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US 10,871,437 B2Granted
Apparatus and method for dispensing particles in free-flying drops aligned using an acoustic field
Assigneecytena GmbH
InventorsJonas Schoendube, Ivo Leibacher
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for dispensing particles in free-flying liquid drops includes a fluid chamber fluidically coupled to a nozzle, a sound source configured to generate, in the fluid chamber, an acoustic field by which particles in a liquid in the fluid chamber may be aligned in an arrangement, and a drop-on-demand mechanism configured to, at a selected point in time, selectively dispense from the nozzle an individual liquid drop containing one or several particles.
Claims12
An apparatus for dispensing particles in free-flying liquid drops, comprising:
- a fluid chamber fluidically coupled to a nozzle and comprising an inlet;
- a sound source configured to generate, in the fluid chamber, an acoustic field by which particles in a liquid in the fluid chamber may be aligned in an arrangement;
- and
- a drop-on-demand-dispenser to, at a selected point in time, selectively dispense from the nozzle an individual liquid drop comprising one or several particles,
- a controller coupled to the sound source and the drop-on-demand-dispenser, the controller being configured to control the sound source to switch between a first mode and a second mode,
- wherein, in the first mode, the sound source generates an acoustic field with a first frequency so that at least one particle is moved by the drop-on-demand-dispenser towards the nozzle in a step-by-step manner,
- wherein, in the second mode, the sound source generates an acoustic field with a second frequency so that a standing sound waves in parallel to a direction of liquid movement from the inlet towards the nozzle is generated by reflections at chamber walls of the fluid chamber which are opposite to each other in a direction of the liquid movement from the inlet towards the nozzle, so that at least one particle is held in the fluid chamber in spite of the liquid movement in the fluid chamber.
4 more elements
A method for dispensing particles in free-flying liquid drops, comprising:
- generating an acoustic field in a fluid chamber comprising an inlet and fluidically coupled to a nozzle in order to align particles in a liquid in the fluid chamber in an arrangement;
- and
- applying a drop-on-demand-dispenser to, at a selected point in time, selectively dispense an individual drop from the nozzle in order to eject from the nozzle a free-flying liquid drop comprising one or several particles,
- by a controller coupled to the drop-on-demand-dispenser and a sound source, switching the sound between a first mode and a second mode, wherein,
- in the first mode, the sound source generates an acoustic field with a first frequency so that at least one particle is moved by the drop-on-demand-dispenser towards the nozzle in a step-by-step manner, and
- in the second mode, the sound source generates an acoustic field with a second frequency so that a standing sound wave in parallel to a direction of liquid movement from the inlet towards the nozzle is generated by reflections at chamber walls of the fluid chamber which are opposite to each other in a direction of a liquid movement towards the nozzle, so that at least one particle is held in the fluid chamber in spite of the liquid movement in the fluid chamber.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.