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EP-4735897-A1 - ROBOTIC SAMPLE HANDLING APPARATUS WITH A TELESCOPIC ARM

EP4735897A1EP 4735897 A1EP4735897 A1EP 4735897A1EP-4735897-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a robotic sample handling apparatus for performing sample handling tasks in a laboratory environment, comprising a worktable for holding samples and a robot arm (130) which is controllable to be positioned in a horizontal XY plane parallel to the worktable and along a vertical Z-axis perpendicular to the worktable. The robot arm comprises a housing part (132) that is slidingly mounted to a support arm (120) of the apparatus and further comprises an upper assembly, which is mounted to the housing part (132) so as to be displaceable between a raised position and a lowered position. The upper assembly includes a top plate (133), a base plate (135) and an arrangement of at least one first guide rod (136, 137) and at least one second guide rod (138), which extend in vertical direction Z therebetween. The upper assembly is slidingly mounted to the housing part (132) via a corresponding at least one first linear bearing (141, 142) through which the corresponding first guide rod (136,137) extends. The robot arm further comprises a telescoping plate (150) that is slidingly mounted to the upper assembly via a corresponding at least one second linear bearing (143, 144) through which the corresponding second guide rod (138) extends.

Inventors

  • STREBEL, CHRISTIAN
  • Leckebusch, Franziska
  • Wassmer, Felix

Assignees

  • Tecan Trading AG

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20241219

Claims (13)

  1. 1. A robotic sample handling apparatus (100) for performing sample handling tasks in a laboratory environment, comprising a worktable (105) for holding samples and a robot arm (130) which is controllable to be positioned in a horizontal XY plane parallel to the worktable and along a vertical Z-axis perpendicular to the worktable, wherein the robot arm comprises: a housing part (132); an upper assembly comprising a top plate (133), a base plate (135) and an arrangement of at least one first guide rod (136, 137) and at least one second guide rod (138), which guide rods extend in vertical direction Z between the top plate and the base plate, whereby the upper assembly is slidingly mounted to the housing part (132) via a corresponding at least one first linear bearing (141 , 142) through which the corresponding first guide rod (136,137) extends; and a telescoping plate (150) that is slidingly mounted to the upper assembly of the robot arm, via a corresponding at least one second linear bearing (143, 144) through which the corresponding second guide rod (138) extends.
  2. 2. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) of claim 1 , further comprising a positioning system (110), the positioning system comprising an X-axis and a Y- axis, for positional adjustment of the robot arm (130) in X- and Y-direction respectively, whereby the Y-axis is slidingly mounted to the X-axis and the robot arm (130) is slidingly mounted to the Y-axis.
  3. 3. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) according to claim 1 or 2, further provided with a telescoping drive which comprises: - a motor (145) in fixed connection with the housing part (132) of the robot arm; - an active belt (155) driven by the motor, so as to effect sliding displacement of the upper assembly via the at least one first linear bearing (141, 142) and - a passive belt (157), to which the telescoping plate (150) is fixedly attached, whereby the passive belt is driven via said sliding displacement of the upper assembly of the robot arm (130).
  4. 4. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) according to claim 3, wherein the telescoping drive further comprises a sprocket (152) rotationally driven by an output shaft of the motor (145), and wherein: - the active belt (155) has a first end fixed to the top plate (133) and a second end fixed to the base plate (135) and is arranged so as to engage with teeth on an outer circumference of the sprocket (152); and - the passive belt (157) is a closed-loop belt that is looped around a first pulley sheave (158) rotationally mounted to the top plate (133) and a second pulley sheave (159) rotationally mounted to the base plate (135).
  5. 5. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) according to claim any preceding claim, wherein the robot arm (130) is provided with a stabilizer element (160, 260) mounted to the base plate (135), whereby the stabilizer element comprises a first contact surface (265s) in contact with a first side (150a) of the telescoping plate and a second contact surface (275s) in contact with a second side (150b) of the telescoping plate, whereby the first and second sides (150a, 150b) define a thickness of the telescoping plate (150).
  6. 6. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) according to claim 5, wherein the stabilizer element (160) is provided with first and second rollers (165, 175) and wherein the first and second contact surfaces are respectively formed by an outer circumference of the first and second rollers.
  7. 7. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) according to claim 6, wherein one of the first and second rollers (165, 175) is mounted to the stabilizer element (160) via an eccentric pin (170) and wherein: - the eccentric pin has a shaft part (173) on which the roller is mounted and a cylindrical connection part (171) that is received in a mounting bore (167) provided in the stabilizer element; and - the shaft part (173) of the eccentric pin has a centre axis (174) that is offset from a centre axis (172) of the cylindrical connection part (171).
  8. 8. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) according to claim 5, wherein the stabilizer element (260) comprises a first fork (265) on which the first contact surface (265s) is provided and comprises a second fork (275) on which the second contact surface (275s) is provided.
  9. 9. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) according to claim 8, wherein the first and second forks (265, 275) are somewhat spring-loaded, such that corresponding first and second contact surfaces (265s, 275s) are pressed against the first and second sides of the telescoping plate (150).
  10. 10. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) according to any of claims 5 - 9, wherein the stabilizer element (160) is mounted to the base plate (135) via at least one slot opening (162) for enabling a positional adjustment of the stabilizer element relative to the base plate (135) in a direction towards and away from the first and second sides of the telescoping plate (150).
  11. 11. The robotic sample handling system (100) of any preceding claim, wherein the robot arm (130) has a travel range in vertical direction Z, between a fully raised and retracted position and a fully lowered and extended position, of between 40 and 70 cm.
  12. 12. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) of any preceding claim, wherein the worktable (105) has an upper surface (105s) that serves as a main working area for holding samples, and is further provided with a cut-out region (107) that extends through to an underside of the worktable.
  13. 13. The robotic sample handling apparatus (100) of any preceding claim, further comprising a gripper unit (200) attached to the telescoping plate (150) at a lower region thereof.

Description

ROBOTIC SAMPLE HANDLING APPARATUS WITH A TELESCOPIC ARM TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a robotic sample handling apparatus for performing sample handling tasks in a laboratory environment. The apparatus is equipped with a robot arm which is positionable along a vertical axis and comprises a telescoping part for achievement of a large travel range in vertical direction. BACKGROUND ART An example of a liquid handling apparatus comprising a positioning assembly with an extendable and retractable part is disclosed in EP3588099. The positioning assembly has a base part and a holder part for holding an end-effector, such as a pipetting head. The base part comprises a linear displacement mechanism which is driven by a motor arranged on the base part. The base part and the holder part are arranged parallel to each other and are connected via a displaceable slide link, which is configured to engage with a first guide rail provided on the base part and on a second guide rail provided on the holder part, whereby each guide rail extends in vertical direction. The slide link is coupled to the displacement mechanism, which causes displacement of the slide link relative to the base part in vertical direction. The holder part is moveably coupled to the base part via a coupling arrangement which is configured such that linear displacement of the slide link relative to the base part in one direction causes linear displacement of the holder part relative to the slide link in the same linear direction. In one embodiment, the coupling arrangement comprises a pulley bock system, whereby the base part is provided with first and second pulley sheaves and the slide link is provided with third and fourth pulley sheaves. The arrangement further comprises a belt, which is fixed to opposite ends of the holder part and is looped around the arrangement of first and second pulley sheaves on the base part and the third and fourth pulley sheaves on the slide link. The slide link may be attached to the belt and the first pulley sheave may be driven by the motor, such that rotation of the belt causes linear displacement of the slide link from e.g. a raised position to a lowered position. This causes rotation of the pulley sheaves on the slide link, leading to linear displacement of the holder part from e.g. a retracted position to an extended position. The disclosed positioning assembly has a compact height, when in fully raised and retracted position, and allows an extensive travel range relative to its height. However, in apparatuses where a large travel range in absolute terms is required, e.g. greater than 50 cm, such a positioning assembly may be unsuitable for achieving this range and may be unsuitable for supporting the weight of an end-effector such as a gripper unit with parallel grippers and a rotation drive. An alternative arrangement for producing a telescoping extension of a robotic arm is disclosed in US9572381. The disclosed horizontal multistage telescopic device comprises a slider mounted to a base part, so as to be movable in opposing first and second directions, and further comprises an output arm that is mounted to the slider so as to be moveable in opposing first and second directions. A motor is mounted at one end of the slider, which actuates a belt-type transmission mechanism comprising a driving pulley and a driven pulley. The transmission mechanism is configured such rotation of the motor causes displacement of the slider relative to the base part and displacement of the output arm relative to the slider. A disadvantage associated which such a telescopic device is that the motor is mounted to one of the moving parts and thus contributes to the weight that needs to be displaced in order to effect extension of the output arm. Consequently, there is room for improvement. SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention defines a robotic sample handling apparatus for performing sample handling tasks in a laboratory environment, comprising a worktable for holding samples and a robot arm, which is controllable to be positioned in a horizontal XY plane parallel to the worktable and along a vertical Z-axis perpendicular to the worktable. The robot arm comprises a housing part and a first moving part that is slidingly mounted to the housing part, so as to be displaceable between a raised position and a lowered position. The first moving part will be referred to as an upper assembly of the robot arm and comprises a top plate and a base plate between which an arrangement of guide rods extends in vertical direction Z. The robot arm further comprises a telescoping part that is slidingly mounted to the upper assembly, so as to be displaceable between a retracted position and an extended position. The arrangement of guide rods comprises at least one first guide rod, preferably two first guide rods, arranged at a first side of the upper assembly, which are suitably mounted to the housing part via a corresponding at least one