The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 01, 2024
Filed:
Apr. 09, 2021
The Regents of the University of California, Oakland, CA (US);
Elliot En-Yu Hui, Irvine, CA (US);
Hinesh Vipul Patel, Irvine, CA (US);
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Oakland, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention is directed to the fabrication and use of phase-change material (PCM) membranes in microvalves for microfluidic systems. The microvalve may be fabricated by using a tissue-sectioning instrument to slice a thin membrane of PCM off of a block of PCM. The membrane may then be sandwiched between a plurality of microfluidic flow sections to act as a microvalve. At room temperature, the membrane may exist in a solid state to act as a zero-leakage seal and microvalve. Applying heat to the membrane may bring the membrane to a melting point, causing it to reach a liquid state. The microvalve in the liquid state may experience a surface tension effect by a material of the microfluidic flow sections, causing it to displace from a flow path and allow a fluid to pass from one microfluidic flow section to another.