KR-102961557-B1 - MANUFACTURING APPARATUS FOR AGAROSE GEL AND MANUFACTURING METHOD OF AGAROSE GEL USING THE SAME

KR102961557B1KR 102961557 B1KR102961557 B1KR 102961557B1KR-102961557-B1

Abstract

The present invention discloses an agarose gel manufacturing apparatus and a method for manufacturing agarose gel using the same. Specifically, the present invention discloses an agarose gel manufacturing apparatus capable of automatically manufacturing agarose gel with only a simple touch operation by a user, and a method for manufacturing agarose gel using the same. Accordingly, by providing an agarose gel manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, a user can always obtain a consistent, high-quality agarose gel conveniently and safely, and can achieve the effect of enabling efficient experiments by significantly reducing experiment time and user labor.

Inventors

김병일
김영재
박인근
김태용
김병찬
박현
박소연

Assignees

주식회사 인텔리전트진

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20240314

Claims (12)

A device cover portion and a tablet case for storing and dispensing agarose tablets; A device control unit comprising an information display device that is provided inside the device cover portion, is positioned so that a portion thereof is exposed to the front of the device cover portion, and is capable of touch operation; A tablet insertion module provided inside the device cover portion, with a portion formed to protrude above the device cover portion, and coupled with the tablet case to insert an agarose tablet discharged from the tablet case into the main chamber; A temperature control unit provided inside the cover portion of the above device, capable of heating or cooling the agarose solution; A DW supply unit provided inside the device cover portion and supplying DW to each component of the manufacturing device; An agarose solution preparation unit provided inside the cover portion of the above-mentioned device, which prepares an agarose solution by stirring an agarose tablet, DW, and a reagent inside the main chamber; A gel tray operating unit provided inside the device cover portion for controlling the movement of a gel tray containing an agarose solution or agarose gel; And a waste treatment unit provided inside the cover portion of the above device for treating waste after agarose gel production; comprising The tablet case includes an upper case and a lower case, and the upper case and the lower case are combined and mounted and coupled to a tablet case mounting portion located at the top of the device cover portion. The above gel tray operating unit includes a position sensor and a scale module, and The above-described scale module is positioned at the bottom of the tray support where the gel tray is placed, and detects the weight of the agarose solution dispensed into the gel tray, and An agarose gel manufacturing apparatus that detects position information through position information detected by the position sensor and detects weight information through the scale module to control the discharge position and/or discharge amount of the agarose solution so that the agarose solution is evenly discharged into the gel tray.
In paragraph 1, The above agarose solution manufacturing unit includes a main chamber, a DW injection nozzle, a reagent pump, a reagent injection nozzle, a stirrer, a fluorescent dye injection nozzle, and a solution discharge port, and The above fluorescent dye injection nozzle is an agarose gel manufacturing apparatus including a fluorescent dye injection port.
In paragraph 1, An agarose gel manufacturing apparatus characterized in that the method of feeding the agarose tablet into the above tablet case is selected from one of a rotary feeding method, a vertical feeding method, and a horizontal feeding method.
In paragraph 3, The tablet case (300) of the rotational insertion type is composed of an upper case (310) and a lower case (320), and The upper case (310) includes a rotating part coupling part (312), and The lower case (320) includes a fixed mounting hole (322) and a tablet dispensing hole (323). The tablet insertion module (120) includes a tablet case coupling part (121) that is coupled with the tablet case (300), and The tablet case coupling part (121) includes a device rotation part (121a) and a fixing part (121b), and The upper case (310) is coupled to the device rotating part (121a) through the rotating part coupling part (312) and rotates in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The agarose gel manufacturing device is characterized in that the lower case (320) is coupled to the fixing part (121b) through the fixing part mounting hole (322) and fixed to the manufacturing device (100).
In paragraph 4, The upper case (310) includes a tablet storage portion (311), a rotating portion coupling portion (312), and a fixing groove (313), and the lower case (320) includes a rotating portion mounting portion (321), a fixing portion mounting portion (322), a tablet dispensing portion (323), and a protrusion (324). The upper case (310) is coupled to the device rotation part (121a) through the rotation part coupling part (312) and rotates, and The lower case (320) is fixed to the device by being coupled to the fixing part (121b) through the fixing part (121b) mounting hole (322), and The shapes of the above device rotation part (121a) and the rotation part coupling part (312) correspond to each other, and An agarose gel manufacturing apparatus characterized in that the upper case (310) and the lower case (320) are prevented from detaching through the protrusion (324) in a combined state.
In paragraph 1, The above temperature control unit includes a heater and a cooler, and An agarose gel manufacturing apparatus characterized in that the heater is selected from one of a band heater, a rod heater, a coil heater, an induction heater, and a plate heater.
In paragraph 1, The gel tray operating unit further includes a tray support on which the gel tray is placed and a moving motor unit for moving the tray support in the forward, backward, left, and right directions. An agarose gel manufacturing apparatus characterized in that the discharge position of the agarose solution is performed by moving the tray support to a position according to the detected position information through the moving motor unit.
In Paragraph 7, The above-mentioned agarose solution control method is, An agarose gel manufacturing apparatus characterized by any one of the following: a method of controlling the weight of a gel tray, a method of controlling the discharge amount of an agarose solution, or a method of comprehensively controlling the weight of the gel tray and the discharge amount of an agarose solution.
A method for manufacturing an agarose gel using an agarose gel manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein Step of setting the agarose gel concentration (S200); A step of first cleaning the manufacturing device by flowing DW through each component of the manufacturing device (S300); Step of preparing an agarose solution at a set concentration (S400); Step of dispensing the prepared agarose solution into a gel tray (S500); A step of gelling the discharged agarose solution (S600); A step of secondarily cleaning the manufacturing device by flowing DW through each component of the manufacturing device (S700); and The step of removing the gel tray from the manufacturing device (S800); is included, The above dispensing step (S500) includes the step of detecting position information and weight information of the gel tray, and A method for manufacturing an agarose gel, characterized by detecting position information through a position sensor and detecting weight information through a scale module, and controlling the discharge position and/or discharge amount of the agarose solution so that the agarose solution is evenly discharged into the gel tray.
In Paragraph 9, Prior to the step (S200) of setting the agarose gel concentration, A method for manufacturing an agarose gel, characterized by further including the step (S100) of injecting a fluorescent dye into a fluorescent dye injection port.
In Paragraph 9, The step (S400) of preparing the above agarose solution is, Step of introducing DW into the main chamber (S410); Step of heating the main chamber to 70 to 120℃ (S420); Step (S430) of introducing an agarose tablet into a heated DW from a tablet case mounted and coupled to a tablet case holder; and introducing a reagent. A method for preparing an agarose gel, characterized by including the step of stirring the agarose solution (S440).
In Paragraph 11, The step (S400) of preparing the above agarose solution is, After the step of stirring the agarose solution (S440), the step of cooling the main chamber to 50 to 65°C (S450); and Step of introducing a fluorescent dye into the main chamber (S460); A method for manufacturing agarose gel characterized by further including

Description

Manufacturing apparatus for agarose gel and method of manufacturing agarose gel using the same The present invention relates to an agarose gel manufacturing apparatus that automatically manufactures an agarose gel for electrophoresis of nucleic acids or proteins, and a method for manufacturing an agarose gel using the same. Agarose is a natural polymer isolated and purified from agar or agar-containing marine algae. Agarose possesses diverse properties and can be applied and utilized in various fields, such as immunodiffusion techniques, gel plates or gel overlays for cells in tissue culture, cell culture media, and gel chromatography. Furthermore, agarose is suitable for use as a medium utilizing diffusion or electric motility, and due to its high physicochemical stability and low likelihood of interaction with biomolecules, it is primarily used in nucleic acid and protein analysis experiments. In particular, leveraging the three-dimensional network structure of agarose, it is mainly used in electrophoresis to extract molecules based on size during the separation and detection of nucleic acids or proteins. The method for preparing agarose gel for electrophoresis is widely known, and the specific preparation method is as follows. First, determine the concentration of the agarose gel to be used, then weigh the buffer and agarose powder diluted in the corresponding ratio, place them in a flask, and mix. Heat must be applied during mixing to completely dissolve the agarose powder; a microwave is commonly used for this process. Subsequently, slowly pour the agarose solution, containing the powder and dilution buffer mixed inside the flask, into the gel tray to be used for the experiment, taking care to prevent the formation of bubbles. During this process, care must be taken regarding the high temperature of the flask, and it is advisable to use heat dissipation equipment such as oven gloves. If bubbles appear in the agarose gel, remove them using a pipette tip. Finally, attach a well comb to the gel tray and leave it for approximately 30 to 40 minutes until the gel completely solidifies. The above agarose gel manufacturing process is entirely performed manually by the user, which may lead to various problems. For example, when manually pouring the agarose solution into the gel tray, the solution may not be poured evenly, resulting in uneven thickness or the formation of noise (bubbles), which can lead to the production of low-quality agarose gel. Additionally, there are issues where the user may suffer burns while handling high-temperature flasks or be injured by dropping them, and prolonged exposure to electromagnetic waves from microwave ovens may have adverse effects on the user's health. Furthermore, there is the inconvenience of having to clean experimental tools every time the agarose gel is manufactured, and there is a problem of excessive labor consumption by the user, as they must continuously focus on the agarose gel manufacturing process without being able to perform other experiments until the gel is completed. In order to solve the various problems mentioned above, the applicant, after research, came to develop a device that automatically produces high-quality agarose gel with just a simple touch operation. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an agarose gel manufacturing device (100), a device cover part (200), and a tablet case (300). FIG. 2 is a side view of an agarose gel manufacturing device (100) and is a drawing illustrating a device control unit (110). FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating a tablet case (300) and a tablet insertion module (120). FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating the DW supply unit (140) and the agarose solution manufacturing unit (150). Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the operation process of the DW supply unit (140). Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the operation process of the agarose solution manufacturing unit (150). FIG. 7 is a drawing illustrating a gel tray operating unit (160). FIG. 8 is a drawing illustrating a gel tray operating unit (160) and a waste treatment unit (170). FIG. 9 is a drawing illustrating a gel tray (GT) containing agarose gel being removed from an agarose gel manufacturing device (100). FIG. 10 is a drawing illustrating the waste treatment tank (173) being removed from the agarose gel manufacturing device (100). FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing an agarose gel using an agarose gel manufacturing apparatus (100) according to the present invention. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the detailed steps of the first washing step (S300) and the second washing step (S700). FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the detailed steps of the agarose solution preparation step (S400). The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. The following description should be understood as describing the present invention with specific examples, and the technical concept of the present invention is