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US 2017/0151560 A1Published application
Microfluidic pump and valve structures and fabrication methods
AssigneeRheonix, Inc.
InventorsPeng Zhou, Lincoln C. Young
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Plastic microfluidic structures having a substantially rigid diaphragm that actuates between a relaxed state wherein the diaphragm sits against the surface of a substrate and an actuated state wherein the diaphragm is moved away from the substrate. As will be seen from the following description, the microfluidic structures formed with this diaphragm provide easy to manufacture and robust systems, as well readily made components such as valves and pumps.
Claims5
A microfluidic pump, comprising:
- only a single, non-elastomeric polymer substrate layer having upper and lower surfaces,
- wherein the upper surface includes a membrane-bonded region, a first membrane bond-free region, and a second membrane bond-free region, further wherein the first and second bond-free regions are valves;
- a first inlet/out microfluidic channel disposed in the upper surface and having an end that fluidically intersects the first membrane bond-free region/valve;
- a microfluidic channel disposed in the upper surface and having one end that fluidically intersects the first membrane bond-free region/valve and another end that fluidically intersects the second membrane bond-free region/valve, thereby interconnecting the two valves;
- a second inlet/out microfluidic channel disposed in the upper surface and having an end that fluidically intersects the second membrane bond-free region/valve;
- and
- only a single, non-elastomeric polymer membrane layer having a continuous surface, bonded to the membrane-bonded region of the upper surface of the substrate and entirely covering the first and second membrane bond-free regions/valves including the microfluidic channel interconnecting the two valves,
- wherein at least one of the first and second inlet/out microfluidic channels is characterized by having a higher resistance to fluid flow than that of the microfluidic channel interconnecting the two valves,
- further wherein the microfluidic pump is characterized by an integrated, monolithic construction consisting of the substrate layer and the membrane layer.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.