A rotatable hopper for immunohistochemical staining

Abstract

The utility model discloses a rotatable stock bin for immunohistochemical dyeing relates to a kind of biological medical technology field, main purpose is to solve the problem of low efficiency of existing immunohistochemical dyeing system slide feeding efficiency. Including: shell, shell is set on the shell of immunohistochemical dyeing system, including several layers of rotating material box in shell, the two outer sides of shell are provided with several indicating lamps corresponding to the several layers of rotating material box, indicating lamp is used to indicate rotating to rotating material box;Wherein, the middle position of the top surface one side and the bottom surface one side of shell is provided with through body shaft body, shaft body is through in each layer rotating material box, rotating material box is rotated by shaft body;Rotating material box includes two warehouse area, warehouse area includes several supports, paddle holder is used to place slide clamping piece, the side of rotating material box is provided with limit sheet, and limit baffle is set in the corresponding position of shell and limit sheet.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of biomedical technology, and in particular to a rotatable hopper for immunohistochemical staining. Background Technology

[0002] Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a practical biological experimental technique that utilizes the principle of specific binding between antigens and antibodies, employing enzymes, proteins, or chemical dyes to visualize the expression of macromolecular proteins or genes in situ on tissue sections or cell slices. It is widely used in the pathological diagnosis of various diseases, including tumors and inflammation. With the development of digital pathology technology, automated immunohistochemical staining equipment has emerged to optimize pathological diagnosis, enabling the identification and analysis of stained tissue. In this system, the tissue samples used for staining need to be placed within the immunohistochemical staining sample collection chamber. To save time and costs, multiple tissue samples can be placed in the collection chamber that holds the sample slides.

[0003] Currently, the storage compartments for sample slides are typically boxes placed inside the immunohistochemical staining system. These boxes are divided into multiple sections for holding various slides, and operators need to open the system's compartment door to insert and retrieve them. However, frequent opening of the compartment door can contaminate the staining environment, significantly affecting staining results and increasing the cumbersomeness of operating the system's compartment door. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, the present invention provides a rotatable hopper for immunohistochemical staining, the main purpose of which is to solve the problem of low slide feeding efficiency in existing immunohistochemical staining systems.

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention, a rotatable material container for immunohistochemical staining is provided, comprising: a housing, the housing being disposed on the outer shell of an immunohistochemical staining system, the housing including a plurality of rotating material boxes, and a plurality of indicator lights corresponding to the plurality of rotating material boxes being disposed on two outer sides of the housing, the indicator lights being used to indicate rotation of the rotating material boxes;

[0006] A through-body shaft is provided at the midpoint between one side of the top surface and one side of the bottom surface of the shell. The shaft passes through each layer of the rotating material box, and the rotating material box rotates through the shaft.

[0007] The rotating material box includes two compartments, each compartment including several supports. The slide holder is used to place the glass slide clamping component. A limiting piece is provided on one side of the rotating material box, and a limiting block is provided on the housing at a position corresponding to the limiting piece.

[0008] Furthermore, a status position baffle is provided on one side of the rotating material box, and a photoelectric switch is provided at the corresponding position of the housing and the status position baffle.

[0009] Furthermore, a lock is provided on one side of the rotating material box, and an electric pin is provided on the side of the housing. The lock has a locking hole with a depth greater than the protruding length of the electric pin. The electric pin is electrically connected to the processor of the immunohistochemical staining system, and the processor controls the electric pin to lock the rotating material box.

[0010] Furthermore, the side of the housing includes several holes, and the electric pin is disposed outside the holes, with the pin of the electric pin extending out through the holes.

[0011] Furthermore, the rotating material box and the locking block are either separately connected or integrally connected.

[0012] Furthermore, the slide holder includes a support body and a support chuck. The support body has several slide slots for holding slides. The support chuck is located on one side of the support body. The slide holder is moved by gripping the support chuck with a claw on a robotic arm.

[0013] Furthermore, the support clamp and the glass slide are on the same horizontal and opposite surface; an elastic pressure plate is provided at the front end of the slide groove, the elastic pressure plate is fixedly connected to the support body, and the elastic pressure plate is used to clamp the glass slide of the tissue sample.

[0014] Furthermore, the bracket clamp is either separately connected to or integrally connected to the bracket body.

[0015] Furthermore, slots are provided on both sides of the support chuck, and the slots are used for the grippers on the robotic arm to clamp and hold the support chuck.

[0016] Furthermore, the indicator light is electrically connected to the processor and is used to activate the target indicator light rotation indication for the target rotating material box.

[0017] By employing the above technical solutions, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this utility model have at least the following advantages:

[0018] This invention provides a rotatable material container for immunohistochemical staining. Compared with the prior art, it includes a shell disposed on the outer shell of an immunohistochemical staining system. The shell includes several layers of rotating material boxes. Indicator lights corresponding to the layers of rotating material boxes are provided on two outer sides of the shell, indicating rotation of the rotating material boxes. A through-body shaft is provided at the midpoint between the top and bottom surfaces of the shell, penetrating each layer of rotating material boxes, allowing the rotating material boxes to rotate. Each rotating material box includes two compartments, each compartment containing several supports. A slide holder is used to hold slides. A limiting piece is provided on one side of the rotating material box, and a limiting block is provided on the shell at a position corresponding to the limiting piece. Feeding multiple slides into the immunohistochemical staining system through the rotatable material container greatly increases the amount of material fed at one time, avoids staining contamination that may occur from opening the entire system for feeding, and reduces the cumbersome operation of repeatedly opening the system's outer shell and compartment doors, thereby improving feeding efficiency.

[0019] The above description is merely an overview of the technical solution of this utility model. In order to better understand the technical means of this utility model and to implement it in accordance with the contents of the specification, and to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of this utility model more obvious and understandable, specific embodiments of this utility model are given below. Attached Figure Description

[0020] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

[0021] Figure 1 This illustration shows an axial view of a rotatable hopper provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 This diagram illustrates a limiting plate and limiting block structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a lock structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0024] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of an electric pin structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0025] Figure 5 This diagram illustrates a glass slide clamping structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 6A schematic diagram of a robotic arm gripper structure provided in an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0027] The components include: housing-1, rotating material box-2, indicator light-3, shaft-4, storage area-5, bracket-6, slide holder-7, limit plate-8, limit stop-9, status stop-10, photoelectric switch-11, storage lock-12, lock hole-121, electric pin-13, hole-14, slide holder-71, slide holder chuck-72, slide groove-711, slot-721, gripper-15, first gripper side-151, second gripper side-152, and gripper body-153. Detailed Implementation

[0028] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be implemented in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

[0029] In this embodiment of the invention, all directional indicators (including but not limited to up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.) are only used to explain the relative positional relationship and movement of the components in a specific posture (as shown in the attached figures). If the specific posture changes, the directional indicators will also change accordingly. Furthermore, in this embodiment of the invention, descriptions involving "first," "second," etc., are for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, features defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one feature. In the description of this invention, "several" means at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0030] In this embodiment of the invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "connection," "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, "fixing" can mean a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; "connection" can mean a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; it can mean the internal communication of two components or the operational relationship between two components, unless otherwise explicitly limited. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this embodiment of the invention according to the specific circumstances.

[0031] This invention provides a rotatable hopper for immunohistochemical staining, such as... Figure 1As shown, the rotatable material container includes: a housing 1, which is disposed on the outer shell of the immunohistochemical staining system, the housing including several layers of rotating material boxes 2, and several indicator lights 3 corresponding to several layers of rotating material boxes 2 are disposed on two outer sides of the housing 1, the indicator lights 3 being used to indicate the rotation of the rotating material boxes 2;

[0032] A through-body shaft 4 is provided at the middle position between one side of the top surface and one side of the bottom surface of the shell 1. The shaft 4 passes through each layer of the rotating material box 2, and the rotating material box 2 rotates through the shaft 4.

[0033] The rotating material box includes two compartments 5, each compartment 5 including several supports 6. The slide holder 6 is used to hold the slide clamping component 7, i.e., the slide clamping component. Figure 2 As shown, a limiting piece 8 is provided on one side of the rotating material box 2, and a limiting block 9 is provided on the housing 1 at the corresponding position of the limiting piece 8.

[0034] In this embodiment of the invention, to facilitate the placement of glass slides into the rotating material box 2 via the slide holder, the housing 1 of the rotatable material box is disposed on the outer shell of the immunohistochemical staining system. One side of the housing 1 faces the inside of the outer shell, and the other side faces the outside of the outer shell, thereby feeding the material into the immunohistochemical staining system by rotation. Multiple layers of rotating material boxes 2 are disposed within the outer shell, with partitions separating each layer. The partitions are integrally connected to the housing 1. This embodiment of the invention does not impose specific limitations. Each layer can hold one rotating material box 2. Holes are formed in the partitions, and a shaft 4, located between the top and bottom surfaces, penetrates through the holes in the partitions, passing through all layers of the housing 1 and providing rotational support for each rotating material box 2. At this time, the housing 1 includes four sides made of metal, namely the top surface, the bottom surface and two side surfaces. Several indicator lights 3 corresponding to the rotating material box 2 can be set on the outer side of the two side surfaces of the housing 1. The indicator lights 3 are used to indicate the rotation of the rotating material box 2. The indicator lights 3 are turned on or changed color by the instructions sent by the processor. For example, when the indicator light 3 is green, it is used to indicate that the slide holder is placed in the rotating material box 2 for feeding. When the indicator light 3 is red, it is used to indicate that the slide holder 7 in the rotating material box 2 is held and picked up by the robotic arm of the immunohistochemistry staining system.

[0035] It should be noted that, in order to accommodate more slides, the rotating material box 2 includes two compartments 5, each compartment 5 including several supports 6. The supports 6 are used to hold the slide clamping components 7. A limiting piece 8 is provided on one side of the rotating material box 2 to limit the rotation angle of the rotating material box 2 and prevent excessive rotation. Furthermore, a limiting block 9 is provided on the housing 1 at a position corresponding to the limiting piece 8 to align and block the limiting piece 8. Simultaneously, the limiting piece 8 can be fixedly connected to the left or right side of each rotating material box 2, and correspondingly, the limiting block 9 is fixedly connected to the housing 1 and aligned with the limiting piece, such as... Figure 2 As shown. The limiting baffle is preferably an L-shaped or U-shaped sheet of metal, with one end fixedly connected to the side of the rotating material box 2, and the other end aligned with the limiting block 9 to block it. At this time, the limiting block 9 can be a regular polygonal metal block or an irregular polygonal metal block. This embodiment of the utility model does not make specific limitations.

[0036] In a specific embodiment, such as Figure 1 As shown, the housing 1 includes four layers, each layer containing a rotating hopper 2. Each hopper includes a left compartment 5 and a right compartment 5. Each compartment 5 has four partitions, accommodating five slide holders. Each slide holder has a support 6 with five slots 721 for holding the slides. Therefore, in this embodiment, all rotating hoppers 2 can be rotated to feed 200 slides at once. Alternatively, 50 slides can be placed in each layer before rotating the hopper 2 in that layer. This embodiment does not impose specific limitations on this method.

[0037] In one specific embodiment, the user can place a slide on the slide holder 7, then place the slide holder 7 in the rotating cassette 2 facing outwards from the immunohistochemical staining system, manually rotate it, and feed the slide holder 7 into the system. The robotic arm inside the system can then use its grippers to pick up the slide holder 7, thus achieving the purpose of feeding a large number of slides and ensuring feeding safety.

[0038] In another embodiment of the present invention, a status position baffle 10 is also provided on one side of the rotating material box 2, and an electrical switch 1111 is provided at the corresponding position of the housing 1 and the status position baffle 10.

[0039] To match the excessive rotation of the rotating material box 2 and determine its rotational position so as to activate the robotic arm inside the system for gripping, a status position baffle 10 is also provided on one side of the rotating material box 2, such as... Figure 3As shown, a power-off switch 11 corresponding to the status position baffle 10 is provided at the corresponding position of the housing 1, so that the processor can obtain a position detection signal when the status position baffle 10 rotates to the power-off switch 11. In addition, a power-off switch 11 can also be provided at the position of the housing 1 corresponding to each layer of support 6, so as to detect whether the slide holder 7 is on the support 6. That is, there are 6 power-off switches 11 on the side of the housing 1. The first power-off switch 11 is aligned with the status position baffle 10 and is used to detect whether the rotating material box 2 is in place. The second to sixth switches are respectively aligned to detect whether the slide holder is placed on the corresponding support 6.

[0040] At this time, the power-off switch 11 is activated to lock the position. The status position baffle 10 and the limit plate 8 can be located on the same side of the rotating material box 2 or on different sides. The status position baffle 10 can be an L-shaped or U-shaped metal plate, fixedly connected to the side of the rotating material box 2. The power-off switch 11 can be located on the side of the housing 1, opposite to the indicator light 3, or, when on the same side as the indicator light 3, arranged along the edge of the indicator light 3, aligned with the status position baffle 10. Simultaneously, the power-off switch 11 is electrically connected to the processor, thereby indicating the position of the rotating material box 2 to the processor. Additionally, for each horizontal level on the storage area 5 corresponding to the position on the housing 1, a power-off switch 11 can be provided to detect whether the slide holder is placed in the rotating material box 2, transmitting the detection signal to the processor.

[0041] In another embodiment of this utility model, to ensure the safety and feeding stability of the rotating material box 2 during rotation, a lock 12 is provided on one side of the rotating material box 2, and an electric pin 13 is provided on the side of the housing 1. The lock 12 has a locking hole 121, the depth of which is greater than the extension length of the pin 131 of the electric pin 13. The length of the pin and the depth of the hole can be flexibly set according to the size of the rotating material box, and this embodiment of the utility model does not impose a specific limitation. The electric pin 13 is electrically connected to the processor of the immunohistochemical staining system, and the processor controls the electric pin 13 to lock the rotating material box 2.

[0042] Specifically, such as Figure 3As shown, a lock 12 is also provided on one side of the rotating material box 2. This lock can be on the same side as the limiting plate 8 or the status position baffle 10, or on a different side. Correspondingly, to achieve the locking purpose of the rotating material box 2, an electric pin 13 is provided on the side of the housing 1. The electric pin 13 can be positioned at the corresponding position on one side of the housing 1 when the rotating material box 2 rotates 180 degrees, or at the corresponding position on one side of the housing 1 when the rotating material box 2 rotates 360 degrees. This embodiment of the invention does not impose specific limitations. Simultaneously, a locking hole is provided on the lock 12, the depth of which is greater than the extension length of the electric pin 13. The electric pin 13 is electrically connected to the processor of the immunohistochemical staining system, and the processor controls the electric pin 13 to lock the rotating material box 2. For example, when the status position baffle 11, which acts as a power-off switch 11, contacts the status position baffle 10, a position command is sent to the processor, and the processor initiates the extension of the electric pin 13. This embodiment of the invention does not impose specific limitations.

[0043] In another embodiment of this utility model, in order to enable the electric pin 13 to extend into the lock hole to ensure the locking effect, the side of the housing 1 includes a plurality of holes 14, such as... Figure 4 As shown, each rotating material box 2 on each layer corresponds to a hole 14 on the side of the housing 1. Each hole 14 is located on the side of the housing 1 and corresponds to an electric pin 13. The electric pin 13 is located outside the hole 14, and the pin of the electric pin 13 extends through the hole 14, with the extension length fitting into and locking the hole 14. The distance between the electric pin 13 and the hole 14 can also be set based on the distance between the housing 1 and the rotating material box 2, and this embodiment of the utility model does not impose a specific limitation.

[0044] In another embodiment of this utility model, in order to fix the locking block, the rotating material box 2 is separately connected to the locking block or integrally connected.

[0045] In another embodiment of this utility model, such as Figure 5 As shown, the slide holder 7 includes a slide frame 71 and a slide holder chuck 72. The slide frame 71 has several slide slots 711 for holding slides. The slide holder chuck 72 is located on one side of the slide frame 71. The slide holder 7 is moved by gripping the slide holder chuck 72 with the grippers on the robotic arm.

[0046] The slide holder 72 is located on one side of the slide holder body 71, that is, the side other than the slide slot 711. The slide holder 72 can be moved by the corresponding grippers on the robotic arm, placing the slide holder 7 carrying multiple slides onto the slide support frame of the window. In a specific implementation scenario, the slide holder body 71 of one slide holder 7 can have 5 slide slots 711, and one side of the slide support frame can have 20 support slots, to achieve the purpose of simultaneously feeding a large number of slides.

[0047] In another embodiment of the present invention, in order to enable the rotating hopper to hold multiple slide holders simultaneously, the slide holder 72 and the slide are on the same horizontal and opposite surface; an elastic pressure plate 712 is provided at the front end of the slide groove 711, the elastic pressure plate is fixedly connected to the slide holder body 71, and the elastic pressure plate is used to hold the slide of the tissue sample.

[0048] To enable the grippers on the robotic arm to flexibly grasp the slide holder 7 from the rotating hopper, the slide holder 72 and the slide are on the same horizontal and opposite plane. An elastic clamp is fixedly connected to the slide holder body 71 and is used to hold the tissue sample slide. Preferably, the elastic clamp is fixed to the slide holder body 71 with screws; however, this embodiment of the invention does not impose a specific limitation.

[0049] In another embodiment of the present invention, the slide holder 72 is either separately connected to or integrally connected to the slide holder body 71.

[0050] In another embodiment of the present invention, in order to stabilize the gripping of the robotic arm, slots 721 are provided on both sides of the slide holder 72, and the slots 721 are used for the grippers on the robotic arm to clamp the slide holder 72.

[0051] The slot 721 is used by the gripper on the robotic arm to clamp the slide holder 72. The slots 721 on both sides are symmetrically arranged; they can be two platforms forming a slot 721 at a specific angle, or three platforms forming a right-angle slot 721. This embodiment of the invention does not impose a specific limitation. Furthermore, to accommodate the robotic arm's gripping function, the gripper 15 on the robotic arm includes a first gripper side 151 and a second gripper side 152. The first gripper side 151 and the second gripper side 152 are provided with protruding surfaces complementary to the shape of the slot 721, forming a claw body 153 to facilitate engagement and gripping with the slot 721. Figure 6 As shown. For example, if the slot 721 is a slot 721 in which two surfaces form a specific angle (such as 45 degrees), then the corresponding protruding surface is formed by an angle (135 degrees) that is complementary to the specific angle. This utility model embodiment does not make specific limitations.

[0052] In another embodiment of this utility model, in order to facilitate the user's feeding operation, the indicator light is electrically connected to the processor and is used to activate the target indicator light rotation indication of the target rotating material box.

[0053] Specifically, users can determine whether to rotate the material box for feeding or unloading based on the indicator light display commands given by the processor.

[0054] In addition, it should be noted that the materials used in the embodiments of this utility model are all metal unless otherwise specified, and no specific limitations are imposed.

[0055] This invention provides a rotatable hopper for immunohistochemical staining. By feeding multiple slides into the immunohistochemical staining system through the rotatable hopper, the amount of material fed at one time is greatly increased, avoiding staining contamination that may be caused by opening the entire system for feeding, and reducing the cumbersome operation of repeatedly opening the system's outer casing door, thereby improving feeding efficiency.

[0056] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of this utility model and is not intended to limit the utility model. Various modifications and variations can be made to this utility model by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this utility model should be included within the protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. A rotatable hopper for immunohistochemical staining, characterized in that, Includes: a housing, which is disposed on the outer shell of the immunohistochemical staining system, the housing including several layers of rotating material boxes, and several indicator lights corresponding to the layers of the rotating material boxes are disposed on two outer sides of the housing, the indicator lights being used to indicate the rotation of the rotating material boxes; A through-body shaft is provided at the midpoint between one side of the top surface and one side of the bottom surface of the shell. The shaft passes through each layer of the rotating material box, and the rotating material box rotates through the shaft. The rotating material box includes two compartments, each compartment including several supports for holding glass slides. A limit plate is provided on one side of the rotating material box, and a limit stop is provided on the housing at a position corresponding to the limit plate.

2. The rotatable hopper according to claim 1, wherein a status position baffle is further provided on one side of the rotatable hopper, and a photoelectric switch is provided at a position corresponding to the status position baffle on the housing.

3. The rotatable hopper according to claim 1, wherein a hopper lock is provided on one side of the rotatable hopper, an electric pin is provided on the side of the housing, a lock hole is provided on the hopper lock, the depth of the lock hole is greater than the pin extension length of the electric pin, the electric pin is electrically connected to the processor of the immunohistochemical staining system, and the processor controls the electric pin to lock the rotatable hopper.

4. The rotatable hopper according to claim 3, wherein the side of the housing includes a plurality of holes, the electric pin is disposed outside the holes, and the pin of the electric pin extends out through the holes.

5. The rotatable hopper according to claim 3, wherein the rotatable hopper and the hopper lock are separately connected or integrally connected.

6. The rotatable hopper according to claim 1, wherein the slide holder includes a support body and a support chuck, the support body is provided with a plurality of slide slots for supporting slides, and the support chuck is disposed on one side of the support body, and the slide holder is moved by gripping the support chuck by the gripper on the robotic arm.

7. The rotatable hopper according to claim 6, wherein the support clamp and the glass slide are on the same horizontal and opposite surface; an elastic pressure plate is provided at the front end of the glass slide groove, the elastic pressure plate is fixedly connected to the support body, and the elastic pressure plate is used to clamp the glass slide of the tissue sample.

8. The rotatable hopper according to claim 7, characterized in that, The bracket clamp is either separately connected to the bracket body or integrally connected.

9. The rotatable hopper according to claim 8, characterized in that, The support chuck has slots on both sides, which are used by the grippers on the robotic arm to clamp the support chuck.

10. The rotatable hopper according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The indicator light is electrically connected to the processor and is used to activate the rotation indication of the target rotating material box.

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