Claims
- 1. A method of drying chemicals by evaporating a solvent, comprising the steps of:
- a) placing said chemicals within a well within a plate and placing said plate upon a support within a vacuum chamber;
- b) evacuating said chamber to bring the interior of said chamber to a desired pressure below the boiling point of the solvent;
- c) supplying heat to said chemicals without degrading said chemicals at said desired pressure; and
- d) supplying a substantial flow of inert gas across the top of said plate.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of supplying a substantial flow further comprises supplying a substantially laminar flow.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of supplying heat comprises controlling the temperature of the inert gas.
- 4. A method of drying chemicals by evaporating a solvent, comprising the steps of:
- a) placing said chemicals within a well within a plate and placing said plate upon a support within a vacuum chamber;
- b) evacuating said chamber to bring the interior of said chamber to a desired pressure below the boiling point of the solvent;
- c) supplying heat to said chemicals without degrading said chemicals at said desired pressure; and
- d) supplying a substantial flow of inert gas by rotating a manifold to supply the inert gas intermittently so as to conserve the inert gas while effectively eliminating accumulated vapor.
- 5. The method of drying chemicals of claim 1 wherein said step of supplying a substantial flow is performed utilizing an inert gas delivery system including supplying and evacuating manifolds, with the supplying manifold arranged along one side of the vacuum chamber and the evacuating manifold arranged along the other side.
- 6. The method of drying chemicals of claim 1 wherein said step of supplying a substantial flow is performed utilizing upper and lower supplying manifolds arranged, one above the other, with respect to the support, with the upper manifold located at a height above the support which will result in a laminar flow of inert gas across a deep well plate placed on the support and the lower manifold located at a height above the support which will result in a laminar flow of inert gas across a shallow well plate placed on the support.
- 7. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of selectively switching operation between the upper and lower manifolds so that only one operates at a time.
- 8. The method of claim 5 wherein the supplying and evacuating manifolds are arranged at a predetermined distance above the support, and further comprising the steps of:
- adjusting the predetermined distance between said manifolds and the support.
- 9. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
- utilizing a vacuum pump connected to said vacuum chamber through vacuum lines to evacuate said chamber.
- 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of:
- utilizing a cold trap connected through the vacuum lines to said vacuum pump to substantially reduce the amount of corrosive chemicals which are pumped through said vacuum pump.
- 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of placing said chemicals further comprises placing said chemicals in wells of a multi-well microtiter plate having a large plurality of wells.
- 12. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of:
- sensing a dryness sensor.
- 13. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of:
- controlling operation based upon the sensed dryness level.
- 14. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:
- controlling the temperature of the inert gas to compensate for evaporation cooling.
- 15. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
- sensing the pressure in said chamber utilizing a vacuum pressure sensor; and
- controllably adjusting the pressure in said chamber during drying to prevent bumping.
- 16. The method of claim 15 further comprising the steps of:
- sensing the temperature in said chamber; and
- controllably adjusting the pressure and the temperature in said chamber during drying to prevent bumping.
Parent Case Info
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/944,860 filed Oct. 6, 1997 U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,536.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
4597188 |
Trappler |
Jul 1986 |
|
5105557 |
Vadasz et al. |
Apr 1992 |
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5250323 |
Miyazaki et al. |
Oct 1993 |
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Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
944860 |
Oct 1997 |
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