Reagent reservoir system for use in testing apparatus

Claim 1

A reagent delivery system for use in a testing apparatus in which the reagent is stored at a relatively low temperature and then a portion thereof raised to a higher temperature prior to being mixed with another liquid, said system comprising: a reagent storage reservoir including a reagent cup adapted to accommodate a rotating magnetic stirrer bar, said cup having a substantially cylindrical sidewall and a bottom wall, said sidewall having a vertical slot extending from the top edge thereof to said bottom wall, and a tubular housing having a bottom wall contiguous with the bottom wall of said reagent cup integrally formed on the outside of said cup so that said slot is common to said cup and said housing, said housing also being formed with a supporting ledge; a dip tube formed at its upper end with an outlet nipple and with an external shoulder for supporting said dip tube on the supporting ledge of said tubular housing, said dip tube when thus supported extending from above the top edge of said reagent cup downwardly to a position adjacent the bottom wall of said housing; a heat exchange unit having a plurality of parallel fluid conduit segments joined at their ends to form a flat enclosed maze-like elongated fluid passageway, said heat exchange unit having an inlet member at one end of said passageway and an outlet member at the opposite end of said passageway; a nozzle means; and flexible tubing means connecting the outlet nipple of said dip tube to the inlet member of said heat exchange unit and the outlet member of said heat exchange unit to said nozzle means.