Micro-fluidic chip production equipment

Abstract

The utility model belongs to the field of micro-fluidic chip production, and particularly relates to micro-fluidic chip production equipment which comprises a station switching device, a first film sealing device, a turnover device, a second film sealing device and an air tightness detection device, the first film sealing device is used for sealing a film on one surface of the micro-fluidic chip body, the turnover device is used for turning over the micro-fluidic chip body, so that the non-sealed surface of the micro-fluidic chip body faces upwards, the second film sealing device is used for sealing the other surface of the micro-fluidic chip body, the micro-fluidic chip is formed, and the air tightness detection device is used for detecting the air tightness of the micro-fluidic chip. According to the micro-fluidic chip production equipment, the product quality and the production efficiency are improved, the film coating is firm, the stability is more reliable, and the product consistency is good.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of microfluidic chip production, and in particular to a microfluidic chip production device. Background Art

[0002] Microfluidic chips have the characteristics of controllable liquid flow, minimal consumption of samples and reagents, and analysis speed increased by ten or even a hundred times. They can analyze hundreds of samples simultaneously in a few minutes or even shorter time, and can realize the entire process of sample pretreatment and analysis online. They are increasingly widely used in the life science industry (immunodiagnosis, molecular diagnosis, etc.).

[0003] like Figure 1 As shown, the microfluidic chip generally includes a microfluidic chip body 1 with an inlet and outlet hole 11 and a groove and a composite membrane 2. During the production process, the composite membrane 2 needs to be bonded to the front and back sides of the microfluidic chip body 1, and the composite membrane 2 covers the groove and surrounds it to form a flow channel for liquid flow. The current bonding process is completed by welding processes such as UV curing, laser welding, ultrasonic welding or heat conduction, and most of them are single-step processes, which require certain technicians to operate multiple devices separately to jointly complete the required final product, and the production efficiency is low. In addition, during the circulation of the chip, the time of manual intervention increases, and the possibility of contamination is greatly increased. In addition, the stability and reliability of the artificial film operation are poor, and the film is prone to be loose, resulting in poor sealing of the flow channel. In the subsequent detection and use process, the test sample injected into the flow channel will leak, thereby affecting the final test result. In addition, the existing lamination processes mostly use hot pressing welding. During the lamination process, the composite film will expand due to the heat under the hot pressing welding action of the hot pressing head. When the lamination is completed, the composite film will shrink after cooling, causing the composite film on both sides of the groove to be concave to a certain extent. This will cause the flow channel volume of the microfluidic chip to be smaller than the pre-designed flow channel volume, so that in the subsequent detection and use process, the volume of the test sample injected into the flow channel will be less than the pre-designed volume, which will also affect the accuracy of the final test results, thereby affecting the chip's usage function. Utility Model Content

[0004] The embodiment of the present application provides a microfluidic chip production device, which aims to improve the production quality of microfluidic chips and ensure the accuracy of test results during subsequent use.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present application provides a microfluidic chip production device, comprising:

[0006] The station switching device includes a conveying mechanism and a plurality of positioning modules arranged on the conveying mechanism for positioning the microfluidic chip body. The plurality of positioning modules can sequentially pass through the loading station, the first film sealing station, the flipping station, the second film sealing station, and the air tightness detection station under the action of the conveying mechanism;

[0007] A first film sealing device, used for sealing the front side of the microfluidic chip body at the first film sealing station;

[0008] A flipping device, used to flip the microfluidic chip body at the flipping station to the front and back;

[0009] A second film sealing device, used for sealing the reverse side of the microfluidic chip body at the second film sealing station to form a microfluidic chip; and

[0010] The airtightness detection device is used to perform airtightness detection on a microfluidic chip at an airtightness detection station.

[0011] Optionally, the conveying mechanism includes a turntable and a driving mechanism for driving the turntable to rotate, and a plurality of positioning modules are evenly arranged on the turntable along the circumferential direction.

[0012] Optionally, the first film sealing device includes a vertical plate and a unwinding mechanism, a vacuum adsorption plate, a film pulling mechanism, a hot pressure welding mechanism and a cutting mechanism arranged on the vertical plate, the unwinding mechanism is used to install the film roll to be used, the vacuum adsorption plate is located on one side of the first film sealing station, the movable end of the film roll is led out from the unwinding mechanism to be adsorbed by the vacuum adsorption plate, and the film pulling mechanism can move from one side of the first film sealing station to the other side relative to the vertical plate to pull the movable end of the film roll from the vacuum adsorption plate to the other side of the first film sealing station; the hot pressure welding mechanism is located directly above the first film sealing station, and the hot pressure welding mechanism is used to hot-press weld the packaging film pulled out by the film pulling mechanism to the microfluidic chip body on the first film sealing station; the cutting mechanism is located between the vacuum adsorption plate and the hot pressure welding mechanism, and the cutting mechanism is used to cut the packaging film pulled out by the film pulling mechanism.

[0013] Optionally, the unwinding mechanism includes a rotating shaft rotatably disposed on the vertical plate and a damping member disposed between the rotating shaft and the vertical plate, and the film to be used is wound on the rotating shaft; and / or

[0014] The film-tearing mechanism comprises a linear module arranged on the vertical plate and a clamping jaw arranged on the linear module, and the clamping jaw can reciprocate between one side and the other side of the first film sealing station under the drive of the linear module; and / or

[0015] The hot pressure welding mechanism includes a hot pressure lifting module arranged on a vertical plate and a heat sealing block arranged at the movable end of the hot pressure lifting module. The hot pressure lifting module is arranged above the first film sealing station. The heat sealing block has a heating element. The heat sealing block can move up and down under the drive of the hot pressure lifting module to weld the packaging film to the microfluidic chip body.

[0016] Optionally, a shaping station is provided between the second film sealing station and the airtightness detection station, and the microfluidic chip production equipment also includes a shaping device arranged corresponding to the shaping station, and the shaping device is used to remove excess packaging film on the microfluidic chip body after double-sided lamination that exceeds the edge of the microfluidic chip body.

[0017] Optionally, the flipping device includes a flipping drive assembly and a plurality of rotation support assemblies, the plurality of rotation support assemblies are uniformly arranged on the turntable along the circumferential direction, the plurality of positioning modules are respectively arranged on the plurality of rotation support assemblies in a one-to-one correspondence, the rotation support assembly includes a bottom plate, an elastic reset member, a bearing seat and a rotation shaft, the bottom plate is fixed to the edge of the turntable, the bearing seat is slidably arranged on the bottom plate along the radial direction of the turntable, the elastic reset member is arranged between the bearing seat and the bottom plate, the rotation shaft is parallel to the radial direction of the turntable and is rotatably arranged on the bearing seat through a bearing, and the positioning module is arranged at one end of the rotation shaft away from the center of the turntable;

[0018] A mounting disk with a smaller diameter than the rotating disk is coaxially arranged above the rotating disk. The rotating disk rotates around the axis of the mounting disk under the action of the driving mechanism. The flipping driving assembly is arranged on the mounting disk. The flipping driving assembly includes a telescopic driving member fixed on the mounting disk and a rotating driving member arranged at the driving end of the telescopic driving member. The rotating driving member can move radially along the rotating disk under the drive of the telescopic driving member and abut against one end of the rotating shaft close to the center of the rotating disk. The rotating driving member can drive the rotating shaft to rotate, so as to drive the positioning module to flip over on the front and back sides.

[0019] Optionally, the airtightness detection device includes a sealing detector, a bracket, an inflation head, a first lifting module and a first telescopic translation module. The first lifting module is arranged above the airtightness detection station through the bracket, the first telescopic translation module is arranged on the first lifting module, the inflation head is arranged on the first telescopic translation module and is connected to the air source interface of the sealing detector through a pipeline. The inflation head can move up and down under the action of the first lifting module and move in the plane where the microfluidic chip is located under the action of the first telescopic translation module so as to dock with the inlet and outlet of the microfluidic chip or detach from the inlet and outlet of the microfluidic chip.

[0020] Optionally, the microfluidic chip production equipment also includes a good product unloading device and an NG product unloading device. After the microfluidic chip is tested by the air-tightness testing device, it passes through the good product unloading station and the NG product unloading station in sequence under the drive of the station switching device. The good product unloading device is used to unload the microfluidic chip that is at the good product unloading station and has passed the air-tightness test; the NG product unloading device is used to unload the microfluidic chip that is at the NG product unloading station and has failed the air-tightness test.

[0021] Optionally, the good product unloading device and the NG product unloading device have the same structure, both including a support frame, a vacuum suction cup, a second lifting module and a second telescopic translation module. The second lifting module is arranged on the support frame, the second telescopic translation module is arranged on the second lifting module, and the vacuum suction cup is arranged on the second telescopic translation module. The vacuum suction cup can move up and down under the action of the second lifting module and move in the plane where the microfluidic chip is located under the action of the second telescopic translation module to adsorb and transfer the microfluidic chip.

[0022] Optionally, at least two snap-in locations for fixing the microfluidic chip body are arranged side by side on the positioning module.

[0023] The beneficial effect of the microfluidic chip production equipment provided by the present application is that: compared with the prior art, the microfluidic chip production equipment of the present application includes a station switching device for switching the microfluidic chip body between the loading station, the first film sealing station, the flipping station, the second film sealing station and the airtightness detection station, and the first film sealing device, the flipping device, the second film sealing device and the airtightness detection device corresponding to the corresponding station are arranged. The switching of the microfluidic chip body in each station is realized by the station switching device, and the double-sided film sealing and airtightness detection of the microfluidic chip body are completed in sequence by the device corresponding to the corresponding station, which can replace manual labor, reduce the flow process between each process, reduce the possibility of contamination in the production process of the microfluidic chip, and improve production efficiency. The double-sided film coating operation of the microfluidic chip body is completed by the first film sealing device and the second film sealing device respectively. Compared with manual operation, the film coating is firm, the stability is more reliable, and the product consistency is good. The microfluidic chip formed after lamination is tested by an airtightness testing device, which can not only accurately determine whether the microfluidic chip is qualified or not, but also, during the airtightness testing process, pressurize the composite film on both sides of the microfluidic chip body to make it bulge outward, thereby preventing the composite film from cooling and shrinking after lamination and sinking inward to reduce the flow channel volume, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the test results in subsequent use. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0025] in:

[0026] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of the microfluidic chip;

[0027] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a microfluidic chip production device shown in one embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a microfluidic chip production device shown in one embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 4 It is a top view of the internal structure of a microfluidic chip production device shown in one embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram of a station switching device in a microfluidic chip production device shown in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a flipping device in a microfluidic chip production device shown in an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the connection between the rotating support assembly and the positioning module of the flipping device in the microfluidic chip production equipment shown in one embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 8 It is a structural schematic diagram of the cooperation between the first film sealing device or the second film sealing device and the station switching device in the microfluidic chip production equipment shown in one embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Fig. 9 It is a front structural schematic diagram of a first sealing device in a microfluidic chip production device shown in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Fig.10 It is a schematic diagram of the back structure of the first sealing device in the microfluidic chip production equipment shown in one embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Fig.11 It is a structural schematic diagram of a shaping device in a microfluidic chip production device shown in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Fig.12It is a structural schematic diagram of the cooperation between the air tightness detection device and the station switching device in the microfluidic chip production equipment shown in one embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Fig.13 It is a structural schematic diagram of an airtightness detection device in a microfluidic chip production device shown in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Fig.14 It is a structural schematic diagram of the cooperation between a good product unloading device and an NG product unloading device and a workstation switching device in a microfluidic chip production device shown in an embodiment of the present application.

[0040] Description of main component symbols:

[0041] 1. Microfluidic chip body; 11. Inlet and outlet holes; 2. Composite membrane;

[0042] 10. Loading station; 20. Inspection station; 30. First film sealing station; 40. Turning station; 50. Second film sealing station; 60. Shaping station; 70. Air tightness inspection station; 80. Good product unloading station; 90. NG unloading station;

[0043] 100, station switching device; 110, conveying mechanism; 111, turntable; 112, driving mechanism; 120, positioning module; 121, clamping position; 130, installation plate;

[0044] 200, first film sealing device; 210, vertical plate; 220, unwinding mechanism; 230, vacuum adsorption plate; 240, film pulling mechanism; 241, linear module; 242, clamping claw; 250, hot pressing welding mechanism; 251, hot pressing lifting module; 252, heat sealing block; 260, cutting mechanism; 261, scissors; 262, pneumatic fingers; 263, telescopic cylinder; 270, guide roller; 280, lifting support seat;

[0045] 300, turning device; 310, turning drive assembly; 311, telescopic drive member; 312, rotating drive member; 3121, protrusion; 320, rotating support assembly; 321, bottom plate; 322, elastic reset member; 323, bearing seat; 324, rotating shaft; 3241, groove;

[0046] 400, a second film sealing device;

[0047] 500, air tightness detection device; 510, bracket; 520, inflation head; 530, first lifting module; 540, first telescopic translation module;

[0048] 600. Good product unloading device;

[0049] 700, NG unloading device; 710, support frame; 720, vacuum suction cup; 730, second lifting module; 740, second telescopic translation module;

[0050] 800, detection device; 810, mounting frame; 820, photoelectric sensor;

[0051] 900, shaping device; 910, laser cutter; 920, waste film removal mechanism; 921, micro cylinder; 922, finger cylinder; 930, flipping mechanism;

[0052] 1000, equipment frame; 1100, load-bearing frame; 1110, mounting plate; 1200, housing; 1201, loading window;

[0053] 2000. Material box. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] In order to facilitate the understanding of the present application, the present application will be described more comprehensively with reference to the relevant drawings below. The preferred embodiments of the present application are provided in the drawings. However, the present application can be implemented in many other different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, the purpose of providing these embodiments is to make the understanding of the disclosure of the present application more thorough and comprehensive.

[0055] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or indirectly on the other element. When an element is referred to as being "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or indirectly connected to the other element.

[0056] It should be understood that the terms "length", "width", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating the orientation or position relationship, are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0057] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0058] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which the present application belongs. The terms used herein in the specification of the present application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application. The term "and / or" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the related listed items.

[0059] It should also be noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, the same figure mark is used to represent the same component or the same part. For the same parts in the embodiments of the present application, the figure may only mark one of the parts or components as an example. It should be understood that the figure mark also applies to other identical parts or components.

[0060] The embodiment of the present application provides a microfluidic chip production device, such as Figure 2-Figure 4 As shown, the microfluidic chip production equipment includes a station switching device 100, a first film sealing device 200, a flipping device 300, a second film sealing device 400 and an airtightness detection device 500.

[0061] The station switching device 100 includes a conveying mechanism 110 and a plurality of positioning modules 120 arranged on the conveying mechanism 110 for positioning the microfluidic chip body. The plurality of positioning modules 120 can sequentially pass through the loading station 10, the first film sealing station 30, the flipping station 40, the second film sealing station 50, the airtightness detection station 70, the good product unloading station 80 and the NG unloading station 90 under the action of the conveying mechanism 110. The first film sealing device 200 is used to seal the front of the microfluidic chip body at the first film sealing station 30. The flipping device 300 is used to flip the front and back of the microfluidic chip body at the flipping station 40. The second film sealing device 400 is used to seal the back of the microfluidic chip body at the second film sealing station 50 to form a microfluidic chip. The airtightness detection device 500 is used to perform airtightness detection on the microfluidic chip at the airtightness detection station 70.

[0062] The working principle of the microfluidic chip production equipment is as follows: After the microfluidic chip body is loaded at the loading station 10, the conveying mechanism 110 of the station switching device 100 drives the microfluidic chip body to move to the first film sealing station 30, and the first film sealing device 200 seals one side of the microfluidic chip body. The conveying mechanism 110 continues to move, driving the microfluidic chip body to move to the flipping station 40, and the flipping device 300 flips the microfluidic chip body so that the unsealed side faces upward. The conveying mechanism 110 continues to move, driving the microfluidic chip body to move to the second film sealing station 50, and the second film sealing device 400 seals the other side of the microfluidic chip body, thereby forming a microfluidic chip, and the conveying mechanism 110 moves the microfluidic chip to the airtightness detection station 70, and the airtightness detection device 500 performs airtightness detection on the microfluidic chip.

[0063] In the embodiment of the present application, the microfluidic chip production equipment includes a station switching device 100 for switching the microfluidic chip body between the loading station 10, the first film sealing station 30, the flipping station 40, the second film sealing station 50, and the airtightness detection station 70, and the first film sealing device 200, the flipping device 300, the second film sealing device 400, and the airtightness detection device 500 corresponding to the corresponding station are set. The switching of the microfluidic chip body in each station is realized by the station switching device 100, and the double-sided film sealing and airtightness detection of the microfluidic chip body are completed in sequence by the device corresponding to the corresponding station, which can replace manual labor, reduce the flow process between each process, reduce the possibility of contamination in the production process of the microfluidic chip, and improve production efficiency. The double-sided film coating operation of the microfluidic chip body is completed by the first film sealing device 200 and the second film sealing device 400 respectively. Compared with manual operation, the film coating is firm, the stability is more reliable, and the product consistency is good. The microfluidic chip formed after the coating is completed is tested by the airtightness testing device 500, which can not only accurately determine whether the microfluidic chip is qualified or not, but also can apply pressure to the composite film on both sides of the microfluidic chip body to make it bulge outward during the airtightness testing process, thereby preventing the composite film from cooling and shrinking inward after coating to reduce the flow channel volume, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the test results in subsequent use.

[0064] It should be noted that the microfluidic chip production equipment also has a control device (such as a PLC controller, not shown in the figure), which is used to coordinate and control electrical parts such as the workstation switching device 100, the first film sealing device 200, the flipping device 300, the second film sealing device 400, the airtightness detection device 500, and the good product unloading device 600 and the NG unloading device 700 in the following embodiments.

[0065] The microfluidic chip production equipment also includes an equipment frame 1000, which includes a load-bearing frame 1100, a mounting platen 1110 disposed on the load-bearing frame 1100, and a housing 1200. The station switching device 100, the first film sealing device 200, the flipping device 300, the second film sealing device 400, the airtightness detection device 500, the good product unloading device 600, and the NG unloading device 700 are all disposed on the mounting platen 1110 and are covered in the housing 1200. The housing 1200 is also provided with a loading window 1201 for loading the microfluidic chip body. When manual loading is adopted, a safety grating is provided on the loading window 1201 to improve the safety of the equipment.

[0066] In one embodiment, if Figure 3-Figure 5 As shown, the conveying mechanism 110 includes a turntable 111 and a driving mechanism 112 for driving the turntable 111 to rotate, and a plurality of positioning modules 120 are evenly arranged on the turntable 111 along the circumferential direction.

[0067] The conveying mechanism 110 is composed of a turntable 111 driven by a driving mechanism 112, and is equipped with a first film sealing device 200, a flipping device 300, a second film sealing device 400, an airtightness detection device 500, a good product unloading device 600 and an NG unloading device 700, which are arranged around the turntable 111. The turntable 111 can switch the workstations under the drive of the driving mechanism 112, so that the entire microfluidic chip production equipment is small in size, compact in structure, and reduces the footprint.

[0068] Specifically, the horizontally arranged turntable 111 is rotatably arranged on the mounting plate 1110 of the equipment rack 1000 and is driven to rotate by the driving mechanism 112. In one implementation, 12 positioning modules 120 evenly distributed along the circumference of the turntable 111 are installed on the top surface of the turntable 111. The driving mechanism 112 uses a reduction motor to drive the turntable 111 to rotate 30° each time.

[0069] Of course, it is conceivable that in other embodiments, the conveying mechanism 110 can also use a conveyor belt, and multiple positioning modules 120 are evenly arranged on the conveyor belt along the length direction of the synchronous belt, and the first film sealing device 200, the flipping device 300, the second film sealing device 400, the air tightness detection device 500, the good product unloading device 600 and the NG unloading device 700 are distributed on both sides of the length direction of the conveyor belt, and the switching of the workstations is realized through the step-by-step operation of the synchronous belt.

[0070] Among them, at least two snap-in positions 121 for fixing the microfluidic chip body can be arranged side by side on the positioning module 120, and the snap-in position 121 is used to snap-in one end of the microfluidic chip body with an inlet and outlet, so as to achieve sealing and testing of at least two microfluidic chip bodies at the same time each time, further improving production efficiency.

[0071] like Figure 3-5 As shown, the microfluidic chip production equipment also includes a detection device 800. A detection station 20 is also arranged between the loading station 10 and the first sealing station 30. The detection device 800 is used to detect whether there is a microfluidic chip body on the positioning module 120 located on the detection station 20, so as to avoid subsequent sealing, flipping, tightness detection and other operations on the corresponding positioning module 120 where there is no microfluidic chip body.

[0072] Specifically, the detection device 800 includes a photoelectric sensor 820 and a mounting bracket 810 for mounting the photoelectric sensor 820. The photoelectric sensor 820 is placed directly above the detection station 20 and emits a photoelectric signal to the detection station 20 to detect whether there is a microfluidic chip body on the positioning module 120 that moves to the detection station 20. When the presence of the microfluidic chip body is detected, the control device controls each part to continue the action; when the absence of the microfluidic chip body is detected, the control device controls each part to suspend the action and controls the alarm to give an alarm prompt.

[0073] In one embodiment, if Figure 8-Figure 10 As shown, the first film sealing device 200 includes a vertical plate 210 and an unwinding mechanism 220, a vacuum adsorption plate 230, a film pulling mechanism 240, a hot pressing welding mechanism 250 and a cutting mechanism 260 arranged on the vertical plate 210. The vertical plate 210 is used to be fixed on the mounting table 1110 of the equipment frame 1000. The unwinding mechanism 220 is used to install the film roll to be used. The vacuum adsorption plate 230 is located on one side of the first film sealing station 30. The active end of the film roll is led out from the unwinding mechanism 220 to be adsorbed by the vacuum adsorption plate 230. In order to ensure that the packaging film is in a tensioned state, a plurality of guide rollers 270 are further provided on the vertical plate 210 between the unwinding mechanism 220 and the vacuum adsorption plate 230. The active end of the film roll is led out from the unwinding mechanism 220 to be adsorbed by the vacuum adsorption plate 230. After being led out from the structure 220, it passes through multiple guide rollers 270 and is adsorbed by the vacuum adsorption plate 230; the film pulling mechanism 240 can move from one side of the first film sealing station 30 to the other side relative to the vertical plate 210, so as to pull the movable end of the film roll from the vacuum adsorption plate 230 to the other side of the first film sealing station 30; the hot pressure welding mechanism 250 is located directly above the first film sealing station 30, and the hot pressure welding mechanism 250 is used for hot pressure welding the packaging film pulled out by the film pulling mechanism 240 to the microfluidic chip body on the first film sealing station 30; the cutting mechanism 260 is located between the vacuum adsorption plate 230 and the hot pressure welding mechanism 250, and the cutting mechanism 260 is used for cutting the packaging film pulled out by the film pulling mechanism 240.

[0074] The unwinding mechanism 220 includes a rotating shaft rotatably arranged on the vertical plate 210 and a damping member arranged between the rotating shaft and the vertical plate 210, and the film to be used is wound on the rotating shaft. The damping member provides a certain damping for the rotation of the rotating shaft, so that the packaging film wound on the rotating shaft rotates when the film pulling mechanism 240 pulls it, and stops immediately after the pulling is completed, so as to prevent the packaging film from becoming loose after being pulled by the film pulling mechanism 240.

[0075] The film-tearing mechanism 240 includes a linear module 241 disposed on the vertical plate 210 and a clamp 242 disposed on the linear module 241. The clamp 242 can reciprocate between one side and the other side of the first film-sealing station 30 under the drive of the linear module 241. The linear module 241 is preferably a ball screw linear module. Of course, a mechanism capable of realizing reciprocating linear motion, such as a cylinder or a linear motor, can also be used. The clamp 242 is preferably a pneumatic gripper. Of course, an electric gripper or other mechanism capable of grasping can also be used. In the first film-sealing device 200 of the embodiment of the present application, the unwinding mechanism 220 has a simple structure and is not driven by power. The release of the packaging film is realized by pulling the film-tearing mechanism 240. A length sensor for detecting the length of the packaging film pulled by the film-tearing mechanism 240 each time is also disposed on the vertical plate 210. The control device controls the film-tearing mechanism 240 to stop moving after pulling the packaging film to a set length according to the length data detected by the length sensor.

[0076] The hot-press welding mechanism 250 includes a hot-press lifting module 251 disposed on the vertical plate 210 and a heat-sealing block 252 disposed at the movable end of the hot-press lifting module 251. The hot-press lifting module 251 is disposed above the first film sealing station 30. The heat-sealing block 252 has a heating element and a temperature sensor. The heating element heats the heat-sealing block 252. The temperature sensor is used to detect the temperature of the heat-sealing block 252 in real time and transmit a feedback signal to the control device. The control device is electrically connected to the heating element and controls the heating element in real time according to the temperature signal to ensure that the heat-sealing block 252 is always kept within the sealing temperature range. The heat-sealing block 252 can move up and down under the drive of the hot-press lifting module 251 to weld the packaging film to the microfluidic chip body from hot-pressing. The bottom surface of the heat-sealing block 252 forms a heating and pressing plane. During the sealing process, the heating and pressing plane presses the packaging film and heats it, thereby welding the packaging film and the microfluidic chip body made of plastic together. Specifically, the hot pressing lifting module 251 can adopt a mechanism capable of reciprocating linear motion, such as a linear cylinder or an electric push rod.

[0077] The cutting mechanism 260 includes scissors 261, pneumatic fingers 262 and a telescopic cylinder 263. The telescopic cylinder 263 is arranged on the vertical plate 210, and the pneumatic fingers 262 are arranged on the piston rod of the telescopic cylinder 263. The two handles of the scissors 261 are respectively fixed on the air claws of the pneumatic fingers 262. The pneumatic fingers 262 are driven to extend and retract by the telescopic cylinder 263, and the opening and closing of the scissors 261 are controlled by the pneumatic fingers 262, thereby realizing the cutting of the packaging film located between the vacuum adsorption plate 230 and the hot pressing welding mechanism 250. Specifically, an avoidance hole is horizontally opened on the vertical plate 210 corresponding to the first film sealing station 30, and the telescopic cylinder 263 and the pneumatic fingers 262 are arranged on the side of the vertical plate 210 away from the first film sealing station 30. After the hot pressure welding mechanism 250 completes welding, the telescopic cylinder 263 drives the pneumatic fingers 262 and the scissors 261 to extend from the avoidance hole to the packaging film located between the vacuum adsorption plate 230 and the hot pressure welding mechanism 250, and then the scissors 261 are closed under the drive of the pneumatic fingers 262 to cut the packaging film.

[0078] In a specific embodiment, Figure 8-Figure 10 As shown, the first film sealing device 200 also includes a lifting support seat 280 that can be lifted and lowered. The lifting support seat 280 is located directly below the first film sealing station 30 . The lifting support seat 280 is used to provide support for the microfluidic chip body on the first film sealing station 30 .

[0079] When the microfluidic chip body moves to the first film sealing station 30 driven by the conveying mechanism 110 in the station switching device 100, the lifting support seat 280 rises upward to provide support for the microfluidic chip body on the positioning module 120 during the hot pressing welding process, thereby improving the stability of the microfluidic chip body during the hot pressing welding process.

[0080] In one embodiment, if Figure 4-Figure 7 As shown, the flipping device 300 includes a flipping drive assembly 310 and a plurality of rotating support assemblies 320, and the plurality of rotating support assemblies 320 are evenly arranged on the turntable 111 along the circumferential direction, and the plurality of positioning modules 120 are respectively arranged on the plurality of rotating support assemblies 320 in a one-to-one correspondence, and the rotating support assembly 320 includes a base plate 321, an elastic reset member 322, a bearing seat 323 and a rotating shaft 324, the base plate 321 is fixed to the edge of the turntable 111, the bearing seat 323 is arranged on the base plate 321 along the radial direction of the turntable 111 for sliding, the elastic reset member 322 (such as a spring) is arranged between the bearing seat 323 and the base plate 321, the rotating shaft 324 is parallel to the radial direction of the turntable 111 and is rotatably arranged on the bearing seat 323 through a bearing, and the positioning module 120 is arranged at one end of the rotating shaft 324 away from the center of the turntable 111.

[0081] A mounting disk 130 having a smaller diameter than that of the rotating disk 111 is coaxially arranged above the rotating disk 111. The rotating disk 111 rotates around the axis of the mounting disk 130 under the action of the driving mechanism 112. The flipping driving assembly 310 is arranged on the mounting disk 130. The flipping driving assembly 310 includes a telescopic driving member 311 fixed on the mounting disk 130 and a rotating driving member 312 arranged at the driving end of the telescopic driving member 311. The rotating driving member 312 can move radially along the rotating disk 111 under the drive of the telescopic driving member 311 and abut against one end of the rotating shaft 324 close to the center of the rotating disk 111. The rotating driving member 312 can drive the rotating shaft 324 to rotate, so as to drive the positioning module 120 to flip over on the front and back sides. Specifically, the telescopic driving member 311 can adopt a linear cylinder, and the rotating driving member 312 can adopt a rotating cylinder. In order to avoid relative movement between the driving shaft of the rotating cylinder and the rotating shaft 324 when the rotating cylinder drives the rotating shaft 324 to rotate, a groove 3241 is provided at one end of the rotating shaft 324 close to the center of the turntable 111, and a protrusion 3121 that matches the groove 3241 is provided on the driving shaft of the rotating cylinder.

[0082] The working process of the flipping device 300 is as follows: after sealing one side of the microfluidic chip body, the conveying mechanism 110 of the station switching device 100 drives the microfluidic chip body to move to the flipping station 40. At this time, the rotating shaft 324 of the rotating support assembly 320 and the telescopic driving member 311 in the flipping driving assembly 310 are located on the same radial direction of the turntable 111. The driving part of the telescopic driving member 311 in the flipping driving assembly 310 extends out and presses against one end of the rotating shaft 324 close to the center of the turntable 111, so that the rotating shaft 324 overcomes the elastic force of the elastic reset member 322 to drive the positioning module 120 and the microfluidic chip body to extend outward, thereby avoiding interference between the positioning module 120 and the microfluidic chip body and the turntable 111 during the flipping process. Subsequently, the rotating drive member 312 drives the rotating shaft 324 to rotate, causing the positioning module 120 and the microfluidic chip body to flip 180°. Then, the telescopic drive member 311 in the flipping drive assembly 310 retracts, and at the same time, the rotating support assembly 320 is reset under the action of the elastic reset member 322.

[0083] The microfluidic chip body with one side sealed is flipped over by the flipping device 300 so that the unsealed side faces upward, which facilitates the second film sealing device 400 to perform the film sealing operation on the microfluidic chip body from top to bottom. This design ensures that the first film sealing device 200 and the second film sealing device 400 are both located above the corresponding workstations, which facilitates the installation and arrangement of the first film sealing device 200 and the second film sealing device 400 on the mounting plate 1110 of the equipment rack 1000. During later use, the replacement of the film roll and the later maintenance of the first film sealing device 200 and the second film sealing device 400 are also more convenient.

[0084] In the embodiment of the present application, the second film sealing device 400 has the same structure as the first film sealing device 200 in the above embodiment, so as to facilitate the assembly of the equipment and subsequent maintenance.

[0085] The double-sided film coating operation of the microfluidic chip body is completed by the first film coating device 200 and the second film coating device 400 respectively. Compared with manual operation, the film coating is firm, the stability is more reliable, and the product consistency is good.

[0086] It can be understood that in order to ensure that the packaging film covers 100% of the front and back sides of the microfluidic chip body, the size of the packaging film covering the front and back sides of the microfluidic chip body by the first sealing device 200 and the second sealing device 400 in the above embodiment is larger than the size of the microfluidic chip body. In order to ensure the final process requirements (the membrane can extend beyond the outer edge of the flow channel by a distance L≤0.2mm), it is necessary to remove the excess packaging film on the microfluidic chip body.

[0087] See also Figure 3-Figure 4 and Fig.11 As shown, a shaping station 60 is also arranged between the second film sealing station 50 and the airtightness detection station 70. The microfluidic chip production equipment also includes a shaping device 900 arranged corresponding to the shaping station 60. The shaping device 900 is arranged on the mounting plate 1110 of the equipment frame 1000. The shaping device 900 is used to remove excess packaging film on the microfluidic chip body that exceeds the edge of the microfluidic chip body after double-sided lamination.

[0088] The shaping device 900 includes a laser cutter 910, a waste film removal mechanism 920 (including a micro cylinder 921 and a finger cylinder 922 arranged on the micro cylinder 921), and a flipping mechanism 930. When the microfluidic chip body after double-sided film sealing moves to the shaping station 60 under the drive of the station switching device 100, the finger cylinder 922 in the waste film removal mechanism 920 clamps the edge of the packaging film on one side of the microfluidic chip body. Subsequently, the laser cutter 910 located above the shaping station 60 emits a high-energy laser, and the laser cuts the packaging film along the edge of the microfluidic chip body. After the cutting is completed, the micro cylinder 921 of the waste film removal mechanism 920 drives the finger cylinder 922 to remove the waste film. Subsequently, the flipping mechanism flips the microfluidic chip body over, and the above steps are repeated to shape the packaging film on the other side.

[0089] The flipping mechanism 930 is disposed on the mounting plate 130 , and the specific structure may refer to the flipping driving assembly 310 in the flipping device 300 in the above embodiment.

[0090] In one embodiment, if Figure 3-Figure 4 and Figure 12-13As shown, the airtightness detection device 500 includes a sealing detector (not shown in the figure), a bracket 510, an air filling head 520, a first lifting module 530 and a first telescopic translation module 540. The first lifting module 530 is arranged above the airtightness detection station 70 through the bracket 510, the first telescopic translation module 540 is arranged on the first lifting module 530, the air filling head 520 is arranged on the first telescopic translation module 540 and connected to the air source interface of the sealing detector through a pipeline, and the air filling head 520 can move up and down under the action of the first lifting module 530, and move in the plane where the microfluidic chip is located under the action of the first telescopic translation module 540, so as to dock with the inlet and outlet of the microfluidic chip or detach from the inlet and outlet of the microfluidic chip. Among them, the first lifting module 530 and the first telescopic translation module 540 can both use linear cylinders, and only one of the linear cylinders needs to be arranged vertically, and the other one is arranged horizontally and the cylinder body is fixed to the piston end of the vertically arranged linear cylinder.

[0091] The sealing detector uses compressed air to rush into the inside of the microfluidic chip, and obtains the amount of air leakage through precise calculation, thereby accurately analyzing the sealing effect of the microfluidic chip. Specifically, when the sealing detector is started, the gas source injects a certain volume of gas into the flow channel through the inlet and outlet through the inflation head 520, and automatically cuts off the air supply after reaching the detection pressure (the inflation pressure is 300Kpa), and enters the voltage stabilization stage (test time 10S). During the voltage stabilization, the data changes of the detector can be clearly seen, first fast and then slow, and then tend to be stable. If it is not sealed and there is a phenomenon of air leakage, the leakage value display data in the instrument will also become larger and larger, and the pressure value will decrease at the same time. If there is no leakage, the gas will be in a constant state after inflation, and the pressure value and leakage value displayed on the instrument will also be relatively stable. Finally, the pressure sensor can obtain the gas leakage value through a series of calculations according to the air pressure change. The leakage value is judged to be qualified within 0.1Kpa, and it is judged to be unqualified if it is greater than 0.1Kpa. The sealing of the microfluidic chip is detected according to the leakage value. The sealing tester is an existing technology, and the sealing tester produced by Harris Corporation can be used. Its detailed structure and working principle are not described here.

[0092] It should be noted that the air tightness detection device 500 can detect the microfluidic chip formed after the coating is completed, which can not only accurately determine whether the microfluidic chip is qualified or not, but also can apply pressure to the composite membrane on both sides of the microfluidic chip body to make it bulge outward during the air tightness detection process, so as to avoid the composite membrane in the detection area on both sides having obvious concave and reducing the flow channel volume, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the detection results in subsequent use. Exemplarily, in one implementation, 1.75mm≤membrane spacing H≤1.95mm.

[0093] In one embodiment, if Figure 3-Figure 4As shown, the microfluidic chip production equipment also includes a good product unloading device 600 and an NG unloading device 700. After the microfluidic chip is tested by the airtightness detection device 500, it passes through the good product unloading station 80 and the NG unloading station 90 in sequence under the drive of the station switching device 100. The good product unloading device 600 is used to unload the microfluidic chip that is on the good product unloading station 80 and has passed the airtightness test; the NG unloading device 700 is used to unload the microfluidic chip that is on the NG unloading station 90 and has failed the airtightness test. The control device uses the good product unloading device 600 and the NG unloading device 700 to unload the qualified products and the unqualified products respectively according to the test results. The microfluidic chip production equipment can replace manual film sealing, airtightness detection and classification of the microfluidic chip body, thereby improving product quality and production efficiency.

[0094] In one embodiment, if Figure 3-Figure 4 and Fig.14 As shown, the good product unloading device 600 and the NG unloading device 700 have the same structure, both of which include a support frame 710, a vacuum suction cup 720, a second lifting module 730 and a second telescopic translation module 740. The second lifting module 730 is arranged on the support frame 710, the second telescopic translation module 740 is arranged on the second lifting module 730, and the vacuum suction cup 720 is arranged on the second telescopic translation module 740. The vacuum suction cup 720 can move up and down under the action of the second lifting module 730, and move in the plane where the microfluidic chip is located under the action of the second telescopic translation module 740 to absorb and transfer the microfluidic chip. Among them, the second lifting module 730 and the second telescopic translation module 740 can both use linear cylinders, and only one of the linear cylinders needs to be arranged vertically, and the other one needs to be arranged horizontally and the cylinder body needs to be fixed to the piston end of the vertically arranged linear cylinder.

[0095] like Figure 2 As shown, in order to collect qualified products and NG products separately, a material box 2000 for collecting qualified products and NG products separately is provided under the mounting plate 1110 in the equipment rack 1000.

[0096] The utility model also provides a method for using the microfluidic chip production device as described in the previous embodiment, comprising the following steps:

[0097] S1. Positioning the microfluidic chip body on the positioning module 120 on the loading station 10;

[0098] S2. The microfluidic chip body is switched to the first film sealing station 30 under the action of the station switching device 100, and the first film sealing device 200 seals one side of the microfluidic chip body;

[0099] S3. The microfluidic chip body is switched to the flipping station 40 under the action of the station switching device 100, and the flipping station 40 flips the microfluidic chip body so that the unsealed side faces upward;

[0100] S4. The microfluidic chip body is switched to the second film sealing station 50 under the action of the station switching device 100, and the second film sealing device 400 seals the unsealed side of the microfluidic chip body to form a microfluidic chip;

[0101] S5. The microfluidic chip is switched to the airtightness detection station 70 for airtightness detection under the action of the station switching device 100;

[0102] S6. The microfluidic chip that passes the inspection is switched to the good product unloading station 80 under the action of the station switching device 100, and is unloaded through the good product unloading device 600; the microfluidic chip that fails the inspection is switched to the NG unloading station 90 under the action of the station switching device 100, and is unloaded through the NG unloading device 700.

[0103] The technical features of the above embodiments may be combined arbitrarily. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0104] The above embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the application. It should be pointed out that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims

1. A microfluidic chip production device, characterized in that: include: A station switching device (100) comprises a conveying mechanism (110) and a plurality of positioning modules (120) arranged on the conveying mechanism (110) for positioning a microfluidic chip body, wherein the plurality of positioning modules (120) can sequentially pass through a loading station (10), a first film sealing station (30), a flipping station (40), a second film sealing station (50), and an airtightness detection station (70) under the action of the conveying mechanism (110); A first film sealing device (200) is used to seal the front surface of the microfluidic chip body located at the first film sealing station (30); A flipping device (300) is used to flip the front and back sides of the microfluidic chip body located at the flipping station (40); A second film sealing device (400) is used to seal the reverse side of the microfluidic chip body located at the second film sealing station (50) to form a microfluidic chip; as well as The airtightness detection device (500) is used to perform airtightness detection on the microfluidic chip located at the airtightness detection station (70).

2. The microfluidic chip production equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The conveying mechanism (110) comprises a turntable (111) and a driving mechanism (112) for driving the turntable (111) to rotate, and a plurality of positioning modules (120) are evenly arranged on the turntable (111) along the circumferential direction.

3. The microfluidic chip production equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first film sealing device (200) comprises a vertical plate (210) and an unwinding mechanism (220), a vacuum adsorption plate (230), a film pulling mechanism (240), a hot pressing welding mechanism (250) and a cutting mechanism (260) arranged on the vertical plate (210); the unwinding mechanism (220) is used to install a film roll to be used; the vacuum adsorption plate (230) is located at one side of the first film sealing station (30); the movable end of the film roll is led out of the unwinding mechanism (220) to be adsorbed by the vacuum adsorption plate (230); the film pulling mechanism (240) can be moved from one side of the first film sealing station (30) relative to the vertical plate (210). Move to the other side to pull the active end of the film roll from the vacuum adsorption plate (230) to the other side of the first film sealing station (30); the hot pressure welding mechanism (250) is located directly above the first film sealing station (30), and the hot pressure welding mechanism (250) is used to hot-press and weld the packaging film pulled out by the film pulling mechanism (240) to the microfluidic chip body on the first film sealing station (30); the cutting mechanism (260) is located between the vacuum adsorption plate (230) and the hot pressure welding mechanism (250), and the cutting mechanism (260) is used to cut the packaging film pulled out by the film pulling mechanism (240).

4. The microfluidic chip production equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that: The unwinding mechanism (220) comprises a rotating shaft rotatably arranged on the vertical plate (210) and a damping member arranged between the rotating shaft and the vertical plate (210), and the film to be used is wound on the rotating shaft; and / or The film-tearing mechanism (240) comprises a linear module (241) arranged on the vertical plate (210) and a clamping jaw (242) arranged on the linear module (241), and the clamping jaw (242) is capable of reciprocating between one side and the other side of the first film sealing station (30) under the drive of the linear module (241); and / or The hot pressure welding mechanism (250) comprises a hot pressure lifting module (251) arranged on the vertical plate (210) and a heat sealing block (252) arranged at the movable end of the hot pressure lifting module (251); the hot pressure lifting module (251) is arranged above the first film sealing station (30); the heat sealing block (252) has a heating element; the heat sealing block (252) can move up and down under the drive of the hot pressure lifting module (251) to weld the packaging film to the microfluidic chip body.

5. The microfluidic chip production equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that: A shaping station (60) is also arranged between the second film sealing station (50) and the airtightness detection station (70), and the microfluidic chip production equipment also includes a shaping device (900) arranged corresponding to the shaping station (60), and the shaping device (900) is used to remove excess packaging film on the microfluidic chip body that exceeds the edge of the microfluidic chip body after double-sided lamination.

6. The microfluidic chip production equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that: The flipping device (300) comprises a flipping driving assembly (310) and a plurality of rotating support assemblies (320), wherein the plurality of rotating support assemblies (320) are evenly arranged on the turntable (111) along the circumferential direction, and the plurality of positioning modules (120) are respectively arranged on the plurality of rotating support assemblies (320) in a one-to-one correspondence, and the rotating support assemblies (320) comprise a bottom plate (321), an elastic reset member (322), a bearing seat (323) and a rotating shaft (324), and the bottom plate (321) is fixed to the The bearing seat (323) is slidably arranged on the bottom plate (321) along the radial direction of the turntable (111), the elastic reset member (322) is arranged between the bearing seat (323) and the bottom plate (321), the rotating shaft (324) is parallel to the radial direction of the turntable (111) and is rotatably arranged on the bearing seat (323) through a bearing, and the positioning module (120) is arranged at an end of the rotating shaft (324) away from the center of the turntable (111); A mounting plate (130) having a diameter smaller than that of the mounting plate (111) is coaxially arranged above the rotating plate (111); the rotating plate (111) rotates around the axis of the mounting plate (130) under the action of the driving mechanism (112); the flipping driving assembly (310) is arranged on the mounting plate (130); the flipping driving assembly (310) comprises a telescopic driving member (311) fixed on the mounting plate (130) and a rotating driving member (312) arranged at the driving end of the telescopic driving member (311); the rotating driving member (312) can move along the radial direction of the rotating plate (111) under the drive of the telescopic driving member (311) and abut against one end of the rotating shaft (324) close to the center of the rotating plate (111); the rotating driving member (312) can drive the rotating shaft (324) to rotate, so as to drive the positioning module (120) to flip forward and backward.

7. The microfluidic chip production equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The airtightness detection device (500) comprises a sealing detector, a bracket (510), an inflation head (520), a first lifting module (530) and a first telescopic translation module (540), wherein the first lifting module (530) is arranged above the airtightness detection station (70) through the bracket (510), the first telescopic translation module (540) is arranged on the first lifting module (530), the inflation head (520) is arranged on the first telescopic translation module (540) and is connected to the air source interface of the sealing detector through a pipeline, and the inflation head (520) can move up and down under the action of the first lifting module (530) and move in the plane where the microfluidic chip is located under the action of the first telescopic translation module (540) to dock with the inlet and outlet of the microfluidic chip or detach from the inlet and outlet of the microfluidic chip.

8. The microfluidic chip production equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The invention also comprises a good product unloading device (600) and an NG product unloading device (700). After the microfluidic chip is detected by the air-tightness detection device (500), it passes through the good product unloading station (80) and the NG product unloading station (90) in sequence under the drive of the station switching device (100). The good product unloading device (600) is used to unload the microfluidic chip that is on the good product unloading station (80) and has passed the air-tightness detection; and the NG product unloading device (700) is used to unload the microfluidic chip that is on the NG product unloading station (90) and has failed the air-tightness detection.

9. The microfluidic chip production equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that: The good product unloading device (600) and the NG product unloading device (700) have the same structure, and both include a support frame (710), a vacuum suction cup (720), a second lifting module (730) and a second telescopic translation module (740). The second lifting module (730) is arranged on the support frame (710), the second telescopic translation module (740) is arranged on the second lifting module (730), and the vacuum suction cup (720) is arranged on the second telescopic translation module (740). The vacuum suction cup (720) can move up and down under the action of the second lifting module (730) and move in the plane where the microfluidic chip is located under the action of the second telescopic translation module (740) to adsorb and transfer the microfluidic chip.

10. The microfluidic chip production equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: At least two clamping positions (121) for fixing the microfluidic chip body are arranged side by side on the positioning module (120).

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