Coulter Corporation

Coulter International Corp.

Manuel Calvo

Nicholas Parker

Kyriakos Christou

James N Hoskinson

Etzer Ketant

Marshall Donnie Graham

Daniel Dashui Gao

Santos E Vargas

Daniel B Roberts

Brian Scrivens

Armando J Valledor

Raymond G Krause, Deceased

Peter K Lee

A cassette for blood smear slides has a holder portion for supporting slides in a stack and an alignment surface for orienting a bottom slide with respect to a slide egress window. A force plate member is urged against the top slide in the stack with a constant force spring to align the bottom slide and to retain the slide stack. A slide extraction device is constructed to enter the cassette and has follower pins which ride on cam surfaces of the cassette to precisely position detent edges vis a vis an edge of a bottom slide of the stack. The cassette also has structure for signaling an empty condition.

Cassette for blood smear slides and cooperative slide ejection assembly

Apparatus for drying a succession of microscope slides having wet blood specimen smears on a first major surface, including a belt transport for moving slides along a longitudinal drying path with their wet surfaces facing in a common direction and means for directing low velocity, heated air flows toward the non-smeared, major slide surfaces. Air flow proximate the slides preferably is about 15.degree. C. above ambient and at a velocity of about 10 to 30 feet per minute for a drying period of about 75 to 135 seconds, per slide.

Apparatus for drying blood smear slides

The invention provides a tube adapter for use on a plurality of different types of tubes. The tube adapter includes a sleeve in which to receive smaller diameter tubes. The sleeve preferably includes a bar code reader slot to allow reading of bar codes on the tubes through the sleeve. The sleeve includes a spring portion biased to retain tubes in the tube adapter. The sleeve also preferably includes a key for aligning the tube adapter in a tube cassette. The tube adapter can include a clip to prevent the tube adapter from inadvertently being removed, rotated or dropped from the tube cassette.

Tube adapter

A universal stripper plate for operating on a plurality of different types of collection containers or tubes. The universal stripper plate includes a universal button for aligning and seating the various tube stoppers or caps for piercing. The universal button is mounted onto a stripper plate, which can be driven into the tube seating/alignment, tube piercing and aspiration and tube release positions. The universal stripper plate also can include a bar code tab to provide a bar code reference and a piercing needle alignment for the various tubes.

Universal stripper plate

A self-adjusting tube detector for operating on a plurality of different types of collection containers or tubes including a pivotable adjustment arm which is biased into a first position. The first position is preadjusted for the smallest diameter tube to be utilized. When a larger tube is moved into the aspiration location, the adjustment arm is moved upward against the bias by the tube. The self-adjusting tube detector includes a pivotable reader arm, which is biased into a first position indicating the absence of a tube in the aspiration location. When a tube passes the adjustment arm, the tube will move the reader arm upward to provide a signal indicating that a tube is aligned in the aspiration location for aspiration by the stripper plate assembly.

Self-adjusting tube detector

Growing community of inventors

Miami, FL, United States of America

Manuel Calvo