Patent ID: 6899848

Claim:
A sample treatment device, comprising, in combination: a housing having plural chambers, one of said chambers including means for directing waste fluid from said chamber to a waste storage area, said waste storage area operatively coupled to said one said chamber by means of a pump; a sample plate; means to expose said sample plate to one chamber in said housing; extraction means operating on the sample plate addressing the sample plate to the one chamber, said sample plate in fluid communication with said one chamber, whereby said extraction means extract components of interest from samples residing in said sample plate; and shuttle means to selectively present the sample plate to one of the plural chambers for the throughpassage of fluid from the sample plate, said shuttle means including: a carriage frame upon which said sample plate is placed, lifting means for elevating said carriage frame from a first elevation to a second elevation, and means for translating said carriage frame laterally along a substantially horizontal plane, wherein said lateral translation means includes a belt driven trolley which moves in response to motion of said belt.