Tools – Receptacle closure remover – Power- – vacuum- – or fluid pressure-operated
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-14
2001-07-10
Smith, James G. (Department: 3723)
Tools
Receptacle closure remover
Power-, vacuum-, or fluid pressure-operated
C081S003370, C081S003390, C081S003440
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257091
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an automatic decapper for decapping a variety of caps, including pull-off or screw-on caps, from test tubes of various types and sizes.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is related to the following U.S. patent applications, having the indicated titles, commonly assigned to the Bayer Corporation of Tarrytown, N.Y. and incorporated by reference herein:
Utility patent applications for Automatic Handler for Feeding Containers Into and Out of An Analytical Instrument (“Sample Handler”), Ser. No. 09/115,391, filed Jul. 14, 1998, Dynamic Noninvasive Detection of Analytical Container Features Using Ultrasound, Ser. No. 09/115,393, filed Jul. 14, 1998; Robotics for Transporting Containers and Objects Within An Automated Analytical Instrument and Service Tool for Servicing Robotics (“Robotics”), Ser. No. 09/115,080 filed Jul. 14, 1998; and Stat Shuttle Adapter and Transport Device, Ser. No. 09/113,640, filed Jul. 10, 1998.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Analytical instruments should be as versatile as possible to minimize the number of different analytical instruments required in a single location, such as at a hospital or laboratory. It is therefore desirable to have an analytical instrument that handles test tubes of various types and sizes and both open (“uncapped”) and closed (“capped”) test tubes. Where the instrument requires the test tubes to be open before they are pretreated, sampled and tested, the instrument should have an automatic decapper to automatically decap closed test tubes. (As used herein, open test tubes, which do not require decapping, include containers like Microtainer holders® and Ezee Nest® inserts.)
Automating the decapping of test tubes is complicated by the variety of available test tubes, which may vary in diameter, height, and especially the variety of available caps to cover the test tubes. Some caps unscrew from threading on the top of the test tubes. These include caps for test tube-specific caps manufactured by Sarstedt of Germany, Braun, also of Germany, Meditech, Inc. of Bel Air, Md., and Greiner, as well as HemaGuard® caps used on Vacutainer® test tubes from Becton Dickinson. Another type of cap is a rubber stopper inserted into a test tube, such as a Vacutainer® test tube, which is removed by a pulling motion. The caps may also differ in their composition—they may be rubber, plastic, etc. A single decapper that can decap all of these tubes is needed because it is impractical to provide separate decappers in a single instrument for each type of cap.
In decapping the tubes, care must be taken not to break the tubes, generally made from glass or plastic, and not to spill any of the sample. There is a further constraint that portions of the sample and vapors not be transmitted to other tubes in the instrument which would interfere with the testing and analysis of the samples.
Automatic decappers have not previously been designed to remove from test tubes both screw-on caps and caps that must be pulled out. Generally, decappers have only been designed to decap test tubes sold by the same manufacturer. In one such system, Becton-Dickinson Model 704999 illustrated in a recent catalog in Germany, it appears that only Vacutainer® test tubes with rubber stoppers may be decapped. In another automatic decapper manufactured by Sarstedt, only screw-on caps on Sarstedt test tubes may be automatically removed with Sarstedt's decapper. Yet another automatic decapper from Terumo of Japan only decaps VenoJect test tubes manufactured by Terumo, which have a foil cap that must be cut off with a knife edge.
SmithKline Beecham Corporation also manufactures an automatic decapper for decapping test tubes but this decapper, which is designed for use as a station along a laboratory automation transport line, only pulls rubber stopper caps upwards and off of test tubes that are held in a stationary position. This decapper is not well-suited to be incorporated into a reasonably-sized analytical instrument as it is relatively large.
It would therefore be advantageous to have a decapper incorporated into an analytical instrument to decap test tubes both when an instrument is operated independently or as a backup decapper where the instrument interfaces with a lab automation system, should a freestanding decapper stationed along the transport line malfunction. While the space occupied by current freestanding decappers for use with a lab automation transport line may be relatively large, the decapper incorporated into an analytical instrument must be relatively compact to keep the instrument to a reasonable size. It should also be removable from the instrument for easy cleaning.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide an automatic decapper that may decap a wide variety of caps on a test tube that is removable by unscrewing or pulling off the cap.
The present invention is directed to an automatic decapper for removing a cap from a test tube. In a first aspect of the invention, the decapper has upper grippers having a first position to grip the cap and maintain the cap in a stationary position, lower grippers having a first position to grip the test tube and spaced from the upper grippers, and means for rotating the lower grippers relative to and translated away from the upper grippers while the upper grippers hold the cap stationary and the lower grippers grip the test tube to remove the cap from the test tube. The rotating means preferably comprises a rotatable assembly that may be rotated and translated with respect to a lead screw to which the rotatable assembly is coupled. The upper grippers may be mounted to a decapping arm that is pivotable between a first position above the lower grippers in which the test tube may be decapped and a second position that allows a test tube to be inserted into the lower grippers and to release a removed cap for disposal.
In another aspect of the invention, the decapper has upper grippers, lower grippers and means for moving the lower grippers relative to the upper grippers to remove the cap from the test tube. The upper grippers comprise a rotatable disk, which has a plurality of arcuate slots, a plurality of retractable jaws coupled to the slots in the disk, and a means for rotating the disk to move the jaws. The rotating means causes the jaws to pivot to a gripping position to grip the cap during the decapping of the test tube and to pivot to a retracted position at other times. In this aspect of the invention, the decapper may likewise comprise a decapping arm. Apertures in the decapping arm permit an ultrasonic sensor positioned above the apertures to determine a height level of a sample in the tube after the test tube has been decapped.
In another aspect of the invention, the decapper has upper grippers, lower grippers having a pair of lever arms biased together toward a closed position to grip a test tube, a pair of half-gears that are rotatable to push apart the pair of lever arms from the closed position to the open position to accept or release a test tube when the pair of lever arms are adjacent the half-gears, and means for moving the lower grippers relative to the upper grippers to remove the cap from the test tube.
The present invention is also directed to a sensor to detect the presence of liquid in a reservoir that may be located under a test tube placed within the lower grippers. The sensor comprises a prism having three sides, the first side being mounted flush with the bottom of the reservoir. A first fiber optic cable is positioned normal to the first side of the prism and transmits light into the first side of the prism and toward the second side of the prism. If there is liquid in the reservoir, at least a portion of the light emitted by the first fiber optic cable will be reflected from the second side toward the third side of the prism and then reflected from the third side of the prism back toward a second location under the first side of the prism, where a second fiber optic cable is positioned.
REFERENCES:
paten
Artus Helmut
Cohen Beri
DeYoung Thomas W.
Purpura Paul E.
Bayer Corporation
Klawitter, Esq. Andrew L.
Rodman & Rodman
Smith James G.
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