Microplate System with Through-Hole Receptacles and Reusable Containments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Standardized microplates with 384 or 1536 receptacles face challenges in efficient handling and processing due to difficulties in sealing and opening, particularly with small tubes, which complicates automated processes and leads to frequent disposal.
Innovation Solution
A microplate system with receptacles extending through the plate, allowing containments with caps to be inserted and removed efficiently through both ends, featuring threaded, press-fit, or snap-fit connections to enable multiple uses and prevent contamination, and designed to meet ANSI/SLAS standards for robotic handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If small tubes (for 384 or 1536 receptacle microplates) are sealed with foils, then protection of substances is achieved, but sealing and opening becomes comparably difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system is segmented into a reusable cap with integrated foil and a reusable piercing device. The cap separates the foil from the tube, allowing the foil to be easily replaced while keeping the cap and piercing device for multiple uses. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by making sealing easier (reusable components) while maintaining protection (integrated foil sealing).
Solution Approach 2:
A reusable piercing device acts as an intermediary between the cap and the tube, providing a controlled mechanism for opening the sealed tube. This intermediary tool enables easy opening without directly manipulating the foil, resolving the operational difficulty while maintaining substance protection until opening is intended.
2Extent of automation
If receptacles extend through the microplate with open ends for tube insertion, then automated handling is facilitated, but contamination risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is applied to the tube before insertion into the receptacle, preliminarily sealing the substance against contamination. The piercing device is prepared in advance to open the seal only when needed. This preliminary sealing action maintains automation compatibility while preventing contamination during storage and handling.
Solution Approach 2:
A flexible foil seal within the cap provides a tight barrier that can be easily pierced when needed. The thin film maintains contamination protection during automated handling while allowing controlled access when the piercing device is applied, resolving the contradiction between automation and contamination prevention.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If tubes are disposed after use, then contamination prevention is simple, but waste increases and reusability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables recovery and reuse of the cap and piercing device while the foil is discarded after single use. This selective discarding and recovering approach prevents contamination (through reusable sealed components) while minimizing waste (by reusing durable parts), directly resolving the stated contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing system changes from a disposable tube to a reusable cap with replaceable foil. This parameter change in reusability maintains contamination prevention through the reusable sealed interface while reducing waste by eliminating the need to discard the entire tube assembly.
Data Source
AI summary
A microplate system (1) comprising a microplate (2) and a plurality of containments (3). The microplate (2) has a length in a range between about 127 mm and about 129 mm and a width in a range between about 84 mm and about 86 mm. The microplate (2) has 384 or 1536 receptacles (21). Each receptacle (21) of the microplate (2) extends through the microplate (2) such that it has a first open end and a second open end. Each receptacle (21) of the microplate (2) forms a seat to hold one of the plurality of containments (3). Each of the plurality of containments (3) comprises a cap (32) and a tube (31) shaped to be held in the seat of one of the receptacles (21) of the microplate (2). The plurality of containments (3) and the receptacles (21) of the microplate (2) are shaped such that, in order to be arranged in the microplate (2), each of the plurality of containments (3) is introducible through the first open end of the one of the receptacles (21) into the one of the receptacles (21) until it is held in the seat (212) of the one of the receptacles (21). The tube (31) and the cap (32) of each of the containments (3) are configured to be multiply connected to each other and disconnected from each other.