KR102445223B1 - Miocro pump - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a micropump for supplying a fluid, and the present invention relates to a micropump comprising: a housing having an inner space and having a coil unit mounting groove in the inner space and a coil unit inserted and fixed in the coil unit mounting groove; an upper body coupled to the inner space and having a fluid passage having an open lower end; And a magnetic body coupled to the lower portion of the upper body in the inner space, a magnetic body mounting groove provided at a position corresponding to the fluid passage, and a magnetic body provided to be movable in the vertical direction on the upper portion of the coil unit in the magnetic body mounting groove, , a lower body sealing the magnetic material mounting groove and having an elastic film having an elastic force, wherein the elastic film opens and closes the fluid passage by a magnetic material driven in the vertical direction based on the voltage applied to the coil unit do.

Description

Micro Pump {MIOCRO PUMP}

The present invention relates to a micropump for controlling the flow of a microfluid, and more particularly, to a micropump driven using an electromagnet.

Recently, by using a semiconductor manufacturing process technology to fabricate a micro-scale structure required for sensing or actuating, and integrating a signal processing circuit here, a high-performance, multi-functional micro-mechanical system (Micro) Ele ctro Mechanical System (hereinafter referred to as 'MEMS') is being implemented. Lab On a Chip, which integrates biochips, medical and microfluidic analysis devices on a chip with a size of several cm 2 using this MEMS technology, is a medical micro-diagnosis and A lot of research is being conducted to apply it to a drug injection system. In particular, micropumps that can be applied to a lab-on-a-chip in which fluid injection, mixing and analysis devices are compactly integrated are used in microfluid transport and control fields.

As an example, the piezoelectric micropump is driven by using the piezoelectric effect of the piezoelectric ceramic and can generate a relatively large force. However, since a high applied voltage is required, there is a problem in that the volume increases. In addition, although the electrostatic micropump has a simple structure, it is difficult to obtain a relatively large force, and the durability of the thin film into which the electrode is inserted is poor.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-1065614

An object of the present invention is to provide a micropump capable of providing a microfluid to a microfluidic chip such as a long-term chip, a microchip, and a lab-on-a-chip, having improved durability, and capable of powerful pumping.

In order to solve the above problems, the micropump of the present invention includes: a housing portion forming an inner space and having a coil unit mounting groove in the inner space and a coil unit inserted and fixed in the coil unit mounting groove; an upper body coupled to the inner space and having a fluid passage having an open lower end; And a magnetic body coupled to the lower portion of the upper body in the inner space, a magnetic body mounting groove provided at a position corresponding to the fluid passage, and a magnetic body provided to be movable in the vertical direction on the upper portion of the coil unit in the magnetic body mounting groove, , a lower body sealing the magnetic material mounting groove and having an elastic film having an elastic force, wherein the elastic film opens and closes the fluid passage by a magnetic material driven in the vertical direction based on the voltage applied to the coil unit do.

In addition, in an embodiment, it further includes a buffer film for sealing the coil unit mounting groove.

In addition, in an embodiment, the magnetic body mounting groove and the coil unit mounting groove are provided in plurality along the longitudinal direction of the fluid passage, and power is sequentially applied to the coil unit provided in each of the plurality of coil unit mounting grooves. The speed of the fluid flowing through the fluid passage is controlled.

In addition, in an embodiment, a liquid is filled in a space comprising the elastic film, the buffer film, and the magnetic body mounting groove.

According to the present invention, by using the coil unit and the magnetic material to flow the elastic membrane to open and close the fluid passage 110, the fluid passage does not come into direct contact with the magnetic material, thereby reducing damage to the fluid passage and increasing durability.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the elastic film does not contain a magnetic material or an electrode, there is an effect that the deterioration of the elastic film does not occur even during repeated driving.

In addition, according to the present invention, a magnetic body capable of opening and closing a fluid passage and a coil unit are provided at a close distance. Accordingly, since the distance between the magnetic material and the coil unit is very close, powerful pumping can be performed even with a small amount of power.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an electromagnetic type micropump according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the micropump shown in FIG. 1 in the a-a' direction, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a part of the micropump shown in FIG. 2A.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a method of driving the micropump shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 4 is a view for explaining an application example of the micropump shown in FIG. 1 .

Hereinafter, a micropump according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view for explaining an electromagnetic type micropump according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2a is a cross-sectional view in the a-a' direction of the micropump shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2b is shown in FIG. 2a It is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the used micropump, and FIG. 3 is a conceptual view for explaining a driving method of the micropump shown in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B , the electromagnetic micropump 10 includes an upper body 100 , a lower body 200 , and a housing part 300 .

The micropump 10 is for controlling the flow of a fluid, and may be used for supplying a fluid to a microfluidic channel of a microfluidic chip, such as a microfluidic chip, a long-term chip, or a lab-on-a-chip.

The housing unit 300 includes an inner space 320 for accommodating the upper body 100 and the lower body 200 , and a coil unit mounting groove 310 and a coil unit mounting groove 310 in the inner space 320 . ) includes a coil unit 220 inserted and fixed in the.

In the inner space 320, the upper body 100 and the lower body 200 are coupled.

The coil unit mounting groove 310 is formed in a size corresponding to the coil unit 220 and has a depth corresponding to the height of the coil unit 220 . The coil unit mounting groove 310 is the length of the fluid passage 110 . It is provided in plurality along the direction.

The coil unit 220 is inserted and fixed in each of the coil unit mounting grooves 310 . The coil unit electrode 222 of the coil unit 220 may penetrate the bottom surface of the coil unit mounting groove 30 and be exposed to the outside. The coil unit electrode 222 is connected to a power supply (not shown) for supplying power. And, based on the frequency signal supplied by the frequency generator (not shown), the power supply (not shown) may supply power corresponding to the coil unit electrode 222 of the coil unit 220 .

The lower surface of the upper body 100 is provided with a fluid passage 110 through which the fluid flows. Specifically, the lower end of the fluid passage 110 is provided in an open state, and the fluid passage 110 is formed by the coupling of the lower body 200 . The fluid passage 110 corresponds to a microfluidic channel formed in a microfluidic chip such as an organ chip, a lab-on-a-chip, an organ-on-a-chip, or a protein chip.

One end of the fluid passage 110 is provided with a fluid injection hole 111 into which the fluid is injected, and the other end is provided with a fluid recovery hole 112 through which the fluid is recovered.

The lower body 200 is coupled to the lower portion of the upper body 100 to form a lower end surface of the fluid passage 110 to complete the fluid passage 110 , and to control the fluid flow in the fluid passage 110 .

Specifically, the lower body 200 includes a magnetic body mounting groove 210 provided at a position corresponding to the fluid passage 110 and a magnetic body 230 provided on the coil unit 220 in the magnetic body mounting groove 210 and , an elastic film 240 sealing the magnetic material mounting groove 210 and having an elastic force, and a buffer film 250 provided between the coil unit 220 and the magnetic material 230 .

The magnetic body mounting groove 210 is a groove into which the magnetic body 230 is inserted, and is formed at a position corresponding to the coil part mounting groove 310 . A plurality of magnetic body mounting grooves 210 are provided along the longitudinal direction of the fluid passage 110 . The magnetic body mounting groove 210 is formed to have a size corresponding to the magnetic body 230 and is formed to a depth greater than the height of the magnetic body 230 so that the magnetic body 230 inserted into the magnetic body mounting groove 210 flows up and down. configured to be

The magnetic body mounting groove 210 and the coil part mounting groove 310 may be provided in plurality along the longitudinal direction of the fluid passage 110 . A plurality of magnetic body mounting grooves 210 and coil unit mounting grooves 310 provided along the longitudinal direction of the fluid passage 110 are used to adjust the flow of fluid using the coil unit 220 and the magnetic body 230 inserted into each. can

Referring to FIGS. 3A to 3D , the supply speed of the fluid in the fluid passage can be controlled by sequentially driving the coil unit from FIGS. 3A to 3D . When the magnetic materials disposed from the left are viewed as first to fourth magnetic materials, although the configuration in which the first to fourth magnetic materials are raised one by one in FIG. 3 is shown, a configuration in which at least two or more magnetic materials are raised at the same time may also be considered. In order to control the supply rate of the fluid, not only a power supply but also a frequency supply may be used.

The magnetic body 230 is provided with a magnetic material such as a permanent magnet having magnetism, and is located above the coil unit 220 in the magnetic material mounting groove 210 . The magnetic body 230 is provided to be drivable in the vertical direction inside each of the magnetic body mounting grooves 210 .

The magnetic body 230 is driven in the vertical direction by the magnetic field generated by the coil unit 220 , and the elastic film 240 is deformed according to the vertical driving of the magnetic body 230 , thereby opening and closing the fluid passage 110 .

In this case, a buffer unit 231 made of a material having an elastic force may be attached to the upper surface of the magnetic body 230 . The buffer part 231 performs a function of reducing damage to the elastic film 240 by the magnetic material 230 .

The elastic film 240 is made of a material having an elastic force. The elastic membrane 240 is preferably provided as a biocompatible membrane. By sealing each of the magnetic body mounting grooves 210 by the elastic film 240 , the fluid in the fluid passage 110 is prevented from flowing into the magnetic body mounting groove 210 .

When the magnetic material 230 is driven upward, the elastic film 240 is pushed upward by the magnetic material 230 and the fluid passage 110 is closed. Conversely, when the magnetic material 230 is driven in the downward direction, the elastic film 240 is repositioned to open the fluid passage 110 .

According to the present invention, by using the coil unit and the magnetic material to flow the elastic membrane to open and close the fluid passage 110, the fluid passage does not come into direct contact with the magnetic material, thereby reducing damage to the fluid passage and increasing durability.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the elastic film does not contain a magnetic material or an electrode, there is an effect that the deterioration of the elastic film does not occur even during repeated driving.

In addition, according to the present invention, a magnetic body capable of opening and closing a fluid passage and a coil unit are provided at a close distance. Accordingly, since the distance between the magnetic material and the coil unit is very close, it is possible to perform powerful pumping even with a small amount of power.

In addition, according to the present invention, since both the magnetic body and the coil part capable of opening and closing the fluid passage are provided in the lower body 200 and the housing part 300, the material of the upper body constituting the fluid passage can be selected from various materials and used. have. In particular, the present invention may be directly applied to a lower layer of a microfluidic chip such as a long-term chip, a microfluidic chip, and a lab-on-a-chip composed of an upper layer, an intermediate area, and a lower layer.

Meanwhile, the elastic film 240 may include a material having high magnetic permeability. The elastic film 240 including a material having high magnetic permeability may minimize the leakage of magnetism from the magnetic body mounting groove 210 . Accordingly, by minimizing the consumption of power used when driving the micropump, powerful pumping can be performed with minimal power. In addition, it is possible to minimize the effect of magnetism on the fluid flowing inside the fluid passage 110 .

The buffer film 250 seals and fixes the coil unit 220 inserted in the coil unit mounting groove 310 , and secondarily blocks the inflow of fluid into the coil unit mounting groove 310 , and the magnetic body 230 . It prevents direct contact between the coil unit 220 and the coil unit 220 to protect the coil unit 220 from damage.

In a space composed of the elastic film 240 , the buffer film 250 , and the magnetic material mounting groove 210 , the magnetic material 230 is instantaneously moved by the power applied to the coil unit 220 to deform the elastic film 240 . make it In this case, the elastic film 240 may be damaged by repeated driving of the magnetic material 230 having a very high moving speed. Accordingly, in the case of the present invention, a liquid may be filled in a space comprising the elastic film 240 , the buffer film 250 , and the magnetic material mounting groove 210 . The liquid may partially reduce the driving speed of the magnetic material 230 to reduce damage to the elastic film 240 or the buffer film 250 by the magnetic material 230 to improve durability.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining an application example of the micropump shown in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIG. 4 , when a plurality of branch channels are formed to extend from the microchannel, a micropump is formed in each of the plurality of branch channels and driven as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C . By selecting any one branch channel, it is possible to supply the fluid.

Although the configuration of the present invention has been described in detail, this is merely illustrative of the present invention, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can make various modifications without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. This will be possible.

Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present specification are for explanation rather than limitation of the present invention, and the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited by these embodiments. The scope of the present invention should be construed by the following claims, and all technologies within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

10: micro pump
100: upper body
110: fluid passage
111: fluid injection hole
112: fluid recovery hole
200: lower body
210: magnetic body mounting groove
220: coil unit
230: magnetic material
240: elastic film
250: buffer film
300: housing unit
310: coil part mounting groove
320: internal space

Claims (1)

a housing part forming an inner space and having a coil part mounting groove provided in the internal space, a coil part inserted and fixed in the coil part mounting groove, and a buffer film sealing the coil part mounting groove;
an upper body coupled to the inner space and having a fluid passage having an open lower end; and
A magnetic body coupled to the lower portion of the upper body in the inner space, a magnetic body mounting groove provided at a position corresponding to the fluid passage, and a magnetic body provided to be movable in the vertical direction on the upper portion of the coil unit in the magnetic body mounting groove; An elastic film that seals the magnetic body mounting groove and has an elastic force and minimizes the outflow of magnetism in the magnetic body mounting groove, and a buffer part provided with a material having elastic force only on the upper surface of the magnetic body and protruding in the shape of a curved upper surface comprising a lower body,
By the magnetic material driven in the vertical direction based on the voltage applied to the coil unit, the buffer provided on the upper portion of the magnetic material deforms the elastic film to open and close the fluid passage, and the magnetic material is a permanent magnet, characterized in that micro pump.

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