US3913636A - Apparatus for automatically distributing a determined amount of liquid - Google Patents

Apparatus for automatically distributing a determined amount of liquid Download PDF

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Publication number
US3913636A
US3913636A US459688A US45968874A US3913636A US 3913636 A US3913636 A US 3913636A US 459688 A US459688 A US 459688A US 45968874 A US45968874 A US 45968874A US 3913636 A US3913636 A US 3913636A
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United States
Prior art keywords
tube
pipette
liquid
push plate
flexible
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Expired - Lifetime
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US459688A
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English (en)
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Ei Mochida
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Individual
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Individual
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N1/00—Sampling; Preparing specimens for investigation
    • G01N1/02—Devices for withdrawing samples
    • G01N1/10—Devices for withdrawing samples in the liquid or fluent state
    • G01N1/18—Devices for withdrawing samples in the liquid or fluent state with provision for splitting samples into portions

Definitions

  • the plate is moved away from the tube with a pipette provided at the tube end 417/474 being kept inserted into liquid in a liquid supply con- [51] Int. CLZ 367C 3/00 tainer to admit into the pipette the ame amount of Field of Search 141/18, 130, 2, 25, 26, liquid as the ejected air. Then, under this condition,
  • This invention relates to an apparatus for automatically distributing a determined amount of liquid into every one of a plurality of containers, and more particularly, to an apparatus in which a tube of flexible and resilient material is pressed along a predetermined length thereof and then released to admit liquid into the tube to distribute a determined amount of liquid into every one of a plurality of test tubes or the like.
  • the present invention is a proposal to overcome the abovementioned problems of the prior art, and a primary object is to provide an apparatus for automatically distributing a determined amount of liquid in which a part of a tube made of a flexible and resilient material is pressed and then released so as to admit a determined amount of liquid into the tube. Thereafter the tube is pressed again to discharge the liquid.
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of the type described in which a pipette is securely attached to the end of the tube and the pipette is moved between a flask and one of the test tubes to suck up liquid from the flask into the pipette and discharge it into test tubes to thereby effect intermittently transfer of liquid between the flask and the test tubes.
  • Still another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of the described type in which a push plate for pressing the tube along a predetermined length thereof is operated by a suitable drive was to admit liquid into or eject it from the tube through a pipette provided at the end of the tube.
  • Still another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus in which the liquid delivered is controlled by adjusting the inner diameter of the tube through the increase or decrease of the tube tension.
  • FIG. 1 is a longitudinally sectional side elevation of an apparatus for automatically distributing a determined amount of liquid, according to the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a plan view of the test tube mechanism of the apparatus of FIG. 1, with some parts shown in section.
  • a fixed transparent flat plate I of plastic is partly punched to form circular holes Ho, and H0
  • a flexible plastic tube T comprising the primary portion of a pump, is fixed to the flat plastic plate I in contact therewith-by fittings J,,, J, and J
  • the tube T has fins H, and H, so that tension may be imparted to the tube T as the end portion K, of a lever K moves against the fin H,.
  • the fitting J abuts the fin H to thereby prevent that end of the tube from moving with the other end of the tube when the lever K is manipulated.
  • the lever K is arranged to swing about a fixed pivot L in accordance with forward or backward movement of a screw type manipulator N threaded through a threaded hole formed in a fixed plate 0.
  • the purpose of the lever K is to stretch or contract the flexible tube T to reduce or enlarge the inner diameter thereof to thereby adjust the amount of liquid drawn into or discharged out of the tube.
  • the tube T extends upward through the hole H0, in the plastic plate I and then curves in the form of S above the plastic plate, as shown in the drawing.
  • Tube T connects with a fine metal tube T,.
  • the fine metal tube T passes through the fixed metal fittings Me,, Me, where it is horizontally supported.
  • the end portion of the tube T, on the downstream side thereof is bent downwardly at a right angle, and a plastic pipette P is exchangeably inserted into the lowermost end of the downwardly bent portion of the tube T,.
  • an upstream blocking means P terminates at a relatively obtuse-angled edge adapted to intersect at right angles with the horizontal portion of the tube T.
  • the blocking means P is pulled downward, through a pin G," provided inside thereof, an arm B, and a pin G,", and a spring Sp, fixed at its lower end by a fixing member Q, to normally hold the blocking means P, at an inoperative position relative to the tube T.
  • a lever B pivoted by a fixed pin 6,. is connected at one end to the am B, by the pin G," at the other end to a shaft S, through a pin G, and a wire W.
  • the shaft S extends downward through a fixed meta support M,, with the intermediate portion of the shaft;
  • the solenoid coil C is fixed and arranged in such a manner that when energized it pulls the core F, downwardly.
  • the shaft S As the core F, moves in a downward direction, the shaft S, is also pulled downwardly thereby pulling the pin 0,.
  • Downward movement of the pin G pushes the upstream blocking means P, to its operative position so as to squeeze the tube T.
  • an oil damper ,D is
  • the oil damper being filled with buffer oil to offer resistance to movement of pis-. ton d, secured to the shaft 8,.
  • Packings R are provided for preventing oil leakage.
  • a push plate P has a flat top face of predetermined as that for operating the blocking means P, while the former has two solenoids, both of which are energized or de-energized simultaneously to move the push plate P up or down, respectively.
  • An auxiliary push plate P provided downstream from the push plate P is substantially the same as the plate P in both structure and operation, except that the former is moved by one solenoid rather than two.
  • the metal tube T has a fin connected to a T-shaped lever B by a pin G inserted through an elongated hole formed in the fin.
  • the lever B is swingable' about a fixed pin G to move the metal tube T horizontally by a spring-solenoid combination similar to that used in connection with the upstream blocking means P That is, as apparent from the drawing, the pipette P stays above the test tube I, when the solenoid coil is deenergized, but when the coil is energized, the pipette P is moved to a location immediately above a liquid supply container FL supported on a stand U fixedly mounted atop a shaft S which extends through a fixed metal support M
  • the shaft 8 is directly connected to an iron core F of a solenoid coil C
  • the shaft further extends from the core F into an oil damper P
  • a spring SP is fixed at its lower end to a fixing member 0;; and is joined at a point V to the stand U to always pull it downwardly. In the thus arranged mechanism, the
  • a disc-shaped turntable Ta is shown in section in the drawing.
  • This turntable Ta is so designed that a plurality of test tubes may be placed erect along the circumference of the table.
  • the turntable Ta is connected to a ratchet Ra through a shaft S so that the turntable is rotatable around the shaft S supported on a fixed base plate Ba.
  • the turntable moves intermittently by amount equal to the distance from one test tube receiving station to the next with one motion of the ratchet Ra.
  • the solenoid coil C functions to move the piston S vertically to push up one of the test tubes t It is essential for this purpose that, when the solenoid coil is deenergized, the top end of the piston S. extends through a hole provided in the base plate Ba and stays flush with the upper surface of the plate Ba. Arrangement is also made in such a manner that the piston S when operated,'pushes the test tube upwardly to the optimum position for the test tube to receive liquid from the pipette.
  • FIG. 2 is a plan view of the right half portion of the turntable Ta for feeding the test tubes together with the left half portion of the driving structure therefor.
  • the liquid supply container FL is supported on the stand U as described above in conjunction with FIG. 1.
  • the ratchet Ra has teeth equal in number to the holes formed in the turntable for holding the test tubes erect therein and is adapted to turn the turntable Ta via the shaft 8,, intermittently through the distance from one hole to another at each movement.
  • a pawl X engages the ratchet Ra and the pawl is located at one end of a spring Y secured at its other end to a block Z so that the ratchet is held securely at a determined position after every motion thereof.
  • a lever X having a pawl S for driving the ratchet Ra is pivotally mounted by a pin G on a bar 8,, normally pulled by a spring SP fixed at its end opposite to the bar side.
  • the bar 3 is retained in the position shown in the drawing in contact with an end of a screw St threaded through a fixed block Z
  • the solenoid coil C is energized, the iron core F is attracted into the coil to pull the bar 8;, toward the coil through a bar B a pin G a bar 8;,
  • test tubes 1,, t t etc. are set erect on the turntable as shown in FIG. 2. Then sample liquid is put into the flask FL and the pipetting operation is performed automatically to pour a predetermined amount of the liquid in the flask FL into every one of the test tubes.
  • the pipetting operation is described in detail below.
  • electric current is supplied to or cut-off from the respective solenoid coils in given sequence, and such electric current may be controlled by a cam and limit switch mechanism.
  • the upstream blocking means P is kept in its operative position to block the tube T throughout the operation of the apparatus.
  • an electric current is kept applied to the solenoid coil C through a separate switch throughout the operation.
  • the plate P is raised up while the pipette P is moved to a location right above the flask FL. Then the flask FL is raised up so that the end of the pipette P is submerged in the liquid in the flask. Thereafter, the push plateP is moved downwardly to its inoperative position to thereby suck a determined amount of liquid into the pipette P.
  • the flask FL is then moved down to its original position and the pipette P is moved back to its position above the test tube t Then the shaft 8., is raised up to push up the test tube 2 so that the end of the pipette P is inserted into the test tube Thereafter, the push plate P is again actuated to press the tube T to discharge the liquid in the pipette P into the test tube t Then the auxiliary push plate P is also brought into its operative position to squeeze the tube T to ensure perfect discharge of liquid in the pipette P. The shaft 8;, is then lowered to bring the test tube down to its original position.
  • an electric current is applied to the coil C and then cut-off so as to effect one motion of the ratchet Ra for bringing the next test tube t to the position of t, on the turntable. This is followed by movement of the push plate P and auxiliary push plate P to their respective inoperative positions, thus completing one cycle of operation.
  • the liquid in the flask FL is distributed accurately in a predetermined amount into every one of the test tubes.
  • a usual interrupter composed of a cam and switch combination, as is well known.
  • An apparatus for automatically distributing a predetermined amount of liquid from a liquid supply container into each one of a plurality of containers comprising in combination: a tube made of flexible and resilient material and disposed along a flat plate, an endopened pipette connected to the doyvnstream end of the tube, upstream blocking means closing the tube, a primary push plate between the pipette and the upstream blocking means arranged to reciprocate between an operative position where the push plate presses a section of the tube against the flat plate and an inoperative position where the push plate is away from the tube which allows the tube to return to its original shape, an auxiliary push plate adjacent the primary push plate constructed and arranged to squeeze the tube after the primary push plate moves to its operative position to ensure discharge of the liquid in the pipette, and driving means for moving the pipette between the liquid supply container and the plurality of containers into which the liquid in the supply container is to be distributed.
  • connection of the pipette to the flexible and resilient tube includes a stiff tube slidably disposed between the pipette and the flexible tube, the flexible tube being disposed horizontally along the flat plate and the lower end of the pipette being open, and wherein the driving means is also connected to move the metal tube in a longitudinal direction whereby the liquid supply container and one of the plurality of containers into which the liquid in the supply container is to be distributed are alternatively moved up and down at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction immediately below the pipette.

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  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Biochemistry (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
  • Hydrology & Water Resources (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Immunology (AREA)
  • Pathology (AREA)
  • Sampling And Sample Adjustment (AREA)
  • Automatic Analysis And Handling Materials Therefor (AREA)
  • Loading And Unloading Of Fuel Tanks Or Ships (AREA)
US459688A 1973-04-10 1974-04-10 Apparatus for automatically distributing a determined amount of liquid Expired - Lifetime US3913636A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP48040543A JPS49126480A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1973-04-10 1973-04-10

Publications (1)

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US3913636A true US3913636A (en) 1975-10-21

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US459688A Expired - Lifetime US3913636A (en) 1973-04-10 1974-04-10 Apparatus for automatically distributing a determined amount of liquid

Country Status (5)

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US (1) US3913636A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
JP (1) JPS49126480A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
CA (1) CA999563A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
DE (1) DE2417324A1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GB (1) GB1466109A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3990313A (en) * 1973-11-23 1976-11-09 Bjoerklund K B Method and apparatus for serial dilutions
US4161508A (en) * 1976-09-23 1979-07-17 Camag Chemie-Erzeugnisse Und Adsorptionstechnik Ag Apparatus for applying liquid samples to surfaces
US4478095A (en) * 1981-03-09 1984-10-23 Spectra-Physics, Inc. Autosampler mechanism
US4967940A (en) * 1989-02-21 1990-11-06 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Co. Method and apparatus for precision squeeze tube valving, pumping and dispensing of work fluid(s)
US5033656A (en) * 1989-02-21 1991-07-23 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company Method and apparatus for precision squeeze tube valving, pumping and dispensing of work fluid (s)
US5035350A (en) * 1989-02-21 1991-07-30 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company Method and apparatus for precision squeeze tube valving, pumping and dispensing of work fluid(s)
WO1994012280A1 (en) * 1992-12-01 1994-06-09 Rainin Instrument Co., Inc. Manual pipette with plunger velocity governor, home position latch and trigger release
US5334353A (en) * 1993-02-03 1994-08-02 Blattner Frederick R Micropipette device
US5525515A (en) * 1993-02-03 1996-06-11 Blattner; Frederick R. Process of handling liquids in an automated liquid handling apparatus

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2919724B1 (fr) * 2007-08-01 2013-07-26 Nanotec Solution "dispositif de prelevement d'un echantillon,et procede mis en oeuvre dans ce dispositif"

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3437050A (en) * 1966-01-10 1969-04-08 Ceskoslovenska Akademie Ved Peristaltic pumping device

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3437050A (en) * 1966-01-10 1969-04-08 Ceskoslovenska Akademie Ved Peristaltic pumping device

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3990313A (en) * 1973-11-23 1976-11-09 Bjoerklund K B Method and apparatus for serial dilutions
US4161508A (en) * 1976-09-23 1979-07-17 Camag Chemie-Erzeugnisse Und Adsorptionstechnik Ag Apparatus for applying liquid samples to surfaces
US4478095A (en) * 1981-03-09 1984-10-23 Spectra-Physics, Inc. Autosampler mechanism
US4967940A (en) * 1989-02-21 1990-11-06 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Co. Method and apparatus for precision squeeze tube valving, pumping and dispensing of work fluid(s)
US5033656A (en) * 1989-02-21 1991-07-23 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company Method and apparatus for precision squeeze tube valving, pumping and dispensing of work fluid (s)
US5035350A (en) * 1989-02-21 1991-07-30 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company Method and apparatus for precision squeeze tube valving, pumping and dispensing of work fluid(s)
WO1994012280A1 (en) * 1992-12-01 1994-06-09 Rainin Instrument Co., Inc. Manual pipette with plunger velocity governor, home position latch and trigger release
US5364596A (en) * 1992-12-01 1994-11-15 Rainin Instrument Co., Inc. Manual pipette with plunger velocity governor, home position latch and trigger release
US5334353A (en) * 1993-02-03 1994-08-02 Blattner Frederick R Micropipette device
US5525515A (en) * 1993-02-03 1996-06-11 Blattner; Frederick R. Process of handling liquids in an automated liquid handling apparatus

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CA999563A (en) 1976-11-09
JPS49126480A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1974-12-04
DE2417324A1 (de) 1974-10-31
GB1466109A (en) 1977-03-02

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