Dade Behring Inc.

Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Gmbh

Dade Microscan Inc.

E.i. Dupont De Nemours and Company

Dade International Inc.

Peter Louis Gebrian

Edward Francis Farina

John Charles Mazza

Allan Cameron

Timothy Patrick Evers

Adrian Mark Thomas West

Alan Christopher Mudd

William Jackson Devlin, Sr

Kerry Lynn Miller

Bruce McLean Gemmell

Joseph E Brennan

Thai Huynh-Ba

William E Hudson

Richard O'Brien

Nicholas Michael Shmel, Jr

David Orrin Swett

Sandor L Kovacs

Patrick P McDermott

Edward Stephen Kaminski

James W Kegelman

Frank Krufka

Antoine Haddad

William C Hoffman, Jr

Samuel Garfield Ferguson, Jr

Charles B Jones

Keith Aldan Ely

Frank Jay Robb

Ronald G Barlow

Hemant Vaidya

Michael Taylor McVey

William H Reigle, Jr

Jr William H Reigle

Embodiments are directed to transferring and opening reagent containers for use in a clinical analyzer in an in vitro diagnostics (IVD) environment. Contents of a reagent container may be automatically recorded, and the container is positioned and opened, making available its contents to a transfer probe. A set of mechanical fingers open and close relative to one another, to release and grip the reagent container on opposite sides thereof for transferring the container. Once the container is positioned, the mechanical fingers raise and are positioned above a seal concealing the contents of the reagent container. The fingers are configured to close together and travel in a downward trajectory to pierce the seal. The reagent container is originally presented as an un-opened package to prevent spillage and to control reagent life expectancy. According to an embodiment, a method of performing a cycle unload, transfer, and load, without operator intervention, is provided.

Method and apparatus to automatically transfer and open a reagent container

A fluid container includes a container body configured to hold one or more fluids. The container body has a first side wall and an opposing second side wall. The fluid container also includes one or more container alignment features disposed on an outer surface of the first side wall and configured to self-align the container body with a datum. The fluid container also includes one or more anti-evaporation tube alignment mechanisms disposed on one or more inner surfaces of the container body and configured to self-align an anti-evaporation tube within the container body.

Self aligning wedge container with anti-evaporation tube

A pick and place device for use in an in vitro diagnostics automation system is provided that includes a motor and a rotatable motor shaft coupled to the motor and a gripping assembly. The gripping assembly includes a yoke selectively coupled to the rotatable motor shaft and configured to rotate with the rotatable motor shaft when the yoke is coupled to the rotatable motor shaft. The gripping assembly also includes a first movable finger mount and a second movable finger mount each coupled to the rotatable motor shaft and configured to move toward each other and away from each other in a linear direction responsive to the rotation of the motor shaft when the yoke is uncoupled from the rotatable motor shaft. Fingers extending from the movable finger mounts are configured to move toward each other and away from each other in the linear direction and rotate with the yoke.

Robotic pick and place device with combined gripping and rotational functionality

A method for replacing a first sample carried on a moving secondary conveyor onto a moving primary conveyor at a potential interference point while the primary conveyor is transporting a second sample.

Merge stop gate for an automated laboratory sample handling worksystem

A method and a device for removing high priority samples from a primary conveyor and transferring such samples directly to an analyzer's sampling location even if other samples have been previously removed from the conveyor and are in a queue to be analyzed.

Programmable random access sample handler for use within and automated laboratory system

A method for automatically determining whether a reagent container is new and unused or whether the reagent container has been previously used whenever reagent containers are initially placed onto an analyzer. Unused containers have a flag or lock-out member that can be dislodged or relocated by a moveable sensor probe when containers are placed onto the analyzer.

Multi-compartment reagent container having means to inhibit re-use thereof

A device for automatically maintaining tension and control of a drivebelt as the driving direction of the drivebelt is rapidly reversed and when the drivebelt is worn.

Bi-directional drivebelt tensioning device

A random access reagent container handling system using a reagent container shuttle to move reagent containers between a loading tray and at least one linear reagent container tray and at least one circular reagent carousel. The reagent container tray is positioned as needed beneath the reagent container shuttle by a reagent tray shuttle.

Random access reagent delivery system for use in an automatic clinical analyzer

A cup-like broth container comprising four mutually opposed pairs of connected sidewalls with a protruding rib formed on each of four perpendicularly opposed single sidewalls and four Y-shaped clamping ridges attached to and extending outwardly from a single one of the four sidewalls located between the four sidewalls having a protruding rib.

Reagent container and canister for use in an automated microbiological analyzer

A method for generating a vortex-like mixing action within a liquid held in a container by causing the container to move back and forth in a constant sinusoidal pattern at high speeds. Momentum forces acting upon the liquid solution cause it to generate an internal mixing motion of the liquid solution without the aid of extraneous mixing members.

Method for mixing liquid samples using a linear oscillation stroke

A closed elongate canister having a generally rectangular cross-section formed by a front wall, a five-section back wall and two side walls, the walls of dimensions to house a plurality of ID test rotors stacked one atop another within the canister.

Canister for inventorying identification test devices in an automated microbiological analyzer

Multi-well liquid container

A circular shaped rotor to facilitate automated identification testing of microorganisms in a microbiology analyzer having two circular arrays of microwells downwardly projecting from the top of the rotor connected to a recessed central region by a plurality of microchannels formed in the upper surface and connecting the recessed central portion to the second plurality of microwells; the rotor is further adapted to be rotated by a source of rotational energy and moved throughout the analyzer using troughs formed near its outer diameter.

Indentification test device in a random access microbiological analyzer

Multi-compartment reagent container for containing reagents

Growing community of inventors

Wilmington, DE, United States of America

Peter Louis Gebrian