Costar Corporation

Data Packaging Corporation

Corning Incorporated

Integra Biosciences Corp.

Matrix Technologies Corporation

Viaflo Corporation

Integra Biosciences Ag

Other

Gregory Mathus

George F Lyman

Richard Cote

George Kalmakis

David Edward Roche

David M Root

Terrence Kelly

Gary Nelson

David Earl Butz

Alan B Lowry

Edward H Yonkers

William Joseph Lacey

Victor A Torti

Paul Michael Szlosek

Samuel L Millen

Pasquale L Pepicelli

Joel Novak

Daniel J Seguin

Kenneth Steiner

Laurence Keene

David Butz

Terrance Kelly

Stanley O Thompson

Alan L Stenfors

Anthony M Labriola

R Laurence Keene

Christopher Labak

John A Ryan

Jonathon Finger

Alex Therrien

Jonathan Finger

Kevin Looney

Paul Thomas Coughlin

Alfred L Michaelsen

Richard Alexander Cote

Terence Kelly

A hand-held, multi-channel pipettor has an electronically controlled motor to reposition pipette tips for different center to center spacing. Each repositionable tip fitting assembly has a cam following pin that is driven by cam tracks in a motor driven roller drum. Stationary ports for the multiple aspiration cylinders are strategically placed to simplify management of flexible tubes leading to the repositionable pipette tip fitting assemblies. The pipettor has a user interface that can be operated conveniently by one hand to reposition pipette tips. It has a pipette tip ejection mechanism with a sinusoidal stripper bar.

Multi-channel pipettor with repositionable tips

The pipetting method is directed to mounting and ejecting a disposable pipette tip. The pipetting system has one or more tip mounting shafts with an upper locking section and a lower sealing section. The upper locking section has outwardly extending lobes spaced around the mounting shaft and located above a stop member. The lower sealing section on the tip mounting shaft is located below the stop. As the mounting shaft is inserted into the collar of the disposable pipette, the collar distorts out of round and engages the lobes on the upper locking section of the tip mounting shaft. Contemporaneously, the lower sealing section of the mounting shaft seals against the barrel of the disposable pipette tip.

Locking pipette tip and mounting shaft in hand-held manual pipette

Method of using a disposable pipette tip

Multi-channel pipettor with variably repositionable tips

A disposable pipette tip having that is configured to mount on a tip mounting shaft having a locking section and a separate sealing section. The locking section has outwardly extending locking lobes circumferentially spaced around the mounting shaft and located above a stop member that separates the lower sealing section from the upper locking section. The collar flexes out of round when it is mounted over the locking lobes on the mounting shaft. The circumferential shelf on the tip isolates the tip barrel from distortion to enable robust sealing in the barrel below the shelf.

Disposable pipette tip

A pipette tip mounting shaft includes outwardly circumferentially extending locking lobes over which the pipette tip collar is mounted. The locking lobes preferably include an inclining ramp portion that gently flexes and distorts the pipette tip collar out-of-round as the mounting shaft is inserted into the pipette tip, rather than the stretching tip collar. Each locking lobe also includes a declining ramp portion which extends upward along the mounting shaft. The peak of the lobes is preferably curved. When the pipette tip is fully mounted on the mounting shaft, a locking ring on the inside surface of the tip collar engages the declining ramp of the lobes to provide an over-center engagement, however, the required ejection force is small.

Pipette tip mounting shaft

Programmable multi-channel pipettor with repositionable tips

A hand-held electronic pipettor is designed particularly to be programmed and operated with one hand for the convenience of the user. It uses a capacitance touchpad control for programming, and a separate run button for the operating mode. Internal components are located so that the center of gravity of the pipettor is located within the palm of the user. Flash memory stores an empirically derived table that correlates aspiration volume to motor steps and a separate empirically derived table the correlates dispensing volumes to motor steps.

Electronic pipettor with improved accuracy

A hand-held electronic pipettor includes menu driven software for controlling the information displayed on the user interface display, for inputting information to program the pipettor and for controlling the operation of the pipettor.

Pipettor software interface

The invention relates to a pipette tip mounting shaft configuration and a disposable pipette tip having a matching configuration. The mounting shaft includes a locking section located above a lower sealing section. The locking section has outwardly extending locking lobes circumferentially spaced around the mounting shaft and located above a stop member that separates the lower sealing section from the upper locking section. When the mounting shaft is fully inserted into the collar of the mating disposable pipette tip, the tip locks onto the mounting shaft. The bore of the pipette tip includes a circumferential shelf separating its upper collar from the tip sealing area which is located below the circumferential shelf. The locking lobes gently flexes and distorts the pipette tip collar out of round as the mounting shaft is inserted in the pipette tip, rather than stretching the tip collar. The circumferential shelf on the pipette tip between the tip collar and the barrel isolates the sealing area at the upper end of the barrel from distortion, thus facilitating reliable sealing engagement.

Locking pipette tip and mounting shaft

The invention relates to a pipette tip mounting shaft configuration and a disposable pipette tip having a matching configuration. The mounting shaft includes a locking section located above a lower sealing section. The locking section has outwardly extending locking lobes circumferentially spaced around the mounting shaft and located above a stop member that separates the lower sealing section from the upper locking section. In certain embodiments, the diameter of the mounting shaft below the stop member is reduced in order to lessen insertion and ejection forces, which is particularly helpful for hand-held multi-channel pipettors. In these embodiments, the lower sealing section contains either a frustoconical sealing section, or an annular groove and a sealing ring, such as a flouroelastomeric O-ring seal.

Multi-channel pipette

Pipette

A method of sealing the open mouths of an array of test tubes comprises providing a plurality of plugs with upwardly facing recesses, and a flexible carrier sheet having the same array of mutually spaced downwardly projecting pegs inserted into and frictionally retained within the recesses of respective ones of the plugs. Sealing is effected by aligning the plugs with the open mouths of the test tubes, pressing the carrier sheet towards the test tubes to seat the plugs in the open tube mouths, and peeling the carrier sheet away from the test tubes to extract the pegs from the plug recesses while allowing the plugs to remain seated in the tube mouths.

Method for sealing test tubes and the like

Growing community of inventors

Concord, MA, United States of America

Gregory Mathus