Pipetting Head with Segmented Channels for Volume Adaptability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current pipetting devices require multiple devices for different volume ranges, leading to increased complexity, cost, and inefficiency, especially when handling large volumes, as they are often limited by the number of pipetting channels and require manual head exchanges, which disrupts automated liquid handling processes.
Innovation Solution
A pipetting device with a pipetting head featuring two groups of pipetting channels of different diameters, arranged in unique patterns that can be adapted to a standardized microtiter plate grid, allowing for interchangeable magazines and adapter plates to expand the volume range without replacing the head, enabling flexible and efficient handling of various volumes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the pipetting device uses a fixed number of pipetting channels with standardized grid spacing, then the device can be easily adapted to microtiter plate grids, but the device cannot handle volumes beyond the designed range without replacing the entire pipetting head
Solution Approach 1:
The pipetting head is segmented into multiple independent pipetting channels, each with its own piston and cylinder. This allows the system to handle different volume ranges by selectively using different channels rather than replacing the entire head, resolving the contradiction between versatility and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-plane grid arrangement to a multi-dimensional arrangement where pipetting channels are organized in rows and columns with different spacings. This allows adaptation to different microtiter plate configurations while maintaining a fixed head design, enabling volume range flexibility without head replacement.
2Productivity
If the device requires manual exchange of pipetting heads to handle different volume ranges, then the device can maintain precision for each volume range, but automated liquid handling processes are disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The pipetting head is designed as a universal device that can handle multiple volume ranges simultaneously through its array of channels with different capacities. This eliminates the need for manual head exchanges during automated processes, maintaining both automation continuity and operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically selects and uses appropriate pipetting channels based on the required volume without requiring manual intervention or head exchanges. The device serves itself by internally managing the selection of appropriate channels, thereby maintaining automated process continuity.
3Reliability
If multiple pipetting devices are purchased to cover different volume ranges, then each device can be optimized for its specific range, but the overall system cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple pipetting channels with different volume capabilities are merged into a single pipetting head. This consolidation allows the system to maintain precision for different volume ranges while reducing the number of separate devices needed, thereby lowering overall system complexity and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
A single pipetting head is designed to perform multiple functions by incorporating channels that can handle different volume ranges. This universal design eliminates the need for multiple specialized devices, maintaining reliability across volume ranges while simplifying the overall system.
4Quantity of substance
If the pipetting channels are arranged in a dense grid pattern to maximize channel number, then the device can handle more samples, but the cylinder diameter and wall thickness are constrained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes a two-dimensional grid arrangement with varying spacings in different directions, allowing dense packing of channels while maintaining adequate cylinder dimensions. By optimizing the spatial distribution in multiple dimensions, the system maximizes channel quantity without compromising cylinder structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the pipetting head feature different grid spacings and cylinder dimensions optimized for their specific functions. This local optimization allows some channels to be densely packed while others maintain larger dimensions for specific volume requirements, resolving the contradiction between channel quantity and cylinder dimensions.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
The head (20) has a group of large pipetting channels and a group of small pipetting channels arranged in arrangement patterns, where the large pipetting channels exhibits a larger diameter and the small pipetting channels exhibits a smaller diameter. The arrangement patterns are mutually arranged in two rows and columns corresponding to an identical grid of a standardized microtiter plate (18). One of the arrangement patterns is formed corresponding to an arrangement of marginal wells of the microtiter plate in an L-shape. An independent claim is also included for a pipetting apparatus.