EP0192968A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Reagent handling
Assignee: IL Holding Spa
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Filing: 1986-01-24
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2006-01-24
Abstract
Abstract A sealed reagent container structure that contains reagent material, has a body portion with length and width dimensions each greater than its height demension and port defining neck structure upstanding from the upper wall of the body portion and asymmetrically located so that it is close to one endwall of the body portion. Coupling structure on the bottom wall of the body portion is provided for interengagement with a transport mechanism so that a I series of reagent containers may be disposed on the transport mechanism for movement past a reagent station where the reagent material is transferred from the reagent container to the analysis cuvettes for mixing with sample material and analysis.
Inventors
- 👤 Norman G. Kelln
- 👤 Thomas O. Tiffany
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 13:00
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01N; G01N35/00; G01N35/00584; G01N35/00594; G01N35/00613; G01N35/00663; B; B01; B01L; B01L3/00; B01L3/50; B01L3/508; G01N21/00; G01N21/01; G01N21/03; G01N21/07; G01N35/02; G01N35/025; G01N35/10; G01N35/1002; G01N2035/00178; G01N2035/00326; G01N2035/00673; G01N35/00722; G01N35/00732; G01N2035/00742; G01N2035/00752; G01N35/04; G01N2035/0401; G01N2035/0406; G01N2035/041; G01N2035/0439; G01N2035/0443; G01N2035/0446; G01N2035/0448; G01N2035/0451; G01N2035/0453; G01N35/1079; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T436/00; Y10T436/11; Y10T436/111666; Y10T436/25; Y10T436/2575
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
310 words
A reagent handling system for use with a clinical analysis system characterized by a cuvette loading station (108) and sample (130) and reagent supply (134) stations, sample container support mechanism (132) for selectively positioning a sequence of sample containers (128) adjacent said sample station (120), reagent container support mechanisms (132) for selectively positioning a sequence of reagent containers (10) adjacent said reagent station .(134), said support mechanisms (132) including separate drives for independent positioning of different samples and reagents at said sample (130), and reagent (134) stations respectively, said reagent container support mechanism (132) including a support surface (182) with container coupling structure (188, 194) and a plurality of reagent containers (10) on reagent container support mechanism, said each reagent container having a body portion (12) with height and width dimensions each greater than the height dimension of the container, neck structure (28) upstanding from the top wall (22) of each said reagent container and asymmetrically located in the top wall (22) adjacent the reagent container sidewall (26) adjacent said sample container support mechanism, each said neck structure defining a port (30) that is sealed with a probe puncturable membrane (46) and the bottom wall (20) of each said container including coupling structure (66) that interengages corresponding coupling structure (188) in said reagent container support mechanism for secure positioning on said reagent container support mechanism, transfer structure (112) that includes two fixedly mounted, spaced apart liquid handling probes (140, 142) and that is movable between said cuvette loading station (108) and said sample (128) and reagent supply (134) stations, said transfer structure (112) including a drive for concurrently inserting the tips of said two liquid handling probes (140, 142) into containers at said sample and reagent stations and concurrently withdrawing sample and reagent material from those containers for transfer to an analysis cuvette (102) at said cuvette loading station (108).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
310 words
A reagent handling system for use with a clinical analysis system characterized by a cuvette loading station (108) and sample (130) and reagent supply (134) stations, sample container support mechanism (132) for selectively positioning a sequence of sample containers (128) adjacent said sample station (120), reagent container support mechanisms (132) for selectively positioning a sequence of reagent containers (10) adjacent said reagent station .(134), said support mechanisms (132) including separate drives for independent positioning of different samples and reagents at said sample (130), and reagent (134) stations respectively, said reagent container support mechanism (132) including a support surface (182) with container coupling structure (188, 194) and a plurality of reagent containers (10) on reagent container support mechanism, said each reagent container having a body portion (12) with height and width dimensions each greater than the height dimension of the container, neck structure (28) upstanding from the top wall (22) of each said reagent container and asymmetrically located in the top wall (22) adjacent the reagent container sidewall (26) adjacent said sample container support mechanism, each said neck structure defining a port (30) that is sealed with a probe puncturable membrane (46) and the bottom wall (20) of each said container including coupling structure (66) that interengages corresponding coupling structure (188) in said reagent container support mechanism for secure positioning on said reagent container support mechanism, transfer structure (112) that includes two fixedly mounted, spaced apart liquid handling probes (140, 142) and that is movable between said cuvette loading station (108) and said sample (128) and reagent supply (134) stations, said transfer structure (112) including a drive for concurrently inserting the tips of said two liquid handling probes (140, 142) into containers at said sample and reagent stations and concurrently withdrawing sample and reagent material from those containers for transfer to an analysis cuvette (102) at said cuvette loading station (108).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
63 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said reagent container support mechanism (132) includes a series of apertures (184), a code reader (174) aligned with said apertures, and each said reagent container has a projection (50) that depends from its bottom wall (20) for disposal in a said aperture and carries a machine readable code (54) that is correlated with contents of the container.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
79 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said reagent container support mechanism is a turntable (132) and the body portion (12) of each said reagent container (10) has generally vertical sidewall (26) portions disposed in converging relation to a nose portion (14) that is frictionally secured beneath a flange (194) of said reagent container support mechanism, a group of said reagent containers being compactly arranged in a circumferential array on said turntable for indexing relative to said reagent loading station.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 3 wherein said sample container support mechanism holds a series of sample containers (128) in a ring (126) coaxial with said reagent container turntable (132).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
95 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said cuvette loading station (108) is adapted to receive centrifugal analyzer rotors (102) which have a plurality of analysis cuvettes (106) arranged in annular array, each said analysis cuvette having two compartments with loading ports spaced corresponding to the spacing of the two probes (140, 142) of said transfer structure (112), and indexing mechanism at said cuvette loading station for rotating the analyzer rotor to sequentially position cuvettes at the cuvette loading station for loading sample and reagent material from their respective containers under instructions from a system controller.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
95 words
The system of claim 1 wherein the body portion of each said container has generally vertical sidewall portions (26) disposed in converging relation to a nose portion (14) that is frictionally secured beneath a flange (194) of said reagent container support mechanism (132), and the body portion of each said container has a through channel (60) spaced from said port (30) defining neck portion (2-8) a distance corresponding to the spacing of said probes, said through channel being sealed to and extending between the top (22) and bottom (20) walls of said body portion (12).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
133 words
Sealed reagent container structure (10) characterized by a body portion (12) that has length and width dimensions each greater than its height dimensions, reagent material (56) in said body portion (12) , port (30) defining neck structure (28). upstanding from the upper wall (22) of said body portion (12) and symmetrically located so that it is close to one endwall (16) of said body portion (12), and coupling structure (66) on the bottom wall (20) of said body portion (12) for interengagement with a transport mechanism (132) so that a series of said reagent containers (10) may be disposed on the transport mechanism (132) for movement past a reagent station (134) where the reagent material is transferred from the reagent container (10) to analysis cuvettes (106) for mixing with sample material and analysis.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
133 words
Sealed reagent container structure (10) characterized by a body portion (12) that has length and width dimensions each greater than its height dimensions, reagent material (56) in said body portion (12) , port (30) defining neck structure (28). upstanding from the upper wall (22) of said body portion (12) and symmetrically located so that it is close to one endwall (16) of said body portion (12), and coupling structure (66) on the bottom wall (20) of said body portion (12) for interengagement with a transport mechanism (132) so that a series of said reagent containers (10) may be disposed on the transport mechanism (132) for movement past a reagent station (134) where the reagent material is transferred from the reagent container (10) to analysis cuvettes (106) for mixing with sample material and analysis.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
39 words
The structure of claim 7 wherein said reagent container coupling structure includes a projection (66) that depends from the bottom wall (20) and carries a machine readable code (54) that is correlated with the reagent contents of said container.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
38 words
The structure of claim 7 wherein the port (30) defined by said neck portion (28) is sealed by a probe puncturable membrane (46), and further including removable closure cap structure (40) for releasable engagement with said neck structure.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
24 words
The structure of claim 7 wherein the body portion (12) of said container (10) has generally vertical sidewall portions (26) disposed in converging relation.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
52 words
The structure of claim 10 wherein said sidewalls joint (26) at a nose portion (14) and further including a series of volume indications (36) along said body portion (12) between said nose portion (16) and said neck portion (28) for indicating the volume of said reagent material in said body portion (12).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
48 words
The structure of claim 7 wherein the body portion (12) of said container (10) has a through channel (60) spaced from but adjacent to said port defining neck portion (28) that is sealed to and extends between the top (22) and bottom (20) walls of said body portion.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
42 words
The structure of claim 7 wherein the body portion (12) of said container (10) has a sump portion (52) in the bottom wall (20) that is aligned with said neck defining portion (28) for maximizing transfer efficiency of reagent from said container.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
121 words
The structure of claim 13 wherein the body portion (12) of said container (10) has generally vertical sidewall portions (26) disposed in converging relation to a nose portion (14), the body portion (12) of said container (10) has a through channel (60) spaced from but adjacent to said port defining neck portion (28) that is sealed to and extends between the top (22) and bottom (26) walls of said body portion ' (12) and said reagent container includes air chamber structure formed in the upper portion of said container above the junction between said body (12) and neck (28) portions, the volume of said air chamber being at least five percent of the total volume of the sealed reagent container (10).
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
39 words
The structure of claim 14 wherein the port (30) defined by said neck portion (28) is sealed by a probe puncturable membrane (46), and further including removable closure cap structure (40) for releasable engagement with said neck structure (28).
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
52 words
The structure of claim 15 wherein said sidewalls (26) join at a nose portion (14) and further including a series of volume indications (36) along said body portion (12) between said nose portion (14) and said neck portion (28) for indicating the volume of said reagent material in said body portion (12).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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