Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
  • B01L3/00—Containers or dishes for laboratory use, e.g. laboratory glassware; Droppers
  • B01L3/02—Burettes; Pipettes
  • B01L3/021—Pipettes, i.e. with only one conduit for withdrawing and redistributing liquids
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
  • B01L3/00—Containers or dishes for laboratory use, e.g. laboratory glassware; Droppers
  • B01L3/02—Burettes; Pipettes
  • B01L3/0275—Interchangeable or disposable dispensing tips
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
  • B01L2200/00—Solutions for specific problems relating to chemical or physical laboratory apparatus
  • B01L2200/14—Process control and prevention of errors
  • B01L2200/141—Preventing contamination, tampering
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
  • B01L2300/00—Additional constructional details
  • B01L2300/08—Geometry, shape and general structure
  • B01L2300/0848—Specific forms of parts of containers
  • B01L2300/0858—Side walls
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N35/00—Automatic analysis not limited to methods or materials provided for in any single one of groups G01N1/00 - G01N33/00; Handling materials therefor
  • G01N35/10—Devices for transferring samples or any liquids to, in, or from, the analysis apparatus, e.g. suction devices, injection devices
  • G01N2035/1027—General features of the devices
  • G01N2035/103—General features of the devices using disposable tips

Definitions

• the technical field of the present invention is that of devices intended to collect or dispense a volume of liquid inside a container. More particularly, the present invention relates to a skirt pipette cone, in particular of injection-molded plastic material, intended to be fitted on a pipetting device and to prevent contamination of said device by the liquid taken or dispensed.
• biological fluids such as whole blood, serum, urine, cerebrospinal fluid or articular fluids or reagents.
• biological fluids such as whole blood, serum, urine, cerebrospinal fluid or articular fluids or reagents.
• These manipulations consist in the aspiration of these liquids from a source container and their discharge in a destination container, by means of an automatic pipetting device, an integral part of the biological analysis system.
• the pipetting device is often used in combination with a disposable disposable tip in the form of a cone.
• the containers used are generally flasks or tubes, which can take different forms and have different capacities. Thus, some containers have significant heights. This is the case of some standardized tubes used in biological analysis systems, also called secondary tubes. This large height has a particular disadvantage that when the volume of liquid in the container is low, it is necessary to dip the disposable tip positioned at the end of the pipetting device to the bottom of the container. Now, the disposable tips have a length often well below the height of the containers. It follows then that the pipetting device also enters the container. The risk of seeing said contaminated pipetting device in contact with the container, is then important, especially in case of decentering.
• plugs permanently positioned on the containers such as plugs made of natural or synthetic rubber-based material, commonly known as septa or caps of the "cross-slit valve” type, further increases the risk of contamination of the device.
• pipetting to the extent that the disposable tip and pipetting device passes through the cap to access inside the container.
• the pipetting device can therefore be contaminated by the liquid that may be present on the stopper.
• a sample can be contaminated by a sample previously sucked up and / or discharged by the pipetting device.
• One solution to this problem may be to use containers of reduced height, so that only the disposable tip penetrates inside the container, even when it is necessary to go to the bottom of the latter.
• containers have a limited volume that may not be compatible with the volume of liquid to be transferred into these containers. It is then necessary to provide containers of different heights, which generates an additional cost for the user and reduces the practicality.
• Another solution would be to compensate for the loss of height of the container, by a larger width or diameter. This raises the problem of the bulk of the container. Indeed, if the container is more bulky, it is less easily positioned in a biological analysis system, and at least the number of containers positionable in the system is dramatically reduced.
• a final solution would be to use tips of higher volume capacity. These tips are generally longer and are therefore likely to collect a quantity of liquid at the bottom of a container without the risk of the pipetting device come into contact with said container or the cap positioned on said container.
• the main problem related to the use of high volume volumetric tips is that they are not suitable for pipetting small volumes of liquid and thus generate errors in the pipetted volume, may distort the analysis results. This is directly related to the intrinsic accuracy of said tip.
• the objectives of the present invention are therefore to respond to these shortcomings by providing a simple design tip, easy to produce, allowing a device to pipetting accurately remove or discharge a fraction of liquid at the bottom of a container, without the risk of seeing the pipetting device contaminated during this operation or contaminate itself the sample.
• a tip adapted to be fitted on the body of a device for pipetting a liquid comprising:
• proximal portion connected to the medial portion and traversed by the body of said pipetting device when said tip is fixed on said body, said proximal portion being intended to protect said body and to prevent any contact between the pipetting device and the liquid ,
• the overall shape of the nozzle according to the invention is substantially conical.
• the tip according to the invention consists of a single material.
• the tip according to the invention consists of several materials.
• the material (s) constituting it are taken from the group of polyolefins, comprising, inter alia, polypropylenes, polyethylenes and styrene / butadiene copolymers.
• the tip may consist entirely or partly of a material capable of conducting an electric current.
• a material may be for example a polymer taken in the class of polyolefins and loaded by conductive particles like carbon black.
• Some tips have filters to protect the pipetting device from contaminating aerosols. Said tip is able to allow the use of such filters.
• all or part of the inner wall comprises a surface treatment capable of improving the pipetting accuracy.
• the tip according to the invention is obtained by injection molding.
• Another object of the present invention relates to a pipetting device comprising a nozzle according to the invention.
• Another subject of the present invention relates to a biological analysis system comprising a pipetting device according to the invention.
• Figure 1 shows a tip according to the present invention, in a perspective view.
• FIG. 2 represents a mouthpiece according to the present invention, in a cross-sectional view along the axis A-A obtained from FIG.
• FIG. 3 represents a cross-sectional view of a tip placed on a pipetting device during a step of sampling a liquid inside a container.
• the tip 10 according to the invention is shown in a perspective view. It is shown in cross section along the axis AA, in Figure 2. According to the embodiment shown, the tip 10 is generally conical. It is nevertheless quite conceivable that the tip 10 according to the invention is of different shape. It consists of three distinct parts. First, a distal portion 12 of substantially conical shape. This distal portion 12 constitutes the liquid receiving zone. Indeed, during the suction of a fraction of liquid by a pipetting device (Not shown in this figure), on which is fitted the tip 10 according to the invention, the aspirated liquid is stored in the distal portion 12. The liquid inlet in the distal portion 12 is by the free end 121.
• the distal portion 12 is connected by its proximal end to a central portion 14, substantially frustoconical.
• This central portion 14 has the main function of ensuring the connection between the pipetting device and the tip 10, when that is fitted on said device.
• the tip 10 has a proximal portion 16, connected to the median portion by its distal end. The proximal end 161 is free and allows the pipetting device to penetrate the tip 10.
• the proximal portion 16 has the main function of protecting the body of the pipetting device against contact with the liquid to be taken. We can thus qualify this part 16 of skirt. This part 16 does not necessarily have the function of allowing the connection between the pipetting device and the end piece to be secured, insofar as the end of the body of the pipetting device is supposed to reach the middle part 14 and come into contact with the latter. Molding and surface condition tolerances may be less stringent for this portion 16, which is not involved in the pipetting of the biological sample.
• the proximal portion 16 may have a variable length depending on the size of the tip 10. Thus, for tips for taking small volumes, it is advantageous to have a proximal portion of significant length. Conversely, for tips intended to take large volumes, the proximal portion may be shorter in length, since the tip without a proximal portion is already large.
• the length of the proximal portion 16 represents at least 15% (or even 20%>) of the cumulative length of the middle portions 14 and distal 12, on large volume sampling tips, eg 5 mL. It is quite conceivable to have, on tips for sampling small volumes (eg 0.1 to 10 ⁇ ), a proximal portion whose length is at least equal to the cumulative length of the central portion 14 and distal 12.
• the tip 10 may be molded into the materials commonly used to mold the pipette tips.
• the material may for example be a polyolefin type polymer.
• the three parts of the tip can then be made of the same material, insofar as this type of material is generally cheap, sterilizable and suitable for use in the production of disposable product.
• the cost of a conductive material used may be a brake to the use of a single material.
• the distal and medial parts may be made of conductive material to the extent that they are involved in the electrical conduction between the liquid and the pipetting device.
• the proximal portion whose sole function is to protect the pipetting device against any contact with the liquid, can be made of a less expensive non-conductive material such as a polyolefin.
• Such a multi-material tip can be made by bi-injection with the help of a rotating mold or still over-molding.
• the tip according to the invention can also benefit from a surface treatment of the inner wall in contact with the liquid, to improve the accuracy of the pipetting and volume taken, prevent the adsorption of constituent elements of the sample.
• a surface treatment of the inner wall in contact with the liquid can be achieved by dipping, spraying, plasma treatment.
• FIG 3 there is a container 20 of the type of analysis tube.
• This container is substantially cylindrical in shape with a conical bottom end.
• This tube comprises in its upper part a plug 22 through which the tip 10 enters the tube 20.
• the tube 20 contains in its lower part a limited quantity of a liquid 24, a fraction of which is removed by the pipetting device 26, partly shown in Figure 3, in cross section.
• This pipetting device may be an integral part of a biological analysis system (not shown) or may constitute an autonomous device.
• the body of the pipetting device 26 comes into contact with the middle portion 14 of the nozzle 10, so that the body of the pipetting device and the tip 10 are integral with one of the other.
• the proximal portion 16 protects the body of the pipetting device 26 to the outside of the tube 20, so that the pipetting device is completely protected from any risk of contact with the liquid 24.
• the distal portion 12 of the tip 10 enters, in turn, in contact with the liquid 24.
• the liquid enters the inside of the tip 10 by the free end 121 and is received in the distal portion 12.
• the tip 10 according to the invention thus combines the advantages of small endpieces and large dimensions Indeed, this tip is a clever way to combine low volume sampling with the volumetric precision of small end and large depth of diving associated with the use of large tips, while limiting the risk of contamination.
• the tip according to the invention is not limited in its shape, in its appearance, in its size or in the material that constitutes it.
• the ejection of the tip is performed by an outer fork, it can come to bear on the upper end of the proximal portion. A possible and limited deformation of the latter does not in any case have any incidence insofar as this step is generally performed for the purpose of throwing said tip.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Clinical Laboratory Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Sampling And Sample Adjustment (AREA)
• Devices For Use In Laboratory Experiments (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Families Citing this family (5)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 2010
  • 2010-08-02 FR FR1056384A patent/FR2963252A1/fr active Pending
• 2011
  • 2011-07-27 US US13/810,951 patent/US20130112015A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2011-07-27 WO PCT/FR2011/051810 patent/WO2012017173A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2011-07-27 CN CN2011800380823A patent/CN103079705A/zh active Pending
  • 2011-07-27 JP JP2013522280A patent/JP2013538676A/ja not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-07-27 EP EP11752306.8A patent/EP2600977A1/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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