Liquid handling tool having porous plunger
First Claim
1. A material handling tool, comprising:
- a tool body;
a plurality of needles mounted to the tool body, each of the plurality of needles constructed and arranged to remove material from a work area and deposit material on a work area;
a plurality of plungers moveable in the tool body, each of the plurality of plungers associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of needles, wherein each of the plungers has a passageway that allows fluid flow through the plunger; and
a controller constructed and arranged to individually address each of the passageways so that flow in each of the passageways is individually controlled.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A robotically manipulable sample handling tool, such as a colony picking head or robotic pipetting tool, includes needles arranged on the tool. Actuators are associated with each needle to control flow for the needle. A plurality of plungers are each associated with a needle, and movement of the plungers can actuate a corresponding needle. Each of the plungers has a passageway that may be opened or closed, e.g., to move the corresponding needle and/or draw fluid into/expel fluid from the needle when the plunger is moved in the tool body. The actuators are arranged so that plunger passageways may be individually controlled by a controller.
151 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A material handling tool, comprising:
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a tool body;
a plurality of needles mounted to the tool body, each of the plurality of needles constructed and arranged to remove material from a work area and deposit material on a work area;
a plurality of plungers moveable in the tool body, each of the plurality of plungers associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of needles, wherein each of the plungers has a passageway that allows fluid flow through the plunger; and
a controller constructed and arranged to individually address each of the passageways so that flow in each of the passageways is individually controlled. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A robotically manipulable material handling tool, comprising:
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a tool body;
a first number of needles mounted to the tool body, each of the needles constructed and arranged to remove material from a work area and deposit material on a work area;
a plurality of plungers moveable in the tool body, each of the plurality of plungers associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of needles, wherein each of the plungers has a passageway that allows fluid flow through the plunger;
a first number of membrane valves, each valve associated with a corresponding plunger and controlling flow for the passageway in the plunger; and
a valve controller constructed and arranged to control each of the membrane valves by providing signals to the membrane valves;
wherein the valve controller is adapted to control the membrane valves to individually control flow for each passageway. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A robotically manipulable material handling tool, comprising:
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a tool body;
a plurality of needles mounted to the tool body in M columns and N rows, each of the needles constructed and arranged to remove material from a work area and deposit material on a work area;
a plurality of plungers moveable in the tool body, each of the plurality of plungers associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of needles, wherein each of the plungers has a passageway that allows fluid flow through the plunger;
a plurality of addressing valves, at least one addressing valve associated with a corresponding passageway and controlling flow for the passageway; and
a plurality of switches that provide signals to the addressing valves, the number of switches equal to M+N;
wherein the plurality of switches are adapted to provide signals to the addressing valves to individually control flow for each needle. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification