Cartridge for stirring and dispensing a fluid, automatic analyzer and method of analyzing a biological sample

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10345322-B2
Application number	US-201615138474-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 26, 2016
Priority date	Oct 31, 2013
Publication date	Jul 9, 2019
Grant date	Jul 9, 2019

Abstract

A cartridge for dispensing a fluid is provided, the cartridge comprising: a reservoir chamber configured for receiving the fluid, the reservoir chamber having a fluid outlet and a cover with a first bearing; and a stirring assembly comprising a stirrer located inside the reservoir chamber, the stirring assembly comprising a shaft connected to the stirrer. The stirring assembly can be moved between first and second positions, wherein in the first position the stirring assembly can seal the fluid outlet, the stirring assembly in the first position being configured to form a second bearing with the reservoir chamber or the fluid outlet such that the stirrer can be rotated about an axis defined by the first and second bearing, and wherein if the stirring assembly is in the second position the fluid can pass through the fluid outlet, the shaft being configured to transmit rotational power to the stirrer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cartridge for dispensing a fluid, wherein the cartridge comprises:
a reservoir chamber configured for receiving the fluid, the reservoir chamber having a fluid outlet, wherein the reservoir chamber further comprises a cover with a first bearing;
a stirring assembly comprising a stirrer located inside the reservoir chamber, the stirring assembly further comprising a shaft, the shaft being connected to the stirrer, the shaft further being located at least partially inside the reservoir chamber and the shaft being configured to transmit rotational power to the stirrer, wherein
the first bearing is formed by a first end of the stirring assembly and the cover, and wherein a second bearing is formed by a surface at a second end of the stirring assembly and a surface of the fluid outlet, and
the stirring assembly is configured to be moved between a first position and a second position, wherein in the first position the stirring assembly is operable to seal the fluid outlet, the stirring assembly in the first position further being operable to form the second bearing with the fluid outlet such that the stirrer can be rotated about an axis defined by the first and second bearing, and wherein if the stirring assembly is in the second position the fluid can pass through the fluid outlet.

2. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the reservoir chamber has an opening and wherein the cover is configured to seal the opening of the reservoir chamber, the cover having an opening configured to receive the shaft of the stirring assembly, wherein the cover and the opening extend along the shaft thereby forming an axially elongated radial bearing for the shaft.

3. The cartridge of claim 2 , wherein the shaft of the stirring assembly projects through the opening of the cover.

4. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the stirring assembly comprises a venting channel, the venting channel configured to form a first and a second opening when the stirring assembly is in its second position, wherein the first opening of the venting channel is located outside the reservoir chamber when the stirring assembly is in its second position, and wherein the second opening of the venting channel is located inside the reservoir chamber when the stirring assembly is in its second position.

5. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the first position of the stirring assembly corresponds to a first axial position and/or a first angular range of the stirring assembly, and wherein the second position of the stirring assembly corresponds to a second axial position and/or a second angular range of the stirring assembly.

6. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the stirrer is an Archimedean screw, a paddle mixer, a propeller mixer, a spiral stirrer, or an impeller mixer.

7. The cartridge of claim 1 further comprising a controllable dispenser component for dispensing a dispensing volume of the fluid from the reservoir chamber, the dispenser component being connected to the fluid outlet of the reservoir chamber.

8. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the reservoir chamber is at least partly filled with the fluid, the fluid being a dispersion containing particles or a suspension containing particles.

9. The cartridge of claim 8 , wherein the particles comprise any one of the following: magnetic beads, magnetized polystyrene beads, latex-beads, glass beads and combinations thereof, and/or wherein the particles comprise a coating for binding a biotinylated antibody or are antibody-coated.

10. The cartridge of claim 9 , wherein the coating for binding a biotinylated antibody is streptavidine.

11. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the shaft is configured to transmit rotational power from a driving assembly to the stirrer, thereby enabling the driving assembly to rotate the stirrer, the shaft is further configured to transmit a momentum from the driving assembly to the stirring assembly, thereby enabling the driving assembly to move the stirring assembly between the first and second position.

12. An automatic analyzer for analyzing a biological sample, the automatic analyzer comprising a holder for holding the cartridge according to claim 8 , the automatic analyzer further comprising a first actuator assembly operable for actuating the controllable dispenser component for controlling the controllable dispenser component to dispense the dispensing volume of fluid from the cartridge, the automatic analyzer being operable to perform an analysis of the biological sample for detecting an analyte using the dispensing volume, the automatic analyzer further comprising a driving assembly configured to rotate the stirring assembly, and to move the stirring assembly between the first and the second position.

13. The automatic analyzer of claim 12 , the automatic analyzer further comprising a controller, the controller being programmed to:
control the driving assembly to move the stirring assembly to the first position,
control the driving assembly to rotate the stirring assembly,
control the driving assembly to move the stirring assembly to the second position,
control the first actuator assembly to dispense the dispensing volume of the fluid.

14. A method for stirring and dispensing a fluid from a cartridge in accordance with claim 1 , the method comprising:
moving the stirring assembly to the first position,
applying rotational power onto the shaft of the stirring assembly,
moving the stirring assembly to the second position, and
dispensing a dispensing volume of fluid from the cartridge.

Assignees

• Roche Diagnostics Operations Inc

Inventors

• Brueckner Thorsten
• Boehm Christoph
• Spinke Juergen

Classifications

• B01F7/1695

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01L2400/0633

  with moving parts · CPC title

• B01L2300/0851

  Bottom walls · CPC title

• G01N2035/1058

  for mixing · CPC title

• B01L2400/0475

  specific mechanical means and fluid pressure · CPC title