MULTI-CHANNEL ELECTRONIC PIPETTOR
First Claim
1. A hand-held, multi-channel electronic pipettor comprising:
- a handle portion containing a motor and an output shaft that is driven by the motor and moves upward to aspirate and downward to dispense; and
a lower portion having;
a cylinder block having multiple aspiration cylinders,a main piston drive shaft attached at its upper end to the output shaft of the handle portion and at its lower end to a piston drive plate,multiple pistons extending downward from the piston drive plate, each piston being disposed for reciprocating movement within one of the multiple aspiration cylinders,a plurality of pipette mounting shafts each having an internal airflow duct, anda manifold having a plurality of air flow passageways each connecting a bottom portion of one of the multiple aspiration cylinders to an internal air flow duct of one of the pipette mounting shafts, wherein the volumes of each of the air flow passageways in the manifold are substantially the same.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-channel electronic pipettor has a removable lower multi-channel assembly to facilitate autoclaving. The pipettor includes a position holding mechanism which allows adjustment of the angular position of the lower multi-channel assembly with respect to the handle assembly. The lower multi-channel assembly includes a cylinder block including a plurality of aspiration cylinders along with a plurality of pistons, a series of pipette tip mounting shafts and a manifold to communicate between the aspiration cylinders and the air passageways in the pipette tip mounting shafts, among other components. The volume of the air passageways in the manifold is balanced among channels to improve tip-to-tip pipetting accuracy. In addition, the lower multi-channel assembly includes an internal frame to which the other components, such as a cylinder block, are attached either directly or indirectly.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A hand-held, multi-channel electronic pipettor comprising:
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a handle portion containing a motor and an output shaft that is driven by the motor and moves upward to aspirate and downward to dispense; and a lower portion having; a cylinder block having multiple aspiration cylinders, a main piston drive shaft attached at its upper end to the output shaft of the handle portion and at its lower end to a piston drive plate, multiple pistons extending downward from the piston drive plate, each piston being disposed for reciprocating movement within one of the multiple aspiration cylinders, a plurality of pipette mounting shafts each having an internal airflow duct, and a manifold having a plurality of air flow passageways each connecting a bottom portion of one of the multiple aspiration cylinders to an internal air flow duct of one of the pipette mounting shafts, wherein the volumes of each of the air flow passageways in the manifold are substantially the same. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A hand-held, multi-channel electronic pipettor comprising:
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a handle portion containing a motor and an output shaft that is driven by the motor and moves upward to aspirate and downward to dispense; a lower multi-channel assembly comprising; an internal frame, a cylinder block attached to the frame, the cylinder block having multiple aspiration cylinders, a main piston drive shaft attached at its upper end to the output shaft of the handle portion and at its lower end to a piston drive plate, multiple pistons extending downward from the piston drive plate, each piston being disposed for reciprocating movement within one of the multiple aspiration cylinders, a plurality of pipette mounting shafts, and a manifold connecting the multiple aspiration cylinders to the pipette mounting shafts. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A hand-held, multi-channel electronic pipettor comprising:
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a handle assembly containing a motor and an output shaft that is driven by the motor and move upward to aspirate and downward to dispense; a lower multi-channel assembly having; a cylinder block with multiple aspiration cylinders, a main piston drive shaft attached at its lower end to a piston drive plate, multiple pistons extending downward from the piston drive plate, each piston being disposed for reciprocating movement within one of the multiple aspiration cylinders, a plurality of pipette mounting shafts, and a manifold connecting the multiple aspiration cylinders to the pipette mounting shaft; wherein the lower multi-channel assembly is attached to the handle assembly so that the main piston drive shaft in the lower assembly is attached to the output shaft of the upper assembly along a longitudinal axis and the lower assembly is able to rotate about the longitudinal axis to vary the angular position of the lower multi-channel assembly relative to the handle assembly; and wherein the pipettor further comprises a position holding mechansim having a ratcheting surface facing downward from the bottom of the handle assembly and a mating ratcheting surface facing upward from the lower multi-channel assembly which when engaged allow the users to hold the relative position of the lower multi-channel assembly with respect to the handle assembly in a fixed angular position. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A hand-held, multi-channel electronic pipettor comprising:
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a handle portion containing a motor and an output shaft that is driven by the motor and moves upward to aspirate and downward to dispense; and a lower portion having; a cylinder block having multiple aspiration cylinders, a main piston drive shaft attached at its upper end to the output shaft of the handle portion and at its lower end to a piston drive plate, multiple pistons extending downward from the piston drive plate, each piston being disposed for reciprocating movement within one of the multiple aspiration cylinders, a plurality of pipette mounting shafts each having an internal airflow duct, and a manifold having a plurality of air flow passageways each connecting a bottom portion of one of the multiple aspiration cylinders to an internal air flow duct of one of the pipette mounting shafts, wherein the manifold comprises; an upper manifold plate having a plurality of openings on an upper surface corresponding to the location of a bottom of one of the aspiration cylinders, and a plurality of channels on a lower surface, each channel extending from one of the holes; and a lower manifold plate having a plurality of holes corresponding to the location of the end of each channel in the upper manifold plate. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A hand-held, multi-channel electronic pipettor comprising:
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a handle assembly containing a stationary motor chassis, a motor and an output shaft that is driven by the motor and moves upward to aspirate and downward to dispense; a lower multi-channel assembly comprising; an internal frame, a cylinder block attached to the frame, the cylinder block having multiple aspiration cylinders, a main piston drive shaft attached at its upper end to the output shaft of the handle portion and at its lower end to a piston drive plate, multiple pistons extending downward from the piston drive plate, each piston being disposed for reciprocating movement within one of the multiple aspiration cylinders, a plurality of pipette mounting shafts, and a manifold connecting the multiple aspiration cylinders to the pipette mounting shafts; and wherein the motor chassis, internal frame, cylinder block and manifold are attached to one another to form a unitary structural member.
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Specification