A method and apparatus for filling petri dishes include the features of situating a stack of empty petri dishes at a dish-drop station where the stack rests with the lowermost petri dish of the stack on a stationary support. A moving structure engages this lowermost petri dish and moves it beyond the stationary support to a filling station, and during this movement of this lowermost petri dish to the filling station a lower dish member of the petri dish drops down from an upper lid member thereof and remains spaced beneath the upper lid member while being supported by a movable support which carries the lower dish member to the filling station. At the filling station a nozzle of a pump becomes situated in the space between the upper lid member and the lower dish member of the petri dish and fills a given quantity of agar into the lower dish member, whereupon this latter member and the upper lid member spaced thereover are moved to an elevating station. At the elevating station a suitable elevating structure engages the filled lower dish member and raises it into the upper lid member so as to close the filled petri dish, the latter then continuing its upward movement to become situated on a plate. These operations are repeated for each empty petri dish which drops onto the stationary support so that while the empty petri dishes of an empty stack are being removed therefrom one by one to be filled, a stack of filled petri dishes is simultaneously being formed at the elevating station.
A system for packaging manufactured articles into respective cases along a feed line having an apparatus with stations for performing various functions, a unit for automatically stacking and feeding CD cases to be packaged in these stations and a unit for dispensing brochures or leaflets to be packaged in the CD at one of the stations. The automatic case feeding unit transfers a new stack, manually arranged, before a feed magazine into the feed magazine when it is sensed that the current stack is below a predetermined level. A pusher member is actuated to move the new stack into position in the feed magazine. The brochure feeding unit draws a bottom brochure via a conveyor belt from a stack of brochures, while the remaining brochures are retained by a partition element. The withdrawn brochure is stopped at a locating member, wherein the height of its back edge is reduced by pusher element so the brochure passes under the locating member and is passed to the corresponding packaging station. The CD packaging machine has multiple stations including one for opening the cases, one for inserting brochures or leaflets, one for inserting a compact disc in a tray and one for closing the cases. The opening and closing stations work via a combination of mechanical elements and air blowing nozzles.
The apparatus is fitted with a transfer turntable (1) suitable for conveying dishes in the open state from a station for dispensing open dishes to a filling station, and then from the filling station to a station for receiving filled dishes. The turntable comprises a top plate (10) whose openings retain the lids of the dishes and a bottom plate (11) whose openings receive the bottoms of the dishes, said bottoms resting constantly against a fixed refrigerated sole plate (55) while they are being transferred. The turntable (1) is driven by means of a drive disk (6) placed beneath the sole plate (55) and magnetically coupled to the turntable by means of two series of facing magnets (61-12). The apparatus is suitable for constituting laboratory equipment.
Spaced apart and covered Petri dishes are moved continuously toward a pair of spaced feed nozzles while the covers engage a ramp and are tilted upward away from the dishes to provide a space for reception of the feed nozzles. A photoelectric cell detects the passage of the dishes beneath the feed nozzles and controls the feeding of bacterial culture growth medium alternately from the nozzles into the dishes as the latter move continuously past the nozzles. The covers are replaced over the dishes after filling.
A plurality of petri dishes or other glass or plastic containers are coated on the inside bottom surface of the containers by passing the containers through a coating or layering apparatus. The apparatus includes an indexing conveyor to sequentially pass the open containers through a filling station where an amount of a coating material is applied while tilting the container to one side thereby distributing the material to the entire bottom surface of the container. The containers are conveyed to an aspirating station to aspirate excess material while tilting the container toward the aspirating nozzle. Subsequent to the aspiration step, the containers are tilted in the opposite direction to distribute the material in the container. The material is then dried and the containers stacked and packaged. The coating material includes metal ions such as calcium or other divalent metal ions, in a suitable carrier that is able to bond the bottom inside surface of the container. The coating material forms a dehydrated, solidified layer bonded onto the bottom surface of the container. The coating material can be a water/agar solution or a plastic resin in an appropriate solvent containing the calcium ions.
Laboratory apparatus for performing repetitive tacks includes a table and first and second bearing ways below the table. First and second carriages are mounted on corresponding bearing ways for independent motion therealong, the second carrriage moving in a plane below and parallel to the first carriage. An independently operable transfer device moves objects between the table and a selected carriage or between the carriages, as desired, and apparatus is provided adjacent to the table for performing operations on objects located on the table or on the carriages, the transfer device, and the operating apparatus being capable of repetitive operation.
