Apparatus and method for producing an orbital movement in a plane for a fluid sample

Abstract

An apparatus (10) for producing an orbital movement in a plane (20) is disclosed. The apparatus (10) comprises a lower shaft (40) and an upper shaft (30), being parallelly and eccentrically attached to one another, and a platform (50) mounted on the upper shaft (30). A ring gear (60) is attached to the platform (50) and coaxially rotatable about the upper shaft (30). A gear wheel (80) is coaxially rotatably mounted on the lower shaft (40) and engages with the ring gear (60).

Claims

1. An apparatus for producing an orbital movement in a plane, the apparatus comprising: a lower shaft and an upper shaft being parallelly and eccentrically attached to one another; a platform rotatably mounted on the upper shaft; a ring gear attached to the platform and coaxially rotatable about the upper shaft, the ring gear comprising a plurality of interior teeth on a radially inward circumferential surface; a gear wheel, having a plurality of exterior teeth on a peripheral circumferential surface, being coaxially rotatably mounted on the lower shaft, wherein the gear wheel is so placed within the ring gear that at least some of the plurality of interior teeth engage with at least some of the plurality of exterior teeth; a first transmission device for driving the lower shaft; a first motor operatively connected to the first transmission device; a second transmission device for driving the gear wheel; and a second motor operatively connected to the second transmission device.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the platform and the ring gear are formed as one piece.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a counterweight connected to the upper shaft.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sample holder mounted on the platform.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first transmission device for driving the lower shaft to rotate comprises one of a pulley coaxially attached to the lower shaft and a first transmitting gear wheel coaxially attached to the lower shaft.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second transmission device for driving the gear wheel comprises a pulley coaxially attached to the gear wheel or a second transmitting gear wheel coaxially attached to the gear wheel.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1 shows an example of the apparatus.

(2) FIGS. 2A-C show an example of the eccentric shaft, and the ring gear and the gear wheel in a cross section (FIG. 2A) and a bottom view (FIG. 2B). The offset of the eccentric shaft is shown in FIG. 2C.

(3) FIGS. 3A and 3B show the gear wheel with the exterior teeth and drive teeth (FIG. 3A) and the ring gear within the eccentric shaft (FIG. 3B).

(4) FIGS. 4A-C show an example of the orbital shaking.

(5) FIGS. 5A-C show a further example of the shaking.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) The invention will now be described on the basis of the drawings. It will be understood that the embodiments and aspects of the invention described herein are only examples and do not limit the protector's scope of the claims in any way. The invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents. It will be understood that features of one aspect or embodiment of the invention can be combined with the feature of a different aspect or aspects and/or embodiments of the invention.

(7) FIG. 1 shows an example of the apparatus 10 of this disclosure. The apparatus 10 is used to produce an orbital movement, such as a shake or rotation, in a plane indicated by the reference numeral 20 in FIG. 1.

(8) The apparatus 10 comprises an eccentric shaft having an upper shaft 30 and a lower shaft 40 about which is attached a platform 50. The platform 50 can rotate co-axially about the upper shaft 30. The platform 50 is mounted on a ring gear 60 having interior teeth 70. The interior teeth 70 engage with exterior teeth 90 of a gear wheel 80. The platform 50 and the ring gear 60 could be made from a single piece. One or more sample holders 55 can be mounted on the platform 50. A drive wheel 110 is connected to the lower shaft 40 to rotate the lower shaft 40. The drive wheel 110 is connected by a belt driven pulley 115 to a drive motor (not shown).

(9) FIGS. 2A-C show an example of the eccentric shaft 30, 40, in cross section (FIG. 2A) and in a bottom view (FIG. 2B) of the eccentric shaft illustrating the interior teeth 70 and the exterior teeth 90. FIG. 2C shows the eccentric shaft 30, 40 with an offset marked. The same reference numerals are used in FIGS. 1 and 2.

(10) It will be seen from FIG. 2B that some of the exterior teeth 90 engage with some of the interior teeth 70.

(11) FIGS. 3A show an example of the gear wheel 80 mounted on the eccentric shaft 30, 40. It will be seen that the gear wheel 80 has drive teeth 95, which can engage with a set of gears (rather than the belt driven pulley 115) to drive the gear wheel 80. FIG. 3B shows a further example of the eccentric shaft 30, 40 about which is located the ring gear 60 with the interior teeth 70. It will be understood from FIGS. 3A-B that the gear wheel 80 can be mounted inside the ring gear 60 such that some of the interior teeth 70 engage with some of the exterior teeth 90, as shown in FIG. 2B. The ring gear and the gear wheel 80 are pivot-mounted on the shaft 30 and it is therefore possible to rotate the eccentric shaft 30, 40 without rotating the gear wheel 80.

(12) The apparatus 10 may require a counterweight 130 if the system exceeds a certain size and balancing of centrifugal forces is required. The counterweight 130 is attached to the upper shaft 30 in such a way that it is able to counter act the centrifugal forces exerted on the apparatus 10.

(13) An example of the orbital movement of the apparatus 10 is shown in FIGS. 4A-B. This aspect of the invention assumes that the gear wheel 80 is not rotated, but that the eccentric shaft 30, 40 is rotated by the drive wheel 110. The center C of the larger ring gear 60 circles the axis A of the gear wheel 80. The radius of this circle O (shown as a dotted line) equals the offset of the eccentric shaft 30, 40, as shown in FIG. 2C. The interior teeth 70 of the ring gear 60 roll off the exterior teeth 90 of the gear wheel 80 and thus the ring gear 60 also turns about its axis. This turning means that the angle of rotation of the eccentric shaft 30, 40 changes faster than the angle of rotation of the ring gear 60. A point P on the ring gear 60 thus moves on a path shown in FIG. 4B about the axis A of the gear wheel 80. FIG. 4C shows the movement of the gear wheel 80 and the ring gear 60 with respect to each other.

(14) FIGS. 5A-C show a second aspect of the rotation in which the gear wheel 80 is also driven. The ring gear 60 is rotated about its center C. Thus, the point P on the ring gear 60 can travel at any position on the circular path B. It was noted in connection with FIG. 4 that the circle O equals the offset of the eccentric shaft 30, 40. This is represented by a virtual circle O in FIG. 5B. Thus, any point can be moved to any position at the intersection of the circle B and the virtual circle O.

(15) An orbital shaking movement is therefore produced when the eccentric shaft 30, 40 rotates continuously and the gear wheel 80 simultaneously rotates in an opposite direction. It will be appreciated that the rotational speed of the gear wheel 80 needs to be adapted to the speed of the ring gear 60 according to the transmission ratio of the ring gear 60 and the gear wheel 80. The point P then travels on the virtual circular path O through which the eccentric shaft 30, 40 rotates. The diameter of the virtual circle O equals the diameter of the circle O and therefore the offset of the eccentric shaft 30, 40 and the center of the virtual circle O always stay in the same position. The platform 50 is attached to the ring gear 60 and therefore follows this movement. An orbital shaker for fluid samples 120 in the sample holder 55 is therefore created.

(16) In a further aspect of the invention, a pipettor can be used to reach the platform 50 for adding and/or removing fluid samples 120 from the sample holder 55. The sample holder 55 needs to be positioned on the platform 50 reachable by the pipettor. The rotation of the eccentric shaft 30, 40 and the position of the ring gear 60 therefore needs to be coordinated such that the sample holders 55 are stopped in a position reachable by the pipettor.

(17) A sensor could be located on the lower shaft 40 to detect the rotation angle of the lower shaft 40. This allows the drive wheel 110 to place the offset of the upper shaft 30 in a particular position so that the sample holder 55 can then be placed in the pipetting position reachable by the pipettor by rotating the gear wheel 80 on the upper shaft 30.

(18) In one aspect of the invention it would be possible also to add a stirring mechanism to stir the fluid samples 120.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

(19) 10 Apparatus 20 Plane 30 Upper Shaft 40 Lower Shaft 50 Platform 55 Sample Holder 60 Ring Gear Interior Teeth 80 Gear Wheel 90 Exterior Teeth 95 Drive Teeth 100 Drive Motor 110 Drive Wheel 115 Belt Driven Pulley 120 Fluid Sample 130 Counterweight