Patent ID: 7115090

Claim:
Method for pretreating via centrifuging samples contained in tubes-placed in containers prior to being introduced into an automatic analysis device, the centrifuging being effected in a centrifugal machine comprising a rotor with a vertical axis, a plurality of boats being mounted tilting at the periphery of said rotor, said boats being able to each contain one container with tubes of samples, said method comprising the steps of detecting the presence of tubes inside the containers at the time they are transported to the centrifugal machine, detecting a foreseeable lack of balance of the centrifugal machine and when this detection reveals the presence of this lack of balance owing to the presence of incomplete containers or an odd number of containers: simulating the load of the centrifugal machine incorporating the incomplete container; selecting a balancing container according to the number of tubes missing in the incomplete container; determining the boat of the centrifugal machine inside which the balancing container needs to be arranged so as to obtain a good balancing of the load; placing this container in said boat in the place of the samples container which would be there, thus provoking a shift in the order of the introduction of the balancing containers in the centrifugal machine; putting back the balancing container on its storage area at the time of transferring the sample containers to the automatic analysis device once centrifuging has been carried out.