Patent ID: 6843357

Claim:
A two-axis robot for transferring a specimen container from a first reference location on a first conveyor to a second reference location spaced from the first conveyor, comprising: a frame for supporting the robot; a vertically oriented post having a vertical rotational axis, said post mounted for selective rotation on said frame; a first motor mounted on the frame, connected to the post for selectively rotating the post in first and second directions on the rotational axis; said frame connected to said first conveyor to maintain the first conveyor at a predetermined distance relative to the post rotational axis; a queue on said first conveyor, for selectively retaining a specimen container on the first conveyor in a first reference location; a second reference location spaced from the first conveyor, for receiving a specimen container from the first reference location, said frame connected to the second reference location to maintain the second reference location at a predetermined distance from the post rotational axis; said first and second reference locations spaced an equal distance from the post rotational axis; a vertical shaft slidably mounted on said post for selective vertical movement; a second motor on said frame, connected to the shaft for selectively raising and lowering the shaft on said post; an arm mounted on an upper end of said shaft and extending radially outwardly from the shaft to an outer end located at a distance to extend over the first and second reference locations; a gripper assembly mounted on the outer end of the arm, with a pair of operable jaws depending therefrom; said jaws oriented generally vertically and parallel one another, and operable between an open position with both jaws spaced equidistant outwardly from a vertical central axis, and a closed position in gripping engagement on opposite sides of a specimen container; said first and second reference locations located along a circle circumscribed by the vertical central axis of the gripper assembly jaws as the arm is rotated on the post rotational axis; and a command and control module with a processor electrically connected to the first and second motors and the queue, for controlling the operation of the robot to move a specimen container between the first and second reference locations.