BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a reagent chip analyzer in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a front view showing the analyzer in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a top view showing the analyzer in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional sample collection device of a biological fluid sample; and
FIG. 5 is a cut away view showing the conventional sample collection device of the biological fluid sample.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIGS. 1-3 show a preferred embodiment of a reagent chip analyzer in accordance with the present invention. With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, the analyzer comprises a common base 1, a motor 2, a rotating seat 3, an image receiver 4, and a light source 5. The common base 1 can be steadily placed on the desktop or a work surface. The motor seat 11 is mounted on the common base 1. The motor 2, whose rotating direction can be changed, is installed under the motor seat 11 and can be connected to the general household power socket with a power cord (not shown). The drive axle 21 of the motor 2 vertically passes through the motor seat 11, and then the rotating seat 3 with a placing space 31 is horizontally mounted on the drive axle 21. Therefore the spacing space 31 is toward vertically upward and the motor 2 rotates the rotating seat 3 in a horizontal plane back and forth or continuously.
The image receiver with a lens 41 is installed at a frame of the common base 1, and the image receiver 4 may be a CCD (charged-coupled device) or a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor). The light source 5 is provided at a proper position adjacent to the image receiver 4, so that the light may be directed to the region above the rotating seat 3, where reagent chips 7 will be. The embodiment shown in the FIG. 2 includes two sets of light sources 5 above and below the image receiver 4, and they illuminate the upper and lower parts of the region above the rotating seat 3. Therefore the region is uniformly illuminated. The number of light sources 5 can be chosen according to a practical requirement, because determining the accurate colors of the reagent chips needs to be done in an environment without the interference of color lighting. The image receiver 4 is connected to a computer having a color code comparison program. Because the operation theory and the technique of the computer equipment and the color code comparison program are not the point in the present invention, they will not be described in the description.
FIGS. 4 and 5 show the structure of a conventional sample collection device 6 of a biological fluid sample. It is a cylindrical container that can hold a plurality of reagent chips 7. A plurality of vertical peripheral channels 61 is provided on the outside surface of the cylindrical container. The reagent chips 7 are placed in the channels 61 of the cylindrical container, in which urine is placed. Color codes 71 are placed adjacent to the reagent chips or incorporated into the reagent chips for color comparison. A cover 62 is placed at the top of the container to prevent the reagent chips 7 and the color codes 71 thrown out of the channels 61. A user can get the testing results by visually examining the reagent chips 7 from the outside surface of the container.
FIG. 2 shows the analyzer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The sample collection device 6 of the biochemical fluid is directly mounted in the placing space 31 of the rotating seat 3. When the light source 5 is turned on, and the motor 2 is actuated to drive the rotating seat 3 to rotate, the image receiver 4 takes images of the reagent chips 7 and the color codes 71 by a lens 41. The image receiver 4 also assigns an ID number to each image for color comparison later. The taken image data is then transferred to a computer, and the color of the reagent chip 7 is compared to the color code 71 by a color code comparison program. The testing result is shown in colors or a numerical value on a computer monitor. The presentation of the testing results is not the scope of the present invention, so it will not be described in the description.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
Patent Application
20070253867
