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EP4091717A1 - Procédé et dispositif de distribution de gouttelettes pour distribuer au moins une gouttelette - Google Patents

Procédé et dispositif de distribution de gouttelettes pour distribuer au moins une gouttelette Download PDF

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Publication number
EP4091717A1
EP4091717A1 EP21174323.2A EP21174323A EP4091717A1 EP 4091717 A1 EP4091717 A1 EP 4091717A1 EP 21174323 A EP21174323 A EP 21174323A EP 4091717 A1 EP4091717 A1 EP 4091717A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
droplet
dispensing member
dispensing
sensor
fluid
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP21174323.2A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Martin Horn
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Scienion GmbH
Original Assignee
Scienion GmbH
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Scienion GmbH filed Critical Scienion GmbH
Priority to EP21174323.2A priority Critical patent/EP4091717A1/fr
Publication of EP4091717A1 publication Critical patent/EP4091717A1/fr
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
    • B01L3/00—Containers or dishes for laboratory use, e.g. laboratory glassware; Droppers
    • B01L3/02—Burettes; Pipettes
    • B01L3/0241—Drop counters; Drop formers
    • B01L3/0268—Drop counters; Drop formers using pulse dispensing or spraying, eg. inkjet type, piezo actuated ejection of droplets from capillaries
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B12/00—Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area
    • B05B12/02—Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area for controlling time, or sequence, of delivery
    • B05B12/06—Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area for controlling time, or sequence, of delivery for effecting pulsating flow
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B13/00—Machines or plants for applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces of objects or other work by spraying, not covered by groups B05B1/00 - B05B11/00
    • B05B13/02—Means for supporting work; Arrangement or mounting of spray heads; Adaptation or arrangement of means for feeding work
    • B05B13/04—Means for supporting work; Arrangement or mounting of spray heads; Adaptation or arrangement of means for feeding work the spray heads being moved during spraying operation
    • B05B13/0405—Means for supporting work; Arrangement or mounting of spray heads; Adaptation or arrangement of means for feeding work the spray heads being moved during spraying operation with reciprocating or oscillating spray heads
    • B05B13/041—Means for supporting work; Arrangement or mounting of spray heads; Adaptation or arrangement of means for feeding work the spray heads being moved during spraying operation with reciprocating or oscillating spray heads with spray heads reciprocating along a straight line
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
    • B01L2200/00—Solutions for specific problems relating to chemical or physical laboratory apparatus
    • B01L2200/14—Process control and prevention of errors
    • B01L2200/143—Quality control, feedback systems
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
    • B01L2400/00—Moving or stopping fluids
    • B01L2400/04—Moving fluids with specific forces or mechanical means
    • B01L2400/0403—Moving fluids with specific forces or mechanical means specific forces
    • B01L2400/0457—Moving fluids with specific forces or mechanical means specific forces passive flow or gravitation
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
    • B01L2400/00—Moving or stopping fluids
    • B01L2400/04—Moving fluids with specific forces or mechanical means
    • B01L2400/0475—Moving fluids with specific forces or mechanical means specific mechanical means and fluid pressure
    • B01L2400/0487—Moving fluids with specific forces or mechanical means specific mechanical means and fluid pressure fluid pressure, pneumatics
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B12/00—Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area
    • B05B12/08—Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area responsive to condition of liquid or other fluent material to be discharged, of ambient medium or of target ; responsive to condition of spray devices or of supply means, e.g. pipes, pumps or their drive means
    • B05B12/082—Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area responsive to condition of liquid or other fluent material to be discharged, of ambient medium or of target ; responsive to condition of spray devices or of supply means, e.g. pipes, pumps or their drive means responsive to a condition of the discharged jet or spray, e.g. to jet shape, spray pattern or droplet size
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B9/00—Spraying apparatus for discharge of liquids or other fluent material, without essentially mixing with gas or vapour
    • B05B9/03—Spraying apparatus for discharge of liquids or other fluent material, without essentially mixing with gas or vapour characterised by means for supplying liquid or other fluent material
    • B05B9/04—Spraying apparatus for discharge of liquids or other fluent material, without essentially mixing with gas or vapour characterised by means for supplying liquid or other fluent material with pressurised or compressible container; with pump
    • B05B9/0403—Spraying apparatus for discharge of liquids or other fluent material, without essentially mixing with gas or vapour characterised by means for supplying liquid or other fluent material with pressurised or compressible container; with pump with pumps for liquids or other fluent material
    • B05B9/0413—Spraying apparatus for discharge of liquids or other fluent material, without essentially mixing with gas or vapour characterised by means for supplying liquid or other fluent material with pressurised or compressible container; with pump with pumps for liquids or other fluent material with reciprocating pumps, e.g. membrane pump, piston pump, bellow pump

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a method for dispensing at least one droplet and a droplet dispenser device.
  • Applications of the invention are available in particular in the fields of biochemistry, biology, chemistry and medicine, e. g. for handling biological fluids and the like.
  • machine-controlled dispensing techniques e. g. employing an automatic dispensing system, like the sciFLEXARRAYER system (manufacturer Scienion AG) are available. While machine-controlled dispensing techniques may have advantages in terms of droplet size control, limitations may result from the complexity of droplet release, e. g. with a piezo-electric actuator.
  • the objective of the invention is to provide an improved dispenser device for forming and dispensing single droplets, being capable of avoiding disadvantages of conventional techniques.
  • a method for dispensing at least one droplet comprising the steps of providing a droplet dispenser device having at least one dispensing member, forming a droplet at the dispensing member in an initial position thereof, detaching the droplet from the at least one dispensing member by impulsively accelerating the at least one dispensing member toward an end position with a movement direction component opposite to a direction of gravity, and returning the dispensing member from the end position to the initial position.
  • this dispensing method provides reliable and/or automatable dispensing of precisely sized droplets.
  • any actuator accelerating the dispensing member has a movement direction opposite to the dispensing direction of the droplet, e. g. it is back-drawn from the dispensing direction, so that an unintended additional acceleration of the droplet by the accelerating step is avoided.
  • the dispensing movement of the droplet preferably is determined by gravity only, i. e. the detached droplet falls from the dispensing member without being influenced by the actuator.
  • the step of forming the droplet at the dispensing member may comprise forming the droplet by a flowable fluid, in particular a liquid, through the dispensing member or parts of it towards a dispensing opening thereof.
  • the droplet may be formed in the way that the dispensing member can be brought in contact with a fluid, that forms the droplet at a dispensing tip of the dispensing member due to adhesive forces between the fluid and the dispensing member. This, for example, can be done by submerging the dispensing member into the fluid, which is, for example, in a fluid container. Subsequently, the dispensing member can be pulled out from the fluid to form the droplet from the liquid remaining on the dispensing member, for example.
  • Delivering the fluid through the dispensing member has the advantage, that the fluid volume can be measured very precisely, that forms the droplet.
  • Using the technique to submerge the dispensing member in a fluid has the advantage, that no further liquid supply equipment is needed to ensure a fluid supply.
  • the droplet With the step of detaching the droplet from the at least one dispensing member, the droplet is separated from the at least one dispensing member, i. e. it loses contact to the dispensing member. Further, in other words, the acceleration of the dispensing member is employed to make the droplet due to its own inertia detach from the dispensing member.
  • Impulsively accelerating the at least one dispensing member preferably means, that an absolute value of the acceleration is the highest in a step-wise first phase when the acceleration starts.
  • a movement direction component opposite to a direction of gravity can be understood, that the movement direction is partly or fully opposite to the direction of gravity.
  • the end position itself can be variable, meaning, that depending on the value of acceleration an end position can result in a shorter or longer absolute distance relative to the initial position of the dispensing member.
  • the step of impulsively accelerating the at least one dispensing member can be executed by at least one driving device pushing and/or pulling the dispensing member and/or by hitting the dispensing member or a part thereof with a mass.
  • the driving device can be e. g. a hydraulic driving device, a pneumatic driving device, an electrohydraulic or electromechanical driving device, linear motor and the like. Also a combination of at least two of these driving devices can be employed to apply the acceleration.
  • the driving device can be attached directly to the dispensing member or via a lever construction that enables higher initial acceleration of the dispensing member.
  • Using the driving device offers the advantage that the operation force and properties of the driving device are well known and thus make it easy to control the driving device precisely.
  • the mass can be accelerated itself through compressed air or any other compressed gas or gas mixture, or any kind of linear motor or driving device, that enable a precise and controllable acceleration of the mass to a required velocity.
  • the mass itself can be of any rigid material, that does not or only slightly deforms plastically on impact.
  • the mass can be of any material that is capable of bearing the forces of the method to accelerate the dispensing member and also provide enough kinetic energy to enable a required acceleration.
  • the dispensing member can provide a suitable spot for a mass to hit. It is to be understood, that a mass can also mean, that the mass is split up into several mass pieces that are all accelerated simultaneously to bring in a mass pulse into the dispensing member. In the case of several mass pieces, the mass pieces can be alternated accelerated so that each mass individually accelerates the dispensing member.
  • an initial amplitude of the impulsively accelerating the at least one dispensing member can be selected in dependency on a viscosity and/or on a surface tension of a fluid forming the droplet.
  • the fluid forming the droplet at the dispensing member influences a value of minimal acceleration of the dispensing member required to detach the droplet from the dispensing member.
  • the viscosity and/or the surface tension can be taken into account, but additionally or alternatively further fluid describing parameters can be consulted, such as an electrostatic charge of the fluid forming the droplet.
  • the steps of forming and detaching the droplet can be executed once or up to 10 times a second.
  • the steps of forming and detaching the droplet can be executed once or up to 2 times a second.
  • the steps of forming and detaching the droplet can be executed up 1 to once every 10 seconds.
  • a single droplet can be detached up to 10 times per second, preferably up to 2 times per second or up to once every 10 seconds.
  • the steps of forming and detaching the droplet can be automatically controlled by a control device.
  • the steps of forming and detaching the droplet are preferably conducted without any further intervention of an operator. This has the advantage, that once the process is running, no human manual work has to be done to produce single droplets.
  • the control device may be coupled with different parts performing and/or monitoring the steps, for example the driving device and/or sensors.
  • controlling the steps of forming and detaching can be executed in dependency on at least one sensor signal of a sensor device.
  • the sensor device can comprise at least one sensor configured to detect a droplet size and/or a droplet volume of the formed droplet at the dispensing member. Additionally, or alternatively the sensor device can comprise at least one sensor configured to measure a volume flow which is supplied to the dispensing member.
  • Various kinds of sensors can be used, that fulfill the specific requirements to measure or detect a droplet size and/or droplet volume. Further, if a volume flow provides a fluid to the dispensing member to form a droplet, a sensor being capable of measuring the volume flow can be provided. The sensor data can be delivered to the control device.
  • a sensor that detects a droplet size and/or droplet volume offers the advantage, that the formation of the actual droplet hanging on the dispensing member can trigger the detachment process.
  • a sensor that measures a volume flow offers the advantage, that a volume can be precisely measured of a droplet due to actual volume flow data.
  • the control device can be configured to receive several information from different sensors, e. g. at the same time, and decide based on, for example, machine-based learning, in particular artificial intelligence, if the detachment step is to be executed. This offers the advantage that the highest accuracy can be reached when evaluating a predetermined droplet size and/or volume to an actual droplet size and/or volume.
  • the detached droplet can fall into a droplet receiving container.
  • the droplet receiving container preferably contains liquid nitrogen to shock freeze the detached droplet.
  • the droplet can fall onto a substrate being arranged for receiving the detached droplet.
  • the container can also be filled with other substances, that can shock freeze the droplet or that prohibit a mixing of the substance and a droplet. This offers the advantage that the droplets are kept separate from each other, so that each droplet can be used for further purposes alone.
  • the droplet dispenser device can have multiple dispensing members, and multiple droplets can be formed and detached by employing the dispensing members in parallel.
  • This parallel operation may mean, that the drops are detached simultaneously from the multiple dispensing members.
  • the parallel operation may mean, that the droplets are formed and detached in parallel but not simultaneously.
  • the parallel operation offers the advantage to generate multiple droplets at a time and thus raising a production number of droplets per time unit.
  • a droplet dispenser device is provided.
  • the droplet dispenser device being configured for dispensing at least one fluid droplet.
  • the droplet dispenser device comprises at least one dispensing member, wherein the at least one dispensing member is movable between an initial position and an end position.
  • the initial position and/or the end position can be variable.
  • the initial position can be understood, that in this position the at least one dispensing member is not in motion.
  • the initial position can be a position where a droplet is hanging from the at least one dispensing member and the dispensing member is ready to be accelerated to detach the hanging droplet.
  • the droplet dispenser device further comprises a fluid supply device being arranged for supplying the fluid to the at least one dispensing member for forming a droplet at the at least one dispensing member in the initial position thereof.
  • the fluid supply device can actively supply fluid to the dispensing member with a pump, for example with a piston pump or any other kind of pump capable of supplying, preferably small, liquid volumes.
  • the fluid supply device can be designed in the way, that the dispensing member is brought in contact with a liquid, for example, in a separate container containing liquid. The dispensing member can be submerged in the liquid and pulled out again. This way, liquid out of the separate container can stay attached to the dispensing member due to adhesive bonding, and thus forming a droplet when flowing downwards on the dispensing member due to gravitational forces.
  • the droplet dispenser device further comprises a driving device being arranged for detaching the droplet from the at least one dispensing member by impulsively accelerating the at least one dispensing member toward the end position with a movement direction component opposite to the direction of gravity.
  • a relative movement between the hanging droplet and the dispensing member can be established by accelerating the dispensing member impulsively against a gravitational force, hence detaching the droplet.
  • the driving device can be adjustable in the acceleration forces provided. This offers the advantage that only an acceleration needed to detach a droplet is provided, thus saving energy.
  • the droplet dispenser device further comprises a control device being coupled with the driving device and being arranged for controlling the steps of forming and detaching the droplet.
  • the control device can adjust an acceleration provided by the driving device. Furthermore, the control device can manage all processes needed and merge all available information in order to have the most precise droplet production referring to a size and/or volume of the droplets.
  • the droplet dispenser device according to the second general aspect of the invention or an embodiment thereof is adapted for implementing the method for dispensing at least one droplet according to the first general aspect of the invention or an embodiment thereof.
  • the driving device can comprise at least one actuator attached to the at least one dispensing member and/or at least one movable mass configured to hit the dispensing member or a part thereof.
  • the driving device can comprise an actuator, wherein the actuator can be e. g. a hydraulic actuator, a pneumatic actuator, an electrohydraulic or electromechanical actuator, linear motor and the like. Also a combination of at least two of these actuators can be applied to develop the needed acceleration.
  • the actuator can be attached directly to the dispensing member or via a lever construction, that enables higher initial acceleration of the dispensing member due to a leverage of the applied movements.
  • the mass can accelerate the dispensing member by hitting it with a certain mechanical pulse.
  • the velocity applied to accelerate the dispensing member can depend on the mass of the dispensing member, the mass of the at least one movable mass and the droplet size and/or volume with properties of the liquid forming the droplet inter alia viscosity and/or surface tension.
  • a minimum velocity of the mass can be determined by numerical simulations or in experiments depending on the certain specific conditions, for example inter alia fluid properties, dispensing member mass, the actual weight of the used mass, and so on, by those skilled in the art.
  • the fluid supply device can comprise at least one pump, preferably at least one piston pump, in fluidic connection with the at least one dispensing member and configured to supply a fluid to the dispensing member.
  • Piston pumps have the advantage of being well known and suitable for the here described application.
  • the at least one pump can be any other kind of pump besides a piston pump capable of supplying, preferably small, liquid volumes.
  • the pump can comprise a sensor mechanism allowing to measure a volume flow precisely that is moved by the pump. This offers the advantage, that no further sensor would be needed to determine a volume flow delivered to the dispensing member by the at least one pump.
  • the fluid supply device can further comprise a tank containing the fluid which is in fluidic connection with the at least one pump.
  • the tank containing the fluid can serve as a fluid reservoir for the at least one pump for delivering liquid to the dispensing member. This offers the advantage, that also during an automatic operation of the droplet dispensing device a refill of liquid in the tank containing the fluid is possible without the necessity to stop the process.
  • the tank can be of a size containing a volume equal to or more than e. g. 100 ml, 500 ml, 11, 5 I, or 10 I.
  • a sensor device can be coupled with the control device, wherein the sensor device can comprise at least one sensor configured to detect a droplet size and/or volume. Additionally, or alternatively the sensor device can comprise at least one sensor configured to measure a volume flow fed to the at least one dispensing member.
  • the sensor device can comprise multiple sensors configured to measure a droplet size and/or volume.
  • a sensor configured to detect a droplet size and/or volume can be placed in the area or in sight of the initial position of the dispensing member in order to detect and/or measure a droplet size and/or volume of a droplet at the dispensing member.
  • the sensor configured to detect a droplet size and/or volume can be in connection with the control device sending the data, for example images, captured.
  • the control device can further work with optical image processing, for example pattern recognition, to detect the droplet size and/or volume precisely.
  • the control device can start the process for detaching the droplet after the required droplet size and/or volume has been detected.
  • the sensor can be an optical sensor.
  • a sensor to detect a volume flow can be placed in or next to the at least one fluid supply device to measure the volume supplied by the fluid supply device.
  • a sensor to detect a volume flow can alternatively or additionally be place on or in the dispensing member.
  • Monitoring the process by the sensor device offers the advantage that very precise droplet volumes can be achieved and no human needs to be watching the process, thus saving costs in combination with a precise process.
  • the droplet dispenser device can be combined with a substrate or droplet receiving container, being arranged for receiving the detached droplet.
  • the substrate can be e. g. one tile or multiple substrate tiles that can be positioned movable beneath the droplet dispensing member, for example in the form being arranged on a conveyer track, allowing different droplets to be dispensed on a variety of substrate tiles. This offers the advantage that droplets are dispensed to different predetermined substrate tiles if needed.
  • the substrate can be flat or have elevations that provide predetermined spots in between the elevations for a droplet to fall on.
  • the substrate can comprise a liquid repellent surface. This is advantageous because the droplets do not bind or sink in into the substrate. Especially for very low droplet volumes any adherence to a surface leaving remains would lower the droplet volume relative to its initial volume a lot.
  • the substrate can be cooled, preferably to very low temperatures, for example below -10 °C. This offers the advantage, that droplets on the substrate are frozen quickly allowing a better handling of the droplets and a conservation.
  • the droplet receiving container can be of any shape or form suitable to receive at least one droplet.
  • the receiving container can be empty or filled with a gas and/or liquid and/or liquid gas, e.g. liquid nitrogen.
  • a gas and/or liquid and/or liquid gas e.g. liquid nitrogen.
  • the droplet dispenser device can have multiple dispensing members. Further, the droplet dispenser device can be configured for forming and detaching multiple droplets by employing the dispensing members in parallel.
  • the at least one dispensing member can be formed by a tip, a sphere, a tube or a cannula.
  • the tip can be solid and can converge towards a lower end, preferably alongside a gravity direction.
  • the tip can be of a cone shape.
  • the tip can have the shape of a three- or four-sided pyramid, a truncated cone or any other multi sided pyramid or converging shape towards the lower end alongside a gravity direction.
  • the tip and the sphere can be of solid material, preferably plastic or metal.
  • the properties of their surfaces can be changed in a way, that make it more difficult for liquid to stay on the tip or sphere.
  • the tip and sphere can be to a certain degree liquid repellent. This offers the advantage that less acceleration is needed to detach a droplet from the tip or sphere.
  • material that reduces a surface tension in a predictable manner can be used for the tip or sphere as well.
  • the tip and the sphere can be connected to a holding element.
  • a connection between the holding element and different tip or sphere-designs can be threaded, allowing a quick switching of different tips and/or spheres.
  • the tube or the cannula can be of plastic, metal or ceramic.
  • the diameter of an opening of the tube or the cannula influences the adhesive forces of a droplet hanging on the tube or cannula before detaching the droplet. Suitable diameters or dispensing member opening shapes for the tube or the cannula can be determined in experiments by those skilled in the art.
  • the tube and the cannula preferably their most lower points where a droplet hangs, can be to a certain degree liquid repellent. This offers again the advantage to need lower acceleration forces for a droplet detachment.
  • Exemplary reference is made to embodiments of the invention, where the steps of forming and detaching a droplet are executed in dependency on at least one sensor signal of a sensor device. It is emphasized that the invention is not restricted to employing the sensor device for monitoring the droplet formation and/or controlling the droplet release. It is rather possible to set the droplet formation by operation conditions of the droplet dispensing device or components thereof.
  • the volume flow of the fluid to be dispensed is known, so that the formation of the droplet is known without employing a sensor.
  • FIG. 1 shows an exemplary setup of a droplet dispensing device 1.
  • the droplet dispensing device 1 comprises a dispensing member 2 which is attached to and held by a driving device 5.
  • the driving device 5 comprises an actuator 15 that can move the dispensing member along a Z-axis (e. g. parallel to direction of gravity) between an initial position 3 and an end position 4.
  • the actuator 15 is shown in the initial position 3.
  • a droplet receiving container 12 is placed beneath the dispensing member 2.
  • a droplet 7 is hanging from the dispensing member 2.
  • the dispensing member 2 is formed by a tube 21, which is shown in Figure 3 and explained in detail below.
  • the droplet receiving container 12 is filled with liquid nitrogen in this embodiment, but can be filled with any other suitable element or also can be empty.
  • the actuator 15 is e. g. a pneumatic actuator carrying the dispensing member 2.
  • the pneumatic actuator may comprise a pressure member being loaded, when the dispensing member 2 is in the initial position 3, and being released for accelerating the dispensing member 2 from below, i. e. against the direction of gravity g.
  • the driving device 5 comprises at least one movable mass, e. g. made of steel or a ceramic, being arranged to hit against the dispensing member 2 from below, i. e. against the direction of gravity g, for accelerating the dispensing member 2.
  • the droplet 7 is formed by the fluid 6, which is stored in the tank 17.
  • the fluid 6 is pumped by a fluid supply device 14 to the dispensing member 14.
  • the fluid supply device comprises a pump 16, that pumps fluid 6 from the tank 17 through the tubes 18 to the dispensing member 2.
  • the pump 16 is a piston pump, but can be also any other available pump known per se.
  • the droplet dispenser device 1 comprises a control device 8 that is connected to the driving device 5 and to a sensor device 9 that comprises in this example a sensor 10 to detect a droplet size and/or volume hanging from the dispensing member 2 in the initial position 3.
  • the pump 16 pumps fluid 6 in a predetermined volume constantly to the dispensing member 2.
  • the control device 8 signals the driving device 5 to accelerate the dispensing member 2 against the gravity direction g from the initial position 3 towards the end position 4.
  • the droplet 7 is detached from the dispensing member 2 by operating the driving device 5 and falls into the droplet receiving container 12 (not shown in Figure 1 ). Subsequently, the dispensing member 2 is brought back to the initial position 3.
  • control device 8 can additionally be connected to the fluid supply device 14 controlling the volume flow supplied by the fluid supply device 14 to the dispensing member 2.
  • the control of the volume flow can be connected to the signals received by a sensor device 9.
  • the sensor device 9 can be omitted, and the droplet formation can be derived by the control device 8 from the operation conditions of the pump 16. After operating the pump 16 for a certain time with a given pump rate, the control device 8 can initiate the acceleration process with the actuator 15.
  • Figure 2 shows another exemplary setup of the droplet dispensing device 1. This embodiment is slightly different to the one described in Figure 1 and only the differences are brought forward in the following description regarding Figure 2 .
  • a substrate 13 is placed beneath the dispensing member 2.
  • the substrate 13 is shown only in an exemplary manner as a one-piece tile. It is conceivable for the skilled person, that the substrate 13 or multiple substrate tiles can be positioned movable beneath the droplet dispensing member 2, for example in the form being on a conveyer track, allowing different droplets to be dispensed on a variety of substrates 13.
  • control device 8 is connected to a sensor 11 that is placed in the tube 18 between the pump 16 and the dispensing member 2.
  • the sensor 11 measures the volume flow from the pump 16 to the dispensing member 2.
  • the control device controls the driving device 5 depending on a volume measured by the sensor 11, instead of a droplet size and/or volume detected by a sensor 10.
  • the sensor device 9 can comprise a sensor 10 detecting a droplet size and/or volume and sensor 11, measuring a volume flow, delivering more data to the control device 8, so that the control device 8 can activate the driving device 5 on a more brought data basis.
  • the pump 16 itself can also be a volume flow sensor (not shown) depending on a pump control.
  • Figure 2 can be operated without employing a sensor device.
  • FIG. 3 shows several exemplary dispensing member designs.
  • a tip 19 is shown which is connected to a holding element 23.
  • a connection between the holding element 23 and different tips can be threaded, allowing a quick switching of different dispensing member designs.
  • the tip 19 and the holding element 23 can be one piece only.
  • the tip 19 is solid and converges towards the lower end.
  • the cone shape of the tip is only of an exemplary nature.
  • the tip can also have the shape of a three- or four-sided pyramid, a truncated cone or any other multi sided pyramid or converging shape towards the lower end.
  • the tip 19 can be submerged in a fluid reservoir to adhere the fluid 6 to the tip 19 and thus to form a droplet at the tip 19.
  • a fluid can be added to an upper section of the dispensing member and flow by the effect of gravity to the tip 19 for forming a droplet at the tip.
  • a sphere 20 is shown in Figure 3 .
  • the shape of the sphere 20 is only exemplary round besides the upper side of the sphere 20, which connects the sphere 20 to the holding element 23 with a threaded connection as described already for the tip 19.
  • the sphere can be of any ellipsoidal shape (not shown).
  • the droplet forming on the sphere 20 functions as it does with the tip 19 as described above.
  • a tube 21 and a cannula 22 are shown in Figure 3 .
  • the fluid 6 is delivered through the pipe of the tube 21 and the cannula 22 to form a droplet 7 at their lower ends.
  • Step S1 comprises providing a droplet dispenser device 1 having at least one dispensing member 2.
  • the droplet dispenser device 1 can be designed e. g. as shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2 .
  • the dispensing member 2 is provided at a predetermined dispensing position, where a droplet is to be deposited, e. g. above a droplet receiving container or a substrate.
  • Step S2 comprises forming a droplet 7 at the dispensing member 2 in an initial position 3 thereof.
  • Forming the droplet 7 can comprise that fluid 6 is delivered to the dispensing member 2 through a tube 18. Also, it can comprise that the dispensing member 2 is submerged in liquid 6, so that the remaining liquid 6 on the dispensing member 2 forms a droplet 7.
  • Step S3 comprises detaching the droplet 7 from the at least one dispensing member 2 by impulsively accelerating the at least one dispensing member 2 toward an end position 4 with a movement direction component opposite to the direction of gravity g.
  • Step S4 comprises returning the dispensing member 2 from the end position 4 to the initial position 3.
  • the process can return to step S2 for repeating the process by an execution of step 2, optionally at a changed dispensing position.

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  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Clinical Laboratory Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Coating Apparatus (AREA)
EP21174323.2A 2021-05-18 2021-05-18 Procédé et dispositif de distribution de gouttelettes pour distribuer au moins une gouttelette Pending EP4091717A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP21174323.2A EP4091717A1 (fr) 2021-05-18 2021-05-18 Procédé et dispositif de distribution de gouttelettes pour distribuer au moins une gouttelette

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP21174323.2A EP4091717A1 (fr) 2021-05-18 2021-05-18 Procédé et dispositif de distribution de gouttelettes pour distribuer au moins une gouttelette

Publications (1)

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EP4091717A1 true EP4091717A1 (fr) 2022-11-23

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Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2013040562A2 (fr) * 2011-09-15 2013-03-21 Advanced Liquid Logic Inc Appareil et procédés de chargement microfluidiques
DE102018103049A1 (de) * 2018-02-12 2019-08-14 Karlsruher Institut für Technologie Druckkopf und Druckverfahren

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2013040562A2 (fr) * 2011-09-15 2013-03-21 Advanced Liquid Logic Inc Appareil et procédés de chargement microfluidiques
DE102018103049A1 (de) * 2018-02-12 2019-08-14 Karlsruher Institut für Technologie Druckkopf und Druckverfahren

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