Patent ID: 8752440

Claim:
A sample processing apparatus, comprising: a plurality of sample processing units each configured to process a sample, wherein the sample processing units includes at least first and second sample processing units; at least one transport device configured to provide a transport path along which a rack is transported to or from one of the plurality of sample processing units, wherein a rack comprises a plurality of positions configured to hold containers thereat, and at least some of the positions are correlated to at least some of the sample processing units; a controller comprising at least one processor and at least one memory that stores computer programs executed by the at least one processor to: obtain identification information from a rack; recognize a presence or absence of a container with respect to each of the plurality of positions on the rack, when the obtained identification information corresponds to a special rack; if a first container is present in a first position of the rack, determine the first sample processing unit to be a transport destination of the first container in accordance with recognizing the presence of the first container in the first position of the rack, and direct the at least one transport device to transport the rack to deliver the first container to the first sample processing unit; and if a second container is present in a second position of the rack, determine the second sample processing unit to be a transport destination of the second container in accordance with recognizing the presence of the second container in the second position of the rack, and direct the at least one transport device to transport the rack to deliver the second container to the second sample processing unit.