Patent ID: 8778686
Filing Date: 2014-07-15
Classification: G01N,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A dispensing method for dispensing a liquid including a precipitated substance contained in a vessel with a dispensing probe, the dispensing method, comprising: receiving user input of plural positions which differ from each other in a vertical direction, determining a shape of the vessel, determining a type of the vessel based on the determined shape of the vessel, where each type of vessel has a bottom wall of a known thickness, determining a lower-limit position of the dispensing probe, based on the thickness of the bottom wall, determining a liquid surface of the liquid in the vessel using a liquid level sensor, sucking in the liquid into the dispensing probe from said plural positions, said plural positions ranging from said lower-limit position to said liquid surface, and dispensing the liquid from the dispensing probe wherein the shape of the vessel is determined (i) by obtaining shape information associated with the vessel from a recording medium attached to the vessel, or (ii) by using a shape detector which detects the outer appearance of the vessel.