Method of judging a particle agglutination pattern

Claim 1

A method of photoelectrically judging a particle agglutination pattern formed on an inclined bottom surface of a reaction vessel by particles descending on the bottom, comprising the steps of: scanning the particle agglutination pattern formed on the inclined bottom surface of a reaction vessel to generate a plurality of photoelectrically converted output signals; deriving from said output signals a predetermined number of measurement values representing the thickness at varying locations of a particle layer deposited on the bottom surface of the reaction vessel; and effecting a first judging step utilizing said measurement values by comparing said measurement values to at least two references values to judge the particle agglutination pattern and, if the result is not indeterminate, effecting at least one additional judging step utilizing said measurement values by comparing said measurement values to at least two reference values to judge the particle agglutination pattern.

Claim 2

A method of photoelectrically judging a particle agglutination pattern formed on an inclined bottom surface of a reaction vessel by particles descending on the bottom, comprising the steps of: scanning the particle agglutination pattern formed on the inclined bottom surface of a reaction vessel to generate a plurality of photoelectrically converted output signals; deriving from said output signals a predetermined number of measurement values representing the thickness at varying locations of a particle layer deposited on the bottom surface of the reaction vessel; and effecting a first judging step utilizing said measurement values by comparing said measurement values to at least two references values to judge the particle agglutination pattern and, if the result is not indeterminate, effecting at least one additional judging step utilizing said measurement values by comparing said measurement values to at least two reference values to judge the particle agglutination pattern.

Claim 10

A method of judging photoelectrically a particle agglutination pattern formed on a conically-inclined bottom surface of a reaction vessel by particles precipitating onto the bottom, comprising the steps of: scanning the particle agglutination pattern formed on the inclined bottom surface to generate a plurality of photoelectrically converted output signals representative of the thickness of the particle layer precipitated onto the bottom surface at a corresponding plurality of locations; subjecting the output signals to a first judging step comprising: summing said plurality of output signals to determine a total absorption S; experimentally determining the maximum total absorption S 1 and the minimum total absorption S 2 for which reliable pattern analysis may be conducted; comparing said total absorption S with the two experimentally determined reference values S 1 and S 2 , and judging the particle agglutination pattern as follows: S>S 1 : D (dark) S 1 ≧S≧S 2 : N (normal) S<S 2 : T (thin) if S is judged D (dark) or T (thin), outputing a signal indicating an indeterminate agglutination, and otherwise proceeding to a second judging step comprising: deriving a ratio r between a first group of output signals representing the thickness of the particle layer at a first portion thereof over the lowermost point of the bottom surface, and a second group of output signals representing a second portion of the layer remote from the first portion; experimentally determining the ratio R 1 which is the minimum ratio which reliably indicates an integral pattern, and the ratio R 2 which is the maximum ratio which reliably indicates a uniform deposition pattern; comparing said ratio r with the two experimentally determined reference values R 1 and R 2 and judging the particle agglutination pattern as follows: r>R 1 : integral pattern (-) R 1 ≧r≧R 2 : intermediate pattern (?) r<R 2 : uniform deposition pattern (+) if r is judged to have an intermediate pattern, outputing a signal indicating an indeterminate agglutination, and otherwise proceeding to a third judging step comprising: determining the two greatest values of inclination between output signals representing adjacent locations and averaging the two signals to produce an average maximum inclination Δρ im ; experimentally determining the minimum inclination H 1 which reliably indicates an integral pattern and the maximum inclination H 2 which reliably indicates a uniform deposition pattern; comparing said inclination Δρ im with the two experimentally determined reference values H 1 and H 2 and judging the particle agglutination pattern as follows: Δρ im >H 1 : integral pattern (-) H 1 ≧Δρ im ≧H 2 : intermediate pattern (?) Δρ im <H 2 : uniform deposition pattern (+); if Δρ im is judged to have an intermediate pattern, or if Δρ im is judged to have an integral pattern when r was judged to have a uniform deposition pattern, or if Δρ im is judged to have a uniform deposition pattern when r was judged to have an integral pattern, outputing a signal indicating an indeterminate agglutination, and if both r and Δρ im are judged to have an integral pattern, outputing a signal indicating an integral pattern, and if both r and Δρ im are judged to have a uniform deposition pattern, outputing a signal indicating a uniform deposition pattern.

Claim 11

A method of judging photoelectrically a particle agglutination pattern formed on a conically-inclined bottom surface of a reaction vessel by particles precipitating onto the bottom, comprising the steps of: scanning the particle agglutination pattern formed on the inclined bottom surface to generate a plurality of photoelectrically converted output signals representative of the thickness of the particle layer precipitated onto the bottom surface at a corresponding plurality of locations; subjecting the output signals to a first judging step comprising: summing said plurality of output signals to determine a total absorption S; experimentally determining the maximum total absorption S 1 and the minimum total absorption S 2 for which reliable pattern analysis may be conducted; comparing said total absorption S with the two experimentally determined reference values S 1 and S 2 , and judging the particle agglutination pattern as follows: S>S 1 : D (dark) S 1 ≧S≧S 2 : N (normal) S<S 2 : T (thin) if S is judged D (dark) or T (thin), outputing a signal indicating an indeterminate agglutination, and otherwise proceeding to a second judging step comprising: deriving a ratio r between a first group of output signals representing the thickness of the particle layer at a first portion thereof over the lowermost point of the bottom surface, and a second group of output signals representing a second portion of the layer remote from the first portion; experimentally determining the ratio R 1 which is the minimum ratio which reliably indicates an integral pattern, and the ratio R 2 which is the maximum ratio which reliably indicates a uniform deposition pattern; comparing said ratio r with the two experimentally determined reference values R 1 and R 2 and judging the particle agglutination pattern as follows: r>R 1 : integral pattern (-) R 1 ≧r≧R 2 : intermediate pattern (?) r<R 2 : uniform deposition pattern (+) if r is judged to have an intermediate pattern, outputing a signal indicating an indeterminate agglutination, and otherwise proceeding to a third judging step comprising: determining the two greatest values of inclination between output signals representing adjacent locations and averaging the two signals to produce an average maximum inclination Δρ im ; experimentally determining the minimum inclination H 1 which reliably indicates an integral pattern and the maximum inclination H 2 which reliably indicates a uniform deposition pattern; comparing said inclination Δρ im with the two experimentally determined reference values H 1 and H 2 and judging the particle agglutination pattern as follows: Δρ im >H 1 : integral pattern (-) H 1 ≧Δρ im ≧H 2 : intermediate pattern (?) Δρ im <H 2 : uniform deposition pattern (+); if Δρ im is judged to have an intermediate pattern, or if Δρ im is judged to have an integral pattern when r was judged to have a uniform deposition pattern, or if Δρ im is judged to have a uniform deposition pattern when r was judged to have an integral pattern, outputing a signal indicating an indeterminate agglutination, and if both r and Δρ im are judged to have an integral pattern, outputing a signal indicating an integral pattern, and if both r and Δρ im are judged to have a uniform deposition pattern, outputing a signal indicating a uniform deposition pattern.