APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR INVENTORY HANDLING IN AN AUTOMATED DIAGNOSTIC ANALYZER

An analyzer for analysis of a biological sample prepared by a pre analytical system and a method of operating an analyzer that received samples prepared by a pre-analytical system. The analyzer is automated and has a processing deck with a plurality of modules serviced by a plurality of multichannel pipettors. Due to the high volume of pipette tips used by and dispensed from the multichannel pipettors, the processing deck has a pipette dispense assembly having a plurality of chutes, so that a multichannel pipettor does not need to wait to discard a pipette tip into a chute. The plurality of chutes allows the pipette tips to fall therethrough to a waste receptacle below the processing deck. The processing deck also includes a plurality of drawers that contain bins for consumable pipette tips to be used by the multichannel pipettors. Some of the drawers have multiple bins and some have only one bin because the location of the chutes does not permit all drawers to have the same depth.