Cell culture container feeding and discharging device compatible with culture dish and culture pore plate

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of automatic equipment for biological culture, and particularly discloses a cell culture container feeding and discharging device compatible with a culture dish and a culture pore plate, the cell culture container feeding and discharging device comprises a feeding and discharging rotating disc and a bearing conveying belt, the tray is provided with a through hole used for avoiding the bearing conveying belt, the rotary table is located above the tray, the rotary table is provided with at least two kinds of avoiding holes, one kind of avoiding hole can be matched with a culture dish, the other kind of avoiding hole can be matched with a pore plate, and the rotary table can transfer the culture dish / pore plate between the bearing conveying belt and the tray after rotating. The device further comprises a transfer mechanism capable of taking and placing the culture dishes / pore plates on the receding holes. The scheme is used for solving the problem that automatic or semi-automatic equipment for cell treatment only has a device for feeding the culture dishes and does not have a compatible culture dish and a pore plate for feeding.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of automated equipment for biological culture, and in particular to a cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates. Background Art

[0002] In cell processing experiments, culture dishes are needed for cell passaging, while well plates are needed for cell plating. In the laboratory, both types of experiments are performed manually, but both cell passaging and cell plating are cumbersome operations, taking up a lot of time for researchers.

[0003] In the prior art, in order to improve the degree of automation, there are automated or semi-automated equipment for cell passaging or packaging processing, such as using a pipetting workstation to realize the suction / discharge of various liquids in the cell processing process. Among these devices, there is a structure that can automatically unload the stacked culture dishes. This type of structure stacks the culture dishes in a cylindrical structure. The culture dishes in the cylindrical structure fall under their own weight. The culture dish at the bottom is pushed out by a turntable or conveyor belt just below the cylindrical structure. The pushed out culture dish is then sent to the next process by a transfer mechanism or a conveying mechanism. When storing the culture dishes after use, a robot with a clamping function is often used to transfer the culture dishes.

[0004] For loading and unloading of well plates, a similar solution to that of culture dishes can be used. However, current automated or semi-automated equipment is mostly aimed at batch operations in factories or large-scale operations in large laboratories. These batch or large-scale operation equipment are highly specialized and only consider one type of cell processing, such as automated cell plating operations. However, for smaller laboratories, if specialized equipment is purchased separately, such as equipment for separate plating or separate passage, the cost will be relatively high for small laboratories. Therefore, cell processing experiments are often still completed manually in a clean bench, and automated or semi-automated operations are still not possible.

[0005] The inventors proposed a set of cell processing equipment that combines cell passaging and cell plating operations. In order to avoid the problem of the clean bench being too large, resulting in excessive energy consumption and high maintenance costs, it is considered to only send the culture dishes or well plates that need to be used into the clean bench, and send them out of the clean bench after use, so as to avoid the culture dishes or well plates occupying too much space in the clean bench. However, the current automated or semi-automated equipment only has devices for loading and unloading culture dishes, and there is no structure that can take into account the loading and unloading of culture dishes and well plates at the same time. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present invention aims to provide a cell culture container loading and unloading device that is compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates, so as to solve the problem that in automated or semi-automated equipment for cell processing, there are only devices for loading culture dishes but no devices that are compatible with loading both culture dishes and well plates.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions: A cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates includes an inlet and outlet turntable and a receiving conveyor belt. The inlet and outlet turntable includes a fixedly mounted tray and a rotatable turntable. The tray is provided with a through hole for avoiding air from the receiving conveyor belt. The turntable is located above the tray and is provided with at least two types of air avoidance holes, one of which can cooperate with the culture dish and the other can cooperate with the well plate. After the turntable rotates, the culture dish / well plate can be transferred between the receiving conveyor belt and the tray. The turntable also includes a transfer mechanism that can take and place the culture dish / well plate on the air avoidance hole.

[0008] The principles and advantages of this solution are: 1. When this solution is adopted, the infeed and outfeed turntable and the receiving conveyor belt are both located inside the clean bench, and the transfer mechanism transfers the culture dish / well plate to the culture dish / well plate from outside the clean bench. The receiving conveyor belt is used to transfer the culture dish / well plate to an area where the pipetting mechanism is convenient for pipetting operation. Because the pipetting mechanism is most convenient to operate in the middle area of ​​the clean bench, the receiving conveyor belt is also located at a non-edge position of the clean bench; this solution utilizes the circular structure of the infeed and outfeed turntable, which makes it convenient for the transfer mechanism outside the clean bench to load and unload the culture dish / well plate (when loading, the infeed and outfeed turntable sends the culture dish / well plate to the receiving conveyor belt, and when unloading, the infeed and outfeed turntable pushes the culture dish / well plate from the receiving conveyor belt to the tray), and multiple air-avoidance holes can be set around the infeed and outfeed turntable, thereby realizing the operation of sharing a set of infeed and outfeed turntables for loading and unloading culture dishes and well plates.

[0009] 2. When adopting this scheme, since there are at least two types of air-avoiding holes, and the air-avoiding holes and the orifice plates or culture dishes are all structurally coordinated, after the inlet and outlet turntables rotate, the culture dishes / orifice plates can be accurately delivered to the receiving conveyor belt, ensuring the consistency of the positions of the culture dishes / orifice plates delivered to the receiving conveyor belt one after another.

[0010] 3. This solution allows culture dishes / well plates to be placed in the clean bench only when in use, and can be taken out of the clean bench after use, thus avoiding ineffective occupancy in the clean bench and contributing to miniaturization of the clean bench design.

[0011] 4. In addition, compared with the situation where a loading and unloading structure is set up for the culture dish conveyor and the orifice plate conveyor respectively, this solution is conducive to reducing costs and miniaturizing the size of the clean bench, and can also simplify the loading and unloading device, thereby reducing maintenance costs.

[0012] Preferably, as an improvement, the transfer mechanism includes a culture dish transfer mechanism and a orifice plate transfer mechanism, the inlet and outlet turntable includes a culture dish loading and unloading station and a orifice plate loading and unloading station, the culture dish transfer mechanism is used to transfer the culture dishes at the culture dish loading and unloading station, the orifice plate transfer mechanism includes a orifice plate conveyor belt and a orifice plate pusher, the orifice plate conveyor belt is opposite to the orifice plate loading and unloading station, and the orifice plate pusher is used to push the orifice plate onto the orifice plate conveyor belt, so as to facilitate the culture dishes and orifice plates to be sent to different places for storage and facilitate distinction.

[0013] Preferably, as an improvement, the orifice plate transfer mechanism also includes an orifice plate lifting platform, the orifice plate lifting platform and the feed and discharge turntable are located at both ends of the conveying direction of the orifice plate conveyor belt, the orifice plate lifting platform is used to stack multiple orifice plates, and the orifice plate pusher is used to push the orifice plate at the top of the orifice plate lifting platform onto the orifice plate conveyor belt, so as to facilitate automatic pushing of the stacked orifice plates.

[0014] Preferably, as an improvement, it also includes a well plate storage conveyor belt and a well plate pusher located on both sides of the well plate conveyor belt. The well plate storage conveyor belt is perpendicular to the well plate conveyor belt. The well plate pusher is used to push the well plate on the well plate conveyor belt onto the well plate storage conveyor belt, so as to facilitate the well plate with completed plating to be sent to the well plate storage conveyor belt through the well plate pusher for storage, and to facilitate the placement of multiple well plates on the well plate storage conveyor belt in sequence after plating is completed, so as to facilitate the plating operation of different cells in sequence.

[0015] Preferably, as an improvement, the orifice plate conveyor is used to pass through the clean bench for cell processing experiments, and the orifice plate pusher, orifice plate pusher and orifice plate storage conveyor are all outside the clean bench, so as to help reduce the empty space size inside the clean bench while ensuring operational feasibility.

[0016] Preferably, as an improvement, the culture dish transfer mechanism includes a multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator, the output end of the multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator is a U-shaped output claw, the output claw is provided with a trough for supporting and positioning the culture dish, the trough is provided with a supporting protrusion for supporting the bottom edge of the culture dish, the tray corresponding to the culture dish loading and unloading station is provided with an air-avoiding groove for the output claw to move up and down, and the air-avoiding hole for placing the culture dish is provided with an air-avoiding hole that can avoid the output claw, so as to facilitate the output claw to transfer the culture dish from the output claw to the tray in a downward descending manner, and the output claw rises to lift the culture dish from the loading and unloading station.

[0017] Preferably, as an improvement, a storage rack for storing culture dishes is further included, the storage rack can rotate, and a plurality of layers are provided on the storage rack in the height direction, each layer is provided with a plurality of support grooves evenly distributed circumferentially around the rotation center, each support groove can be used to support a culture dish, and each support groove is also provided with a U-shaped air-avoiding through hole for air-avoiding output claws, and there is a spacing between adjacent layers for the output claws to enter and exit. This solution eliminates the need to stack the culture dishes, but rather allows them to be placed and taken out one by one, thereby avoiding the problem of scratches on the top and bottom surfaces of the stacked culture dishes when the culture dish below is pulled out, which affects subsequent cell morphology observations.

[0018] Preferably, as an improvement, it also includes an inkjet printer for marking the orifice plates and culture dishes. The culture dish loading and unloading stations and the orifice plate loading and unloading stations are both provided with corresponding mark recognition modules. The mark recognition module is used to identify the mark on the culture dish / the mark on the orifice plate. The mark recognition module is connected to the control system so that the culture dishes / orifice plates entering and leaving the clean bench can be identified by the unique mark they carry, ensuring the traceability of subsequent operation steps in the clean bench.

[0019] Preferably, as an improvement, the mark is made at the bottom edge of the culture dish, so as to facilitate the inkjet printer to make the mark without affecting the observation of cell morphology in the culture dish. Preferably, as an improvement, the surface of the tray is coated with Teflon to ensure that the bottom of the culture dish is not easily scratched when the turntable pushes the culture dish to move on the tray. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the first embodiment of the present invention (the side walls and top of the clean bench, storage chamber, and orifice plate chamber are removed).

[0021] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A local schematic diagram of .

[0022] Figure 3 for Figure 1 After removing the surrounding side walls and the top structure of the middle storage chamber, only the three-dimensional structural diagram of the culture dish transfer mechanism is displayed.

[0023] Figure 4 for Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the storage rack.

[0024] Figure 5 This is an exploded schematic diagram of an inlet and outlet turntable according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 6 for Figure 4A top view of the output claw (the figure shows how the output claw takes the culture dish, with the output claw corresponding to the projected position where the culture dish is to be taken).

[0026] Figure 7 for Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure when the structure in the figure is used in conjunction with the clean bench and the clean bench, storage room, and orifice plate room are all in a closed state.

[0027] Figure 8 for Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the lieutenant general clean bench, storage room, and orifice plate room top after disassembly.

[0028] Figure 9 for Figure 8 Top view of .

[0029] Figure 10 For the convenience of showing the top view of the structure of the embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 11 To facilitate the display of the three-dimensional schematic diagram of the relationship between the loading and unloading device and the pipetting mechanism of a cell culture container compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates in an embodiment of the present invention (the pipetting mechanism only shows the part where the pipette is installed, and the module for spatial movement of the pipetting mechanism is not shown).

[0031] The figure marks in the drawings of the specification include: feed and discharge turntable 1, tray 11, air avoidance groove 111, observation hole 112, turntable 12, air avoidance hole 121, mark recognition module 13, receiving conveyor belt 2, first conveying section 21, second conveying section 22, culture dish transfer mechanism 3, multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator 31, rotating seat 311, Z-axis linear module 312, transverse module 313, output claw 314, support protrusion 3141, storage rack 32, layer plate 321, support groove 3211, air avoidance hole 3212, storage chamber 30, orifice plate transfer mechanism 4, orifice plate conveyor belt 41, orifice plate pusher 42, orifice plate lifting platform 43, orifice plate storage conveyor belt 44, orifice plate pusher 45, orifice plate chamber 40, culture dish inkjet printer 5, orifice plate inkjet printer 6, culture dish 100, orifice plate 200, clean bench 1000, pipetting mechanism 2000. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The following is further described in detail through specific implementation methods: The embodiment is basically as shown in the attached Figures 1 to 11 shown.

[0033] Combine Figure 1A cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates includes an inlet and outlet turntable 1, a receiving conveyor belt 2, a culture dish transfer mechanism 3, a well plate transfer mechanism 4, a culture dish inkjet printer 5 and a well plate inkjet printer 6. The inlet and outlet turntable 1 and the receiving conveyor belt 2 are located in the clean bench 1000. The culture dish transfer mechanism 3 is used to feed the culture dish 100 outside the clean bench 1000 into the inlet and outlet turntable 1 through the inlet and outlet channel opened on the side wall of the clean bench 1000, and is also used to transfer the culture dish 100 on the inlet and outlet turntable 1 out of the clean bench 1000; the well plate transfer mechanism 4 is used to transfer the culture dish 100 on the clean bench 1 000 is sent to the inlet and outlet turntable 1 through another inlet and outlet channel opened on the side wall of the clean bench 1000, and is also used to transfer the orifice plate 200 on the inlet and outlet turntable 1 out of the clean bench 1000. The inlet and outlet turntable 1 is used to send the culture dish 100 / well plate 200 to / from the receiving conveyor belt 2 in a rotating manner, and the receiving conveyor belt 2 is used to send the culture dish 100 / well plate 200 to the area for convenient pipetting of the pipetting mechanism 2000 on the automated cell processing equipment (the cell processing equipment can use the pipetting mechanism 2000 for pipetting and can use the opening mechanism for opening the cover).

[0034] The specific structures of the inlet and outlet turntable 1, the receiving conveyor belt 2, the culture dish transfer mechanism 3 and the orifice plate transfer mechanism 4 are as follows: 1. Feeding and discharging turntable 1 and receiving conveyor belt 2 The feed and discharge turntable 1 comprises a fixed tray 11 and a rotating turntable 12, mounted above the tray 11. The turntable 12 is equipped with a driver that controls the direction and angle of rotation of the turntable 12. The surface of the tray 11 is coated with Teflon to prevent scratches on the bottom of the culture dishes 100 or well plates 200 as the turntable 12 pushes them across the tray 11.

[0035] There are at least three workstations on the loading and unloading turntable 1, and four workstations in this embodiment, three of which are the loading and unloading station for the culture dish 100, the loading and unloading station for the orifice plate 200, and the transfer station. The loading and unloading station for the culture dish 100 and the loading and unloading station for the orifice plate 200 are symmetrically arranged with respect to the position of the tray 11, one is close to the rear side wall of the clean bench 1000, and the other is close to the front side wall of the clean bench 1000. The transfer station is located between the loading and unloading station for the culture dish 100 and the loading and unloading station for the orifice plate 200. The turntable 12 is provided with an air avoidance hole 121 corresponding to each workstation. There are two types of air avoidance holes 121, one air avoidance hole 121 can accommodate the culture dish 100, and the other air avoidance hole 121 can place the orifice plate 200.

[0036] The position of the tray 11 corresponding to the loading and unloading station of the culture dish 100 is provided with an air-avoiding groove 111 for facilitating the lowering of the culture dish 100, and the part of the tray 11 corresponding to the transfer station is provided with a through hole for receiving the conveyor belt 2 in an air-avoiding manner.

[0037] After the culture dish 100 / well plate 200 is pushed to the transfer station by the turntable 12, the culture dish 100 / well plate 200 falls on the receiving conveyor belt 2. The receiving conveyor belt 2 is a conveyor belt in this embodiment. The receiving conveyor belt 2 includes a first conveying section 21 and a second conveying section 22 that are parallel, equal in height and arranged along the conveying direction. The first conveying section 21 is a single conveyor belt located at the transfer station, and the second conveying section 22 is immediately connected to the end of the first conveying section 21. The second conveying section 22 includes two parallel, equal in height and synchronized conveyor belts. The receiving conveyor belt 2 is used to support and transport the culture dish 100 / well plate 200. The second conveying section 22 is located below the pipetting mechanism 2000 of the automated cell processing equipment to facilitate pipetting by the pipette gun of the pipetting mechanism 2000. A marking identification module can be set between the two conveyor belts with a spacing between them to record the containers (culture dish 100 / well plate 200) passing through the marking identification module, so as to facilitate tracking and recording of cell processing.

[0038] Observation holes 112 are provided on the trays 11 corresponding to the loading and unloading stations of the culture dish 100 and the well plate 200. A mark recognition module 13 is installed under each observation hole 112. The mark recognition module 13 is used to identify the identification on the culture dish 100 / well plate 200 placed at the corresponding loading and unloading station. The mark recognition module 13 is connected to the control system to record the identity of the culture dish 100 / well plate 200 transferred from the inlet and outlet turntable 1, thereby improving the accuracy of control. At the same time, it is convenient to know the operation status of the corresponding culture dish 100 / well plate 200 in a marked manner after the cell passaging / plating is completed, and it is convenient to track and trace the operations performed on the culture dish 100 / well plate 200.

[0039] The tag recognition module 13 in this embodiment can be a camera or a radio frequency reader connected to the control system.

[0040] 2. Culture dish transfer mechanism 3 and culture dish inkjet printer 5 The culture dish transfer mechanism 3 includes a multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator 31 and a storage rack 32 located next to the multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator 31. In this embodiment, there are two storage racks 32, one for placing culture dishes 100 that need to be sent to the clean bench 1000, and the other for storing culture dishes 100 taken out of the clean bench 1000. The multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator 31 and all storage racks 32 are arranged in the storage chamber 30, and the storage chamber 30 is connected to the clean bench 1000 through the inlet and outlet channels. The clean bench 1000 and the storage chamber 30 are both equipped with a fan system, which includes a filter. The fan system is used to provide air with a set cleanliness level. During the cell processing process, the positive pressure in the clean bench 1000 is greater than the positive pressure in the storage chamber 30 to ensure that only the gas in the clean bench 1000 is blown into the storage chamber 30.

[0041] The output end of the multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator 31 is a U-shaped output claw 314, and the output claw 314 of the multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator 31 can be raised and lowered. The multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator 31 of this embodiment includes a rotating seat 311, a Z-axis linear module 312 installed at the output end of the rotating seat 311, and a transverse module 313 installed at the output end of the Z-axis linear module 312. The output end of the transverse module 313 is fixed with the output claw 314, so that the output hand grip can be raised and lowered in the Z direction, rotated around the Z axis and moved in the horizontal plane, so as to facilitate the removal and placement of the culture dish 100 from the storage rack 32.

[0042] The output claw 314 is provided with a sink for supporting and positioning the culture dish 100. The sink is integrally formed with multiple support protrusions 3141 for supporting the bottom edge area of ​​the culture dish 100. The multiple support protrusions 3141 correspond to the four sides of the culture dish 100, so that when the culture dish 100 is lifted, the output claw 314 can not only stably support the culture dish 100 but also greatly reduce the contact area with the culture dish 100, especially not contacting the bottom middle area of ​​the culture dish 100, thereby ensuring that the middle area of ​​the culture dish 100 used for cell morphology observation or microbial condition inspection is completely unaffected.

[0043] The loading and unloading station for culture dishes 100 on tray 11 is equipped with a clearance slot 111 for the output claw 314 of the multi-degree-of-freedom robot 31 to move up and down. The clearance hole 121 on the turntable 12 also clears the output claw 314 of the multi-degree-of-freedom robot 31. After the clearance hole 121 on the turntable 12 is aligned with the loading and unloading station for culture dishes 100, the output claw 314 moves the supported culture dish 100 downward and places the culture dish 100 on the tray 11.

[0044] A rotating table 12 is installed at the bottom of the storage rack 32. The rotating table 12 drives the entire storage rack 32 to rotate when needed. A plurality of layers 321 are fixed on the storage rack 32 at equal intervals in the height direction. Weight-reducing holes are provided in the centers of the non-top layers 321 to reduce the pressure on the rotating table 12, thereby reducing the energy consumption when the rotating table 12 rotates.

[0045] Each shelf 321 has multiple support grooves 3211 evenly distributed around the center of rotation. Each support groove 3211 can be used to support a culture dish 100. Each support groove 3211 also has a clearance hole 3212 for the output claw 314. There is a gap between adjacent shelves 321 for the output claw 314 to enter and exit. The center of the support groove 3211 is a through groove, so that the culture dish 100 is supported by the edge area of ​​the support groove 3211.

[0046] The multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator 31 transfers the culture dish 100 between the loading and unloading station of the culture dish 100 and the storage rack 32 by lifting the culture dish 100 .

[0047] A culture dish inkjet printer 5 is installed in the storage room 30. The culture dish inkjet printer 5 is used to inkjet mark the culture dish 100 that is about to be sent to the clean bench 1000 from the bottom. The culture dish inkjet printer 5 makes the mark on the bottom edge of the culture dish 100 to ensure that it does not affect the observation of cell morphology or the inspection of microbial conditions, but can accurately know the identity of the culture dish 100 through the unique mark.

[0048] 3. Orifice plate transfer mechanism 4 and orifice plate inkjet printer 6 The well plate transfer mechanism 4 includes a well plate conveyor belt 41, a well plate pusher 42, a well plate lifting platform 43, a well plate storage conveyor belt 44, and a well plate pusher 45. The well plate conveyor belt 41 is used to pass through the clean bench 1000 for cell processing experiments and is used to transport well plates 200 into or out of the clean bench 1000. The well plate pusher 42, the well plate lifting platform 43, the well plate pusher 45, and the well plate storage conveyor belt 44 are all located outside the clean bench 1000.

[0049] The orifice plate conveyor belt 41 is opposite to the loading and unloading station of the orifice plate 200. The orifice plate lifting platform 43 and the feed and discharge turntable 1 are located at both ends of the orifice plate conveyor belt 41. The orifice plate pusher 42 is used to push the top orifice plate 200 among the orifice plates 200 stacked on the orifice plate lifting platform 43 onto the orifice plate conveyor belt 41.

[0050] The orifice plate conveyor belt 41 includes a first conveyor belt and a second conveyor belt. The first conveyor belt includes two synchronous belts of equal height with a spacing. The first conveyor belt is located outside the clean bench 1000, and the second conveyor belt is a single belt. The second conveyor belt is located inside the clean bench 1000. The orifice plate transfer mechanism 4 outside the clean bench 1000 is partially provided with an orifice plate chamber 40. The orifice plate chamber 40 also has a fan system. The orifice plate chamber 40, the clean bench 1000, and the storage chamber 30 are all provided with air outlet holes to facilitate the positive pressure gas blown out by the fan to be discharged to the outside. When cell processing is carried out in the clean bench 1000, the wind pressure in the clean bench 1000 is greater than the wind pressure in the storage chamber 30, and also greater than the wind pressure in the orifice plate chamber 40. The storage chamber 30 and the orifice plate chamber 40 are both provided with door covers that can be opened to facilitate the placement of culture dishes 100 / orifice plates 200 in the corresponding chambers. The orifice plate conveyor belt 41 is set as the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt, so that when the loading and unloading device is maintained, the orifice plate transfer mechanism 4 except the second conveyor belt can be disassembled separately for separate maintenance, and the clean bench 1000 can still perform cell processing operations with manual cooperation. The specific method is that when the orifice plate 200 is to be sent in and out, it is only necessary to manually cooperate to pass the orifice plate 200 through the input and output channel opened on the clean bench 1000 and take the orifice plate 200 on the second conveyor belt.

[0051] The orifice plate pusher 42 is used to push the topmost orifice plate 200 among the orifice plates 200 stacked on the orifice plate lifting platform 43 to the first conveyor belt of the orifice plate conveyor 41. An orifice plate inkjet printer 6 is arranged between the orifice plate lifting platform 43 and the first conveyor belt. The orifice plate inkjet printer 6 performs marking on the bottom of the orifice plate 200. The marking on the bottom of the orifice plate 200 is between the two belts of the first conveyor belt to ensure that the marking will not come into contact with the belt immediately after the marking is completed.

[0052] The orifice plate storage conveyor belt 44 and the orifice plate pusher 45 are located on the left and right sides of the first conveyor belt. The orifice plate storage conveyor belt 44 is perpendicular to the first conveyor belt. The orifice plate pusher 45 is used to push the orifice plate 200 on the first conveyor belt onto the orifice plate storage conveyor belt 44. The orifice plate storage conveyor belt 44 is a whole belt. The orifice plate pusher 42 and the orifice plate pusher 42 both use cylinders or electric cylinders in this embodiment, and the orifice plate lifting platform 43 uses electric cylinders, cylinders or linear modules to drive the platform to rise and fall.

[0053] When this solution is adopted, during cell passage, the culture dish 100 is removed from the storage rack 32, marked by the culture dish inkjet printer 5, and then sent to the tray 11 of the loading and unloading station of the culture dish 100. After the mark recognition module 13 under the tray 11 recognizes the identity of the culture dish 100, the control system controls the rotation of the turntable 12 of the loading and unloading turntable 1, thereby sending the culture dish 100 to the receiving conveyor belt 2.

[0054] During cell plating, the well plate 200 is lifted by the well plate lifting platform 43 to a height convenient for the well plate pusher 42 to push it to the first conveyor belt. The well plate pusher 42 pushes the well plate 200 a short distance to facilitate the well plate inkjet printer 6 to inkjet mark the well plate 200. After the marking is completed, the well plate pusher 42 continues to push the well plate 200 until the well plate 200 is sent to the second conveyor belt by the first conveyor belt. The avoidance hole 121 on the turntable 12 for accommodating the well plate 200 is aligned with the loading and unloading station of the well plate 200. The second conveyor belt transports the orifice plate 200 to the loading and unloading station of the orifice plate 200. When the orifice plate 200 is completely inserted into the avoidance hole 121, the second conveyor belt stops transporting the orifice plate 200 (at this time, part of the orifice plate 200 falls on the tray 11 and part falls on the second conveyor belt). At this time, the mark recognition module 13 of the loading and unloading station of the orifice plate 200 also recognizes the existence of the orifice plate 200, and thus controls the rotation of the turntable 12 of the feed and discharge turntable 1 through the control system, and sends the orifice plate 200 to the receiving conveyor belt 2.

[0055] After the pipetting is completed / the culture dish 100 / the well plate 200 needs to be sent out of the clean bench 1000, the receiving conveyor belt 2 is controlled to transport in reverse, and the marking recognition module provided under the receiving conveyor belt 2 identifies the culture dish 100 / the well plate 200 and identifies whether it is the culture dish 100 or the well plate 200. After the control system receives the reverse signal of the receiving conveyor belt 2 and identifies the container, the turntable 12 on the inlet and outlet turntable 1 is controlled to align the corresponding air avoidance hole 121 with the transfer station in advance, so that the culture dish 100 / the well plate 200 is conveniently sent to the corresponding loading and unloading station. After the marking recognition module 13 under the corresponding loading and unloading station identifies the identity of the container, the corresponding transfer mechanism is controlled to transfer the corresponding container out. For example, after the mark recognition module 13 of the culture dish 100 loading and unloading station recognizes that the culture dish 100 appears at the loading and unloading station again, the control system controls the multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator 31 to remove the culture dish 100 from the culture dish 100 loading and unloading station and place it on the set storage rack 32 position; if the mark recognition module 13 of the orifice plate 200 loading and unloading station recognizes that the orifice plate 200 appears at the orifice plate 200 loading and unloading station again, the control system controls the orifice plate conveyor belt 41 to reverse and transfer the orifice plate 200 from the orifice plate 200 loading and unloading station out of the clean bench 1000.

[0056] The loading and unloading device of this embodiment realizes the compatibility of loading and unloading of culture dishes 100 / well plates 200 in the clean bench 1000, which helps to reduce the floor space and reduce costs. The culture dishes 100 / well plates 200 are only sent in and out of the clean bench 1000 when needed, ensuring that the size of the clean bench 1000 can be set relatively small, thereby reducing costs while also helping to maintain the cleanliness of the clean bench 1000.

[0057] The culture dish 100 / well plate 200 has corresponding storage chambers 30 and well plate chambers 40, which can facilitate separate maintenance of the loading and unloading devices and reduce maintenance costs. In addition, the inkjet printer and mark recognition module provided in this embodiment realize the tracking and recording of the cell processing process, which is conducive to the realization of automation and the tracking and tracing of cell processing.

[0058] The above is only an embodiment of the present invention, and the common knowledge such as the specific technical solutions and / or characteristics in the solution are not described in detail here. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the technical solution of the present invention, several variations and improvements can be made, which should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present invention, and these will not affect the effect of the implementation of the present invention and the practicality of the patent. The scope of protection required by this application shall be based on the content of its claims, and the specific implementation methods and other records in the description can be used to interpret the content of the claims.

Claims

1. A cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates, characterized by: It includes an inlet and outlet turntable and a receiving conveyor belt. The inlet and outlet turntable includes a fixedly installed tray and a rotatable turntable. The tray is provided with a through hole for avoiding the receiving conveyor belt. The turntable is located above the tray. At least two types of air-avoiding holes are provided on the turntable. One air-avoiding hole can cooperate with the culture dish, and the other air-avoiding hole can cooperate with the orifice plate. After the turntable rotates, the culture dish / orifice plate can be transferred between the receiving conveyor belt and the tray. It also includes a transfer mechanism that can take and place the culture dish / orifice plate on the air-avoiding hole.

2. The cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transfer mechanism includes a culture dish transfer mechanism and a orifice plate transfer mechanism, the inlet and outlet turntable includes a culture dish loading and unloading station and a orifice plate loading and unloading station, the culture dish transfer mechanism is used to transfer the culture dish at the culture dish loading and unloading station, the orifice plate transfer mechanism includes a orifice plate conveyor belt and a orifice plate pusher, the orifice plate conveyor belt is opposite to the orifice plate loading and unloading station, and the orifice plate pusher is used to push the orifice plate onto the orifice plate conveyor belt.

3. The cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates according to claim 2, characterized in that: The orifice plate transfer mechanism also includes an orifice plate lifting platform. The orifice plate lifting platform and the feed and discharge turntable are located at both ends of the conveying direction of the orifice plate conveyor belt. The orifice plate lifting platform is used to stack multiple orifice plates, and the orifice plate pusher is used to push the orifice plate at the top of the orifice plate lifting platform onto the orifice plate conveyor belt.

4. The cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates according to claim 3, characterized in that: It also includes a hole plate receiving conveyor belt and a hole plate pusher located on both sides of the hole plate conveyor belt. The hole plate receiving conveyor belt is perpendicular to the hole plate conveyor belt. The hole plate pusher is used to push the hole plate on the hole plate conveyor belt onto the hole plate receiving conveyor belt.

5. The cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates according to claim 4, characterized in that: The orifice plate conveyor belt is used to pass through the clean bench used for cell processing experiments, and the orifice plate pusher, the orifice plate pusher and the orifice plate storage conveyor belt are all located outside the clean bench.

6. The cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates according to claim 2, characterized in that: The culture dish transfer mechanism includes a multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator, the output end of the multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator is a U-shaped output claw, the output claw is provided with a sink for supporting and positioning the culture dish, the sink is provided with a supporting protrusion for supporting the bottom edge of the culture dish, the tray corresponding to the culture dish loading and unloading station is provided with an air-avoiding groove for the output claw to move up and down, and the air-avoiding hole for placing the culture dish is provided with an air-avoiding hole that can avoid the output claw from flying.

7. The cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates according to claim 6, characterized in that: It also includes a storage rack for storing culture dishes. The storage rack can rotate and is provided with multiple layers in the height direction. Each layer has multiple support grooves evenly distributed around the rotation center. Each support groove can be used to support a culture dish. Each support groove is also provided with a U-shaped through hole for avoiding air-avoiding output claws. There is a distance between adjacent layers for the output claws to enter and exit.

8. The cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates according to claim 7, characterized in that: It also includes an inkjet printer for marking orifice plates and culture dishes. The culture dish loading and unloading stations and the orifice plate loading and unloading stations are both equipped with corresponding mark recognition modules, which are used to recognize the marks on the culture dishes / marks on the orifice plates.

9. The cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates according to claim 8, characterized in that: The mark is made on the bottom edge of the culture dish.

10. A cell culture container loading and unloading device compatible with culture dishes and culture well plates according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The surface of the tray is coated with Teflon.

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