# US 12,000,851 B2 · Laboratory sample distribution system and method for operating the same

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- Number: US 12,000,851 B2
- Document ID: US12000851B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/305,758
- Filed: 2021-07-14
- Published: 2022-01-20
- Granted: 2024-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2020-07-15
- Assignees: Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc.
- Applicants: Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc.
- Inventors: Pankaj Tanotra; Michele Andruszkiewicz
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12000851B2

## CPC

- G01N 35/04: Details of the conveyor system {(G01N35/021 - G01N35/028 take precedence)}
- G01N 35/00584: {Control arrangements for automatic analysers}
- B65G 54/02: electrostatic, electric, or magnetic
- B65G 2201/0261: Puck as article support
- G01N 2035/0406: {Individual bottles or tubes}
- G01N 2035/046: {General conveyor features}
- G01N 2035/0477: {Magnetic}
- G01N 2035/0494: {Detecting or compensating piositioning errors}
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)
- B65G: TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS (packaging B65B; handling thin or filamentary materials, e.g. paper sheets or thread, B65H; cranes B66C; portable mobile or lifting or hauling appliances, e.g. hoists, B66D; devices for lifting or lowering goods for loading or unloading purposes, e.g. fork-lift trucks, B66F9/00; emptying bottles, jars, casks, barrels or similar containers, not otherwise provided for, B67C9/00; delivering or transferring liquids B67D; filling or discharging vessels for liquefied, solidified or compressed gases F17C; pipe-line systems for fluids F17D)

## Abstract

A laboratory sample distribution system comprising a plurality of sample container carriers, each adapted to carry one or more sample containers, each carrier comprising at least one magnetically active device and at least one electrically conductive member, a transport plane adapted to support the carriers, a plurality of electro-magnetic actuators stationary arranged below the transport plane, the actuators being adapted to move the carriers on top of the transport plane by applying a magnetic force to the carriers, a plurality of inductive sensors distributed over the transport plane, a control unit configured to control the movement of the carriers using an output signal provided by the inductive sensors by driving the actuators such that the carriers move along corresponding transport paths, and an evaluation unit configured to linearize the output signal from an inductive sensor by means of a linearization algorithm.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A laboratory sample distribution system, comprising:
a plurality of sample container carriers, each being adapted to carry one or more sample containers, each sample container carrier comprising at least one magnetically active device and at least one electrically conductive member,
a transport plane adapted to support the sample container carriers,
a plurality of electro-magnetic actuators stationary arranged below the transport plane, the electro-magnetic actuators being adapted to move the sample container carriers on top of the transport plane by applying a magnetic force to the sample container carriers,
a plurality of inductive sensors distributed over the transport plane,
a control unit configured to control a movement of the sample container carriers on top of the transport plane using an output signal provided by the inductive sensors by driving the electro-magnetic actuators such that the sample container carriers move along corresponding transport paths, and
an evaluation unit configured to linearize the output signal received from at least one of the inductive sensors by means of a linearization algorithm, wherein the evaluation unit is further configured to determine at least a distance between at least one of the sample container carriers and the at least one of the inductive sensors based on an output signal value of the linearized output signal,
wherein the evaluation unit is further configured to determine a direction of movement of the at least one of the sample container carriers relative to the at least one of the inductive sensors based on at least two different output signal values of the linearized output signal indicating two different distances between the at least one of the sample container carriers and the at least one of the inductive sensors.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation unit is further configured to determine a leaving of a sensing area of one of the inductive sensors by the at least one of the sample container carriers and an approaching of a sensing area of a neighbouring inductive sensor by the at least one of the sample container carriers.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation unit is further configured to track a movement of the at least one of the sample container carriers from a starting position on the transport plane to a final destination on the transport plane.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the inductive sensors each comprise at least one inductor and at least one capacitor arranged as a tank circuit.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the inductor is arranged below the transport plane.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the inductor is arranged parallel to the transport plane.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the linearization algorithm includes a look-up table.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 7, wherein the look-up table describes an intensity of the output signal for each inductive sensor as a function of a horizontal distance parallel to the transport plane between a reference object and a respective inductive sensor.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation unit is further configured to compensate a presence of a conductive object in a sensing area of at least one of the inductive sensors.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation unit is configured to compensate the presence of a conductive object in a sensing area of at least one of the inductive sensors by measuring the output signal of a respective inductive sensor during absence of a sample container carrier in the sensing area.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation unit is configured to compensate the presence of the conductive object in the sensing area of at least one of the inductive sensors as an offset if an output signal value of the measured output signal of a respective inductive sensor during absence of a sample container carrier in the sensing area is below a predetermined threshold.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 10, wherein the evaluation unit is configured to compensate the presence of the conductive object in the sensing area of at least one of the inductive sensors as an error if an output signal value of the measured output signal of a respective inductive sensor during absence of a sample container carrier in the sensing area is above a predetermined threshold.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation unit is further configured to detect a change of electrically conductive characteristics of the sample container carriers by periodically measuring a maximum output signal value of the output signals of the inductive sensors.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

A method for operating a laboratory sample distribution system according to claim 1, comprising:
providing a plurality of sample container carriers on the transport plane;
moving the sample container carriers along corresponding transport paths;
receiving an output signal from at least one of the inductive inducting sensors;
linearizing the output signal by means of a linearization algorithm; and
determining at least a distance between at least one of the sample container carriers and the at least one of the inductive sensors based on an output signal value of the linearized output signal.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The laboratory sample distribution system of claim 1 wherein the evaluation unit is configured to determine at least a horizontal distance between the at least one of the sample container carriers and the at least one of the inductive sensors.