JPH01219369A - Trace quantity pumping plant - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make even a trace fluid stably transferrable by applying optional high-frequency excitation to a wall of a vortex type fluid diode with an exciting element such as a piezoelectric element or the like. CONSTITUTION:When a high-frequency signal is fed to electrodes 11, 11' and 14, 14' set up both sides of piezoelectric ceramics 9, 10 installed as a partition wall for a fluid diode type vortex chamber 6 from high-frequency power sources 17, 18, vibro-respiration is started in the thickness direction of the vortex chamber 6 by a piezoelectric effect. A flow being induced by respiratory vibration in the vortex chamber 6 is able to have a fluid transfer characteristic because a flow of an outflow nozzle 3 from an orifice hole 19 becomes dominant owing to characteristic of the fluid diode. In addition, transfer flow and pump head are optionally controllable by selection of frequency of this respiratory vibration and the amplitude value.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a microfluid transfer device such as a pump, and particularly relates to a microvolume pump for sample injection, which has less contamination of the device by the fluid to be transferred and can easily control the flow rate. .

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, syringe pumps, tube pumps, etc. have been used as micro-liquid transport control devices for sample injection in bio-related analysis equipment and separation and purification equipment, and pinch valves, wax valves, etc. are known as flow path switching devices. There is. These liquid transfer control devices are capable of controlling transfer of minute amounts of samples with high precision.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, since these liquid feeding control devices have sliding parts in the liquid feeding pump and control valve, samples often enter the minute gaps between the valves and pumps. Related equipment uses physiologically active substances such as hormones and enzymes, cells, etc. as target samples.If such samples enter minute gaps, their activity will be lost after a long period of time, leading to biological contamination such as deterioration. In other words, fresh samples or samples of different types supplied to analysis or separation and purification equipment are likely to be adversely affected by the contamination of minute amounts of this denatured sample, resulting in serious inconveniences in terms of performance and reliability. Furthermore, although syringe pumps are suitable for transporting small amounts of liquid, their principle of liquid transport makes it impossible to continuously pump liquids, and tube pumps are unstable due to the effects of pulsating flow when transporting small amounts of liquid. It has the disadvantage of becoming worse.

An object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable, small-sized sample injection control device that is capable of stably transferring even a minute amount of fluid with less contamination of the sample to be transferred.

(Means for Solving the Problems) For the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention provides a vibration element such as a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element on the flow path wall surface of an eddy current fluid diode with a large backflow resistance to apply a high frequency signal. By doing so, a micro sample injection pump with fewer sliding parts is realized, and the outflow nozzle of this fluidic diode is sandwiched in the center, and the outflow nozzle of a fluidic diode pump for buffer solution with the same structure is placed on both sides. In particular, it is characterized by the adoption of a so-called thin flow cell structure in which vibration elements and the like provided on the upper and lower walls of the fluidic diode are stacked in multiple layers using thin plates.

[Effect]

In other words, by subjecting the wall surface of an eddy current fluid diode to arbitrary high-frequency vibration using an excitation element such as a piezoelectric element, it becomes possible to control the flow of a minute amount of liquid with less pulsation and fewer sliding parts.
It is possible to envelop the flow of the sample flowing out from the outflow nozzle of the fluid diode for sample injection with the buffer solution flowing out from the outflow nozzles of the two fluid diodes for buffer solution, and it is possible to realize a so-called sheath flow. It is possible to realize highly reliable injection control of a minute amount of sample with less sample contamination.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, this embodiment has a basic structure of a thin plate-shaped flow cell, and is characterized in that the supply chambers to the three nozzles of the flow cell have a vortex fluid diode structure. That is, a thin plate-shaped flow cell 1 is provided with a partially cut flow path 2, and an outflow nozzle 3 for sample injection in the center is sandwiched in a position opposite to the outflow end of this flow path 2. Outflow nozzles 4, 5 for the liquid are provided, and these three outflow nozzles 3, 4.5 form circular spaces 6, 7 for supplying the sample and the buffer solution, respectively.
．． Connect with 8. This space 6,7°8 is the nozzle 3,
4.5 is communicated from the outer circumference in the tangential direction of this circular space to create a vortex chamber structure in which the flow becomes spiral. As the upper and lower walls of this thin plate flow cell 1, for example, thin plates 9 and 10 made of piezoelectric ceramics such as barium titanate are stacked in multiple layers, and three vortex chambers 6
．． 7.8, thin plate electrodes 11, 12, 13 and 14° 15.16 in the shape of a vortex chamber are provided on the upper and lower walls with the piezoelectric ceramics 9 and 10 sandwiched therebetween. These electrodes are insulated so as not to be electrically connected to each other, and each electrode is electrically connected to the high frequency excitation power sources 17 and 18. In particular, in the present invention, these vortex chambers 6, 7.8
A piezoelectric ceramic plate 10 having electrodes 14, 15, 16 on one side is provided with an orifice hole 19, 20, 21 at the center of the vortex chamber 6, 7, 8, and a sample is placed on the side corresponding to the thin plate flow cell 1. The sample supply chamber 23 and the vortex chamber 6. The buffer solution supply chamber 24 and the vortex chambers 7 and 8 are configured to communicate with each other. Note that this sample supply chamber 23 and buffer solution supply chamber 2
4, a sample supply pipe 25 and a buffer supply pipe 26 for supplying a sample and a buffer solution from the outside are also configured to communicate with each other. Therefore, the vortex chambers 6, 7.8 have inlet orifice holes 19, 20.21 in the center and outlet nozzles 3, 4 in the outer periphery.
．． It has a so-called eddy current diode structure with 5.

2 to 4 show the nn section of FIG. 1 and a partially broken section thereof. In a flow cell type fluid transfer device having such a fluid diode structure, the fluid diode type vortex chamber 6 Piezoelectric ceramics 9 and 10 provided as partition walls of
Electrodes 11.11' and 14.14' installed on both sides of
When a high frequency signal is supplied from a high frequency power supply 17.18 to
Vibratory breathing is started in the thickness direction of the vortex chamber 6 due to the piezo effect. In this case, the electrodes 11. which face each other across the vortex chamber 6.
11' and electrodes 14 and 14' are subjected to high frequency vibrations with a phase difference of 180°, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the piezoelectric ceramics 9 and 10 forming the partition walls of the vortex chamber 6 Absorption vibration that expands and contracts the volume of 6 is started.

Generally, in such a vortex type fluid diode, when fluid flows in from the central orifice 19 as shown in FIG. A spiral flow 28 is formed within the vortex chamber 6 . Therefore, when the fluid flows from the orifice hole 19 toward the outflow nozzle 3, the fluid resistance is small, but when the fluid flows from the outflow nozzle 3 toward the orifice hole 19, the fluid resistance becomes large. Due to the characteristic effect of the vortex chamber type fluid diode, when breathing vibration is started to expand and contract the volume of the vortex chamber 6, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, during volume contraction, the fluid flow 28 flowing out to the outflow nozzle 3 becomes dominant. In this way, the flow induced by the breathing vibration of the vortex chamber 6 flows through the orifice hole 1 due to the characteristics of the fluid diode.
Since the flow from 9 to the outflow nozzle 3 becomes dominant, it can have fluid transfer characteristics, and furthermore, by selecting the frequency and amplitude value of this breathing vibration, the transfer flow rate and lift can be arbitrarily controlled. can. Figures 2 to 4 show the first
The operation has been explained by focusing on the section taken along the arrow ■-■ in the figure, that is, the vortex chamber 6 which is responsible for the pumping action for sample injection into the flow cell. 8 also has fluid transfer characteristics due to the same action, so the outflow nozzles 3 of these vortex chambers 6, 7, and 8
, 4.5 are combined to form one flow path 2,
Since the outflow nozzle 3 for sample injection is placed in the center and the outflow nozzles 4 and 5 for buffer injection are arranged on both sides, in the flow path 2,
A stable sheath flow in which the sample flows through the center of the buffer flow can be achieved, and biological contamination problems such as attachment of the sample to the structure of the fluid transfer device and Wr accumulation can be prevented.

5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a thin plate-shaped flow cell 1 constituting the eddy current fluid diode of the first embodiment and an orifice hole 1 corresponding to the center of the vortex chambers 6, 7.8 provided in the flow cell 1 are described.
Between the piezoelectric ceramic plate 10 having the orifice holes 19, 20, 21, disk-shaped sealing plates 30, 31, 32 larger than the orifice holes 19, 20, 21 are provided at positions corresponding to the orifice holes 19, 20, 21. There are communication holes 33, 3 on the outer periphery of the flow cell in a portion corresponding to the size of the full chambers 6, 7.8.
A check valve spacer 29 in the form of a thin plate having a diameter of 4, 35 is provided to form a so-called swirl chamber 6. ．． 7.8 central orifice hole 19,2
0 and 21 adopt a check valve structure. moreover,
In this embodiment, a piezoelectric ceramic plate 10 is used as an orifice plate of the flow cell type fluidic diode, and a thin plate-like support plate has a sample supply chamber 23 and a buffer solution supply chamber 24 for supplying a sample and a buffer flow from the outside. Between 22
A thin plate spacer 36 having disk-shaped gaps 37 to 39 at positions corresponding to the full chambers 6, 7.8, a check valve spacer 29, and an orifice hole 19° 20.21 in the center, and a vortex chamber 6, 7.
A thin piezoelectric ceramic plate 10 having electrode plates 14, 15, and 16 on both sides at a position relative to 8 is made into one set, and a plurality of sets are stacked and integrated to form a flow cell type fluid transfer device. FIG. 6 shows a VI-VI sectional view in FIG.
0 is provided and a communication hole 33 is provided around it, so when the vortex chamber 6 is contracted by respiratory vibration as shown in the figure, the piezoelectric ceramic 9 with the orifice 19
This vibration causes the sealing plate 30 to seal the orifice hole 19.

On the other hand, during expansion, the orifice hole 19 acts to move away from the sealing plate 30 due to respiratory vibration, making it possible to exhibit the negative effect of the check valve, thereby eliminating the backflow effect of the fluid diode. . In particular, in conventional check valve structures, because the check valve is operated by the action of fluid force, the excitation frequency of the vortex chamber and the vibration amplitude of the valve due to fluid action do not necessarily match, resulting in a phase lag phenomenon. However, in this embodiment, the orifice hole 19 vibrates to prevent rotation and the sealing plate 30 remains stationary, so the action of the check valve matches the excitation frequency and no phase lag phenomenon occurs. Therefore, the respiratory vibration in the vortex chamber 6 can be excited with a high frequency signal, and the pulsation effect is also reduced.

In this embodiment, between the vortex chamber 6 and the sample supply amount 23, a check valve spacer 29 having a disk-shaped breathing chamber 37 and a sealing plate 30, and electrode plates 14° and 14' on the front and back sides are provided. Since a plurality of sets of thin piezoelectric ceramic plates 10 having an orifice hole 19 in the center are inserted, the piezoelectric ceramic plates 10 can be arranged in series in multiple stages in the direction of inflow of the sample, that is, each piezoelectric ceramic plate 10 can be inserted at a certain position. It can be excited with a high frequency signal with a phase difference, and furthermore, the lift of the fluid transfer device.

There are also features that can further improve flow characteristics.

Furthermore, in the fluid transfer device of the present invention, a fluid diode for sample transfer is sandwiched between two fluid diodes for buffer solution transfer, and a thin flow cell structure is adopted in which these are integrated. , it has the characteristics of a sheath flow in which the sample flows stably through the center of the buffer solution, and the problem of sample contamination of the structure can be minimized. Therefore, as shown in Figure 7,
A plurality of samples 41 are sent to the analysis or separation/purification device 43.
．． 41' and 41', if the buffer solution 42 is used and a plurality of sample injection micropumps of the present invention are provided, the sample injection can be performed by controlling the excitation frequency of the sample injection vortex chamber. It is possible to configure a sample injection transfer control system that also serves as an injection control valve, and has great effects such as realizing a clean system configuration with good controllability, with fewer problems with sample contamination such as biological contamination.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, a clean microfluid transfer device with few sliding parts can be realized, and since a high frequency ratio of the excitation frequency is possible, the pulsation rate can be relatively reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an assembled configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views taken along arrows -■ in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. The figure is an assembled configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram to which the present invention is applied. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Thin flow cell, 9, 10... Piezoelectric ceramic plate, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16... Electrode plate, 22... Sample supply support plate, 25.26... Sample and buffer supply pipe, 29... Check valve spacer, 36.
...Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A disk-shaped flow path space, an orifice hole provided in the center of one side wall of the disk shape, and an opening nozzle provided in the tangential direction on the outer periphery of the disk-shaped flow path space. , a vortex-type fluid diode having a liquid supply chamber communicating with the orifice hole, comprising: a vibrator that directly vibrates the side wall having the orifice hole and the other side wall portion; . 2. According to claim 1, the microscopic device is characterized in that the vibrator is a thin plate of a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element having electrode plates on both sides, and a high-frequency signal is supplied to the electrode plate. pump equipment. 3. In claim 1, a plurality of disk-shaped thin fluidic diodes are provided in one plane, and each of the plurality of fluidic diodes is A micro-pump device characterized in that the fluid diode chamber is configured to cause breathing vibrations. 4. In claim 3, the outflow nozzle of at least one of the fluid diodes is arranged on both sides of the outflow nozzle of the other fluid diodes, and the outflow nozzles of the other fluid diodes communicate with a common flow path. A micro-volume pump device characterized by comprising: 5. In claim 1, a disk larger than the orifice hole is provided inside the vibrating element plate having the orifice hole in the center of the side wall of the thin disk-shaped flow path space. 1. A micro-volume pump device comprising a thin check valve plate having a sealing plate having a shape and a part of its outer circumferential side communicating with the thin check valve plate. 6. The micro-volume pump device according to claim 1 or 5, further comprising: a thin flow path space on a disk that communicates with the upstream side of the thin disk-shaped fluidic diode through an orifice hole; 1. A micro-pump device comprising a check valve plate and the vibrating element in the form of a thin plate having an orifice hole opened in the center as a set, which are arranged in multiple stages in series.