AUTOMATIC ANALYZER

• US 20090191095A1
• Filed: 01/29/2009
• Published: 07/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beckman Coulter Incorporated (Danaher Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: NAKAMURA, Mizuki
• Granted Patent: US 9,772,341 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 422/67
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2035/0493 Locating samples; identifying different tube sizes
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/026 having blocks or racks of reaction cells or cuvettes

Abstract

An automatic analyzer can be used for sucking out the specimen even if the shapes of racks differ from each other is provided. The automatic analyzer includes a shape-information obtaining apparatus which obtains the shape information of the rack including arrangement information of a specimen vessel, a position determining apparatus which transports racks to arrange the specimen vessel at a specimen-sucking position, and a control unit which controls the position determining apparatus to transport racks depending on shaped of the racks based on the shape information of racks. Further, the automatic analyzer includes a vessel detecting apparatus which detects whether there is the specimen vessel held in the rack, and at the same time, determines a position of the specimen vessel on the transport path as an adjustment reference position.

Claims

1. An automatic analyzer for analyzing a specimen in such a manner that the specimen out of a specimen vessel held in a rack which is transported along a transport path is sucked, the specimen into a reaction vessel is dispensed, and an optical characteristic of a reaction liquid obtained by reacting a reagent and the specimen in the reaction vessel is measured, the automatic analyzer comprising:

a shape-information obtaining unit that obtains shape information of the rack;

a position determining unit that transports the rack and arranges the specimen vessel at a position where the specimen is sucked out; and

a control unit that controls the position determining unit to transport the rack based on the shape information of the rack.

2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, further comprising a vessel detecting unit that sets a position of the transport path of the specimen vessel as an adjustment reference position, and detects whether there is the specimen vessel held in the rack based on the shape information of the rack obtained by the shape-information obtaining unit.

3. The automatic analyzer according to claim 2, wherein

the shape-information obtaining unit reads out the shape information from an information recording medium in which the shape information of the rack is previously recorded, the information recording medium being attached to the rack.

4. The automatic analyzer according to claim 3, wherein

the vessel detecting unit detects whether there is the specimen vessel held in the rack based on the shape information of the rack using light or ultrasonic wave.

5. The automatic analyzer according to claim 4, wherein

the position determining unit comprises at least a gripping unit that grips the rack, and an X-Y stage that moves the gripping unit in a direction along or orthogonal to a direction of the transport of the rack.