This invention relates generally to pipette tip holders, and more particularly to pipette tip holders or boxes for use with automated pipette machines.
Automatic pipette machines or robots are used in the chemical and biological fields to automatically pipette fluids from one place to another, without the need for direct human involvement. Such machines typically load disposable pipette tips from a tip box or tip holder onto a pipette head. Conventional tip boxes generally comprise of a tray with individual holes in which the pipette tips are suspended, and are not designed with the concept of replacing a used tip in the rack. Replacing used tips in the rack has the advantages of eliminating a separate waste container for used tips and allowing the tips to be reused whenever the particular analysis method allows for such reuse. However, by placing a used tip next to an unused tip or next to a tip used to pipette a different fluid, the chance for cross contamination between the tips arises either from direct transfer of fluid through contact between the tips or indirect transfer through splashing from drops falling from the used tips. In addition, some chemical or biological processes require significantly different volumes of fluid to be pipetted at various steps of the analysis, in which case an automated pipetting machine would require different sized pipette tips to transfer the different volumes accurately. However conventional tip boxes accommodate only one volumetric size of pipette tip at a time. If two different pipette tip sizes are needed then two different types of tip box are necessary. This takes tip valuable space on the limited working area of the pipetting machine.
It is desirable to provide a pipette tip holder that reduces that chance of cross contamination of pipette tips so as to enable the reuse of pipette tips in chemical or biological analysis processes. It is also desirable to provide such pipette tip holder that can also accommodate more than one volumetric size of pipette tip, and be relatively easy and inexpensive to fabricate.
In a first aspects the invention is directed to a pipette tip holder for use with automated pipette machines comprising a first container having a bottom and sides to define a first cavity and a top edge portion defining an opening to said first cavity, a plurality of vertical dividers within the first cavity connected to the bottom and the sides of the first container for dividing the first cavity into segregated compartments or reservoirs for limiting or preventing the flow of fluid between said compartments or reservoirs when the first container is upright, and a tip support member connected to the first container and being adapted to suspend a plurality of pipette tips within the first cavity such that at least a bottom portion of each pipette tip is within an individual reservoir, thereby segregating the pipette tips to reduce the possibility of fluid from one tip contacting another tip in the pipette tip holder. In some embodiments, the tip support member is adapted to suspend a plurality of pipette tips of more than one size within the first cavity.
In some embodiments, the tip support member comprises a lid member over the opening of the first container, the lid member defining a plurality of apertures for receiving the pipette tips, each aperture being aligned with a reservoir and being adapted to suspend a pipette tip within said reservoir. The lid member may define apertures of more than one size, each aperture being adapted to suspend a pipette tip of a certain size within a reservoir. The lid member may be removable from the first container. The lid member, in some embodiments, comprises a planar top in which the apertures are defined connected to sides to form an inverted second container defining a second cavity, and having a bottom edge portion on said sides defining an opening to the second cavity, the bottom edge portion being adapted to releasably connect to the top edge portion of the first container such that the second cavity merges with the first cavity when the lid member is connected to the first container.
The lid member in some embodiments includes a plurality of vertical dividers within the second cavity connected to the planar top and the sides of the second container for dividing the second cavity into segregated compartments that align with the reservoirs of the first container when the lid member is connected to the first container.
In some embodiments, the first container includes a first connecting portion on the top edge portion, and the lid member includes a second connecting portion on the bottom edge portion that is adapted to closely fit into the first connecting portion. The first connecting portion may further include an inward facing groove, and the second connecting portion may further include an outward facing ridge that is complimentary to the groove such that the ridge closely fits into the groove to provide a snap fit engagement between the lid member and the first container. A cap adapted for a close releasable connection over the lid member to provide a cover for pipette tips being supported by the lid member may be provided in some embodiments.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to a pipette tip holder for holding a plurality of pipette tips in an automated pipette machine. The pipette tip holder includes a container that defines a cavity, at least one vertical divider in the cavity for dividing the cavity into a plurality of segregated compartments, and a tip support member. The tip support member is connected to the container. The tip support member defines a plurality of apertures. The apertures are sized to receive and suspend said pipette tips in the cavity. Each aperture is generally aligned with one of said compartments. The at least one vertical divider is sized and positioned to inhibit contact between bottom portions of adjacent pipette tips.
In one embodiment of this aspect, the cavity in the container is a first cavity and the tip support member defines a second cavity. The tip support member is connectable with the container such that the first and second cavities communicate with each other and together form an internal cavity for receiving the pipette tips.
In a further embodiment of this aspect, the at least one vertical divider is sealingly connected to the container such that each compartment is sized to hold a volume of fluid and thereby inhibit a flow of fluid contained therein to any other of said compartments.
For a better understanding of the present invention and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the accompanying drawings, like numerals indicate the same elements. It will be understood that the present disclosure is an exemplification of the principles of the invention and does not limit the invention to the illustrated embodiments. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention.
Referring to
Referring to
Within a lower two-thirds of container 12 is provided a central vertical divider 32 that extends between side walls 21 and 22 and joins with bottom 18, to divide the lower portion of cavity 24 (
The dividers 32, 33, 34 and 35 may be sealingly connected to the container 12, such that the compartments are sealed along their sides and bottom thereby forming reservoirs 36, 37, 38, 39 and 40. The compartments are sized to hold a volume of fluid and thereby inhibit a flow of fluid contained therein to any other of the compartments.
As described in more detail below, the dividers segregate at least the lower portion of the pipette tips from adjacent pipette tips. By seating the dividers with the bottom and sides of the cavity 24, the reservoirs contain drips from a used pipette tip being held therein to prevent fluid from the used tip from flowing into other reservoirs and under other pipette tips within the tip holder 10.
Referring to
Within the second cavity of lid member 14 (
Referring to
By manufacturing the lid member 14 so that it defines a cavity, the manufacture of the container 12 is simplified, since it can be made without having unduly deep, narrow aspect-ratio reservoirs which can represent a challenge to manufacture using certain processes, such as some injection molding processes.
By providing dividers 70, 71, 72 and 73 (
It is alternatively possible for the lid member 14 to not include a second container (ie. the second cavity). For example, the lid member 14 could be a plate similar to top member 60 and could contain apertures 80, 81, 82, 83 and 84 for permitting the pass-through of pipettes. In this alternative, the lid member 14 could, for example, be provided with attachment tabs that connect the lid member 14 to the container 12 (
It is alternatively possible for the lid member 14 to have a second cavity, but to not include dividers therein. Providing the second cavity, even if it does not contain dividers, still provides the advantage that the container 12 can be made with compartments with a reduction in difficulties associated with molding of high aspect ratio compartments.
By making the lid member 14 removable from the container 12 (
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
It has been shown and described for the container 12 to have four dividers in its cavity 24, dividing the cavity 24 into five compartments. It is alternatively possible for the container 12 to have fewer or more dividers thereby dividing the cavity 24 into fewer or more compartments. For example, the container could have as few as one divider, thereby dividing the container 12 into two compartments.
Other configurations of the vertical dividers are possible, such as for example, dividers that extend upwards from the bottom wall of the container but do not join with the sides (not illustrated), provided that some physical barrier exists between adjacent pipette tips to reduce the possibility of contamination as the tips are inserted and stored within the pipette tip box between uses.
While the above description constitutes the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that the present invention is susceptible to modification and change without departing from the fair meaning of the accompanying claims.
This is a Division of application Ser. No. 11/184,978 filed Jul. 20, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety,
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11184978 | Jul 2005 | US |
Child | 12576936 | US |