HANDLING PACKAGE OF CUVETTTES
The present invention relates to a handling package of
cuvettes that can be used for loading cuvettes packed in
such a package into an instrument, for protecting cuvettes
during storage and transport and as a substrate for various
markings.
Automatic analyzers, in which the liquids to be analyzed
are in so-called reaction vessels, simultaneously acting as
optically high-quality cuvettes, are used in laboratories
for analyzing various liquids. The row of reaction vessels
or a cuvette can generally consist of a number of reaction
vessels or positions separated from each other with a wall
molded into a row as one piece. The reaction vessels are
grouped so that there is a common wall between them and the
long sides of the cuvette are straight so that the cuvettes
can be placed one after the other as a uniform row so that
the long sides of adjacent cuvettes are closely against
each other. Thus the cuvettes can be placed in a square box
during transport and other handling. Such a cuvette is
disclosed in US patent number 4,690,900. Cuvettes of this
kind are simple to handle and they can be used for
producing reliable measurement results.
Cuvettes must remain dustless, scratchless and intact for
the radiation flux, allowed to pass through the measurement
surfaces of the reaction vessels in the instrument carrying
out the analysis, to provide reliable analysis results.
Because of this cuvettes must be handled with great care
immediately after the manufacturing phase during packaging,
storage, transport and operation.
During use of such cuvettes there has arisen a need to
provide a loading method that would guarantee that the
cuvettes are absolutely dust-free, scratch-free and without
fingerprints when taken into use. The packaging step of
cuvettes after injection pressing can be controlled by
means of automation methods and apparatuses, but the
impacts on the cuvette packages and incorrect handling by
humans when loading the cuvettes to the instrument carrying
out the analysis have been problematic. A packaging method
for cuvettes in which the cuvettes are packaged as a row in
a box having a removable lid has been developed to avoid
these disadvantages. The opening of the package has been
shaped to fit the feed opening of the cuvettes and the lid
comprises a pushing means for pushing the cuvettes into the
instrument. Cuvettes are transferred to the instrument
while the package is fastened to the feed opening of the
instrument by pushing the row of cuvettes in the box from
behind with the removable lid of the package having a
separate pushing means forming other end of the package
when the lid is fastened to the package. The advantages of
this packaging method are dust-free handling, no
fingerprints on the optical area and no scratches caused by
manual handling.
Such a box package, however, has its disadvantages that
reduce its handling capability and increase packaging
costs. The manufacture of the package box is quite
expensive in relation to the price of the cuvettes, so the
package increases the cost of single analyses. The box
produces a lot of plastic waste that has to be transported
to the waste disposal site or to plastic waste recycling.
As the consumption of cuvettes is very great in many
laboratories and the material of the box might not be the
same plastic as the other plastic waste of the laboratory,
the solution if a bad one for recycling. Separating and
storing the packages in the laboratory is difficult.
Because the cuvettes are disposable and they should only be
recycled as material, the package should comprise as little
material as possible and the packaging materials should be
easy to collect and recyclable. The cuvettes as such could
be washed and reused, but as their optical surfaces are
very sensitive to dirt and mechanical damage, the cuvettes
are easily damaged during collecting, transport and
washing. This is the reason the manufacturers of cuvettes
forbid recycling of cuvettes, as the risk of incorrect
results due to damaged cuvettes is great when using
recycled cuvettes.
Due to cost reasons and to save materials the package box
of cuvettes has to be made of a thin material whereby it
can't be made very stiff. Therefore it is easily bent and
twisted and is to some degree difficult to use and the box
and the position of the cuvettes is easily skewed, the
cuvettes fall over during insertion and the opening of the
box can slip away from the feed opening of the instrument.
When fallen or skewed cuvettes are directed or lifted by
hand, they easily get fingerprints and even scratches that
can lead to incorrect measurement results. A problem with
the package is also that the feed apparatuses of different
instruments accommodate a different number of cuvettes at a
time, whereby some cuvettes always remain in the box and at
the next introduction the cuvettes will have to fed from
two boxes, whereby the number of misfeeds is always larger.
US patent 6 328 164 discloses a handling package for
cuvettes, the package comprising rows of currently used
cuvettes comprising a number of reaction vessels and a
bonding strip joining the cuvettes together. Each cuvette
includes a hook part for taking a hold of when moving the
cuvette in the instrument. The bonding strip is fastened to
the cuvettes by means of adhesive substance applied to the
lower surface thereof and the strip is fastened to the
upper part of the cuvettes on the surface on the side of
the openings of the reaction vessels. In this package the
bonding strip is slightly narrower than the upper side of
the cuvette so that the edges of the cuvettes could be
supported by a molding or the like on the edges of the feed
apparatus. The cuvettes must be supported by their sides
for removing the bonding strip. The solution is inexpensive
and reliable, but the fact that the bonding strip does not
easily extend well enough over the outermost positions or
the openings of the reaction vessel, whereby dust or other
impurities can enter the vessel, can be considered as its
disadvantage.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a
handling package for cuvettes, the package comprising a
novel type of cuvettes and a novel strip for fastening the
cuvettes.
The invention is based on the idea of fastening a removable
bonding strip on the row of cuvettes, the strip binding the
row of cuvettes during transport and being easily removable
when the cuvettes are loaded into the instrument. The
binding strip must extend at least over the openings of the
reaction vessels, preferably at least over the whole width
of the top surface of the row of reaction vessels.
More specifically, the package for cuvettes according to
the invention is characterized by what is disclosed in the
characterizing part of claim 1.
Considerable advantages are achieved by means of the
invention.
The cuvettes are bound into a package by means of a simple
tape or another corresponding strip fastening the rows of
cuvettes to itself from the top. Thus, in addition to the
cuvettes, the package does not comprise other parts or
materials than the easily disposable tape. This means the
amount of packaging material to be disposed of is as small
as possible. The strip protects the reaction bowls from
dust and impurities including the openings of the outermost
reaction vessels. The number of cuvettes in one handling
package and the size of the instrument loading apparatuses
can be standardized.
The cuvettes can be easily loaded into a suitably designed
apparatus from a handling package according to the
invention and because preferably the whole package of
cuvettes is loaded at a time, there is no need or even a
possibility to handle the cuvettes as separate parts. This
allows ensuring the hygienic and optical cleanness of the
cuvettes as well as possible and to avoid their mechanical
damage. Dirty and damaged cuvettes essentially reduce the
reliability of the produced measurement results, so the
cleanness and undamaged state of the cuvettes is
essentially important.for the reliable operation of the
cuvettes. It is especially advantageous that the bonding
strip extend over the whole length of the top surface of
the cuvettes, whereby it will reliably cover all openings
of the positions of the reaction vessels.
In the following, the invention is disclosed in more detail
by means of reference to the appended drawings.
Figure 1 illustrates one handling package of cuvettes
according to the invention.
Figure 2 illustrates one cuvette packaged in a handling
package for cuvettes according the invention.
As can be seen in figure 1, the cuvette 10 comprises
positions 20, i.e. reaction vessels arranged adjacent each
other in a row. Here, the term cuvette 10 means a means for
receiving samples having at least one position 20 for
receiving the sample and for storing it at least during the
analyzing. Position 20 is a tubular vessel inside which a
sample volume 28 is defined for the sample to be analyzed.
According to one embodiment the shape of the position 20 is
a rounded rectangle and generally such that the sides of
the opening of the sample volume 28 are considerably
shorter than its depth. The sample volume 28 can also be
different in shape. In this context the direction of the
longest side of the sample volume 28 of the position 20,
the depth, is called the vertical axis. Correspondingly,
horizontal axis means the cartesian axes in right angles to
the vertical axis.
According to one embodiment the cuvette 10 comprises 10
positions separated from each other by intermediate walls
22. The intermediate wall 22 is the isthmus-like connecting
part between two positions 20. As can be seen from figures
1 and 2, the intermediate wall 22 is essentially central to
the narrow facets of adjacent positions 20 so that the
intermediate wall 22 extends from the upper edge of the
cuvette 10 to about halfway up the side facet of the
positions 20. In other words, the intermediate wall 20 does
not connect the positions 20 at their whole length but only
in their upper half. The basic idea of the intermediate
wall 22 is to be a connecting element that does not advance
heat transfer from one position to another, but rather it,
on the contrary, isolates the positions 20 from each other.
Thus the heat conducted between positions 20 remains as low
as possible and the analysis accuracy is improved. In this
invention the construction of the intermediate wall is not
important, it is sufficient that the positions are somehow
connected to each other so that they can be formed into a
cuvette having a number of reaction vessels, i.e. positions
in a row.
As can be seen in figure 1, the outermost positions 20 are
provided with brackets 24. According to an embodiment of
the invention the bracket 24 comprises two tabs that are
essentially shorter than the cuvette 10 in vertical
direction of the cuvette 10 and fairly delicate in
thickness. The tabs of the bracket 24 extend outwards from
the upper part of the outer edge of the outermost positions
20 so that the tabs curve towards each other. The outer
edge of the position 20 means the side edge of either of
the outermost position 20 not having an intermediate wall
20. Correspondingly, the direction facing outwards is the
horizontal direction extending towards the outer edge of
the position 20 from the intermediate edge 22. The top
surface of the row of reaction vessels means the area
between the outer edges of the side walls of the outer
positions without intermediate walls. Thus the brackets 24
are not included in the top surface of the row of reaction
vessels.
Like the intermediate walls 22, the brackets 24 can be made
of elastic material, due to which they can also resiliently
withstand bending of their longest side. The bending
properties of the brackets 24 are needed in some
embodiments of the cuvette. Within this invention, the
shape and location of the brackets can vary from what is
described above. According to the invention it is important
that the brackets are located on both sides of the row of
reaction vessels and that they comprise a guiding top
Surface 30 that can be supported against the limiter
surface. The guiding top surface 30 can be in a different
level than the top surface of the row of reaction vessels,
being located either on the outer side of the outermost
positions or being slightly higher than the surface of the
row of reaction vessels. The shape of the brackets can be
freely chosen and arranging the brackets on different
locations forms an identification system in which only
cuvettes having correctly arranged brackets with correct
shape fit a feed apparatus. This can be useful when a
certain analyzer may be fed only certain samples due to
e.g. risk of contamination. This allows forming a key/lock
pair from the cuvettes and the feed apparatus, the pair
preventing incorrect samples from entering the analyzer.
The feed apparatus can correspondingly be provided with a
counter apparatus whereby e.g. differently coded cuvettes
are used for different customers of the laboratory and the
amount of performed tests can be verified from the reading
of the feed apparatus. This method of verifying can be used
as a support and control means for other sample monitoring
of the apparatus.
Figure 2 shows a handling package for cuvettes according to
the invention or rather a part of the package. The package
comprises a row of cuvettes bound to each other by means of•
a bonding strip 100. In the figure, for reasons of clarity,
there is a space between the cuvettes. In practice the
cuvettes are touching each other in the package. The length
of the row of cuvettes depends on how many cuvettes are
placed in one package and the length of the row naturally
also determines the length of the strip. The number of
cuvettes can be e.g. 18. The size of the package is mainly
determined by the number of cuvettes that can be loaded
into the feed apparatus of the analyzer. The width of the
bonding strip 100, on the other hand, is determined by the
width of the top surface of the reaction vessels. The
bonding strip must be at least wider than the space between
the outermost inner walls 32 of the outermost positions 28.
The maximum length is limited by the space between the tips
34 of the brackets. The greatest width of the fastening
part of the bonding strip 100 must be smaller than the
largest distance between the brackets 24. The fastening
part of the bonding strip 100 is the part along the width
of which the strip is fastened to the cuvettes. When
needed, the strip can comprise protective lapels turning to
the sides of the row of cuvettes and the lapels can have
bonding substance on at least a portion of the area. Such
lapels can, however, be disadvantageous to the handling of
the package and they increase the need of the packaging
material needed for the bonding strip.
The strip 100 can be, for example, a polypropylene tape
having a weather-resistant, high and low temperature
resistant acryl-based glue as the adhesive substance. The
bonding must be strong enough to allow handling of the
package, such as lifting and bending it, but on the other
hand the strip must be removable by tearing without
excessive force. The adhesive substance must further be
non-staining and it must not leave dirt on the sides of the
reaction vessels.
The adhesive substance can be e.g. an acryl dispersion
glue, the adhesion strength and release strength of which
are suitably chosen. The adhesive substance must have
sufficient adhesive properties in both cold and heat so
that the bonding is not released during storage. The
bonding force of the adhesive substance must be arranged to
suit the bonding area, whereby the bonding between the
bonding strip and the cuvettes can be varied by changing
the bonding area. The adhesive substance can be applied to
a narrow area on the edges or the middle of the strip or in
some other suitable way as well as, naturally, on the whole
width of the strip. However, preferably there must be some
adhesive substance on the location of the outermost walls
of the outermost positions so that the ingress of
impurities into the reaction vessels is prevented. For the
same reason it is preferable that the adhesive substance be
applied on the location of the outer sides of the outermost
cuvettes in the ends of the package. The best closure for
each reaction vessel is achieved when the adhesive
substance extends to the whole bonding area, whereby the
opening of each reaction vessel is closed by means of the
bonding strip.
The front end of the bonding strip 100 can be provided with
a bonding portion bent over the row of cuvettes during
transport and storage. The bonding portion must be long
enough so that it can be easily grabbed and there is no
adhesive substance. The rear end of the bonding strip is
preferably provided with a lapel bent to protect the
optical surface of the last cuvette of the row, allowing
pushing the row from behind without dirtying the optical
surface of even the last cuvette. The length of the lapel
is chosen so that it is slightly shorter than the height of
the cuvette while still covering the optical surface. The
last cuvette can this way be supported by its lower edge
without disturbance by the lapel and the optical surface
can be protected. The bonding portion and the lapel of the
rear end does not have adhesive substance on the lower
surface. The bonding strip 100 is narrower than the cuvette
10 at least such that the bonding area is narrower than the
width of the cuvette so that the bonding area extends to at
most to a portion of the top surface of the brackets. Most
preferably the bonding area extends to the whole width of
the reaction vessels, whereby the openings of the reaction
vessels are surely covered. When the package is
disassembled, it is possible to support the row of cuvettes
from above from the upper surface of the brackets remaining
free. The bonding strip 100 completely covers from above
the reaction vessels of the cuvettes protecting them from
dust. When the cuvettes are loaded into the instrument, the
bonding strip 100 can be removed, simultaneously releasing
the cuvettes from the package by supporting the package in
vertical direction at.the upper surfaces of the brackets.
When the package is supported as described, it can be
disassembled by pulling the strip off from the cuvettes,
whereby they are released from the adhesive substance of
the strip.
The bonding strip 100 can be made from a variety of
materials and its releasable bonding can also be carried
out by a number of bonding methods. Most preferably the
strip is made of an elastic and resilient material, such as
polypropylene or reinforced paper. Most preferably the
strip is as wide as possible so that it covers the reaction
vessel during transport. The strip can naturally be very
narrow as well, if the protection of the reaction vessels
during transport is carried out by packaging the cuvette
packages into larger dust-proof delivery packages. If a
wide strip is used, the adhesive substance can be applied
to a portion of the width of the strip only, such as narrow
areas on the edges of the strip. If the adhesive substance
is applied to a narrow area only, it is possible to use
glue with a good bonding capacity, while ensuring good
releasability with a sufficiently small bonding area. If
ultrasound welding or hot welding is used for bonding the
strip, the bonding can preferably be effected by using
spot-like connecting surfaces, whereby the bonding strength
can be adjusted by changing the number of spots. The strip
can also be made of stiff material, whereby the package
becomes stiff.
In addition to the above the present invention has other
embodiments as well. As has already been mentioned above,
the bonding strip of the cuvettes can be made from a
variety of materials and its shape can change. The strip
can also be fastened to the cuvettes by using different
methods. The strip can be provided with printings, such as
directions of use, the name and brand of the manufacturer
and information about the use and recycling the package.
The number of cuvettes in the package can vary, but using a
standard package size is naturally most preferable for both
the users of the instruments and the suppliers of the
cuvettes. In principle it is possible to pack even a single
cuvette using the inventive method, but it is economically
most sensible to use the largest package size fitting an
analyzer at a single loading. Thus the packaging method is
the most effective and the amount of formed packaging
material waste is as small as possible.
We claim:
1. A handling package of cuvettes, said package comprising:
a row of cuvettes (10) formed by a plurality of
reaction vessels, the reaction vessels (28) being
adjacent to each.other such that there is a common
wall between them, and the long sides of a cuvette
(10) are straight such that the cuvettes can be placed
consecutively in a contiguous row such that the long
sides of the consecutive cuvettes are tightly against
each other, and
- a strip (100) which is adhered to a surface about
the openings of the reaction vessels of the cuvettes
(10) so as to be detachable prior to use, said strip
joining the row of cuvettes into a contiguous handling
package,
characterized in that
- each cuvette (10) has at both ends a bracket (30)
with a top surface (32), and the distance between the
ends of the brackets is determined by the width of the
cuvette package,
- the bonding strip (100) extends at least to the area
of the top surface of the openings of the reaction
vessels, and
- the bonding strip (100) has an adhering surface
which extends to a narrower area than the distance
between the ends of the brackets (30) .
2. A package according to claim 1, characterized in that
the strip (100) extends at most to the area of the top
surfaces of the reaction vessels.
3. A package according to any of the preceding claims,
characterized in that the strip does not extend to the area
of the brackets.
4. A package according to any of the preceding claims,
characterized in that an adhesive substance is applied only
on a part of the width of the strip.
5. A package according to any of the preceding claims 1 -
2, characterized in that the strip is attached by
ultrasonic welding.
6. A package according to any of the preceding claims,
characterized in that the strip is attached by hot welding.
7. A package according to claim 5 or 8, characterized in
that the strip (1) is attached by spot welding.

ABSTRACT

Automatic analyzers, in which the liquids to be analyzed
are in so-called reaction vessels, simultaneously acting as optical highquality cuvettes (10), are used in laboratories for analyzing various liquid
This publication discloses a handling package for cuvettes. According to
the invention a removable bonding strip (100) is fastened on the row of cuvettes, the strip binding the row of cuvettes during transport and being easily removable when the cuvettes are loaded into the instrument. The cuvettes (5) are loaded into the instrument by supporting the package in its
place from the brackets located in the ends of the cuvettes so that the strip
(100) can be pulled off the supported package of cuvettes.