A microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of microfluidic chips, and in particular to a microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool, which comprises a chip body and a waste liquid pool that are detachably connected. The chip body is provided with a waste liquid channel. The waste liquid pool includes: a waste liquid storage tank; a chip bottom support; a limiting edge; and a limiting cover plate. The present invention has the following beneficial effects: (1) The structure is simple, the difficulty of mold opening and injection molding is low, and it is easy to assemble and bond; (2) The effective utilization area of the chip body is increased, the use range of the chip is improved, and the versatility of the chip is increased; (3) The waste liquid pool is detachable. When the chip body is reusable, by only replacing the waste liquid pool, the use cost of the microfluidic chip is greatly reduced; (4) Stacking between different chips is convenient and stable, which is convenient for transportation and storage, and can protect the chip surface to prevent wear of the chip during transportation; (5) The size of the waste liquid pool is controllable, and the waste liquid storage capacity is greatly improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of microfluidic chips, and in particular to a microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool. Background Art

[0002] In the structural design of microfluidic chips, generally, the chip body contains modules such as a sample injection pool, a microfluidic channel, a microfluidic valve, a reaction pool, a detection pool, and a waste liquid pool. Among them, the main function of the waste liquid pool is to collect and store excess reagents, reacted waste liquids, etc. during the use of the chip, and it is one of the indispensable modules of the microfluidic chip. Therefore, how to design the waste liquid pool structure well is a major key point in the structural design of microfluidic chips, which will affect all aspects of chip use. Usually, the waste liquid pool module is built into the main structure of the microfluidic chip, and it is closely connected to other modules, which makes the volume and position of the waste liquid pool greatly restricted, and the structure of the waste liquid pool cannot be easily changed, otherwise it is easy to affect the transfer effect of the microfluid. And for the rare microfluidic chips with an external waste liquid pool, more complex mechanical structures or supporting equipment are often required to cooperate with them. For such centrifugal microfluidic chips, problems such as weight balance also need to be considered. Therefore, the rational design of the waste liquid pool structure is of great significance in realizing the large-scale production and use of microfluidic chips.

[0003] The waste liquid pool on the microfluidic chip is generally built into the main body of the microfluidic chip and used as an integral structure. Therefore, the volume of the waste liquid pool is also greatly restricted. At present, there are very few external waste liquid pool solutions. For example, a multi-layer microfluidic chip for heavy metal ion detection with the publication number of CN110426526A provides a multi-layer microfluidic chip for heavy metal ion detection, which has a two-layer structure. The first layer consists of a metering device, an indicator chamber device, a mixing device, and a detection area device; the second layer consists of a waste liquid device and a gasket. Its characteristics are that the metering device in the first layer divides the waste water to be measured into five equal parts, the indicator chamber device stores the indicator, the U-shaped mixing device effectively mixes the solution, and the detection area device is lower than the mixing area to prevent backflow; the waste liquid device in the second layer is detachable, and the gasket prevents the waste liquid from leaking out.

[0004] This patent proposes a scheme for the detachable waste liquid device, but it only simply describes the waste liquid pool, and the set position is at the center of the chip. Essentially, it has no great difference from the built-in waste liquid pool, and it is only to add a waste liquid layer structure on the basis of the original microfluidic chip. The purpose is only to prevent excess waste liquid from interfering with the detection area, and it cannot solve the problems of large chip bonding difficulty and small waste liquid pool capacity. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention aims to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and provides a microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool, which has higher controllability and operability, can reduce the bonding difficulty of the microfluidic chip to a certain extent. At the same time, the chip body and the waste liquid pool do not affect each other when changing the structure, and the cost of re-opening the mold can be reduced. Moreover, the waste liquid pool has a large volume and better versatility.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] A microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool, the microfluidic chip includes a chip body and a waste liquid pool that are detachably connected. The chip body is provided with a waste liquid discharge channel. The waste liquid pool includes: a waste liquid storage tank, which is arranged at the bottom of the waste liquid pool for collecting waste liquid; a chip bottom tray, the upper surface height of the chip bottom tray is higher than the bottom surface height of the waste liquid storage tank, there are mounting holes on the chip bottom tray, and there are mounting posts on the chip body that are matched with the mounting holes, and the length of the mounting posts is longer than the depth of the mounting groove; a side baffle, the side baffle is in the shape of a circular column and is arranged along the side of the waste liquid pool; a waste liquid diversion channel, which is arranged between the side baffle and the waste liquid storage tank for guiding the waste liquid to flow into the waste liquid storage tank; a mounting cover plate, the mounting cover plate includes an upper cover plate and a lower cover plate that are arranged in upper and lower layers and are both in the shape of a circular column, the cross section of the mounting cover plate is Z-shaped and the inner diameter of the upper cover plate is smaller than the inner diameter of the lower cover plate, and the limiting cover plate is matched with the shape of the side baffle.

[0008] The microfluidic chip of the present invention adopts a solution in which the waste liquid pool is separated from the chip body. The waste liquid pool is a circular column with a bottom, and its cross-section is concave-shaped. The chip body is circular and can be placed in the groove of the waste liquid pool. The waste liquid can enter the waste liquid pool through the waste liquid discharge channel and be collected in the waste liquid storage tank at the bottom of the waste liquid pool. There is a chip bottom support for placing the chip body above the waste liquid storage tank, and the chip bottom support and the chip body are also connected by mounting holes and mounting posts, which play a role in fixing the chip body. The present invention completely separates the waste liquid pool from the chip body, and the two can be designed and processed separately. It only needs to ensure that the diameter sizes of the two match and the positions of the mounting holes and mounting posts are coordinated, reducing the mold opening and injection molding processing difficulty of the microfluidic chip. The structure is simple and it is easier to assemble and bond. Especially when the chip body is relatively large, if a conventional waste liquid pool structure is used, it will result in a larger overall area of the microfluidic chip. For a microfluidic chip with extremely high processing precision requirements, this undoubtedly greatly increases the production difficulty and cost, especially the difficulty of controlling the surface flatness of the microfluidic chip. Therefore, the adoption of this separated structure in the present invention has the primary effect of reducing the cross-sectional area of the chip body, greatly reducing the mold opening and injection molding difficulty of the chip body, thereby further increasing the effective utilization area of the chip body under the original processing technology, expanding the use range of the chip, and increasing the versatility of the chip.

[0009] Secondly, the present invention is provided with a chip bottom support for placing the chip body above the waste liquid storage tank, and the chip bottom support and the chip body are also connected by mounting holes and mounting posts. Firstly, it plays a role in fixing the chip and preventing the chip from detaching from the waste liquid tank during use. Secondly, it also facilitates the disassembly and assembly of the chip. The user can easily and quickly detach the chip body from the waste liquid pool by ejecting the mounting posts through the mounting holes on the chip bottom support, thus achieving the detachable function. For the microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool of the present invention, especially when the chip body can be reused, the use cost of the microfluidic chip can be greatly reduced by only replacing the waste liquid pool.

[0010] For the microfluidic chip with the structure of the present invention, the size of the waste liquid pool can be independent of the size of the chip body. Under the condition of a certain diameter, the waste liquid storage capacity can be increased by controlling the depth, which is more suitable for microfluidic chips with a larger waste liquid volume. Different chips can be stacked together by the cooperation of the upper cover plate and the side baffle of the Z-shaped mounting cover plate. It is not only beautiful but also convenient for transportation and storage, and can protect the chip surface and prevent the chip from being worn during transportation.

[0011] Preferably, the bottom surface of the mounting cover plate is higher than the waste liquid discharge channel. The top of the mounting cover plate can be lower than the top of the chip body, and it is preferably flush with or higher than the top of the chip body to ensure better stability of the microfluidic chip of the present invention during use. However, the bottom surface height of the mounting cover plate needs to be higher than the waste liquid discharge channel to play a role in limiting the waste liquid at the top, so as to ensure that when the waste liquid flows out through the waste liquid discharge channel, it can be directly blocked by the limiting plate, flow into the waste liquid diversion channel, and enter the waste liquid storage tank along the waste liquid diversion channel to realize the collection of waste liquid and avoid the leakage of waste liquid from the top mounting cover plate. Especially when using a centrifugal chip, it can prevent the waste liquid from flushing to the mounting cover plate and splashing outwards.

[0012] Preferably, the chip base is cylindrical and is provided at the center of the bottom of the waste liquid pool. The base of the chip can be a cylindrical shape that only protrudes at the center of the bottom of the waste liquid pool. The chip body is placed on the cylindrical chip base, and the waste liquid is collected in the waste liquid storage tank around the chip base, with a large waste liquid collection capacity.

[0013] Preferably, at least two chip bases are provided and are symmetrically distributed at the bottom of the waste liquid pool. The chip bases can also be multiple protruding structures symmetrically distributed at the bottom of the waste liquid pool, with a larger contact area with the chip body and the contact point closer to the outside of the chip body, thus achieving better stability.

[0014] Preferably, the waste liquid diversion channel is arranged along the inner side of the side baffle, and there is no contact between the chip base and the side baffle. The waste liquid diversion channel is provided between the chip base and the side baffle, and between different chip bases, so as to separate the waste liquid diversion channel from the side baffle. When the present invention is in use, the waste liquid will not flow onto the chip base after coming out of the waste liquid discharge channel, improving the waste liquid collection effect and facilitating the subsequent disassembly of the waste liquid pool and the chip body.

[0015] Preferably, a waterproof layer is provided at the bottom of the chip body. During use, due to reasons such as centrifugation, the waste liquid may adhere to the chip base and enter between the chip base and the chip body through diffusion. The chip body with a waterproof layer at the bottom can prevent the waste liquid from entering the chip body and ensure the stability and accuracy of the microfluidic chip during operation.

[0016] Preferably, the waterproof layer is non-transparent. The non-transparent waterproof layer can separate the color of the chip body from the bottom waste liquid pool when the chip body is transparent, prevent the waste liquid from affecting the color of the reagent on the chip, and ensure that the microfluidic chip of the present invention still has good aesthetics after the waste liquid pool collects a certain amount of waste liquid.

[0017] Preferably, the chip base is provided with raised auxiliary fixing columns, and the chip body is provided with auxiliary fixing holes that cooperate with the auxiliary fixing columns. The auxiliary fixing columns and the auxiliary fixing holes that cooperate with each other are respectively provided on the chip base and the chip body. The number thereof can be multiple, and it is preferably evenly distributed on the chip base and the chip body. It plays a role in auxiliary fixing. Especially when the present invention is used as a centrifugal microfluidic chip, the installation firmness of the chip body and the waste liquid pool can be greatly increased, and the chip body can be prevented from falling off during use.

[0018] Preferably, absorbent cotton is provided in the waste liquid storage tank. The absorbent cotton in the waste liquid storage tank is used to absorb the waste liquid, avoiding the waste liquid being stored in the waste liquid pool in the form of a fluid, preventing the waste liquid in the waste liquid pool from splashing out when the present invention is disassembled, and at the same time, it can also prevent the situation that the waste liquid flows out of the waste liquid pool due to the uneven placement of the microfluidic chip, improving the safety and reliability of the use of the present invention.

[0019] Preferably, absorbent cotton is provided in the waste liquid diversion channel. The absorbent cotton in the waste liquid discharge channel can further increase the absorption amount of the waste liquid, further improving the safety and reliability of the chip.

[0020] Preferably, the chip base is a hollow convex structure, and the lower surface of the chip base is higher than the upper surface of the waste liquid storage tank. The present invention designs the bottom of the waste liquid pool to be an uneven structure, which can facilitate the clamping of the present invention on the detection device. Especially when the present invention is used as a centrifugal microfluidic chip, the separation of the chip body and the waste liquid pool can be effectively avoided.

[0021] In summary, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: (1) The structure is simple, the mold opening and injection molding are of low difficulty, and it is easy to assemble and bond; (2) The effective utilization area of the chip body is increased, the use range of the chip is improved, and the versatility of the chip is increased; (3) The waste liquid pool is detachable. When the chip body is reusable, by only replacing the waste liquid pool, the use cost of the microfluidic chip is greatly reduced; (4) The stacking of different chips is convenient and stable, which is convenient for transportation and storage, and can protect the chip surface, preventing the chip from being worn during transportation; (5) The size of the waste liquid pool is controllable, and the waste liquid storage capacity is greatly improved. Description of the Drawings

[0022] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the waste liquid pool of Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of the waste liquid pool of Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 4 It is a schematic cross-sectional view of the waste liquid pool in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

[0026] In the figure: 1. Waste liquid discharge channel; 2. Waste liquid storage tank; 3. Chip bottom support; 4. Side baffle; 5. Installation cover plate; 6. Waste liquid diversion channel; 7. Installation hole; 8. Auxiliary fixing column. Embodiment

[0027] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0028] Embodiment 1

[0029] In Embodiment 1 as shown in Figure 1 , a microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool, the microfluidic chip includes a chip body and a waste liquid pool that are detachably connected. The chip body is provided with a waste liquid discharge channel 1, and a white opaque waterproof layer is provided at the bottom to separate the color of the chip body from that of the bottom waste liquid pool, preventing the waste liquid from affecting the color of the reagent on the chip, and ensuring that after the waste liquid pool collects a certain amount of waste liquid, the microfluidic chip of the present invention still has good aesthetics. The waste liquid pool includes: a waste liquid storage tank 2, which is arranged at the bottom of the waste liquid pool for collecting waste liquid; six chip bottom supports 3, which are symmetrically distributed at the bottom of the waste liquid pool, and the upper surface height of the chip bottom support is higher than the bottom surface height of the waste liquid storage tank 2; there are two installation holes 7 on the chip bottom support, and the chip body is provided with installation posts that cooperate with the installation holes 7, and the length of the installation posts is longer than the depth of the installation groove; a side baffle 4, which is in the shape of a circular column and is arranged along the side of the waste liquid pool; a waste liquid diversion channel 6, which is arranged between the side baffle 4 and the waste liquid storage tank 2, and between different chip bottom supports 3, for guiding the waste liquid to flow into the waste liquid storage tank 2; an installation cover plate 5, which includes an upper cover plate and a lower cover plate that are both in the shape of a circular column and are arranged in upper and lower layers. The cross-section of the installation cover plate 5 is Z-shaped and the inner diameter of the upper cover plate is smaller than that of the lower cover plate. The installation cover plate 5 matches the shape of the side baffle 4; the chip bottom support is a hollow convex structure, and the lower surface of the chip bottom support is higher than the upper surface of the waste liquid storage tank.

[0030] The cross-sectional structure of the present invention is as shown in Figure 4 described, where the chip bottom support is a hollow convex structure, and the lower surface of the chip bottom support is higher than the upper surface of the waste liquid storage tank, which can facilitate the clamping of the present invention on the detection device. Especially when the present invention is used as a centrifugal microfluidic chip, it can effectively prevent the chip body from separating from the waste liquid pool.

[0031] The present invention can be used either centrifugally or non - centrifugally. When in use, first place the chip body on the chip base, and ensure that the mounting holes match the mounting posts to fix the chip. Then, when using the microfluidic chip until waste liquid flows out, the waste liquid enters the waste liquid pool through the waste liquid discharge channel, and is collected in the waste liquid storage tank at the bottom of the waste liquid pool. At this time, the mounting cover plate plays a role in limiting the waste liquid at the top, so as to ensure that when the waste liquid flows out through the waste liquid discharge channel, it can be directly blocked by the limiting plate and flow into the waste liquid diversion channel, and then enter the waste liquid storage tank along the waste liquid diversion channel to achieve the collection of the waste liquid, avoiding the leakage of the waste liquid from the top mounting cover plate. Especially when it is a centrifugal chip, it can prevent the waste liquid from flushing to the mounting cover plate and generating outward sputtering.

[0032] The present invention completely separates the waste liquid pool from the chip body. The two can be designed and processed separately, and only need to ensure that the diameter sizes between the two match and the positions of the mounting holes and the mounting posts cooperate, which reduces the mold - opening and injection - molding processing difficulty of the microfluidic chip. The structure is simple and it is easier to assemble and bond. Especially when the chip body is relatively large, if a conventional waste liquid pool structure is used, it will lead to a larger overall area of the microfluidic chip. For a microfluidic chip with extremely high processing precision requirements, this will undoubtedly greatly increase the production difficulty and cost, especially the difficulty of controlling the surface flatness of the microfluidic chip. Therefore, the adoption of this separated structure by the present invention has the primary effect of reducing the cross - sectional area of the chip body, greatly reducing the mold - opening and injection - molding difficulty of the chip body, so as to further increase the effective utilization area of the chip body under the original processing technology, expand the usage range of the chip, and increase the versatility of the chip.

[0033] The present invention is provided with a chip base for placing the chip body above the waste liquid storage tank, and the chip base and the chip body are also connected through mounting holes and mounting posts. Firstly, it plays a role in fixing the chip to prevent the chip from detaching from the waste liquid tank during use. Secondly, it also facilitates the disassembly and assembly of the chip. After using the present invention, the user can, through the mounting holes on the chip base, eject the mounting posts to quickly and conveniently detach the chip body from the waste liquid pool, thus achieving the detachable function. For the microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool of the present invention, especially when the chip body can be reused, the use cost of the microfluidic chip can be greatly reduced by only replacing the waste liquid pool.

[0034] For the microfluidic chip with the structure of the present invention, the size of the waste liquid pool can be independent of the size of the chip body. When the diameter is fixed, the waste liquid storage capacity can be increased by controlling the depth, making it more suitable for microfluidic chips with a large amount of waste liquid. Different chips can be stacked together by matching the upper cover plate of the Z-shaped mounting cover plate with the side baffle, which is not only beautiful but also convenient for transportation and storage, and can protect the chip surface to prevent wear during transportation and other situations.

[0035] Embodiment 2

[0036] In Embodiment 2 as shown in Figure 2 , the chip body remains unchanged. Three cylindrical auxiliary fixing posts 8 are provided on the chip bottom tray of the waste liquid pool, which cooperate with the auxiliary fixing holes provided on the chip body and are evenly distributed on the chip bottom tray and the chip body, playing an auxiliary fixing role. Especially when the present invention is used as a centrifugal microfluidic chip, the installation firmness between the chip body and the waste liquid pool can be greatly increased, preventing the chip body from falling off during use.

[0037] Embodiment 3

[0038] In Embodiment 3 as shown in Figure 3 , the waste liquid diversion channel is arranged along the inner side of the side baffle, and there is no contact between the chip bottom tray and the side baffle, thus separating the waste liquid diversion channel from the side baffle. When the present invention is in use, the waste liquid will not flow onto the chip bottom tray after coming out through the waste liquid discharge channel, improving the waste liquid collection effect and facilitating the subsequent disassembly of the waste liquid pool and the chip body.

Claims

1. A microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool, characterized in that, The described microfluidic chip includes a chip body and a waste liquid pool that are detachably connected. The chip body is provided with a waste liquid discharge channel. The waste liquid pool includes: A waste liquid storage tank, which is arranged at the bottom of the waste liquid pool and is used for collecting waste liquid; A chip bottom support. The upper surface height of the chip bottom support is higher than the bottom surface height of the waste liquid storage tank. The chip bottom support is provided with mounting holes, and the chip body is provided with mounting posts that cooperate with the mounting holes. The length of the mounting posts is longer than the depth of the mounting holes; Side baffles, which are circular cylindrical and arranged along the sides of the waste liquid pool; A waste liquid diversion channel, which is arranged between the side baffles and the waste liquid storage tank and is used to guide the waste liquid to flow into the waste liquid storage tank; A mounting cover plate, which includes an upper cover plate and a lower cover plate that are arranged in upper and lower layers and are both circular cylindrical. The cross-section of the mounting cover plate is Z-shaped and the inner diameter of the upper cover plate is smaller than the inner diameter of the lower cover plate. The mounting cover plate matches the shape of the side baffles; The chip body is circular and the outer diameter of the chip body is smaller than the inner diameter of the mounting cover plate.

2. The microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool according to claim 1, wherein, The bottom surface height of the mounting cover plate is higher than the waste liquid discharge channel.

3. The microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool according to claim 1, characterized in that, The chip bottom support is cylindrical and is arranged at the center of the bottom of the waste liquid pool.

4. The microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool according to claim 1, wherein There are at least two chip bottom supports, which are symmetrically distributed at the bottom of the waste liquid pool.

5. A microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that, The waste liquid diversion channel is arranged along the inner side of the side baffles, and there is no contact between the chip bottom support and the side baffles.

6. The microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool according to claim 1, characterized in that, A waterproof layer is provided at the bottom of the chip body.

7. A microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool according to claim 6, characterized in that, The waterproof layer is non-transparent.

8. A microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool according to claim 1, characterized in that, The chip bottom support is provided with protruding auxiliary fixing posts, and the chip body is provided with auxiliary fixing holes that cooperate with the auxiliary fixing posts.

9. A microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool according to claim 1, characterized in that, Absorbent cotton is provided in the waste liquid storage tank, and / or Absorbent cotton is provided in the waste liquid diversion channel.

10. A microfluidic chip with a detachable waste liquid pool according to claim 1, characterized in that, The chip bottom support is a hollow convex structure, and the lower surface of the chip bottom support is higher than the upper surface of the waste liquid storage tank.

Images