JPH06309041A - Controller for small amount liquid - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control a small amount liquid of picoliter level with high precision by employing an ink jet type fine pump. CONSTITUTION:Liquid 102 to be discharged is supplied from a tank 101 to an ink jet head 104 through a tube 103. The liquid which is discharged by the ink jet head 104 according to the signal of the controller 105 falls in a case 106 to form a liquid pool 107. Chemical 111 to be supplied to a specific object is put in a case 109 and the upper space of the case 106 and the upper space of the case 109 are linked by a tube 106. The part of the ink jet head 104, case 106, tube 108, case 109, and a syringe needle 110 is completely sealed to form a closed space. When the ink jet head 104 discharges liquid into the case 106, the internal pressure in the closed space rises, so the chemical 11 is injected into a specific position of a cell 112 through the syringe needle 110 nearly as much as the discharged liquid.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a trace liquid control device,
And its application device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a today's theme of technological development, what is targeted at a minute space is taken up. Micromachines and biotechnology are typical examples.

It is well known that biotechnology is a key technology for performing gene manipulation and gene transformation of a design suitable for a purpose. One of the basic technologies that support biotechnology is the theme of controlling a biological reaction or a chemical reaction by injecting or aspirating a predetermined solution in an extremely small amount. However, heretofore, there has been no technique for accurately controlling a minute amount of liquid.

Further, with respect to the micromachine, a hydraulic pump as a power source thereof and a lubricating oil supply device are necessary, but an appropriate one has not been proposed yet.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a technique for controlling a picoliter level trace amount of liquid at high speed and with high precision.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned problems can be solved by employing an ink jet type micro pump.

That is, according to the present invention, the ink jet head and the liquid supply device, or the ink jet head and the liquid suction device are connected and integrated to each other and form a completely sealed closed space for control. In order that the liquid supply device supplies a small amount of liquid to a predetermined target in association with the discharge liquid amount of the inkjet head based on a signal from the device, or the liquid suction device sucks a small amount of liquid from a predetermined target. It is a trace amount liquid control device characterized in that

The ink jet head used in the present invention is an ink jet recording method for recording on a recording medium (paper in many cases) by ejecting ink droplets from an ejection port and flying them. It refers to the part that fulfills the function of ejecting drops. Various methods have been heretofore known and put into practical use as inkjet recording methods. For example, a method of continuously generating charged droplets and using a part of the droplets for recording, a recording having a piezoelectric element. A method in which a signal is applied to the head and recording liquid droplets are generated in response to the signal, or energy corresponding to the recording signal is applied to the recording liquid in the chamber of the recording head, and droplets are generated by the energy. Although there is a method of performing recording by performing the recording, the inkjet head used in the present invention can use a portion that performs a function of ejecting droplets in the recording method of any of these methods. In particular, as the inkjet head used in the present invention, a liquid flow path that communicates a liquid with an ejection port, and a heating resistor that is arranged in the liquid flow channel and generates thermal energy used to eject the liquid from the ejection port Having a body and a pair of electrodes electrically connected to the heating resistor, heat energy generated in response to a signal from the control device is added to the liquid to foam the liquid, and the liquid acts by the acting force at this time. A method of discharging droplets is preferably used.

In the present invention, the ink jet head is connected and integrated with the liquid supply device or the liquid suction device, and forms a closed space in which it is completely sealed. The liquid supply device is a part that functions to supply a predetermined liquid to a predetermined target, and the liquid suction device is a part that functions to suction and extract a predetermined liquid contained in the predetermined target from the target. . The inkjet head has a function of ejecting liquid droplets from its ejection port based on a signal from the control device.

In the present invention, the ink jet head and the liquid supply device, or the ink jet head and the liquid suction device, which are connected and integrated, form a completely sealed closed space. The internal pressure in the closed space rises when the inkjet head ejects droplets from the ejection port, and the internal pressure causes the liquid supply device to supply a predetermined liquid to a predetermined target. The amount of liquid supplied by the liquid supply device is linked to the amount of liquid discharged by the inkjet head. That is, the supplied liquid amount is almost equal to the discharged liquid amount. In the combination of an inkjet head and a liquid suction device, the inkjet head discharges liquid droplets from the discharge port to reduce the internal pressure in the closed space, and the liquid suction device sucks a predetermined liquid from a predetermined target to compensate for the pressure. Extract. In this case as well, the amount of liquid sucked and extracted by the liquid suction device is linked to the amount of liquid ejected by the inkjet head, so that the amount of sucked liquid is approximately equal to the amount of ejected liquid.

Since the amount of liquid ejected from the ink jet head can be minutely controlled by a signal emitted from the controller, the amount of liquid supplied to the target by the liquid supply device or the amount of liquid sucked and extracted from the target by the liquid suction device is also minutely controlled. It In general, the amount of liquid ejected from the inkjet head can be made as small as 10 pl to 100 pl per ejection port, so it is also possible to control the amount of liquid supplied or the amount of suction liquid at the picoliter level. In addition, it is easy to form a high-density multi-nozzle inkjet head, and an inkjet head having several hundreds of ejection ports has been put into practical use. Therefore, the present invention can control the supply amount or the suction amount in a wide range from the picoliter level to the nanoliter level.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the drawings. The inkjet heads used in these examples are all inkjet heads that utilize thermal energy.

(Embodiment 1) A small amount liquid control device in which an ink jet head and a liquid supply device are connected and integrated is prepared. An explanatory view of the apparatus is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, the discharge liquid 102 of the inkjet head is supplied from the tank 101 at the right end to the inkjet head 104 via the supply tube 103. A control device 105 sends an ejection signal to the inkjet head. The ejected liquid ejected by the inkjet head based on the signal falls into the case A of 106 to form a liquid pool 107. In case B shown by 109, a chemical solution 111 for supplying to a predetermined target is provided.
, And the upper space of the case B and the upper space of the case A are connected by a tube A shown by 108. At the lower part of the case B, an injection needle 110 for supplying a drug solution to a cell 112 that is a predetermined target is provided.

The ink jet head, the case A, the tube A, the case B, and the injection needle are completely sealed to form a closed space.

When liquid is ejected from the ink jet head into the case A by the signal of the control device using the device of FIG. 1, the pressure inside the closed space rises. Approximately the same amount of drug solution was injected into a predetermined site of cells through a needle.

The details of the mechanism by which the control device of the ink jet head emits a signal, the mechanism by which the ink jet head ejects liquid in response to the signal, and the structure of the ink jet head are already known, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here. Controlling the discharge volume of the inkjet head,
The time management and the like belong to a field in which a control device that functions as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) is technically good at.

By using the trace amount liquid control device described with reference to FIG. 1, it is possible to realize fine control of the supply of the trace amount liquid to the biological system.

(Embodiment 2) A small amount liquid control device in which an ink jet head and a liquid suction device are connected and integrated is prepared. An explanatory view of the apparatus is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the ink jet head 15
To the 0, the liquid 151 for ejecting the ink jet head is supplied from the tank 151 through the supply tube 152. The inkjet head ejects liquid based on a signal sent from a control device (not shown), and the ejected liquid accumulates in the container 159. Tank 15
The upper space of 1 is a pipette 1 via a connecting tube 154.
It is connected to the upper space of 55 and the lower end of the pipette is inserted into the sample solution 157 in the petri dish 156 which is a predetermined object.

The ink jet head, the supply tube, the tank, the connecting tube and the pipette are completely sealed to form a closed space.

When liquid is ejected from the ink jet head into the container by the signal of the control device using the device of FIG. 2, the pressure inside the closed space is reduced, and therefore the amount of the liquid ejected by the ink jet head is almost the same. An equal volume of sample solution was taken in a pipette. A drain valve 158 is provided on the upper part of the tank 151. After the sample solution is collected, the pipette tip is removed from the Petri dish, and the drain valve is opened while receiving it with a predetermined sample receiver, so that the sample solution sampled by the pipette is sampled. It was discharged during receiving.

Thus, a very small amount of liquid can be collected by suction.

(Embodiment 3) An in-vivo type micro-volume liquid control device in which an ink jet head and a liquid supply device were connected and integrated was prepared. An explanatory view thereof is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3A, the silicon wafer 2
01, a microcomputer 202, a driver circuit 203 that operates according to the instructions, an inkjet head 204 that is driven by the driver, and a pressure sensor 206 that counts heartbeats are formed, which is a liquid tank 205 that supplies the liquid for the head, Along with the battery 207, which is a drive energy source, the in-vivo type minute liquid control device of this embodiment is configured.

FIG. 3 (b) is a conceptual view showing a state where this device is embedded in a rat. When a predetermined program is input to the microcomputer, the nozzle 20 is changed while changing the predetermined amount of the predetermined medicine according to the heart rate.
It was possible to inject it into the organ of 8 rats or liver.

Although the above-mentioned embodiment has been described by using the ink jet head utilizing thermal energy as the ink jet head, the ink jet head used in the present invention is not limited to this, and as described above,
For example, a method in which charged droplets are continuously generated and a part of the droplets is used for recording, a signal is given to a recording head having a piezoelectric element, and droplets of recording liquid are generated in response to the signal. Inkjet used for inkjet recording of any method such as a method of performing recording or a method of applying thermal energy corresponding to a recording signal to a recording liquid in a chamber of a recording head and generating a droplet by the energy to perform recording A head can be used.

[0028]

As described above, the ink jet technique used in the ink jet recording method is
By applying it to biotechnology, liquid control technology in the micro world of micromachines, and pump technology, fine and highly accurate liquid control became possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a trace amount liquid control device of the present invention in which an inkjet head and a liquid supply device are connected and integrated.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a trace amount liquid control device of the present invention in which an inkjet head and a liquid suction device are connected and integrated.

FIG. 3 relates to an in-vivo type of a trace amount liquid control device of the present invention in which an inkjet head and a liquid supply device are connected and integrated, (a) is an explanatory view thereof, and (b) is a concept in which it is embedded in a rat. It is a figure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101, 151, 205 Tank 102, 153 Discharge liquid 103, 152 Supply tube 104, 150, 204 Inkjet head 105 Control device 106, 109 Case 107 Liquid pool 108, 154 Connection tube 110 Injection needle 111 Chemical liquid 112 Cell 155 Pipette 156 Petri dish 156 157 Sample liquid 158 Drain valve 159 Container 201 Silicon wafer 202 Microcomputer 203 Driver circuit 206 Pressure sensor 207 Battery 208 Nozzle

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Katsumi Sugiyama 3-8-17 Ikuta, Tama-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture (72) Shinichi Iwasaki 65-1 Akitsu, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet head and a liquid supply device,
Alternatively, the inkjet head and the liquid suction device are connected and integrated to each other to form a completely sealed closed space, which is interlocked with the discharge liquid amount of the inkjet head based on a signal from the control device. A small amount liquid control device, wherein the liquid supply device supplies a small amount of liquid to a predetermined target, or the liquid suction device sucks a small amount of liquid from a predetermined target. 2. A liquid flow path in which the ink jet head communicates a liquid with an ejection port, and a heating resistor arranged in the liquid flow channel to generate thermal energy used for ejecting the liquid from the ejection port. And a pair of electrodes electrically connected to the heating resistor, heat energy generated in response to a signal from the control device is added to the liquid to foam the liquid, and the action force at this time causes the liquid droplet to drop. The minute amount liquid control device according to claim 1, which is of a system for ejecting liquid.