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US 10,094,748 B2Granted
Specimen transfer device and system
AssigneeHitachi High-Technologies Corporation
InventorsMasashi Akutsu, Naoto Tsujimura, Kenichi Takahashi, Hiroshi Ohga, Osamu Watabe
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Abstract
A specimen transfer device having high flexibility is implemented, where a specimen can be transferred between carriers purposed for different kinds of conveyance without decreasing processing speed for the specimen. A plurality of trays that can retain specimen carriers of a transfer destination is provided, and these trays can be freely grouped, and therefore, while a carrier is fed from a tray, a specimen is automatically executed to a carrier in a different tray.
Claims10
A specimen transfer device, comprising:
- a plurality of trays, each configured to hold one or more carriers, each carrier has barcode information and is configured to hold one or more specimen containers;
- a transfer mechanism including a chuck configured to transfer a specimen container to a carrier on a tray of the plurality of trays;
- a conveyance line configured to convey carriers bi-directionally;
- a first barcode reader configured to read barcode information of carriers conveyed by the conveyance line to the first barcode reader;
- a carrier conveyance mechanism on the conveyance line configured to convey carriers on the conveyance line;
- and
- a computer connected to the transfer mechanism, the first barcode reader, and the carrier conveyance mechanism, the computer programmed to:
- define a group of trays that consists of two or more trays that are allocated to an analysis system,
- control the transfer mechanism to continuously transfer specimen containers to a first carrier on a first tray of the group,
- during the transfer of the specimen containers to the first carrier on the first tray of the group by the transfer mechanism:
- control the carrier conveyance mechanism to convey a second carrier from a second tray of the group to the first barcode reader on the conveyance line,
- control the first barcode reader to read the barcode information from the second carrier conveyed by the carrier conveyance mechanism,
- after reading the barcode information by the first barcode reader, control the carrier conveyance mechanism to convey the second carrier to the second tray from the first barcode reader,
- after the second carrier is conveyed to the second tray, control the transfer mechanism to continuously transfer specimen containers to the second carrier on the second tray,
- during the transfer of the specimen containers to the second carrier on the second tray of the group by the transfer mechanism, control the conveyance line to convey the first carrier from the first tray to a standby position on the conveyance line, which is at a different position on the conveyance line than positions of each of the trays on the conveyance line and the first barcode reader.
12 more elements
A method of transferring specimens by a specimen transfer device, comprising:
- a plurality of trays, each configured to hold one or more carriers, each carrier has barcode information and is configured to hold one or more specimen containers;
- a transfer mechanism including a chuck configured to transfer a specimen container to a carrier on a tray of the plurality of trays;
- a conveyance line configured to convey carriers bi-directionally;
- a first barcode reader configured to read barcode information of carriers conveyed by the conveyance line to the first barcode reader;
- a carrier conveyance mechanism on the conveyance line configured to convey carriers on the conveyance line;
- and
- a computer connected to the transfer mechanism, the first barcode reader, and the carrier conveyance mechanism, the method comprising:
- defining, by the computer, a group of trays that consists of two or more trays that are allocated to an analysis system;
- controlling the transfer mechanism to continuously transfer specimen containers to a first carrier on a first tray of the group;
- during the transfer of the specimen containers to the first carrier on the first tray of the group by the transfer mechanism:
- controlling the carrier conveyance mechanism to convey a second carrier from a second tray of the group to the first barcode reader on the conveyance line;
- controlling the first barcode reader to read the barcode information from the second carrier conveyed by the carrier conveyance mechanism;
- after reading the barcode information by the first barcode reader, controlling the carrier conveyance mechanism to convey the second carrier to the second tray from the first barcode reader;
- after the second carrier is conveyed to the second tray, controlling the transfer mechanism to continuously transfer specimen containers to the second carrier on the second tray;
- during the transfer of the specimen containers to the second carrier on the second tray of the group by the transfer mechanism, controlling the conveyance line to convey the first carrier from the first tray to a standby position on the conveyance line, which is at a different position on the conveyance line than positions of each of the trays on the conveyance line and the first barcode reader.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.