Microfluidic Pump and Valve Structures and Fabrication Methods
First Claim
1. A microfluidic system, comprising a reservoir of the type capable of storing at least one of a fluid material, a gaseous material, a solid material substantially dissolved in a liquid material, an emulsion material, a slurry material, and a fluid material with particles suspended therein, a reservoir pump chamber coupled to the reservoir and being connected to at least two other pump chambers, and a controller capable of sequentially activating the reservoir pump chamber and the two other pump chambers, whereby a material is drawn into the reservoir pump chamber and then partially drawn into respective ones of the two pump chambers and the partially drawn material in one of the two pump chambers may be subsequently returned to the reservoir pump chamber.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Plastic microfluidic structures having a substantially rigid diaphragm that actuates between a relaxed state wherein the diaphragm sits against the surface of a substrate and an actuated state wherein the diaphragm is moved away from the substrate. As will be seen from the following description, the microfluidic structures formed with this diaphragm provide easy to manufacture and robust systems, as well readily made components such as valves and pumps.
68 Citations
13 Claims
- 1. A microfluidic system, comprising a reservoir of the type capable of storing at least one of a fluid material, a gaseous material, a solid material substantially dissolved in a liquid material, an emulsion material, a slurry material, and a fluid material with particles suspended therein, a reservoir pump chamber coupled to the reservoir and being connected to at least two other pump chambers, and a controller capable of sequentially activating the reservoir pump chamber and the two other pump chambers, whereby a material is drawn into the reservoir pump chamber and then partially drawn into respective ones of the two pump chambers and the partially drawn material in one of the two pump chambers may be subsequently returned to the reservoir pump chamber.
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3. An integrated microfluidic device, comprising:
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a plurality of pump structures; and at least one shared outlet/inlet valve, wherein each of the pump structures includes an inlet/outlet valve and a drive valve that are serially connected by a microfluidic channel, further wherein the shared outlet/inlet valve is connected, respectively, to each drive valve by a microfluidic channel. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An integrated microfluidic pumping structure, comprising:
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a plurality of reservoirs; a plurality of inlet/outlet valves each connected to a respective one of the plurality of reservoirs by a microfluidic channel; and a shared drive valve operatively connected to each of the plurality of inlet/outlet valves by a respective microfluidic channel. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An integrated microfluidic component, comprising:
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a plurality of microfluidic valves each of which is operatively interconnected to a plurality of microfluidic valves; and a plurality of reservoirs each of which is operatively connected to at least one of the plurality of microfluidic valves.
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Specification