Patent ID: 6998094

Claim:
Apparatus for handling biological sample containers each having a lid, the apparatus comprising: (a) a conveyor assembly operable to convey containers between a first position and a second position; and (b) a lid handling assembly operable to remove lids from containers being conveyed through the lid handling assembly from the first position to the second position, and to replace the lids onto containers being conveyed through the lid handling assembly from the second position to the first position, wherein: (i) lid removal and replacement being effected by mechanical interaction between the lids and the lid handling assembly as the containers are conveyed through the lid handling assembly, and (ii) the lid handling assembly comprises a pair of rotatable rollers arranged such that the conveyor assembly conveys a container between the pair of rollers from the first position to the second position and from the second position to the first position, each roller having an axis of rotation inclined with respect to a perpendicular to a plane in which the containers are conveyed, the rollers operable to grip the lid of a container being conveyed between the rollers from the first position to the second position and feed the lid in a forwardly and upwardly direction.