Abstract: A gate reader assembly for positioning and identifying articles carried by conveyor systems. The gate reader assembly including a main housing for attachment to said conveyor adjacent a conveyor line of the conveyor; a sprocket rotatably mounted on said housing and having a plurality of gullets formed thereon, each gullet configured for receiving one of said articles. In addition, said sprocket is configured to rotate about an axis normal to said conveyor line via a horizontal force from said articles such that said rotating sprocket is configured to receive and move said articles along said conveyor line. The gate reader assembly additionally includes a detent mechanism disposed on the housing and slidably coupled to the sprocket for releasably restraining said sprocket from rotation thereby inhibiting said article against further movement along said conveyor line.

Abstract: A test tube orienting system consisting of a test tube hopper, and a test tube transport system for directing test tubes out of the test tube hopper with a consistent orientation. The test tube hopper has an open mouth, an internal cavity communicating with the mouth, and a side wall enclosing the cavity. The side wall has a downwardly inwards sloping channel extending along the side wall from the mouth. The transport system directs the test tubes axially upwards along the channel, and includes an endless chain and a series of pins affixed to the endless chain, extending through the channel into the internal cavity. The endless chain is coupled to a motor for moving the pins upwards along the channel, and is inclined at an acute angle to the channel for progressively retracting the tube supports from the internal cavity as the pins move upwards along the channel.

Abstract: A tansport system for biospecimens includes a conveyor including a conveyor each divided into two or more lanes by lane dividers means. Specimen carriers, each carrying one biospecimen container, include a base which engages the conveyor to transport the biospecimen container and at least three retainer members which are biased together to accept and retain the biospecimen container on the carrier. A variety of traffic control devices, such as diverters and singulators, as well as other control mechanisms such as orientation rails and orientation rollers are combined into control stations to manage the transport of the biospecimens through the system.

Abstract: An automated centrifuge includes a weighing station to weigh sample holding racks which arrive at the centrifuge and a rack handling robot to transfer the weighed racks to and from the centrifuge. A controller, which operates the rack handling robot, employs a novel balance method to have the rack handling robot load the sample holding racks in the centrifuge to obtain a best balance arrangement of the sample holding racks. If the balance method determines that the best balance arrangement will exceed one or more predefined balance thresholds, appropriate remedial action is taken by substituting a selected balance rack for a loaded sample holding rack.