The present technology relates to a drying device and a method of drying laboratory consumables, and more particularly to a pipette tip drying device and a method of washing pipette tips.
Every year around 4,000,000 pounds of plastic pipette tips, after a single use, are disposed of in landfills globally, leading to significant environmental pollution and costs. A typical laboratory consumes several thousand pipette tips daily for samples and assay procedures. Due to the lack of options for cleaning plastic consumables, the labs discard pipette tips after each use. Such high consumption of plastic tips adds $25,000-$1.5 M to the annual operation cost to each of the approximately 14,000 research laboratories in the US.
Devices that are capable of efficient pipette tip cleaning and sterilization could save businesses substantial amounts of money in their scientific operations and drastically reduce the amount of waste produced in the course of operations. Few devices have been developed for this purpose to date. In some cases, laboratories have developed small-scale cleaning methods to reuse a few pipette tips, such as single 96-tip cases. In some small-scale automatic liquid handling instruments, there are setups for the cleaning of tips with solutions. Neither of these options, however, is large enough in scale to be useful in a large industrial, government, or academic laboratory that may use hundreds of pipette tips every day. Additionally, labs must have absolute confidence that a cleaning system has completely removed all contaminants from the pipette tips so that there is no carryover, a term for the contamination presented into an experiment by equipment used in a prior experiment.
Another issue related to large scale washing and sterilization of laboratory consumables is ensuring that the laboratory consumables are completely dried and ready for use subsequent to the cleaning process to avoid fluid contamination of the sample. As solutions for the large scale washing problem are scarce, so too are large scale drying solutions.
Thus, there is a need for a large-scale method for drying pipette tips so they may be reused in large-scale laboratory processes.
The present technology provides a number of advantages including providing a device and method for the efficient drying, after a sterilizing wash, of a large number of laboratory consumables, such as pipette tips, for use in large scale laboratory settings. Efficient drying of laboratory consumables is made possible as the device allows for direct insertion of the racks holding the consumables, eliminating the need to transfer the laboratory consumables individually for drying. The device allows for insertion of large quantity of laboratory consumables, which also provides for efficiency in a large scale laboratory setting. Additionally, the device advantageously combines agitation and air flow to provide effective and complete drying of the laboratory consumables.
One embodiment of this invention relates to a drying device that includes a first compartment configured to removably receive a drying chamber. The drying chamber includes a tray capable of receiving one or more racks that are configured to hold a plurality of laboratory consumables. The first compartment includes one or more pistons capable of displacing the tray to agitate the laboratory consumables. A second compartment is attached to the first compartment. The second compartment includes one or more air flow sources for directing a flow of air to the plurality of laboratory consumables and an air filter located proximate to the one or more air flow sources.
Another embodiment of this invention relates to a method for drying laboratory consumables that includes inserting one or more racks holding a plurality of laboratory consumables into a drying chamber having a tray capable of receiving the one or more racks. The drying chamber is inserted into a first compartment of a drying device. The first compartment is configured to removably receive the drying chamber. A flow of air is directed to the plurality of laboratory consumables from a second compartment attached to the first compartment. The second compartment includes one or more air flow sources for directing the flow of air to the laboratory consumables and an air filter located proximate to the one or more air flow sources. The tray is displaced one or more times using one or more pistons located within the first compartment to agitate the plurality of laboratory consumables.
An exemplary laboratory consumable drying device 10 is illustrated in
Referring to
First compartment 12 includes rails 28 attached to opposing inner walls. In this example, rails 28 are telescoping arms secured to drying chamber 14 such that drying chamber 14 may be inserted and removed from first compartment 12, although other types of rails in other configurations may be utilized for first compartment 12 to removably receive drying chamber 14. Drying chamber 14 may be slidably removed from first compartment 12 along rails 28 as illustrated in
Drying chamber 14 is configured to be removably inserted into first compartment 12 as shown in
Drying tray 15 is configured to receive one or more racks 34 configured to hold a plurality of laboratory consumables, such as disposable pipette tips, as illustrated in
Drying chamber 14 also includes vents 36 located on opposing sidewalls, although vents 36 may include more or fewer vents located in other areas along drying chamber 14 in other configurations. In this example, vents 36 are configured as gratings that may be aligned with openings 32 in first compartment 12 to permit air flow between drying chamber 14 and the external environment.
Referring now to
Referring again to
Second compartment 18 includes one or more air flow sources 20A and 20B arranged therein as illustrated in
Second compartment 18 also includes air filter insert 21 configured to be removably attached located on the top surface of second compartment 18. In this example, air filter insert 21 is a grating configured to receive air filter 22 therein. Air filter insert 21 is constructed of stainless steel, although other materials, such as other metals or plastics, may be utilized for air filter insert 21. Air filter 22 is configured to be inserted into air filter insert 21 and may be a charcoal input HIPAA filter, although other types of air filters may be utilized. Air filter 22 is positioned on air filter insert 21 to be located proximate to the one or more air flow sources 20. Although air filter 22 is illustrated, drying device 10 may include other air filters in other locations.
Drip pan 24 is coupled to first compartment 12 to collect fluids removed from the laboratory consumables. In this example, drip pan 24 is located below first compartment 12 and extends out a distance to accommodate drying chamber 14 when drying chamber 14 is removed from first compartment 12 as illustrated in
A method for drying laboratory consumables, such as pipette tips, using the drying device 10 will now be described with reference to
Racks 34 are supported in drying chamber 14 by drying rack 15 as illustrated in
Next, drying chamber 14 is inserted into first compartment 12 as illustrated in
With the drying chamber 14 inserted into first compartment 12 as illustrated in
Air flow circulating in drying device 10 is allowed to leave drying device 10 through vents 36 in drying chamber 14, which are aligned with openings 32 in first compartment 12 when drying chamber 14 is fully inserted therein. Air flow may alternatively leave drying device 10 through other vents in other locations. Air filter 22, such as a charcoal input HIPAA filter, which is inserted into air filter insert 21, is located proximate to air flow sources 20 and captures particles to maintain sterilization of the laboratory consumables during the drying process.
Drying rack 15 is then displaced using pistons 16 located within first compartment 12 as illustrated in
Accordingly, the present technology provides a device and method for efficiently drying a large number of laboratory consumables subsequent to washing and prior to reuse. This device and method advantageously provide for reusing the laboratory consumables to avoid waste.
Having thus described the basic concept of the invention, it will be rather apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way of example only, and is not limiting. Various alterations, improvements, and modifications will occur and are intended to those skilled in the art, though not expressly stated herein. These alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested hereby, and are within the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the recited order of processing elements or sequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designations therefore, is not intended to limit the claimed processes to any order except as may be specified in the claims. Accordingly, the invention is limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereto.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/917,821, filed Dec. 18, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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2548363 | Gray | Apr 1951 | A |
4268973 | Jezuit | May 1981 | A |
5010660 | Hambleton | Apr 1991 | A |
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0919282 | Jun 1999 | EP |
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Entry |
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PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion for PCT/US2014/071279, dated Mar. 30, 2015, 11 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20150168065 A1 | Jun 2015 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61917821 | Dec 2013 | US |