Fluid Tray Sealing with Independent Pressure Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid transfer systems face challenges with leakage risks and inefficiencies due to poor sealing during fluid transfer between containers, requiring costly and cumbersome sealing methods that are difficult to maintain and often result in fluid loss.
Innovation Solution
A system with independently movable tray holders and separate sealing surfaces for inlet and outlet trays, using a moving mechanism to press these trays against a couplable upper member with capillaries, allowing for precise pressure control and reduced reliance on parallelism, thereby minimizing leakage and increasing efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional sealing methods are used during fluid transfer, then sealing is attempted, but the sealing properties are poor and leakage occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system is divided into separate inlet and outlet sealing surfaces, each independently pressurizable. This segmentation allows each sealing interface to be optimized and controlled separately, improving overall sealing reliability without requiring a single complex sealing mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the pressure parameter independently at different sealing locations. By applying different pressures to the inlet and outlet trays separately, the system optimizes sealing at each interface, resolving the contradiction between achieving reliable sealing and maintaining simple device design.
2Reliability
If independent pressure control is implemented for inlet and outlet trays, then leakage is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic, independent pressure control for inlet and outlet trays through separate pneumatic circuits. This allows real-time adjustment of pressure at each sealing interface, improving fluid transfer reliability while maintaining manageable device complexity through modular pneumatic control.
3Reliability
If separate sealing surfaces are used for inlet and outlet trays, then leakage is minimized, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the sealing into separate inlet and outlet surfaces, each sealing interface can be manufactured and assembled independently. This reduces the cumulative tolerance requirements compared to a single long sealing surface, achieving better sealing effectiveness without excessive manufacturing precision demands.
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
The system effectively transfers fluids between containers with reduced leakage and increased efficiency, allowing for timely cleaning and reuse of containers, simplifying manufacturing and assembly by relaxing precise tolerance requirements.
Implementation Method 1
a moving mechanism configured to move the first tray holder in a first direction so as to bring at least one of the first inlet tray and the first outlet tray in contact with the sealing surface of the couplable upper member
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for processing fluid containers, the system including a first tray holder to hold a first inlet tray and a first outlet tray, the first inlet tray including one or more reservoirs, and the first outlet tray including one or more cavities, a couplable upper member including a sealing surface, a moving mechanism to move the first tray holder in a first direction to bring at least one of the first inlet tray and the first outlet tray in contact with the sealing surface of the couplable upper member, and a floating plate at least one of between the first outlet tray and a top surface of the moving mechanism, and between the first inlet tray and the top surface of the moving mechanism, wherein the moving mechanism is configured to independently move the first inlet tray and the first outlet tray in the first direction.