Sample Rack Moving Mechanism Using Cam and Guide Groove
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical equipment face challenges in accurately conveying sample racks without tilting or damaging sample tubes, particularly due to manufacturing tolerances affecting positioning accuracy and the need for complex and costly mechanisms to convert rotary motion into linear motion.
Innovation Solution
A sample rack moving mechanism utilizing a cam and cam follower for vertical movement, combined with a guide groove and support element for horizontal movement, ensuring accurate and reliable transmission without tilting, and incorporating a compact structure with direct rotary actuation for cost-effectiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a positioning pin is protruded to be inserted into a positioning hole in the sample rack, then the sample rack can be driven to move by another shaft, but manufacturing tolerance may affect the positioning accuracy causing the positioning pin to be pressed against the sample rack rather than being successfully inserted, leading to the moving shaft being stuck or the sample rack being tilted
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a positioning pin protruding from the moving shaft to insert into a positioning hole in the sample rack, the patent inverts the approach by using a positioning hole in the moving shaft to receive a positioning pin from the sample rack. This inversion allows the positioning pin to guide the moving shaft into the correct position rather than requiring precise pre-positioning, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliability and manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a positioning pin as an intermediary element that mediates between the moving shaft and the sample rack. The positioning pin protrudes from the sample rack and inserts into a positioning hole in the moving shaft, serving as a mechanical mediator that ensures accurate positioning and prevents tilting or sticking, thus resolving the positioning accuracy issue caused by manufacturing tolerances
2Extent of automation
If a rotary motor is used to drive the moving mechanism, then the equipment can be electrically controlled, but rotary movement must be converted into linear movement requiring an intermediate transmission mechanism, increasing equipment manufacturing cost and occupation space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a cam mechanism with a curved profile that converts rotary motion from the motor directly into the required linear and oscillating movements. The cam's curved surface transforms the rotational input into the complex motion path needed for the moving shaft, eliminating the need for separate intermediate transmission mechanisms like gears or linkages, thus reducing device complexity while maintaining electrical control
Solution Approach 2:
The cam mechanism changes the motion parameters directly from rotary to linear/oscillating movement through its geometric profile. By varying the cam profile parameters (radius, eccentricity, angle), the system achieves the required motion characteristics without additional transmission components, resolving the contradiction between automation and device complexity
3Productivity
If the sample rack moves back and forth in a guide groove, then the sample rack can be conveyed to the analyzing position, but the positioning pin may be pressed against the sample rack causing the sample rack to be tilted to cause splashed liquids
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning pin is designed to preliminarily engage with the positioning hole before the moving shaft applies driving force to the sample rack. This preliminary engagement ensures proper alignment and prevents tilting during subsequent movement, thereby preventing liquid splashing while maintaining productive sample conveying capability
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 mechanism provides a simple, compact, and accurate method to move sample racks, preventing tilting and splashing, while reducing equipment size and manufacturing costs, ensuring reliable sample handling and analysis.
Implementation Method 1
a cam (106) including a curve contour and driven by the first drive element (111), a cam follower (107) cooperating with the cam (106) and following along a curve contour of the cam (106)
Data Source
AI summary
A sample rack moving mechanism is provided for removing a sample rack loaded with one or more sample containers from a temporary storing section, and returning the sample rack loaded with the sample containers holding the tested sample to the temporary storing section. The sample rack moving mechanism may include a drive element, a cam driven by the drive element to rotate and having a curve contour, a cam follower moving following the outer contour of the cam, a guide groove corresponding to the temporary storing section, having a bottom plane of the same height as a support plane of the temporary storing section for supporting the sample rack, and capable of moving the sample rack, and a support element driven by the cam follower to move upward and downward and driving the sample rack to horizontally move between the temporary storing section and the guide groove.