Apparatus for shuttling a test element from a discharge path to a wash station
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorsJames D. Shaw, Martin F. Muszak
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A shuttle apparatus and method for catching a test element ejected from an incubator, for carrying it to a station outside the incubator, e.g., a wash station, and for returning it to a loading station. Preferably, the apparatus comprises a simplified catcher plate and a device for moving the plate in an arcuate path around a portion of the circumference of the incubator. The plate cooperates with a stop disposed above said arcuate path, to capture a washed element upon reloading, so that the washed element can be reloaded by returning it to the original path used to load elements into the incubator in the first instance.
Claims21
In an analyzer having processing stations including an incubator station having incubating means, a patient sample metering station having means for metering sample and a wash station outside of said incubator and different from said patient sample metering station, said wash station including means for washing a test element, means for ejecting a test element from said incubator, and means defining a discharge path to carry the ejected element out of the analyzer;
- the improvement wherein said analyzer further includes a catcher plate for catching test elements ejected from said incubator by said ejecting means, and means for moving said plate into a position in said discharge path to intercept an ejected element moving along said path, said moving means a) including means defining a track and b) being constructed to move said catcher plate and an intercepted test element along said track to and from said wash station and from and to said path.
In an analyzer comprising a patient sample metering station having means for metering sample, an incubator station having incubating means, means for injecting a test element from said metering station and containing a sample liquid along an inject path into said incubator, means defining a discharge path for receiving test elements ejected from said incubator, a wash station exterior of said incubator station and including means for washing a test element, means for intercepting a test element ejected along said discharge path, and drive means for moving an intercepted test element along a track between said discharge path and said exterior wash station,
- the improvement wherein said inject path and said discharge path are two different paths, and wherein said intercepting means comprises a movable flexible support constructed to catch and hold an ejected test element, and track for guiding said movable support, and wherein said moving means comprise a drive for reciprocating said support along said track between said discharge path and said wash station, and between said wash station and said inject path.
A test element support for use in an analyzer that analyzes analytes of a body liquid contained in a test element, said support comprising a plate having a frame, a central portion within and flexibly secured to said frame, and raised shoulders on opposite edges of said frame dimensioned to retain a test element between said shoulders to prevent a held element from being displaced off the support,
- said central portion being cantilevered from said frame at only one side thereof, so as to be capable of flexing in and out of the plane of said frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.