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:
Feb. 15, 2000
Filed:
Nov. 14, 1997
Bingham Hood van Dyke, Jr, Gilbertsville, PA (US);
John Louis Barra, Glendora, NJ (US);
Thomas James Hatcher, Malver, PA (US);
Michael John Campanelli, Mahopac, NY (US);
Bayer Corporation, Tarrytown, NY (US);
Abstract
The conveyor system for clinical test apparatus includes a main transport conveyor and a plurality of auxiliary conveyors located alongside the main transport conveyor. The auxiliary conveyors define straight line paths of travel parallel to the straight line paths of travel of the main conveyor. Each of the auxiliary conveyors is operated by drive means separate from the main transport conveyor. Two crossover points are provided between the main transport conveyor and the auxiliary conveyor. One crossover point is an entrance from the main transport conveyor to the auxiliary conveyor and the other crossover point is an exit from the auxiliary conveyor to the main transport conveyor. Each crossover point is controlled by a gate. One of the gates is a divert gate which can be actuated to block the main transport path thereby diverting puck traffic onto the auxiliary conveyor. The other gate is an interface gate which is used primarily to read information on a sample tube before it is introduced into a test apparatus and also functions as a load and unload station for the clinical test apparatus. The conveyor system also has a main unload and load system wherein tubes that have been completely tested are removed from pucks and reloaded with new tubes that are to be tested.