Container and container arrangement for liquid to be dispensed
AssigneeTecan Genomics, Inc.
InventorsNeil Pollock, Giles Hugo William Sanders, Philip John Rawlins
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A container for a liquid to be dispensed has a bottom layer with a cavity defined by a closed perimeter wall with a connecting plate that adjoins the closed perimeter wall and extends in a single plane. A nozzle is provided in the closed perimeter wall in an area furthest away from the connecting plate. A top layer is sealingly attached to the connecting plate at least around the opening of the cavity. The bottom layer is made of a rigid material. The top layer is made of a flexible material. The material properties of the top layer are such that the top layer, when deformed, can at least partially lay laminar against the inside of the cavity without tearing.
Claims16
A container arrangement for a liquid to be dispensed, comprising several containers that are connected to each other by a common connecting plate, each of the containers comprising:
- a bottom layer with a cavity being defined by a closed perimeter wall and with the connecting plate that adjoins the closed perimeter wall and that extends in a single plane,
- a nozzle provided in the closed perimeter wall in an area furthest away from the connecting plate,
- a top layer that is sealingly attached to the connecting plate at least around the opening of the cavity,
- wherein the bottom layer is made of a rigid material and the top layer is made of a flexible material having material properties such that the top layer, when deformed can at least partially lay laminar against the inside of the cavity without tearing, and
- wherein the connecting plate comprises ring sections that surround the openings of the cavities of the several containers and first webs that connect two adjoining ring sections, wherein the cavities with the ring sections and the first webs are aligned on a single line and together form a single strip, and wherein the first webs are narrower in width than the ring sections, resulting in first recesses being formed adjacent to the first webs between the ring sections of two neighboring cavities.
A method for filling a container arrangement, comprising:
- providing a container arrangement for a liquid to be dispensed, the container arrangement comprising several containers that are connected to each other by a common connecting plate, each of the containers comprising a bottom layer with a cavity being defined by a closed perimeter wall and with the connecting plate that adjoins the closed perimeter wall and that extends in a single plane, a nozzle provided in the closed perimeter wall, in an area furthest away from the connecting plate,
- wherein the bottom layer is made of a rigid material and
- wherein the connecting plate comprises ring sections that surround the openings of the cavities of the several containers and first webs that connect two adjoining ring sections, wherein the cavities with the ring sections and the first webs are aligned on a single line and together form a single strip, and wherein the first webs are narrower in width than the ring sections, resulting in first recesses being formed adjacent to the first webs between the ring sections of two neighboring cavities;
- sealing some or all nozzles of the several containers with a common tear-off film, in which the tear-off film can be removed non-destructively;
- filling the cavity of at least one of the several containers with a liquid, at least partially;
- and
- sealing the cavity of at least one of the several containers with a common top layer by attaching the common top layer to the connecting plate at least around the opening of the cavity, wherein the top layer is made of a flexible material having material properties such that the top layer, when deformed can at least partially lay laminar against the inside of the cavity without tearing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.