巴西专利BR112012028495B1 system to transport containers between different stations

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专利摘要:
A system for transporting containers between different stations The invention relates to a system for transporting containers between different stations and a container conveyor. the system (100) for conveying containers (10) between different stations (20, 21, 22, 23), wherein the containers (10) are accommodated in container conveyors (30), comprising: a control unit (40) ), which controls the transport of container carriers (30), a transport area (50), which is divided into subareas (51), wherein subareas (51) adjacent to stations (20, 21, 22, 23 ), wherein an emergency entry region (55) is comprised of subareas (51) in which the containers (10) with associated container carriers (30) are located for the priority treatment of emergency samples, and in which the container conveyors (30) may be movably arranged, and drive means (60, 61, 62, 63), wherein the drive means (60, 61, 62, 63) are activated by the control unit (40 ), and a respective drive means (60, 61, 62, 63) is assigned to a respective subarea (51), wherein a drive means The respective arrangement (60, 61, 62, 63) is designed to apply a driving force to an associated container carrier (30).
公开号:BR112012028495B1
申请号:R112012028495
申请日:2011-05-06
公开日:2019-12-03
发明作者:Teodorescu George；Heise Michael
申请人:Roche Pvt Gmbh；
IPC主号:

专利说明:

"SYSTEM FOR TRANSPORTING CONTAINERS BETWEEN DIFFERENT STATIONS" Field of the Invention [001] The invention relates to a system for transporting containers between different stations and to a container conveyor.
Background of the Invention [002] The objective of the invention is to present a system for transporting containers between different stations and also a container conveyor, the said system and the container conveyor having a high combined transport capacity, at the same time, high flexibility to, for example, transport certain containers with priority between different stations.
[003] The invention achieves its objective by virtue of a system for transporting containers between different stations that have the characteristics of claim 1, and a container conveyor that has the characteristics of claim 14.
[004] Particular achievements are the subject of dependent claims, which are composed in this document with reference to the content of the description.
[005] In the system for transporting containers between different stations, the containers, for example, the sample containers of a laboratory analysis system, are accommodated in container conveyors, so that they are inserted, for example, in a conveyor opening container. The system comprises a control unit, for example, in the form of a conventional PC, which controls the transport of the container conveyors. In addition, a transport area or a 3D area, in particular flat and horizontal, divided into functional sub-areas, is presented. The transport area can be rectangular, for example, or have another shape. Container carriers can be arranged in the transport area so that they can move freely. The stations can be arranged adjacent to the transport area or above the transport area. Subareas bordering stations can serve as transfer areas for stations. The system also comprises the driving means which are driven by the control unit, in which a respective driving means, in particular, precisely a means of driving the amount of driving means, is assigned to a respective subarea. The drive means are designed to apply a driving force to an associated container conveyor, that is, a container conveyor that is located in a subarea in which the driving means is designated, or an adjacent subarea, or within range. operating of the drive means, towards the flat transport area. The division of the transport area into sub-areas that have their own drive means leads to a large number of degrees of freedom of motion for container conveyors, that is, container conveyors, except for inadmissible collisions, can move freely or in a granular base of the subarea in the transport area. This allows paths, for example, that are individual to the container conveyor, and thus, for example, an accelerated transport of specific containers or container conveyors between stations.
[006] In an additional embodiment, a respective drive means is designed to apply the driving force to an associated container carrier in a non-contact manner, that is, without direct mechanical contact between the drive means and the container carrier.
[007] In an additional embodiment, a respective driving means is designed to alternatively generate the driving force in a first, a second, a third, or at least a fourth direction, in which the directions respectively differ. In particular, the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction, the third direction is opposite the first direction, and the fourth direction is opposite the second direction. The directions, that is, the driving force vectors, are positioned, particularly, on a plane that is parallel to a flat transport area.
[008] In a refinement, the transport area comprises at least one transport area region, which is divided into, in particular, rectangular grid areas of equal dimensions, in which the grid areas form at least partially the subareas. In particular, the transport area comprises a plurality of transport area regions, where a respective transport area region is divided into grid areas of equal dimensions, where the dimensions of the grid areas of different transport area regions differ. For example, this allows for fast transport of container transporters in regions of the transport area that have more coarse meshed subareas, that is, wider, and greater position accuracy in regions of the transport area which have more meshed subareas. more finely, that is, smaller.
[009] In a refinement, container conveyors comprise ferromagnetic or magnetic material, which has permanent or non-permanent magnetization, in which the drive means are designed to generate a variable magnetic field in order to apply the driving force to a conveyor. associated container in a non-contact manner.
[0010] In a refinement, a respective drive means comprises four coils, in particular, without ferromagnetic core, to generate a magnetic field. Particularly, the control unit applies a current, simultaneously, to two, respectively, of the four coils in order to generate the driving force or a suitable magnetic field. In particular, the coils are arranged in such a way that their geometric winding axes form a parallelogram, in particular, a rectangle, particularly and preferably, a square, the parallelogram being positioned on a plane that is parallel to the plane transport area.
[0011] In a refinement, the driving means are designed to apply the driving force to an associated container conveyor by means of compressed air.
[0012] In a refinement, the driving means are located below the transport area.
[0013] In a refinement, containers and / or container transporters are equipped with passive or active transponders (RFID), in which the system comprises at least one reading transponder, which is designed to carry out a container identification and / or the container conveyor and / or a fixing position of the container and / or the container conveyor in the transport area.
[0014] In a refinement, the system comprises means to generate a pneumatic damper in the transport area in order to allow a movement of the container conveyors in the transport area, which is as friction free as possible.
[0015] The container conveyor, according to the invention, serves to receive containers and is configured for use in a system described above. The container conveyor comprises, in particular, on its bottom side, that is, on the side facing the transport area, or in a lower region, portions or inserts made of ferromagnetic material.
[0016] In a refinement, the container carrier is designed to receive containers in the form of sample containers that contain samples to be analyzed, for example, samples of body fluids.
[0017] In a refinement, the container conveyor is a drive-free container conveyor, that is, a container without its own active drive. The container conveyor, in particular, does not contain its own energy storage that is used to drive it.
[0018] In a refinement, the container carrier comprises a transponder.
[0019] A sample distribution system or complete laboratory analysis system can comprise, for example, the transport system described above, the stations and a plurality of container carriers mentioned above.
Brief Description of the Drawings [0020] The advantageous embodiments of the invention are represented schematically in the drawings and are described below, in which: - Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a system for transporting containers between different stations; Figure 2 shows a side view of a detail of the system shown in Figure 1; and - Figure 3 shows a schematic top view of a subarea and an associated mechanism for driving the systems shown in Figures 1 and 2.
Description of Embodiments of the Invention [0021] Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a system 100 for transporting containers 10 between the different stations 20, 21, 22 and 23.
[0022] Stations 20 to 23 can be different stations from a sample analysis system for medical samples. The samples to be analyzed, for example, body fluids 11 (see Figure 2) such as blood or urine, are here supplied externally in the containers in the form of sample tubes 10 (containers) sealed with plugs, of which the tubes of samples are accommodated in independent drive conveyors 30 (associated container conveyor). Stations 20 to 23 here fulfill the functions that usually appear in context. For example, a station can serve to remove the plug from the sample tubes, an additional station can be used to perform an aliquot, an additional station can perform a first sample analysis, etc.
[0023] The purpose of the system shown 100 is to transport the sample tubes 10 between the different stations 20 to 23. The sample containers or tubes 10 are first, in each case, with the associated container carrier 30, manually or mechanically located in an input region 54, formed of subareas 51 (grid areas), of the transport area 50. From the input region 54, the sample tubes 10 or the container conveyors 30 are transported by means of the system 100 at stations 20 to 23, they are suitably processed there and are then transported to an exit region 56 formed of subareas 51, from where they are manually or mechanically removed from the transport area 50.
[0024] For priority processing of emergency samples that must be analyzed within a pre-defined maximum period, there is an emergency entrance region 55, formed from subareas 51, in which the sample tubes 10 with the container conveyor associated 30, in which the sample tubes must be processed on a prioritized basis, are located.
[0025] The system comprises a control unit 40 (see Figure 3), for example, in the form of a PC as a process computer, which controls the transport of the container conveyors 30, the transport area 50, which is divided into a base similar to a grid in square subareas or grid areas 51 of identical dimensions and in which the container conveyors 30 can be movably arranged, and a plurality of driving means, wherein a respective driving means of the plurality of drive means is assigned to a respective subarea 51 and a respective drive means is designed to apply a driving force to an associated container conveyor 30. The transport area 50 is completely divided into subareas 51, where, for reasons of representativeness , only exemplary subareas are provided with reference symbols 51.
[0026] Figure 3 shows a schematic top view of an exemplary part area 51 and an associated drive mechanism. Referring to Figure 3, below exemplary subarea 51 are located four coils 60 to 63 (actuation means), without ferromagnetic core, which form the associated mechanism of activation of exemplary subarea 51. Coils 60 to 63 are arranged so that its geometric winding axes form a square, the square being positioned on a plane that is parallel to the transport area 50 or to a flat transport area formed by the transport area 50. The additional sub-areas 51 are designated the means of corresponding drive or coils.
[0027] The control unit 40 applies a current to, respectively, two of the four coils 60 to 63 in order to generate a magnetic field or a driving force.
[0028] Referring to Figure 2, the container conveyor 30 comprises on its bottom side, portions made of ferromagnetic material 31, or a permanent magnet, through which, due to the magnetic field generated by means of coils 60 to 63 , the driving force is applied to the container conveyor 30 in a non-contact manner.
[0029] Through the proper energization of coils 60 to 63, the magnetic field or the driving force is generated in a first, a second, a third or at least a fourth direction. A pair of coils simultaneously energized is formed, for example, by the coils (60, 63), (62, 63), (61, 62) and (60, 61), the direction of the driving force being reversed by reversion the polarity of the current supply.
[0030] A container conveyor 30 can, for example, be pushed from the subarea 51 by means of a properly generated driving force and / or pulled to the adjacent subarea by a driving force which is suitably generated by a means of driving an adjacent subarea . Only a single means of driving a single subarea can be involved in moving or driving a container conveyor 30, or a plurality of means of driving a plurality of subareas can be involved. The drive means can also simultaneously serve to slow and / or secure the container conveyors 30.
[0031] Subarea 52 regions that are formed from subareas 51 and border stations 20 to 23 serve as transfer areas for stations, that is, as waiting lines. Subarea 53 regions that are formed from subareas 51 and border stations 20 to 23 on the other side, serve as prioritized transfer areas to stations, for example, as queues for emergency samples.
[0032] All functional subarea regions 52, 53, 54, 55 and 56 are formed from a predefined number of subareas 51.
[0033] Figure 2 shows a side view of a detail of system 100 shown in Figure 1.
[0034] Referring to Figure 2, a compressed air generator 80 (medium) is presented, which generates compressed air that is guided through a suitable supply to the transport area 50, where it is discharged through openings 81 (medium) in the transport area 50. The compressed air generator 80 and the openings 81 serve to generate a pneumatic damper in the transport area 50 so as to allow movement of the container conveyors 30 in the transport area 50 as frictionless as possible. The openings 81 are distributed, in particular evenly, over the transport area 50. Alternatively or additionally, a reduction of friction can be obtained magnetically, for which purpose, a suitable magnetic field with vertical components can be generated, in particular, dynamically in order to reduce a contact pressure of the container conveyor 30 in the transport area 50 or to circulate the container conveyor 30. An additional option to reduce friction is to cover the transport area 50 and / or the bottom sides or sliding surfaces of container conveyors 30 with a low friction coating, for example, Teflon. In said case, the production of a pneumatic shock absorber can be dispensed with.
[0035] Container conveyors 30 are respectively provided with transponders 32, of which the system 100 comprises at least one reading transponder 70, which serves to carry out an identification of the container conveyor 30 and a fixation of the position of the conveyor. container 30 in the transport area 50. If at least three reading transponders 70, for example, are contained in the system 100, position fixing can be carried out by means of triangulation.
[0036] In the system shown 100, the transport area 50 comprises precisely a transport area region, which is identical to the transport area 50 and which is divided into grid areas of equal dimensions, in which the grid areas form the subareas 51. Alternatively, the transport area 50 may comprise a plurality of transport area regions, where a respective transport area region is divided into grid areas of equal dimensions, where the dimensions of the grid areas of different transport area regions differ. For example, this allows for rapid transport of container conveyors 30, in regions of the transport area that have more coarse meshed subareas 51, that is, wider, and greater positioning accuracy in regions of the transport area that have more sub-areas 51 more finished, that is, smaller.
[0037] In the embodiments shown, a container conveyor 30 covers with its bottom side which faces the transport area 50, substantially and completely a subarea 51. Particularly in the case of subareas 51 of different dimensions, the bottom side of the conveyor of container 30, of course, can also cover a plurality of subareas, in which, for this case, the means of driving a plurality of subareas 51 can generate the respective driving force contributions, which are superimposed on each other to form a force resulting motive.
[0038] In the embodiments shown, the driving force is generated electromagnetically. Alternatively or additionally, it is possible to pressurize a container conveyor 30 by means of compressed air to generate the driving force.
[0039] The achievements shown allow a high transport capacity combined with, at the same time, high flexibility, in order, for example, to transport emergency samples particularly, between different stations.
Claims

权利要求:
Claims (11)
[1]
1. SYSTEM (100) FOR TRANSPORTING CONTAINERS (10) BETWEEN DIFFERENT STATIONS (20, 21, 22, 23), in which the containers (10) are accommodated in container conveyors (30), characterized by the fact that it comprises: - a control unit (40), which controls the transport of the container conveyors (30), - a transport area (50), - which is divided into sub-areas (51), the sub-areas (51) adjacent to the stations (20 , 21, 22, 23), in which an emergency entrance region (55) composed of subareas (51) in which the containers (10) with the associated container carriers (30) are located for the priority treatment of samples of emergency, and - in which the container conveyors (30) can be arranged in a mobile manner, and - drive means (60, 61, 62, 63), in which - the drive means (60, 61, 62, 63 ) are activated by the control unit (40), and - a respective drive means (60, 61, 62, 63) is assigned to a subarea perspective (51), wherein - a respective driving means (60, 61, 62, 63) is designed to apply a driving force to an associated container conveyor (30).
[2]
2. SYSTEM (100), according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that a respective driving means (60, 61, 62, 63) is designed to apply the driving force to a container conveyor (30) associated with a non-contact shape.
[3]
3. SYSTEM (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized by the fact that a respective driving means (60, 61, 62, 63) is designed to alternatively generate a driving force in a first, a second, a third or at least a fourth direction.
[4]
4. SYSTEM (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by the fact that - the transport area (50) comprises at least one transport area region, which is divided into grid areas of equal dimensions, with the grid areas forming the subareas (51).
[5]
5. SYSTEM (100), according to claim 4, characterized by the fact that: - the transport area (50) comprises a plurality of transport area regions, in which a respective transport area region is divided into grid areas of equal dimensions, and the dimensions of the grid areas of the different transport area regions are different.
[6]
6. SYSTEM (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that - the container conveyors (30) comprise ferromagnetic material (31), and - the drive means (60, 61, 62 , 63) are designed to generate a variable magnetic field in order to apply the driving force to an associated container conveyor (30).
[7]
7. SYSTEM (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that - the driving means (60, 61, 62, 63) are designed to apply a driving force to a container conveyor ( 30) associated by means of compressed air.
[8]
8. SYSTEM (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that - the drive means (60, 61, 62, 63) are located below the transport area (50).
[9]
SYSTEM (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that - the containers (10) and / or the container conveyors (30) are provided with transponders (32), - in which the system (100) comprises at least one reading transponder (70) which is designed to carry out an identification of the container (10) and / or the container conveyor (30) and / or a fixation of the position of the container (10) and / or the container conveyor (30) in the transport area (50).
[10]
SYSTEM (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises - means (80, 81) for generating an air cushion in the transport area (50).
[11]
11. SYSTEM (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized by the fact that - the stations (20, 21, 22, 23) comprise a station for removing the sample buffer, one for carrying out an aliquot, and / or a station to perform sample analysis.

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