Multi-unit robot liquid preparation machine of non-coupling material conveying system

Abstract

The invention discloses a multi-unit robot liquid preparation machine of a non-coupling material conveying system. According to the multi-unit material conveying system formed through the method, each liquid preparation unit supplies materials and prepares liquid, material conveying and liquid preparation operation of other liquid preparation units are not affected, the influence of other units is avoided, and each liquid preparation unit can exert the maximum production efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of liquid dispensing processes in the intravenous admixture service center of the medical industry, in particular to a multi-unit uncoupled material transmission system and a robotic liquid dispenser using uncoupled material transmission technology. Background Art

[0002] Robotic liquid dispensers are increasingly used in intravenous admixture service centers. However, the dispensing efficiency of robots does not have an advantage compared with manual work. To improve the value of robotic liquid dispensers, it is urgent to improve the productivity of robotic liquid dispensers. One way to improve the productivity of liquid dispensers is to increase the number of liquid dispensing units. Multiple liquid dispensing robots can dispense liquids simultaneously, which can significantly improve the liquid dispensing productivity. In the practice of new technology research and development, it is found that when multiple liquid dispensing robots design the raw material input system by conventional methods, the production rhythm of the liquid dispensing robots cannot be stably maintained at the designed production rhythm. The reason is that the required materials cannot be delivered in time. Each prescription received by each liquid dispensing unit may involve up to 4 types of raw material consumables, including syringes, solvents, ampoule drugs, and vial drugs. Inside the liquid dispenser with an increasingly reduced equipment size, how to deliver multiple varieties of raw materials to multiple liquid dispensing units on time is a very complex problem, and there is still no good solution at present. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a multi-unit robotic liquid dispenser equipped with an uncoupled material transmission system.

[0004] For the convenience of the following description, first clarify the specific meaning of the concept of "coupling" in this article. If a specific material A is planned to pass from point S1 through the 1# liquid dispensing unit to the 2# liquid dispensing unit, and the trajectory of A interferes with the movement trajectory of the robot of the 1# liquid dispensing unit, then material A must wait for the robot of the 1# liquid dispensing unit to take evasive measures before it can pass. At this time, there is a "coupling" relationship between material A and the robot of the 1# liquid dispensing unit. If certain technical means are adopted to make the trajectory of A have no interference with the movement trajectory of the robot of the 1# liquid dispensing unit, then material A and the robot of the 1# liquid dispensing unit are "decoupled", or simply "uncoupled".

[0005] The coupling relationship can come from the outside, such as the above case. It can also come from the inside. When material A reaches the 2# liquid dispensing unit, the 2# liquid dispensing unit must wait for material B to arrive before it can use material A for liquid dispensing. At this time, although material A and material B belong to the same liquid dispensing unit, there is also a "coupling" relationship.

[0006] The above case shows that the complex coupling relationship of the material mechanism will lead to the complexity of the preliminary design and the subsequent programming control work, the disorder of the production rhythm of the actual liquid dispensing equipment, and the decline in productivity. Next, according to the usage characteristics of various raw materials and consumables in the liquid dispenser, a material transmission method for complete decoupling is proposed respectively, and an efficient material transmission system suitable for multi-unit liquid dispensers is formed by adopting this method.

[0007] 1. Ampoule bottle logistics method:

[0008] The ampoule bottle must be cut and the bottle head broken off to form an opening and then transported to the liquid dispensing unit. It needs to cooperate with the cutting and breaking pretreatment mechanism, and the spatial position requirements are relatively strict. Therefore, the space below the exact middle of the liquid dispenser equipment is used to arrange the ampoule bottle transmission channel. Multiple independent ampoule bottle transmission devices can be arranged in parallel to adapt to the higher productivity of multiple liquid dispensing units. When the liquid dispensing unit pumps liquid from any ampoule bottle, it only occupies the space above the ampoule bottle and does not affect the movement of other ampoule bottle transmission devices. Therefore, the ampoule bottle transmission device is completely decoupled.

[0009] 2. Solvent, vial and syringe logistics method:

[0010] Place the solvent, vial and syringe of one liquid dispensing unit together to form a 3-material module. The three materials are sent to a specific liquid dispensing unit at one time. In this way, the internal "coupling" relationship between the solvent, vial and syringe is eliminated.

[0011] Design the liquid dispensing operation mode of each material in the 3-material module to only occupy the space above and on the side of the 3-material module, and not occupy the lower space. Moreover, multiple 3-material modules are arranged vertically and are respectively set on both sides of the liquid dispensing equipment. Any 3-material module can only pass below another 3-material module. Then, the 3-material module can achieve external non-coupled transmission.

[0012] For the 3-material module to achieve the above external non-coupled transmission, it is necessary to appropriately improve the liquid dispensing process of each of the current three materials.

[0013] The current spatial states of solvent pumping and injection are various states such as vertically upward, vertically downward, horizontal and inclined with the horizontal from the solvent head. In the 3-material module, the method of small-angle inclination of the solvent is adopted. When pumping liquid, the solvent head is inclined downward at an angle of 15°; when injecting liquid, the solvent head is inclined upward at an angle of 15°. In such a state, the syringe module of the liquid dispensing unit can smoothly complete the conventional solvent pumping and injection, and only occupies the space above and on the side of the 3-material module.

[0014] The syringe in the 3-material module is placed horizontally. When the syringe module of the liquid dispensing unit loads the syringe from the syringe tray, it only occupies the space above and on the side of the 3-material module.

[0015] The current vial liquid dispensing process generally is: when injecting the solvent, the vial head is vertically upward, and when withdrawing the liquid, the vial head is vertically downward. This will occupy the space below the three-material module. Improving the vial liquid withdrawal process to keep the vial head always upward and the vial body tilted at 10° can well replace the traditional vial liquid withdrawal method. In this state, the syringe needle can smoothly reach the bottom of the vial to complete the vial liquid withdrawal. For the improved vial liquid dispensing process, the syringe module of the liquid dispensing unit only occupies the space above and on the side of the three-material module.

[0016] 3. Robot liquid dispensing unit solution

[0017] The best installation position of the robot liquid dispensing unit is to be centrally suspended and installed. The load at the end joint of the robot is the syringe module. The robot liquid dispensing unit operates in a two-dimensional plane, and the best number of joints is 3. The length of the robot manipulator can meet the liquid dispensing operation at the farthest end.

[0018] Thus, according to the above method, a decoupled material transmission system suitable for a liquid dispensing robot with multiple liquid dispensing units is successfully constructed.

[0019] The present invention has great flexibility. The number of ampoule transmission devices can be increased or decreased to meet special requirements, and the width of the equipment can also be adjusted. Completely canceling the ampoule transmission device can be transformed into a special machine for vials. The three-material module can be vertically arranged on both sides of the robot liquid dispensing unit or directly below the robot liquid dispensing unit. These variant configuration methods are based on the principle of the present invention and should still fall within the scope covered by this patent.

[0020] The advantages and positive effects of the present invention are:

[0021] The present invention can successfully solve the "coupling" problem of the material transmission of the liquid dispenser, reduce the difficulty of the design and control program, greatly simplify the structure of the liquid dispenser equipment, and effectively improve the overall production efficiency of the liquid dispenser. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0022] Figure 1 It is the overall structure schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 It is the structure schematic diagram of the liquid dispensing robot unit (1) of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 3 It is the structure schematic diagram of the three-material module (2) of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 4 It is the overall structure schematic diagram of Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0026] For a better understanding of the present invention, the present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of specific Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2.

[0027] Embodiment 1:

[0028] As Figure 1 shown, a 4-unit robot liquid dispenser for a non-coupled material transfer system, the liquid dispensing robot (1) has 4 units, and each unit of the liquid dispensing robot is assigned a 3-material module (2) of one unit. A 4-unit ampoule bottle moving device (3) is arranged below, and there is no one-to-one correspondence between the ampoule bottle moving device (3) and the robot liquid dispensing unit (1). Each unit of the ampoule bottle moving device (3) can serve any one of the liquid dispensing robot units (1).

[0029] As Figure 2 shown, the combined base (11) of the liquid dispensing robot unit (1) is centrally suspended and fixedly installed on the equipment rack. The bottom plate (111) of the combined base is installed with a first-stage joint module (112). Both ends of the large arm assembly (12) have connecting flanges (121). One end of the small arm assembly has a second-stage joint module (131), and the other end has a third-stage joint module (132).

[0030] One connecting flange (121) at one end of the large arm assembly (12) is connected to the first-stage joint module (112), and the connecting flange (121) at the other end is connected to the second-stage joint module (131) of the small arm assembly (13).

[0031] The third-stage joint module (132) of the small arm assembly (13) is connected to the syringe module (14).

[0032] The three joints of the liquid dispensing robot unit (1) operate in a two-dimensional plane, and the length of the robotic arm can meet the farthest liquid dispensing operation.

[0033] As Figure 3 shown, the slider (24) is vertically erected. The vial unit (21) and the solvent unit (22) of the 3-material module (2) are fixed on one side of the slider (24). The other side of the slider (24) is installed on the track (25) and can slide linearly;

[0034] The vial unit (21) is configured with 3 pairs of vial grippers (211). The center line of the vial grippers (211) is inclined at an angle of 10° with the vertical line, and the vial mouths in the vial grippers (211) face upward.

[0035] The solvent unit (22) includes a solvent clamping mechanism (221) and a solvent rotating mechanism (222). The gripper (2211) of the clamping mechanism (221) clamps the solvent bottle head. The solvent rotating mechanism (222) is connected to the housing (2212) of the solvent clamping mechanism and rotates the solvent clamping mechanism (221) within a range of ±15° horizontally and obliquely.

[0036] The syringe tray (23) is fixedly installed on the casing (2221) of the solvent rotating mechanism.

[0037] As Figure 1 shown, the 3-material modules (2) of 4 units are arranged on both sides of the liquid preparation robot unit (1). There are 2 3-material modules (2) on each side, arranged in upper and lower layers. The upper-layer 3-material modules (2) are assigned to the liquid preparation robot unit close to the workbench, and the lower-layer 3-material modules (2) are assigned to the liquid preparation robot unit far from the workbench.

[0038] As Figure 3 shown, the ampoule moving device (3) includes an ampoule clamping device (31), a module slider (32), a linear module (33) and an ampoule rotating device (34), and is horizontally arranged below the robot unit (1).

[0039] The ampoule clamping device (31) is configured with a pair of ampoule clamps (311) for clamping the ampoule, and the ampoule rotating device (34) is used to rotate the ampoule clamping device (31).

[0040] The ampoule rotating device (34) is fixedly installed on the module slider (32), and the module slider (32) is slidably fixed on the linear module (33) and can linearly move to the liquid preparation robot unit (1).

[0041] The ampoule rotating device (34) rotates the ampoule clamp (311) to an inclined state to aspirate the liquid medicine. At this time, the included angle between the central plane of the ampoule clamp (311) and the vertical plane is 5 - 12°.

[0042] Embodiment 2:

[0043] As Figure 4 shown, the 3-material module (2) is linearly arranged below the liquid preparation robot unit (1). The solvent rotating mechanism (222) is connected to the solvent clamping mechanism (221) and rotates the solvent clamping mechanism (221) within a range of ±30° of vertical deflection.

[0044] As Figure 4 shown, the slider (24) is linearly arranged. The vial unit (21) and the solvent unit (22) of the 3-material module (2) are fixed on the slider (24). The bottom surface of the slider (24) is installed on the track (25) and can linearly slide on the track (25).

[0045] The above has described the embodiments of the present invention in detail, but the above content is only the preferred embodiments of the present invention and cannot be considered as limiting the scope of implementation of the present invention. All equivalent changes and improvements made according to the scope of the present invention should still fall within the scope covered by this patent.

Claims

1. A multi-unit robotic liquid dispenser for a coupling-free material transfer system, characterized in that: It includes liquid dispensing robot units (1) with a quantity greater than 1, 3-material modules (2) with the same quantity as the liquid dispensing robot units, and a number of ampoule bottle moving devices (3).

2. The dispensing robot unit (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that: It includes a combined base (11), a large arm assembly (12), a small arm assembly (13), and a terminal load syringe module (14). The combined base includes a base plate (111) and a first-level joint module (112). Both ends of the large arm assembly (12) have connection flanges (121). One end of the small arm assembly has a second-level joint module (131), and the other end has a third-level joint module (132); One connection flange (121) at one end of the large arm assembly (12) is connected to the first-level joint module (112), and the other connection flange (121) at the other end of the large arm assembly (12) is connected to the second-level joint module (131) of the small arm assembly (13). The third-level joint module (132) of the small arm assembly (13) is connected to the syringe module (14); The liquid dispensing robot unit (1) operates within a two-dimensional plane, is centrally suspended and installed, and the length of the robotic arm can meet the farthest liquid dispensing operation.

3. The 3-material module (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that: It includes a vial unit (21), a solvent unit (22), a syringe tray (23), a slider (24), and a track (25). The configuration relationship of the 3-material module (2) is as follows: The vial unit (21) is configured with at least a pair of vial grippers (211). The center line of the vial gripper (211) has an inclined angle of 3 - 18° with the vertical line. The vial gripper (211) clamps and positions the vial, and the vial mouth faces upward and cannot be inverted; The solvent unit (22) includes a solvent clamping mechanism (221) and a solvent rotating mechanism (222). The gripper (2211) of the clamping mechanism (221) clamps the solvent bottle head. The solvent rotating mechanism (222) is connected to the housing (2212) of the clamping mechanism and rotates the clamping mechanism (221) within a range of ±15° horizontally and obliquely; The syringe tray (23) is fixedly installed flat on the housing (2221) of the solvent rotating mechanism; One side of the slider (24) fixedly installs the vial unit (21) and the solvent unit (22). The other side of the slider (24) is installed on the track (25) and can slide linearly; The 3-material module (2) is configured on both sides of the liquid dispensing robot unit (1).

4. The ampoule moving device (3) according to claim 1, wherein: It includes an ampoule bottle gripper device (31), a module slider (32), a linear module (33), and an ampoule bottle rotating device (34); The ampoule bottle gripper device (31) is configured with a pair of ampoule bottle grippers (311) for gripping the ampoule bottle. The ampoule bottle rotating device (34) is used to rotate the ampoule bottle gripper device (31). The ampoule bottle gripper (311) cooperates with the liquid dispensing robot unit (1) to aspirate the liquid medicine at a state with a maximum angle of 12° with the vertical plane; The ampoule bottle moving gripper device (31) is fixedly installed on the module slider (32), and the slider (32) is slidably fixed on the linear module (33) and can linearly move to the liquid dispensing robot unit (1); The ampoule bottle moving device (3) is horizontally arranged below the robot unit (1).

5. The 3-material module (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The three-material module (2) is flatly arranged below the liquid preparation robot unit (1). The solvent rotating mechanism (222) is connected to the housing (2212) of the solvent clamping mechanism and rotates the solvent clamping mechanism (221) within a vertical deflection range of ±30°.

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