The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 10, 1995
Filed:
May. 05, 1992
Alfredo Choperena, Eden Prairie, MN (US);
Ross Krogh, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Venkatesh Prasad, Eden Prairie, MN (US);
Gershon Giter, St. Paul, MN (US);
Pasteur Sanofi Diagnostics, Paris, FR;
Abstract
The present invention provides an analyzer which permits clinical analysis of samples for multiple analytes with a variety of assay protocols in a multiple chronology sequence while operating on a predetermined fizzed length cycle method of timing control. In this analyzer, assay resources (e.g. an incubator belt, a wash station, and a signal detection apparatus) are assigned fixed operating sequences which begin and end within a time cycle of fixed duration. Samples may be transferred directly from one assay resource to another without unnecessarily occupying any unused resources. The invention also contemplates a method of analyzing samples consistent with use of this analyzer. In this method, different samples having different assay protocols may be entered into the analyzer. The assay resource requirements of the first sample are determined and 'time slots' of the assay resources are allocated to that sample. The second sample, which may have a different assay protocol from the first, is entered and its assay resource requirements are determined, and available time slots of the assay resources are assigned to the second assay. By assigning 'time slots' of the resources to the samples, flexibility and throughput of the system may be maximized without unduly complicating the scheduling logic and control.