Twist lock compliant needle for detection of contact
AssigneeWaters Technologies Corporation
InventorsDavid A. Simpson, Joshua A. Burnett, John M. Auclair
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A twist-lock compliant needle including a housing component surrounding a needle holder holding a rigidly mounted needle, the housing component including a biasing element disposed therein, wherein the biasing element compresses as a needle tip of the needle contacts a surface is provided. An associated method is also provided.
Claims24
A twist-lock compliant needle comprising:
- a needle holder holding a rigidly mounted needle;
- a housing component surrounding the needle holder;
- a biasing element disposed within the housing component;
- wherein, when the needle contacts a surface, the housing component moves relative to the needle holder and compresses the biasing element.
A locking needle mechanism comprising:
- a needle holder configured to retain a needle configured to aspirate sample from a sample container and inject the sample into an injection port of a liquid chromatography system;
- a carriage configured to move the needle between sample container locations and the injection port of the liquid chromatography system, the carriage including at least one receiving slot and at least one retaining cavity;
- and
- a housing component including at least one retaining element protruding from the housing component that passes through the at least one receiving slot as the housing component is received within the carriage, wherein a biasing element is disposed within the housing component;
- wherein the housing component is locked into place with the carriage when:
- (i) the biasing element is compressed in a first direction so that the housing component moves in the first direction with respect to the carriage, and (ii) the housing component is rotated in a second direction until the at least one retaining element is aligned with the at least one retaining cavity of the carriage.
A needle mechanism for detecting a contact between a needle tip and a surface comprising:
- a needle configured to aspirate sample from a sample container and inject the sample into an injection port of a liquid chromatography system, the needle rigidly mounted to a needle holder;
- a carriage configured to move the needle between sample container locations and an injection port of the liquid chromatography system;
- and
- a housing component locked into place with the carriage, wherein a biasing element is disposed within the housing component;
- wherein the contact between the needle tip and the surface is detected when the carriage moves with respect to the needle as the needle remains stationary.
The needle mechanism of claim 19, wherein the surface is at least one of:
- a bottom of a sample container, a seal of the sample container, and an unexpected object or surface.
A method for positioning a needle into an optimal aspirating position within a sample container, the method comprising:
- detecting a relative movement of a carriage with respect to a needle as the carriage is moved into the sample container, the relative movement confirming a contact between the needle and a bottom surface of the sample container;
- and
- controlling the carriage to automatically reposition the needle a new position within the sample container, in response to the detecting.
The method of claim 25, wherein the new position is a distance from a bottom of the sample container, in a reverse direction.
The method of claim 25, wherein at least one sensor detects the relative movement of the carriage.
The method of claim 25, wherein the biasing element begins to compress as the needle tip contacts the rigid surface and the carriage continues to move.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.