Abstract:
A magazine having compartments for receiving cassettes has an outer housing having an open top and an open front side. An inner housing within the outer housing encloses an interior space and defines a plurality of compartments. The inner housing has opposing sidewalls, and spring elements form the compartments. A generally U-shaped feed element is mounted on the inner housing movably reciprocally in the longitudinal direction over a depth of the compartment so that the feed element moves a cassette from one compartment to an adjacent compartment.

Description:
The invention relates to a magazine having compartments for receiving cassettes. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Slide magazines are known magazines having compartments for receiving cassettes. Such magazines may also be used, however, as an accessory part for microtome devices for receiving cassettes with medical samples (object blocks) embedded therein (DE 20 2004 006 U1). For processing a sample, the cassette is taken out of the magazine by a supply device allocated to the microtome device. To this end, the entire magazine is displaced so far that the respective cassette to be taken out is located in a receiving area of the supply device. The necessary travel and guide distance for a magazine corresponds to the length of the entire magazine. 
     The displacement of the magazine is necessary when cassettes are to be taken from the magazine in an arbitrary order. Within the framework of an increasingly automated sample processing, however, the cassettes are often processed step-by-step one after the other in accordance with their placement in the magazine. To this end, too, a conventional magazine has to be displaced over its entire length. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,988 discloses a device for staining samples on object carriers for microscopes. The sample carriers can be immersed in various containers with staining solutions within a housing. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,040,929 discloses a storage container for tablets that includes a displacement mechanism that can be moved back and forth and by means of which the tablets can be dispensed from the storage container one after the other. 
     DE 2 306 967 discloses a device for the output of objects from a vending machine, in which a back and forth two-way translational motion is converted into an intermittent one-way translational motion. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, one object of one or more embodiments of the invention to provide a magazine which allows cassettes to be provided step-by-step one after the other at a predetermined unloading station and that can be arranged in a space-saving manner at a processing station. 
     These and other objects may be achieved by one or more embodiments described herein. In one embodiment, a magazine is comprised of a stationary outer housing so that at the processing station, no transport devices for the provision of the cassettes have to be provided. Given the same number of compartments in the inner housing as in the case of conventional magazines, the entire length of the outer housing is longer by only about two compartment depths. Since the device for the step-wise advance of the cassettes from one compartment to the next is integrated into the outer housing of the magazine, a particularly simple connection of the magazine to the processing station is possible. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       One or more embodiments of the inventive magazine are illustrated schematically in the drawing and will be described in more detail with reference to the figures. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an outer housing of a magazine according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an inner housing for use with the outer housing of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a feed element for use with the outer and inner housings of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the outer housing of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a side and partial cutaway view of the magazine of  FIGS. 1-3  and shows a drive for the feed element; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a separate magazine mount with drive unit for use with a magazine according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a view of the assembled magazine of  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3 ; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates longitudinal sections as elevation and top views of the magazine of  FIGS. 1-3 ; and 
         FIG. 9  illustrates longitudinal sections as in  FIG. 8 , in an advance position. 
     
    
    
     Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent some or analogous features or elements of the invention. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will be made in detail to one or more embodiments of the present invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an outer housing  1  that is open at the top and at one front side  2 . An inner housing  3  illustrated in  FIG. 2  is likewise open at the top. Side walls  4 ,  5  are reinforced by vertical ribs  6  on the outside. At the top, inner housing  3  has a surrounding frame  7  which is inserted into the upper edge of the outer housing  1 . Inner housing  3  is likewise open at its front side directed to the front side  2  of the outer housing  1  after insertion into the outer housing. In the lower area of this front side, a platform  8  is molded. 
     In each of the side walls  4 ,  5 , two parallel rows of spring elements  9  are present. The spring elements include spring heads  10  that are directed toward the open front side and project from the side walls  4 ,  5  into an interior space defined by the inner housing. Four spring heads  10  lying in a common plane form a bearing surface for a cassette  11  inserted into the inner housing  3 . 
     In each of the side walls  4 ,  5 , guiding slots  12 ,  13  are formed in the longitudinal direction of the inner housing  3 . Guiding slots  12 ,  13  are open at the end of the inner housing  3  opposite the open front side. A further guiding slot  14  is arranged in the bottom of the inner housing  3 . 
     The feed element  15  illustrated in  FIG. 3  has a U-shaped cross-section. U-shaped legs formed as elastic segments  16  extend from the bottom of the feed element  15 . At a top end, segments  16  are provided with inwardly directed wedge elements  17 . The length of the wedge elements  17  corresponds to the length of the spring elements  9 . 
     In the bottom area, the feed element  15  comprises a web  18  with ramp elements  19 , the length of which likewise corresponds to the length of the spring elements  9 . Wedge elements  17  have heads  20 , and ramp elements  19  have ramp heads  21 , that lie in a common plane. 
     Feed element  15  is pushed on the inner housing  3  so that wedge elements  17  and the web  18  are received in guiding slots  12 ,  13  and  14  and so that the feed element encloses the inner housing  3  in the longitudinal direction. The insertion direction is chosen such that the wedge heads  20  and the ramp heads  21  are directed toward the open front side of the inner housing  3 . In a basic position, the spring heads  10 , the wedge heads  20  and the ramp heads  21  lie in a common plane and form the bearing surface for a cassette  11  in a compartment. For compensation of manufacturing tolerances, the ramp heads  21  can also lie slightly outside the compartment and the associated compartment plane in the basic position. The length of the feed element  15  is adapted such that it can be displaced back and forth by one compartment depth on the inner housing  3 . One compartment depth is defined by the distance between two successive compartment planes. 
     A bottom view of the outer housing  1  illustrated in  FIG. 4  shows a circular opening  22  and a partial bottom view of feed element  15 . This underside of the feed element has a groove  23  perpendicular to the feed direction in the illustrated area. The diameter of the opening  22  is sufficiently large that groove  23  lies within the opening  22  for a complete course of feed element  15 . 
     A drive for the feed element  15  illustrated in  FIG. 5  includes a rotary disc  24 , the diameter of which is adapted to the circular opening  22 . On the rotary disc  24  an eccentric pin  25  projecting toward the magazine is arranged which meshes with the groove  23 . The eccentric radius, i.e. the distance between the axis of the eccentric pin  25  and the rotary axis of the rotary disc  24 , corresponds to half a compartment depth of the magazine. Given a complete revolution of the rotary disc  24 , the feed element  15  is therefore displaced back and forth by means of the eccentric pin  25  by one compartment depth. Integrated in the drive unit is a sensor  30 , by means of which the current position of the rotary disc  24  with eccentric pin  25  can be detected. 
       FIG. 6  shows a drive unit with motor  26 , rotary disc  24 , eccentric pin  25  and magazine mount  27  as a separate unit. However, it is likewise possible to integrate the rotary disc  24  with eccentric pin  25  into the outer housing  1  so that the magazine is placed in the magazine mount  27  and onto the rotary axis of the motor  26 . 
       FIG. 7  shows in a partially sectional perspective view an assembly of the magazine formed of outer housing  1 , inner housing  3  and feed element  15 . The compartments of the magazine are filled with cassettes  11 . One cassette  11  is provided on the platform  8  for withdrawal. 
     The cross-sections in  FIG. 8  correspond to the basic position of a filled magazine, with retracted feed element  15 . From the upper longitudinal section, the row-like arrangement of the spring elements  9 , the wedge elements  17  and the ramp elements  19 , with their heads defining a compartment abutment plane  28 , can be seen. The longitudinal cross-section from above shows the spring elements  9  projecting into the interior space. 
       FIG. 9  shows the same cross-sections as in  FIG. 8 , except that the feed element is advanced and a cassette  11  is pushed onto the platform  8 . The rear cassette  11  as seen in the feed direction is advanced by one compartment depth. During the feed, this cassette  11  has pushed the spring elements  9  lying in front of it into the side wall  4  of the inner housing  3 , starting out from the bottom of the spring elements  9 . The cassettes slide on tracks  29  on the bottom of the inner housing  3  during the feed. 
     When the feed element  15  is retracted, the wedge element  17  situated in the new compartment position of the cassette  11  is pressed outwardly along the wedge surface by the cassette  11 . The ramp elements  19  lift the cassette  11 . After the feed element  15  has been completely retracted, the cassettes  11  again fall back onto the tracks  29  in front of the ramp heads  21 , and the wedge elements  19  again project into the interior space of the inner housing  3  behind the cassette  11 . 
     The magazine according to the invention is preferably provided for receiving cassettes with object blocks. Of course, the dimensions of the spring, wedge and ramp elements can also be adapted to the receipt and the feed of, for example, object carriers. 
     While one or more embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that any and all equivalent realizations of the present invention are included within the scope and spirit thereof. Thus, the embodiments presented herein are provided by way of example only.