Reagent dispensing valve
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A fluid dispensing valve, comprising:
- a valve portion having a plunger and a seat disposed in a valve cavity;
an actuator in mechanical communication with said valve portion and configured to open and close said valve at a predetermined frequency and/or duty cycle by displacement of said plunger, said actuator being substantially in fluid isolation from said valve portion via a diaphragm; and
bubble removal means comprising a bubble trap in fluid communication with said valve portion and adapted to receive gaseous bubbles formed within the fluid in said valve.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A reagent dispensing valve particularly adapted for dispensing precise microfluidic quantities of fluids. The valve includes a valve portion and a solenoid actuator that are in fluid isolation from one another. The valve portion includes a plunger and seat combination and the actuator is substantially decoupled from the fluid path through the valve. The fluid path through the valve is substantially non-tortuous, thereby minimizing localized fluid pressure drops, and hence undesirable gaseous bubble precipitation within the fluid. The valve is also configured to substantially prevent bubble accumulation. The valve can further include a bubble trap for trapping and removing bubbles.
187 Citations
105 Claims
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1. A fluid dispensing valve, comprising:
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a valve portion having a plunger and a seat disposed in a valve cavity;
an actuator in mechanical communication with said valve portion and configured to open and close said valve at a predetermined frequency and/or duty cycle by displacement of said plunger, said actuator being substantially in fluid isolation from said valve portion via a diaphragm; and
bubble removal means comprising a bubble trap in fluid communication with said valve portion and adapted to receive gaseous bubbles formed within the fluid in said valve. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A fluid dispensing valve, comprising:
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a valve portion having a plunger and a seat, said plunger and said seat being disposed in a valve cavity to define a valve orifice opening, said valve cavity being generally tapered in the direction of said seat, said plunger and said seat being configured to reduce the pressure drop through said valve orifice opening;
an actuator in mechanical communication with said valve portion and configured to open and close said valve at a predetermined frequency and/or duty cycle by displacement of said plunger, said actuator being substantially interfaced with said valve portion through a diaphragm; and
bubble removal means comprising a bubble trap in fluid communication with said valve portion and adapted to receive gaseous bubbles formed within the fluid in said valve. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A fluid dispensing valve, comprising:
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a valve portion having a plunger and a seat being disposed in a valve cavity;
an actuator in mechanical communication with said valve portion and configured to open and close said valve at a predetermined frequency and/or duty cycle by displacement of said plunger, said actuator being substantially interfaced with said valve portion through a diaphragm; and
a bubble trap in fluid communication with said valve cavity, said bubble trap being disposed adjacent to and generally above said valve cavity, said bubble trap being configured and operable to trap and dispose of buoyant gaseous bubbles. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A fluid dispensing valve, comprising:
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a valve portion having a plunger and a seat, said plunger and said seat being disposed in a valve cavity to define a valve orifice opening, said valve cavity being generally tapered in the direction of said seat, said plunger and said seat being configured to reduce the pressure drop through said valve orifice opening, said plunger being substantially blunt faced and having a resilient exterior, said seat being substantially rounded, said plunger being adapted to seal against said seat, said fluid flowing into said valve cavity through a concentric feed;
a solenoid actuator to open and close said valve at a predetermined frequency and/or duty cycle by displacement of said plunger, said actuator being substantially in fluid isolation from said valve portion via a resilient diaphragm, the fluid path through said valve being substantially decoupled from said actuator, said plunger being in mechanical communication with a movable core of said actuator, said movable core being spring biased in the direction of said valve seat;
a bubble trap being in fluid communication with said valve cavity via said concentric feed and said cavity of said actuator fitting, said bubble trap being disposed adjacent to said cavity of said actuator fitting, said bubble trap having a cavity spaced from and disposed generally above said valve cavity, said cavity of said bubble trap being dimensioned to be substantially larger than said cavity of said actuator fitting, said bubble trap being configured and operable to trap and dispose of buoyant gaseous bubbles, said bubble trap being able to purge said fluid containing said bubbles in a sump;
whereby, said valve substantially minimizes bubble formation and accumulation in said fluid within said valve, said valve in combination with positive displacement means, a fluid reservoir, a tip and a nozzle being able to dispense precise quantities of said fluid and to aspirate a source fluid.
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60. A fluid dispensing valve, comprising:
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a valve portion having a plunger and a seat disposed in a valve cavity;
an actuator in mechanical communication with said valve portion and configured to open and close said valve at a predetermined frequency and/or duty cycle by displacement of said plunger, said actuator being substantially in fluid isolation from said valve portion via a diaphragm and the fluid path through said valve being substantially decoupled from said actuator; and
said valve having an inlet passage generally parallel to said plunger and a downwardly angled connection port intermediate said inlet passage and said valve cavity. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A fluid dispensing valve, comprising:
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a valve portion having a plunger and a seat, said plunger and said seat being disposed in a valve cavity to define a valve orifice opening, said valve cavity being generally tapered in the direction of said seat, said plunger and said seat being configured to reduce the pressure drop through said valve orifice opening;
an actuator in mechanical communication with said valve portion and configured to open and close said valve at a predetermined frequency and/or duty cycle by displacement of said plunger, said actuator being substantially interfaced with said valve portion through a diaphragm and the fluid path through said valve being substantially decoupled from said actuator; and
said valve having an inlet passage generally parallel to said plunger and a downwardly angled connection port intermediate said inlet passage and said valve cavity. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68)
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69. A valve for dispensing and/or aspirating a fluid, comprising:
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a valve portion including a plunger and a seat within a valve cavity and operable to selectively open and close a fluid path through said valve, said valve comprising an inlet passage generally parallel to said plunger, said valve portion further including a downwardly angled connection passage intermediate said inlet passage and said valve cavity and a concentric feed intermediate said connection passage and said valve cavity;
a movable diaphragm sealingly fitted to said valve portion and in mechanical communication with said plunger; and
an actuator in mechanical communication with said diaphragm and substantially fluidly isolated from said valve portion, said actuator being configured to open and close said valve at a predetermined frequency and/or duty cycle by displacement of said plunger, said fluid path through said valve being substantially decoupled from said actuator. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81)
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82. A valve for dispensing droplets of a fluid, comprising:
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a valve portion including a plunger and a mating seat within a valve cavity and operable to selectively open and close a fluid path through said valve, said fluid path through said valve being substantially smooth and without sharp directional changes to substantially mitigate gaseous bubble formation within said fluid;
a movable diaphragm sealingly fitted to said valve portion and in mechanical communication with said plunger;
a solenoid actuator substantially fluidly isolated from said valve portion and having a movable core in mechanical communication with said diaphragm, said actuator being configured to open and close said valve at a predetermined frequency and/or duty cycle by displacement of said plunger, said fluid path through said valve being substantially decoupled from said actuator;
an inlet passage being generally parallel to said plunger; and
said valve portion having a downwardly angled connection passage intermediate said inlet passage and said valve cavity and a concentric feed intermediate said connection passage and said valve cavity. - View Dependent Claims (83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93)
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94. A valve for dispensing droplets of a fluid, comprising:
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a valve portion including a plunger and a mating seat within a valve cavity and operable to selectively open and close a fluid path through said valve, said fluid path through said valve being substantially smooth and without sharp directional changes to substantially mitigate gaseous bubble formation within said fluid;
a movable diaphragm sealingly fitted to said valve portion and in mechanical communication with said plunger;
a solenoid actuator substantially fluidly isolated from said valve portion and having a movable core in mechanical communication with said diaphragm, said actuator being configured to open and close said valve at a predetermined frequency and/or duty cycle by displacement of said plunger, said fluid path through said valve being substantially decoupled from said actuator; and
bubble removal means comprising a bubble trap in fluid communication with said valve portion and configured and operable to receive gaseous bubbles formed within said fluid in said valve. - View Dependent Claims (95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105)
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Specification