Patent ID: 7575721

Claim:
An apparatus for dispensing reagent beads contained in a bead storage device which includes a bead carrier having a plurality of wells; a plurality of reagent beads disposed in the plurality of wells; and a cover tape releasably attached to the bead carrier to cover the plurality of wells and retain the plurality of reagent beads in the plurality of wells of the bead carrier, the apparatus comprising: a channel in which to place the bead storage device with the bead carrier facing a support wall of the channel and the cover tape facing a stripping wall of the channel; wherein the stripping wall includes a stripping gap disposed between a stripping edge and an opposite edge, and a dispense opening provided adjacent the opposite edge on a side of the stripping wall opposite from the stripping edge, the cover tape being insertable through the stripping gap to be pulled against the stripping edge to peel the cover tape from the bead carrier to move the plurality of wells of the bead carrier inside the channel toward the dispense opening and expose the plurality of wells individually to dispense the plurality of reagent beads from the plurality of wells through the dispense opening.