Patent ID: 7727469

Claim:
An automatic analyzer comprising: a sample dispensing mechanism that dispenses a sample from a sample container; a sample container disk, arranged to accommodate a plurality of sample containers, including said sample container, arranged circularly on said sample container disk, and rotated to transfer the sample containers to a sample dispensing position of said sample dispensing mechanism; reaction vessels in which samples dispensed by said sample dispensing mechanism are discharged; a measuring unit that measures reactions in said reaction vessels; an information recording medium attached to said sample container, that stores information for identifying a sample in said sample container; an information reader arranged to read, when said sample container is positioned at an information reading position, sample information recorded on said information recording medium attached to said sample container positioned at said information reading position; an information storing section that stores said read sample information; a controller that controls said information reader to perform said reading of said sample information recorded in said information recording medium prior to a first sample dispensing operation of said sample dispensing mechanism, identifies, and stores said sample information in said information storage section, said controller controls said information reader to again perform said reading and identification of said sample information recorded in said information recording medium just before a second sample dispensing operation of said sample dispensing mechanism, wherein said controller further checks said stored sample information to determine whether or not the sample to be dispensed by said sample dispensing mechanism in the second sample dispensing operation is the same sample whose information has been previously read by said information reader prior to said first sample dispensing operation, wherein said controller controls said sample dispensing mechanism to dispense a sample from said sample container when the sample to be dispensed is determined to be the same sample whose information has been already read by said information reader; and further comprising a cover configured to prevent a sample container from being taken out of the sample container disk from the time said information reader again performs said reading of information recorded in said information recording medium until after said second sample dispensing operation of said sample dispensing mechanism.