초록 ▼

The present invention is directed to a method and container locator means for moving a container among one or more work-flow stations within an apparatus. The apparatus of the present invention may include a means for automated loading, a means for automated transfer and/or a means for automated unl

The present invention is directed to a method and container locator means for moving a container among one or more work-flow stations within an apparatus. The apparatus of the present invention may include a means for automated loading, a means for automated transfer and/or a means for automated unloading of a container (e.g., a specimen container). In one embodiment, the apparatus can be an automated detection apparatus for rapid non-invasive detection of a microbial agent in a test sample. The detection system also including a heated enclosure, a holding means or rack, and/or a detection unit for monitoring and/or interrogating the specimen container to detect whether the container is positive for the presence of a microbial agent. In other embodiment, the automated instrument may include one or more, bar code readers, scanners, cameras, and/or weighing stations to aid in scanning, reading, imaging and weighing of specimen containers within the system.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A storage and testing apparatus for storage and/or testing specimen samples, comprising: (a) a housing having a height dimension with opposing upper and lower portions and a depth dimension extending between a front and a back of the housing, the housing enclosing an interior chamber of the appar

1. A storage and testing apparatus for storage and/or testing specimen samples, comprising: (a) a housing having a height dimension with opposing upper and lower portions and a depth dimension extending between a front and a back of the housing, the housing enclosing an interior chamber of the apparatus therein;(b) a holding structure contained within said interior chamber and comprising a plurality of holding wells arranged in a plurality of columns and rows, the holding wells configured to hold one or more sealed specimen containers, the specimen containers comprising respective specimen samples therein and having an elongate body with a top end portion and a bottom, wherein the holding structure extends from the lower portion to the upper portion of the housing, a distance behind the front of the housing, closer to the back of the housing than the front of the housing;(c) a rotatable disk in or adjacent the housing, spaced apart from the holding structure, the rotatable disk comprising a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart upwardly extending receiving wells, each receiving well configured to releasably receive one or more of the sealed specimen containers and directly contact the sealed specimen containers held therein, wherein the disk is configured to rotate in a horizontal plane around a vertical axis and present specimen containers contained in respective receiving wells to a plurality of spaced apart work-flow stations positioned in cooperating alignment about a perimeter of the disk and allow the sealed specimen containers to interact with the work-flow stations while the sealed specimen containers remain in respective receiving wells;(d) an automated loading mechanism in the housing with a robotic arm and/or rails and a gripper assembly that engages the top end portion of respective sealed specimen containers and places the bottom of the specimen containers into a selected holding well of the holding wells of the holding structure, each holding well having a different column and row location address in the interior chamber, and in an orientation that is substantially orthogonal to an orientation of the sealed specimen containers in the receiving wells of the rotatable disk;(e) a conveyor comprising a horizontal conveying surface in cooperating alignment with the rotatable disk so that upright specimen containers are slidably directed into the receiving wells of the disk; and(f) a detection system in the interior chamber that detects microbial growth in sealed specimen containers held in the holding structure for positive or negative readings,wherein the storage and testing apparatus is a closed system with the interior chamber providing a climate controlled environment, wherein the interior chamber encloses the automated loading mechanism, the holding structure and the detection system in the closed system in the climate controlled environment, and wherein the rotatable disk is external to the interior chamber with the climate controlled environment. 2. The storage and testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the work-flow stations comprise at least three of the following: a bar code reading station, a container scanning station, a container imaging station, a container weighing station, a container pick-up station, a container transfer station, wherein the sealed specimen containers are slidably received in respective receiving wells of the disk in an upright configuration and remain upright in the respective receiving wells as the rotatable disk presents the sealed specimen containers to the work flow stations positioned in cooperating alignment about the perimeter of the disk. 3. The storage and testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more of the work-flow stations positioned about the perimeter of the disk comprises a bar code reading station and a bar code reader and said specimen containers contain a bar code, wherein said disk rotates to present said specimen containers in said receiving wells to said bar reading station and is configured to hold the specimen containers while said bar code reader to reads said bar code on respective specimen containers. 4. The storage and testing apparatus of claim 3, wherein said bar code reading station further comprises a rotatable turntable operable to rotate said specimen containers about a vertical axis while held in a respective receiving well, thereby allowing said bar code reader to read said bar code label. 5. The storage and testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein said work-flow stations positioned about the perimeter of the disk comprises a container weighing station with a scale or weighing device to weigh respective specimen containers, and wherein said disk rotates to serially present respective specimen containers to said container weighing station while held in a respective receiving well, thereby allowing said specimen containers to be weighed. 6. The storage and testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the specimen containers are tubular specimen containers, wherein the disk comprises first and second parallel and horizontally oriented disk plates, one residing longitudinally spaced apart above the other, each disk plate having a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart curvilinear shaped open spaces with an open outer facing segment that are aligned and cooperate to form the receiving wells, and wherein vertically aligned and cooperating shaped open spaces of the shaped open spaces of the first and second disk plates hold a single one of the tubular containers. 7. The storage and testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the specimen containers are elongate tubular containers, with a height greater than a width thereof, and wherein the conveying surface has a width sized and configured to support a plurality of the tubular specimen containers side by side in a width dimension and in an upright orientation and is configured to contact the bottom of the specimen containers to support and convey the specimen containers to the rotatable disk to then slidingly enter a receiving well of the rotatable disk in response to forward movement of the conveyor. 8. An automated detection apparatus for rapid non-invasive detection of microorganism growth in test samples, comprising: (a) a housing enclosing an interior housing chamber with a climate controlled environment;(b) a holding structure contained within said interior housing chamber and comprising a plurality of holding wells for holding one or more of said specimen containers;(c) a rotatable disk in the housing spaced apart from the holding structure and comprising circumferentially spaced apart receiving wells, the receiving wells having an open outward facing segment that is sized and configured to releasably receive one or more specimen containers, wherein the specimen containers each have an interior chamber with a culture medium disposed therein for culturing any microorganisms that may be present in respective test samples;(d) a plurality of work-flow stations positioned at different spaced apart locations about the perimeter of the rotatable disk in cooperating alignment with the disk, wherein said disk rotates about a vertical axis to move said specimen containers held in the receiving wells to the work-flow stations while held in the receiving wells;(e) a container pick-up station and a transfer mechanism, wherein the transfer mechanism is configured to transfer said specimen containers within said interior housing chamber, wherein said rotatable disk rotates to present sealed specimen containers held in the receiving wells to said container pick-up station, and wherein said transfer mechanism comprises a robotic arm that is operable to pick-up said specimen containers from said pick-up station and load the specimen containers into the holding wells in the interior housing chamber in an orientation that is substantially orthogonal to an orientation of the specimen containers while held in the receiving wells of the rotatable disk, and wherein each holding well has a different column and row location address from other holding wells in the interior housing chamber; and(f) a detection unit located within said interior housing chamber for the detection of microorganism growth in said specimen containers,wherein the transfer mechanism communicates with the detection unit to automatically move, relocate or transfer a respective specimen container from a first holding well to another location and/or another holding well in the housing interior chamber. 9. The automated detection system of claim 8, wherein the work-flow stations positioned about the perimeter of the disk comprise at least three of the following: a bar code reading station, a container scanning station, a container imaging station, a container weighing station, a container pick-up station, a container transfer station, wherein the specimen containers are elongate sealed bottles, wherein the sealed bottles are slidably received in respective receiving wells in an upright configuration, and wherein the rotatable disk resides external of the climate controlled environment of the interior housing chamber. 10. The automated detection apparatus of claim 8, wherein said apparatus further comprises a horizontal shelf residing at a front of the housing, medially between upper and lower portions of the housing, and comprising opposing laterally spaced apart guide rails that reside over a horizontal conveying surface and that taper inward toward the rotatable disk, wherein the lower portion of the housing has a larger depth extent than the upper portion, wherein the apparatus further comprises a horizontal guide rail residing in a bottom of the lower portion of the housing that is attached to a single vertical support structure extending between the upper and lower portions of the front housing in the interior housing chamber in front of the holding structure, and wherein the single vertical support structure moves right and left and slidably holds a robotic transfer arm that travels up and down between the upper and lower portions of the housing in front of the holding structures and releasably engages specimen containers to controllably and selectively insert and remove the specimen containers from the holding structure. 11. The automated detection system of claim 8, wherein said work-flow stations positioned about the perimeter of the disk comprises a bar code reading station and a bar code reader located at said bar code reading station, and wherein said rotatable disk with the receiving wells rotates in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction to present said specimen containers to said bar reading station, thereby allowing said barcode reader to read said bar code on said container while held in a respective receiving well at the bar code reading station. 12. The automated detection system of claim 11, wherein said bar code reading station further comprises a rotatable turntable configured to rotate specimen containers in a horizontal plane around a vertical axis within a respective receiving well, thereby allowing said bar code reader to read said bar code label, and wherein each receiving well of the disk has a curvilinear perimeter with the open outward facing segment configured to slidably receive and releasably hold respective specimen containers. 13. The automated detection system of claim 8, wherein said one or more work-flow stations positioned about the perimeter of the disk comprises a container weighing station with a scale or weighing device to weigh a respective specimen container while held in a respective receiving well of the disk. 14. The automated detection apparatus of claim 8, wherein the holding structure with the plurality of wells comprises vertically stacked sets of wells arranged so that the holding wells are horizontally oriented in a plurality of rows and columns in the housing interior chamber, the automated detection apparatus further comprising a single vertical support structure in the housing interior chamber, the vertical support structure attached to a horizontal guide rail residing at a lower end portion of the vertical support structure, the vertical support structure holds the robotic arm of the transfer mechanism and is configured to automatically move right and left corresponding to an x-axis direction in the housing interior chamber while held by the horizontal guide rail, wherein the single vertical support structure has a height that is greater than a lateral extent of the horizontal guide rail, and wherein the robotic arm moves up and down relative to the vertical support structure. 15. The automated detection apparatus of claim 14, wherein the robotic arm of the transfer mechanism is attached to the vertical support structure comprising a vertical guide rail, wherein the robotic arm and has a robotic transfer head, wherein the robotic transfer head releasably holds respective specimen containers and is configured to automatically place a respective specimen container in a selected holding well of the holding structure and retrieve the specimen containers from a selected respective holding well to automatically move, relocate or transfer the respective specimen container from a first holding well to another location and/or another holding well in the interior housing chamber, wherein the robotic arm is held by the vertical guide rail to be able to travel up and down in a y-axis direction over the stacked wells, and wherein the robotic arm is held by the vertical guide rail so as to allow the robotic transfer head to move in the housing interior chamber in a z-axis direction behind the rotatable disk with the receiving wells, and wherein the rotatable disk resides external of the climate controlled environment of the interior housing chamber. 16. The automated detection apparatus of claim 15, wherein the robotic transfer arm comprises a pivot plate, the pivot plate extending in the z-axis direction and having opposed first and second end portions spaced apart in the z-axis direction with a slot extending therebetween in the z-axis direction, wherein the robotic transfer head is pivotably attached to the pivot plate to (i) have a horizontally extending orientation when the robotic head is positioned at the first end portion of the pivot plate to thereby hold a respective specimen container horizontally and (ii) have an orientation that is vertical when the robotic transfer head is positioned at the second end portion of the pivot plate to thereby hold a respective specimen container vertically. 17. The automated detection apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a pivot carriage that is attached to the robotic transfer head of the robotic transfer arm and that comprises a cam follower that is spaced apart from the robotic transfer head that engages and slidably travels in the slot of the pivot plate. 18. The automated detection apparatus of claim 17, wherein the slot of the pivot plate rises upward from a horizontal orientation at the second end portion thereof, the second end portion facing the disk. 19. An automated detection apparatus for rapid non-invasive detection of microorganism growth in test samples, comprising: (a) a housing enclosing an interior housing chamber that is climate controlled;(b) a holding structure contained within said interior housing chamber and comprising a plurality of holding wells for holding one or more specimen containers, wherein the specimen containers are tubular containers and have an interior chamber with a culture medium disposed therein for culturing any microorganisms that may be present in respective test samples;(c) a rotatable disk in the housing spaced apart from the holding structure and comprising circumferentially spaced apart receiving wells, the receiving wells having an open outward facing segment that is sized and configured to releasably receive one or more of the specimen containers, wherein said disk rotates about a vertical axis to move said specimen containers held in the receiving wells to one or more work-flow stations while held in the receiving wells, the work-flow stations being positioned in cooperating alignment at different spaced apart locations about a perimeter of the disk;(d) a container pick-up station and an automated transfer mechanism, wherein the transfer mechanism is configured to transfer said specimen containers within said interior housing chamber, wherein said rotatable disk is held outside the housing interior chamber that is climate controlled and rotates to present sealed specimen containers held in the receiving wells to said container pick-up station, and wherein said transfer mechanism is operable to pick-up said specimen containers from said pick-up station; and(e) a detection unit located within said housing interior chamber for the detection of microorganism growth in said specimen containers,wherein said interior housing chamber comprises an incubation chamber, said incubation chamber comprising one or more heating elements to provide and/or maintain the incubation chamber at desired elevated temperatures above room temperature for promoting and/or enhancing microorganism growth in specimen containers,wherein the rotatable disk comprises first and second parallel and horizontally oriented disk plates that are held longitudinally spaced apart, one above the other, each with a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart curvilinear shaped open spaces with an open outer perimeter, wherein the curvilinear shaped open spaces of the first and second plates are aligned to form the receiving wells with the open outward facing segment, and wherein vertically aligned and cooperating shaped open spaces of the shaped open spaces of the first and second disk plates hold a single one of the tubular containers. 20. A method for automated container management of one or more containers within a storage and/or testing apparatus, said method comprising the following steps: (a) providing a storage and/or testing apparatus, said apparatus comprising: (i) a housing enclosing a climate controlled interior chamber therein, said housing further comprising vertically opposing upper and lower portions, a back and a front, the front comprising a medially horizontally extending shelf extending to an entrance location;(ii) a holding structure contained within said interior chamber and comprising a plurality of wells for holding one or more sealed specimen containers, wherein the holding structure has a height sufficient to extend between the upper and lower portions of the housing and resides closer to the back than the front, wherein the holding structure comprises one or more of (a) a rotatable drum with a plurality of rows and columns of holding wells with cylindrical cavities and/or (b) a vertically extending rack having a plurality of horizontal rows and vertical columns of holding wells with cylindrical cavities; and(iii) a rotatable disk with a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart receiving wells configured to rotate in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis and move said one or more sealed specimen containers contained in the receiving wells to one or more work-flow stations residing in cooperating alignment at defined spaced apart locations about a perimeter of the disk, wherein the rotatable disk resides on or adjacent the shelf and is external to the climate controlled interior chamber;(b) rotating said disk to allow spaced apart work-flow stations to interact with a respective sealed specimen container while remaining in the receiving well of the disk;(c) automatically transferring the sealed specimen containers to selected x, y location addresses of the cylindrical cavities of the holding structure using a single vertical support structure attached at a lower end portion of the single vertical support structure to a horizontal guide rail that drives the single vertical support structure back and forth, wherein the single vertical support structure holds a robotic transfer arm that moves up and down in a y direction and inward and outward in a z-direction to place the sealed specimen containers into cylindrical cavities with a cap end facing outward;(d) automatically detecting whether the sealed specimen containers have microbial growth;(e) electronically providing test results to one or more users based on the detection; and(f) automatically removing the sealed specimen containers to defined exit locations of the housing when a respective sealed specimen container is identified as either positive or negative in response to the detection. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein said work-flow stations positioned about the perimeter of the disk are selected from the group consisting of a bar code reading station, a container scanning station, a container imaging station, a container weighing station, a container pick-up station, a container transfer station, or a combination thereof, and wherein the method further comprises slidably conveying sealed bottles to the disk to be slidably received in respective receiving wells in an upright configuration. 22. The method of claim 20, wherein the sealed specimen containers are sealed elongate bottles with a top having a cap and a bottom comprising a planar surface, wherein said rotatable disk has from one to ten receiving wells therein, wherein each receiving well has a curvilinear perimeter with an open outer facing segment sized and configured to slidably receive one upright sealed container, and wherein the storage and/or testing apparatus further comprises a conveyor comprising a horizontal conveying surface on the shelf and in cooperating alignment with the rotatable disk, the method further comprising conveying upright sealed elongate bottles on the conveying surface from a wider segment to a more narrow segment approaching the disk and into the receiving wells of the disk. 23. The method of claim 20, wherein said one or more work-flow stations positioned about the outer perimeter of the disk comprises a bar code reading station with a bar code reader located at said bar code reading station, wherein said disk automatically rotates to move said one or more sealed specimen containers to and away from said bar reading station, and wherein said method further comprises the step of reading said bar code on said one or more sealed specimen containers at the bar code reading station while the one or more specimen container is held in a respective receiving well of the disk. 24. The method of claim 20, wherein said storage and testing apparatus further comprises a container pick-up station and a transfer mechanism for transfer of said specimen container within said interior chamber, wherein said disk rotates a defined amount to move said one or more specimen containers to said pick-up station, and wherein said method further comprises automatically serially picking up said sealed specimen containers from said pick-up station in an upright configuration, grasping an upper end portion of a respective sealed specimen container, retracting the sealed specimen container into a container channel in the robotic transfer arm and transferring the one or more sealed specimen containers to the holding structure in a horizontal orientation, extending the retracted specimen container out of the container channel with a bottom end facing the holding structure using said transfer mechanism. 25. The method of claim 20, wherein said disk has between 1-10 circumferentially spaced apart receiving wells, wherein said storage and testing apparatus further comprises a controller, wherein said method comprises controlling the rotatable disk via the controller to cause said rotatable disk to rotate in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction to and through said work-flow, wherein the automatically removing the sealed specimen containers using the robotic transfer arm is carried out selectively by having a head of the robotic transfer arm grasp an end portion of the sealed specimen containers using a known x, y address associated with a respective specimen container; wherein the detecting is carried out to electronically identify whether a removed sealed specimen container tests positive or negative for micro-organism growth; andwherein the automatically removing further comprises automatically discarding negative specimen containers to a defined negative exit location.