Automatic film coating equipment for biosensor

Abstract

The utility model provides automatic film coating equipment for a biosensor, the automatic film coating equipment is provided with an automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism and a closed cavity for coating, the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism is connected with the closed cavity through a connecting pipeline, and the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism comprises an atmosphere generating device, an atmosphere transferring device and a pressure detecting device, the atmosphere generating device and the atmosphere transferring device are arranged in the automatic atmosphere keeping mechanism, and the pressure monitoring device is arranged in the closed cavity. And when the atmosphere in the closed cavity is lower than the preset range, the atmosphere in the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism is transferred into the closed cavity through the connecting pipeline, so that the atmosphere change of the closed cavity in the coating process is effectively reduced, and the coating is more uniform and stable. The automatic film coating equipment for the biosensor further comprises an automatic feeding mechanism, an automatic taking and placing mechanism, an automatic discharging mechanism and a controller. In addition, assembly line automatic film coating can be carried out, the product quality is high, the operation consistency is good, and the device is suitable for large-scale production.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of biosensor coating, specifically, it relates to an automated biosensor coating device. Background Technology

[0002] Since the amount of biological enzymes carried by biosensors is limited, if we want to expand the linear detection range, we must limit the diffusion of the analyte. Therefore, biosensors need to be coated with one or even multiple polymer outer membranes to achieve mass transfer restriction.

[0003] Since most polymer materials need to be dissolved in organic solvents or aqueous solutions containing organic solvents, and organic solvents are volatile, the polymer outer film solution is easily affected by the environment, and its concentration is prone to change. The coating process is also easily affected by the environment; for example, temperature, humidity, and airflow can all lead to uneven film thickness and defects such as pinholes. Therefore, coating equipment should be able to provide a stable temperature and humidity within a sealed cavity, and the cavity should have a gaseous atmosphere similar to that of the solvent to reduce the impact of solvent evaporation.

[0004] To achieve automated production, the equipment should also have key mechanisms such as automatic loading and unloading, automatic pick-and-place, automatic liquid addition, automatic coating, and cleaning and recycling mechanisms, in order to minimize human intervention and improve production quality and efficiency.

[0005] Existing coating equipment for biosensors includes spin coating equipment, slot coating equipment, dip coating equipment, and spray coating equipment, implemented through both manual and automatic coating machines. Among these, dip coating equipment has a relatively simple structure and is more likely to produce highly consistent film layers, thus it is widely used for coating the outer membranes of biosensors. However, both manual and automatic coating machines offer little guarantee in terms of atmosphere maintenance. If the operation is not rapid enough after the coating chamber door is opened, the atmosphere escapes, the solvent in the membrane solution evaporates more quickly, and the concentration on the upper surface is higher than the overall concentration, resulting in significant membrane solution loss and concentration fluctuations. Furthermore, the large airflow during door opening and closing causes excessively long waiting times for the atmosphere to stabilize.

[0006] CN113786970A discloses an automated coating equipment for sensors and a coating method using the equipment. Although the equipment uses a sealed cavity, it only employs a membrane solution storage device with a limited volume, and the membrane solution concentration is still easily affected. CN113546815A discloses a coating equipment for producing high-efficiency implantable biosensors, which uses a sealed coating chamber and adds an atmosphere pool to help maintain the membrane solution concentration. However, it still requires operators to manually place the sensor assembly onto the sensor assembly transport plate, making automated production difficult. CN221311243U discloses a production equipment for batch coating of CGMS sensors. Although it uses a sealed cavity and circulating membrane solution, it cannot guarantee the stability of the membrane solution concentration and lacks an automation module, making automated production difficult.

[0007] Therefore, there is an urgent need for an automated coating equipment to solve the above problems. Utility Model Content

[0008] To address the difficulties of existing technologies, this invention provides an automated coating equipment for biosensors. The equipment includes an automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism and a sealed cavity for coating. The automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism is connected to the sealed cavity via a connecting pipeline. The automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism includes an atmosphere generating device, an atmosphere transferring device, and a pressure detection device. The atmosphere generating device and the atmosphere transferring device are located within the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism, while the pressure monitoring device is located within the sealed cavity. When the atmosphere in the sealed cavity falls below a preset range, the atmosphere in the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism is rapidly transferred to the sealed cavity through the connecting pipeline, effectively reducing atmosphere changes in the sealed cavity during the coating process and resulting in a more uniform and stable coating. The automated coating equipment for biosensors also includes an automatic feeding mechanism, an automatic pick-and-place mechanism, an automatic unloading mechanism, and a controller. Furthermore, this invention enables automated coating on a production line, resulting in high product quality, good operational consistency, and suitability for large-scale production.

[0009] An automated coating device for biosensors includes an automated atmosphere maintaining mechanism and a sealed cavity for coating. The automated atmosphere maintaining mechanism includes an atmosphere generating device, an atmosphere transferring device, and a pressure monitoring device. The automated atmosphere maintaining mechanism and the sealed cavity are connected by connecting pipelines.

[0010] The automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism is used to reduce changes in atmosphere, solvent evaporation, and membrane liquid concentration within the sealed cavity to achieve uniform and stable coating in the coating equipment.

[0011] Furthermore, the atmosphere generating device includes a first solvent container and a first automatic solvent adding mechanism; the first solvent container is disposed at the bottom of the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism, and the first automatic solvent adding mechanism is disposed on the inner wall of the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism; a heating device is also disposed at the bottom of the first solvent container.

[0012] Furthermore, the atmosphere transfer device includes a fan, an automatic control valve, and a connecting pipeline. The automatic control valve is disposed within the connecting pipeline, and the fan is disposed within the inner wall of the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism. The pressure monitoring device is disposed within the inner wall of the sealed cavity.

[0013] When the sealed cavity is coated, an atmosphere is formed inside the sealed cavity. Then, the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism starts to work. At this time, the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism forms an atmosphere through the atmosphere generating device. If the pressure monitoring device detects that the pressure inside the sealed cavity has not reached the preset range, the automatic control valve in the connecting pipeline and the fan in the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism will automatically open, quickly transferring the atmosphere in the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism to the sealed cavity through the connecting pipeline. When the atmosphere in the sealed cavity reaches the preset range, the fan and the automatic control valve will automatically close.

[0014] In some methods, the pressure monitoring device installed in the sealed cavity uses a high-precision headspace pressure monitoring sensor, which makes the process of atmosphere reconstruction after the sealed cavity is opened efficient and controllable, eliminating the inefficient method of control by waiting time.

[0015] Furthermore, the sealed cavity also includes a second automatic solvent addition mechanism, an automatic membrane liquid addition mechanism, and an automatic coating mechanism; the automatic solvent addition mechanism adds solvent to the second solvent container through an automatic solvent addition device; the automatic membrane liquid addition mechanism adds membrane liquid to the membrane liquid storage device through a membrane liquid addition pipeline; the automatic coating mechanism includes a sensor carrier placement mechanism and a membrane liquid storage device placement mechanism, and the sensor carrier placement mechanism is movable vertically.

[0016] Furthermore, the automatic membrane liquid dispensing mechanism also includes a membrane liquid distribution device. When a new empty membrane liquid storage device is placed and fixed in a sealed cavity, the membrane liquid distribution device quantitatively injects membrane liquid into the membrane liquid storage device through the membrane liquid dispensing pipeline. The membrane liquid distribution device can be a multi-channel peristaltic pump or an injection pump.

[0017] The membrane solution storage device is a cubic container for storing membrane solution, with slots on two opposite sides. Two fixing plates, matching the slots, are provided on the membrane solution storage device placement mechanism to secure the storage device between them. The sensor carrier is a rectangular plate with a biosensor fixed at its lower end and a slot at its upper end. A protruding structure matching the slot is provided on the sensor carrier placement mechanism to fix the sensor carrier to the mechanism. Because the sensor carrier placement mechanism holds the sensor, during the coating process, the repeated up-and-down movement of the mechanism causes the sensor to repeatedly pick up the membrane solution located in the membrane solution storage device to complete the coating.

[0018] Furthermore, the sealed cavity also includes an automatic opening and closing door and an observation window, wherein the automatic opening and closing door is displaced by a door moving mechanism of the sealed cavity.

[0019] The observation window is installed on the automatic door, and the sealed cavity door moving mechanism drives the automatic door to move up and down to achieve automatic opening and closing.

[0020] Furthermore, the sealed cavity is also equipped with a temperature and humidity transmitter for monitoring the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere.

[0021] Furthermore, it also includes an automatic feeding mechanism, which comprises a first sensor carrier storage mechanism and a membrane liquid storage device storage mechanism.

[0022] The first sensor carrier storage mechanism is used to store uncoated sensors and sensor carriers, and the membrane liquid storage device storage mechanism is used to store unused membrane liquid storage devices.

[0023] Furthermore, the first sensor carrier storage mechanism includes a sensor carrier storage unit, a spindle, a first lifting mechanism, and a first rotating mechanism, wherein the sensor carrier storage unit is arranged around the spindle; the membrane liquid storage device storage mechanism includes a membrane liquid storage device storage unit, a base, a second lifting mechanism, and a second rotating mechanism, wherein the membrane liquid storage device storage unit is arranged around the inner side of the outer edge of the base.

[0024] In the first sensor carrier storage mechanism, the mandrel is a cylindrical structure with a first lifting mechanism and a first rotating mechanism connected to its bottom. A groove is provided on the outer surface of the mandrel. The sensor carrier storage unit is a hollow disc structure. Its outermost ring can fix sensor carriers, and its inner edge has multiple fasteners. These fasteners can be connected to the grooves on the mandrel with bolts to fix the sensor carrier storage unit to the mandrel. One or more sensor carrier storage units can be fixed on one mandrel. The mandrel can be raised, lowered, and rotated via the first lifting mechanism and the first rotating mechanism. When a sensor carrier in one of the sensor carrier storage units is removed by the automatic pick-and-place mechanism, the mandrel rotates at a certain angle to align another new sensor carrier with the automatic pick-and-place mechanism for it to grasp. When all sensor carriers within the grasping range of the automatic pick-and-place mechanism have been grasped, the mandrel adjusts its height via the first lifting mechanism, allowing a new sensor carrier to re-enter the grasping range of the automatic pick-and-place mechanism.

[0025] In some configurations, eight sensor carrier storage units are fixed on the spindle.

[0026] In the membrane fluid storage device mechanism, the base is a hollow disc, with a second lifting mechanism and a second rotating mechanism connected to its bottom. The membrane fluid storage unit is a cubic structure with regularly arranged cubic spaces, each space used to store a membrane fluid storage device. Fixing devices are provided on the left, right, and rear sides of the bottom of the membrane fluid storage unit, securing it to the base. One or more membrane fluid storage units can be fixed to one base. The base can be raised, lowered, or rotated via the second lifting and rotating mechanisms. When a membrane fluid storage device in one storage unit is removed by the automatic pick-and-place mechanism, the base rotates at a certain angle to align another new membrane fluid storage device with the automatic pick-and-place mechanism for it to grasp. Once all membrane fluid storage devices within the grasping range of the automatic pick-and-place mechanism have been grasped, the base adjusts its height via the second lifting mechanism, allowing new membrane fluid storage devices to return to the grasping range of the automatic pick-and-place mechanism.

[0027] In some configurations, six membrane liquid storage units are fixed to the base.

[0028] Furthermore, it also includes an automatic pick-and-place mechanism, which includes a clamping mechanism and a moving mechanism.

[0029] The automatic pick-and-place mechanism is a structure that can move freely according to vision or coordinates, used to pick up and place sensor carriers and membrane liquid storage devices. It can be a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm / manipulator or a three-axis linear module / three-axis linear guide.

[0030] In some embodiments, the moving mechanism is a three-axis linear module / three-axis linear guide, including an X-direction moving mechanism, a Y-direction moving mechanism, and a Z-direction moving mechanism. The X-direction moving mechanism is provided with an X-direction moving axis, the Y-direction moving mechanism is provided with a Y-direction moving axis, and the Z-direction moving mechanism is provided with a Z-direction moving axis.

[0031] Furthermore, the clamping mechanism includes a sensor carrier clamping mechanism and a membrane liquid storage device clamping mechanism, which are displaced by a moving mechanism.

[0032] The sensor carrier clamping mechanism and the membrane liquid storage device clamping mechanism constitute a set of clamping mechanisms, and the moving mechanism may be equipped with one or more sets of clamping mechanisms.

[0033] In some methods, the sensor carrier clamping mechanism and the membrane liquid storage device clamping mechanism are jointly fixed to a directional moving axis, moving back and forth along the X-axis. The X-axis is connected to the Z-axis, which in turn moves the sensor carrier clamping mechanism and the membrane liquid storage device clamping mechanism vertically. The Z-axis is also connected to the Y-axis, which moves the sensor carrier clamping mechanism and the membrane liquid storage device clamping mechanism horizontally. The Z-axis moving mechanism has two Z-axis, which can connect to two X-axis. Each X-axis has a clamping mechanism fixed to it, allowing both clamping mechanisms to simultaneously pick up and place the sensor carrier and the membrane liquid storage device, thus improving the overall coating efficiency.

[0034] Furthermore, it also includes an automatic feeding mechanism and a controller. The feeding mechanism includes a second sensor carrier storage mechanism and a waste membrane liquid storage mechanism. The second sensor carrier storage mechanism is the same as the first sensor carrier storage mechanism. The number of the sealed cavities includes one or more.

[0035] The second sensor carrier storage mechanism is used to store biosensor carriers loaded with coated membranes, and the waste membrane liquid storage mechanism is used to recycle used membrane liquid storage devices.

[0036] The controller can set various parameters of the automated coating equipment, such as the moving speed of the automatic coating mechanism, coating speed, coating length, waiting time, etc.

[0037] In some methods, four sealed cavities are set up, and the coating of biosensors is carried out simultaneously in all four sealed cavities, thereby accelerating production efficiency.

[0038] Furthermore, it also includes a workbench, on which the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism, the sealed cavity, the automatic feeding mechanism, the automatic picking and placing mechanism, the automatic unloading mechanism, and the controller are all mounted.

[0039] This utility model has the following beneficial effects:

[0040] (1) An automatic atmosphere holding mechanism and a sealed cavity for coating are provided, wherein the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism and the sealed cavity are connected by a connecting pipeline;

[0041] (2) The automatic atmosphere holding mechanism includes an atmosphere generating device, an atmosphere transferring device, and a pressure detection device. The atmosphere generating device and the atmosphere transferring device are located inside the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism, and the pressure detection device is located inside the sealed cavity. When the atmosphere inside the sealed cavity is lower than the preset range, the atmosphere in the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism is quickly transferred to the sealed cavity through the connecting pipeline, which effectively reduces the atmosphere change in the sealed cavity during the coating process, reduces solvent evaporation, reduces the change in film liquid concentration, and makes the coating more uniform and stable.

[0042] (3) The automated coating equipment for biosensors also includes an automatic feeding mechanism, an automatic picking and placing mechanism, an automatic unloading mechanism, and a controller;

[0043] (4) The use of a high-precision headspace pressure monitoring sensor makes the process of atmosphere reconstruction after opening the cavity efficient and controllable, and abandons the inefficient method of controlling by waiting time.

[0044] (5) This utility model can perform automated coating on the production line, with high product quality and good operational consistency, and is suitable for large-scale production. Attached Figure Description

[0045] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the overall structure of an automated coating equipment for biosensors Figure 1 ;

[0046] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the overall structure of an automated coating equipment for biosensors Figure 2 ;

[0047] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the connection structure between the automatic atmosphere maintenance mechanism and the sealed cavity;

[0048] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of the automatic atmosphere maintenance mechanism;

[0049] Figure 5 Perspective view of the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism;

[0050] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the internal structure of a sealed cavity Figure 1 ;

[0051] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the internal structure of a sealed cavity Figure 2 ;

[0052] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the internal structure of a sealed cavity Figure 3 ;

[0053] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the sealed cavity;

[0054] Figure 10 Schematic diagrams of the first sensor carrier storage mechanism and the second sensor carrier storage mechanism;

[0055] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the sensor carrier storage unit structure;

[0056] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the membrane liquid storage device's structure.

[0057] Figure 13Top view of the membrane liquid storage device storage mechanism;

[0058] Figure 14 Schematic diagram of the pick-and-place mechanism Figure 1 ;

[0059] Figure 15 Schematic diagram of the pick-and-place mechanism Figure 2 ;

[0060] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of the automatic feeding mechanism.

[0061] Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the waste membrane liquid storage device. Detailed Implementation

[0062] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be noted that the embodiments described below are intended to facilitate the understanding of the present invention and do not constitute any limitation thereof.

[0063] Example 1: An automated coating device for biosensors

[0064] like Figure 1-2 As shown, an automated coating equipment for biosensors includes an automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism 1, a sealed cavity 2, an automatic feeding mechanism 3, an automatic picking and placing mechanism 4, an automatic unloading mechanism 5, a controller 6, and a worktable 7. The automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism 1, the sealed cavity 2, the automatic feeding mechanism 3, the automatic picking and placing mechanism 4, the automatic unloading mechanism 5, and the controller 6 are disposed on the worktable 7.

[0065] like Figure 3-6As shown, the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism 1 includes a first solvent container 8 and a first automatic solvent adding mechanism 9. A heating device 10 is installed at the bottom of the first solvent container 8. A fan 11 is installed on the inner wall of the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism 1. Four connecting pipes 12 are also installed on the inner wall of the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism 1, each connecting to one of four sealed cavities 2. Automatic control valves 13 are installed within the connecting pipes 12. A pressure monitoring device, specifically a high-precision headspace pressure sensor 14, is installed within each sealed cavity 2. The first solvent container 8 and the first automatic solvent adding mechanism 9 are used to create the atmosphere within the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism 1. The fan 11, connecting pipes 12, and automatic control valves 13 are used to accelerate the transfer of the atmosphere from the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism 1 to the sealed cavities 2. The high-precision headspace pressure sensor 14 is used to monitor the atmosphere pressure within the sealed cavities 2. The biosensor coating process takes place within the sealed cavities 2. The automatic atmosphere holding mechanism 1 reduces atmosphere variations within the sealed cavities 2, thus achieving uniform and stable coating. When the sealed cavity 2 is undergoing the coating process, if the high-precision headspace pressure monitoring sensor 14 detects that the pressure inside the sealed cavity 2 is lower than the preset range, the fan 11 and the automatic control valve 13 will be automatically turned on to quickly transfer the atmosphere in the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism 1 into the sealed cavity 2 through the connecting pipe 12. When the high-precision headspace pressure monitoring sensor 14 detects that the pressure inside the sealed cavity 2 rises to the preset range, the fan 11 and the automatic control valve 13 will be automatically turned off.

[0066] like Figure 6-8As shown, four sealed chambers 2 are provided, and the biosensor coating process is carried out simultaneously in all four sealed chambers 2, which can accelerate production efficiency. Each sealed chamber 2 is equipped with a second automatic solvent addition mechanism, an automatic membrane liquid addition mechanism, and an automatic coating mechanism. The second automatic solvent addition mechanism includes a second solvent container 15 and a second automatic solvent addition device 16. The automatic solvent addition device 16 injects solvent into the solvent container 15 through a conduit. When the sealed chamber 2 is in operation, the automatic solvent addition device 16 first injects solvent into the solvent container 15, and the solvent continuously evaporates, forming an atmosphere within the sealed chamber 2. The sealed chamber 2 is also equipped with a temperature and humidity transmitter for monitoring the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere. The automatic membrane liquid addition mechanism includes a membrane liquid distribution device and a membrane liquid addition pipeline 17. When a new empty membrane liquid storage container 18 is placed in the corresponding position within the sealed chamber 2, the membrane liquid distribution device quantitatively injects membrane liquid into the membrane liquid storage container 18 through the membrane liquid addition pipeline 17. The membrane liquid distribution device can be a multi-channel peristaltic pump or a syringe pump. The automated coating mechanism includes a sensor carrier placement mechanism 19 and a membrane solution storage device placement mechanism 20. The sensor carrier placement mechanism 19 can drive the sensor carrier 22, which carries the biosensor 21, to move up and down. The membrane solution storage device 18 is a cubic container for storing membrane solution, with slots 23 on its two opposite sides. Two fixing plates 24 that match the slots 23 are provided on the membrane solution storage device placement mechanism 20, which can hold the membrane solution storage device 18 between the two fixing plates 24. The sensor carrier 22 is a rectangular plate with the biosensor 21 fixed at its lower end and a slot 25 at its upper end. A protrusion structure 26 that matches the slot 25 is provided on the sensor carrier placement mechanism 19, which can fix the sensor carrier 22 to the sensor carrier placement mechanism 19. During the coating process, the sensor carrier placement mechanism 19 repeatedly moves up and down, causing the biosensor 21 to repeatedly dip into the membrane solution in the membrane solution storage device 18 to complete the coating.

[0067] like Figure 9 As shown, the sealed cavity 2 also includes an automatic opening and closing door 27 and an observation window 28, with the observation window 28 located on the automatic opening and closing door 27. The automatic opening and closing door 27 automatically opens and closes by moving up and down through the sealed cavity door moving mechanism 29. The automatic opening and closing door 27 is linked to the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4. When the clamping mechanism moves outside the automatic opening and closing door 27 to wait for work, the automatic opening and closing door 27 opens; when the clamping mechanism is completely removed from inside the automatic opening and closing door 27, the automatic opening and closing door 27 closes.

[0068] like Figure 10 , Figure 12 As shown, the automatic feeding mechanism 3 includes a first sensor carrier storage mechanism 30 and a membrane liquid storage device storage mechanism 37. The first sensor carrier storage mechanism 30 is used to store uncoated biosensors 21 and sensor carriers 22, and the membrane liquid storage device storage mechanism 37 is used to store unused membrane liquid storage devices 18.

[0069] like Figure 10-11 As shown, the first sensor carrier storage mechanism 30 includes a sensor carrier storage unit 31, a spindle 32, a first lifting mechanism 33, and a first rotating mechanism 34. The spindle 32 is a cylindrical structure, with the first lifting mechanism 33 and the first rotating mechanism 34 connected to its bottom. The sensor carrier storage unit 31 is a hollow disc structure, with its outermost ring capable of fixing sensor carriers 22. Its inner ring edge is provided with multiple fasteners 35 and handles 36. The fasteners 35 can be connected to the grooves of the spindle 32 with bolts to fix the sensor carrier storage unit 31 to the spindle 32. Eight sensor carrier storage units 31 can be fixed on one spindle 32, and each sensor carrier storage unit 31 can accommodate up to 256 sets of sensor carriers. The spindle 32 can be raised and lowered and rotated by the first lifting mechanism 33 and the first rotating mechanism 34. When one of the sensor carriers 22 in the sensor carrier storage unit 31 is taken out by the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4, the spindle 32 rotates by a certain angle through the first rotating mechanism 34 to align another new sensor carrier 22 with the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4 for it to grab. When all the sensor carriers 22 within the grabbing range of the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4 have been grabbed, the spindle 32 will adjust its height through the first lifting mechanism 33 so that the new sensor carrier 22 is back within the grabbing range of the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4.

[0070] like Figure 12-13 As shown, the membrane fluid storage device storage mechanism 37 includes a membrane fluid storage device storage unit 38, a base 39, a second lifting mechanism 40, and a second rotating mechanism 41. The base 39 is a hollow disc, with the second lifting mechanism 40 and the second rotating mechanism 41 connected to its bottom. The membrane fluid storage device storage unit 38 is a cubic structure with regularly arranged cubic spaces, each space used to store a membrane fluid storage device 18. Fixing devices 42 are provided on the left, right, and rear sides of the membrane fluid storage device storage unit 38, and a handle 43 is provided at its upper end. Six membrane fluid storage device storage units 38 are arranged around the inner side of the outer edge of the base 39 by the fixing devices 42, and each membrane fluid storage device storage unit 38 can accommodate up to 256 sets of membrane fluid storage devices. The base 39 can be raised or rotated via the second lifting mechanism 40 and the second rotating mechanism 41. When one of the membrane liquid storage units 38 is taken out by the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4, the base 39 rotates at a certain angle via the second rotating mechanism 41 to align another new membrane liquid storage unit 18 with the automatic pick-and-place mechanism for it to grab. When all the membrane liquid storage units 18 within the grabbing range of the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4 have been grabbed, the base 39 will adjust its height via the second lifting mechanism 40 so that the new membrane liquid storage unit 18 is back within the grabbing range of the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 3.

[0071] like Figure 14-15As shown, the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4 includes a clamping mechanism and a moving mechanism. The clamping mechanism includes a sensor carrier clamping mechanism 44 and a membrane liquid storage device clamping mechanism 45, with one carrier clamping mechanism 44 and one membrane liquid storage device clamping mechanism 45 forming a set of clamping mechanisms. The moving mechanism includes an X-direction moving mechanism 46, a Y-direction moving mechanism 47, and a Z-direction moving mechanism 48. The X-direction moving mechanism 46 has an X-direction moving axis, the Y-direction moving mechanism 47 has a Y-direction moving axis, and the Z-direction moving mechanism 48 has two Z-direction moving axes. The sensor carrier clamping mechanism 44 and the membrane liquid storage device clamping mechanism 45 are fixed together to the X-direction moving axis and move back and forth with the X-direction moving axis; the X-direction moving axis is connected to the Z-direction moving axis, and the Z-direction moving axis drives the sensor carrier clamping mechanism 44 and the membrane liquid storage device clamping mechanism 45 to move up and down; the Z-direction moving axis is connected to the Y-direction moving axis, and the Y-direction moving axis drives the sensor carrier clamping mechanism 44 and the membrane liquid storage device clamping mechanism 45 to move left and right. The Z-direction moving mechanism 48 is equipped with two Z-direction moving axes, which can be connected to two X-direction moving axes. Each X-direction moving axis is fixed with a clamping mechanism. Therefore, the two clamping mechanisms can simultaneously pick up and put down the sensor carrier 22 and the membrane liquid storage device 18, which improves the efficiency of the entire coating process.

[0072] like Figure 16-17 As shown, the automatic feeding mechanism 5 includes a second sensor carrier storage mechanism 49 and a waste membrane liquid storage mechanism 50. The second sensor carrier storage mechanism 49 is used to store the coated biosensor 21 and sensor carrier 22. Its structure is exactly the same as that of the first sensor carrier storage mechanism 30, and will not be described again. The waste membrane liquid storage mechanism 50 is an open device with a container connected below. After the coating is completed, the waste membrane liquid storage device 18 is moved above the open by the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 3 and then discarded into the container for recycling.

[0073] like Figure 16 As shown, controller 6 can set various parameters of the automated coating equipment, such as the moving speed of the automatic coating mechanism, coating speed, coating length, waiting time, etc.

[0074] The operating steps of the above-mentioned automated coating equipment for biosensors are as follows:

[0075] a) Place the biosensor 21 on the sensor carrier 22, and then place multiple sensor carriers 22 with biosensors 21 on the first sensor carrier storage unit 31;

[0076] b) Place multiple empty membrane liquid storage units 18 on the membrane liquid storage unit 38;

[0077] c) The automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4 picks up a sensor carrier 22 with a biosensor 21, and after the automatic opening and closing door 27 opens, it is placed in the sensor carrier placement mechanism 19, and then the automatic opening and closing door 27 closes automatically.

[0078] d) The automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4 picks up an empty membrane liquid storage container 18, and after the automatic opening and closing door 27 opens, it places it into the membrane liquid storage container placement mechanism 20, and then the automatic opening and closing door 27 closes automatically.

[0079] e) The second automatic solvent adding device 16 adds solvent to the second solvent container 15, and the solvent evaporates to form an atmosphere in the sealed cavity 2;

[0080] f) The membrane liquid addition line 17 adds a preset volume of membrane liquid to the membrane liquid storage container 18;

[0081] g) When the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism 1 starts working, the first automatic solvent adding mechanism 9 adds solvent to the first solvent container 8. The solvent evaporates and forms an atmosphere in the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism 1. At this time, the automatic control valve 13 is closed. When the high-precision headspace pressure monitoring sensor 14 detects that the pressure in the sealed cavity 2 has not reached the preset range value, the automatic control valve 13 and the fan 11 are automatically opened to quickly transfer the atmosphere in the automatic atmosphere holding mechanism 1 to the sealed cavity 2 through the connecting pipe 12. When the high-precision headspace pressure monitoring sensor 14 detects that the pressure in the sealed cavity 2 has risen to the preset range, the fan 11 and the automatic control valve 13 are automatically closed.

[0082] h) Wait until the pressure reaches the preset range, then the automatic coating mechanism will apply the coating, with 1-5 coating cycles.

[0083] i) When the automatic door 27 opens, the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4 takes out the sensor carrier 22 with sensor 21 and places it in the second sensor carrier storage mechanism 49 of the automatic unloading mechanism 5;

[0084] j) When the automatic door 27 opens, the automatic pick-and-place mechanism 4 takes out the membrane liquid storage unit 18 and discards it into the waste membrane liquid storage unit storage mechanism 50 for recycling.

[0085] k) Repeat step cj until all biosensors 21 are coated.

[0086] Example 2: Comparison of different coating equipment

[0087] This embodiment uses the vertically oriented automatic coating machine in CN208679598U and the automated biosensor coating equipment provided in Example 1 to conduct coating experiments on the biosensor, and then uses an electrochemical workstation to perform IT tests on the sensor. The vertically oriented automatic coating machine in CN208679598U has a manual door opening and closing mechanism and a solvent container, but lacks an automatic atmosphere maintenance mechanism. The automated biosensor coating equipment provided in Example 1 has an automatic door opening and closing mechanism, a solvent container, an automatic loading and unloading mechanism, and an automatic atmosphere maintenance mechanism. The experiments are set up in the following five groups:

[0088] Group 1: Ten sensors (glucose sensors were selected for this test) were coated using a coating machine provided in CN208679598U. The ten sensors were mounted on ten carriers, each corresponding to a membrane solution tank. The carriers and tanks were manually placed. After the coating process was repeated five times, the sensors were removed and the membrane solution tanks were discarded. Then, the sensors were tested for glucose (0-20 mmol / L) using an electrochemical workstation.

[0089] Group 2: Ten sensors (glucose sensors were selected for this test) were coated using two coating machines provided in CN208679598U, with five sensors coated by each machine. The ten sensors were mounted on ten carriers, each corresponding to a membrane solution tank. The carriers and tanks were manually placed. After five coating cycles, the sensors were removed and the membrane solution tanks were discarded. Then, an electrochemical workstation was used to perform glucose itinerary tests on the sensors from 0 to 20 mmol / L.

[0090] Group 3: One automated biosensor coating device provided in Example 1 was used, and 10 sensors (a glucose sensor was selected for this test) were coated in a sealed chamber. The 10 sensors were mounted on 10 sensor carriers, each sensor corresponding to a membrane solution storage container. The carriers and storage containers were automatically placed. After the device repeated coating five times, the sensors were removed and the membrane solution storage containers were discarded. Then, an electrochemical workstation was used to perform glucose itinerary tests on the sensors at concentrations of 0-20 mmol / L.

[0091] Group 4: One automated biosensor coating device provided in Example 1 was used, and 10 sensors (a glucose sensor was selected for this test) were coated using two sealed chambers, with 5 sensors coated in each chamber. The 10 sensors were mounted on 10 sensor carriers, each sensor corresponding to a membrane solution storage device. The carriers and storage devices were automatically placed. After the device repeated coating 5 times, the sensors were removed and the membrane solution storage devices were discarded. Then, an electrochemical workstation was used to perform glucose itinerary tests on the sensors from 0 to 20 mmol / L.

[0092] Group 5: One automated biosensor coating device provided in Example 1 was used, and 20 sensors (glucose sensors were selected for this test) were coated using four sealed chambers, with 5 sensors coated in each chamber. The 20 sensors were mounted on 20 sensor carriers, each sensor corresponding to a membrane solution storage device. The carriers and storage devices were automatically placed. After the device repeated coating five times, the sensors were removed and the membrane solution storage devices were discarded. Then, an electrochemical workstation was used to perform glucose itinerary tests on the sensors from 0 to 20 mmol / L.

[0093] The test results are shown in Table 1 below.

[0094] Table 1. Test results of sensors on different concentrations of glucose using coating equipment.

[0095]

[0096] According to the data analysis in Table 1, the data from the coating machine test provided in CN208679598U shows large differences, especially poor consistency among multiple coating machines; the data from the automated coating equipment for biosensors provided in Example 1 shows small differences and good consistency among multiple cavities, making it suitable for large-scale production.

[0097] While the present invention has been disclosed above, it is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can make various modifications and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention; therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A biosensor automated coating apparatus, characterized by, The application relates to an automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism and a closed cavity for coating film, wherein the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism comprises an atmosphere generating device, an atmosphere transferring device and a pressure monitoring device; the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism and the closed cavity are connected through a connecting pipeline.

2. The biosensor automation coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The atmosphere generating device comprises a first solvent container and a first automatic solvent adding mechanism; the first solvent container is arranged at the bottom of the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism, and the first automatic solvent adding mechanism is arranged on the inner wall of the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism; a heating device is further arranged at the bottom of the first solvent container.

3. The biosensor automated coating apparatus of claim 2, wherein, The atmosphere transferring device comprises a fan, an automatic control valve and a connecting pipeline; the automatic control valve is arranged in the connecting pipeline, and the fan is arranged on the inner wall of the automatic atmosphere maintaining mechanism; the pressure monitoring device is arranged on the inner wall of the closed cavity.

4. The biosensor automated coating apparatus of claim 3, wherein, The closed cavity further comprises a second automatic solvent adding mechanism, an automatic film liquid adding mechanism and an automatic film coating mechanism; the second automatic solvent adding mechanism adds solvent into a second solvent container through an automatic solvent adding device; the automatic film liquid adding mechanism adds film liquid into a film liquid storage part through a film liquid adding pipeline; the automatic film coating mechanism comprises a sensor carrier placing mechanism and a film liquid storage part placing mechanism, and the sensor carrier placing mechanism can be displaced up and down.

5. The biosensor automated coating apparatus of claim 4, wherein, The closed cavity further comprises an automatic door opening and closing mechanism and an observation window; the automatic door opening and closing mechanism is displaced through a closed cavity door moving mechanism.

6. The biosensor automated coating apparatus of claim 5, wherein, The application further comprises an automatic feeding mechanism, which comprises a first sensor carrier storage mechanism and a film liquid storage part storage mechanism.

7. The biosensor automated coating apparatus of claim 6, wherein, The first sensor carrier storage mechanism comprises a sensor carrier storage unit, a mandrel, a first lifting mechanism and a first rotating mechanism; the sensor carrier storage unit is arranged around the mandrel; the film liquid storage part storage mechanism comprises a film liquid storage part storage unit, a base, a second lifting mechanism and a second rotating mechanism; the film liquid storage part storage unit is arranged around the outer edge of the base.

8. The biosensor automation coating apparatus of claim 7, wherein, The application further comprises an automatic taking and placing mechanism, which comprises a clamping mechanism and a moving mechanism.

9. The biosensor automation coating apparatus of claim 8, wherein, The clamping mechanism comprises a sensor carrier clamping mechanism and a film liquid storage part clamping mechanism; the sensor carrier clamping mechanism and the film liquid storage part clamping mechanism are displaced through the moving mechanism.

10. The biosensor automated coating apparatus of claim 9, wherein, The application further comprises an automatic discharging mechanism and a controller; the discharging mechanism comprises a second sensor carrier storage mechanism and a waste film liquid storage part storage mechanism; the second sensor carrier storage mechanism is the same as the first sensor carrier storage mechanism; the number of the closed cavities comprises one or more.

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