Cassette with multiwell plates

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9744535-B2
Application number	US-201113086856-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 14, 2011
Priority date	Apr 19, 2010
Publication date	Aug 29, 2017
Grant date	Aug 29, 2017

Abstract

A cassette is described which can hold at least two multiwell plates. The cassette comprising the multiwell plates can be loaded into a stacker of an automated analytical apparatus. While the stacker holds down the cassette, a lift pushes the multiwell plates upwards to make them accessible to a handler which can engage and transport the multiwell plates to a plate holder in the working area of the analytical apparatus.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A cassette for holding at least two multiwell plates, wherein said cassette comprises at least two multiwell plates with a lid stacked on each other, wherein said multiwell plates comprise more than one vessel, said cassette comprising:
a bottom surface comprising an inner opening having an area which is smaller than the area of a multi-well plate,
two short side walls located opposite each other;
two long side walls located opposite each other; and
an upper rim surrounding the periphery of said short and long side walls and located opposite said bottom surface, wherein said upper rim is sized to allow a multiwell plate to pass through said upper rim and into said cassette;
wherein said upper rim comprises one or more stabilizing slits configured to interact with a corresponding set of one or more stabilizing lobes positioned in a stacker; and
wherein said cassette further comprises at least two multiwell plate sets, wherein any one of said multiwell plate sets comprises a multiwell plate and a lid, wherein said lid comprises a frame and a sealing foil affixed to said frame, wherein said lid is located on said multiwell plate in a first position, said first position comprising a separation distance located between said sealing foil and the top surface of said multiwell plate.

2. The cassette of claim 1 , wherein said cassette comprises at least one guidance on the inside of any one of said side walls for guiding said multiwell plates into a centered position.

3. The cassette of claim 2 , wherein any one of said side walls comprises at least two guidances on the inside wall.

4. The cassette of claim 1 , wherein the top of said side walls comprise notches for allowing a handler to handle the multiwell plate located on the top of the stack of multiwell plates.

5. The cassette of claim 4 , wherein the notches are located on said base extending around the top end of the two long side walls.

6. An analytical system comprising:
an apparatus for analyzing a sample comprising an analyte;
a stacker, wherein said stacker comprises at least one cassette, said cassette comprising:
a bottom surface comprising an inner opening having an area which is smaller than the area of a multi-well plate,
two short side walls located opposite each other;
two long side walls located opposite each other;
an upper rim surrounding the periphery of said short and long side walls and located opposite said bottom surface, wherein said upper rim is sized to allow a multiwell plate to pass through said upper rim and into said cassette;
wherein said upper rim comprises one or more stabilizing slits configured to interact with a corresponding set of one or more stabilizing lobes positioned in said stacker to position said cassette in said stacker; and
wherein said cassette further comprises at least two multiwell plate sets, wherein any one of said multiwell plate sets comprises a multiwell plate and a lid, wherein said lid comprises a frame and a sealing foil affixed to said frame, wherein said lid is located on said multiwell plate in a first position, said first position comprising a separation distance located between said sealing foil and the top surface of said multiwell plate; and
a handler for transferring multiwell plates from said stacker to said apparatus for analyzing said analyte.

7. The analytical system according to claim 6 , further comprising a lift for moving said stack of multiwell plates in an upward direction.

8. The analytical system of claim 6 , wherein said cassette comprises at least two multiwell plates stacked on each other, wherein said multiwell plates comprise more than one vessel.

9. The analytical system of claim 6 , wherein said cassette comprises at least two multiwell plates with a lid, said multiwell plates being stacked on each other.

10. The analytical system of claim 6 , wherein said stacker comprises at least one latch to hold down the cassette.

Assignees

• Belz Renato
• Thalmann Christian
• Roche Molecular Systems Inc

Inventors

• Belz Renato
• Thalmann Christian

Classifications

• B01L2300/021

  Identification, e.g. bar codes · CPC title

• B01L2300/044

  pierceable, e.g. films, membranes · CPC title

• B01L2300/0829

  Multi-well plates; Microtitration plates · CPC title

• B01L3/50255

  Multi-well filtration · CPC title

• B01L9/523 Primary

  for multisample carriers, e.g. used for microtitration plates · CPC title