Patent ID: 7648321

Claim:
A system for partitioning compartments within a storage volume, the system comprising: a temperature controlled compartment having a width and a height for enclosing a plurality of storage racks for supporting trays containing a plurality of vials at different vertical and horizontal positions within the compartment; a robotics compartment having a robotics mechanism having vertical and horizontal movement for removing trays from and replacing trays into the plurality of storage racks; an insulating wall having vertical and horizontal dimensions defining a wall area disposed between the temperature controlled compartment and the robotics compartment, the insulating wall comprising a plurality of separable bricks slidably stacked within a plurality of vertical guides to define a plurality of columns, each column comprising multiple separable bricks, wherein the bricks are held in a closed position by gravity and each brick has dimensions that are much smaller than both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the wall area, and wherein each brick has a recess formed in its front face; wherein the robotics mechanism has a lifting pin that fits within the recess in the brick and further comprises means for: aligning the lifting pin with the recess in one brick of the plurality of bricks that is located nearest to a pre-determined storage position; inserting the lifting pin into the recess and lifting the one brick and any bricks stacked on top of the one brick to open a gap in the insulating wall, wherein the gap has dimensions that are no larger than the one brick and much smaller than the wall area; while the lifting pin holds the gap open, retrieving or replacing a tray from or into the temperature controlled compartment by reaching through the gap; and after the tray has been retrieved or replaced, lowering the lifted bricks to close the gap.