Patent ID: 6793887
Filing Date: 2004-09-21
Classification: G01N,Y10T

Abstract:
A specimen-inspection preprocessing apparatus comprising:a housing; and a plurality of specimen processing units arranged on the housing, at least some of the plurality of specimen processing units each include a rotary conveying mechanism, wherein the plurality of specimen processing units include: a master-specimen carry-in unit provided on a specimen operating surface of the housing, for carrying in a master specimen contained in a master-specimen container; a usable-region detection unit for detecting a usable region of the master specimen carried in by the master-specimen carry-in unit; a stopper-removing unit for removing a stopper of the master-specimen container containing the master specimen; a slave-specimen container supply unit for supplying an empty slave-specimen container; a label issuing unit for preparing an identification label and attaching the identification label to the slave-specimen container supplied from the slave-specimen container supply unit; a pipetting tip supply unit for supplying a disposable pipetting tip; a pipetting unit on which the pipetting tip supplied from the pipetting tip supply unit is mounted and which aliquots, through the pipetting tip, the master specimen from the master-specimen container from which the stopper is removed by the stopper-removing unit and then dispenses, through the pipetting tip, a slave specimen into the slave-specimen container to which the identification label is attached; a slave-specimen carry-out unit for carrying out the slave specimen dispensed into the slave-specimen container by the pipetting unit; and a master-specimen container carry-out unit for carrying out the master-specimen container after the aliquot operation is performed.