Combinable Cavity Tray Thermoforming Disposable Liquid Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high costs and material wastage associated with injection molding in producing disposable pipetting tips and microplates for liquid handling, driven by expensive molds and high material usage, necessitate a more cost-effective and sustainable solution.
Innovation Solution
The development of a combinable cavity tray with integrally formed cavities and passages, allowing for assembly into larger units similar to microplates or multiple tips, which can be manufactured using alternative methods like thermoforming, reducing the need for expensive injection molds and minimizing material usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If injection molding is used to manufacture disposable pipetting tips, then manufacturing precision and reliability are improved, but manufacturing costs and material usage increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the disposable principle by designing a cavity tray that is intended for single-use in liquid handling applications. After use, the entire tray is discarded rather than cleaned and reused. This eliminates the need for expensive, durable manufacturing processes like injection molding, allowing instead the use of simpler, more cost-effective methods such as thermoforming or laser cutting while maintaining sufficient functionality for the intended short lifecycle.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the manufacturing parameters from high-precision injection molding to lower-precision but more cost-effective methods. By accepting that disposable items do not require the same durability and precision as reusable equipment, the invention shifts the manufacturing approach to methods like thermoforming or laser cutting, which have lower tooling costs and material requirements while still producing functional cavity trays.
2Manufacturing precision
If injection molding is used to manufacture disposable pipetting tips, then manufacturing precision is improved, but initial tooling costs and material wastage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the manufacturing parameters from high-precision injection molding to lower-precision but more cost-effective methods. By accepting that disposable items do not require the same durability and precision as reusable equipment, the invention shifts the manufacturing approach to methods like thermoforming or laser cutting, which have lower tooling costs and material requirements while still producing functional cavity trays.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies the disposable principle by designing a cavity tray that is intended for single-use in liquid handling applications. After use, the entire tray is discarded rather than cleaned and reused. This eliminates the need for expensive, durable manufacturing processes like injection molding, allowing instead the use of simpler, more cost-effective methods such as thermoforming or laser cutting while maintaining sufficient functionality for the intended short lifecycle.
3Ease of operation
If multiple individual pipetting tips are stored in separate trays, then ease of access is improved, but device complexity and storage space increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual tip storage functions into a single integrated cavity tray. The tray contains multiple cavities arranged in an organized layout, allowing multiple pipetting tips to be stored and accessed simultaneously from one unit rather than requiring multiple separate trays. This reduces device complexity and storage space while maintaining ease of access through the structured cavity arrangement.
Solution Approach 2:
The cavity tray serves multiple functions within a single device: it stores multiple pipetting tips, organizes them in accessible positions, protects them during transport, and facilitates simultaneous removal of multiple tips. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for multiple specialized trays, reducing overall system complexity while improving operational efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach lowers production costs, reduces waste, and enhances sustainability by enabling the use of less material and simpler manufacturing processes, while providing a high packing density and efficient storage, ultimately reducing operational costs for laboratories.
Implementation Method 1
The combinable cavity tray (10) is preferably made of a thermosoftening plastic (also known as thermoplastic material; e.g. polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) or polypropylene (PP)) or a compound foil comprising thermosoftening plastic(s), and the cavity (20) is preferably formed by a thermoforming process.
Data Source
AI summary
A combinable cavity tray for liquid handling is provided. The combinable cavity tray has at least one cavity for receiving a fluid and at least one passage for leading through a cavity of a second combinable cavity tray and/or for connecting to a pipetting apparatus. The at least one cavity of the combinable cavity tray is formed integrally. An assembly of combinable cavity trays having at least two combinable cavity trays, a method of manufacturing a combinable cavity tray and the use of a combinable cavity tray or of an assembly of combinable cavity trays for liquid handling are provided.