Robotic apparatus and methods for maintaining stocks of small organisms
First Claim
1. An apparatus for transferring small organisms from a donor container to a recipient container, the apparatus comprising:
- a source of an anesthetic configured to deliver anesthetic to the donor container for temporarily immobilizing the organisms in the donor container; and
a source of gas configured to deliver a flow of the gas into the donor container sufficient for blowing the immobilized organisms from the donor container to the recipient container.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Robotic apparatus are disclosed for maintaining a collection of stocks of small organisms, such as fruit flies. An exemplary apparatus is capable of performing various tasks, including automatically transferring live flies from a donor container to a recipient container, such as for the purpose of feeding the flies. The apparatus includes an anesthetizing mechanism configured to automatically introduce an anesthetic, such as gaseous CO2, into a donor container of live flies to temporarily immobilize the flies before the flies are transferred to the recipient container. The apparatus also includes a gas manifold that is configured to direct a flow of gas from a compressed-gas source into the donor container such that the immobilized flies are blown from the donor container into the recipient container. Also disclosed are automated methods for maintaining a collection of stocks of small organisms, such as fruit flies.
14 Citations
49 Claims
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1. An apparatus for transferring small organisms from a donor container to a recipient container, the apparatus comprising:
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a source of an anesthetic configured to deliver anesthetic to the donor container for temporarily immobilizing the organisms in the donor container; and
a source of gas configured to deliver a flow of the gas into the donor container sufficient for blowing the immobilized organisms from the donor container to the recipient container. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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- 10. An apparatus for automatically transferring live organisms from a donor container to a recipient container.
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24. An apparatus for transferring organisms from a donor container to a recipient container, the apparatus comprising:
gas manifold fluidly connectable to a source of gas, the gas manifold being configured such that, whenever the donor container and the recipient container are positioned at the gas manifold and the source of gas is activated to supply gas to the gas manifold, a flow of gas is directed to blow the organisms from the donor container to the recipient container. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. An apparatus for transferring populations of organisms contained in donor containers to corresponding recipient containers, the apparatus comprising:
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at least one transfer device configured to transfer a population of organisms from a donor container to a respective recipient container; and
a robotic arm configured to automatically pick up a donor container and transfer said donor container to the transfer device and to pick up a corresponding recipient container and transfer said recipient container to the transfer device for transferring the organisms from said donor container to said recipient container. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An apparatus for automatically transferring organisms from a donor container to a recipient container, the apparatus comprising:
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means for temporarily immobilizing the organisms in the donor container; and
means for transferring the organisms from the donor container to the recipient container after the insects have been immobilized. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
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41. A method for transferring live organisms from a donor container to a recipient container, the method comprising:
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temporarily immobilizing the organisms in the donor container by exposing the organisms to an anesthetic; and
transferring the immobilized organisms from the donor container to the recipient container. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method for transferring live organisms from a donor container to a recipient container, the method comprising:
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positioning the donor container and the recipient container such that an open top of the donor container is adjacent an open top of the recipient container; and
directing a flow of gas into the donor container such that the organisms are carried by the flow of gas from the donor container to the recipient container. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49)
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Specification