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US 7,097,810 B2Granted
Delivery of metered amounts of liquid materials
AssigneesThe Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York, Inc., New Jersey Institute of Technology
InventorsTimothy Chang, Peter Tolias
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Techniques for the delivery of metered amounts of liquid material include the use of a pin, such as an optical fiber. A sample of the liquid material may be placed on the tip of the pin for delivery to a target area, such as a specific location on a microarray, in a contactless manner. Light transmitted through the pin may be detected to facilitate accurate measuring of the pin's position.
Claims43
A liquid delivery apparatus comprising:
- a housing including a bore;
- a pin including a tip, the pin movably disposed within the bore;
- a reservoir including a port with an opening adjacent a side of the bore, the reservoir for holding a liquid material for delivery to the opening;
- a first actuator coupled to the reservoir to dispense a metered amount of the liquid material from the reservoir to the opening;
- and
- a second actuator coupled to the pin providing controlled movement of the pin within the bore, including movement of the tip past the opening to adhere dispensed liquid material to the tip, the second actuator also providing controlled vibration of the pin to separate the adhered liquid material from the tip of the pin at a determined position.
3 more elements
A liquid dispensing system comprising:
- a positioning stage;
- and
- a liquid delivery apparatus coupled to the positioning stage to move the liquid delivery apparatus, the liquid delivery apparatus comprising:
- a housing including a bore and a liquid delivery port having an orifice opening into a side of the bore,
- a pin including a tip, the pin movably disposed within the bore,
- a reservoir for holding a liquid material for delivery to the delivery port,
- a first actuator coupled to the reservoir to dispense a metered amount of the liquid material from the reservoir to the interface of the orifice and the bore, and
- a second actuator coupled to the pin providing controlled movement of the pin within the bore, including movement of the tip past the orifice to adhere dispensed liquid material to the tip, the second actuator also providing controlled vibration of the pin to separate the dispensed liquid material from the tip of the pin at a determined position.
5 more elements
A liquid delivery system comprising:
- a positioning stage;
- a liquid delivery apparatus coupled to the positioning stage to move the liquid delivery apparatus in one or more dimensions, the liquid delivery apparatus comprising:
- a housing including a bore,
- a pin including a tip, the pin movably disposed within the bore,
- a reservoir including a port with an opening adjacent a side of the bore, the reservoir for holding a liquid material for delivery to the opening,
- a first actuator coupled to the reservoir to dispense a metered amount of the liquid material from the reservoir to the opening, and
- a second actuator coupled to the pin providing controlled movement of the pin within the bore, including movement of the tip past the opening to adhere dispensed liquid material to the tip, the second actuator also providing controlled vibration of the pin to separate the dispensed liquid material from the tip of the pin at a determined position;
- and
- a controller coupled to the liquid delivery apparatus, the controller including a memory for storing operating instructions and operative to:
- move the pin toward a target area,
- cause the metered amount of liquid material to adhere to a tip of the pin as the pin moves toward the target area,
- sense when the tip of the pin is approximately a predetermined distance above the target area, and
- vibrate the pin to separate the liquid material onto the target area.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.