Modular Laboratory Tabletop Layout for Robot Arm Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing laboratory tables with continuous surfaces face challenges in accommodating tall apparatuses, as robot arms with pipette tips cannot move over them, and precise alignment is difficult, especially in microplate handling systems.
Innovation Solution
A modular laboratory table design featuring interchangeable tabletop elements with detent rail and bolt systems, allowing for customizable configurations to accommodate various apparatuses and workflows, enabling flexible assembly and precise positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a continuous laboratory tabletop is used, then the work surface is stable and provides precise positioning, but tall apparatuses obstruct robot arm movements and reduce space utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous tabletop is divided into modular tabletop elements that can be selectively positioned and removed. This segmentation allows robot arms to access apparatuses below the work surface by removing or repositioning specific modular elements, while maintaining stable positioning for apparatuses that remain in place.
Solution Approach 2:
The tabletop configuration is made dynamic through the use of removable and repositionable modular elements. This allows the work surface to be reconfigured based on the specific apparatus being used, enabling tall apparatuses to be accommodated without permanently obstructing robot arm pathways.
2Ease of operation
If openings are sawn into the tabletop to access apparatus below, then robot arms can transport labware to centrifuges, but the structural integrity and precision positioning are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of cutting openings in a continuous tabletop, the tabletop is segmented into modular elements that can be selectively removed. This maintains the structural integrity of the remaining tabletop while providing access points for robot arms to reach apparatus below the work surface.
Solution Approach 2:
Specific modular tabletop elements are extracted or removed from the assembly to create access pathways. This extraction approach preserves the precision and stability of the remaining tabletop structure while enabling necessary access for labware transport operations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If modular tabletop elements are used, then flexibility and adaptability are improved, but the complexity of assembly and positioning increases
Solution Approach 1:
The modular tabletop elements are designed with universal features including standardized detent rails, uniform mounting mechanisms, and consistent positioning systems. This universality allows the same modular elements to be used in various configurations without increasing assembly complexity, as each element interfaces with the frame in the same way regardless of its position or function.
Data Source
AI summary
Laboratory table with front and opposite rear frame parts, has replaceable tabletop elements positionable thereon. In a first variant, the laboratory table further has detent openings at regular distances on the front and/or rear frame parts, defining a modular grid. Each opening can receive a detent bolt of a modular tabletop element, each element having at least two detent bolts for the insertion into one of the detent openings. In a second variant, each tabletop element has at least one detent opening on a front and/or rear side of the tabletop element, for insertion of a detent bolt. The front and/or rear frame part of the laboratory table have detent bolts arranged at a regular distance defining a modular grid, each one of the detent bolts being for insertion into one of the detent openings of the tabletop elements positioned on these front and rear frame parts.