Sample Bay General Information

Theory/Sequence of Operation

The Sample Bay is a sheet metal enclosure that has a plastic top. The housing has structural foam attached to the three sides to provide insulation. Located beneath the enclosure are three aluminum plates with a coolant channel through the center of each. Chilled liquid coolant passes through each of the aluminum plates to cool them. A temperature sensor is located in the vicinity of the cooled plates. The plates are covered on the bottom by an insulating foam panel. The plates are attached to the bottom of the sheet metal enclosure so that it has a cooled surface on which the Sample Racks rest when inserted into the bay. The cooled floor of the enclosure cools the air in the bay and the racks can also transfer heat via thermal conduction into the cooled floor.

The liquid coolant enters the Sample Bay coolant path via a quick connect fitting located on the back of the module. The coolant first passes through tubing connected to the rightmost cooling plate beneath the enclosure. The aluminum cooling plates are connected in series via flexible tubing. After passing through the cooling plates, the liquid coolant flows through tubing back to the outlet quick disconnect fitting located at the right rear of the module.

A plastic plate forms the top of the enclosure with holes positioned above each sample tube. The top plate has raised features around each opening that are intended to break mucus strands that may form between the pipettor tip and the sample bottle.

A barcode scanner is mounted to the front right side of the bay that allows the racks and sample tubes to be identified as they are slid into the bay.

A control board (PCB) is located on the back of the module. This provides communication to and from the scanner, temperature sensor, rack sensors, and COP. There are eight optical switches mounted to the control board that detect when a rack is present. A feature on the racks blocks the optical path of the sensors when the rack is inserted into the bay.