Patents by Inventor Tom Lorenzen

Tom Lorenzen has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Apparatus and method for handling sample tubes and laboratory system
    Patent number: 9562919
    Abstract: An apparatus for handling sample tubes is presented. The apparatus comprises a sample tube tray, a sample tube individualizer, a first conveyor, a second conveyor, a sample tube buffer, and a sample tube rack inserter. The sample tube tray stores sample tubes in bulk commodity. The sample tube individualizer sequentially unloads single sample tubes from the sample tube tray and sequentially provides the unloaded sample tubes to the first conveyor. The first conveyor conveys the sample tubes to the sample tube buffer. The sample tube buffer buffers the sample tubes provided by the first conveyor and provides buffered sample tubes to the second conveyor with a predeterminable, constant, sample tube rate. The second conveyor conveys the sample tubes to the sample tube rack inserter. The sample tube rack inserter inserts the sample tubes into a sample tube rack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2017
    Assignee: Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc.
    Inventors: Tom Lorenzen, Reto Andrin Meier
  • APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR HANDLING SAMPLE TUBES AND LABORATORY SYSTEM
    Publication number: 20140363259
    Abstract: An apparatus for handling sample tubes is presented. The apparatus comprises a sample tube tray, a sample tube individualizer, a first conveyor, a second conveyor, a sample tube buffer, and a sample tube rack inserter. The sample tube tray stores sample tubes in bulk commodity. The sample tube individualizer sequentially unloads single sample tubes from the sample tube tray and sequentially provides the unloaded sample tubes to the first conveyor. The first conveyor conveys the sample tubes to the sample tube buffer. The sample tube buffer buffers the sample tubes provided by the first conveyor and provides buffered sample tubes to the second conveyor with a predeterminable, constant, sample tube rate. The second conveyor conveys the sample tubes to the sample tube rack inserter. The sample tube rack inserter inserts the sample tubes into a sample tube rack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2014
    Publication date: December 11, 2014
    Applicant: Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc.
    Inventors: Tom Lorenzen, Reto Andrin Meier