Rotor gap adjustable structure based on rotational flow focusing

Abstract

This invention discloses an adjustable rotor spacing structure based on rotational flow focusing, relating to the field of microfluidics. The invention includes a support frame rotatably connected to several rotor shafts, each connected to a rotor. The rotors are frustum-shaped, with any two adjacent rotors arranged in an upside-down configuration. This allows for adjustment of the slit width between adjacent rotors by adjusting their axial positions. By adjusting the axial positions of the rotors, this invention enables flexible adjustment of the slit width between adjacent rotors, allowing for adjustments based on the size of the needle or the desired size of the microdroplets, effectively improving overall flexibility and adaptability. Furthermore, by arranging multiple rotors side-by-side and adjusting the slit widths between them, the droplet preparation device can simultaneously prepare microdroplets of different sizes, significantly improving overall preparation efficiency.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The application belongs to the technical field of microfluidics, and particularly relates to a rotor spacing adjustable structure based on rotary flow focusing. BACKGROUND

[0002] Microdroplets are tiny droplets with a size of microns or nanometers, involving many material types and structures, and are widely used in many fields such as biomedicine, energy and environment, and have important application value. In these practical applications, the preparation and formation of droplets usually involve a complex condition of high temperature, and high requirements are put forward for the particle size, yield, uniformity, surface morphology and the like of the droplets.

[0003] Traditional microdroplet preparation methods include emulsification method, microfluidic method and flow focusing method. The emulsification method is simple to operate and has high efficiency, but has poor droplet uniformity, low batch repeatability and narrow material application range. The microfluidic method has good droplet uniformity and high repeatability, but has low preparation efficiency and also has the defect of narrow material application range. The flow focusing technology is difficult to apply to high viscosity fluids due to the limitation of pipe size.

[0004] For example, Chinese Invention CN111569965A discloses an open millimeter-scale droplet preparation device and method based on symmetric rotors. The device drives the surrounding continuous phase fluid with symmetric rotors to form a focusing effect at the slit, so that the dispersed phase flowing out of the capillary needle forms a jet and is finally broken into droplets.

[0005] However, in this method, the rotors rotate through gears, so that the spacing between the rotors cannot be flexibly adjusted, and thus the size of the needle or the particle size of the microdroplets to be prepared cannot be flexibly adjusted, resulting in poor overall flexibility and adaptability. SUMMARY

[0006] The purpose of the present application is to provide a rotor spacing adjustable structure based on rotary flow focusing. The rotors are formed into a circular truncated cone structure, and any two adjacent rotors are arranged upside down with each other. By adjusting the axial position of the rotors, the width of the slit between the two adjacent rotors is adjusted, solving the problem that the spacing between the rotors cannot be flexibly adjusted, and the overall flexibility and adaptability are poor.

[0007] To solve the above technical problems, the present application is realized by the following technical scheme:

[0008] The application discloses a rotatable spacing adjustable structure based on rotary flow focusing.

[0009] As a preferred technical scheme of the application, the upper end of each of the rotatable shafts is rotationally connected with a support sleeve, the outer wall of the support sleeve is provided with external threads, and the support sleeve is threadedly connected with the support frame, so that the axial position of the rotator is adjusted by rotating the support sleeve.

[0010] As a preferred technical scheme of the application, the upper end of the support sleeve is provided with a flange, and the flange is threadedly connected with a set screw, so that the support sleeve is fixed by the set screw.

[0011] As a preferred technical scheme of the application, the circumferential surface of the flange is provided with anti-skid lines.

[0012] As a preferred technical scheme of the application, the number of the rotatable shafts is two or more, and when the number of the rotatable shafts is greater than two, the axial position of the rotator is adjusted so that the rotors have different slit widths, and microdroplets of different particle sizes are simultaneously prepared.

[0013] The application has the following advantages:

[0014] The rotors are in the shape of a circular truncated cone, and any two adjacent rotors are arranged in an upside-down manner, the axial position of the rotors is adjusted, the slit width between the adjacent two rotors is adjusted, the size of the needle or the size of the microdroplets to be prepared can be flexibly adjusted, and the use flexibility and adaptability of the whole are effectively improved.

[0015] Meanwhile, the multiple rotors are arranged side by side, the axial position of the rotors is adjusted, the rotors have different slit widths, the slit with different widths can adapt to the needle with different sizes and the microdroplets with different particle sizes, the droplet preparation device can simultaneously prepare microdroplets with different particle sizes, and the preparation efficiency of the whole is greatly improved.

[0016] Of course, any product implementing the application does not necessarily need to achieve all the advantages mentioned above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without any creative effort based on these drawings.

[0018] Figure 1 Structure diagram of the present application based on the structure of the adjustable distance between the rotors of the rotating flow focusing;

[0019] Figure 2 Structure diagram of the frame, support shaft sleeve and rotor shaft;

[0020] Figure 3 Front view of Figure 2 ;

[0021] In the drawings, the components represented by each reference numeral are listed as follows:

[0022] 1 - support frame, 2 - rotor shaft, 3 - rotor, 4 - support shaft sleeve, 5 - needle, 401 - flange, 402 - set screw. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely in the following with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, but not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without any creative effort belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0024] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "opening", "upper", "lower", "thickness", "top", "middle", "length", "inner", "periphery" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship, which are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the components or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present application.

[0025] Please refer to Figures 1 to 3 The present application is a structure of adjustable distance between the rotors based on rotating flow focusing, as shown in the drawings, which comprises a support frame 1, a plurality of rotor shafts 2 are rotatably connected to the support frame 1, a plurality of rotors 3 are connected to the rotor shafts 2, the number of the rotor shafts 2 is two or more, and the support frame 1 can adopt the support frame structure in the prior art. The rotor shafts 2 are arranged side by side and are driven by gear meshing, a driving motor is installed on the support frame 1, the driving motor drives the rotor shafts 2 to rotate through gear transmission, the driving motor is not shown in the drawings, and the specific installation mode can be referred to the prior art.

[0026] The rotor 3 has a frustum-shaped structure, and any two adjacent rotors 3 are arranged upside down relative to each other. This allows for adjustment of the slit width between two adjacent rotors 3 by adjusting the axial position of the rotor 3. This enables flexible adjustment based on the size of the needle or the size of the microdroplets to be prepared, effectively improving the overall flexibility and adaptability of use.

[0027] And, as Figure 1 As shown, when the number of rotor shafts 2 is greater than two, such as when there are four as shown in the figure, the four rotors 3 are arranged side by side to form three slits. The end of the needle 5 is located in the slit. By adjusting the axial position of one or two rotors 3, the rotors 3 can have different slit widths, thereby accommodating needles 5 of different sizes and preparing microdroplets of different particle sizes. This allows the droplet preparation device to prepare microdroplets of different particle sizes at the same time, greatly improving the overall preparation efficiency.

[0028] Each rotor shaft 2 is rotatably connected to a support sleeve 4 at its upper end. The rotor shaft 2 and the support sleeve 4 are axially rotatably connected and their axial positions are limited, for example, by installing a snap ring.

[0029] The outer wall of the support bushing 4 is provided with external threads, and the cross plate of the support frame 1 is provided with threaded holes, so that the support bushing 4 and the support frame 1 are threadedly connected. This is used to rotate the support bushing 4 so that the support bushing 4 moves axially, thereby driving the rotor shaft 2 to move axially, and thus realizing the adjustment of the axial position of the rotor 3.

[0030] The upper end of the support bushing 4 is provided with a flange 401. The circumferential surface of the flange 401 is provided with anti-slip texture, which facilitates manual rotation of the support bushing 4 through the flange 401. At the same time, the flange 401 has a threaded hole and a set screw 402 is threadedly connected to it. The lower end of the set screw 402 abuts against the cross plate of the support frame 1, and the support bushing 4 is fixed by the set screw 402. This prevents the support bushing 4 from rotating accidentally and causing a change in the axial position of the rotor 3. Thus, the set screw 402 ensures the overall stability and reliability of the operation.

[0031] In the description of this specification, references to terms such as "an embodiment," "example," "specific example," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

[0032] The preferred embodiments of the present invention disclosed above are merely illustrative of the invention. These preferred embodiments do not exhaustively describe all details, nor do they limit the invention to the specific implementations described. Clearly, many modifications and variations can be made based on the content of this specification. This specification selects and specifically describes these embodiments to better explain the principles and practical applications of the invention, thereby enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and utilize the invention. The invention is limited only by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.

Claims

1. A rotor spacing adjustable structure based on rotational flow focusing, comprising a support frame (1), wherein the support frame (1) is rotatably connected to two or more rotor shafts (2), and each of the two or more rotor shafts (2) is connected to a rotor (3), characterized in that: The rotor (3) has a frustum-shaped structure, and any two adjacent rotors (3) are arranged upside down relative to each other, so as to adjust the slit width between two adjacent rotors (3) by adjusting the axial position of the rotor (3); The rotor shafts (2) are arranged side by side and are driven by gear meshing; The upper ends of the rotor shafts (2) with more than two shafts are rotatably connected to support bushings (4). The outer wall of the support bushings (4) is provided with external threads and is threadedly connected to the support frame (1) to adjust the axial position of the rotor (3) by rotating the support bushings (4). The upper end of the support bushing (4) is provided with a flange (401), and the flange (401) is threaded with a set screw (402) for fixing the support bushing (4) by the set screw (402); The tip of the needle (5) is located in the slit. By adjusting the axial position of the rotor (3), the rotors (3) can have different slit widths, which can simultaneously accommodate needles (5) of different sizes and realize the simultaneous preparation of microdroplets of different particle sizes.

2. The rotor spacing adjustable structure based on rotating flow focusing according to claim 1, characterized in that, The circumferential surface of the flange (401) is provided with anti-slip texture.

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