Closure with septum strip

1. A closure for a container containing a reagent, said closure consisting essentially of:

(a) a cover comprising a pocket including at least two through bore holes extending from the cover and facing the inside of said container; and

(b) a strip bonded to said cover comprising (i) a base consisting of a stiff material, and (ii) at least two septa attached to said base, wherein said pocket is sized to match the dimensions of said base and said strip is positioned in said cover by seating the base in the pocket,

wherein said septa are attached to one surface of said base, each septum comprises a pre-slit bottom and a barrel forming the sides of the septum, the outer diameter of the septum barrel is larger than the inner diameter of the through bore hole, and said at least two septa are configured to be press fitted into said at least two through bore holes such that a pressure exerted on the septum when the septum is press fitted into the through bore hole forms a liquid-tight seal.

2. The closure of claim 1 , wherein the outer diameter of said septum is up to 50% larger than the inner diameter of the through-bore hole.

3. The closure of claim 1 , wherein the septa comprise thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or rubber and the cover and the base of the strip comprise polypropylene or a thermoplastic polymer.

4. The closure of claim 1 , wherein the septa are press fitted into the through bore holes and the base of the strip is bonded to the cover of the closure.

5. The closure of claim 1 , wherein said closure comprises an upper and a lower surface, wherein the upper surface of the closure is covered by a sealing foil.

6. A container comprising a vessel for holding a reagent, wherein said vessel has a closed bottom end and an open top end, and a closure according to claim 1 .

7. A method of pipetting a reagent in an automated analyzer, said method comprising the steps of

a) providing to the automated analyzer a container according to claim 6 , wherein the closure of said container comprises pre-slit septa,

b) penetrating said pre-slit septa with blunt ended pipetting devices, wherein each of the pre-slit septa comprises a slit which is longer than the diameter of each of said pipetting devices such that a pressure relief occurs upon penetration,

c) aspirating a predetermined volume of said reagent into said pipetting device,

d) removing said blunt-ended pipetting device, whereby a pressure exerted by the through-bore hole on the press-fitted pre-slit septum causes the pre-slit septum to close, and

e) dispensing the aspirated reagent into a vessel.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein steps b) to e) are repeated at least once.

9. A system for pipetting reagents in an automated analyzer comprising

a) a container according to claim 6 ,

b) a pipettor for aspirating and dispensing reagents, wherein said pipettor is operatively coupled to a blunt-ended pipetting device.

10. The system of claim 9 , additionally comprising a transport mechanism for transporting the container to the pipettor and away from the pipettor.

11. The system of claim 10 , additionally comprising a storage for storing the container, wherein the container is returned to the storage after pipetting, and is transported back to the pipettor for pipetting.

12. A cassette comprising at least two containers according to claim 6 .

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein said pipetting device is a disposable pipette tip.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the pipetting device is a blunt ended needle.