IP Library Granted Patent US 12667661
Granted Patent B2
US 12667661 · App. 17/728,795 · Granted Jun 30, 2026

Intelligent syringe changing capability with multiple syringe seats on autosampler

Inventors: Xin Zheng (Austin, TX); Deven L. Shinholt (Leander, TX)
Assignee: Thermo Finnigan LLC
A61M5/16831A61M5/20G16H20/17A61M2005/16863A61M2205/18A61M2205/50
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12667661
App. No.
17/728,795
Granted
Jun 30, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed herein are scientific instrument support systems, as well as related methods, computing devices, and computer-readable media. For example, in some embodiments, a scientific instrument support apparatus includes evaluation logic to identify a first syringe has a bent needle, a bent plunger, a blocked needle, or a stuck plunger; syringe logic to switch from the first syringe to a second syringe; and reporting logic to notify a user of a syringe problem.

Claims (26)

1 . A scientific instrument support apparatus, comprising:

evaluation logic to detect an injection anomaly based on an evaluation of a chromatographic dataset and to identify a first syringe has a bent needle, a bent plunger, a blocked needle, or a stuck plunger;

syringe logic to switch from the first syringe to a second syringe if it is identified that the first syringe has a bent needle, a bent plunger, a blocked needle, or a stuck plunger; and

reporting logic to generate an entry in an event log or notify a user when there is a syringe problem,

wherein at least one of the evaluation logic, the syringe logic, and the reporting logic are implemented by a computing device.

2 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation logic, the syringe logic, and the reporting logic are implemented by a common computing device.

3 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the evaluation logic, the syringe logic, and the reporting logic are implemented by a computing device remote from a scientific instrument.

4 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the evaluation logic, the syringe logic, and the reporting logic are implemented in a scientific instrument.

5 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation logic identifies the first syringe has a bent needle or a bent plunger based on image data.

6 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 1 , wherein the syringe logic further repeats an analysis of the sample when a bent needle or a bent plunger is not identified after the injection anomaly is detected.

7 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation logic further includes pausing a sequence of sample analyses when the bent needle, the bent plunger, the blocked needle, or the stuck plunger is identified.

8 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 1 , wherein the syringe logic further includes performing a syringe precheck on the second syringe.

9 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 8 , wherein the reporting logic generates an entry in an event log or notifies the user if the syringe precheck fails or produces an error.

10 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 8 , wherein the syringe logic repeats analysis of a sample when the syringe precheck completes without errors.

11 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 10 , wherein the evaluation logic evaluates the chromatographic data set from the repeat analysis for a further injection anomaly.

12 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 11 , wherein the syringe logic resumes the sequence of sample analyses when the evaluation logic does not detect an injection anomaly during the repeat analysis.

13 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 11 , wherein the reporting logic further generates an entry in the event log or notifies the user when an injection anomaly is detected during the repeat analysis.

14 . The scientific instrument support system of claim 8 , wherein the syringe logic resumes the sequence of sample analyses after the syringe precheck completes without errors.

15 . A method for scientific instrument support, comprising:

detecting an injection anomaly based on an evaluation of a chromatographic dataset;

identifying a first syringe has a bent needle, a bent plunger, a blocked needle, or a stuck plunger;

switching from the first syringe to a second syringe; and

generating an entry in an event log or notifying a user of a syringe problem.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further including identifying the first syringe has a bent needle or a bent plunger based on image data.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further including ordering replacement syringes.

18 . One or more non-transitory computer readable media having instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processing devices of a scientific instrument support apparatus, cause the scientific instrument support apparatus to perform the method of claim 15 .