Modular Lab Fluid Storage Inserts for Flexible Temperature Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current laboratory storage systems are complex, expensive, and primarily designed for high-throughput clinical analysis, failing to accommodate a variety of vessel types and require complex integration, whereas general laboratory settings need a flexible, space-saving, and temperature-controlled storage system for diverse containers.
Innovation Solution
A modular storage system with interchangeable vessel inserts and a temperature control device that can accommodate various vessel shapes, sizes, and materials, allowing for flexible integration and temperature control, optimized for use in automated workstations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional storage systems are designed for high-throughput clinical analysis, then sample throughput is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system is divided into modular components: a carrier frame with multiple slots and interchangeable vessel inserts. Each insert can be independently configured to hold different types of vessels, allowing the system to be segmented into functional units that can be reorganized based on specific laboratory needs rather than requiring a complete complex system redesign.
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier frame and vessel inserts are designed as universal components that can accommodate multiple types of laboratory vessels through standardized slot configurations. The same basic structure serves different functions by simply changing the vessel inserts or arranging vessels differently within the inserts, eliminating the need for multiple specialized storage systems.
2Reliability
If storage systems are designed for specific analysis devices, then integration is improved, but adaptability to different vessel types deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic reconfigurability where vessel inserts can be interchangeably positioned in the carrier frame slots, and vessels within inserts can be arranged in different configurations. This dynamic adaptation allows the same physical structure to reliably integrate with different vessel types and analysis device requirements without compromising integration stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system accommodates different vessel types by changing physical parameters such as slot dimensions, insert configurations, and vessel arrangements rather than changing the fundamental system structure. This allows adaptation to various vessel geometries, volumes, and materials while maintaining reliable integration through standardized interface parameters.
3Area of stationary object
If conventional storage systems are used in general laboratories, then space utilization is improved, but flexibility for changing equipment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Vessels are nested within vessel inserts, which are in turn nested within the carrier frame structure. This nested arrangement maximizes space utilization by efficiently packing vessels in hierarchical levels, while maintaining flexibility because any nested level can be reconfigured or replaced independently of the others.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The modular system efficiently manages a wide range of laboratory vessels and containers, optimizing space and maintaining sample integrity through temperature control, supporting diverse laboratory processes and workflows.
Implementation Method 1
Samples can be kept at a set temperature, for example, to make evaporation of the often very valuable substances more difficult and not to affect their shelf life. It is therefore advantageously possible to integrate a temperature control device into the overall system.
Data Source
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AI summary
The modular storage system (2) for laboratory fluids, comprises a carrier frame having a defined number of slots (10) for two different laboratory vessel inserts (12), which are arbitrarily interchanged and inserted in arbitrary combinations with a positive fit in the slots of a carrier frame (4) and which each comprise a laboratory vessel and/or a compartment for the laboratory vessel. A spring element holds each slot of the frames in clamped manner. The frame used in the inserts arranges containers in the frame in a right-angled field. The modular storage system (2) for laboratory fluids, comprises a carrier frame having a defined number of slots (10) for two different laboratory vessel inserts (12), which are arbitrarily interchanged and inserted in arbitrary combinations with a positive fit in the slots of a carrier frame (4) and which each comprise a laboratory vessel and/or a compartment for the laboratory vessel. A spring element holds each slot of the frames in clamped manner. The frame used in the inserts arranges containers in the frame in a right-angled field. The slots are arranged in a row next to one another. The spring element clamps the inserts laterally against a zero-line aligning by all slots. The slot pocket has a form element that locks cover of an embedded laboratory vessel in an open position. The inserts are rotatable around 180[deg] within the frames. The frames and/or the inserts have a marking, which makes optically detectable around 180[deg]. The inserts are codable, so that contents of the laboratory vessel is optically detectable. The inserts have a flat body from heat conducting material, which partly surrounds a container. The inserts form a flat lower surface jointly in the frame inserted with their bodies under-laterally. The frame has a micro plate of a standard format. The frame is curved from sheet metal and surrounds the slots. The carrier frame with the laboratory container is automatically and/or manually convertible by means of a robotic gripper in a workstation.