Stirring head and stirring mechanism for PDMS

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of biochip preparation, in particular to a PDMS stirring head which comprises a rod body, at least two of a spiral stirring part, a blade stirring part and a flange part are distributed on the rod body in the axial direction of the rod body, a spiral extending in the axial direction of the rod body is arranged on the spiral stirring part, a plurality of blades arranged in the circumferential direction are arranged on the blade stirring part, and the flange part is arranged on the rod body. And at least one edge protruding relative to the radial direction of the rod body is arranged on the flange part. The stirring mechanism for PDMS can be obtained by assembling one or more stirring heads. The stirring head is provided with at least two different stirring parts, and the stirring parts have different stirring characteristics, so that full stirring can be realized, the generation of bubbles can be reduced, the stirring efficiency is improved, the defoaming time is shortened, and a PDMS solution can be fully and quickly stirred by using a stirring mechanism.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of biochip preparation, and specifically to a stirring head and a stirring mechanism for PDMS. Background Art

[0002] PDMS, namely polydimethylsiloxane, is an organic polymer. It has stable chemical properties, is resistant to oxidation, has basically no toxicity and irritation to biological tissues and cells, and is transparent. Therefore, it is widely used in the preparation of microfluidic chips. The PDMS liquid and the crosslinking agent are mixed in a certain proportion and stirred evenly. The mixed liquid is very viscous and bubbles will be generated during this process, and defoaming treatment is also required. After that, it is poured and cured to form a preliminary PDMS chip layer, which is used in conjunction with a substrate (silicon wafer or glass wafer) to form a microfluidic chip.

[0003] For example, in the Chinese published patent application CN116476291A, a full-automatic PDMS sheet production system, a stirring mechanism 2-3 for PDMS is disclosed. The stirring mechanism 2-3 shown in its attached drawings is a relatively conventional spiral stirring rod with a long rod body. However, technicians found during equipment testing that due to the very viscous PDMS mixed liquid, the uniformity and fineness of the stirred mixed liquid of this structure are poor, the mixing of PDMS and the crosslinking agent is uneven, the soft hardness of the formed PDMS chip layer is uneven, the quality is poor, and a large number of bubbles will enter during the stirring process, greatly increasing the duration of the defoaming process. Therefore, a stirring mechanism is needed that can not only ensure the stirring and mixing effect but also reduce the generation of bubbles during stirring. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a stirring head and a stirring mechanism for PDMS. Different spiral combinations are set on the stirring head to improve the stirring uniformity and greatly reduce the entry of bubbles. The technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: A stirring head for PDMS, including a rod body, on which at least two of a spiral stirring part, a blade stirring part, and a baffle part are axially distributed. The spiral stirring part is provided with a spiral extending along the axial direction of the rod body, the blade stirring part is provided with several circumferentially arranged blades, and the baffle part is provided with at least one edge protruding radially relative to the rod body.

[0005] For the above-mentioned stirring head for PDMS, the outer surface of the spiral stirring part is conical or cylindrical, and the outer surface of the blade stirring part is conical or cylindrical; the edge of the baffle part is in the shape of a skirt with a narrower upper part and a wider lower part.

[0006] For the above-mentioned stirring head for PDMS, the spiral stirring part is at the lowermost end of the rod body.

[0007] The above-mentioned stirring head for PDMS has a spiral stirring part, a blade stirring part and a rib part distributed on the rod body in sequence from bottom to top.

[0008] In the above-mentioned stirring head for PDMS, the maximum surface diameter of the blade stirring part is not less than the maximum surface diameter of the spiral stirring part, and the maximum surface diameter of the rib part is not greater than the maximum surface diameter of the spiral stirring part.

[0009] In the above-mentioned stirring head for PDMS, the length ratio of the spiral stirring part, the blade stirring part and the rib part in the axial direction is 1:0.8~1.5:0.8~1.5.

[0010] The stirring head for PDMS can accommodate at least two of the spiral stirring part, the blade stirring part and the rib part in the solution to be stirred.

[0011] The present invention also provides a stirring mechanism for PDMS, including a mounting frame, a plurality of stirring heads, a driving assembly and a transmission assembly, wherein the stirring heads are the above-mentioned stirring heads, the stirring heads are respectively connected to the transmission assemblies, and the driving assembly and the transmission assembly are respectively mounted on the mounting frame.

[0012] The stirring mechanism for PDMS has a plurality of stirring heads arranged in a straight line, a curve or a polygon.

[0013] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: the stirring head is provided with at least two different stirring parts, and the stirring characteristics of each stirring part are different. The spiral stirring part generates a larger vortex in the radial direction to ensure a wide range of stirring. The blade stirring part stirs more in the axial direction, and the stirring range in the radial direction is smaller, which can reduce the entry of air and thus reduce the generation of bubbles. The retaining edge can block the solution and reduce the movement of the solution to the upper layer during stirring, thereby further reducing the entry of air. In this way, the stirring head can both fully stir and reduce the generation of bubbles, thereby improving the stirring efficiency and reducing the defoaming time. In actual use, multiple stirring heads can be provided to form a stirring mechanism to fully and quickly stir the PDMS solution. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of embodiment 1 of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 2 It is a structural diagram of embodiment 2 of the present invention.

[0016] In the figure: 1 is a rod body, 2 is a spiral stirring part, 3 is a blade stirring part, 4 is a rib part, 5 is a mounting frame, 6 is a driving assembly, and 7 is a transmission assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments are all illustrative and are intended to provide further explanation for the present application. Unless otherwise specified, all technical terms used have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the technical field to which the present application belongs. It should be noted that the descriptions of the terms, quantities, dimensions, positional relationships, etc. used are only for explaining the specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application.

[0018] Embodiment 1 This embodiment is a stirring head for PDMS, including a rod body 1, and at least two of a spiral stirring part 2, a blade stirring part 3, and a rib part 4 are distributed axially on the rod body 1, that is, any two of the spiral stirring part 2, the blade stirring part 3, and the rib part 4 can be included, or all three can be included, and each can be provided with one or multiple.

[0019] Specifically, as Figure 1 shown, the spiral stirring part 2 is provided with a spiral extending along the axial direction of the rod body 1, the blade stirring part 3 is provided with several circumferentially arranged blades, and each blade extends along the axial direction of the rod body 1. The blade can be linear or curved, and the rib part 4 is provided with at least one edge protruding radially with respect to the rod body 1.

[0020] The outer surface of the spiral stirring part 2 is conical or cylindrical. In this embodiment, it is preferably conical, and preferably the spiral stirring part 2 is at the lowermost end of the rod body 1. The outer surface of the blade stirring part 3 is conical or cylindrical. In this embodiment, it is preferably cylindrical. The edge of the rib part 4 is in the shape of a skirt with a narrower upper part and a wider lower part.

[0021] In this embodiment, preferably, the spiral stirring part 2, the blade stirring part 3, and the rib part 4 are distributed on the rod body 1 in sequence from bottom to top. The rib part 4 is provided with three skirt-shaped edges. These three parts can be continuously distributed or can be distributed at intervals on the rod body 1. The maximum surface diameter of the blade stirring part 3 is not less than the maximum surface diameter of the spiral stirring part 2, and the maximum surface diameter of the rib part 4 is not greater than the maximum surface diameter of the spiral stirring part 2.

[0022] With the arrangements of the above-mentioned spiral stirring part 2, blade stirring part 3 and baffle part 4, the spiral stirring part 2 is conical and at the lowermost end, facilitating the insertion of the rod body 1 into the PDMS solution. When rotating, the spiral structure makes the solution form a "vortex", achieving large-range and uniform stirring in the radial direction and accelerating the stirring speed; the blade stirring part 3 is cylindrical with the blades arranged axially and extending along the axial direction of the rod body 1. On the one hand, it forms a large stirring range axially and a small stirring range radially. Therefore, its surface diameter is set to be not less than that of the spiral stirring part 2 and located in the upper part, which can slightly weaken the upward diffusion of the stirring range of the spiral stirring part 2, thereby reducing the entry of air from the upper-layer solution and reducing the generation of bubbles. On the other hand, when the rod body 1 stirs from the lower layer to the upper layer of the PDMS solution, the blade stirring part 3 can play a role of "pre-stirring" in the axial direction for the upper-layer solution of the spiral stirring part 2, further accelerating the overall stirring speed and uniformity. When the rod body 1 stirs from the upper layer to the lower layer of the PDMS solution, the blade stirring part 3 can continuously stir the upper-layer solution that has been stirred to continuously ensure the uniformity of the solution; the skirt-shaped edge of the baffle part 4 can slightly "suppress" the upward movement of the lower-layer solution, reducing the fluctuation of the upper-layer solution, thereby further reducing the entry of air and the generation of bubbles.

[0023] In this way, during the stirring operation, it is preferably to move the rod body 1 up and down in the solution for stirring, and at least two of the spiral stirring part 2, blade stirring part 3 and baffle part 4 can be accommodated in the solution to be stirred, which can greatly reduce the entry of air and thus reduce the generation of bubbles.

[0024] The respective length ratios of the spiral stirring part 2, blade stirring part 3 and baffle part 4 in the axial direction are 1:0.8 - 1.5:0.8 - 1.5, preferably 1:1:1. In this way, during stirring, the fluctuations of each part on the solution are relatively balanced, and each part can better play its respective functions.

[0025] Embodiment 2 This embodiment is a stirring mechanism for PDMS, including a mounting frame 5, several stirring heads, a driving component 6 and a transmission component 7. The stirring heads adopt the stirring heads in Embodiment 1. The stirring heads are respectively connected to the transmission component 7, and the driving component 6 and the transmission component 7 are respectively mounted on the mounting frame 5.

[0026] The several stirring heads are arranged in a straight line, in a curve (including a ring shape) or in a polygon, improving the stirring efficiency. Each stirring head is driven to rotate and stir independently by the transmission component 7.

[0027] In this embodiment, the overall length of the stirring part of the stirring head is relatively small, that is, the effective stirring depth is significantly smaller compared with the stirring mechanism in the invention patent application CN116476291A. In actual tests, the stirring speed of the PDMS solution was not extended, the stirring uniformity was significantly improved, and the subsequent defoaming time was significantly reduced by 1 to 2 hours. The cured and formed PDMS chip layer has good surface quality, light transmittance, elasticity, etc., and the product quality has been significantly improved.

[0028] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of the present application, several changes or improvements can be made, and these changes or improvements should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A stirring head for PDMS, comprising a rod body (1), characterized in that: The rod body (1) is provided with at least two of a spiral stirring portion (2), a blade stirring portion (3) and a rib portion (4) distributed in the axial direction thereof; the spiral stirring portion (2) is provided with a spiral extending along the axial direction of the rod body (1); the blade stirring portion (3) is provided with a plurality of circumferentially arranged blades; and the rib portion (4) is provided with at least one edge protruding radially relative to the rod body (1).

2. The stirring head for PDMS according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer surface of the spiral stirring portion (2) is conical or cylindrical, and the outer surface of the blade stirring portion (3) is conical or cylindrical; the edge of the retaining edge portion (4) is in the shape of a skirt that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom.

3. The stirring head for PDMS according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spiral stirring portion (2) is located at the lowermost end of the rod body (1).

4. The stirring head for PDMS according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The rod body (1) is provided with a spiral stirring portion (2), a blade stirring portion (3) and a rib portion (4) in sequence from bottom to top.

5. The stirring head for PDMS according to claim 4, characterized in that: The maximum surface diameter of the blade stirring portion (3) is not less than the maximum surface diameter of the spiral stirring portion (2), and the maximum surface diameter of the rib portion (4) is not greater than the maximum surface diameter of the spiral stirring portion (2).

6. The stirring head for PDMS according to claim 1, characterized in that: The length ratio of the spiral stirring portion (2), the blade stirring portion (3) and the rib portion (4) in the axial direction is 1:0.8~1.5:0.8~1.

5.

7. The stirring head for PDMS according to claim 1, characterized in that: The solution to be stirred can accommodate at least two of the spiral stirring portion (2), the blade stirring portion (3) and the rib portion (4).

8. A stirring mechanism for PDMS, characterized in that: The invention comprises a mounting frame (5), a plurality of stirring heads, a driving assembly (6) and a transmission assembly (7), wherein the stirring heads are the stirring heads according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the stirring heads are respectively connected to the transmission assemblies (7), and the driving assembly (6) and the transmission assembly (7) are respectively mounted on the mounting frame (5).

9. The stirring mechanism for PDMS according to claim 8, characterized in that: The plurality of stirring heads are arranged in a straight line, a curve or a polygon.

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