| 摘要 |
An automated pharmaceutical or biotech compound testing system uses a very small molded plastic shelf keeping unit or test tube known as a“minitube”. The minitubes are stored in trays in a standing refrigeration unit and are retrieved by a machine or robot having a die cutting tubular end effector adapted to selectively cut away and remove a minitube from an integrally molded matrix containing hundreds of minitubes (e.g., 384); the matrix is called a minitube well plate. Upon cutting a selected minitube away from the matrix, the end effector is pushed down over the selected minitube, thus forcing the minitube into the cylindrical interior lumen of the end effector, where it is retained by friction fit until such time as the minitube is to be releaseably locked into a plastic receiving tray. Minitubes are stored in the plastic tray which is adapted to receive and releaseably hold or lock the tubes in place. The minitubes themselves are molded plastic tubes having distally projecting spaced apart“rabbit ear”detent lock members which are biased outwardly. The plastic receiving tray has apertures sized to receive the minitubes and each aperture of the tray is terminated at bottom in a hole defined within chamfered shoulders adapted to slidably engage and exert transverse force against the minitube rabbit ears. The two rabbit ears and the hole together comprise a detent lock system, the minitube rabbit ears releaseably engage the shoulder surfaces on the bottom of the hole in each aperture of the tray. The robot end effector can withdraw and replace the tubes as needed to perform automated testing.
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