Precision liquid dispensing system
First Claim
1. A system for dispensing microdrops of reagent in small, precisely metered quantities, said system comprising:
- a reagent reservoir containing a fluid reagent to be dispensed, means coupled to said reservoir for maintaining said reagent under a controlled pressure, multiple nozzles in fluid communication with said reservoir for dispensing microdrops of said reagent, multiple solenoid valves connected between said reservoir and said nozzles for controlling the flow of said reagent from said reservoir to said nozzles, each of said valves being connected to one of said nozzles, and control means connected to said solenoid valves for supplying electrical pulses separately to each of said solenoid valves for separately controlling the opening and closing of each valve to dispense predetermined quantities of said reagent through each of said nozzles.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for dispensing microdrops of reagent in small, precisely metered quantities maintains the fluid reagent to be dispensed in a reservoir under a controlled pressure. The reagent is dispensed through multiple nozzles connected to solenoid-actuated valves that control the flow of the reagent from the reservoir to the nozzles. Each valve is connected to one of the nozzles and electrical pulses are supplied separately to each of the valves to separately control the opening and closing of each valve to dispense predetermined quantities of the reagent through each nozzle at predetermined times.
180 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for dispensing microdrops of reagent in small, precisely metered quantities, said system comprising:
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a reagent reservoir containing a fluid reagent to be dispensed, means coupled to said reservoir for maintaining said reagent under a controlled pressure, multiple nozzles in fluid communication with said reservoir for dispensing microdrops of said reagent, multiple solenoid valves connected between said reservoir and said nozzles for controlling the flow of said reagent from said reservoir to said nozzles, each of said valves being connected to one of said nozzles, and control means connected to said solenoid valves for supplying electrical pulses separately to each of said solenoid valves for separately controlling the opening and closing of each valve to dispense predetermined quantities of said reagent through each of said nozzles. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20)
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10. A method of dispensing microdrops of reagent in small, precisely metered quantities from a reagent reservoir containing a fluid reagent to be dispensed, said method comprising
maintained said reagent under a controlled pressure in said reservoir, supplying said reagent from said reservoir to multiple solenoid-actuated valves connected to multiple nozzles for dispensing microdrops of the reagent, said solenoid-actuated valves controlling the flow of the reagent from said reservoir to said nozzles, with each valve being connected to one of said nozzles, and supplying electrical pulses separately to each of said solenoid valves to separately control the opening and closing of each valve to dispense predetermined quantities of said reagent through each nozzle at predetermined times.
Specification