SEGMENTED PROCESS APPARATUS FOR MICROPLATE AND SEGMENTED PROCESS METHOD FOR MICROPLATE

• US 20100285996A1
• Filed: 08/30/2007
• Published: 11/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal Bio Research Co., Ltd (Precision System Science Co., Ltd)
• Original Assignee: Universal Bio Research Co., Ltd (Precision System Science Co., Ltd)
• Inventors: Tajima, Hideji
• Granted Patent: US 8,921,282 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 506/27
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/028 having reaction cells in the form of microtitration plates
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/1074 arranged in a two-dimensional array

Abstract

An object is to provide a highly effective segmented process apparatus for a microplate using a standard microplate without increasing the scale of the apparatus, as well as a method for processing a microplate. The apparatus includes: a predetermined microplate provided with a number of wells are set in array; one or more nozzle heads provided with a number of nozzles set in array; a suction and ejection mechanism for sucking and ejecting a gas via the nozzles; and a moving means which allows relative movement between the microplate and the nozzle heads, wherein tips of all of the nozzles provided on each nozzle head are provided in such a manner that the tips can be inserted into the wells in a portion of the microplate all together, and the row intervals and column intervals of the nozzles in array are respectively same as the row intervals and column intervals of the wells in array.

Claims

1. A segmented process apparatus for a microplate, comprising:

a predetermined microplate provided with a number of wells set in array;

one or more nozzle heads provided with a number of nozzles set in array;

a suction and ejection mechanism for sucking and ejecting a gas via the nozzles; and

a moving means which allows relative movement between said microplate and the nozzle heads, wherein

tips of all of the nozzles provided on each nozzle head are provided in such a manner that the tips can be inserted into the wells in a part of said microplate all together, and the row intervals and column intervals of said nozzles in array are respectively same as the row intervals and column intervals of said wells in array, and

a magnetic force means having a magnet is provided in such a manner that the magnet is movable toward and away from said nozzles along a straight line or a curve that passes in the vicinity of each of said nozzles without crossing either of said nozzles, so that it is possible to apply a magnetic field to and remove a magnetic field from inside each of the nozzles provided on said nozzle head all together.

2. The segmented process apparatus for a microplate according to claim 1, wherein said microplate includes a number of sub-arrays of wells into each of which the tips of all of the nozzles provided on said nozzle head can be inserted all together, and each of the sub-arrays does not include a well overlapping with each other.

4. The segmented process apparatus for a microplate according to claim 1, wherein said magnetic force means includes:

one or more comb teeth members in rod form, which extend in the row direction or the column direction and which are correspondingly aligned in the column direction or the row direction so as to come adjacent to one or two nozzle rows or nozzle columns;

a support member connected one or more of the comb teeth members at one end and is movable relative to said nozzles; and

magnets provided in each comb teeth member in locations corresponding to the nozzles belonging to said one or two nozzle rows or nozzle columns adjacent to each other.

5. The segmented process apparatus for a microplate according to claim 1, further comprising a control portion, wherein the control portion controls said moving means to perform an operation, in which the moving means relatively moves between said nozzle head and said microplate so that the tips of all of the nozzles provided on said nozzle head are in such locations where the tips can be inserted into the wells belonging to one of said sub-arrays of wells in said microplate, and then moves to insert the tips of said nozzles into said wells all together and to remove the tips after a certain process, and the operation is repeated in sequence for the wells belonging to other sub-arrays of wells.

6. The segmented process apparatus for a microplate according to claim 5, wherein solutions or suspension liquids required for the steps in the process are contained in each of said number of sub-arrays of wells along the moving path of said nozzle head in accordance with the order of the steps.

7. The segmented process apparatus for a microplate according to claim 1, wherein each of said nozzles provided on said nozzle head has a nozzle for attachment and a dispenser tip detachably attached to said nozzle for attachment, and said nozzle head has a tip detaching portion for detaching the dispenser tip attached to said nozzle for attachment.

8. The segmented process apparatus for a microplate according to claim 1, further comprising a light detecting means having a light detecting portion provided in such a manner that the light detecting unit is Movable toward each of the nozzles in sequence along a straight line or a curve that passes in the vicinity of each of said nozzles without crossing either of said nozzles so that it is possible to detect the state of the liquid inside the nozzles provided on said nozzle head in sequence.

9. The segmented process apparatus for a microplate according to claim 8, wherein said light detecting means includes:

one or more comb teeth members in rod form, which extend in the row direction or the column direction and which are correspondingly aligned in the column direction or the row direction so as to come adjacent to one or two nozzle rows or nozzle columns;

a support member connected to the one or more comb teeth members at one end and movable relative to said nozzles; and

light detecting portions provided in the vicinity of the other end of said comb teeth members in order to optically detect the inside of the nozzles belonging to one or two nozzle rows or nozzle columns adjacent to each other in sequence.

10. The segmented process apparatus for a microplate according to claim 1, wherein said nozzle head has an integrated nozzle body where a number of nozzles, which are a part of or all of two or more nozzles set in array are integrated, and said suction and ejection mechanism has two or more suction and ejection elements connected to each of the nozzles of said integrated nozzle body.

11. The segmented process apparatus for a microplate according to claim 10, wherein said integrated nozzle body has an integrated nozzle body for attachment where two or more nozzles for attachment set in array are integrated;

and an integrated dispenser tip body where two or more dispenser tips attached to the nozzles for attachment of the integrated nozzle body for attachment set in array are integrated, and each of said nozzles for attachment in said integrated nozzle body for attachment is connected to one corresponding dispenser tip in said integrated dispenser tip body.

3. (canceled)

12. A segmented process method for a microplate, comprising:

providing a predetermined microplate provided with a number of wells set in array, one or more nozzle heads provided with a number of nozzles set in array, a suction and ejection mechanism for sucking and ejecting a gas via the nozzles, and a moving means which allows relative movement between said microplate and the nozzle heads, wherein the tips of all of the nozzles provided on each nozzle head are provided in such a manner that the tips can be inserted into the wells in a part of said microplate all together, and the row intervals and column intervals of said nozzles in array are respectively same as the row intervals and column intervals of said wells in array;

positioning nozzles at locations where all of the nozzles provided on said nozzle head can be inserted into the wells in portion of said microplate all together by moving said nozzle head relative to said microplate; and

applying a magnetic field to inside each of said nozzles by relatively moving each of magnets toward each of the nozzles along a straight line or a curve that passes in the vicinity of each of the nozzles without crossing either of the nozzles; and

removing the magnetic field by relatively moving the magnetic away from each of the nozzles.

13. The segmented process method for a microplate according to claim 12, wherein said step of positioning nozzles is carried out in sequence on a number of sub-arrays of wells, which are contained in said microplate, into each of which the tip of all of the nozzles provided on said nozzle head can be inserted all together, and each of the sub-arrays does not include a well overlapping with each other.

15. The segmented process method for a microplate according to claim 12, wherein the step of applying a magnetic field to inside each of said nozzles and the step of removing the magnetic field are carried out by using a magnetic force means including:

one or more comb teeth members in rod form, which extend in the row direction or the column direction and which are correspondingly aligned in the column direction or the row direction so as to come adjacent to one or two nozzle rows or nozzle columns;

a support member connected to one or more of the comb teeth members at one end and is movable relative to said nozzles; and

the magnets provided in each comb teeth member in locations corresponding to the nozzles belonging to said one or two nozzle rows or nozzle columns adjacent to each other, the magnetic field is applied to each of said nozzles by moving said comb teeth member toward said nozzles, the magnetic field is removed from each of said nozzles by moving the comb teeth member away from said nozzles.

16. The segmented process method for a microplate according to claim 12, comprising the steps of:

after the step of positioning nozzles at locations where all of said nozzles provided on said nozzle head can be inserted all together, inserting the tip of all of said nozzles provided on said nozzle head into said wells in said microplate all together to perform a certain process; and

removing said nozzles from the wells all together.

17. The segmented process method for a microplate according to claim 12, wherein each of said nozzles provided on said nozzle head has a nozzle for attachment and a dispenser tip detachably attached to said nozzle for attachment, the method comprising the steps of:

attaching or detaching said dispenser tip to or from a part of or all of said nozzles for attachment provided on said nozzle head.

18. The segmented process method for a microplate according to claim 12, further comprising the steps of:

detecting the state of the liquid inside the nozzles provided on said nozzle head in sequence by relatively moving a light detecting portion toward each of the nozzles in sequence along a straight line or a curve that passes in the vicinity of each of said nozzles without crossing either of said nozzles.

14. (canceled)