Method for sealing and venting a microplate assembly
First Claim
1. A method of sealing a vessel, to prevent independent passage of liquid from said vessel for all possible positions of the vessel, and venting said vessel, to equalize the gas pressure between interior and exterior of the vessel, and wherein said vessel has an opening and an interior volume with a liquid-holding space located therein, said method comprising:
- mounting a cover over said opening to form a friction-tight impermeable seal between said cover and a surface of said opening;
forming a vent hole in said interior of said vessel outside said liquid-holding space for all possible positions of said vessel;
extending a tubular passage from said vent hole through said cover to the exterior of said vessel such that said vent hole communicates with said interior volume outside said liquid with interior volume outside said liquid-holding space and said exterior of said vessel; and
placing a resilient barrier across said tubular passage to partially cover said vent hole wherein said resilient barrier defines an axial opening which forms a vent when not penetrated by a probe.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A microplate assembly comprising a multi-well microplate, a plurality of vent caps and a porous vent film. The microplate includes a frame that houses a plurality of open wells in a rectangular array. Vent caps mount on the microplate to seal and vent the wells. When the vent caps are coupled to the wells, an interior volume is formed in each well. The wells function as a vessel for liquid samples that occupy predetermined spaces within the interior volumes. Each liquid sample remains within its predetermined space for all orientations of the microplate assembly. The vent cap comprises an array of well inserts. Each well insert comprises a sealing plug and a vent tube. A flexible perforated web interconnects the well inserts to each other. The vent tubes are fixed to the sealing plugs and terminate in a vent. A barrier formed from a plurality of nested flaps resiliently mounts on the vent tube to partially cover the vent and help inhibit the evaporation and loss of the liquid samples.
158 Citations
5 Claims
-
1. A method of sealing a vessel, to prevent independent passage of liquid from said vessel for all possible positions of the vessel, and venting said vessel, to equalize the gas pressure between interior and exterior of the vessel, and wherein said vessel has an opening and an interior volume with a liquid-holding space located therein, said method comprising:
-
mounting a cover over said opening to form a friction-tight impermeable seal between said cover and a surface of said opening;
forming a vent hole in said interior of said vessel outside said liquid-holding space for all possible positions of said vessel;
extending a tubular passage from said vent hole through said cover to the exterior of said vessel such that said vent hole communicates with said interior volume outside said liquid with interior volume outside said liquid-holding space and said exterior of said vessel; and
placing a resilient barrier across said tubular passage to partially cover said vent hole wherein said resilient barrier defines an axial opening which forms a vent when not penetrated by a probe.- View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. A method of sealing and venting multiple open wells contained in a multi-well microplate, each said well comprising a fluid vessel with an opening, an interior volume and a liquid-holding space located in said interior volume, said wells being sealed to prevent independent passage of liquid from said liquid-holding space to the exterior of said vessel, said method comprising the steps of:
-
inserting a plug having a flexible body with a resilient surface in each of said openings to form a friction-tight impermeable seal between said resilient surface and a surface of said opening;
forming a vent hole in the interior volume of each said well outside said liquid holding space for all possible positions of each said well;
extending a passage from each said vent hole through the flexible body of each said plug to the exterior of said wells;
placing a resilient barrier across each said tubular passage to partially cover each vent hole, wherein said resilient barrier defines an axial opening which forms a vent when not penetrated by a probe; and
joining said plugs to each other with a flexible sheet in a planar array to match a pattern of said open wells. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
-
Specification