Microplate Stacker with Removal Gate for Compact Low-Temperature Storage
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current storage and handling systems for microplates are inefficient and economically unfeasible, particularly at low temperatures, as they require large cooling spaces and struggle with icing and mechanical functionality issues.
Innovation Solution
A compact stacker system with a housing and removal gate allows for sealed and efficient storage and handling of microplates, along with a freezer box design that minimizes cooling space requirements and a microplate handling system using a robot arm for precise and efficient transfer of microtubes between plates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If microplates are stored in racks with drawers in a cooled humidity controlled room, then long term stability of samples is ensured, but the cooling space required becomes large and economically unfeasible
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the storage system into a movable rack unit that can be inserted into and removed from a compact freezer box. This segmentation allows only the necessary storage space to be cooled at any time, rather than cooling a large entire room, thereby reducing the volume of stationary cooling space while maintaining sample stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The rack with microplate drawers is designed to nest within the freezer box, which itself can be stored in a larger storage system. This nested arrangement maximizes space utilization and allows the cooling space to be minimized to only what is necessary for the current storage need.
2Productivity
If a robot is used to automatically gather compounds from source microplates, then handling efficiency is improved, but icing and mechanical functionality issues occur at low temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the robotic handling operation from the low-temperature storage environment. The robot operates at room temperature to gather compounds from source microplates, and then transfers them to delivery microplates that are subsequently placed in the freezer box. This segmentation allows the robot to function reliably without temperature-related mechanical issues while still achieving automated handling efficiency.
3Quantity of substance
If microplates are stored stacked with top surface abutting bottom surface, then storage density is improved, but access to individual microplates becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The stacker divides the storage unit into individually accessible drawers, each containing a limited number of stacked microplates. This segmentation allows the robot to access and retrieve specific drawers without disturbing other microplates in different drawers, thereby maintaining high storage density while ensuring easy access to individual microplates.
4Adaptability or versatility
If source microplates are relocated to transfer station for microtube transfer, then compound selection is enabled, but handling time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the source microplate storage, the transfer operation, and the delivery microplate storage into a single integrated robot station. The robot can perform all operations - retrieving source microplates, transferring microtubes, and placing delivery microplates - without relocating microplates to a separate transfer station, thereby enabling compound selection while reducing handling time and operational complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A stacker (1) for storing a plurality of microplates each having a top surface side and a bottom surface side opposed to the top surface side, comprises a housing and a removal gate (13) for removing a microplate of the plurality of microplates out of the housing. The stacker (1) is arranged to accommodate the plurality of microplates inside the housing such that the top surface side of one microplate of the plurality of microplates abuts on the bottom surface side of an adjacent microplate of the plurality of microplates and such that the housing adjoins to the plurality of microplates. Using such a stacker 1, the plurality of microplates can be arranged and stored in a compact manner wherein the single microplates of the plurality of microplates can still selectively and efficiently be accessed. Further, due to the controlled access to the plurality of microplates being arranged inside the housing of the described stacker 1 via the removal gate 13, icing of the microplates can be minimized when the stacker is cooled for long term storage of samples arranged inside the microplates.