Sample cup seat conveying mechanism and full-automatic sample processing system

Abstract

The application provides a sample test tube seat conveying mechanism and a full-automatic sample processing system. The sample test tube seat conveying mechanism comprises at least one sample test tube seat conveying module. The sample test tube seat conveying module comprises multiple conveying layers arranged in sequence in the vertical direction. Each conveying layer comprises at least one conveying track. The conveying track comprises a flat net chain. The flat net chain rotates at both ends of the conveying track. The sample test tube seat conveying mechanism provided by the application has high utilization rate of horizontal conveying surface, convenient and flexible docking, small occupied space and high space utilization rate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of sample transfer technology, and in particular to a sample tube holder transfer mechanism and a fully automatic sample processing system. Background Technology

[0002] In order to achieve automatic sample processing in a fully automated sample processing system, test tubes containing samples need to be placed on a sample tube holder and transported to various functional modules via a conveying mechanism to complete the sample processing by each functional module.

[0003] In related technologies, either a plastic toothed chain is used to transport the sample tube holder, or a belt is used to transport the sample tube holder. The former has disadvantages such as a large bending radius, a large space occupied at the end, and inconvenience in splicing track modules, while the latter has disadvantages such as being easy to get dirty and difficult to maintain. In addition, both are single-layer transmissions, resulting in low space utilization.

[0004] Therefore, how to improve the space utilization rate of the sample tube holder delivery mechanism is a technical problem that needs to be solved by those skilled in the art. Utility Model Content

[0005] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, this application provides a sample tube holder conveying mechanism, which includes at least one sample tube holder conveying module. The sample tube holder conveying module includes multiple conveying layers arranged sequentially in the vertical direction. Each conveying layer includes at least one conveying track. The conveying track includes a flat mesh chain, which rotates at both ends of the conveying track.

[0006] In one embodiment of the sample tube carrier conveying mechanism, each conveying layer includes multiple conveying tracks, each conveying track extends along a first horizontal direction, and the conveying tracks in the same layer are arranged sequentially in a second horizontal direction, wherein the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction are perpendicular to each other.

[0007] In one embodiment of the sample tube carrier conveying mechanism, the number of conveying tracks in each conveying layer is the same, and each conveying track of the upper conveying layer is arranged directly above each conveying track of the lower conveying layer.

[0008] In one embodiment of the sample tube holder conveying mechanism, the conveying directions of adjacent conveying tracks on the same layer are opposite.

[0009] In one embodiment of the sample tube holder conveying mechanism, the conveying direction of the conveying track of the next layer is opposite to the conveying direction of the conveying track of the adjacent upper layer located directly above it.

[0010] In one embodiment of the sample tube holder conveying mechanism, the bending radius of the flat mesh chain at the end of the conveying track is less than 20 mm.

[0011] In one embodiment of the sample tube holder conveying mechanism, the conveying track includes two side plates located on both sides of the flat mesh chain, and the two ends of the two side plates are connected to a rotating shaft through bearings. The flat mesh chain is wound around the rotating shaft to achieve rotation.

[0012] In one embodiment of the sample tube holder conveying mechanism, the conveying track includes a base plate with both sides extending beyond the side plates. The uppermost conveying track has support plates extending beyond the side plates on both sides. The base plate of the uppermost conveying track is supported on the base plate of the lowermost conveying track by an intermediate bracket. The base plate of the lowermost conveying track is supported on a base by a bottom bracket. The support plates of the uppermost conveying track are supported on the base plate of the uppermost conveying track by an upper bracket.

[0013] In one embodiment of the sample tube holder conveying mechanism, the upper support, middle support and lower support are mainly pillar structures, and the base is mainly a frame structure.

[0014] In one embodiment of the sample tube holder conveying mechanism, there are multiple sample tube holder conveying modules, and in a first horizontal direction, the ends of each sample tube holder conveying module are directly connected and transitioned in sequence.

[0015] This application also provides a fully automated sample processing system, including the sample tube holder delivery mechanism described in any of the above claims.

[0016] The sample tube holder conveying mechanism provided in this application can make full use of vertical space because it has multiple conveying layers arranged sequentially in the vertical direction. Furthermore, since the conveying track uses a flat mesh chain as the conveying structure, the utilization rate of the horizontal conveying surface is high, and the pitch of the flat mesh chain can be made smaller, so the bending radius of the flat mesh chain at both ends of the conveying track can be set smaller, thus occupying less end space. In addition, using a flat mesh chain as the conveying structure also allows different sample tube holder conveying modules to be directly connected and transitioned without the need for a docking mechanism, which makes it convenient and flexible to use, and can further save the space occupied by the docking mechanism. All these factors combined result in a high overall space utilization rate for the sample tube holder conveying mechanism.

[0017] The fully automated sample processing system provided in this application also has the aforementioned technical effects because it includes the sample tube holder delivery mechanism. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1A perspective view of one embodiment of a single sample tube holder delivery module of the sample tube holder delivery mechanism provided in this application;

[0019] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A magnified view of a portion of the image;

[0020] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing the docking positions of the two sample tube holder transfer modules of the sample tube holder transfer mechanism provided in this application.

[0021] The annotations in the attached figures are explained as follows:

[0022] A sample tube delivery module;

[0023] 100 teleportation layers;

[0024] 200 Conveyor rail, 201 Flat mesh chain, 202 Side plate, 203 Bearing seat, 204 Bearing, 205 Rotary shaft, 206 Base plate, 207 Support plate;

[0025] 300 Lower layer support, 301 Lower layer column, 302 Lower layer reinforcing beam;

[0026] 400 mid-layer support frame, 401 mid-layer upright;

[0027] 500 upper support frame, 501 upper column;

[0028] 600 base, 601 crossbeam, 602 longitudinal beam, 603 legs. Detailed Implementation

[0029] This application provides a sample tube holder conveying mechanism and a fully automatic sample processing system. In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of this application, the technical solution of this utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0030] like Figure 1 As shown, the sample tube holder delivery mechanism provided in this application includes at least one sample tube holder delivery module A. Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, only one sample tube holder delivery module A is provided. Figure 3 In the illustrated embodiment, two sample tube holder delivery modules A are provided. Of course, two or more sample tube holder delivery modules A can also be provided, for example, three or four.

[0031] The single sample tube holder delivery module A includes multiple (two or more) delivery layers 100 arranged sequentially in the vertical direction. Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, two transmission layers 100 are provided. In actual implementation, more than two transmission layers 100 can also be provided, such as three or four layers.

[0032] Each transport layer 100 includes at least one transport track 200. Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, each transmission layer 100 includes two transmission tracks 200. In actual implementation, more than two transmission tracks 200 can also be set, such as three or four.

[0033] The conveyor track 200 includes a flat mesh chain 201, which is a structure formed by connecting several flat chain links through hinge pins. The flat mesh chain 201 is preferably made of lightweight, easily moldable plastic. The flat mesh chain 201 rotates at both ends of the conveyor track 200.

[0034] The sample tube holder conveying mechanism provided in this application can make full use of the height space because it has multiple conveying layers 100 arranged sequentially in the vertical direction. Furthermore, since the conveying track 200 uses a flat mesh chain 201 as the conveying structure, the utilization rate of the horizontal conveying surface is high. Moreover, the pitch of the flat mesh chain 201 can be made smaller, so the bending radius of the flat mesh chain 201 at both ends of the conveying track 200 can be set to be smaller, thus occupying less end space. In addition, using the flat mesh chain 201 as the conveying structure also allows different sample tube holder conveying modules A to be directly connected and transitioned without the need for a docking mechanism, thereby further saving the space occupied by the docking mechanism. These factors combined result in a small overall space occupation and high space utilization of the sample tube holder conveying mechanism.

[0035] Specifically, such as Figure 1 As shown, when each transmission layer 100 includes multiple (two or more) transmission tracks 200, each transmission track 200 extends along the first horizontal direction, and the transmission tracks 200 of the same layer are arranged sequentially in the second horizontal direction. The first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction are perpendicular to each other.

[0036] In some embodiments, such as Figure 1 As shown, each transmission layer 100 has the same number of transmission tracks 200, and each transmission track 200 of the upper transmission layer 100 is positioned directly above each transmission track 200 of the lower transmission layer 100. This facilitates the vertical stacking of the transmission layers 100. Alternatively, at least two transmission layers 100 may have different numbers of transmission tracks 200; for example, the bottommost transmission layer 100 may have the most transmission tracks 200, and the topmost transmission layer 100 may have the fewest.

[0037] In some embodiments, adjacent conveyor tracks 200 on the same layer have opposite conveying directions. For example... Figure 1In the middle, the two upper conveyor tracks 200 have opposite conveying directions, and the two lower conveyor tracks 200 also have opposite conveying directions. This design allows for the same-layer cyclic conveying of sample tube holders when applied to a fully automated sample processing system. Furthermore, the drive unit can be arranged on both sides of the first horizontal direction of the conveying mechanism, resulting in a more balanced spatial layout and more efficient use of space.

[0038] In some embodiments, the transport direction of the next-layer transport track 200 is opposite to the transport direction of the adjacent upper-layer transport track 200 located directly above it. For example, Figure 1 In this design, the conveying direction of the inner conveying track 200 on the upper layer is opposite to that of the inner conveying track 200 on the lower layer, and the conveying direction of the outer conveying track 200 on the upper layer is opposite to that of the outer conveying track 200 on the lower layer. This design allows for two advantages: firstly, when applied to a fully automated sample processing system, the sample tube holder can achieve cyclical conveying between the upper and lower layers, resulting in higher conveying efficiency; secondly, the drive unit can be arranged on both sides of the conveying mechanism in the first horizontal direction, resulting in a more balanced spatial layout and more effective use of space.

[0039] In some embodiments, the conveyor track 200 includes two side plates 202 located on both sides of the flat mesh chain 201. Specifically, the two side plates 202 are located on both sides of the width direction (i.e., the second horizontal direction) of the flat mesh chain 201. The two ends of the two side plates 202 are connected to a rotating shaft 205 via bearings 204. Specifically, bearing seats 203 are fixed to both ends of the two side plates 202. The fixing method is not limited; it can be assembled or integrally fixed. In the figure, it is assembled using fasteners. The bearings 204 are installed in the bearing seats 203, and the two ends of the rotating shaft 205 are respectively connected to the inner holes of the bearings 204 connected to the two side plates 202. The flat mesh chain 201 rotates around the rotating shaft 205 to achieve rotation. After the flat mesh chain 201 passes downwards around the rotating shaft 205 at one end, it tilts slightly towards the other end to avoid affecting the direct docking transition of the two sample tube holder conveyor modules A.

[0040] In some embodiments, the bending radius of the flat mesh chain 201 at the end of the conveyor track 200 is less than 20 mm. For example, it can be 12 mm, 13 mm, 15 mm, 16 mm, 17 mm, 18 mm, or 19 mm. In this way, the bending radius of the flat mesh chain 201 is very small, which makes the end space occupied by the turning position of the flat mesh chain 201 very small. Figure 3 In the embodiment shown, the bending radius of the flat mesh chain 201 at the end of the conveyor track 200 is 15mm, and after the two sample tube holder conveyor modules A are directly connected, the center distance of the end bearings 204 of the two is 31mm.

[0041] In some embodiments, the conveyor track 200 includes a base plate 206 with two sides protruding beyond two side plates 202. A support plate 207 is provided on the outer top of the side plate 202 of the uppermost conveyor track 200. The base plate 206 of the uppermost conveyor track 200 is supported on the base plate 206 of the lowermost conveyor track 200 by an intermediate bracket 603. The base plate 206 of the lowermost conveyor track 200 is supported on a base 600 by a bottom bracket 603. The support plate 207 of the uppermost conveyor track 200 is supported on the base plate 206 of the uppermost conveyor track 200 by an upper bracket 500. This allows for a stable stacking arrangement of multiple conveyor layers 100.

[0042] Specifically, Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the main bodies of the upper support 500, middle support 400, and lower support 300 are all column structures, while the main body of the base 600 is a frame structure. More specifically, the upper support 500 includes three rows of upper columns 501: one row supports the support plate 207 inside the innermost conveyor track 200, one row supports the support plate 207 between the two conveyor tracks 200, and one row supports the support plate 207 outside the outermost conveyor track 200. The middle support 400 includes three rows of middle columns 401: one row supports the base plate 206 area inside the innermost conveyor track 200, one row supports the base plate 206 area between the two conveyor tracks 200, and one row supports the base plate 206 area outside the outermost conveyor track 200. The lower support 300 includes two rows of lower columns 301, and also includes reinforcing beams 302 connected between the lower columns 301 in the same row. The base 600 includes two horizontal beams 601 extending along a first horizontal direction and two vertical beams 602 extending along a second horizontal direction. The horizontal beams 601 and vertical beams 602 intersect, and the two rows of lower columns 301 are respectively supported at the intersection of the horizontal beams 601 and the vertical beams 602. The base 600 also includes legs 603, which support the frame structure below.

[0043] In some embodiments, such as Figure 3 As shown, the sample tube holder conveying mechanism includes multiple (two or more) sample tube holder conveying modules A, with the ends of each sample tube holder conveying module A directly connected and transitioned sequentially in the first horizontal direction.

[0044] The fully automated sample processing system provided in this application includes the aforementioned sample tube holder transmission mechanism. Other structures of the fully automated sample processing system can be found in existing technologies and will not be described in detail here.

[0045] The above embodiments can be freely combined without conflict.

[0046] The above examples illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this utility model. The descriptions of these embodiments are merely for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of this utility model. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various improvements and modifications to this utility model without departing from its principles, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the protection scope of the claims of this utility model.

Claims

1. A sample tube holder conveying mechanism, characterized in that, The sample tube holder conveying mechanism includes at least one sample tube holder conveying module (A). The sample tube holder conveying module (A) includes multiple conveying layers (100) arranged sequentially in the vertical direction. Each conveying layer (100) includes at least one conveying track (200). The conveying track (200) includes a flat mesh chain (201). The flat mesh chain (201) rotates at both ends of the conveying track (200).

2. The sample tube holder conveying mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the transport layers (100) includes multiple transport tracks (200), each of the transport tracks (200) extends along a first horizontal direction, and the transport tracks (200) of the same layer are arranged sequentially in a second horizontal direction, with the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction being perpendicular to each other.

3. The sample tube holder conveying mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The number of transmission tracks (200) in each transmission layer (100) is the same, and each transmission track (200) of the upper transmission layer (100) is arranged directly above each transmission track (200) of the lower transmission layer (100).

4. The sample tube holder conveying mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The conveying directions of adjacent conveying tracks (200) on the same layer are opposite, and the conveying direction of the conveying track (200) on the next layer is opposite to the conveying direction of the conveying track (200) located directly above it on the adjacent upper layer.

5. The sample tube holder conveying mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bending radius of the flat mesh chain (201) at the end of the conveyor track (200) is less than 20 mm.

6. The sample tube holder conveying mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The conveying track (200) includes two side plates (202) located on both sides of the flat mesh chain (201). The two ends of the two side plates (202) are connected to the rotating shaft (205) through bearings (204). The flat mesh chain (201) is wound around the rotating shaft (205) to achieve rotation.

7. The sample tube holder conveying mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that, The conveying track (200) includes a base plate (206), with both sides of the base plate (206) extending beyond the side plate (202). The uppermost conveying track (200) has support plates (207) extending beyond the side plate (202) on both sides. The base plate (206) of the uppermost conveying track (200) is supported on the base plate (206) of the lowermost conveying track (200) by an intermediate bracket (603). The base plate (206) of the lowermost conveying track (200) is supported on a base (600) by a bottom bracket (603). The support plate (207) of the uppermost conveying track (200) is supported on the base plate (206) of the uppermost conveying track (200) by an upper bracket (500).

8. The sample tube holder conveying mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that, The main body of the upper support (500), middle support (400) and lower support (300) is a pillar structure, and the main body of the base (600) is a frame structure.

9. The sample tube holder conveying mechanism according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The number of sample tube holder transfer modules (A) is multiple, and in the first horizontal direction, the ends of each sample tube holder transfer module (A) are directly connected and transitioned in sequence.

10. A fully automated sample processing system, characterized in that, Includes the sample tube holder delivery mechanism as described in any one of claims 1-9.

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