CN211591333U - Micro-fluidic chip rapid prototyping device - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to a micro-fluidic chip rapid molding device, which comprises a light-transmitting substrate, a first optical machine and a second optical machine; the substrate is horizontally arranged and used for placing the light-cured adhesive material, the first optical machine and the second optical machine are respectively arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the substrate, and the first optical machine and the second optical machine are oppositely arranged and used for carrying out exposure treatment on the two sides of the light-cured adhesive material; and a first shading mechanism is arranged between the first optical machine and the substrate, a second shading mechanism is arranged between the second optical machine and the substrate, and the first shading mechanism and the second shading mechanism are used for realizing exposure control. The first optical machine and the second optical machine are used for simultaneously exposing two sides of the photocuring adhesive material, so that the forming speed of the microfluidic chip is improved, the processing process is simplified, and the prepared microfluidic chip has higher uniformity and stability. In addition, the preparation of the microfluidic chip with a larger depth-to-width ratio can be realized by adjusting the resolution of the image signal and the depth of field of the imaging, and the defects of the prior art are overcome.

Description

Micro-fluidic chip rapid prototyping device

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a 3D printing technology device field, in particular to micro-fluidic chip rapid prototyping device, this forming device can realize micro-fluidic chip's rapid prototyping and print, make micro-fluidic technology carry out high-speed, parallel collection and analysis to individual biological information and become probably.

Background

The microfluidic technology is widely used in fields closely related to our lives, such as biological detection, chemical analysis, medical detection, environmental engineering, food engineering and the like. Microfluidics is also used as a new technology in the scientific research field. At present, the manufacturing technology of the microfluidic chip is generally photoetching and etching technology. In the process of preparing the microfluidic chip, firstly, a layer of hexamethyldisilazane film (HMDS) is required to cover a clean substrate, then a layer of photoresist is uniformly covered on the surface of the film, and finally, the microfluidic design pattern on the mask is transferred to the photoresist layer through the principle of exposure imaging so as to obtain the microfluidic chip meeting the requirements. That is, the process of preparing the microfluidic chip by using the photoetching and etching technology mainly comprises three major procedures of film deposition, photoetching and etching, wherein more than ten minor procedures of silicon wafer cleaning, pre-baking film covering, photoresist coating, soft baking, calibration, exposure, post baking, development, hard baking, detection and the like are inserted. The whole preparation process is complex in process and long in time consumption. Most importantly, glass or quartz is generally used as a base material for preparing the microfluidic chip, and the isotropic etching technology in the prior art is difficult in deep etching, so that a channel with a large depth-to-width ratio cannot be obtained generally, the comprehensive use performance of the microfluidic chip is not improved, and the further popularization of the microfluidic chip is affected. Aiming at the problems in the prior art, the development of a rapid forming device of a microfluidic chip for preparing a channel with a larger depth-to-width ratio is very important.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus, which includes a substrate, a first optical machine and a second optical machine; the substrate is provided with light transmission, the substrate is horizontally arranged and used for placing light-cured adhesive materials, the first optical machine and the second optical machine are respectively arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the substrate and are oppositely arranged, and the first optical machine and the second optical machine are used for carrying out exposure treatment on the two sides of the light-cured adhesive materials; and a first shading mechanism is arranged between the first optical machine and the substrate, a second shading mechanism is arranged between the second optical machine and the substrate, and the first shading mechanism and the second shading mechanism are used for realizing exposure control.

Further, the first shading mechanism and the second shading mechanism respectively comprise a light barrier, and the light barrier is provided with a driving device, wherein the driving device is used for driving the light barrier to move so as to realize exposure control.

Further, the driving device is a motor, an oil cylinder or an air cylinder.

Further, the device also comprises a control system which is respectively electrically connected with the first optical machine, the second optical machine and the driving device and used for realizing automatic control.

Further, the first optical machine and the second optical machine are respectively provided with a video output device, and the video output device adjusts the curing area of the photo-curing adhesive material by changing the output image.

Further, the imaging depth of field of the first optical machine and the imaging depth of field of the second optical machine are both 45-55 μm; the pixel sizes of the first optical machine and the second optical machine are both 25-50 mu m.

Further, the first optical machine and the second optical machine are respectively provided with a light shielding plate with a hollow shape, the light shielding plate with the hollow shape is arranged on one side close to the substrate, and the light shielding plate with the hollow shape is used for controlling the light emitting shapes of the first optical machine and the second optical machine so as to adjust the curing area of the photo-curing adhesive material.

Further, the exposure time of the first optical machine and the second optical machine to two sides of the photo-curing adhesive material is 3-10 s.

Furthermore, the substrate is made of a fully transparent glass material.

The utility model discloses the beneficial technological effect who plays as follows:

compared with the prior art, the utility model discloses a micro-fluidic chip rapid prototyping device, this rapid prototyping device level is provided with the printing opacity base plate, be provided with photocuring glue material on the base plate, both sides have set first ray apparatus and second ray apparatus respectively about the base plate, utilize first ray apparatus and second ray apparatus to expose the both sides of photocuring glue material simultaneously and handle, the shaping speed of micro-fluidic chip has been improved greatly, the course of working has been simplified, the efficiency of manufacture is improved, and because expose the both sides of photocuring glue material simultaneously and handle, the micro-fluidic chip that makes has higher homogeneity and stability, the comprehensive properties has obviously been improved. In addition, the first optical machine and the second optical machine which are arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the substrate simultaneously project video signals which are mirror images of each other to two sides of the light-cured adhesive material, so that the control of a curing area is realized through the light and shade difference of different areas in the image signals, the operation is simple, and the universality is strong. Most importantly, the utility model discloses a micro-fluidic chip rapid prototyping device just can realize the preparation of the great micro-fluidic chip of aspect ratio through the resolution ratio and the formation of image depth of field of adjustment image signal, has overcome prior art's not enough, is showing the performance that has improved the product.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus in example 1.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a process for preparing the microfluidic chip in example 1.

Reference numerals:

1-a substrate, 2-a first optical machine, 3-a second optical machine, 4-a photo-curing glue material, 5-a light barrier, 6-a driving device and 7-a video output device.

The drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting the patent; for the purpose of better illustrating the embodiments, certain features of the drawings may be omitted, enlarged or reduced, and do not represent the size of an actual product; it will be understood by those skilled in the art that certain well-known structures in the drawings and descriptions thereof may be omitted; the same or similar reference numerals correspond to the same or similar parts; the terms describing positional relationships in the drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting the patent.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, will make the advantages and features of the invention easier to understand for those skilled in the art and will therefore make the scope of the invention more clearly defined.

Example 1:

as shown in fig. 1, the present embodiment provides a microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus, including a substrate 1, a first optical engine 2 and a second optical engine 3, where the substrate 1 has optical transparency, and the substrate 1 is horizontally disposed. In this embodiment, the substrate 1 is made of a transparent glass material, and has a good light transmittance. The substrate 1 is used for placing the light-cured adhesive material 4, and the light-cured adhesive material 4 is uniformly laid on the upper surface of the substrate 1. The photo-curable adhesive material 4 is a colloid capable of being cured and formed quickly after being irradiated by light, such as a photo-curable adhesive material, and the photo-curable adhesive material in this embodiment includes a prepolymer, a monomer, a photo-initiator and a filler, wherein the prepolymer, the monomer, the photo-initiator and the filler may all adopt the same type of chemical substances in the prior art, and details thereof are not repeated herein. The first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 are respectively arranged at the upper side and the lower side of the substrate 1, and the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 are oppositely arranged, namely, the light emitting surfaces of the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 are corresponding. The first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 are used for exposing two sides of the photo-curing adhesive material 4, so that the photo-curing adhesive material 4 is cured and molded simultaneously from the upper direction and the lower direction. And a first shading mechanism is arranged between the first optical machine 2 and the substrate 1, a second shading mechanism is arranged between the second optical machine 3 and the substrate 1, and the first shading mechanism and the second shading mechanism are used for realizing exposure control. In a specific use process, the first light shielding mechanism and the second light shielding mechanism realize exposure control by shielding light rays emitted by the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3. That is, when the first light shielding mechanism is located between the first optical machine 2 and the substrate 1, the light emitted from the first optical machine 2 is shielded, so that the light-curable adhesive material 4 is prevented from being irradiated by the light, and the light-curable adhesive material 4 is naturally not cured. When the first shading mechanism leaves between the first optical machine 2 and the substrate 1, the light emitted from the first optical machine 2 irradiates the surface of the light-cured adhesive material 4, thereby initiating the cross-linking curing. The operation of the second shade mechanism is similar to the operation of the first shade mechanism and will not be described in detail.

Preferably, the first shading mechanism and the second shading mechanism respectively comprise a light barrier 5, the light barrier 5 is provided with a driving device 6, and the driving device 6 is used for driving the light barrier 5 to move between the optical machine and the substrate 1 so as to realize exposure control. The first light-shielding mechanism and the second light-shielding mechanism are arranged to prevent the light emitted by the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 before the light source is stabilized from causing the light-curing adhesive material 4 on the substrate 1 to be hardened or deformed, thereby reducing the quality of the microfluidic chip. That is to say, before the light source is not stable, the light emitted by the optical machine needs to be blocked by the light-blocking sheet 5, and when the light output by the optical machine reaches the standard light-emitting energy, the light-blocking sheet 5 can be removed, and the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 1 are irradiated by the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3, so as to realize the curing molding of the colloid. In this embodiment, the driving device 6 may be any one of a motor, an oil cylinder or an air cylinder, and preferably a dc motor, because the dc motor can drive the light barrier 5 to realize a fast response characteristic, and can realize accurate control of the exposure parameters in the process of forming the microfluidic chip.

In this embodiment, the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 are projection optical machines, and the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 are further respectively provided with a video output device 7, that is, a video output device 7 is disposed between the first optical machine 2 and the substrate 1, and a video output device 7 is disposed between the second optical machine 3 and the substrate 1. The video output device 7 is used for outputting image information, different light and dark areas are arranged on the image information, wherein the light transmittance of the bright area is larger, the corresponding photo-curing adhesive material 4 is naturally an area which is subjected to cross-linking curing, and the photo-curing adhesive material 4 corresponding to the dark area is lower in curing degree or is not cured. The cooperation between the optical engine and the video output device 7 is similar to the working principle of the projector, and is not described herein again. The video output device 7 adjusts the curing area of the light-curing adhesive material 4 by changing the output image, so that microfluidic chips with different structures are prepared. Wherein, the imaging depth of field of the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 is 45-55 μm, preferably 50 μm; while the pixel size of the first light engine 2 and the second light engine 3 are both 25-50 μm, preferably 40 μm. That is, the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 cooperate with each other to realize the imaging effect of the imaging depth of field of about 100 μm. The imaging depth of field and the imaging resolution of the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 are not fixed and constant, the imaging depth of field and the imaging resolution of the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 can be adjusted according to actual needs, and the preparation of the microfluidic chip with a large depth-to-width ratio can be realized by adjusting the imaging depth of field and the pixel size of the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3.

Preferably, the system further comprises a control system, and the control system is electrically connected with the first optical machine 2, the second optical machine 3, the video output device 7 and the driving device 6 respectively and is used for realizing automatic control. In a specific operation process, the control system can determine an exposure picture to be projected through the video output devices 7, and because the two video output devices 7 are respectively arranged on two sides of the substrate 1 and are symmetrically distributed, the exposure pictures reflected by the two video output devices 7 are mirror-symmetric with respect to the substrate 1, specific images contained in the exposure pictures are matched with a contour slice rendering picture of the microfluidic chip, and the error between the two images does not exceed an allowable range of optical design. The optical error here depends on the resolution of the optical engine, e.g. 50 μm for a pixel, the optical error is half a pixel, i.e. 25 μm, and it can be considered to be within the optical design error as long as the error between the contour slice rendering and the specific image contained in the exposure picture is less than 25 μm. The control system starts the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 to project the exposure pictures corresponding to the first optical machine and the second optical machine to the surface of the photo-curing adhesive material 4 until the photo-curing adhesive material 4 is cured and molded. When the rapid prototyping apparatus disclosed in this embodiment is used to fabricate a microfluidic chip, the exposure time of the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 to both sides of the photo-curable adhesive material 4 only needs to be 3-10s, preferably 6 s. That is to say, the improved rapid prototyping device can shorten the prototyping time of the microfluidic chip from several hours or tens of hours to several seconds, and the manufacturing efficiency is greatly improved.

Of course, the control of the curing area of the light-curable adhesive material 4 is not achieved only by providing the first carriage 2 and the second carriage 3 with the video output device 7, but may be achieved by other methods. For example, the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 may be respectively provided with a light shielding plate having a hollow shape, and the light shielding plate having a hollow shape is disposed on a side close to the substrate to prevent the edges from being blurred. The light screen with the hollow shape is used for controlling the light emitting shapes of the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3, so that part of the area of the surface of the light-curing adhesive material 4 can receive light irradiation, and part of the area can not receive the light irradiation, and therefore the curing area of the light-curing adhesive material 4 is adjusted, and the curing shape is controlled.

The micro-fluidic chip rapid molding device provided by the embodiment mainly utilizes the irradiation of the two photomasks arranged above and below the substrate 1 to the photo-curing adhesive material 4, so that the photo-curing adhesive material 4 is cured and molded simultaneously from the upper side and the lower side, and the molding speed is improved. Specifically, the photomasks on the upper and lower sides of the substrate 1 project selected exposure images to both sides of the photo-curable adhesive material 4. Because the exposure picture is provided with an exposure area and an unexposed area, the exposure area has different illumination intensity compared with the unexposed area, and the contrast of the illumination intensity is about 1000: 1. The exposure area has high illumination intensity, so that the curing speed of the corresponding position of the photo-curing adhesive material 4 and the exposure area is higher. And the light intensity of the unexposed area is low, so that the curing speed of the photo-curing adhesive material 4 corresponding to the unexposed area is slow, and even the photo-curing adhesive material can not be cured and molded. Therefore, some places on the surface of the photo-curing adhesive material 4 are cured and formed, some places are not cured and formed, the cured and formed places are consistent with the exposure pictures, and the exposure pictures are matched with the structure of the microfluidic chip, namely, the cured and formed places are matched with the microfluidic chip, and at the moment, the uncured photo-curing adhesive material 4 is only required to be cleaned, so that the formed microfluidic chip product can be obtained.

The preparation process of the microfluidic chip is as follows:

as shown in fig. 2, in the process of preparing the microfluidic chip, it is first required to ensure that the first optical machine 2, the second optical machine 3, the video output device 7 and the driving device 6 are in the original reset state. And then, placing the light-cured adhesive material 4 on the surface of the substrate 1 to ensure that the light-cured adhesive material 4 is uniformly paved on the surface of the substrate 1. And then starting the video output device 7, and selecting an exposure picture matched with the structure of the microfluidic chip, wherein the graph contained in the exposure picture needs to be matched with the microfluidic chip. In the whole previous operation process, the light shielding sheet 5 is always located between the optical engine and the substrate 1, that is, the light shielding sheet 5 is in a light shielding state. Once the exposure picture is selected, the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 can be turned on, and when the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 are just started, the light intensity is in an unstable state, so that the light shielding sheet 5 is still kept in a light blocking state. Until the light intensity of the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 is stabilized, the driving device 6 can be controlled, the driving device 6 drives the shading sheet 5 to move away from the optical machine and the substrate 2, and then the first optical machine 2 and the second optical machine 3 which are arranged at two sides of the substrate 1 are used for projecting exposure pictures to the upper surface and the lower surface of the light-curing adhesive material 4, exposure treatment is carried out on two sides of the light-curing adhesive material 4, and the control of a curing area is realized by using a light and shade area in the exposure pictures. The light-cured adhesive material 4 receives more illumination energy at the position corresponding to the bright area, so that the light-cured adhesive material is quickly cured and formed, and the cured and formed structure is matched with the internal structure of the microfluidic chip. At this time, the driving device 6 drives the shading sheet 5 to move back to between the optical machine and the substrate 1, so as to realize the light blocking function, and simultaneously close the video output device 7 and the optical machine. Finally, the uncured photocuring adhesive material 4 on the surface of the substrate 1 is cleaned by using an alcohol solvent to form a channel, and the channel and the photocuring adhesive structure which is well cured and formed form a finished product of the microfluidic chip.

The microfluidic chip rapid forming device disclosed by the embodiment solves the problem of unstable energy of the optical machine by adding the light barrier, and realizes accurate exposure forming and process parameter control. Most importantly, the simultaneous exposure is carried out through the mutual matching of the upper and lower photomasks in the embodiment, so that the forming process is greatly simplified, the manufacturing difficulty is reduced, and the working efficiency is improved. And the preparation of the microfluidic chip with a larger depth-to-width ratio is realized by adjusting the resolution and the imaging depth of field of the upper and lower photomachines, and the comprehensive performance of the product performance is improved.

It should be understood that the above-described embodiments of the present invention are merely examples for clearly illustrating the present invention, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present invention. Other variations and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art in light of the above description. And are neither required nor exhaustive of all embodiments. Any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims (9)

1. A microfluidic chip rapid forming device is characterized by comprising a substrate (1), a first optical machine (2) and a second optical machine (3); the substrate (1) has light transmittance, the substrate (1) is horizontally arranged, the substrate (1) is used for placing a photo-curing adhesive material (4), the first optical machine (2) and the second optical machine (3) are respectively arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the substrate (1), the first optical machine (2) and the second optical machine (3) are oppositely arranged, and the first optical machine (2) and the second optical machine (3) are used for exposing two sides of the photo-curing adhesive material (4); and a first shading mechanism is arranged between the first optical machine (2) and the substrate (1), a second shading mechanism is arranged between the second optical machine (3) and the substrate (1), and the first shading mechanism and the second shading mechanism are used for realizing exposure control.

2. The microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the first light shielding mechanism and the second light shielding mechanism respectively comprise a light shielding plate (5), and the light shielding plate (5) is provided with a driving device (6), and the driving device (6) is configured to drive the light shielding plate (5) to move so as to realize exposure control.

3. The microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus of claim 2, wherein the driving device (6) is a motor, an oil cylinder or an air cylinder.

4. The microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a control system, wherein the control system is electrically connected to the first optical machine (2), the second optical machine (3) and the driving device (6) respectively, for implementing automatic control.

5. The microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first optical machine (2) and the second optical machine (3) are respectively provided with a video output device (7), and the video output device (7) adjusts the curing area of the photo-curing adhesive material (4) by changing the output image.

6. The microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus of claim 5, wherein the imaging depths of field of the first optical machine (2) and the second optical machine (3) are both 45-55 μm; the pixel sizes of the first optical machine (2) and the second optical machine (3) are both 25-50 mu m.

7. The microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first optical machine (2) and the second optical machine (3) are respectively provided with a light shielding plate with a hollow shape, the light shielding plate with the hollow shape is disposed at a side close to the substrate, and the light shielding plate with the hollow shape is used for controlling the light emergent shapes of the first optical machine (2) and the second optical machine (3) so as to adjust the curing area of the photo-curing adhesive material (4).

8. The microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the exposure time of the first optical machine (2) and the second optical machine (3) to both sides of the photocurable glue material (4) is 3-10 s.

9. The microfluidic chip rapid prototyping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate (1) is made of a fully transparent glass material.

Images