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US 11,439,963 B2Granted
Microfluidic device for fluid mixture
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsDavid P. Markel, Erik D. Torniainen, Alexander Govyadinov, Pavel Kornilovich
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Examples include microfluidic devices. Example microfluidic devices include a first microfluidic channel, a second microfluidic channel, and a third microfluidic channel fluidly coupled to the first microfluidic channel and the second microfluidic channel via a fluid junction. A fluid actuator is disposed in the third microfluidic channel to actuate to thereby pump a first fluid and a second fluid into the third microfluidic channel.
Claims22
A microfluidic device comprising:
- a first microfluidic channel including a first fluid;
- a second microfluidic channel including a second fluid, wherein the second microfluidic channel intersects the first microfluidic channel at a first fluid junction;
- a third microfluidic channel fluidly coupled to the first microfluidic channel and the second microfluidic channel at the first fluid junction;
- a first fluid actuator asymmetrically disposed in the third microfluidic channel and is positioned in the third microfluidic channel at a first distance from the first microfluidic channel and a second distance from the second microfluidic channel, the first distance being different than the second distance, the first fluid actuator being configured to actuate to pump the first fluid into the third microfluidic channel from the first microfluidic channel and to pump the second fluid into the third microfluidic channel from the second microfluidic channel;
- and
- a controller communicatively coupled to the first fluid actuator and including non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the controller to actuate the first fluid actuator according to actuation characteristics to mix the first fluid and the second fluid at a mixing ratio based on the position of the first fluid actuator in the third microfluidic channel.
3 more elements
A microfluidic device comprising:
- a first microfluidic channel including a first fluid;
- a second microfluidic channel including a second fluid;
- a third microfluidic channel configured to convey a fluid mixture including the first fluid and the second fluid, wherein:
- the first microfluidic channel, the second microfluidic channel, and the third microfluidic channel intersect and are fluidly coupled to one another at a fluid junction;
- a fluid actuator disposed in the third microfluidic channel with respect to the first microfluidic channel and the second microfluidic channel, the fluid actuator being configured to to actuate to mix the fluid mixture in the third microfluidic channel at a mixing ratio of the first fluid and the second fluid;
- and
- a controller including non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the controller to actuate the fluid actuator according to actuation characteristics, wherein the fluid actuator is asymmetrically disposed in the third microfluidic channel and is positioned unequally with respect to the first microfluidic channel and the second microfluidic channel such that the actuation of the fluid actuator pumps a first volume of the first fluid and a second volume of the second fluid into the third microfluidic channel to provide the mixing ratio based on the position of the fluid actuator in the third microfluidic channel and mixes the fluid mixture, wherein the first volume and the second volume are different.
4 more elements
A method of a microfluidic device comprising:
- synchronously pumping, via actuation of a first fluid actuator asymmetrically disposed in a microfluidic channel, a first fluid and a second fluid into the microfluidic channel at a mixing ratio of the first fluid and the second fluid based on a position of the first fluid actuator in the microfluidic channel, the first fluid pumped from a first microfluidic channel coupled to the microfluidic channel at a fluid junction, and the second fluid pumped from a second microfluidic channel coupled to the microfluidic channel at the fluid junction, wherein the first microfluidic channel and the second microfluidic channel intersect at the fluid junction of the microfluidic channel and wherein the first fluid actuator is positioned in the microfluidic channel unequally with respect to the first microfluidic channel and the second microfluidic channel to provide the mixing ratio in response to the actuation of the first fluid actuator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.