APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR ANALYSING SAMPLES

Abstract: A processing system for preparing a plurality of samples prior to testing by an electronic analyser with a rotating carousel having at least two concentric rings of sample holders. While in the carousel each sample is identified, agitated, heated and then presented to the analyser for quality analysis. Each sample is initially placed in the inner ring and is progressively transferred outward. The samples are heated by a water bath kept at a controlled temperature undermeath the carousel. Once analysed the results of the tests are recorded in the database for that sample and its associated bar code number.

Description: "APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR ANALYSING SAMPLES" FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a processing system for preparation of samples for analysis particularly, though not solely, for preparing a batch of ordered samples of milk for milk fat, protein and other associated analysis. BACKGROUND ART In the field of intensive dairy farming it is well known to take samples from every dairy cow to ascertain both the quantity and quality of milk produced by each cow. Generally speaking such samples may be taken a number of times during the milking season, and each time a sample being taken from both the morning and afternoon milking. In each case the sample is obtained by drawing off a small proportion of the milk flow taken from each cow. In this fashion the amount of the sample, in proportion, is representative of the volume of milk produced by the cow. Typically the sample will then be tested for the level of milk solids, level of milk fat, level of milk protein, somatic cell count and other tests as may be appropriate. Traditionally each sample has been labelled with the cow and farm number as well as the date of sampling in order to identify the sample. More recently to automate the process somewhat the sample containers include a bar code whereby the bar code is then associated with the cow number, farm number and sample date. Once the samples are being collected they are then transported to a central depot for analysis. Typically the samples will be manually shifted from a tray onto a rack. This allows the samples to be passed through a water bath to heat the milk to a temperature at which the sample may be effectively mixed to allow accurate analysis to be completed. The rack is then placed on the linear conveyor of for example a Foss Electric Combifoss which then draws a predetermined amount of milk from the sample, analyses it for the relevant parameters and records the information on a database against the sample number. This information is then reported back to the dairy farmer giving data on the constituents of the milk for each individual cow. It is also known to heat the milk samples in batches and then present each of the samples for analysis. While this method improves the speed at which the samples can be heated, by heating the entire batch simultaneously, it has the disadvantage of the possibility that some of the samples may be at a different temperature, therefore affecting the accuracy of the results over the entire batch. It is also known in the art of analysers, such as in United States Patent No. 4,697,766 (K K Toshiba) and Japanese Patent Application No. 6230016 (Toshiba Corp) to use a carousel type system with a number of concentric rings to improve the speed and efficiency of analysis. In this fashion a number of operations are carried out on each sample in one of the rings followed by transfer to another ring whereby optionally more operations are carried out at least including the actual analysis of each sample. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an obj ect of the present invention to provide a processing system with improved efficiency over the abovementioned systems or which will partially automate some of the above manual processes. In any event it is also an object of the present invention to at the very least provide a process in a system which provides the industry with a useful choice. Accordingly in a first aspect the present invention may broadly be said to consist in a processing system for preparing a plurality of samples prior to testing by an electronic analyser comprising; a carousel having at least two concentric rings of sample holders and adapted to rotate dependant on an input control signal, transfer means adapted to convey each of said plurality of said samples to and from each of said sample holders dependant on an input control signal, temperature conditioning means adapted to heat or cool each of said plurality of samples; control means adapted to provide output control signals as input to said carousel and said transfer means and adapted to: (i) activate said transfer means to convey each of said plurality of samples to a sample holder in a first concentric ring of said carousel, and (ii) activate said carousel means to, present (for at least a portion while held in said carousel) each of said plurality of samples to said temperature conditioning means, (iii) activate said transfer means to transfer each of said plurality of samples from said first concentric ring to a second concentric ring of said carousel, (iv) activate said carousel means to, at some point, present each of said plurality of samples to said temperature conditioning means, and (v) activate said transfer means to provide each of said plurality of said samples to said analyser for testing. To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting. The invention consists in the foregoing and also envisages constructions of which the following gives examples. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One preferred form of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure 1 is an isometric view of the present invention showing all associated components including the management system and the electronic analyser, Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1 , Figure 3 is a frontal view of Figure 1, Figure 4 is a side view of Figure 1, and Figure 5 is a close up plan view of the carousel in detail, Figure 6 is a side view of the vial mixer. MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention aims to provide a mechanism that will manage the preparation processes required prior to presentation to an analyser, for a batch of milk samples. The management system is designed so that all processes are completed within the circumference of a carousel containing three concentric rings of sample holders. This carousel is situated such that the sample containers are immersed in heated water for all but the actual time one of the processes is being applied to that container. The purpose of the heating is to temper the sample for mixing and to allow it to reach the operating temperature required for analysis. The use of a carousel of three concentric rings is designed to allow sufficient heating time to be applied equally to all samples while reducing the size of the carousel to a minimum. The compact design also allows ready access to control samples that can then be treated identically to normal samples. Referring now to Figures 1 to 4 the apparatus is shown for preparing each of the 30ml vials 1, containing the material to be analysed, to the analyser 24. Each of the vials 1 are originally delivered in an ordered carry tray 2. Each vial 1 is lifted from its position in the tray 2 by a computer-controlled robotic arm 5. The arm 5 includes 2 vertical actuators or rams 4 which are able to be positioned horizontally along the length of the arm 5 by use of motor 8. The arm 5 is able to be positioned horizontally with respect to the support structure 101 by motor 9, in an axis perpendicular to the axis of movement of the rams 4. In this fashion the rams 4 can be laterally positioned in any horizontal X-Y co-ordinate by the operation of motors 8 and 9. At the bottom end of the rams 4 are a suction cups 3 which are adapted to securely attach to the top of each vial 1. In this fashion the rams 4 move to the position of each vial, moves downward and attaches to the top of the vial 1, then lifting the entire vial out of the carry tray 2, and delivering the vial 1 to the first available sample holder 15 on the carousel 13. The first available sample holder 15, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention is in the inner-most concentric ring of sample holders in the carousel 13. It will be appreciated that while in the present invention the vials are moved from the inner ring progressively outwards and that there are three concentric rings of sample holders, any such configuration is envisaged whereby each sample is heated for the same amount of time and a number of operations can be concurrently implemented on each vial while being heated. The carousel controlled by the management software loaded on the operator computer 108 is rotated in increments, ultimately accordingly to the processing speed of the analyser 24. The first step is to read the barcode on each vial to provide the management software with an indication of the identity of each vial. The barcode reader 16 is attached to a vertically moveable support arm 105 which also support the apparatus for a number of other operations. In this fashion when the support arm 105 is moved downward toward the vials, the vials from a number of different positions are picked up by each apparatus, the support arm 105 is then lifted vertically upwards whereby the respective operations are implemented, followed by the vials being replaced back into the sample holders, as appropriate. The barcode reader 16, for example, lifts the vial up and presents it immediately proximate to the barcode scanner, and rotates the vial so that the barcode can be reliably scanned. Once the vial is replaced into the inner concentric ring it continues in its progress rotating around the carousel 13. The carousel 13 is provided with a water bath 12, confined by a number of walls spaced from the periphery of the carousel 13, and which is heated by heating element 102. The heated water is circulated by a water pump (not shown), and the heater element 102 is thermostatically controlled in order to ensure consistent water temperature. After a near full rotation of the carousel 13, each vial is then picked up by the shuffler arm 18, attached to the support arm 105, which lifts each vial from the inner concentric ring and transfers it into the sample holder in the middle concentric ring 20. Concurrently the shuffler 18 is able to lift a further vial from the sample holder in the middle concentric ring 20, (when it lifts the vial from the inner concentric ring), and shifts that vial to the sample holder in the outer concentric ring 21. Subsequently the carousel 13 rotates almost the full rotation, whereby the shuffler 18 shifts the vial from the sample holder in the middle concentric ring 20 to the sample holder in the outer concentric ring 21. The carousel 13 then increments one further position to sample holder 23 whereby the agitator arm 19, attached to support arm 105, agitates the vial 128 several times to mix the contents. As seen in Figure 6 the agitator arm 19 includes gripping members 120 which grip the capped vial by the cap 122 as well as exerting pressure on the sides 124 of the cap to guarantee 100% retention. The cap is also secured by vacuum by suction cup 126. The agitator arm 19 lifts the vial containing milk from the water bath and then in the preferred embodiment moves the vial through a 160° arc 5 times. Since the milk is at least partially warm at this stage the agitation must not be done too vigorously so as to damage the fat cells but must ensure adequate mixing to allow all constituents to be heated evenly. The carousel 13 then increments two further positions whereby the cap remover 17, also attached to the support arm 105, prises the cap off each vial and places it into the waste shoot 26. The carousel 13 then increments almost a half revolution where the stirrer 25, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention integrated with the analyser 24, which ensures that the contents of the vial are completely mixed. The carousel 13 increments one further position to whereby the management software sends a control signal to the analyser 24 whereby the analyser pipette 22 draws a predetermined volume of liquid from the vial for testing. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the electronic analyser 24 uses a certain portion of the pipetted amount for milk solid analysis, and uses the remainder for a somatic cell count analysis. The electronics and software in the analyser 24 then supply the analysis result for the particular vial to the management software, whereby that data is then stored against the indication of the identity of the vial in a database. The carousel 13 then increments approximately another quarter turn to where the rams 4 removes the vial from the carousel 13 and replaces it into its original position within the tray 2. Also provided is a selection of control samples 100 in a number of stationary sample holders, which are intermittently inserted into a sample holder on the carousel 13, by the ram 4, to provide quality assurance data. The management software is loaded on the operator computer 108, which is supported on the operator console 112 which is also provided with a viewing window 110, also provided is a keyboard 112 and an electrical cupboard 106 which includes the motor drives, electrical switches and all other associated automated electronics.

Claims: CLAIMS: 1. A processing system for preparing a plurality of samples prior to testing by an electronic analyser comprising; a carousel having at least two concentric rings of sample holders and adapted to rotate dependant on an input control signal, transfer means adapted to convey each of said plurality of said samples to and from each of said sample holders dependant on an input control signal, temperature conditioning means adapted to heat or cool each of said plurality of samples; control means adapted to provide output control signals as input to said carousel and said transfer means and adapted to: (i) activate said transfer means to convey each of said plurality of samples to a sample holder in a first concentric ring of said carousel, and (ii) activate said carousel means to, present (for at least a portion while held in said carousel) each of said plurality of samples to said temperature conditioning means, (iii) activate said transfer means to transfer each of said plurality of samples from said first concentric ring to a second concentric ring of said carousel, (iv) activate said carousel means to, at some point, present each of said plurality of samples to said temperature conditioning means, and (v) activate said transfer means to provide each of said plurality of said samples to said analyser for testing. 2. A processing system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said samples relate to the milk produced by dairy cows, and said analyser is adapted to test for at least some parameter relating to the quality of the milk. 3. A processing system as claimed in claims 1 or 2 said temperature conditioning means comprises a body of water adapted to be heated by a heating element and transport means whereby in use some portion of said body of water heated by said heating element is conveyed by said transport means adjacent each said sample holder to thereby heat each of said plurality of samples, for at least a portion while held in said carousel. 4. A processing system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising sample identification means adapted to interrogate a unique identifier included on each of said plurality of samples and adapted to provide said control means with an indication of the identity or origin of each of said plurality of samples. 5. A processing system as claimed in claim 4 wherein said control means is adapted to store data supplied by said analyser and associate said data with each respective said indication of the identity or origin for each said plurality of samples. 6. A processing system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising agitation means whereby each of said plurality of samples are at least partially agitated before provided to analyser for testing. 7. A processing system as claimed in claim 6 wherein each of said plurality of samples including a vial and a cap sealing said vial said agitation means includes retaining means receives said vial during agitation, said retaining means adapted to exert an inwardly radial force on said cap thereby substantially sealing said cap to said vial during agitation. 8. A processing system as claimed in claims 4 to 7 wherein said unique identifier is a barcode and said sample identification means is a barcode scanner. 9. A processing system as claimed in claim 8 wherein said control means is further adapted to activate said transfer means to remove each of said plurality of samples from a pre-determined sample holder, present said sample to said barcode scanner and then rotate said sample to facilitate the reading of said barcode. 10. A processing system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising stirring means either associated with said processing system or said analyser, and said control means further adapted to activate said transfer means to provide each of said plurality of samples to said stirring means and activate said stirring means to at least partially stir said sample material immediately prior to testing by said analyser. 11. A processing system as claimed claim 10 wherein said sample comprises a container with a sealed lid wherein the sample material is stored within said container, and said processing system further comprising removal means for removing the lid from each of said plurality of samples said control means adapted to activate said removal means to remove the lid from each of said plurality of samples prior to being stirred by said stirring means. 12. A method of a processing system substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

Inventors: CALIS FRANK, PAGE MARK LEONARD, CALIS, FRANK, PAGE, MARK, LEONARD
Applicants: CALIS FRANK, LIVESTOCK IMPROVEMENT CORP LTD, PAGE MARK LEONARD, CALIS, FRANK, LIVESTOCK IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION LIMITED, PAGE, MARK, LEONARD
Application year: 2001
Main classification: G01N35
IPC codes: G01N33, G01N35