Patent ID: 8252232

Claim:
An automated system for storing and handling samples comprising: an enclosed refrigerated storage compartment; at least one vertical carousel disposed within the storage compartment, the vertical carousel having a plurality of carriers distributed around a vertical loop, wherein each carrier is adapted to receive a plurality of trays that retain a plurality of samples; a tray shuttle compartment abutting the storage compartment, the tray shuttle compartment having a width, a storage side adjacent the storage compartment and a module side opposite the storage compartment, wherein the module side of the shuttle compartment has a plurality of sealable openings formed therein, each opening adapted for releasable attachment of one of a sample handling module or a dummy plate adapted for sealing the opening; a tray shuttle disposed within the tray shuttle compartment at a fixed height relative to the vertical loop and adapted to travel along a width of the tray shuttle compartment, wherein the tray shuttle comprises means for pulling and pushing trays for transfer between the storage compartment and sample handling module; two or more sample handling modules independently, releasably and interchangeably connected to the module side of the tray shuttle compartment, each of the two or more sample handling modules disposed at one of the sealable openings, the two or more sample handling modules including an input-output module for receiving a tray for storage in or removal from the system; one or more dummy plates for releasably sealing any of the plurality of sealable openings if a number of sealable openings exceeds a number of sample handling modules; and a system controller directing operation of the storage compartment, the vertical carousel, the tray shuttle and the two or more sample handling modules.