Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting – deodorizing – preser – Analyzer – structured indicator – or manipulative laboratory... – Sample mechanical transport means in or for automated...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-21
2002-11-05
Warden, Jill (Department: 1743)
Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting, deodorizing, preser
Analyzer, structured indicator, or manipulative laboratory...
Sample mechanical transport means in or for automated...
C422S051000, C422S067000, C422S063000, C422S093000, C422S105000, C422S404000, C436S043000, C436S046000, C436S048000, C436S164000, C221S030000, C221S079000, C221S087000, C221S088000, C221S235000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06475436
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a device and a corresponding method for removing a consumable analytic product, in particular a test element, from a storage container having one or more chambers. The chambers each contain one or more consumable products and each have a removal opening for removal of a consumable product and an insertion opening lying across from the removal opening for the introduction of a plunger to transport the consumable product being removed. The removal opening and the insertion opening are each sealed with a foil (also designated as a sealing foil) for storing the consumable product. In order to remove a consumable product, a plunger is displaced by a drive unit and the consumable product is transported by the plunger out of the storage container. chamber.
Carrier-bound quick tests have been established for use in laboratories specializing in the chemical and biochemical analysis of solid and liquid sample materials and, in particular, also for use outside of such specialized laboratories. Such carrier-bound quick tests are based on specially developed dry chemistry. and can even be carried out by laymen in a simple and uncomplicated way despite the complex reactions frequently used and the associated sensitive reagents.
A conventional example for carrier-bound quick tests is a test element for determining the blood sugar content in diabetics. Diagnostic test elements configured in a strip-like fashion are also designated as test strips. Conventional embodiments are e.g. single or multiple field test strips for urine analysis and various indicator papers. Since other types of carrier-bound tests are also available in addition to test elements having strip shapes, one speaks, in general, of analytic test elements.
Within the context of the invention, analytic test elements can be evaluated visually or by an apparatus. Test elements which can be evaluated using an apparatus include e.g. test elements which can be evaluated optically, in particular photometrically, and electrochemical sensors and the like. Analytic test elements of this kind and other consumable products are packed in a storage container to protect them from damaging environmental influences such as light, moisture and mechanical effects or to store them under sterile conditions. In addition to test elements, consumable analytic products can include e.g. lancets or sampling elements.
Since these types of analytic consumable products have been thoroughly described in prior art and are completely familiar to one of average skill in the art in a plurality of embodiments, detailed description thereof is unnecessary here. Instead, reference is made to e.g. the following documents: DE-A 19753847.9, EP-A 0138152, EP-A 0821233, EP-A 0821234, EP-A 0630609, EP-A 0565970 and WO 97/02487.
Analytic consumable products are stored in a storage container made from a rigid material to protect them from the influence of optical radiation or from moisture in the air and from soiling, bacteria and dust as well as from mechanical influences. Should the storage container hold a plurality of consumable products, these are normally accommodated in individual chambers, wherein the chambers can each contain one or a plurality of consumable products.-A storage container can also contain various types of analytic consumable products, e.g. test elements and lancets, each in their own chamber.
In order to remove a consumable product, one of the chambers is opened by rupturing the foils sealing the removal opening and the insertion opening. Consumable products can thereby be removed from chambers when needed without opening the other chambers so that the consumable products contained in the unopened chambers can continue to be stored in a secure fashion.
The storage containers and chambers can be configured in the must differing of fashions and contain, in many cases, a supply of drying agent for protection against moisture. The storage containers can be provided with a data storage medium, e.g. a label having a readable print, a barcode label or a magnetic strip upon which charge-specific data and optional additional information concerning the analytic consumable product can be stored and recalled.
The analytic consumable products can be removed from the storage container either manually or, preferentially, using a mechanical device, wherein the consumable products remaining in the storage container within the unopened chambers continue to be protected by the individual sealing foils. Removal of the consumable product is effected by pushing it out of the chamber using a plunger.
Storage containers for analytic consumable products and the corresponding apparatus for removal of the consumable products are thoroughly described in prior art and are familiar to one of average skill in the art in a plurality of embodiments. In this connection, reference is made e.g. to the following documents: EP-A 0622119, EP-A 0732590, EP-A 0738666, U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,414, U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,266, U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,924 and, in particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,410 as well as DE-A 19854316.
The storage containers, also designated as magazines, are normally conceived for use in a measuring apparatus, in particular in a compact measuring apparatus. In order to accept a storage container in a measuring apparatus in which a consumable product is to be removed from the storage container with the assistance of a plunger, appropriate means can be provided, in particular, for the precise positioning of the storage container relative to the functional components of an analytic apparatus, in particular relative to a plunger, for removal of the consumable product.
Removal of the consumable product is often automated, e.g. to prevent improper operation or to increase user friendliness. In these cases, the plunger effecting removal of a consumable product is moved by a drive unit including an electrical drive motor and optionally a transmission. Examples of conventional manual, motor driven and automated devices for the removal of analytic consumable products from storage containers are described in the documents cited above.
The storage containers with which the invention is concerned are closed on each of two oppositely disposed openings with foils which must be ruptured when the consumable product is removed. The plunger initially penetrates through the foil covering the insertion opening and into the chamber of the storage vessel where it pushes against the consumable product to be removed. The foil covering the removal opening is then torn open in an outward direction by the front end of the consumable product in feeding direction and the consumable product is pushed out of the chamber or brought into a working position. An intrinsic property of this transport procedure is that relatively large forces are required in certain regions of the transport path, e.g. when penetrating through the two foils or when positioning a test element in a predetermined position of a measurement holder, whereas only relatively small thrusting forces are required during the remaining transport path.
The choice of materials and thickness of the foils which are used to seal the openings in the storage container chambers is limited by two requirements. On the one hand, they must be sufficiently strong to provide adequate protection and must not constitute a mechanical weak point during handling of the storage container. On the other hand, the foil cannot be too strong, since it must be ruptured by the plunger or by the consumable analytic product using the pressure imparted by the thrusting force of the plunger.
Particularly in small, battery operated compact analysis apparatus, one has the additional conflicting requirement that the speed with which the consumable product, in particular a test element, is to be removed must be high and, on the other hand, the battery energy consumption associated therewith should be low in order to carry out as many measurements as possible using one charge of batteries.
In accordance with prior art, th
Baumann Rolf
Dilger Meinrad
Klemm Thomas
Miltner Karl
Schabbach Michael
Bex Kathryn
Knauer Richard T.
Roche Diagnostics GmbH
Warden Jill
Woodburn Jill L.
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