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:
Aug. 08, 2017
Filed:
Feb. 01, 2013
Colin Mellars, Dover, NJ (US);
Baris Yagci, Whippany, NJ (US);
Benjamin Pollack, Budd Lake, NJ (US);
Colin Mellars, Dover, NJ (US);
Baris Yagci, Whippany, NJ (US);
Benjamin Pollack, Budd Lake, NJ (US);
Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., Tarrytown, NY (US);
Abstract
An automation system for an in vitro diagnostics environment includes a plurality of intelligent carriers that include onboard processing and navigation capabilities. A central scheduler can communicate wirelessly with the carriers to direct the carriers to carry a fluid sample to testing stations along a track within the automation system. The carriers can utilize landmarks and distance encoding to reach destinations accurately and quickly, including, for example within less than the time for a single operation cycle of an automated clinical analyzer. The distance encoding can include optical marks repeated at regular intervals (pitch), where the intervals are conveyed to the carriers wirelessly or via optical encoding. The pitch of the encoding can differ for different sections of track depending on the position precision desired.