Boehringer Ingelheim Microparts Gmbh

Hewlett-packard Company

Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Mario Hempel

Ralf-Peter Peters

Gert Blankenstein

Manfred Berndt

Dirk Kurowski

Tobias Rodenfels

Zeno Rummler

Werner Schomburg

Werner Karl Schomburg

A microfluidic device meters liquids into a network of channels or chambers partly formed by a film partly attached to and above a substrate, the network permitting flow of fluid above the substrate. To form a channel or chamber, the edge zone between unattached and attached portions of the film forms a wedge of material by viscous flow of film material as the film is laminated to the substrate, this wedge forming a transition between the chamber wall and the substrate, raising the wall above the plane of the substrate. Film is laminated with a mask having an opening, the mask pressed onto the film under pressure and/or with heat. The film is brought to a temperature to produce a viscous flow of film and/or substrate medium into the region of the opening, forming a wedge of material as the film bulges up at the opening to form a chamber.

Microfluidic foil structure for metering of fluids

A device for the intake or manipulation of a fluid, in particular, a liquid, and a method for the production of a device of this type in which a flat, non-preformed covering film is laminated onto a carrier, a three-dimensionally shaped or convex chamber wall being formed solely by means of the laminating process. The chamber wall which forms a boundary of a chamber for the fluid is partially deformable. The device is simple to produce and can be used universally.

Process for producing a device for the intake or manipulation of a liquid

In a method for joining two or more solid parts, a foil is provided between the two parts, the foil is heated to an elevated temperature by means of a thermode such that it becomes soft, and then the foil is cooled down below the elevated temperature, thus providing a permanent connection. The method can be used for bonding a gas-permeable membrane to a housing such as to produce a liquid chromatography degasser. The bonding method ensures that no unwanted substances are released when liquid comes into contact with the bonding region.

Method of joining two or more parts

An apparatus for degassing liquids comprises a cavity through which liquid is conducted, with gas being removed from the liquid through at least one of the limiting faces of the cavity by providing on the side of the face distal to the cavity a smaller pressure than within the cavity. The apparatus is characterized in that the limiting face between the cavity and the region having reduced pressure compared to the cavity is formed by at least one thin membrane, having a thickness of less than about 10 micrometers, and in that a porous support structure for supporting the membrane is provided. The degasser can be miniaturized and integrated into a liquid chromatograph.

Apparatus for degassing liquids

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Dortmund, Germany

Mario Hempel