Cover glass taking and releasing gas path system

Abstract

The utility model relates to a cover glass taking and releasing air path system which comprises a grabbing assembly, a diaphragm pump and a control unit. The grabbing assembly comprises a suction cup, a filter and an adjusting valve, the suction cup is arranged at the bottom end of the mechanical arm, and the filter and the adjusting valve are both arranged in the mechanical arm and sequentially communicate with each other through an air pipe; a port of the regulating valve is provided with a three-way joint which is respectively communicated with an inlet and an outlet of the diaphragm pump; the three-way joint is also provided with a pressure sensor for detecting the air pressure in the pipeline; the negative-pressure taking and placing system is improved based on an existing negative-pressure taking and placing system gas circuit, the function of adjusting the gas flow direction can be achieved only by additionally arranging part of the electromagnetic valves, meanwhile, after adjustment is completed, reliable separation of a slide and a suction cup can be achieved through the reversely conveyed gas flow through high-pressure pulse gas pressure, and the working efficiency is improved. The adhesion between the cover glass and the suction cup can be effectively prevented, and the use is more convenient and stable.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of medical equipment, in particular to a cover glass taking and releasing air path system. Background Art

[0002] In the field of pathology equipment, it is often necessary to automatically pick up and place very small and thin cover glasses. For this purpose, a pneumatic system using a suction cup for picking up and placing is designed.

[0003] In actual use, due to the limited size of medical equipment and the inability of hospitals to provide air sources, a small diaphragm pump is often used to provide negative pressure for the placement of glass slides. The cover glass is placed by a suction cup. When the suction cup is used to place and take the glass slide, it will inevitably come into contact with the reagent. Since the cover glass slide is very light, the residual reagent on the suction cup will cause the suction cup and the glass slide to be adsorbed together, resulting in adhesion between the cover glass slide and the suction cup, or due to the Bernoulli principle, the thin cover glass slide often cannot be separated from the suction cup smoothly. As a result, there is a certain probability of failure of the suction cup when discarding the glass slide, which is very inconvenient to use. Utility Model Content

[0004] Based on the above description, the utility model provides a cover glass taking and placing air path system to solve the problem that the air path system of the existing automatic taking and placing equipment is prone to failure of cover glass separation due to residual reagents or Bernoulli principle, thus affecting use.

[0005] The utility model is realized through the following technical solutions:

[0006] A cover glass taking and releasing air path system comprises a grabbing component, a diaphragm pump and a control unit; the grabbing component comprises:

[0007] A suction cup, a filter for preventing reagent vapor from entering the pipeline, and a regulating valve for cooperating with the gas source to switch the output, wherein the suction cup is arranged at the bottom end of the mechanical arm, and the filter and the regulating valve are arranged inside the mechanical arm and are connected to each other through the air pipe in sequence;

[0008] A three-way joint is provided on the port of the regulating valve and is connected to the inlet and outlet of the diaphragm pump respectively. A pressure sensor for detecting the air pressure inside the pipeline is also provided on the three-way joint;

[0009] The control unit is electrically connected to the pressure sensor, the diaphragm pump, and the regulating valve.

[0010] On the basis of the above technical solution, the present invention can also be improved as follows.

[0011] Furthermore, the air pipes on the inlet and outlet ends of the diaphragm pump are respectively provided with a first three-way valve and a second three-way valve, and the first three-way valve and the second three-way valve are both electrically connected to the control unit, and one of the ports of the first three-way valve and the second three-way valve is connected to the other two ports of the three-way connector through the air pipe.

[0012] Furthermore, one of the ports on the first three-way valve and the second three-way valve is connected to the outside, and silencers are provided at the ports of the first three-way valve and the second three-way valve.

[0013] Furthermore, the regulating valve is configured as a two-position, two-way normally open solenoid valve, and the first three-way valve and the second three-way valve are both configured as two-position, three-way normally closed solenoid valves.

[0014] Furthermore, the filter is configured as an activated carbon filter cartridge.

[0015] Furthermore, a PLC microcontroller for programming and a comparison module for real-time monitoring of air pressure are also provided inside the control unit, and the control unit is also remotely connected to an alarm device.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution of this application has the following beneficial technical effects:

[0017] 1. The present application is based on the improvement of the existing negative pressure pick-and-place system air circuit. Only by adding some solenoid valves, it can be equipped with the function of adjusting the direction of the airflow. At the same time, after the adjustment is completed, the reverse airflow can achieve reliable separation of the glass slide and the suction cup through high-pressure pulse air pressure, which can effectively prevent the adhesion between the cover glass and the suction cup, and is more convenient to use. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of the gas circuit system in this embodiment;

[0019] Among them: 1. Suction cup; 2. Filter; 3. Regulating valve; 4. Pressure sensor; 5. Muffler; 6. Diaphragm pump; 7. First three-way valve; 8. Second three-way valve; 9. Three-way connector; 10. Control unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In order to facilitate understanding of the present application, the present application will be described more fully below with reference to the relevant drawings. Embodiments of the present application are provided in the drawings. However, the present application can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, the purpose of providing these embodiments is to make the disclosure of the present application more thorough and comprehensive.

[0021] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs. The terms used herein in the specification of this application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit this application.

[0022] Combination Figure 1 As shown, a cover glass taking and releasing air path system comprises:

[0023] The grasping assembly includes a suction cup 1, a filter 2, and a regulating valve 3, and the three parts are connected in sequence through an air pipe, and are arranged at the bottom end and inside of the robot arm respectively, so as to cooperate with the robot arm for automatic grasping;

[0024] The diaphragm pump 6 is the gas source of this embodiment, and its outlet and inlet are both connected to the regulating valve 3, so that the reversing delivery of the airflow can be achieved in cooperation with the regulating valve 3;

[0025] The control unit 10 can adopt Omron's NX series safety control unit, and its main purpose is to cooperate with the above structure to control the regulating valve 3 and the diaphragm pump 6 respectively. It can not only detect the use status of the internal airflow, but also cooperate with the robot arm to complete automatic switching, thereby achieving the effect of automated operation.

[0026] Specifically, the suction cup 1 adopts the existing silicone contact suction cup 1, which can cooperate with the internal airflow to perform vacuum grabbing by directly contacting the surface of the coverslip. In actual use, since this embodiment is mostly used in the pathology room, the suction cup 1 will inevitably contact the reagent, and the residual reagent will enter the trachea. In order to prevent the residual reagent from causing corrosion to the regulating valve 3 and the diaphragm pump 6, the filter 2 should adopt an activated carbon filter cartridge structure. During the air extraction process, the residual reagent in the air will be quickly absorbed by the activated carbon, and at the same time, some dust particles in the air will also be captured by the activated carbon, and the activated carbon filter 2 only needs to be exposed to the sun for repeated use, which effectively saves the use cost.

[0027] The regulating valve 3 is a two-position two-way normally open solenoid valve, which is connected to the valve control unit 10. A three-way connector 9 is provided on the port at the other end, and the other two ends of the three-way connector 9 are respectively connected to the inlet and outlet of the diaphragm pump 6.

[0028] In addition, a pressure sensor 4 is provided on the top of the three-way connector 9. The pressure sensor 4 can be a digital air pressure sensor of the AP-C40 series, so that the staff can quickly read the air pressure information. At the same time, after the grabbing is completed, the above-mentioned digital display function can be used to detect whether there is any leakage in the air pipe and valve.

[0029] The diaphragm pump 6 can be one of the more common QBY pneumatic diaphragm pump, QBK pneumatic diaphragm pump, DBY electric diaphragm pump 6, etc., and a first three-way valve 7 and a second three-way valve 8 are respectively provided at the inlet and outlet ends of the diaphragm pump 6. The first three-way valve 7 and the second three-way valve 8 are both two-position, three-way normally closed solenoid valves. One of the ports of the two three-way valves is connected to the outside world, and a muffler 5 is provided at the connected port. Therefore, when exhausting, the noise generated can be effectively reduced, so that it can be used in hospitals and other occasions.

[0030] The control unit 10 is also equipped with a PLC microcontroller (STM32C0 series microcontroller can be used) and a comparison module. The purpose is to program the PLC microcontroller so that it can cooperate with the lifting and movement of the robotic arm to control the opening and closing of various valves; when the robotic arm is close to the cover glass on the workbench, air is sucked out, and when the robotic arm is away from the workbench, exhaust is performed, thereby realizing automatic operation and greatly improving the convenience of use.

[0031] The comparison module is a signal comparator, which may be a high-speed comparator of ADI, such as AD790, and is mainly used to receive real-time data from the pressure sensor 4 and compare it with preset fixed data.

[0032] In this embodiment, the diaphragm pump 6 is started, and the left side of the diaphragm pump 6 is specified as the air inlet and the right side is the air outlet;

[0033] Pipet coverslip:

[0034] ① The gas flow on the left side of the diaphragm pump 6 is as follows: the gas passes through the suction cup 1, the filter 2, the regulating valve 3, and the first three-way valve 7 to reach the diaphragm pump 6;

[0035] ② The gas flow on the right side of the diaphragm pump 6 is as follows: the gas starts from the diaphragm pump 6, passes through the second three-way valve 8 and the muffler 5 on the port, and is directly discharged into the atmosphere;

[0036] When the suction cup 1 and the cover glass are in contact, a vacuum is formed inside the left pipeline under the action of the diaphragm pump 6. When the vacuum degree of the pressure sensor 4 reaches the set value, the cover glass is ensured to be firmly sucked by the suction cup 1, and the suction cup 1 is moved to the position where it needs to be placed under the movement of the robotic arm; during the movement, if the vacuum degree of the pressure sensor 4 suddenly decreases, the comparison circuit obtains this information and determines that the cover glass has fallen during the movement.

[0037] Place the coverslip:

[0038] The regulating valve 3 is closed, and the valve cores of the first three-way valve 7 and the second three-way valve 8 move.

[0039] ① The gas flow on the left side of the diaphragm pump 6 is as follows: the air passes through the muffler 5 and the first three-way valve 7 to reach the inside of the diaphragm pump 6;

[0040] ② The gas flow on the right side of the diaphragm pump 6 is as follows: the gas passes through the second diaphragm pump 6 and reaches the regulating valve 3;

[0041] Since the regulating valve 3 is in a closed state, the pressure inside the nearby air pipe will gradually increase, and the pressure sensor 4 will continuously transmit data to the control unit 10. When the pressure value reaches the set value, the regulating valve 3 opens, and a high-pressure gas pulse is formed inside the air pipe, and is transported along the pipeline to the suction hole of the suction cup 1, forming a reverse impact, and then the coverslip is smoothly removed.

[0042] On the basis of the above structure, an alarm device can also be set near the control unit 10 and electrically connected to the control unit 10 to sound an alarm if the coverslip falls during the movement during the process of sucking the coverslip, so that the staff can check and repair the internal components.

[0043] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the utility model, rather than to limit it. Although the utility model has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solution recorded in the aforementioned embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solution from the technical solution of the embodiments of the utility model.

Claims

1. A cover glass taking and releasing air path system, comprising a grabbing assembly, a diaphragm pump (6) and a control unit (10); It is characterized in that The grabbing component comprises: A suction cup (1), a filter (2) for preventing reagent vapor from entering a pipeline, and a regulating valve (3) for cooperating with an air source to switch the output, wherein the suction cup (1) is arranged at the bottom end of the mechanical arm, and the filter (2) and the regulating valve (3) are both arranged inside the mechanical arm and are connected to each other in sequence through an air pipe; A three-way connector (9) is provided on the port of the regulating valve (3) and is respectively connected to the inlet and outlet of the diaphragm pump (6); a pressure sensor (4) for detecting the air pressure inside the pipeline is also provided on the three-way connector (9); The control unit (10) is electrically connected to the pressure sensor (4), the diaphragm pump (6), and the regulating valve (3).

2. According to the cover glass taking and releasing air path system as described in claim 1, it is characterized in that: The air pipes on the inlet and outlet ends of the diaphragm pump (6) are respectively provided with a first three-way valve (7) and a second three-way valve (8), and the first three-way valve (7) and the second three-way valve (8) are both electrically connected to the control unit (10), and one of the ports of the first three-way valve (7) and the second three-way valve (8) is connected to the other two ports of the three-way connector (9) through the air pipe.

3. The cover glass taking and releasing air path system according to claim 2, characterized in that: One of the ports on the first three-way valve (7) and the second three-way valve (8) is connected to the outside, and silencers (5) are also provided at the ports of the first three-way valve (7) and the second three-way valve (8).

4. A cover glass taking and releasing air path system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The regulating valve (3) is configured as a two-position, two-way normally open electromagnetic valve, and the first three-way valve (7) and the second three-way valve (8) are both configured as two-position, three-way normally closed electromagnetic valves.

5. The cover glass taking and releasing air path system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The filter (2) is configured as an activated carbon filter cartridge.

6. The cover glass taking and releasing air path system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control unit (10) is also provided with a PLC single chip microcomputer for programming and a comparison module for real-time monitoring of air pressure. The control unit (10) is also remotely connected to an alarm device.

Images