SAMPLE TUBE BREAKAGE DETECTOR IN AUTOMATIC HUMOR ANALYZER

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sample tube breakage detector in an automatic humors analyzer for detecting breakage of a sample tube. SOLUTION: This sample tube breakage detector for a sample tube holder includes slidable plungers having a protracted position that corresponds to a broken sample tube and a retracted position that corresponds to an unbroken sample tube in the sample tube holder. The detector compares the plunger positions before and after a centrifuge spin operation to detect any broken sample tubes in the sample tube holder. A gripper device for gripping the sample tube holder includes a lifting probe with an activatable eccentric portion to hold the sample tube holder and a stabilizer to stabilize the sample tube holder during lifting. The gripper device and breakage detector are raised and lowered by a raising and lowering device having first and second telescoping members. COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT