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US 12,306,199 B2Granted
Specimen processing system
AssigneeHitachi High-Tech Corporation
InventorsTaro Umeki, Shigeru Yano
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Provided is a specimen processing system which can contribute to space saving. The specimen processing system includes a put-in module which puts a specimen on a put-in tray in a holder, a housing module which houses the specimen from the holder in a housing tray, and a stock module which stocks the holder, in which an empty holder which is generated because the specimen is housed is directly conveyed to the put-in module without being conveyed to the stock module and is used for putting a new specimen therein.
Claims8
A specimen processing system comprising:
- a chuck mechanism;
- a housing module that houses a specimen as a housed specimen, and transfers, via the chuck mechanism, the housed specimen from a holder to a housing tray within the housing module thereby generating an empty holder;
- a put-in module that transfers, via the chuck mechanism, a different specimen from a put-in tray in the put-in module to the empty holder on a condition that the different specimen is present in the put-in module,
- wherein the housed specimen and the different specimen each have a unique barcode containing identifying information;
- a stock module that houses the empty holder;
- a conveyor that connects the housing module, the stock module, and the put-in module;
- a tray sensor that senses the put-in tray in the put-in module;
- and
- a processor that is communicatively coupled to the chuck mechanism, the housing module, and the put-in module, wherein the processor:
- controls the housing module, the put-in module, the stock module, and the conveyor, and
- determines, via at least one signal from the tray sensor, whether the different specimen is present in the put-in module,
- on the condition that the different specimen is present in the put-in module, the processor
- controls the empty holder via the conveyor, such that the empty holder is directly conveyed from the housing module to the put-in module without being stocked in the stock module and the empty holder is used for putting the different specimen therein,
- controls the put-in module to transfer, via the chuck mechanism, the different specimen that is present in the put-in module to the empty holder, generating a mounted holder, and
- receives the identifying information from the unique barcode of the different specimen in the mounted holder and creates a processing path for the different specimen in the mounted holder based on the identifying information, and
- on a condition that the different specimen is not present in the put-in module, the processor controls the empty holder via a collection path on the conveyor, and stocks the empty holder in the stock module,
- wherein the processing path and the collection path are different, and
- wherein the stock module is arranged in between and physically separates the housing module from the put-in module, such that in a processing order the empty holder moves from the housing module, through the stock module, and then to the put-in module.
15 more elements
A specimen processing system comprising:
- a chuck mechanism;
- a specimen;
- a holder;
- an empty holder being the holder without the specimen;
- a housing module including a housing tray that houses the specimen as a housed specimen, and transfers, via the chuck mechanism, the housed specimen from the holder to the housing tray thereby generating the empty holder;
- a put-in module including a put-in tray and a tray sensor that senses the put-in tray, and transfers, via the chuck mechanism, a different specimen from the put-in tray to the empty holder on a condition that the different specimen is present in the put-in module,
- wherein the housed specimen and the different specimen each have a unique barcode containing identifying information;
- a stock module that houses the empty holder;
- a conveyor that connects the housing module, the stock module, and the put-in module;
- and
- a processor that is communicatively coupled to the chuck mechanism, the housing module, and the put-in module, wherein the processor:
- controls the housing module, the put-in module, the stock module, and the conveyor, and
- determines, via at least one signal from the tray sensor, whether the different specimen is present in the put-in module,
- on the condition that the different specimen is present in the put-in module, the processor
- controls the empty holder via the conveyor, such that the empty holder is directly conveyed from the housing module to the put-in module without being stocked in the stock module and the empty holder is used for putting the different specimen therein,
- controls the put-in module to transfer, via the chuck mechanism, the different specimen that is present in the put-in module to the empty holder, generating a mounted holder, and
- receives the identifying information from the unique barcode of the different specimen in the mounted holder and creates a processing path for the different specimen in the mounted holder based on the identifying information, and
- on a condition that the different specimen is not present in the put-in module, the processor controls the empty holder via a collection path on the conveyor, and stocks the empty holder in the stock module,
- wherein the processing path and the collection path are different, and
- wherein the stock module is arranged in between and physically separates the housing module from the put-in module, such that in a processing order the empty holder moves from the housing module, through the stock module, and then to the put-in module.
17 more elements
A specimen processing method comprising:
- housing, in a housing module, a housing tray that includes a specimen as a housed specimen,
- transferring, via a chuck mechanism, the housed specimen from a holder to the housing tray thereby generating an empty holder;
- housing the empty holder, in a stock module;
- transferring, via the chuck mechanism, a different specimen from a put-in tray in a put-in module to the empty holder on a condition that the different specimen is present in the put-in module,
- wherein the housed specimen and the different specimen each have a unique barcode containing identifying information,
- wherein the housing module, the stock module, and the put-in module are connected via a conveyor;
- sensing, via a tray sensor, the put-in tray in the put-in module;
- determining, via at least one signal from the tray sensor, whether the different specimen is present in the put-in module,
- on the condition that the different specimen is present in the put-in module,
- controlling the empty holder via the conveyor, such that the empty holder is directly conveyed from the housing module to the put-in module without being stocked in the stock module and the empty holder is used for putting the different specimen therein,
- transferring, via the chuck mechanism, the different specimen present in the put-in module to the empty holder, and generating a mounted holder,
- receiving the identifying information from the unique barcode of the different specimen in the mounted holder, and
- creating a processing path for the different specimen in the mounted holder based on the identifying information, and
- on a condition that the different specimen is not present in the put-in module,
- controlling the empty holder via a collection path on the conveyor, and
- stocking the empty holder in the stock module,
- wherein the processing path and the collection path are different, and
- wherein the stock module is arranged in between and physically separates the housing module from the put-in module, such that in a processing order the empty holder moves from the housing module, through the stock module, and then to the put-in module.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.