Cedrex Tube Labeler

Revolution drives a Cedrex microtube labeler — a printer and applicator that labels sample tubes in a rack, one tube at a time.

No published specifications

No manufacturer specifications are stated here. Cedrex A/S’s website no longer resolves, so there is no manufacturer source to verify rack formats, tube types, throughput or label sizes against. There is also no product page to link to, which is why this page carries no manufacturer link where every other device page has one.

If you are specifying or servicing a system with one of these, work from the documentation supplied with your unit — or get in touch and we will confirm what your system carries.

Supported methods

• Label rack — label a whole rack. Takes four things:
  • a label file path — the label layout to print
  • a CSV data file path — the per-tube data to print
  • a rack format — which plate/rack format is being labelled
  • a single tube timeout — how long to wait for any one tube before failing
• Update storage locations — refresh the storage locations the labeller works against

The two file paths are the part worth understanding. Layout and data are supplied per call, as files on the host — they are not templates stored on the instrument and selected by name. A schedule that labels different rack types, or labels from a run-specific dataset, does so by pointing at different files rather than by reconfiguring the labeller.

The single tube timeout is per tube, not per rack. On a 96-tube rack a generous per-tube value multiplies, so set it against how long one tube legitimately takes rather than how long the rack should take overall.

Integration

Revolution talks to the labeller over a serial connection, and prints through a named printer.

Prerequisites

• The unit must be cabled to the Revolution host and its COM port known before the device is initialised.
• The printer name must match a printer the host can reach — labelling fails at the print step otherwise, not at the instrument.
• The label file and CSV data file must exist and be readable at the paths the method passes.
• Label stock suitable for the tubes must be loaded.

Device configuration

Property	Purpose
Com Port Number	Serial port the labeller is connected on
Printer Name	Printer the labels are sent to
Serial Comms delay (ms)	Delay between serial commands, for units that need pacing
Db Connection String	Database the storage locations are read from and updated against

Serial comms delay exists because some units cannot keep up with commands sent back to back. If labelling is unreliable in a way that looks random, that pacing value is the first thing to check.

If you need more of this instrument driven from a schedule, get in touch — the driver is extended on demand.