TUBE FEED SYSTEM FOR AN APPARATUS WHICH INSERTS PUMPS INTO TEST TUBES

摘要

A pump inserter apparatus receives a row of pump mechanisms, each having a spike with a system of bores. Each pump mechanism is provided with a bellows for forcing air through the spike, and a flexible tube is lodged in the spike. The pump inserter apparatus includes a reciprocating drive system which forces the pump mechanisms downward until their spikes extend through resilient closures on a row of test tubes disposed in a rack below the pump mechanisms. The reciprocating drive system then raises the pump mechanisms and the test tubes clinging thereto to a tube feed system provided in the pump inserter apparatus. The tube feed system includes a fixed roller and a swingable roller. The swingable roller is movable between an open position and an a closed position in which the flexible tubes are pinched between the rollers. The rollers are rotated while in their closed position to advance the flexible tubes downward until the bottom ends of the flexible tubes reach a desired depth within the test tubes. After removal from the pump inserter apparatus, the bellows of a pump mechanism can then be manually compressed to pressurize the interior of the test tube and force fluid from the test tube out through the flexible tube.