STORAGE APPARATUS,PARTICULARLY WITH AUTOMATIC INSERTION AND RETRIEVAL

摘要

A storage unit comprises a housing defining a storage chamber and a plurality of specimen carriers in the form of annular shelves disposed one below the other inside the chamber. A rotary drive is operatively connected to the carriers for rotating the carriers independently about a vertical axis. The housing is provided with an access opening for enabling access to the chamber from above the carrier, while an insertion and removal mechanism serves to alternately insert and remove specimens from the chamber via the access opening. The insertion and removal mechanism includes a lifting device disposed at least partially inside the storage chamber for moving specimens vertically between the access opening and the respective carriers. Specimen-containing vials are disposed on trays which in turn are supported by the carriers. The lifting mechanism operates to lift entire trays from the respective carriers towards the access opening.