Sealed Chip Package With Segmented Extraction Chambers
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for packaging systems and methods that allow for high-throughput analysis of chemical species while maintaining environmental protection and enabling quick and reliable access to analysis chips for automated robotic systems, particularly in applications like DNA sequencing where contamination and handling damage are concerns.
Innovation Solution
An environmentally sealed strip with multiple chambers, each containing a chip carrier that holds an analysis chip, sealed with a sealing film, allowing for the chip to be easily extracted using a piercing and extraction tool for further processing and analysis, while maintaining protection during shipping and handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the analysis chip is sealed in an environmentally protected package for shipping and handling, then contamination and damage are prevented, but quick and reliable access for automated robotic systems becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The sealed package is divided into multiple individual chambers, each containing a separate analysis chip. This segmentation allows automated robotic systems to access and retrieve individual chips without compromising the sealed environment of other chips, thus maintaining both protection and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
A break-away feature acts as an intermediary mechanism between the sealed package and the automated extraction tool. The break-away feature can be reliably triggered by automated systems to open individual chambers, enabling quick access while maintaining the integrity of the sealed environment during shipping and handling.
2Productivity
If multiple analysis chips are packaged together for high throughput analysis, then productivity increases, but individual access and handling become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple analysis chips are packaged in separate, independently accessible chambers within a single sealed package. This segmentation allows automated systems to retrieve chips in sequence without handling complexity, maintaining high throughput while simplifying individual access compared to alternative multi-chip packaging approaches.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the chip carrier is securely held in place within the chamber, then stability during shipping is improved, but extraction requires more force or complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The chip carrier is pre-configured with a break-away feature that requires only minimal force to activate. This preliminary design allows the carrier to be securely held during shipping while enabling easy extraction when needed, as the break-away feature has already been engineered to fail at a specific weak point.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical properties of the chip carrier are designed with a specific parameter change - a break-away feature with controlled strength. This allows the carrier to maintain stability under normal handling conditions while requiring only slight additional force for extraction, balancing both stability and ease of operation.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention provides environmental packages, instruments, and methods for sealing, protecting, and providing analysis chips for processing and analysis. The analysis chips are bonded directly or indirectly to chip carriers which are held within the chambers of an environmental packaging strip. The chambers are sealed with a sealing film such that the chip carriers can be extracted using a piercing tool and an extraction tool.