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:
Aug. 30, 2011
Filed:
Nov. 04, 2008
Edward H. Thorne, Iv, Shrewsbury, MA (US);
Edward H. Thorne, IV, Shrewsbury, MA (US);
Caliper Life Sciences, Inc., Mountain View, CA (US);
Abstract
The invention provides a method, a system, and a computer readable medium for determining the fill-ready status of one or more wells of a plurality of wells formed in a filter or solid-phase extraction (SPE) plate. In the method, a signal is directed toward a well of the plurality of wells. A reflected signal is received from the well responsive to the directed signal. The fill-ready status of the well is determined based on the received reflected signal. The steps may be repeated until the fill-ready status of each of the plurality of wells has been determined. In the method and the apparatus, the directed signal may be generated by a piezoelectric crystal. Some of the reflected vibrations impact the piezoelectric crystal, which oscillates in response. The piezoelectric crystal transmits a signal to a processor, the signal corresponding to the height of the liquid or other material in the well.