Patent ID: 8066961

Claim:
A mechanism for positionally restraining a microplate comprising: a base, said base having at least one surface defining a nesting receptacle for said microplate, and three supports projecting from said base, said supports contact an underside surface of said microplate to support said microplate in a Z-directional plane, said nesting receptacle has at least two side walls and at least two end walls, said nesting receptacle further has two X-directional contacts and one Y-directional contact respectively located on one of said end walls and one of said side walls, said nesting receptacle also has at least one spring-loaded contact on said end wall opposite said X-directional contacts and at least one spring-loaded contact on said side wall opposite said Y-directional contact, where the two X-directional contacts and the one Y-directional contact establish X-directional and Y-directional positions of a corner of said microplate.