Apparatus for transfer of an array of liquids and methods for manufacturing same
First Claim
1. An apparatus for transfer of an array of liquids, said apparatus comprising a bonded array of parallel capillary tubes, the array having a planar well side and an opposite, planar nozzle side, wherein a plurality of said capillary tubes include a microwell at the planar well side and a capillary nozzle in fluid communication with the microwell extending to the planar nozzle side.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for producing an apparatus for transferring small amounts of liquids includes bonding a plurality of parallel fibers having plural coaxial layers into a bundle, slicing the bundle of parallel fibers in planes perpendicular to the direction of the fibers to form two opposite, planar surfaces, and selectively etching the fiber layers to create etched wells in the fibers at one of the planar surfaces. The etched wells are in fluid communication with corresponding capillary nozzles of the fibers that extend to an opposite one of the planar surfaces. Various apparatus configurations of the present invention include liquid transfer devices manufactured utilizing one or more of the various method configurations of the present invention. By way of example only, a bundle of three-layer optical fibers or a bundle of hollow two-layer optical fibers may be utilized to produce a liquid transfer device.
104 Citations
45 Claims
- 1. An apparatus for transfer of an array of liquids, said apparatus comprising a bonded array of parallel capillary tubes, the array having a planar well side and an opposite, planar nozzle side, wherein a plurality of said capillary tubes include a microwell at the planar well side and a capillary nozzle in fluid communication with the microwell extending to the planar nozzle side.
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12. A method for making a liquid transfer device, said method comprising:
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bonding a plurality of parallel fibers having plural coaxial layers into a bundle;
slicing the bundle of parallel fibers in planes perpendicular to the direction of the fibers to form two opposite, planar surfaces, selectively etching the fiber layers to create etched wells in the fibers at one of the planar surfaces, wherein the etched wells are in fluid communication with corresponding capillary nozzles of the fibers that extend to an opposite one of the planar surfaces. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification