Nested Pipette Tip Rack Assembly With Spacing Projections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pipette tip arrays are inefficiently packed, leading to excessive plastic usage, space wastage, and increased handling efforts due to direct nesting, which can result in incomplete dispensing and reduced operational throughput.
Innovation Solution
A nested pipette tip rack assembly featuring a rack base with projections and orifices that prevent over-nesting by spacing pipette tips, allowing for tighter packing and easier handling, comprising a first and second pipette tip receptacle plate with bores and projections that nest securely without interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If pipette tips are directly nested upon each other for storage and shipping, then space utilization is improved, but handling complexity increases and risk of incomplete dispensing arises
Solution Approach 1:
The pipette tip storage system is segmented into modular racks with individual slots and trays, allowing organized arrangement of nested tips. This segmentation enables systematic handling and dispensing of specific tip arrays without manipulating the entire nested structure, reducing handling complexity while maintaining compact storage.
Solution Approach 2:
Trays are introduced as intermediary components between the nested pipette tips and the user/dispenser. These trays hold specific arrays of nested tips and can be easily removed and presented to dispensers, serving as a mediator that simplifies the transfer process and reduces handling complexity while maintaining space-efficient nesting.
2Loss of substance
If pipette tips are tightly packed through direct nesting, then plastic usage is reduced, but over-nesting occurs leading to incomplete dispensing
Solution Approach 1:
The rack structure with defined slots and depth limitations preliminarily prevents over-nesting by physically constraining how far tips can be inserted. This preliminary anti-action stops the harmful effect of over-nesting before it occurs, ensuring that tips are packed tightly without compromising dispensing completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The rack system creates a standardized template or copy of the ideal nesting arrangement with predefined slot positions and depths. This template ensures consistent, reliable nesting depth across all tips while maximizing plastic efficiency, eliminating the variability that leads to over-nesting and incomplete dispensing.
3Ease of operation
If stacked trays are used to store and ship pipette tips, then handling is simplified, but space utilization deteriorates and plastic waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements hierarchical nesting where pipette tips are nested within trays, and trays are nested within racks. This multi-level nesting dramatically improves space utilization compared to stacking separate trays, while the rack structure with defined slots maintains handling simplicity by organizing nested units in an accessible, systematic manner.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided in part herein are pipette tip rack assemblies having one or more of the following features: (i) having a plurality of pipette tip receptacle plates, each plate having an array of pipette tips, stacked upon one another supported by a rack base; (ii) each plate having one or more projections from the proximal or distal surface and, optionally, orifices that oppose the projections of the next plate in the stack, and (iii) the rack base having a proximal surface with one or more orifices or projections that oppose the projections or orifices of the plate in the stack. Also provided are methods of dispensing pipette tips from pipette tip rack assemblies and manufacturing pipette tip rack assembly components.