Liquid sampling utilizing ribbed pipette tip for barrier penetration
First Claim
1. A disposable plastic pipette tip comprising a hollow body having a proximal opening at its proximal end for mounting to a mounting shaft of a pipettor and a distal opening at its distal end for aspirating liquid into and dispensing liquid from the hollow body, the pipette tip comprising:
- a collar encircling and extending from the proximal opening; and
a barrel extending from the collar to the distal opening, the barrel having an outer surface with at least four ribs extending longitudinally along the outside surface of the barrel, each rib being circumferentially spaced from one another at a uniform distance from each other and each rib being symmetrically sized and positioned on the pipette tip barrel; and
wherein a central longitudinal axis passes through the hollow body of the pipette tip, each rib has an apex, and the distance from the central longitudinal axis to the apex of each rib is such that an imaginary line passing through the apex to an adjacent apex in a plane perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis does not otherwise intersect the outer surface of the pipette tip barrel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for liquid sampling utilizing a ribbed pipette tip for barrier penetration is disclosed herein. The unique, disposable plastic pipette tip of the present invention has an outer surface with at least three ribs extending longitudinally along the outer surface of the barrel. Each rib is circumferentially spaced from one another at a uniform distance, with each rib being symmetrically sized and positioned on the pipette tip barrel. The pipette tip is capable of being placed on a mounting shaft of a hand-held pipette or on the mounting head of an automated liquid handling machine. The pipette tip is rigid and straight enough to pierce a barrier sheet or resilient barrier sealing a container holding a liquid to be sampled. The ribs of the pipette tip operate to keep the barrier separated from the outer surface of the pipette tip such that ambient air is allowed to flow into and from the interior of the sealed container assembly during aspiration of the liquid sample into the pipette tip allowing for accurate transfer of liquids while minimizing the risk of contamination. The pipette tip and method of the present invention may be utilized in an automated pipetting system to sample an array of sealed containers, such as sealed wells and the pipette tip is sufficiently. The pipette of the present invention may include a self-sealing filter to prevent cross-contamination.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A disposable plastic pipette tip comprising a hollow body having a proximal opening at its proximal end for mounting to a mounting shaft of a pipettor and a distal opening at its distal end for aspirating liquid into and dispensing liquid from the hollow body, the pipette tip comprising:
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a collar encircling and extending from the proximal opening; and
a barrel extending from the collar to the distal opening, the barrel having an outer surface with at least four ribs extending longitudinally along the outside surface of the barrel, each rib being circumferentially spaced from one another at a uniform distance from each other and each rib being symmetrically sized and positioned on the pipette tip barrel; and
wherein a central longitudinal axis passes through the hollow body of the pipette tip, each rib has an apex, and the distance from the central longitudinal axis to the apex of each rib is such that an imaginary line passing through the apex to an adjacent apex in a plane perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis does not otherwise intersect the outer surface of the pipette tip barrel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of sampling a liquid sample from a sealed container assembly using a disposable, plastic pipette tip, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a liquid sample in a sealed container assembly comprising a container having a closed bottom portion and a top portion with an open end, the liquid sample being contained in the bottom portion of the container, and a closure associated with the top portion of the container that seals the open end of the container, the closure comprising at least in part a resilient barrier that separates an interior of the container from the ambient environment;
a) providing a disposable, plastic pipette tip comprising a hollow body having a proximal opening at its proximal end for mounting to a mounting shaft of a pipettor and a distal opening at its distal end for aspirating liquid into and dispensing liquid from the hollow body, the hollow body comprising a collar encircling and extending from the proximal opening, and a barrel extending from the collar to the distal opening, the barrel having an outer surface with at least four ribs extending longitudinally along the outside surface of the barrel;
b) placing the recited pipette tip on a mounting shaft of a pipettor;
piercing the resilient barrier on the container assembly closure with the distal end of the pipette tip barrel and moving the barrel through the resilient barrier until the distal opening is submerged in the liquid sample in the sealed container assembly;
d) aspirating liquid sample from the container into the pipette tip through the submerged distal opening;
e) while aspirating the liquid specimen into the pipette tip, using the ribs on the pipette tip barrel to spread the pierced opening in the resilient barrier such that ambient air is able to flow into and from the interior of the sealed container assembly during aspiration of the liquid sample into the pipette tip; and
f) removing the pipette tip containing the aspirated liquid sample from the container assembly. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of sampling a plurality of liquid samples each contained in one of a plurality of sealed container assemblies with a plurality of disposable, plastic pipette tips, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) providing a plurality of liquid samples each in a sealed container assembly, the sealed container assemblies being arranged in columns and rows to form a two dimensional array, each sealed container assembly comprising a container having a closed bottom portion and a top portion with an open end, the respective liquid sample being contained in the bottom portion of the respective container, and a closure associated with the top portion of each container and sealing its open end, the closure comprising at least in part a resilient barrier that separates an interior of the container from the ambient environment;
b) providing a plurality of disposable, plastic pipette tips each comprising a hollow body having a proximal opening at its proximal end configured to be mounted on the mounting shaft of an automated pipetting system configured to accept an array of pipette tips and a distal opening at its distal end for aspirating liquid into and dispensing liquid from the hollow body, the hollow body comprising a collar encircling and extending from the proximal opening, a barrel extending from the collar to the distal opening, the barrel having an outer surface with at least four ribs extending longitudinally along the outside surface of the barrel;
c) mounting a plurality of the recited pipette tips in an array on the mounting head for an automated pipetting system;
d) contemporaneously piercing at least some of the resilient barriers on the array of container assemblies with the distal end of at least some of the mounted pipette tips and moving the barrel of the pipette tips through the respective resilient barriers until the tip openings at the distal ends of the pipette tips are submerged in the liquid samples in the respective sealed container assemblies;
e) aspirating the liquid samples into the respective pipette tips through the submerged distal openings;
f) while aspirating the liquid specimens into the respective pipette tip, using the ribs on the pipette tip barrel to spread the pierced opening in the respective resilient barrier such that ambient air is able to flow into and from the interior of the respective sealed container assembly during aspiration of the sample into the pipette tip; and
g) removing each respective pipette tip containing aspirated liquid sample from the respective container assembly. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification