Patent ID: 7481978

Claim:
Apparatus for aspirating a volume of liquid contained in a sealed tube having a puncturable stopper mounted at one end thereof, said apparatus comprising (a) a frame; (b) a linear guide rail slidably supported by said frame; (c) a liner drive member mounted on said linear guide rail; (d) a first drive motor supported by said frame and being adapted, in response to having a first electrical current applied thereto, to selectively and incrementally advance said linear drive member in either of opposite directions along a predetermined path leading towards or away from said puncturable stopper on said tube, said path being substantially parallel to the central longitudinal axis of said tube; (e) a tube detector/stripper member mounted at one end of said linear drive member, said tube detector/stripper member being adapted to engage the top of said puncturable stopper as said linear drive member is advanced along said predetermined path towards said puncturable stopper, Whereby said tube detector/stripper member detects, upon contacting said puncturable stopper, that a tube is in a position to have liquid aspirated therefrom; (f) a second drive motor supported by said linear drive member and being adapted, in response to having a second electrical current applied thereto, to incrementally advance in either of opposite directions along a axis of said linear drive member, towards and away from said puncturable stopper; and (g) an aspiration probe rigidly connected to said second drive motor, said aspiration probe being aligned with the central longitudinal axis of said tube when said tube detector/stripper member is in contact with a puncturable stopper, said probe having a sharp tip adapted to puncture said puncturable stopper and thereby enter the interior of said tube as said second drive motor moves along the axis of said linear drive member towards said puncturable stopper.