Patent ID: 8084005

Claim:
An apparatus for analyzing a sample contained in an individual sample well of a sample plate having at least one individual sample well, wherein there is a cover over the sample plate and the individual sample well, the apparatus adapted for penetrating the cover over the sample plate and the individual sample well containing the sample in the at least one individual sample well, comprising: a cutting head adapted to be positioned over the sample plate and over the cover over the sample plate wherein said cutting head includes a cylindrical shaft having a central axis, a cutting tool extending from said cylindrical shaft having a central axis, said cutting tool having a cutting blade, said cutting blade comprising a multiplicity of cutting sections and a conical tip, wherein said multiplicity of cutting sections are attached to said conical tip and extend horizontally with respect to said central axis of said cylindrical shaft and provide a shape for splitting the cover open over the individual sample well, folding the cover inward over the individual sample well, and adapted to be positioned over the sample plate, over the cover over the sample plate, and over the individual sample well, and a robot connected to said cutting head and said cutting tool, said robot acting to move said cutting head and cutting tool to a position wherein said cutting tool is positioned over the sample plate, over the cover over the sample plate, and over the individual sample well, said robot acting to move said cutting tool so that said cutting blade penetrates the cover over the sample plate folding the cover inward over the individual sample well, and providing access to the individual sample well and the sample contained in the individual sample well.