Vial Sensor Detects Missing Containers in GC Auto-Injector
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automatic sample injection devices for gas chromatography analysis face inefficiencies due to incorrect vial loading on the turret, leading to interrupted operations and potential contamination from residual liquids, as existing systems require repeated confirmation of vial presence and lack a mechanism to prevent initiation without necessary vials.
Innovation Solution
An automatic sample injection device equipped with a vial sensor and management system that detects missing vials before initiating the sample injection operation, ensuring correct vial loading and preventing operation commencement without required vials, thereby enhancing analysis efficiency and reducing contamination risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a photosensor is used to detect whether a vial has been loaded at each step, then the presence or absence of vials can be confirmed, but the sample injection operation is repeatedly interrupted and time is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of all required vials before the sample injection operation begins. The management device checks whether all necessary vials (solvent vials for cleaning steps and waste liquid vial) are loaded on the turret in advance, and issues an error message if any are missing, preventing repeated interruptions during the operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The management device provides feedback to the user about the loading status of all required vials before operation initiation. This feedback mechanism allows users to correct any loading errors before the sample injection operation begins, avoiding repeated interruptions and time waste during automated analysis.
2Reliability
If the sample injection operation is suspended when a vial is missing, then correct operation can be ensured, but the analysis efficiency deteriorates when the user is absent
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary verification of all required vials before the sample injection operation begins. By checking for the presence of solvent vials and waste liquid vial in advance and providing error messages to users, the system ensures operational correctness is established beforehand, allowing automated analysis to proceed without interruption when users are absent.
3Ease of operation
If no waste liquid vial is loaded, then the syringe cannot discard liquid, but the liquid continuously remains in the syringe causing potential failure
Solution Approach 1:
The management device performs preliminary checking for the waste liquid vial before the sample injection operation begins. If no waste liquid vial is detected on the turret, the system issues an error message to the user, ensuring that the syringe will have a proper destination for waste liquid disposal throughout the operation, preventing potential failures from liquid accumulation.
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 system effectively prevents the initiation of sample injection operations without correctly loaded vials, ensuring accurate and efficient sample handling by detecting missing vials and managing the sequence based on user-defined conditions, thus improving analysis efficiency and minimizing contamination risks.
Implementation Method 1
it is detected whether or not a vial has been loaded at a predetermined position on the turret by a photosensor or the like
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic sample injection device includes: an; and a management device. The injector includes: a turret; and a vial sensor. The management device includes: a condition setting unit configured to set a condition relating to a type of a vial to be used in the sample injection operation, based on information input by a user; and a vial determination unit configured to determine, before the injector initiates the sample injection operation, whether or not there is a missing vial on the turret out of the vials of the plurality of types set to be used in the sample injection operation under a condition set by the condition setting unit, by using a detection result of the vial sensor.