Material conveying systems, computer program products, and methods

Abstract

This invention provides material conveying systems that are configured to convey substantially uniform quantities of material to and/or from the material sites and to minimize periodic variation among the conveyed quantities of material. Related computer program products and methods are also provided.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 527,125, filed Dec. 4, 2003, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION [0002] Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 1.71(e), Applicants note that a portion of this disclosure contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0003] The invention generally provides material conveying systems and related methods for accurately conveying selected quantities of material to and / or from material sites. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0004] Rotary peristaltic pumps are utilized to convey material in a wide variety of applications including i...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0025] In another aspect, the invention provides a method of conveying material to a material site. The method includes providing a material conveying system comprising at least one material conduit, and at least one pump that is operably connected to the material conduit, which pump conveys the material through the material conduit. The material conveying system also includes at least one positioning component that is operably connected to the material conduit, which positioning component moves the material conduit. In addition, the material conveying system also includes at least one controller that is operably connected to the pump and the positioning component. The controller effects the pump to convey the material through the material conduit and the positioning component to move the material conduit. The method also includes conveying the material (e.g., fluidic material, etc.) through the material conduit such that a quantity of the material adheres to a terminal portion of the material conduit, thereby forming an adherent material quantity. In addition, the method also includes accelerating at least the terminal portion of the material conduit towards the material site with the positioning component, and decelerating the terminal portion of the material conduit with the positioning component such that the adherent material quantity is conveyed from the terminal portion of the material conduit to the material site. The material site generally comprises at least one well of a multi-well container. The decelerating step typically comprises ejecting the adherent material quantity from the terminal portion of the material conduit. Typically, the adherent material quantity is conveyed to the material site without contacting the terminal portion of the material conduit and the material site. In some embodiments, the material comprises a cell suspension and the method minimizes shearing effects on conveyed cells.

Problems solved by technology

Moreover, the rotational increment is typically uncompensated for flow rate characteristics of the system.

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