Patent ID: 9482682
Filing Date: 2016-11-01
CPC Classification: G01N,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A reagent preparation apparatus configured to prepare a reagent and supply the prepared regent to a measurement section that uses the prepared reagent to analyze a specimen, comprising: a supply chamber in which the prepared reagent is storable for stable supply of the reagent to the measurement section; a mixing chamber in which a high concentration reagent and water are mixable to prepare the reagent; a reagent supply path provided between the mixing chamber and the supply chamber to supply the prepared reagent from the mixing chamber to the supply chamber via the reagent supply path; a pump operable to flow the prepared reagent in the reagent supply path; a supply valve set operable to communicate the mixing chamber with the supply chamber via the reagent supply path to supply the prepared reagent from the mixing chamber to the supply chamber via the reagent supply path; a reagent drain path provided between the mixing chamber and the supply chamber to discard the reagent supplied through the reagent supply path from the mixing chamber before the reagent reaches the supply chamber; a drain valve set operable to communicate the reagent drain path with the reagent supply path to discard the reagent supplied through the reagent supply path from the mixing chamber before the reagent reaches the supply chamber; a quality measuring sensor provided in the reagent supply path upstream of the reagent drain path, the quality measurement sensor being configured to detect a property of the prepared reagent, which is selected from the properties of the prepared reagent consisting of an electric conductance of the prepared reagent and a PH value thereof, to measure a quality of the prepared reagent when the reagent flowing through the reagent supply path from the mixing chamber passes the quality measuring sensor; a controller programmed to operate, based on the measured quality of the prepared reagent, the supply valve set and the drain valve set to either supply the prepared reagent to the supply chamber from the mixing chamber via the reagent supply path or discard the prepared reagent through the reagent drain path; and a memory operable to store a failure count that counts consecutive determinations that the measure quality of the prepared reagent fails to meet a first quality level, the controller further programmed to: (a) read the measured quality of the prepared reagent from the quality measuring sensor when the prepared reagent from the mixing chamber passes the quality measuring sensor; (b) apply a first threshold value representative of the first quality level against the measured quality read from the quality measuring sensor to determine whether the measured quality satisfies the first quality level or fails to meet the first quality level; (c) responsive to a determination by the controller that the measured quality satisfies the first quality level, operate the supply valve set to supply the prepared reagent to the supply chamber from the mixing chamber via the reagent supply path and reset the failure count to zero; (d) responsive to a determination by the controller that the measured quality fails to meet the first quality level, operate the drain valve set to discard the prepared reagent from the mixing chamber through the reagent drain path before the prepared reagent reaches the supply chamber and increment the failure count; and (e) repeat operations (a)-(d), and responsive to the failure count incremented above a predetermined failure count, stop operation of the reagent preparation apparatus.