Patent ID: 8760264

Claim:
A sample conveying system comprising: a conveying line for conveying sample container holders, each of which sample container holders can hold and remove a sample container, to a sample processing unit; an erase/unload unit for supplying the sample container to the conveying line and for removing the sample container from the conveying line; a write means for storing a write count of writing information to each of non-volatile semiconductor memories each of which non-volatile semiconductor memories is attached to one of the sample container holders conveyed from the erase/unload unit; a write count comparison mechanism for comparing the write count of writing information stored by the write means with a threshold value; a return line for returning the sample container holders, which are finished with processes of the sample processing unit, to an upper stream of the write means; a conveying line control mechanism for controlling the conveying line and the return line to return each sample container holder including its non-volatile semiconductor memory to skip the writing operation into the semiconductor memories by using the write means and to return the sample container holder into the upper stream of the write means, when the write count comparison mechanism has judged that the write count of the semiconductor memory is larger than the threshold value; and a reconveying line included in the conveying line, the re-conveying line conveying the sample container holder being returned into the upper stream of the write means by the conveying line control mechanism to the write means from the stream of the write means.