A Technician Loading or Replacing a Sample Vial or Reagent Line

About This Item

A technician loading or replacing a sample vial or reagent line—he's holding a vial/tube and inserting it into the fluid pathway. The machine in the photo is most likely a continuous flow analyzer, also known as an autoanalyzer—a device used widely in chemistry and biology labs during the mid-to-late 20th century for automated chemical analysis of fluids, especially in clinical and environmental applications.

Identifier
TP-ATA-1928
Date
Nov 1971
Context

What's in the image:

  • Main Device: This modular system features vertical columns of interchangeable analysis modules—each designed to perform a part of the testing sequence.
  • Dual Circular Displays (Top Center): These are recording chart meters or analog readouts used to track measurements like absorbance or electrical conductivity over time.
  • Tubing System (Lower Section): The technician is working with a network of glassware and flexible tubing, likely adjusting sample vials or reagent lines. Fluids would be drawn in, mixed with reagents, and passed through a detector for analysis.
  • Glass Components: Including mixing chambers, bubble separators, and colorimetric flow cells—all critical in precise chemical quantification.
  • Rotary Pump Module (Center): Likely used to keep the fluids flowing continuously through the system.

 

Credits: 

Some technical descriptions and historical interpretations were developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI.

Geographic Coverage
San Francisco, CA
Temporal Coverage
1970s
Type
Still Image
Format
Negative
Source
San Francisco State University Archives
Rights
Public
Views
333

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