Cap actuator for opening and closing a container

US5578494A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Abbott Laboratories · US

Inventors

• Frederic L. Clark · Plano, US
• Kendall B. Hendrick · Tucson, US
• Richard R. Martin · Tulsa, US
• Larry W. Moore · Plano, US
• William J. Raymoure · Antioch, US
• Paul R. Schrier · Carrollton, US
• Edna S. Walker · Chicago, US
• Donny R. Walker · Coppell, US
• Gary E. Winter · Bartlett, US
• Kevin M. Cloonan · Round Lake, US
• David Arthur Yost · Los Altos, US
• John M. Clemens · Carlsbad, US
• William J. Kanewske, III · Dallas, US
• Douglas D. McDowell · Wildwood, US
• Carl M. Oleksak · Fort Worth, US
• William D. Rumbaugh · Carrollton, US
• B. Jane Smith · Vernon Hills, US
• James A. Vaught · Euless, US
• Apparao Tayi · Grayslake, US
• Robert A. Wohlford · Irving, US
• James E. Mitchell · Lake Barrington, US
• Robert B. Hance · Evanston, US
• Peter A. Lagocki · Paddy Lane, US
• Richard A. Merriam · Dallas, US
• Charles D. Pennington · Lake Zurich, US
• Linda S. Schmidt · Mundelein, US
• Adrian M. Spronk · Lindenhurst, US
• Richard L. Vickstrom · Algonquin, US
• William E. Watkins, III · South 375th Place, US
• Gilbert Clift · Mesquite, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 13, 1996
• Grant date: Nov 26, 1996
• Expiry date: Feb 13, 2016

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T436/119163
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

The present invention is a method for opening and closing a cap pivotally mounted on a container for storing reagents for use in an automated analytical instrument. The cap has one end for sealing the container and a tab extending from the other end for pivoting the cap. The method comprises the steps of positioning a closed container adjacent an actuating device mounted on the analytical system. The method further comprises the steps of projecting the actuating device against the top of the tab to pivotally open the cap to a position sufficiently vertical for aspirating reagent from the container, and retracting the actuating device from the cap to a position above the pivotal mounting thereof. The method comprises the final step of causing relative motion between the cap and the actuating device so that the actuating device drags along the top of the cap pivotally closing the cap to provide a sufficient seal on the container preventing evaporation of the reagent therefrom.