Abstract: A gripper head for gripping a reaction cuvette in an appliance for automatically analyzing chemical or biological samples, the head comprising pivoting fingers designed to engage lugs that extend from two opposite sides of the top end of the cuvette, an electromagnetic or pneumatic actuator for controlling pivoting of the fingers in one direction, and return springs urging the fingers to pivot in the opposite direction.

Abstract: The invention relates to a contact breaker of the type that includes a slider (22, FIG. 1) that slides longitudinally within a housing to allow a moving contact 50 (FIG. 3) on a sudden actin bimetal strip (44) to pass through a slider opening (62) against a fixed contact (40), or to keep the contacts apart after they have briefly moved apart. The state of the contact breaker is indicated by a signalling electrical circuit which includes a moving contact (80, FIG. 1) mounted on the slider and having a pair of clips that connect coplanar signalling contacts (68, 70). The slider has a lower extension (92, FIG. 4) that prevents arcing between power contacts. The housing includes two half-casings (16, 18, FIG. 7) joined at a longitudinal joint 19, one carrying power terminals (32, 34) and the other carrying signalling terminals (74, 76). The slider keeps the contacts (50, 40, FIG. 3) separate even if the front housing surface is blocked.