Patent ID: 8228498

Claim:
A sample storage, comprising; a storage tube having a top opening, which is made of light-transmissive material to enable a sample contained to be observed, an opaque writable outer element used as a medium to which coded information that can be read by means of optical reading has already been directly written, which is installed to the outside by covering said storage tube throughout from the bottom surface to the side surface, a locking mechanism to fix irreversibly upon pushing said storage tube into said opaque writable outer element, which is provided between the inner wall of said opaque writable outer element and the outer wall of said sample storage, and at least one window on said opaque writable outer element, provided in the area other than the write area where said coded information is written, which enables said sample contained to be observed; which enables said coded information written to said opaque writable outer element to be read, and said sample contained to be observed through said window.