INTEGRATED ROBOTIC SAMPLE TRANSFER DEVICE
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A robotic sample transfer device, comprising:
- a substantially horizontal work surface including a plurality of functional elements configured for small sample processing;
a three axis robotic positioning assembly having a fixed mount portion secured in fixed relation with the work surface, a translatable carrier configured to be translatable in three axes with respect to the fixed mount portion and working surface and having a stepper motor corresponding to each axis and at least one linear encoder assembly configured to generate position data for at least one axis;
at least one pin tool coupled to the translatable carrier; and
a controller in communication with the stepper motors of each of the three axes of the three axis robotic positioning assembly and the at least one linear encoder assembly.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments include integrated robotic sample transfer devices and components thereof which are used for reliably and accurately transferring small samples of material from one registered position to another registered position. Such transfers of material may be carried out by a single pin tool or an array of pin tools of a pin tool head assembly of robotic sample transfer devices. Some embodiments also include automated cleaning of the pin tools used to transfer the sample material. Some embodiments are fully integrated units having internal fluid supply and waste tanks, vacuum source, fluid pumps, controllers and user interface devices.
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Citations
54 Claims
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1. A robotic sample transfer device, comprising:
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a substantially horizontal work surface including a plurality of functional elements configured for small sample processing; a three axis robotic positioning assembly having a fixed mount portion secured in fixed relation with the work surface, a translatable carrier configured to be translatable in three axes with respect to the fixed mount portion and working surface and having a stepper motor corresponding to each axis and at least one linear encoder assembly configured to generate position data for at least one axis; at least one pin tool coupled to the translatable carrier; and a controller in communication with the stepper motors of each of the three axes of the three axis robotic positioning assembly and the at least one linear encoder assembly. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A robotic sample transfer device, comprising:
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a housing; a substantially horizontal work surface disposed within the housing; a three axis robotic positioning assembly disposed within the housing having a fixed mount portion secured in fixed relation with the work surface and a translatable carrier member translatable in three different axes with respect to the fixed mount portion and work surface; at least one pin tool coupled to the translatable carrier having a shaft and a sample reservoir in a distal end of the shaft; a plurality of functional elements disposed on the work surface having a nominal upper surface at substantially the same height; and a controller operatively coupled to the three axis robotic positioning assembly. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An integrated robotic sample transfer device, comprising:
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a housing; a three axis robotic positioning assembly disposed within the housing having a fixed mount portion, a translatable carrier translatable in three axes with respect to the fixed mount portion and working surface and having a stepper motor corresponding to each axis and at least one linear encoder assembly for generating position data for at least one axis of the translatable carrier; a pin tool head assembly secured to the translatable carrier member having an array of regularly spaced pin tools with sample reservoirs disposed in the distal ends thereof and configured for axial displacement relative to a pin head body secured to the translatable carrier of the three axis robotic positioning assembly; a substantially horizontal work surface disposed within the housing and secured in fixed relation to the fixed mount portion of the three axis positioning assembly and having a fluid rinse station, a vacuum drying station including a plurality of regularly spaced vacuum drying ports corresponding to the regular spacing of the array of pin tools, a self-leveling ultrasonic cleaning well and a microtiter plate mount block configured to releasably secure a sample well; a controller including a processor disposed within the housing at a position which is above the level of the work surface; a rinse fluid supply tank in fluid communication with the fluid rinse station and disposed within the housing; a waste fluid tank in fluid communication with an overflow basin of the fluid rinse station and disposed within the housing; a vacuum source in fluid communication with the vacuum drying station; and an ultrasonic cleaning fluid reservoir in fluid communication with a self-leveling ultrasonic cleaning well. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of registering the position of a pin tool head assembly of a robotic sample transfer device relative to sample deposition sites on a chip, comprising:
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providing a robotic sample transfer device having a work surface with a plurality of functional elements with a nominal upper surface at substantially the same level and a three axis positioning system with a camera and pin tool head assembly secured to a translatable carrier thereof; imaging the nominal upper surfaces of functional elements disposed on work surface with the camera; processing the image data of the nominal upper surfaces of the functional elements from the camera to determine the approximate position of the pin tool head assembly relative to the functional elements; using the approximate position data to move the camera to a first chip having an array of regularly spaced sample deposition sites and an array of regularly spaced fiducial marks disposed between the sample deposition sites; imaging fiducial marks on the first chip; processing the image data of fiducial marks on the first chip; obtaining feedback regarding a position of the pin tool head assembly from linear encoders of three axes of a three axis robotic positioning system; comparing encoder feedback with image processing feedback and look up table data to determine the precise position of the pin tools of the pin tool head assembly with respect to the sample deposition sites on the first chip. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37)
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38. A method of dispensing calibration material onto a chip, comprising:
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providing a chip having a first array of regularly spaced sample deposition sites disposed on a substantially flat working surface thereof and at least one sample deposition site for receiving calibration material which is also disposed on the flat working surface of the chip and which is off pitch with respect to the regular spacing of the first array of regularly spaced sample deposition sites of the chip; providing a robotic sample transfer device having a pin tool head assembly with an array of regularly spaced pin tools having distal ends which are substantially coplanar in a relaxed state and which have a regular spacing which is the same as the regular spacing of the first array of sample deposition sites or an integer multiple thereof and configured to align with the array of regularly spaced sample deposition sites of the chip or a subset thereof; loading sample reservoirs of the array of regularly spaced pin tools of the robotic sample transfer device with calibration material; dispensing calibration material from the pin tools of the robotic sample transfer device to the at least one sample deposition site for receiving calibration material such that the pin tools which are not aligned with sample deposition sites for receiving calibration material are off pitch with respect to the first array of regularly spaced sample deposition sites of the chip and do not contact any of the regularly spaced sample deposition sites of the first array. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
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41. A pin tool displacement block for selectively displacing at least one pin tool of a pin tool head assembly of a robotic sample transfer device in an axial direction, comprising:
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a block body having a bottom surface and a plurality of parallel slots formed into the block body portion substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface with a predetermined regular spacing configured to correspond to regular spacing of pin tools of a pin tool head assembly and having a transverse dimension sized to allow easy movement of a width of a nominal shaft of the pin tools in the slots but restrictive of movement of an enlarged portion of the shaft of the pin tools; and at least one relieved portion in a slot which has a transverse dimension sized to allow easy downward movement of the enlarged portion of a pin tool shaft which is greater than the transverse dimension of the slot and which extends from a top surface of the block body towards the bottom surface. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A method for selectively displacing at least one pin tool of a pin tool head assembly of a robotic sample transfer device, comprising:
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providing a pin tool displacement block including a block body having a bottom surface and a plurality of parallel slots formed into the block body portion substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface with a predetermined regular spacing configured to correspond to regular spacing of pin tools of a pin tool head assembly and having a transverse dimension sized to allow easy movement of a width of a nominal shaft of the pin tools in the slots but restrictive of movement of an enlarged portion of the shaft of the pin tools, and at least one relieved portion in a slot which has a transverse dimension sized to allow easy downward movement of the enlarged portion of a pin tool shaft which is greater than the transverse dimension of the slot and which extends from a top surface of the block body towards the bottom surface; displacing an array of pin tools of a pin tool head assembly by depressing the pin tools against a flat surface; deploying the pin tool displacement block into the pin tool head assembly such that the parallel slots of the pin tool displacement block slide over rows of the array of pin tools of the pin tool head assembly; and allowing the pin tools to return to a relaxed state by retracting the pin tool head assembly from the flat surface with at least one of the pin tools axially displaced in the relaxed state.
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53. A method of dispensing calibration material onto a chip, comprising:
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providing a chip having an array of regularly spaced sample deposition sites disposed on a substantially flat working surface thereof and at least one sample deposition site for receiving calibration material which is also disposed on the flat working surface of the chip; providing a robotic sample transfer device having a pin tool head assembly with an array of regularly spaced pin tools having distal ends which are substantially coplanar in a relaxed state and which have a regular spacing which is the same as the regular spacing of the first array of sample deposition sites or an integer multiple thereof and configured to align with the array of regularly spaced sample deposition sites of the chip or a subset thereof; axially displacing at least one of the pin tools of the pin tool head assembly with a pin tool displacement block; loading a sample reservoir of at least one un-displaced pin tool of the robotic sample transfer device with calibration material; dispensing calibration material from the at least one un-displaced pin tool of the robotic sample transfer device to the at least one sample deposition site for receiving calibration material such that the pin tools which are displaced by the pin tool displacement block do not contact the chip. - View Dependent Claims (54)
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Specification