US5289385A — Adaptive scheduling system and method for operati…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 99 words

An improved biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of samples loaded therein and which includes instrument systems for performing operations on each biological sample and a scheduling means for scheduling the operations of the instrument systems, the improvement comprising: (a) means for scheduling an adaptive cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation; and (b) means for conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation, said cleaning operation determined by the instrument system operation scheduled prior to said cleaning operation.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 99 words

An improved biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of samples loaded therein and which includes instrument systems for performing operations on each biological sample and a scheduling means for scheduling the operations of the instrument systems, the improvement comprising: (a) means for scheduling an adaptive cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation; and (b) means for conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation, said cleaning operation determined by the instrument system operation scheduled prior to said cleaning operation.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 39 words

The improved biological analyzer of claim 1 in which the means for conducting an assay further comprises: means for conducting first and second assays of the biological samples wherein said first assay and said second assay are different assays.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 78 words

The improved biological analyzer of claim 2 in which the means for scheduling a cleaning operation prior to performing a scheduled system operation further comprises: means for performing a first cleaning operation upon the condition that the instrument system operations immediately preceding said cleaning operation are of a first assay type, and means for performing a second cleaning operation upon the condition that the instrument system operations immediately preceding said cleaning operation are of a second assay type.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 74 words

The improved biological sample analyzer of claim 1 further comprising: (a) means for scheduling a warming operation prior to an instrument system operation; and (b) means for conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a warming operation prior to a scheduled instrument system operation determined upon a scheduled lapse of time between the scheduled instrument system operation and the instrument system operation scheduled prior thereto.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 84 words

A biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of biological samples loaded therein comprising: (a) means for scheduling operations by instrument systems on each biological sample; (b) means for scheduling a conditional cleaning operation prior to any instrument system operation; and (c) means for conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation, said cleaning operation conditioned upon the instrument system operation scheduled prior to said cleaning operation.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 84 words

A biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of biological samples loaded therein comprising: (a) means for scheduling operations by instrument systems on each biological sample; (b) means for scheduling a conditional cleaning operation prior to any instrument system operation; and (c) means for conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation, said cleaning operation conditioned upon the instrument system operation scheduled prior to said cleaning operation.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 30 words

The biological analyzer of claim 5 further comprising: means for conducting first and second assays of the biological samples wherein said first assay and said second assay are different assays.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 77 words

The biological analyzer of claim 6 in which the means for scheduling a conditional cleaning operation prior to performing a cleaning operation further comprises: means for performing a first cleaning operation upon the condition that the instrument system operations immediately preceding said cleaning operation are of a first assay type, and means for performing a second cleaning operation upon the condition that the instrument system operations immediately preceding said cleaning operation are of a second assay type.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 79 words

The improved biological sample analyzer of claim 5 further comprising: means for scheduling a warming operation prior to an instrument system operation; and further in which the means for conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations further comprises: means for performing a warming operation prior to a scheduled instrument system operation determined upon a scheduled lapse of time between the scheduled instrument system operation and the instrument system operation scheduled prior thereto.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 93 words

An improved method of operating a biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of samples loaded and in which operations by instrument systems are scheduled to be performed on each biological sample, the improvement comprising the steps of: (a) scheduling a conditional cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation; and (b) conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation, said cleaning operation determined by the instrument system operation scheduled prior to said cleaning operation.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 93 words

An improved method of operating a biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of samples loaded and in which operations by instrument systems are scheduled to be performed on each biological sample, the improvement comprising the steps of: (a) scheduling a conditional cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation; and (b) conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation, said cleaning operation determined by the instrument system operation scheduled prior to said cleaning operation.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 36 words

The improved method of claim 9 in which the step of conducting an assay further comprises: conducting first and second assays of the biological samples wherein said first assay and said second assay are different assays.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 118 words

The improved method of operating a biological sample analyzer of claim 9 in which the step of scheduling operations by instrument systems further comprises the steps of: (a) developing time blocks for each sample for conducting operations to be performed by instrument systems for each specimen sample to perform the assay of said each sample; and (b) developing a schedule of the time blocks to be performed by the analyzer instrument systems on the samples; and in which the step of scheduling a conditional cleaning operation is characterized as further comprising the step of: scheduling a cleaning operation to be performed by an instrument system at a transition between time blocks from the developed schedule of time blocks.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 24 words

The improved method of claim 11 in which the step of scheduling a cleaning operation is based upon the sequence of time blocks schedule.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 29 words

The improved method of claim 12 in which the step of scheduling a cleaning operation is performed after all the time blocks of all the samples have been scheduled.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 76 words

The improved method of claim 11 in which the step of performing a cleaning operation further comprises: performing a first cleaning operation before a time block for a sample upon the condition that the time block is preceded by a time block of a first assay type, and performing a second cleaning operation before the time block for said sample conditioned upon the time block being preceded by a time block of a second assay type.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 51 words

The improved method of claim 14 in which the step of performing cleaning operation is further characterized wherein the first assay type is the same assay type as being performed on said sample and the second assay type is an assay different from the assay type being performed on said sample.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 92 words

The improved method of operating a biological sample analyzer of claim 9 for conducting assays of samples loaded therein further comprising the step of: scheduling a warming operation prior to any instrument system operation; and in which the step of conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations is further characterized by the step of: performing a warming operation prior to a scheduled instrument system operation determined upon the lapse of time between the scheduled instrument system operation and the instrument system operation scheduled prior thereto.

Claim 20

Independent Claim 87 words

A method of operating a biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of biological samples loaded therein comprising the steps of: (a) scheduling operations by instrument systems on each biological sample; (b) scheduling a conditional cleaning operation prior to any instrument system operation; and (c) conducting the assays of the biological samples by (1) performing the scheduled instrument system operations, and (2) performing a cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation, said cleaning operation conditioned upon the instrument system operation scheduled prior to said cleaning operation.

Claim 21

Independent Claim 87 words

A method of operating a biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of biological samples loaded therein comprising the steps of: (a) scheduling operations by instrument systems on each biological sample; (b) scheduling a conditional cleaning operation prior to any instrument system operation; and (c) conducting the assays of the biological samples by (1) performing the scheduled instrument system operations, and (2) performing a cleaning operation prior to any scheduled instrument system operation, said cleaning operation conditioned upon the instrument system operation scheduled prior to said cleaning operation.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 35 words

The method of claim 17 in which the step of conducting the assays further comprises: conducting first and second assays of the biological samples wherein said first assay and said second assay are different assays.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 121 words

The method of claim 17 in which the step of scheduling operations by instrument systems is characterized as further comprising the steps of: (a) developing time blocks for each sample for conducting operations to be performed by instrument systems for each specimen sample to perform the assay of the sample; and (b) developing a schedule of the time blocks to be performed by the analyzer instrument systems on the samples, said schedule including a sequence of time blocks; and in which the step of scheduling a conditional cleaning operation is characterized as further comprising the step of: scheduling a cleaning operation to be performed by an instrument system at a transition between time blocks from the developed schedule of time blocks.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 23 words

The method of claim 19 in which the step of scheduling a cleaning operation is based upon the sequence of time blocks scheduled.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 28 words

The method of claim 20 in which the step of scheduling a cleaning operation is performed after all the time blocks of all the samples have been scheduled.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 77 words

The method of claim 21 in which the step of performing a cleaning operation further comprises: performing a first cleaning operation before a time block for a sample upon the condition that the time block is preceded by a time block of a first assay type, and performing a second cleaning operation before the time block for said sample upon the condition that the time block is preceded by a time block of a second assay type.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 79 words

The method of claim 22 in which the step of performing a cleaning operation further comprises: performing a first cleaning operation before a time block for a sample upon the condition that the time block is immediately preceded by a time block of a first assay type, and performing a second cleaning operation before the time block for said sample upon the condition that the time block is immediately preceded by a time block of a second assay type.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 50 words

The method of claim 23 in which the step of performing cleaning operation is further characterized wherein the first assay type is the same assay type as being performed on said sample and the second assay type is an assay different from the assay type being performed on said sample.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method of claim 24 in which the step of performing a cleaning operation is further characterized as rinsing a pipette probe of the biological analyzer.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 84 words

The method of operating a biological sample analyzer of claim 17 further comprising the step of: scheduling a warming operation prior to any instrument system operation; and in which the step of conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations is further characterized by the step of: performing a warming operation prior to a scheduled instrument system operation determined upon the lapse of time between the scheduled instrument system operation and the instrument system operation scheduled prior thereto.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 82 words

An improved method of operating a biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of biological samples loaded therein comprising the steps of: (a) scheduling operations by instrument systems on each biological sample; and (b) conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a warming operation prior to a scheduled instrument system operation, said warming operation determined upon the lapse of time between the scheduled instrument system operation and the instrument system operation scheduled prior thereto.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 82 words

An improved method of operating a biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of biological samples loaded therein comprising the steps of: (a) scheduling operations by instrument systems on each biological sample; and (b) conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a warming operation prior to a scheduled instrument system operation, said warming operation determined upon the lapse of time between the scheduled instrument system operation and the instrument system operation scheduled prior thereto.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 79 words

An improved biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of biological samples loaded therein comprising: (a) means for scheduling operations by instrument systems on each biological sample; and (b) means for conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a warming operation prior to a scheduled instrument system operation, said warming operation determined upon a lapse of time between the scheduled instrument system operation and the instrument system operation scheduled prior thereto.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 79 words

An improved biological sample analyzer for conducting assays of biological samples loaded therein comprising: (a) means for scheduling operations by instrument systems on each biological sample; and (b) means for conducting the assays of the biological samples by performing the scheduled instrument system operations and performing a warming operation prior to a scheduled instrument system operation, said warming operation determined upon a lapse of time between the scheduled instrument system operation and the instrument system operation scheduled prior thereto.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 38 words

The improved method of claim 28 in which the means for conducting an assay further comprises: means for conducting first and second assays of the biological samples wherein said first assay and said second assay are different assays.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1997-02-21	1997-08-23	1998-02-22	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2001-02-21	2001-08-23	2002-02-22	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2005-02-21	2005-08-23	2006-02-22	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Adaptive scheduling system and method for operating a biological sample analyzer with variable rinsing

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