TUBE SORTER, SAMPLE PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND SAMPLE TRANSPORTING METHOD
First Claim
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1. A tube sorter comprising:
- a rack stocker configured to stock therein a sample rack capable of holding one or more sample tubes;
a transporting section configured to transport a sample rack;
a tube conveyor configured to perform an unloading operation of unloading a sample tube from the sample rack that was transported by the transporting section and a loading operation of loading the sample tube onto a sample rack supplied from or stocked in the rack stocker; and
a rack conveyor configured to convey an empty sample rack or a sample rack to be emptied, that was transported by the transporting section, to the rack stocker.
1 Assignment
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Abstract
A tube sorter comprising: a rack stocker configured to have stocked therein a sample rack capable of holding one or more sample tubes; a transporting section configured to transport a sample rack; a tube conveyor configured to perform an unloading operation of unloading a sample tube from a sample rack that was transported by the transporting section and a loading operation of loading the sample tube onto a sample rack supplied from or stocked in the rack stocker; and a rack conveyor configured to convey an empty sample rack or a sample rack to be emptied to the rack stocker, is disclosed.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A tube sorter comprising:
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a rack stocker configured to stock therein a sample rack capable of holding one or more sample tubes; a transporting section configured to transport a sample rack; a tube conveyor configured to perform an unloading operation of unloading a sample tube from the sample rack that was transported by the transporting section and a loading operation of loading the sample tube onto a sample rack supplied from or stocked in the rack stocker; and a rack conveyor configured to convey an empty sample rack or a sample rack to be emptied, that was transported by the transporting section, to the rack stocker. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A sample transporting method employing a tube sorter, the rack transporting method comprising:
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unloading one or more sample tubes held in a sample rack in accordance with a sorting rule; setting the one or more unloaded sample tubes in another sample rack or in the tube sorter; stocking, when the sample rack has become empty, the sample rack in the tube sorter; and employing the empty sample rack in the tube sorter as a carrier of the sample tube set in the tube sorter.
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Specification