MICROARRAY ALIGNMENT MECHANISM

摘要

The present invention provides an alignment mechanism for aligning a workpiece such as a microscope slide for a microarray processing machine. The alignment mechanism includes a stationary support base, an actuator arm and a roller support member. The actuator arm is slidably attached to the support base and has an actuator and a registration arm. The registration arm has a first registration surface and a second registration surface. The roller support member is also slidably attached to the support base and has a main body portion, a first roller and a second roller. The actuator arm is capable of sliding the registration arm and the roller support member toward the workpiece such that the first roller presses the first edge of the workpiece against the first registration surface of the registration arm and the second roller presses the second edge of the workpiece against the second registration surface of the registration arm. To further align the workpiece in a third dimension, the workpiece has a bottom surface and the registration arm has a third registration surface and a plurality of springs. The present invention is also a method within a microarray processing device for aligning a workpiece.