System and method for automatic closure of sample vessels
A system and method for automatic closure of sample vessels such as vessels with medical laboratory samples, having a plurality of identically shaped, stackable closure caps with a convex outer face and concave inner face that are stacked in a closure cap stack such that an upper closure cap in the stack bears with its convex outer face on the concave inner face of a lower closure cap lying immediately below in the stack. The system includes a closure gripper for gripping an uppermost closure cap from the stack, for transferring the gripped closure cap to the sample vessel to be closed, and for introducing the gripped closure cap into an opening of the sample vessel in order to tightly close the opening. The closure gripper has a centering piece insertable into a closure cap such that it bears on the concave inner face of the closure cap.
1. A system for closing a sample vessel, the system comprising:
a gripper to obtain a cap from a transfer position and insert the cap into a top of the sample vessel;
a magazine having a slot to hold a stack of caps, the magazine rotatable about a central axis to align the slot with a supply position;
a motor to rotate the magazine; and
a lifting arm to move the stack of caps from the slot into a supply position where a first cap of the stack of caps is located at the transfer position and is accessible by the gripper.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the magazine has a plurality of slots, each of the slots to hold a stack of caps.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of slots are arranged around a peripheral edge of the magazine.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the magazine is located in a storage area below the gripper, and wherein the lifting arm is to move the stack of caps vertically from the slot into the supply position.
5. The system of claim 1 , further including a plurality of magazines, each of the magazines having a plurality of slots to hold stacks of caps.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lifting arm is moved by a toothed rack and gear arrangement.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gripper includes first and second clamping jaws moveable between a release position and a holding position, wherein the gripper is to obtain the first cap by moving the first and second clamping jaws to the holding position to engage an outer surface of the first cap.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gripper includes a centering piece that is insertable into the first cap and engageable with an inner surface of the first cap.
9. A system for closing a sample vessel, the system comprising:
a gripper to obtain a cap from a transfer position and insert the cap into a top of the sample vessel;
a magazine having a slot to hold a stack of caps;
a lifting arm to move the stack of caps from the slot into a supply position where a first cap of the stack of caps is located at the transfer position and is accessible by the gripper; and
a supply tube defining the supply position, the lifting arm to move the stack of caps from the slot into the supply tube.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the supply tube has an open end where the first cap is accessed by the gripper.
11. The system of claim 10 , further including a flexible tab at the open end of the supply tube, the flexible tab to press on a second cap of the stack of caps to isolate the second cap from the first cap.
12. A system for closing a sample vessel, the system comprising:
a gripper to obtain a cap from a working region and insert the cap into an opening in the sample vessel; and
a magazine having a first slot to hold a first cap stack and a second slot to hold a second cap stack, the magazine moveable to alternately provide one of the first cap stack or the second cap stack to be moved into a supply position from which an uppermost cap of the one of the first cap stack or the second cap stack is disposed in the working region of the gripper.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the magazine is located in a storage area below the gripper.
14. The system of claim 13 , further including a vertical supply tube having a lower end in a region of the magazine such that the one of the first cap stack or the second cap stack alternately provided by the magazine is introduced into the lower end of the vertical supply tube and discharged at a top end of the vertical supply tube and in the working region of the gripper.
15. The system of claim 14 , further including a spring plate at the lower end of the vertical supply tube to hold a lowermost cap in the first cap stack or the second cap stack.
16. The system of claim 13 , further including a plurality of magazines in the storage area.
17. A method comprising:
moving a stack of vessel caps from a magazine into a supply position;
grasping, via a gripper, a first uppermost vessel cap from a top of the stack of vessel caps and inserting the first uppermost vessel cap into a first sample vessel having a first diameter opening; and
grasping, via the gripper, a second uppermost vessel cap from the top of the stack of vessel caps and inserting the second uppermost vessel cap into a second sample vessel having a second diameter opening, the second diameter opening different than the first diameter opening.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the stack of vessel caps is disposed in a vertical slot in the magazine, the magazine is located in a storage area below the gripper, and wherein the moving of the stack of vessel caps is performed by a lifting arm that lifts the stack of vessel caps vertically out of the vertical slot and into the supply position.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the supply position is defined by a vertical supply tube, the vertical supply tube disposed above the magazine, such that the lifting arm lifts the stack of vessel caps vertically out of the vertical slot and into the vertical supply tube.