Automatic sample preparing apparatus

An automatic sample preparing apparatus which can automatically perform all the steps of a sample preparation process from smearing of sample onto a slide glass to dyeing the smeared sample and with which there is no wasting of dyeing liquid even when only a small number of samples are to be dyed and the degree of freedom of slide glass handling and control is high. The apparatus can include a smearing part, cassettes, a carrying part, a loading part, a dyeing part and a storing part. The smearing part functions to smear samples onto slide glasses. Each cassette has a holding part which can hold slide glasses and a liquid and a pair of hanging support parts connected to this holding part. The carrying part carries the cassettes. The loading part loads the slide glasses one by one into the cassettes. The dyeing part performs dyeing of the smeared sample on the slide glasses. The storing part stores cassettes containing slide glasses with sample smeared thereon and dyed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to an automatic sample preparing apparatus, and 
particularly to an automatic sample preparing apparatus for preparing 
samples by automatically smearing samples on slide glasses and/or 
automatically dyeing samples smeared on slide glasses. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Conventionally, as an automatic sample preparing apparatus for preparing 
samples by automatically smearing blood on slide glasses for sample use, 
there has been known an apparatus (apparatus A) disclosed in Japanese 
Unexamined Patent Publication No. H.3-94159 having a supply part 
containing multiple slide glasses in a stack, a moving member for moving 
these slide glasses one at a time in a transverse direction from the 
supply part, a carrying part for carrying slide glasses moved by this 
moving part to subsequent steps and a holding part for holding a plurality 
of slide glasses of which processing has been completed, wherein dropping 
of blood from a fine tube, smearing of the blood with a drawing glass and 
drying with a fan are carried out in the carrying part. 
Also, as an automatic sample preparing apparatus for preparing samples by 
automatically carrying out dyeing on slide glasses on which blood has been 
smeared, there has been known an apparatus (apparatus B) disclosed in 
Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. H.3-70355 comprising a 
mechanism for feeding slide glasses into a dyeing tank and a controlling 
part for controlling this mechanism for dyeing blood smeared on the slide 
glasses by immersing them in the dyeing tank, wherein the controlling part 
memorizes the number of times the dyeing liquid in the dyeing tank has 
been used and the number of samples dyed and changes the dyeing time 
according to these numbers, and an apparatus (apparatus C) disclosed in 
Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. S.56-52244 having a 
plurality of vessels (dyeing tanks) into each of which one smeared sample 
is inserted and thereby dyed wherein a belt having the vessels fixed 
thereto is moved intermittently one step at a time. 
However, with the apparatus A, although smeared samples can be prepared 
efficiently and well, when the smeared samples are to be dyed this must be 
done by a separate dyeing apparatus. 
Apparatus B carries out dyeing by holding 10 to 50 slide glasses on which 
blood has been smeared in a holding vessel for dyeing and immersing this 
in a dyeing tank containing dyeing liquid, and by making the dyeing time 
longer in correspondence with the number of times the dyeing liquid has 
been used it is possible to keep the degree of dyeing constant; however, 
there has been the problem that a large quantity of dyeing liquid is 
required even when just a few slide glasses are to be dyed. That is, 
because the slide glass holding vessel (holding vessel for dyeing) used in 
the apparatus B is of a size enabling it to hold up to 50 slide glasses, 
there has been the problem that even when just a few slide glasses are to 
be dyed it is necessary to use the same large quantity of dyeing liquid as 
when 50 slide glasses are to be dyed. The apparatus C, on the other hand, 
has the merit that even when the number of samples to be dyed is small 
there is no wasting of dyeing liquid, but with this apparatus there has 
been the problem that because the dyeing tanks, which are vessels for 
dyeing, are fixed to a belt, the degree of freedom of handling and control 
of slide glass takeout, input and moving operations has been low. 
Also, because the apparatus B and the apparatus C only dye slide glasses on 
which blood has already been smeared, the step of smearing the blood onto 
the slide glasses must be done by a separate apparatus. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention was devised in view of these kinds of problem, and an 
object of the invention is to provide an automatic sample preparing 
apparatus which can perform all the steps from smearing to dyeing 
automatically and with which there is no wasting of dyeing liquid and the 
degree of freedom of slide glass handling and control is high. 
To achieve the above-mentioned object and other objects, the invention 
provides an automatic sample preparing apparatus comprising a smearing 
part for smearing a sample (such as blood, urine and liquid specimen 
including cells, etc.) on a slide glass, a carrying part for having 
removably set thereon and carrying at least one slide glass holding 
cassette having a holding part capable of holding a slide glass and a 
liquid, a loading part for loading slide glasses into the cassettes one by 
one and a dyeing part for supplying dyeing liquid to the cassettes and 
thereby dyeing the sample smeared on the slide glasses. 
In the invention, a novel slide glass holding cassette comprising hanging 
support parts connected to the holding part for supporting this holding 
part in a downwardly hanging state is preferably used. 
Also, the automatic sample preparing apparatus preferably further comprises 
a storing part for storing cassettes holding smeared slide glasses fed out 
from the dyeing part. 
As the slide glasses for sample use, ones of various sizes and made of 
various materials, ones having frosted portions and ones not having 
frosted portions and ones with their frosted portions colored and ones 
with their frosted portions not colored are suitably selected and used. 
One example is a slide glass of length 76 m, width 26 mm and thickness 0.9 
to 1.2 mm having cut corners and ground edges and a colored frosted 
portion 15 to 20 mm long. 
A slide glass holding cassette preferably used in this invention has a 
holding part and a hanging support part. The holding part is capable of 
holding a predetermined number of slide glasses and a liquid such as a 
dyeing liquid or a washing liquid. The hanging support part is connected 
to the holding part and support the holding part in a hanging state for 
purposes such as carrying and storing. This cassette is for example made 
of plastic and transparent and flat in overall shape.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The holding part of the cassette preferably comprises a main space capable 
of holding a slide glass and a liquid, an auxiliary space for liquid 
supply and discharge adjacent to this main space and connected to the main 
space and a bottom wall extending across the main space and the auxiliary 
space and sloping downward from the main space to the auxiliary space. In 
this case, the main space and the auxiliary space are divided by for 
example a partition wall, the main space has a space for receiving for 
example one slide glass and the auxiliary space has a space into which can 
be inserted a pipette or a tube or the like for supplying or discharging 
for example a dyeing liquid or a washing liquid. Also, the sloping bottom 
wall promotes the effective supply and discharge of dyeing liquid and the 
like to and from the auxiliary space and prevents surface tension in gaps 
between the lower part of the slide glass held in the main space and the 
side walls of the main space from causing dyeing liquid to remain in those 
gaps. 
The holding part of the cassette also preferably comprises a positioning 
part for holding the slide glass in a position on one side of the inside 
of the holding part instead of the above-mentioned partition wall. In this 
case, the positioning part for example consist of slide glass holding 
guides provided in a slide glass receiving opening of the holding,part. 
The cassette is preferably provided with a mis-setting preventing part for 
preventing the cassette from being set other than in a predetermined 
state. Here, a predetermined state means a state wherein the cassette is 
set in a prescribed position with a prescribed orientation in for example 
the carrying part for carrying the cassettes. This mis-setting preventing 
part may be provided in the above-mentioned holding part or may be 
provided on the above-mentioned hanging support part or may be provided 
extending across the holding part and the hanging support part. One method 
of providing a mis-setting preventing part is to make the shape of the 
front of the cassette asymmetrical. 
The smearing part in this invention performs smearing of blood on a slide 
glass. The method of this smearing may be a wedge method (using another 
glass) or a spinner method (a centrifugal method). Preferably the smearing 
part has a rotatable slide glass supply table, a plurality of slide glass 
supply parts are provided on the table, the table is rotationally driven 
and slide glasses are supplied one after another from the plurality of 
slide glass supply parts and smeared one at a time. If this kind of 
construction is adopted, if different types of slide glass are loaded into 
the plurality of slide glass supply parts, desired slide glasses for 
smearing can be selected from the plurality of types. 
The carrying part has removably set thereon and carries normally more than 
one but in the case of so-called interrupt carrying just one cassette 
(having a holding part capable of holding a slide glass for sample use and 
a liquid) not holding a slide glass or holding a slide glass. The carrying 
is carried out for example by an intermittently moving belt conveyor 
having a set of two belts disposed in parallel with each other with a 
predetermined spacing therebetween. At this time, if the cassette has the 
hanging support part, the cassette is carried hanging from the two belts 
by the hanging support part. 
The loading part loads slide glasses one by one into cassettes on the 
carrying part. The loading part preferably comprises a slide glass holding 
part for holding a smeared slide glass substantially horizontally, a 
stopping mechanism for temporarily stopping one cassette on the carrying 
part at a time, a pivoting mechanism for reversibly pivoting to a 
substantially horizontal position a cassette temporarily stopped by the 
stopping mechanism and a moving and inserting mechanism for moving a 
smeared slide glass held by the slide glass holding part and inserting it 
into the cassette pivoted to a substantially horizontal position by the 
pivoting mechanism. 
The dyeing part supplies dyeing liquid to the cassettes and thereby carries 
out dyeing of the smeared blood on the slide glasses. As dyeing processes 
there are for example the steps of May Grunwald fixing, May Grunwald 
dyeing, Gimza dyeing and washing. The dyeing part preferably has pipettes 
capable of being inserted into the cassettes. When the cassettes each have 
a space into which these pipettes can be inserted (for example a main 
space for holding a slide glass and a liquid and an auxiliary space for 
liquid supply and discharge adjacent to this main space and connected to 
the main space), the pipettes are inserted into this space in the cassette 
and used to supply and discharge dyeing liquid and washing liquid or the 
like. 
An automatic sample preparing apparatus according to the invention 
preferably has a storing part for storing cassettes holding smeared slide 
glasses fed out from the dyeing part. When a predetermined number of 
cassettes collect in this storing part, they are taken out of the storing 
part. 
An automatic sample preparing apparatus according to the invention normally 
carries out all steps from smearing to dyeing automatically, but because 
the cassettes can be manually put onto and removed from the carrying part, 
the smearing part and the storing part, the apparatus can alternatively 
carry out smearing only or dyeing only. 
A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with 
reference to the accompanying drawings. The invention is not limited by 
this preferred embodiment. 
In FIG. 1, an automatic sample preparing apparatus D comprises a smearing 
part 1 for smearing blood onto sample slide glasses 10; cassettes 2 for 
holding slide glasses; a cassette feed belt 3a which is a double belt and 
moves forward and a cassette crossfeed belt 3b which is a single belt and 
moves from right to left, these two belts constituting a carrying part 3 
(3a, 3b) for having removably attached thereto and carrying one or a 
plurality of the cassettes 2; a loading part 4 for loading smeared slide 
glasses 10 one by one into cassettes 2 on the cassette crossfeed belt 3b 
of the carrying part 3; a dyeing part 5 for feeding dyeing liquid into 
cassettes 2 carried to the dyeing part 5 by the cassette crossfeed belt 3b 
and thereby dyeing blood smeared on the slide glasses 10; and a storing 
part 6 for storing cassettes 2 fed out from the dyeing part 5 and 
containing smeared slide glasses 10. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the smearing part 1 has a slide glass supply turntable 
11 intermittently rotatable in forward and reverse directions; two slide 
glass supply holes 11a (in `position 1` and `position 2`) are provided in 
the turntable 11, and two rectangular parallelepiped shaped slide glass 
supply cassettes 12, each capable of holding a stack of 100 slide glasses 
10, are fitted in these slide glass supply holes 11a. A takeout hole is 
provided at the bottom of each of these cassettes 12, and the lowest slide 
glass 10 is taken out through this takeout hole. 
The slide glasses held in the cassettes 12 are 76 mm long, 26 mm wide and 
1.0 mm thick; they have had their corners cut and their edges ground and 
have frosted portions, the length of the frosted portions being 15 mm. 
Slide glasses 10 with their frosted portions colored white are held in the 
left side cassette 12 in FIG. 2 and slide glasses 10 with their frosted 
portions colored red are held in the right side cassette 12. The frosted 
portions are colored white and red here so as to provide two types of 
slide glass 10 which can be used to distinguish male/female, 
inpatient/outpatient, morning/afternoon or sampler/manual samples or the 
like. 
When a slide glass 10 is taken out of one of the cassettes 12, this slide 
glass 10 is carried to a predetermined position for smearing and then 
after blood is smeared on it the slide glass 10 is carried to a 
predetermined position for printing as shown in FIG. 3 through FIG. 5. 
In FIG. 3, a slide glass takeout mechanism 13 is disposed below the 
turntable 11. The slide glass takeout mechanism 13 comprises a piston rod 
15 made to reciprocate to the left and right by an air cylinder 14, a 
first arm 16 pivotally supported by the left end of the piston rod 15 and 
a support shaft 17 thereabove, a first lever 19 abutting with the upper 
end of the first arm 16 and pivotally supported by a support shaft 18, a 
motor 20 disposed behind the piston rod 15, a belt 23 strung horizontally 
around left and right pulleys 21 and 22 and driven to the left and right 
by the motor 20 and a second arm 26 pivotally supported by a support shaft 
24 attached to the belt 23 and a support shaft 25 thereabove. 
The two support shafts 17 and 18 are parts of a first slider 28 which is 
horizontally disposed above the belt 23 and moves to the left and right 
guided by a guide rail 27. The support shaft 25 is part of a second slider 
29 which also moves to the left and right guided by the guide rail 27. 
Referring to FIG. 3, when the piston rod 15 is retracted by the air 
cylinder 14 from the position in which it is shown with solid lines to the 
position in which it is shown with two-dot chain lines, the first arm 16 
pivots counterclockwise about the support shaft 17 and becomes vertical as 
shown with two-dot chain lines. When this happens, the upper end of the 
first arm 16 causes the first lever 19 to pivot clockwise about the 
support shaft 18 and the head 19a of the first lever 19 is lifted up, as 
shown with two-dot chain lines. As a result, the head 19a of the first 
lever 19 abuts with the lower surface of the slide glass 10 positioned at 
the bottom of the right-side cassette 12 fitted to the turntable 11. 
When the piston rod 15 retracts further, the first lever 19 is moved to the 
right by the first arm 16 and the first slider 28 and the head 19a of the 
first lever 19 takes this slide glass 10 out of the cassette 12 through 
the takeout hole thereof and brings it to a first predetermined position 
(a position for smearing) shown with solid lines in FIG. 4. Next, when the 
piston rod 15 extends, the first arm 16 pivots clockwise about the support 
shaft 17 and reaches the position in which it is shown with two-dot chain 
lines in FIG. 4. When this happens, the first lever 19 pivots 
counterclockwise about the support shaft 18 and the head 19a of the first 
lever 19 descends as shown with two-dot chain lines. When the piston rod 
15 then extends further, the first lever 19 with its head 19a thus lowered 
moves to the left together with the first arm 16 and the first slider 28. 
When the front side of the belt 23 moves to the left and the support shaft 
24 moves from the position in which it is shown with a solid line to the 
position in which it is shown with a two-dot chain line, the second arm 26 
pivots clockwise about the support shaft 25 and the head 26a of the second 
arm 26 becomes horizontal as shown with two-dot chain lines. When the 
front side of the belt 23 then moves further to the left, the second arm 
26 with its head 26a lowered moves to the left together with the second 
slider 29. 
When the second arm 26 has passed the above-mentioned first predetermined 
position the movement of the belt 23 temporarily stops. At this time, the 
second arm 26 is in the position in which it is shown with solid lines in 
FIG. 5. Next, the front side of the belt 23 moves to the right and the 
support shaft 24 moves to the position in which it is shown with a two-dot 
chain line in FIG. 5. When this happens, the second arm 26 pivots 
counterclockwise about the support shaft 25 and as shown with two-dot 
chain lines the right end of the head 26a of the second arm 26 rises to 
the height of the slide glass 10 which is in the first predetermined 
position. Then, as a result of the front side of the belt 23 moving 
further to the right, the second arm 26 with the right end of its head 26a 
thus raised moves to the right together with the second slider 29. When 
this happens, the slide glass 10 in the first predetermined position is 
pushed to the right by the right end of the head 26a of the second arm 26 
and is carried to a second predetermined position (a position for 
printing), which is a final position. 
Next, the structure of a slide glass holding cassette 2 will be described 
with reference to FIG. 6 through FIG. 11. 
The cassette 2 is a black and semi-transparent, tall and flat container 
made of polysulfon, and has one holding part 31 capable of holding one 
slide glass 10 and a liquid and left and right hanging support parts 32 
and 33 which are connected to the upper part of this holding part 31 and 
are for supporting the holding part 31 in a hanging state. The holding 
part 31 has a vertical left side wall 31a, a vertical right side wall 31b, 
a sloping bottom wall 31c, a vertical front wall 31d and a vertical rear 
wall 31e, and has a space enclosed by these walls 31a to 31e. 
This space is made up of a main space 34 capable of holding a slide glass 
10 and a liquid and an auxiliary space 35 adjacent to the main space 34 
and connected to the main space 34 for supply and discharge of a liquid (a 
dye liquid or a washing liquid or the like). The bottom wall 31c extends 
across the main space 34 and the auxiliary space 35 and slopes at about 10 
degrees downward from the main space 34 to the auxiliary space 35. 
The main space 34 and the auxiliary space 35 are divided by an upper left 
slide glass holding guide 36 provided on the left side of a slide glass 
receiving hole 40 in the holding part 31 and a lower left slide glass 
holding guide 37 provided below this upper left guide 36. An upper right 
slide glass holding guide 38 is provided on the right side of the slide 
glass receiving hole 40 and connected to the right side hanging support 
part 33, and a lower right slide glass holding guide 39 is provided below 
the upper right guide 38 at the same height as the lower left guide 37. 
The upper left guide 36, the lower left guide 37, the upper right guide 38 
and the lower right guide 39 function as positioning parts for holding the 
slide glass 10 in the main space 34 on the right side of the inside of the 
holding part 31. 
A pin 42 made of polysulfon and extending between the front wall 31d and 
the rear wall 31e is disposed between the lower left guide 37 of the main 
space 34 and the bottom wall 31c. This pin 42 has the function of holding 
the lower end of the slide glass 10 received into the main space 34 away 
from the bottom wall 31c. 
The height of the left and right hanging support parts 32 and 33 is about 
20% of the height of the holding part 31. A pipette insertion opening 41 
for inserting pipettes for injecting and sucking up dye liquid and washing 
liquid and the like is formed between the left side hanging support part 
32 and the upper left guide 36. The pipette insertion opening 41 becomes 
narrower downward and is connected to the auxiliary space 35. That is, a 
downwardly sloping portion 32a whose angle of inclination from the 
horizontal is about 60.degree. is provided on the left side hanging 
support part 32 facing the upper left guide 36 and a downwardly sloping 
portion 31f whose angle of inclination from the horizontal is about 
75.degree. is provided at the top of the left side wall 31a of the holding 
part 31 and is connected to the downwardly sloping portion 32a of the 
hanging support part 32. 
The downwardly sloping portion 31f at the top of the left side wall 31a of 
the holding part 31 functions as a mis-setting preventing portion for 
preventing the cassette 2 from being set in a state other than a 
predetermined state. The predetermined state is a state wherein the 
cassette 2 is set with a predetermined orientation and in predetermined 
position for example on a carrying part for carrying the cassettes 2. 
That is, as shown in FIG. 6, whereas on the left side of the cassette 2 the 
downwardly sloping portion 31f is provided between the left side hanging 
support part 32 and the vertical left side wall 31a, on the right side of 
the cassette 2 the right side wall 31b is vertical all the way up to the 
right side hanging support part 33. In other words, the holding part 31 of 
the cassette 2 is left-right asymmetric. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, 
if a reverse-setting preventing member 44 having a predetermined vertical 
cross-sectional shape is disposed along one side wall 43a of a table 43 
U-shaped in vertical cross-section for setting empty cassettes 2 in, the 
cassettes 2 can be correctly set in the table 43 with a predetermined 
orientation. 
In FIG. 12, 45 and 46 are a pair of carrying belts for carrying cassettes 2 
hanging vertically thereon by the hanging support parts 32 and 33. Also, 
32b and 33b are guide grooves provided in the lower surfaces of the 
hanging support parts 32 and 33. When the cassette 2 is supported and 
carried by the carrying belts 45 and 46, the upper edges of the side walls 
43a and 43b of the table 43 fit into the guide grooves 32b and 33b. 
As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, concave portions 32c and 33c opening to the 
front and downward are provided in the two hanging support parts 32 and 33 
respectively of the cassette 2. These concave portions 32c and 33c are for 
cassette releasing stoppers, which will be further discussed later, to fit 
into. Also, attraction members 97 and 98, which are attracted by magnets, 
are embedded in the two hanging support parts 32 and 33 respectively. 
These attraction members 97 and 98 combined with magnets are for correctly 
carrying out positioning of the cassette 2. A middle left guide may be 
further provided between the upper left guide 36 and the lower left guide 
37. In this case, because the main space 34 and the auxiliary space 35 are 
divided by the upper left guide 36, the lower left guide 37 and the middle 
left guide, an effect of drying the slide glass 10, which will be further 
discussed later, can be improved. 
Next, the overall operation of this automatic sample preparing apparatus D 
will be explained along with the detailed construction of the different 
parts of the apparatus with reference to the flow charts of FIG. 13 
through FIG. 15. 
Referring to FIG. 13, a specimen vessel containing a blood specimen is 
affixed with a bar code label showing a specimen number, the date, a 
receipt number and a name, etc, and placed in a specimen holding rack. 
This rack is carried (rack carrying) by a rack carrier and stops in front 
of the automatic sample preparing apparatus D. Then, the bar code on the 
bar code label affixed to the specimen vessel is read by a bar code 
reader. Specimen information is then received from the rack carrier and 
whether or not there is an order is checked. Here, when there is no order, 
the process returns to rack carrying and the rack is carried. When there 
is an order, the specimen in the specimen vessel is stirred and then 
sucked up by a pipette 47b attached to an arm 47a of a blood charging 
mechanism 47. 
The slide glass 10 is taken out of the cassette 12 and carried to a 
predetermined position for smearing as shown in FIG. 3 through FIG. 5, but 
before this a process shown in FIG. 13 is carried out. That is, it is 
checked whether the turntable 11 is in `position 1` or `position 2` 
(position checking) and according to the result of this check the 
turntable 11 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise as necessary to 
bring it into the required position (turntable 11 positioning). 
Next, it is determined whether there are any slide glasses 10 in the 
respective cassette 12, and when there are no slide glasses 10 an error 
message, `Please Load Slide Glasses`, is displayed. When there are slide 
glasses 10 in the cassette 12, a slide glass 10 is taken out of the 
cassette 12 by the method described above. This taking out is performed at 
a rate of one slide glass 10 every 30 seconds. 
About 5 microliters of specimen sucked up by the pipette 47b is dropped 
onto this slide glass 10. This pipette 47b is then washed in a pipette 
washing tank 48. 
Next, the specimen thus dripped onto the slide glass 10 is smeared by a 
smearing mechanism 49 using a wedge method in the first predetermined 
position of the smearing part 1. That is, smearing is carried out by a 
drawing glass 50 disposed in the first predetermined position being moved 
in the length direction of the slide glass 10 in abutment therewith. When 
smearing is finished the drawing glass 50 is immersed for a predetermined 
period in a drawing glass washing tank 51 containing a washing liquid for 
removing oil and proteins and then lifted out and cleaned with a nozzle. 
After that, the quality of the smeared state of the specimen on the slide 
glass 10 is detected by a smear checking means 52. That is, the slide 
glass 10 after smearing passes between a pair of optical devices (a 
light-receiving device and a light-emitting device) disposed above and 
below the slide glass 10, the light transmittance at each of three places 
(on a straight line parallel with the short sides of the slide glass 10) 
near the middle of the slide glass 10 is measured and a prescribed 
determination is made on the basis of these light transmittances. As shown 
in FIG. 14, when the smear is no good an error message is displayed and 
when the smear is good the slide glass 10 is printed on by a dot impact 
type printer 53 in the second predetermined position. That is, the 
specimen number, the date, the receipt number and the name and the like 
read by the above-mentioned bar code reader are printed on the frosted 
portion of the slide glass 10. 
The printed slide glass 10 is then forcibly dried by a drying fan 54 
disposed on the right side of the second predetermined position and a 
drying fan 55 disposed on the right side of a third predetermined position 
in front of the second predetermined position (a loading-standby position 
which will be further discussed later). 
The slide glass 10 moves horizontally to the right from the first 
predetermined position to the second predetermined position and moves 
horizontally forward from the second predetermined position to the third 
predetermined position, and the following means are provided to detect 
this horizontally movement of the slide glass 10. That is, a pair of light 
transmittance sensors with slits are provided in front of and behind the 
horizontal slide glass 10 between the first predetermined position and the 
second predetermined position and a pair of light transmittance sensors 
with slits are provided to the right side and the left side of the 
horizontal slide glass 10 between the second predetermined position and 
the third predetermined position. 
The height dimension of the light-receiving side slits in these two sets of 
light transmittance sensors for detecting the movement of the slide glass 
10 is set to less than the thickness of the slide glass 10. Also, the 
light-emitting side uses a pulse current in order to obtain an ample light 
intensity. With these two sets of sensors it is possible to detect the 
slide glass 10 moving horizontally even if there is a moving mechanism 
above or below the slide glass 10. 
In FIG. 2, an empty cassette 2 supported hanging vertically from the 
cassette feed belt 3a of the carrying part 3 and carried forward (in the 
direction of the arrow) thereby is held in this vertical state by a 
cassette holding and transferring member 56 when it reaches the front end 
of the cassette feed belt 3a. That is, the cassette holding and 
transferring member 56 has a left-right pair of inwardly and outwardly 
pivotable holding arms 56a, and these holding arms 56a hold the hanging 
support parts 32 and 33 of the cassette 2 by pivoting inward from their 
outer positions. Engaging holes 32d and 33d shown in FIG. 6 are for 
engaging claws of the holding arms 56a to fit into and engage with at this 
time. The cassette holding and transferring member 56 also has a stopping 
mechanism for temporarily stopping cassettes 2 on the cassette crossfeed 
belt 3b of the carrying part 3 one at a time. 
The cassette 2 thus held in a vertical state is moved by the cassette 
holding and transferring member 56 to the left and is stopped in front of 
the third predetermined position or holding standby position. The slide 
glass 10 having been carried to the third predetermined position is loaded 
from this position into the cassette 2 by the operation of the loading 
part 4 and the cassette holding and transferring member 56. The method of 
this loading will now be described. 
The left side of FIG. 16 shows the front part of the loading part 4 and the 
right side shows the rear part of the loading part 4. Referring to FIG. 
16, the loading part 4 comprises a set of two slide glass holding parts 7 
and 8 (see FIG. 2) disposed extending in the front-rear direction 
horizontally and in parallel with each other which support and hold the 
slide glass 10, a motor 57 serving as a drive source capable of rotating 
in forward and reverse directions, front and rear pulleys 58 and 59 and a 
belt 60 strung horizontally around these pulleys 58 and 59 and driven to 
move forward and backward by the motor 57. The loading part 4 also has a 
guide rail 61 disposed horizontally above the belt 60, a slider 62 which 
moves forward and backward guided by the guide rail 61, an arm supporting 
member 63 mounted on the upper surface of the guide rail 61, a first arm 
66 pivotally supported by a supporting shaft 64 mounted on a portion of 
the arm supporting member 63 projecting forward from the upper part of the 
front end thereof and a supporting shaft 65 provided on the belt 60, a 
second arm 68 pivotally supported by a supporting shaft 67 mounted on a 
portion of the arm supporting member 63 projecting upward from the upper 
part of the rear end thereof, a cassette pivoting member 69 slidably 
mounted on the guide rail 61 in front of the arm supporting member 63 and 
a connecting bar 70 connecting the arm supporting member 63 to the 
cassette pivoting member 69. 
The connecting bar 70 fits slidably in an insertion hole provided passing 
through the arm supporting member 63 from front to rear; its front end is 
fixed to the rear surface of the cassette pivoting member 69, and a 
retainer 71 is attached to its rear end. A coil spring 72 is fitted on the 
connecting bar 70 between the arm supporting member 63 and the cassette 
pivoting member 69 and urges the members 63 and 69 away from each other so 
that the rear surface of the arm supporting member 63 abuts with the 
retainer 71. 
The first arm 66 is pivotable about the supporting shaft 64 and is provided 
at the front of its upper end with an upwardly projecting first head 73. 
The first head 73 can project above and sink below the two slide glass 
holding parts 7 and 8 between the two slide glass holding parts 7 and 8. 
The second arm 68 is pivotable about the supporting shaft 67 and is 
provided on the upper part of its rear end with an upwardly projecting 
second head 74. The second head 74 can also project above and sink below 
the two slide glass holding parts 7 and 8. The second arm 68 is caused to 
pivot by pivoting of the first arm 66. 
A roller 75 is attached to the upper part of the front end of the cassette 
pivoting member 69. When the cassette pivoting member 69 moves forward, 
the roller 75 abuts with the rear surface of the vertically oriented 
cassette 2 and then causes the cassette 2 to pivot forward and upward 
about the engaging holes 32d and 33d in the cassette 2. The external 
diameter of the roller 75 and the height at which it is mounted are set so 
that when the cassette 2 has been pivoted forward and upward as far as 
possible by the cassette pivoting member 69 and the roller 75 the cassette 
2 is horizontal. 
In FIG. 16, the solid lines show the positions (the initial position) of 
the various members before the start of operation of the loading part 4. 
Referring to FIG. 16, when the motor 57 rotates forward and the belt 60 
moves in the direction of the arrow and the supporting shaft 65 moves from 
the position in which it is shown with a solid line to the position in 
which it is shown with a two-dot chain line, the first arm 66 pivots 
clockwise about the supporting shaft 64 and becomes vertical as shown with 
two-dot chain lines. Together with this, the first head 73 also pivots 
clockwise about the supporting shaft 64 and is lifted up as shown with 
two-dot chain lines. 
When this happens, the rear part of the upper end of the first arm 66 
causes the second arm 68 to pivot counterclockwise about the supporting 
shaft 67 and become horizontal as shown with two-dot chain lines, and the 
second head 74 is lifted up. 
When the belt 60 moves further in the direction of the arrow, the arm 
supporting member 63 moves forward together with the vertical first arm 66 
and the horizontal second arm 68. Together with this, the first head 73 
pushes the rear end of the slide glass 10 (a first slide glass 10-1) in 
the loading-standby position and the second head 74 pushes the rear end of 
the slide glass 10 (a second slide glass 10-2) immediately behind the 
first slide glass 10-1 and the slide glasses 10-1 and 10-2 are moved 
forward. 
At this time, the arm supporting member 63 pushes the cassette pivoting 
member 69 by way of the coil spring 72 as it moves forward. The roller 75 
abuts with the rear surface of the vertically oriented cassette 2. 
Next, as shown in FIG. 17, the roller 75 pivots the cassette 2 forward as 
far as possible (in terms of angle, 90.degree.) about the engaging holes 
32d and 33d in the cassette 2. The first slide glass 10-1 pushed by the 
first head 73 is then inserted into the now horizontal cassette 2 through 
the slide glass receiving hole 40 thereof. At this time, the arm 
supporting member 63 and the cassette pivoting member 69 move as far 
forward as they can go. The solid lines in FIG. 17 show the positions 
(final positions) of the various members at this time. 
The final position of the second slide glass 10-2 in FIG. 17 is the same as 
the position of the first slide glass 10-1 in its initial position shown 
in FIG. 16. Also, a third slide glass 10-3 following the second slide 
glass 10-2 has been carried to immediately behind the second slide glass 
10-2 in this final position. 
When from the final position shown in FIG. 17 the motor 57 rotates in 
reverse and the belt 60 moves in the direction of the arrow and the 
supporting shaft 65 moves from the position in which it is shown with a 
solid line to the position in which it is shown with a two-dot chain line, 
the first arm 66 pivots counterclockwise about the supporting shaft 64 and 
inclines as shown with two-dot chain lines. Together with this, the first 
head 73 also pivots counterclockwise about the supporting shaft 64 and the 
first head 19a descends as shown with two-dot chain lines. 
When this happens, the rear part of the upper end of the first arm 66 is 
lifted up and the second arm 68 pivots clockwise about the supporting 
shaft 67, and the second head 74 descends as shown with two-dot chain 
lines. Then, when the belt 60 moves further in the direction of the arrow, 
the arm supporting member 63 moves backward together with the first arm 66 
and the second arm 68 and the rear surface of the arm supporting member 63 
abuts with the retainer 71 of the connecting bar 70. When the arm 
supporting member 63 moves further backward, the cassette pivoting member 
69 is also moved backward by the connecting bar 70 and returns to its 
initial position. 
When returning to their initial positions, because the first head 19a and 
the second head 74 are lowered, as shown with two-dot chain lines in FIG. 
17, they do not interfere with the second slide glass 10-2 or the third 
slide glass 10-3. 
In this way, the slide glass 10 carried to the third predetermined position 
is loaded into the cassette 2 from this position by the operation of the 
loading part 4 and the cassette holding and transferring member 56. After 
the cassette 2 having received the slide glass 10 is brought to the 
vertical by the cassette holding and transferring member 56 it is placed 
on the cassette crossfeed belt 3b by the cassette holding and transferring 
member 56 and carried to the left by the cassette crossfeed belt 3b until 
it stops in front of the pusher 76. 
The pusher 76 pushes the cassettes 2 arriving in front of it one at a time 
onto a double cassette carrying belt 5a in the dyeing part 5. The 
cassettes 2 are thereby fed one by one into the dyeing part 5 by the 
pusher 76. 
A cassette interrupt supply member 77 is provided to the right of the 
pusher 76. It is possible to load an interrupt cassette containing a slide 
glass to be dyed into the cassette interrupt supply member 77 and place it 
on the cassette crossfeed belt 3b whenever desired, separately from 
cassettes 2 carried to the left on the cassette crossfeed belt 3b. 
As shown in FIG. 14, about 6 milliliters of May Grunwald stain liquid 
(hereinafter abbreviated to `May liquid`) for dyeing is charged into the 
inside of the cassette 2 containing the slide glass 10 and fed into the 
dyeing part 5. This starts a dyeing process which will now be explained in 
detail. 
That is, the dyeing part 5 comprises first to fourth sucking and 
discharging devices 78, 79, 80 and 81 disposed in this order from the 
front to the rear of the dyeing part 5, as shown in FIG. 1. The first 
sucking and discharging device 78, as shown in FIG. 18, comprises a motor 
82 serving as a drive source and capable of rotating in forward and 
reverse directions, upper and lower pulleys 83 and 84, a belt 85 which is 
strung vertically around the pulleys 83 and 84 and moves up and down 
driven by the motor 82, a connecting member 86 attached to the belt 85, a 
guide member 87 mounted to the left of the upper pulley 83 and having a 
vertical guide groove, a cylindrical cover 88 vertically disposed covering 
the guide member 87 and attached to the connecting member 86, a slide rod 
89 vertically disposed inside the cover 88 and fitted slidably in the 
guide groove of the guide member 87, a horizontal arm 90 attached to the 
top end of the slide rod 89 and the top end of the cover 88 and projecting 
to the left and a first pipette 91 for charging vertically passing through 
a pipette hole provided in the arm 90 near the left end thereof. 
The cassette 2 pushed onto the cassette carrying belt 5a of the dyeing part 
5 by the pusher 76 is carried as far as to the left of the first sucking 
and discharging device 78 and then temporarily stops there. At this time, 
the pipette insertion opening 41 of the cassette 2 is positioned directly 
underneath the first pipette 91 of the first sucking and discharging 
device 78. When the cassette 2 temporarily stops to the left of the first 
sucking and discharging device 78, the motor 82 shown in FIG. 18 rotates 
forward and the belt 85 moves in the direction shown with an arrow, and 
the slide rod 89 is moved in the direction of the arrow by way of the 
connecting member 86 integral with the belt 85 and the cover 88. Together 
with this the arm 90 descends to the position in which it is shown with 
two-dot chain lines. At this time, the first pipette 91 has been inserted 
into the pipette insertion opening 41 of the cassette 2 and descended to 
the position in which it is shown with two-dot chain lines. 
About 6 milliliters of May liquid supplied through a dyeing liquid supply 
tube (not shown in the drawings) is charged from the first pipette 91 into 
the auxiliary space 35 of the cassette 2. The charged May liquid also 
flows into the main space 34 and immerses the smeared part of the slide 
glass 10 in the main space 34. Next, the cassette 2 is carried to the left 
of the second sucking and discharging device 79 by the cassette carrying 
belt 5a and then stopped there. 
The second sucking and discharging device 79 is of the construction shown 
in FIG. 19. That is, in addition to the various constituent parts of the 
first sucking and discharging device 78 the second sucking and discharging 
device 79 has a second pipette 92 for sucking passing vertically through a 
pipette hole provided in the arm 90 to the left of the first pipette 91 
and a third pipette 93 for charging passing through a pipette hole 
provided to the right of the first pipette 91. The first to third pipettes 
91, 92 and 93 are disposed in a line. 
The pipette insertion opening 41 of the cassette 2 having been carried to 
the left of the second sucking and discharging device 79 and stopped there 
is positioned directly underneath the first to third pipettes 91, 92 and 
93. 
When the cassette 2 stops on the left of the second sucking and discharging 
device 79, in the same way as in the first sucking and discharging device 
78 the arm 90 descends to the position in which it is shown with two-dot 
chain lines. At this time, the first to third pipettes 91, 92 and 93 are 
inserted into the pipette insertion opening 41 of the cassette 2 and 
descend to the positions shown with two-dot chain lines. 
In this position, the May liquid inside the cassette 2 is all sucked up by 
the second pipette 92 of the second sucking and discharging device 79 and 
discharged (May liquid discharging) through a liquid discharge tube (not 
shown in the drawings). As shown in FIG. 15, the time from the May liquid 
charging to the May liquid discharging, that is, the May fixing treatment 
time, can be freely set to from 1 to 5 minutes. 
To prevent May liquid from adhering to the outside surface of the second 
pipette 92 and the second pipette 92 consequently becoming dirty, the May 
liquid discharging is controlled so that the sucking and discharging 
operation is carried out while the second pipette 92 is descending. That 
is, if the speed of descent of the second pipette 92 is written vcm/s, the 
suction discharge rate of the second pipette 92 is written vcm.sup.3 /s 
and the area of the May liquid inside the cassette 2 as seen from above at 
a given time (the internal cross-sectional area of the cassette 2 at the 
height of the surface of the liquid at that time) is written Scm.sup.2, 
the second pipette 92 is controlled so as to descend at a speed v 
satisfying v.ltoreq.V/S. Also, new May liquid is usually used each time, 
but in cases such as when minimizing running costs is important it may be 
made possible to reuse the May liquid two or three times. 
After the May fixing treatment has been finished, about 6 milliliters of 
May diluting liquid supplied through a dyeing liquid supply tube (not 
shown in the drawing) of the second sucking and discharging device 79 is 
charged into the auxiliary space 35 of the cassette 2 through the first 
pipette 91. The charged May diluting liquid also flows into the main space 
34 of the cassette 2 and immerses the May fixing treated part (the smeared 
part) of the slide glass 10 in the main space 34. The cassette 2 is then 
carried to the left of the third sucking and discharging device 80 by the 
cassette carrying belt 5a and stopped there. 
The third sucking and discharging device 80 is of the same construction as 
the second sucking and discharging device 79 shown in FIG. 19. When the 
cassette 2 stops on the left of the third sucking and discharging device 
80, the arm 90 of the third sucking and discharging device 80 descends to 
the position shown with two-dot chain lines as in the case of the second 
sucking and discharging device 79. At this time, the first to third 
pipettes 91, 92 and 93 have been inserted into the pipette insertion 
opening 41 of the cassette 2 and descended to the positions shown with 
two-dot chain lines. 
In this position, the May diluting liquid inside the cassette 2 is all 
sucked up by the second pipette 92 of the third sucking and discharging 
device 80 and discharged (May diluting liquid discharging) through a 
liquid discharge tube (not shown in the drawings). To prevent May diluting 
liquid from adhering to the outside surface of the second pipette 92 and 
the second pipette 92 consequently becoming dirty, the May diluting liquid 
discharging is controlled in the same way as in the case of the May liquid 
discharging (i.e. so that the second pipette 92 descends at a speed v 
satisfying v.ltoreq.V/S). New May diluting liquid is usually used each 
time, but in cases such as when minimizing running costs is important it 
may be made possible to reuse the May diluting liquid two or three times. 
The time from the May diluting liquid charging to the May diluting liquid 
discharging, that is, the May dyeing treatment time, can be freely set to 
from 1 to 5 minutes. 
To shorten the overall dyeing treatment time or reduce running costs this 
May dyeing treatment may be omitted and washing of the slide glass 10 
carried out instead. That is, as shown in FIG. 15, washing of the slide 
glass 10 may be carried out by water for washing (for example ion exchange 
water) or a buffer (for example phosphoric acid buffer liquid) being 
charged into the cassette 2 after the May liquid discharging is finished 
from the third pipette 93 of the second sucking and discharging device 79 
and this water or buffer then being discharged by the second pipette 92 of 
the third sucking and discharging device 80. The same washing treatment 
may also be carried out after the May dyeing treatment. 
When the May dyeing treatment or washing treatment is finished, 6 
milliliters of Gimza liquid supplied through a dyeing liquid supply tube 
(not shown in the drawings) of the third sucking and discharging device 80 
is charged into the auxiliary space 35 of the cassette 2 from the first 
pipette 91 of the third sucking and discharging device 80. The charged 
Gimza liquid also flows into the main space 34 of the cassette 2 and 
immerses the May dyeing treated or washing treated part (the smeared part) 
of the slide glass 10 in the main space 34. The cassette 2 is then carried 
to the left of the fourth sucking and discharging device 81 by the 
cassette carrying belt 5a and stopped there. 
The fourth sucking and discharging device 81 is of the construction shown 
in FIG. 20. That is, the fourth sucking and discharging device 81, unlike 
the first to third sucking and discharging devices 78, 79 and 80, has a 
first pipette 94 for washing water charging passing vertically through a 
pipette hole provided in the arm 90, a second pipette 95 for overflow 
prevention passing vertically through a pipette hole provided in the arm 
90 to the left of the first pipette 94 and a third pipette 96 for liquid 
sucking passing vertically through a pipette hole provided in the arm 90 
to the right of the first pipette 94. The first to third pipettes 94, 95 
and 96 are disposed in a line. 
The length of the first pipette 94 is substantially the same as that of the 
first pipettes 91 of the first to third sucking and discharging devices 
78, 79 and 80, but its lower end is bent to the left. This is so that 
washing water charged from the first pipette 94 strikes the front side and 
the rear side of the slide glass 10 in the cassette 2 from the right edge 
of the slide glass 10. The second pipette 95 is shorter than the first 
pipette 94 and is straight, and to prevent washing water inside the 
cassette 2 from overflowing sucks up washing water inside the cassette 2 
having reached a certain level. The length of the third pipette 96 is 
substantially the same as that of the third pipettes 93 of the first to 
third sucking and discharging devices 78, 79 and 80, but its middle 
portion is bent to the left to enable it to be inserted into the auxiliary 
space 35 of the cassette 2. 
The pipette insertion opening 41 of the cassette 2 having been carried to 
the left of the fourth sucking and discharging device 81 and stopped there 
is positioned directly underneath the first to third pipettes 94, 95 and 
96 of the fourth sucking and discharging device 81. 
When the cassette 2 stops on the left of the fourth sucking and discharging 
device 81, as in the case of the first sucking and discharging device 78 
the arm 90 descends to the position in which it is shown with two-dot 
chain lines. At this time, the first to third pipettes 94, 95 and 96 have 
been inserted into the pipette insertion opening 41 of the cassette 2 and 
descended to the positions in which they are shown with two-dot chain 
lines. 
In this position, all the Gimza liquid in the cassette 2 is sucked up by 
the third pipette 96 and discharged (Gimza liquid discharging) through a 
liquid discharge tube (not shown in the drawings). As shown in FIG. 15, 
the time from the Gimza liquid charging to the Gixza liquid discharging, 
that is, the Gimza dyeing treatment time, can be set freely to from 5 to 
20 minutes. 
To prevent Gimza liquid from adhering to the outside surface of the third 
pipette 96 and the third pipette 96 consequently being dirtied, as in the 
case of the May diluting liquid discharging, the Ginza liquid discharging 
is controlled so that the third pipette 96 descends at a speed v 
satisfying v.ltoreq.V/S. Also, new Gimza liquid is usually used each time, 
but in cases such as when minimizing running costs is important it may be 
made possible to reuse the Gimza liquid two or three times. 
After the Gimza dyeing treatment is finished, washing water (for example 
ion exchange water) supplied through a washing water supply tube (not 
shown in the drawings) of the fourth sucking and discharging device 81 is 
charged from the first pipette 94. The charged washing water fills the 
main space 34 and the auxiliary space 35 of the cassette 2 and washes the 
Gimza dyeing treated part of the slide glass 10 (the smeared part). The 
washing water in the main space 34 and the auxiliary space 35 is then 
sucked up by the third pipette 96 and discharged through a discharge tube 
(not shown in the drawings). This charging and suction discharging of 
washing water is repeated four times and the water washing treatment is 
concluded. 
To temporarily stop the cassette 2 to the left of each of the 
above-mentioned first to fourth sucking and discharging devices 78, 79, 80 
and 81, a pair of cassette stopping stoppers (not shown in the drawings) 
and a pair of cassette releasing stoppers (not shown in the drawings) are 
provided one behind the other. These stoppers operate mutually oppositely. 
That is, when the front stoppers (the stopping stoppers) are protruded 
above the upper surface of the cassette carrying belt 5a the rear stoppers 
(the releasing stoppers) are withdrawn to below that surface, and when the 
upper ends of the releasing stoppers are protruded they fit into the 
concave portions 32c and 33c in the hanging support parts 32 and 33 of the 
cassette 2 carried on the cassette carrying belt 5a. 
The cassette 2 after the water washing treatment is finished is carried by 
the cassette carrying belt 5a to the left of a drying fan 99 disposed 
behind the fourth sucking and discharging device 81, and there the slide 
glass 10 inside the cassette 2 is forcibly dried by the drying fan 99. 
This drying time can be freely set to from 1 to 15 minutes. At this time, 
because the drying wind is blown into the auxiliary space 35 through the 
pipette insertion opening 41 of the cassette 2 and passes through the main 
space 34 and out through the slide glass receiving hole 40, the slide 
glass 10 is efficiently dried. 
The cassette 2 containing the dried slide glass 10 is fed out from the 
cassette carrying belt 5a of the dyeing part 5 to a cassette 
feed-out/feed-in mechanism 100. The cassette feed-out/feed-in mechanism 
100 is disposed behind the dyeing part 5 and the storing part 6 and is 
connected to both, and operates to move cassettes 2 fed out from the 
cassette carrying belt 5a to the left one at a time and then load those 
cassettes 2 onto a double cassette carrying belt 6a of the storing part 6. 
Cassettes 2 loaded onto the cassette carrying belt 6a of the storing part 6 
by the cassette feed-out/feed-in mechanism 100 are carried forward by the 
cassette carrying belt 6a. Cassettes 2 having been carried to the front 
end of the storing part 6 abut with a front wall 6b of the storing part 6 
and stop. The cassette carrying belt 6a is normally moving, and cassettes 
2 coming in afterwards abut with the stopped cassette 2 in front of them. 
In this way, a predetermined number of cassettes 2 are collected on the 
cassette carrying belt 6a of the storing part 6. The predetermined number 
of collected cassettes 2 are then taken out of the storing part 6. 
Because an automatic sample preparing apparatus according to the invention 
has the construction described above it provides the following clear 
benefits: 
That is, an automatic sample preparation apparatus according to the 
invention comprises a smearing part for smearing blood on a slide glass 
for a sample, a carrying part for having removably set thereon and 
carrying one or more slide glass holding cassettes each having a holding 
part capable of holding a slide glass and a liquid, a loading part for 
loading slide glasses into the cassettes one by one, and a dyeing part for 
supplying dyeing liquid to the cassettes and dyeing the slide glasses 
after blood is smeared thereon, and as a result it is possible to 
automatically perform the chain of operations consisting of smearing blood 
on a slide glass, loading smeared slide glasses one at a time into 
cassettes on the carrying part and then in the dyeing part supplying 
dyeing liquid to the cassettes and dyeing the smears of blood on the slide 
glasses, and also it is possible to increase the degree of freedom of 
handling of the slide glasses and of control of the process. 
When each slide glass holding cassette comprises hanging support parts 
connected to the holding part for supporting the holding part in a hanging 
state, by the slide glass cassettes being supported by the hanging support 
parts while holding a predetermined number of slide glasses and a 
predetermined amount of a liquid and being carried and stored, compared to 
a conventional case there is no wasting of dyeing liquid even when the 
number of samples to be dyed is small and there is the effect that the 
degree of freedom of handling of the slide glasses and of control of the 
process is high. 
When the holding part of each slide glass holding cassette comprises a main 
space capable of holding a slide glass and a liquid, an auxiliary space 
for liquid supply and discharge adjacent to the main space and connected 
to the main space and a bottom wall provided extending across the main 
space and the auxiliary space and sloping downward from the main space 
toward the auxiliary space, in addition to the effects provided by the 
slide glass holding cassette mentioned above, it is easy to load a slide 
glass into the main space and supply and discharge dyeing liquid and 
washing liquid through the auxiliary space and furthermore by means of the 
presence of the bottom wall it is possible to prevent surface tension in 
gaps between the lower part of the slide glass held in the main space and 
the side walls of the main space from causing dyeing liquid to remain in 
those gaps after dyeing. 
When the holding part of each slide glass holding cassette comprises 
positioning parts for holding a slide glass in a position on one side of 
the inside of the holding part, in addition to the effects of the slide 
glass holding cassette mentioned above, if the slide glass is held by the 
positioning parts in a position on one side of the inside of the holding 
part, supply and discharge of dyeing liquid and washing liquid and the 
like though the other side can be carried out easily. 
When the slide glass holding cassette is provided with a mis-setting 
prevention part for preventing the cassette from being set other than in a 
predetermined state, in addition to the effects described above it becomes 
possible to set the cassette in a prescribed position with a prescribed 
orientation easily. 
When the loading part comprises slide glass holding parts for holding a 
smeared slide glass substantially horizontally, a stopping mechanism for 
temporarily stopping cassettes on the carrying part one by one, a pivoting 
mechanism for reversibly pivoting to a substantially horizontal position a 
cassette temporarily stopped by the stopping mechanism and a moving and 
inserting mechanism for moving a smeared slide glass held by the slide 
glass holding part and inserting it into the cassette pivoted to a 
substantially horizontal position by the pivoting mechanism, in addition 
to the effects of the automatic sample preparation apparatus described 
above it is possible automatically to load smeared slide glasses into 
cassettes temporarily stopped on the carrying part. 
When the dyeing part comprises pipettes capable of being inserted into the 
cassettes, in addition to the effects of the automatic sample preparation 
apparatus described above it is possible to carry out supply and discharge 
of dyeing liquid and washing liquid and the like easily by the pipettes 
being inserted into the cassettes. 
When the automatic sample preparation apparatus further comprises a storing 
part for storing cassettes holding smeared slide glasses fed out from the 
dyeing part, it is possible to automatically perform the chain of 
operations consisting of smearing blood on a slide glass in the smearing 
part, in the loading part loading smeared slide glasses one at a time into 
cassettes on the carrying part and then in the dyeing part supplying 
dyeing liquid to the cassettes and dyeing the smears of blood on the slide 
glasses and then in the storing part storing cassettes containing smeared 
slide glasses, and also it is possible to increase the degree of freedom 
of handling of the slide glasses and of control of the process.