Reaction cup tray assembly with fool-proof design and non-stop consumable supplement function

The reaction cup tray assembly addresses complexity and misalignment issues by incorporating tray guidance and magnetic fixation, ensuring stable and uninterrupted consumable replenishment in automatic immunology systems.

CN120306037APending Publication Date: 2025-07-15SUZHOU HYBIOME BIOMEDICAL ENG CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202510378387.2
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Applications(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2025-03-28
Publication Date
2025-07-15

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

The existing reaction cup tray components have complex structure and are inconvenient to operate. They are prone to shaking the tray, causing the position of the reaction cup to shift and abnormal cup grabbing. They are likely to cause the instrument test to be interrupted when replacing consumables.

Method used

A reaction cup tray assembly with anti-stopping design and non-stop supplementary consumables is designed, including bottom mounting components, support components, pallet storage components, pallet guide components, pallet limit components, pallet in-place detection components and pallet fixing components. The automatic guidance, limiting and fixing of the reaction cup is achieved through guide slopes, limiting blocks and electromagnets to ensure accurate positioning of the pallets and non-stop replacement.

Benefits of technology

The stability of the reaction cup tray is improved, the cup offset caused by tray shaking is avoided, the stability of the cup grab process is ensured, and the consumables can be replaced without stopping, which improves the efficiency of the instrument operation.

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Abstract

The invention discloses a reaction cup tray assembly with fool-proof design and non-stop consumable supplement, which comprises a bottom mounting assembly, a support assembly is arranged on the bottom mounting assembly, a tray storage assembly is arranged on the support assembly, a tray guide assembly is arranged in the tray storage assembly, and the tray guide assembly is arranged on the bottom mounting assembly. Tray limiting assemblies are arranged on the two sides in the tray storage assembly, a tray in-place detection assembly is arranged on the portion, located on one side of the supporting assembly, of the bottom installation assembly, a tray fixing assembly is arranged on the portion, located below the tray storage assembly, of the bottom installation assembly, and a reaction cup storage tray is arranged in the tray storage assembly. The reaction cup tray assembly has the advantages that the reaction cup tray assembly is ingenious in structural design, high in practicability and high in stability, by means of the reaction cup tray assembly, tray replacement without shutdown is achieved, instrument test interruption caused by consumable replacement is avoided, the phenomenon that a reaction cup deviates due to tray shaking is effectively avoided, and the service life of the reaction cup is prolonged. And the stability of the cup grabbing process is effectively improved.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of trays, and particularly to a reaction cup tray assembly with a foolproof design and non-stop replenishment of consumables. Background Art

[0002] In a fully automatic immunoassay system, the supply of reaction cups is crucial for the normal operation of the instrument. Currently, most on the market are automatic cup sorting and supply structures, and some also use tray-type reaction cups. For tray-type reaction cups, how to prevent customers from randomly placing them and causing the tray to be not properly placed is a key consideration in the design. At the same time, how to achieve non-stop replacement of the tray and avoid the interruption of instrument testing caused by the replacement of consumables is also a function that needs to be emphasized.

[0003] The existing reaction cup tray assemblies have complex structures and inconvenient operations. Moreover, during the use of the existing reaction cup trays, the trays are prone to shaking, resulting in abnormal situations such as the displacement of the positions of the reaction cups and the collision of the cups during cup grasping. Therefore, it is necessary to design a reaction cup tray assembly with a foolproof design and non-stop replenishment of consumables. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above problems and design a reaction cup tray assembly with a foolproof design and non-stop replenishment of consumables.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the technical solution of the present invention is a reaction cup tray assembly with a foolproof design and non-stop replenishment of consumables, including a bottom mounting assembly, a support assembly is provided on the bottom mounting assembly, a tray storage assembly is provided on the support assembly, a tray guiding assembly is provided in the tray storage assembly, tray limiting assemblies are provided on both sides inside the tray storage assembly, a tray in-place detection assembly is provided on the bottom mounting assembly on one side of the support assembly, a tray fixing assembly is provided on the bottom mounting assembly below the tray storage assembly, and a reaction cup storage tray is provided in the tray storage assembly.

[0006] As a further description of this technical solution, the bottom mounting assembly includes a bottom mounting plate, and the support assembly is provided on the bottom mounting plate.

[0007] As a further description of this technical solution, the support assembly includes support profiles provided on the bottom mounting plate, and the tray storage assembly is provided on the support profiles.

[0008] As a further description of this technical solution, the tray storage assembly includes a tray storage drawer provided on the support assembly, and the tray guiding assembly is provided in the tray storage drawer.

[0009] As a further description of the present technical solution, the tray guiding assembly includes a tray guiding bracket disposed in the tray storage drawer. A tray guiding ramp is provided on the tray guiding bracket. A tray auxiliary limiting block is disposed on one side of the tray guiding bracket. An inverted conical guiding boss is provided in the tray storage drawer. An auxiliary card slot cooperating with the inverted conical guiding boss is provided at the bottom of the reaction cup storage tray.

[0010] As a further description of the present technical solution, the tray limiting assembly includes tray limiting blocks disposed on both sides inside the tray storage assembly.

[0011] As a further description of the present technical solution, the tray in-place detection assembly includes a tray in-place detection optocoupler disposed on the bottom mounting assembly on one side of the support assembly. A tray in-place detection optocoupler tab is provided on the tray in-place detection optocoupler.

[0012] As a further description of the present technical solution, the tray fixing assembly includes an electromagnet disposed on the bottom mounting assembly below the tray storage assembly. A magnetic metal block is provided on the electromagnet.

[0013] As a further description of the present technical solution, auxiliary limiting grooves are provided on both sides of the bottom of the reaction cup storage tray. A number of reaction cup limiting holes distributed in an array are provided on the reaction cup storage tray.

[0014] A working method of a reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and non-stop consumable replenishment is as follows during the specific working process:

[0015] When the reaction cup storage tray 8 is placed in the tray storage drawer 11, the reaction cup storage tray 8 is guided by the tray guiding ramp 13 on the tray guiding bracket 12 and the conical guiding boss, so that the reaction cup storage tray 8 automatically "slides" into the specified position. The auxiliary limiting groove 20 at the bottom of the reaction cup storage tray 8 is connected to the tray limiting block 15, and the tray limiting block 15 is stuck in the auxiliary limiting groove 20. After the tray storage drawer 11 is pushed in place, the tray in-place detection optocoupler 16 is triggered;

[0016] The software can control the indicator lights on the corresponding instrument housing. When the reaction cup storage tray 8 is placed in the tray storage drawer 11 and there are sufficient reaction cups in the reaction cup storage tray 8, the indicator light is constantly on. When the robotic gripper operates on the reaction cup storage tray 8 (such as cup inspection, cup grasping, etc.), the electromagnet 18 is powered on to tightly suck the tray, preventing the user from accidentally pulling out the tray storage drawer 11 when the instrument gripper operates on the reaction cup storage tray 8, which may cause instrument failure. When the reaction cups on a certain tray are consumed, the instrument will control the corresponding indicator light to blink, and at the same time, the electromagnet 18 is powered off and unlocked, allowing the user to pull out the tray storage drawer 11 to replace it with a new reaction cup storage tray 8 filled with reaction cups; when the tray storage drawer 11 is pulled out, the instrument will control the corresponding indicator light to turn off, and the robotic gripper will operate on another reaction cup storage tray 8 (such as cup inspection, cup grasping, etc.), thus realizing the loading of reaction cups without stopping the machine;

[0017] The "binary method" is used for inspecting the reaction cups in the tray storage drawer. The inspection process is as follows: First, check position 1. If there is a cup at position 1, the cup inspection is completed, and the number of reaction cups on this tray is updated to 154 full cups;

[0018] If there is no cup at position 1, then check position 77. If there is a cup at position 77, then continue to check position 39, otherwise check position 115;

[0019] Taking the case where there is a cup at position 77 as an example, if it is found that there is a cup at position 39 during the continued check, then continue to check position 20, otherwise check position 58;

[0020] By analogy with this binary method, the full tray cup inspection requires at least 1 inspection and at most 10 inspections. It is not necessary to check all 154 positions, which greatly saves the cup inspection time and improves the operation efficiency of the instrument.

[0021] The beneficial effects are that the reaction cup tray assembly of this technical solution has a clever structural design, strong practicability, and high stability. By using this reaction cup tray assembly, the tray can be replaced without stopping the machine, avoiding the interruption of instrument testing caused by replacing consumables, effectively preventing the phenomenon of reaction cup offset caused by tray shaking, and effectively improving the stability of the cup grasping process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 is the overall structural schematic diagram of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 is the installation structural schematic diagram of the tray in-place detection component of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 3 is the structural schematic diagram of the tray limiting component of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 4It is a schematic diagram of the hole position sequence of the reaction cup storage tray of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the cooperative installation of the inverted conical guiding boss and the auxiliary card slot of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the installation structure of the tray fixing component of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the completed state of the limit installation of the reaction cup storage tray of the present invention.

[0029] In the figure, 1, bottom mounting component; 2, support component; 3, tray storage component; 4, tray guiding component; 5, tray limiting component; 6, tray in-place detection component; 7, tray fixing component; 8, reaction cup storage tray; 9, bottom mounting plate; 10, support profile; 11, tray storage drawer; 12, tray guiding bracket; 13, tray guiding slope; 14, tray auxiliary limiting block; 15, tray limiting block; 16, tray in-place detection optocoupler; 17, tray in-place detection optocoupler baffle; 18, electromagnet; 19, magnetic metal block; 20, auxiliary limiting groove; 21, reaction cup limiting hole; 22, inverted conical guiding boss; 23, auxiliary card slot. Detailed implementation manners

[0030] First, explain the design concept of the present invention. The existing reaction cup tray assembly has a complex structure and inconvenient operation. Moreover, during the use of the existing reaction cup tray, the tray is prone to shaking, which may lead to abnormal situations such as the displacement of the reaction cup position and the collision of the cup during cup grasping. Therefore, the present invention designs a reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fool design and non-stop consumable replenishment.

[0031] Next, the present invention will be specifically described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. As Figures 1-7 shown, a reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fool design and non-stop consumable replenishment includes a bottom mounting component 1. The bottom mounting component 1 will be introduced in detail below. The bottom mounting component 1 includes a bottom mounting plate 9, and a support component 2 is provided on the bottom mounting plate 9.

[0032] A support component 2 is provided on the bottom mounting component 1. The support component 2 will be introduced in detail below. The support component 2 includes a support profile 10 provided on the bottom mounting plate 9, and a tray storage component 3 is provided on the support profile 10.

[0033] To facilitate tray storage, a tray storage component 3 is provided on the support component 2. The tray storage component 3 will be introduced in detail below. The tray storage component 3 includes a tray storage drawer 11 provided on the support component 2, and a tray guiding component 4 is provided inside the tray storage drawer 11.

[0034] In order to facilitate the entry of the reaction cup storage tray 8 into the tray storage assembly 3, a tray guiding assembly 4 is provided inside the tray storage assembly 3. The tray guiding assembly 4 will be introduced in detail below. The tray guiding assembly 4 includes a tray guiding bracket 12 provided inside the tray storage drawer 11. A tray guiding ramp 13 is provided on the tray guiding bracket 12. The tray guiding bracket 12 not only has an anti-fooling effect but also can achieve the guiding and sliding-in effect of the reaction cup storage tray 8. A tray auxiliary limiting block 14 is provided on one side of the tray guiding bracket 12. The tray auxiliary limiting block 14 limits the reaction cup storage tray 8. A conical guiding boss 22 is provided inside the tray storage drawer 11. An auxiliary card slot 23 that cooperates with the conical guiding boss 22 is provided at the bottom of the reaction cup storage tray 8.

[0035] In order to facilitate the limiting of the tray, tray limiting assemblies 5 are provided on both sides inside the tray storage assembly 3. The tray limiting assemblies 5 will be introduced in detail below. The tray limiting assemblies 5 include tray limiting blocks 15 provided on both sides inside the tray storage assembly 3. The tray limiting blocks 15 limit the reaction cup storage tray 8.

[0036] In order to facilitate the detection of the tray in place, a tray in-place detection assembly 6 is provided on the bottom mounting assembly 1 on one side of the support assembly 2. The tray in-place detection assembly 6 will be introduced in detail below. The tray in-place detection assembly 6 includes a tray in-place detection optocoupler 16 provided on the bottom mounting assembly 1 on one side of the support assembly 2. A tray in-place detection optocoupler baffle 17 is provided on the tray in-place detection optocoupler 16.

[0037] In order to facilitate the fixation of the tray and prevent shaking when taking the reaction cup, a tray fixing assembly 7 is provided on the bottom mounting assembly 1 below the tray storage assembly 3. The tray fixing assembly 7 will be introduced in detail below. The tray fixing assembly 7 includes an electromagnet 18 provided on the bottom mounting assembly 1 below the tray storage assembly 3. A magnetic metal block 19 is provided on the electromagnet 18.

[0038] A reaction cup storage tray 8 is provided inside the tray storage assembly 3. Auxiliary limiting grooves 20 are provided on both sides of the bottom of the reaction cup storage tray 8. A number of reaction cup limiting holes 21 distributed in an array are provided on the reaction cup storage tray 8.

[0039] The specific structure of the present invention has been described in detail above. The working principle of the present invention will be described below: When the reaction cup storage tray 8 is placed in the tray storage drawer 11, the reaction cup storage tray 8 is guided by the tray guiding ramp 13 on the tray guiding bracket 12 and the conical guiding boss 22, so as to realize the automatic "sliding" of the reaction cup storage tray 8 into the designated position. The auxiliary limiting groove 20 at the bottom of the reaction cup storage tray 8 is connected to the tray limiting block 15, and the tray limiting block 15 is stuck in the auxiliary limiting groove 20. After the tray storage drawer 11 is pushed in place, the tray in-place detection optocoupler 16 is triggered;

[0040] The software can control the indicator light on the corresponding instrument housing. When the reaction cup storage tray 8 is placed in the tray storage drawer 11 and the reaction cups in the reaction cup storage tray 8 are sufficient, the indicator light is on constantly at this time. When the mechanical gripper operates on the reaction cup storage tray 8 (such as cup inspection, cup grasping, etc.), the electromagnet 18 is powered on to tightly suck the tray, so as to prevent the user from accidentally pulling out the tray storage drawer 11 when the instrument gripper operates on the reaction cup storage tray 8, resulting in instrument failure. When the reaction cups on a certain tray are consumed, the instrument will control the corresponding indicator light to become a flashing state, and at the same time the electromagnet 18 is powered off and unlocked, and the user can pull out the tray storage drawer 11 to replace it with a new reaction cup storage tray 8 filled with reaction cups; when the tray storage drawer 11 is pulled out, the instrument will control the corresponding indicator light to become an extinguished state, and the mechanical gripper will operate on another reaction cup storage tray 8 (such as cup inspection, cup grasping, etc.), so as to realize the non-stop loading of reaction cups.

[0041] During the test process, after the user replenishes the reaction cups on the new tray and pushes the drawer in place, only need to click the "Cup Inspection" button on the software interface, and the instrument will insert an empty cycle during the test process to inspect the reaction cups on this tray, and then update the number of reaction cups. To save the cup inspection time, the logic of cup inspection adopts the "binary method" principle, which is specifically described as follows:

[0042] First, detect the position No. 1. If there is a cup at position No. 1, the cup inspection ends, and the number of reaction cups on this tray is updated to 154 full trays;

[0043] If there is no cup at cup position No. 1, then detect cup position No. 77. If there is a cup at cup position No. 77, then continue to check cup position No. 39, otherwise check cup position No. 115;

[0044] Taking the case where there is a cup at cup position No. 77 as an example, if it is found that there is a cup at cup position No. 39 during the continuous check, then continue to check cup position No. 20, otherwise check cup position No. 58;

[0045] By analogy with this binary method, the full tray cup inspection requires at least 1 inspection and at most 10 inspections, without the need to check all 154 positions, which greatly saves the cup inspection time and improves the operation efficiency of the instrument.

[0046] The reaction cup tray assembly of this technical solution has a clever structural design, strong practicability, and high stability. By using this reaction cup tray assembly, the tray can be replaced without stopping the machine, avoiding the interruption of instrument testing caused by the replacement of consumables, effectively preventing the phenomenon of reaction cup offset caused by tray shaking, and effectively improving the stability of the cup grabbing process.

[0047] The above technical solution only reflects the preferred technical solution of the technical solution of the present invention. Some changes that those skilled in the art in this technical field may make to some parts thereof all reflect the principle of the present invention and fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and non-stop consumable replenishment, characterized in that, It includes a bottom mounting component (1), on which a support component (2) is provided. On the support component (2), a tray storage component (3) is provided. Inside the tray storage component (3), a tray guiding component (4) is provided. On both sides inside the tray storage component (3), a tray limiting component (5) is provided. On the bottom mounting component (1), on one side of the support component (2), a tray in-place detection component (6) is provided. Below the tray storage component (3) on the bottom mounting component (1), a tray fixing component (7) is provided. Inside the tray storage component (3), a reaction cup storage tray (8) is provided.

2. The reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and non-stop consumable replenishment according to claim 1, wherein, The bottom mounting component (1) includes a bottom mounting plate (9), on which the support component (2) is provided.

3. The reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and non-stop consumable replenishment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The support component (2) includes a support profile (10) provided on the bottom mounting plate (9), and on the support profile (10), the tray storage component (3) is provided.

4. The reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and non-stop consumable replenishment according to claim 1, wherein The tray storage component (3) includes a tray storage drawer (11) provided on the support component (2), and inside the tray storage drawer (11), the tray guiding component (4) is provided.

5. The reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and consumable replenishment without shutdown according to claim 1, characterized in that The tray guiding component (4) includes a tray guiding bracket (12) provided inside the tray storage drawer (11). On the tray guiding bracket (12), a tray guiding ramp (13) is provided. On one side of the tray guiding bracket (12), a tray auxiliary limiting block (14) is provided. Inside the tray storage drawer (11), an inverted conical guiding boss (22) is provided. At the bottom of the reaction cup storage tray (8), an auxiliary card slot (23) is provided that cooperates with the inverted conical guiding boss (22).

6. The reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and non-stop consumable replenishment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tray limiting component (5) includes tray limiting blocks (15) provided on both sides inside the tray storage component (3).

7. The reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and non-stop consumable replenishment according to claim 1, characterized in that The tray in-place detection component (6) includes a tray in-place detection optocoupler (16) provided on the bottom mounting component (1) on one side of the support component (2). On the tray in-place detection optocoupler (16), a tray in-place detection optocoupler baffle (17) is provided.

8. A reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and consumable replenishment without shutdown according to claim 1, characterized in that The tray fixing component (7) includes an electromagnet (18) provided on the bottom mounting component (1) below the tray storage component (3). On the electromagnet (18), a magnetic metal block (19) is provided.

9. The reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and non-stop consumable replenishment according to claim 1, wherein On both sides at the bottom of the reaction cup storage tray (8), auxiliary limiting grooves (20) are provided. On the reaction cup storage tray (8), a number of reaction cup limiting holes (21) are provided in an array distribution.

10. A working method of a reaction cup tray assembly with anti-fooling design and consumable replenishment without shutdown as described in any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The specific working process is as follows: When the reaction cup storage tray 8 is placed into the tray storage drawer 11, the reaction cup storage tray 8 is guided by the tray guiding ramp 13 on the tray guiding bracket 12 and the conical guiding boss, realizing the automatic "sliding in" of the reaction cup storage tray 8 to the specified position. The auxiliary limiting groove 20 at the bottom of the reaction cup storage tray 8 is connected to the tray limiting block 15, and the tray limiting block 15 is stuck in the auxiliary limiting groove 20. After the tray storage drawer 11 is pushed in place, the tray in-place detection optocoupler 16 is triggered; The software can control the indicator light on the corresponding instrument housing. When the reaction cup storage tray 8 is placed in the tray storage drawer 11 and there are sufficient reaction cups in the reaction cup storage tray 8, the indicator light will be constantly on at this time. When the robotic gripper operates on the reaction cup storage tray 8 (such as cup inspection, cup grasping, etc.), the electromagnet 18 will be powered on to tightly suck the tray, preventing the user from accidentally pulling out the tray storage drawer 11 when the instrument gripper operates on the reaction cup storage tray 8, which may cause instrument failure. When the reaction cups on a certain tray are consumed, the instrument will control the corresponding indicator light to become a flashing state, and at the same time, the electromagnet 18 will lose power and unlock, allowing the user to pull out the tray storage drawer 11 to replace it with a new reaction cup storage tray 8 filled with reaction cups; when the tray storage drawer 11 is pulled out, the instrument will control the corresponding indicator light to become an extinguished state, and the robotic gripper will operate on another reaction cup storage tray 8 (such as cup inspection, cup grasping, etc.), so as to achieve non-stop loading of reaction cups; The "binary method" is used for cup inspection of the tray reaction cups in the tray storage drawer. The cup inspection process is as follows: First, check the 1st position. If there is a cup at the 1st position, the cup inspection ends, and the number of reaction cups on this tray is updated to 154 full cups; If there is no cup at the 1st cup position, then check the 77th cup position. If there is a cup at the 77th cup position, continue to check the 39th cup position, otherwise check the 115th cup position; Taking the case where there is a cup at the 77th cup position as an example, if it is found that there is a cup at the 39th cup position when continuing the check, then continue to check the 20th cup position, otherwise check the 58th cup position; By analogy with this binary method, the full tray cup inspection requires at least only 1 check and at most 10 checks, without the need to check all 154 positions, greatly saving the cup inspection time and improving the instrument operation efficiency.