plugging hole, the flange can move between a first position and a second position to close or open the flow channel.

2. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 1, wherein the first position is that the flange is located within the at least one connecting flow channel, and the second position is that the flange is away from the at least one connecting flow channel.

3. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 1, wherein the driving module includes a centrifugal chuck driving element, the centrifugal chuck driving element is signal-connected to the centrifugal chuck, and the control unit controls the centrifugal chuck driving element to drive the centrifugal chuck.

4. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 1, further comprising: A thin film, comprising a thin film body and a plurality of thin film holes, the plurality of thin film holes penetrating through the thin film body, the thin film body covering the brake body, and the positions of the plurality of thin film holes corresponding to the positions of the at least one valve seat.

5. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 4, wherein the diameters of the film holes are respectively larger than the diameter of the plug head.

6. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 5, wherein the diameters of the film holes are respectively smaller than the diameters of the corresponding at least one valve plug.

7. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 1, wherein the material of the at least one valve plug is a soft material.

8. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 1, wherein the material of the at least one valve plug is softer than the material of the plug.

9. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of the plug head is larger than the diameter of the insertion and extraction hole.

10. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one valve plug further includes an upper valve body and a lower valve body, the upper valve body is connected to the lower valve body, the insertion and extraction hole penetrates through the upper valve body, and the flange protrudes from the outer surface of the lower valve body.

11. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 10, wherein the width of the upper valve body is larger than the width of the lower valve body.

12. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 10, wherein the at least one valve plug further includes a receiving groove, the receiving groove is disposed within the upper valve body, and the receiving groove communicates with the insertion and extraction hole.

13. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 12, wherein the width of the receiving groove is larger than the diameter of the insertion and extraction hole.

14. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 10, wherein the at least one valve plug further includes a cutting groove, and the cutting groove is disposed on the upper valve body.

15. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 1, wherein the plug includes a rod body portion, the plug head is connected to the bottom of the rod body portion, and the diameter of the rod body portion is smaller than the diameter of the plug head.

16. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one upper flow channel and the at least one lower flow channel are respectively disposed along the radial direction of the sluice body.

17. The fluid flow channel control system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one communication flow channel is disposed along the axial direction of the sluice body.

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