Claims
- 1. A non-contact liquid transfer apparatus comprising:
an acoustic wave emitter; a plurality of liquid containment structures, wherein at least one of said plurality of liquid containment structure further comprises a plurality of source liquid pools; a plurality of target devices, wherein (i) each of said plurality of target devices comprises a structure adapted to hold liquid ejected from one of said plurality of liquid containment structure, (ii) at least one of said plurality of target device includes a plurality of target locations; a mechanical displacement mechanism capable of moving and aligning one of said plurality of liquid containment structure on a first X/Y plane with said acoustic wave emitter; a second mechanical displacement mechanism capable of moving and aligning one of said plurality of target device on a second X/Y plane with said acoustic wave emitter; and a computer configured to control movements of said first and second mechanical displacement mechanisms, wherein said apparatus is configured to align one of said plurality of source liquid pools within one of said plurality of liquid containment structures, with one of said plurality of target locations within one of said plurality of target devices, and the acoustic wave emitter.
- 2. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a storage queue for storing said plurality of liquid containment structures and said plurality of target devices.
- 3. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 2 further comprising:
an image detector configured for aligning one of said plurality of liquid containment structures and one of said plurality of target devices with said acoustic emitter.
- 4. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a first storage queue for storing said plurality of liquid containment structures; and a second storage queue for storing said plurality of target devices.
- 5. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 4 further comprising:
an image detector configured for aligning one said plurality of liquid containment structures and one of said plurality of target devices with said acoustic emitter.
- 6. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of said plurality of liquid containment structures has a fiduciary marker on said liquid containment structure for determining an alignment of said liquid containment structure, and at least one of said plurality of target devices has a fiduciary marker on said target device for determining an alignment of said target device.
- 7. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a scanner adapted to detect markers or identification features on each of said liquid containment structures and each of said target devices.
- 8. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 7 further comprising:
a computer connected to said scanner, wherein said computer is configured to track the location of each of said liquid containment structures and each of said target devices.
- 9. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 8 wherein said scanner is a barcode scanner.
- 10. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said liquid containment structures further comprises a barcode on the surface of said liquid containment structure, and each of said target devices further comprises a barcode on the surface of said target device.
- 11. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 10 further comprising:
a barcode scanner adapted to detect the barcode on each of said fluid containment structures and each of said target devices.
- 12. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:
a computer connected to said barcode scanner, wherein said computer is configured to track the location of each of said fluid containment structures and each of said target devices.
- 13. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 4 wherein said storage queues comprises an elevator with a plurality of shelves.
- 14. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 13 wherein said elevator comprises a vertical mounted linear motion assembly, a back plane connected to said linear motion assembly, a plurality of shelves connected to said back plane.
- 15. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 14 wherein said back plane is configured to receive shelves of various sizes and configurations.
- 16. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a first elevator configured for storing said plurality of liquid containment structures; and a second elevator configured for storing said plurality of target devices.
- 17. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 wherein said acoustic wave emitter is positioned at a fix location on an horizontal plane, such that said acoustic wave emitter only moves on the vertical axis.
- 18. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an image detector configured to monitor transfer of liquid from said liquid containment structure to said target device or to detect chemical reactions within said target device.
- 19. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 wherein said acoustic wave emitter comprises (i) a piezoelectric element, said non contact liquid transfer apparatus further comprise a wave-guide connected to said acoustic emitter, and (ii) a coupling liquid isolated at a distal end of said wave-guide.
- 20. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 further comprises:
a wave-guide connected to said acoustic wave emitter, wherein said acoustic wave emitter comprises a piezoelectric element; a structure surrounding said wave-guide, wherein said structure comprises (i) a fluid channel for supplying a coupling liquid to a distal end of said wave-guide and (ii) a suction channel for removing excess coupling liquid from the distal end of the wave-guide.
- 21. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 20 wherein said fluid channel surrounds said wave-guide, and said suction channel surrounds said fluid channel.
- 22. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 21 wherein said wave-guide is moveably disposed within said structure.
- 23. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 22 further comprising:
a fluid source connected to said fluid channel; and a suction generator connected to said suction channel.
- 24. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 23 further comprising:
a trough surrounding said suction channel.
- 25. The non-contact liquid transfer apparatus of claim 24 further comprising:
a drainage channel within said structure, said drainage channel is connected to said trough for draining fluids from said trough.
- 26. The wave-guide assembly of claim 20 further comprising:
a fluid displacement device connected to said fluid channel for displacing a volume of said coupling liquid at a distal tip of said wave-guide.
- 27. The wave-guide assembly of claim 23 wherein said fluid source comprises a fluid pump connected to a fluid reservoir.
- 28. A method for non-contact transfer of liquid comprising:
selecting a pool of liquid from a plurality of pools of liquid located on a plurality of liquid containment structures; selecting a target from a plurality of targets located on a plurality of target devices; and propagating an acoustic wave of sufficient intensity into said selected pool of liquid and causing ejection of at least a portion of said selected pool of liquid onto said selected target.
- 29. The method of claim 28 further comprising:
aligning said selected pool of liquid and said selected target with an acoustic wave emitter prior to the propagating act.
- 30. The method of claim 28 further comprising:
storing said plurality of liquid containment structures and said plurality of target devices in one or more storage queues.
- 31. The method of claim 28 further comprising:
storing said plurality of liquid containment structures in a first storage rack; and storing said plurality of target devices in a second storage rack.
- 32. The method of claim 31 further comprising:
retrieving a liquid containment structure carrying said selected pool of liquid from said first storage rack; and retrieving a target device having said selected target from said second storage rack.
- 33. The method of claim 32 wherein said retrieving acts comprises adjusting the height of said first and second storage racks.
- 34. The method of claim 32 wherein said retrieving acts comprises retrieving the liquid containment structure carrying said selected pool of liquid from said first storage rack and placing said liquid containment structure above an acoustic wave-emitter with a mechanical gripper, and retrieving the target device having said selected target from said second storage rack and placing said target device above said acoustic wave-emitter with a second mechanical gripper.
- 35. The method of claim 29 wherein the aligning act comprises capturing an image of a fiducial mark on a target device having said selected target.
- 36. The method of claim 35 wherein the aligning act further comprises capturing an image of a second fiducial mark on a liquid containment structure carrying said selected pool of liquid.
- 37. The method of claim 29 wherein the aligning act comprises calculating a coordinate representing a liquid containment structure carrying said selected pool of liquid relative to a standard coordinate, and calculating a second coordinate representing a target device having said selected target relative to said standard coordinate.
- 38. The method of claim 29 wherein the aligning act comprises detecting a position of a liquid containment structure carrying said selected pool of liquid with an image detector, and detecting a second position of a target device having said selected target with said image detector.
- 39. The method of claim 29 wherein the aligning act comprises calculating an alignment of a liquid containment structure carrying said selected pool of liquid with a computer, and calculating an alignment of a target device having said selected target with said computer.
- 40. The method of claim 36 wherein the aligning act further comprises calculating an alignment of said liquid containment structure and said target device based on the captured images of the fiduciary marks.
- 41. The method of claim 38 wherein the aligning act further comprises calculating a coordinate representing said liquid containment structure relative to a standard coordinate, and calculating a coordinate representing said target device relative to said standard coordinate.
- 42. The method of claim 40 wherein the aligning act further comprises calculating a coordinate representing said liquid containment structure relative to a standard coordinate, and calculating a second coordinate representing said target device relative to said standard coordinate.
- 43. The method of claim 28 further comprising:
ascertaining whether a volume of liquid has been successfully transferred from said selected pool of liquid to said selected target.
- 44. The method of claim 43 further comprising:
measuring a size of said volume of liquid that was transferred onto said target.
- 45. The method of claim 28 further comprising:
measuring a diameter of said portion of liquid that was transferred onto said selected target.
- 46. The method of claim 28 further comprising:
scanning the surface of said liquid containment structures and said target devices for a marker or a feature to identify said liquid containment structures and said target device prior to the propagating act.
- 47. The method of claim 28 wherein said acoustic wave is generated by a piezoelectric transducer and propagated through a wave-guide.
- 48. The method of claim 28 further comprising:
supplying a coupling liquid to a distal end of a wave-guide prior to the propagating act.
- 49. The method of claim 48 further comprising:
removing excess coupling liquid around the distal end of said waive-guide.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is claiming the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/435,767 entitled “APPARATUS FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT NON-CONTACT LIQUID TRANSFER AND USES THEREOF” filed on Dec. 19, 2002, and it is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60435767 |
Dec 2002 |
US |