Apparatus and method for handling sample tubes and laboratory system

摘要

An apparatus for handling sample tubes is presented. The apparatus comprises a sample tube tray, a sample tube individualizer, a first conveyor, a second conveyor, a sample tube buffer, and a sample tube rack inserter. The sample tube tray stores sample tubes in bulk commodity. The sample tube individualizer sequentially unloads single sample tubes from the sample tube tray and sequentially provides the unloaded sample tubes to the first conveyor. The first conveyor conveys the sample tubes to the sample tube buffer. The sample tube buffer buffers the sample tubes provided by the first conveyor and provides buffered sample tubes to the second conveyor with a predeterminable, constant, sample tube rate. The second conveyor conveys the sample tubes to the sample tube rack inserter. The sample tube rack inserter inserts the sample tubes into a sample tube rack.

主权项

1. An apparatus for handling sample tubes, wherein the sample tubes are closed by caps, the apparatus comprising:
a sample tube tray, wherein the sample tube tray stores sample tubes in bulk commodity; a sample tube individualizer, wherein the sample tube individualizer comprises a vertical chain conveyor having a number of chain members, each chain member unloads single sample tubes from the sample tube tray and provides the unloaded sample tubes to a first conveyor; the first conveyor, wherein the sample tube individualizer sequentially unloads single sample tubes from the sample tube tray on to a chain member and sequentially provides the unloaded sample tubes to the first conveyor, wherein the sample tubes are provided to the first conveyer such that the sample tubes are initially conveyed in a random conveying direction, the random conveying direction being either the cap first in a conveying direction or the cap last in the conveying direction, and wherein the first conveyor comprises a first belt and a second belt, the first belt and the second belt extending in parallel along a conveying direction and spaced by a given belt distance; a second conveyor; a sample tube buffer, wherein the sample tube buffer comprises a sloped storage plane and a vertical conveyor, wherein the first conveyor conveys the sample tubes to the sample tube buffer and wherein the sample tube buffer buffers the sample tubes provided by the first conveyor on the sloped storage plane and provides buffered sample tubes to the second conveyor by the vertical conveyor with a predeterminable, constant, sample tube rate; a sample tube rack inserter, wherein the second conveyor conveys the sample tubes to the sample tube rack inserter and wherein the sample tube rack inserter is configured to insert the sample tubes into a sample tube rack; a conveying direction determiner to determine the conveying direction of a respective sample tube on the first conveyor; and a conveying direction changer functionally coupled to the conveying direction determiner and the first conveyor, wherein the conveying direction changer comprises a rotatable leg, the rotatable leg arranged between the first belt and the second belt, the rotatable leg having a width smaller than the given belt distance, and the rotatable leg when rotating changing the conveying direction of a sample tube placed on top of the rotatable leg, and wherein the conveying direction changer is configured to change the conveying direction by rotating the sample tubes along an axis vertically perpendicular to the conveying direction such that each sample tube is provided to the sample tube buffer in a defined conveying direction.