Variable potential electrokinetic device
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An electrokinetic device, comprising:
- a pumping conduit having a first end and a second end, and including a porous dielectric material;
a conducting conduit having a first end and a second end, said pumping conduit second end and said conducting conduit first end connecting at a junction; and
an odd number of electrodes in electrical communication with said pumping conduit and said conducting conduit.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Variable potential electrokinetic devices and electrokinetic multipliers used for pumping and flow control are disclosed that offer improvements in safety and design flexibility. The devices of the present invention take advantage of combinations of pumping conduits and conducting conduits to permit the use of lower operating voltages in pumps, pressure multipliers, and flow controllers. Devices having N pumping stages and 2N+1 electrodes permit the use of arbitrary voltages at the fluid connection points between the devices and other system components, further improving device safety and flexibility.
-
Citations
170 Claims
-
1. An electrokinetic device, comprising:
-
a pumping conduit having a first end and a second end, and including a porous dielectric material;
a conducting conduit having a first end and a second end, said pumping conduit second end and said conducting conduit first end connecting at a junction; and
an odd number of electrodes in electrical communication with said pumping conduit and said conducting conduit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98)
-
-
28. An electrokinetic device, comprising:
-
a first pumping conduit having a first end and a second end, and including a first porous dielectric material;
a first conducting conduit having a first end and a second end, said first pumping conduit second end and said first conducting conduit first end connecting at a first junction;
a second pumping conduit having a first end and a second end, and including a second porous dielectric material, said first conducting conduit second end and said second pumping conduit first end connecting at a second junction; and
a first electrode in electrical communication with said first pumping conduit first end, a second electrode in electrical communication with said first junction, a third electrode in electrical communication with said second junction, and a fourth electrode in electrical communication with said second pumping conduit second end, wherein said conducting conduit electrokinetic pressure value, pekc, is less than or equal to the electrokinetic pressure value, pekp, of at least one of said pumping conduits. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107)
-
-
60. An electrokinetic device, comprising:
-
a first pumping conduit having a first end and a second end, and including a first porous dielectric material;
a first conducting conduit having a first end and a second end, said first pumping conduit second end and said first conducting conduit first end connecting at a first junction;
a second pumping conduit having a first end and a second end, and including a second porous dielectric material, said second pumping conduit first end connecting to said first conducting conduit second end at a second junction;
a second conducting conduit having a first end and a second end, said second pumping conduit second end connecting to said second conducting conduit first end at a third junction; and
an odd number of electrodes in electrical communication with said pumping conduits and said conducting conduits. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115)
-
-
116. An electrokinetic device, comprising:
-
a pumping conduit having a first end and a second end, and including a porous dielectric material;
a conducting conduit having a first end and a second end, said pumping conduit second end and said conducting conduit first end connecting at a junction; and
a first electrode at potential V1 in electrical communication with said pumping conduit first end, a second electrode at potential V2 in electrical communication with said junction, and a third electrode at potential V3 in electrical communication with said conducting conduit second end, wherein a predetermined electroosmotic flow may be generated by said device with at least one of said potentials V1 and V3 assuming an arbitrary value. - View Dependent Claims (117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143)
-
-
144. An electrokinetic device, comprising:
-
a first pumping conduit having a first end and a second end, and including a first porous dielectric material;
a first conducting conduit having a first end and a second end, said first pumping conduit second end and said first conducting conduit first end connecting at a first junction;
a second pumping conduit having a first end and a second end, and including a second porous dielectric material, said second pumping conduit first end connecting to said first conducting conduit second end at a second junction;
a second conducting conduit having a first end and a second end, said second pumping conduit second end connecting to said second conducting conduit first end at a third junction; and
a first electrode at potential V1 in electrical communication with said first pumping conduit first end, a second electrode at potential V2 in electrical communication with said first junction, a third electrode at potential V3 in electrical communication with said second junction, a fourth electrode at potential V4 in electrical communication with said third junction, and a fifth electrode at potential V5 in electrical communication with said second conducting channel second end, wherein a predetermined electroosmotic flow may be generated by said device with at least one of said potentials V1 and V5 assuming an arbitrary value. - View Dependent Claims (145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170)
-
Specification