Patent Application
20130017132
In laboratory research, scientists frequently use reagent reservoirs to store reagents that are pipetted into sample containers for purposes of conducting experiments. Often, these reagents need to be maintained at a temperature close to 0 degrees C., so these reagent reservoirs are frequently placed on ice. A number of companies sell plastic reagent reservoirs for these purposes. See, for example, the reagent reservoirs marketed under catalog numbers SR-0050 and SR-0100 by Biotix Holdings (CA USA).
These commercially available reagent reservoirs, which may be termed “troughs” herein, and are commonly called “pipetting reservoirs,” are thin plastic shells (see Biotix website, for example), typically with a V-shaped interior to facilitate the uptake and dispensation of fluids by means of pipette, including a multichannel pipette. The reservoirs may be easily used for room temperature or pre-chilled fluids, but for many applications, it would be preferable to maintain the fluids in the reservoir at a constant (usually chilled, and often at near to 0° Celsius) temperature. While the commercially available troughs can be placed directly on crushed ice, the limited contact restricts heat transfer, and the ice is in any event an unstable platform, leading to frequent spillage and contamination of the reagent in the trough.
The present invention provides adaptors for the currently available troughs that provide both a stable base and excellent heat transfer from the trough to a cooling medium or cold (or heat) sink. Typical cold sinks include crushed ice, the ThermalTray™ product marketed by BioCision LLC (Mill Valley, Calif.), and cooling cartridges. The devices of the invention are made of thermoconductive materials with heat transfer properties much better than plastic. Suitable thermoconductive materials have thermal conductivity values (k) measured at 68° Fahrenheit of at least 25, and optionally of at least 50 or even at least 100 Btu/(hr degrees F. ft). In various embodiments, the adaptors are made from a metal or metal alloy, including but not limited to aluminum, i.e., anodized aluminum, copper, and aluminum alloys.
In order that the manner in which the above-recited and other features and advantages of the invention are obtained will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. These drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to limit the scope of the invention.
Embodiments of the present invention will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description, as represented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention as claimed, but is merely representative of presently preferred embodiments of the invention.
While the troughs and adaptors of the invention provide a superior means to maintain fluids and reagents at 0° C. or lower when placed on ice or other chilled materials, those of skill in the art will readily appreciate in view of this disclosure that one can also use them to maintain reagents at higher temperatures. For example, the troughs and adaptors can be placed on a warm surface, such as a heating plate, or in a warmed reservoir of liquid, such as a waterbath.
The troughs and adaptors of the invention perform very well in tests and are capable of maintaining the reservoir contents at 0.5 to 1 degrees C. using ice as a cooling medium or cold sink. For example, in some embodiments the adaptor is placed onto a bed of ice or other cooling medium (such as dry ice, liquid nitrogen, alcohol slurries, water baths, etc.). Heat from the cooling medium is transferred through the adaptor and into a fluid or reagent stored within the adaptor. In instances where the adaptor further comprises a trough, heat from the cooling medium is additionally transferred through the trough and into a fluid or reagent stored within the trough.
There are a number of “laboratory reservoir coolers” that are gel based plastic cooling modules currently on the market. The troughs and adaptors of the present invention are far superior to these in that they are highly thermoconductive, while gels degrade in performance as they are used due to an increasing boundary of thawed gel which acts as an insulator barrier. In addition, freezing gels can distort the plastic outer shell thereby impairing thermal contact. Another advantage of the adaptors of the present invention is that the duty cycle may be extended indefinitely by simply refreshing the cold source.
The adaptors and troughs of various embodiments of the invention are sized to fit conveniently in containers typically used as ice buckets in laboratories. For example, a suitable trough or adaptor can have a base this is about 5 to 7 inches long and about 3 to 4.5 inches wide, with a height of about 1 to 1.5 inches. In one embodiment, the base is 5.2 inches long and 3.5 inches wide, and the height is 1.12 inches. This size allows the reservoir to hold up to about 100 mL of fluid. The adaptors and troughs of the invention can be readily manufactured by machining from solid metal stock. The adaptors and troughs can also be manufactured by casting from metal, i.e., sand, investment, or slip casting.
The following patent applications are incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Patent Application Pub. Nos. 2009/0098583; 2009/0173472; and 2009/0258407; PCT Patent Application No. US2011/040757; and U.S. Patent Application Ser. Nos. 61/460,091; 61/466,795; and 61/487,445.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its structures, methods, or other essential characteristics as broadly described herein and claimed hereinafter. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative, and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/507,036, entitled REAGENT RESERVOIR AND THERMOCONDUCTIVE ADAPTOR, filed on Jul. 12, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61507036 | Jul 2011 | US |
