Pipetting device, pipette tip coupler, and pipette tip: devices and methods

Inventors

Guzman, Jose Eduardo • Barresi, Thomas • Belton, Dana A.

Assignees

Hamilton Co Inc

Abstract

Pipette tip couplers, pipette tips, coupler and tip combinations, and methods for coupling and decoupling a pipette tip to or from, respectively, a pipette tip coupler mounted on a pipette device. The pipette tip couplers include an elastomeric element, an annular crown shaped raceway, and a coupler stop shoulder surface. The pipette tips include a groove in a first cylindrical section, a second cylindrical section, a tip stop shoulder surface at the interface of the first and second cylindrical sections, a third cylindrical section, a sealing seat surface at the interface of the second and third cylindrical sections, and a fourth section adjacent to the third cylindrical section. When the pipette tip is mounted on the pipette tip coupler, the annular crown shaped raceway abuts the tip groove, the coupler stop shoulder surface abuts the tip stop shoulder surface, and the elastomeric element abuts the sealing seat surface.

Core Innovation

The invention describes a pipette tip coupling device and pipette tip assembly that secure a disposable pipette tip using a plurality of spherical balls in an annular crown shaped raceway body. The pipette tip includes a circumscribing sidewall with an open interior passage extending along a central longitudinal axis between an open proximal end and an open distal end. A coupler body includes a distal stem portion and an elastomeric element disposed around the distal stem portion and adjacent to a distal end plate, where the elastomeric element forms a seal at the distal end of the assembly.

The coupler is structured so that the coupler body diameter is greater than the shank diameter, and the coupler body provides an open-ended interior circumscribing surface forming an open passageway extending longitudinally from a proximal end face through the distal end plate. The ball assembly is carried by a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart guide sockets in the annular crown shaped raceway body, so that the plurality of spherical balls circumscribes the shank. This arrangement is configured to enable controlled axial positioning and reliable sealing between the coupling device and the pipette tip.

The pipette tip interior and sealing interface are further defined by interior sections that include stepped or cylindrical portions and an annular groove for ball abutment, together with a sealing seat for the elastomeric element and at least one frustoconical section. Mounting seats positioned axially relative to each other create a perpendicular datum that supports controlled concentricity. Alternative embodiments are described in which sealing seat surface geometries are varied, and functional integration is described with a liquid level detection circuit using conductive tip or segment features and circuit contact ring end structures on the squeeze sleeve/wedge.

Claims Coverage

The independent claim identifies a pipette tip assembly and a pipette tip coupling device with one central inventive concept, and it defines multiple structural requirements, notably a diameter relationship and a ball-and-raceway coupling. Dependent claims refine the geometry and add optional components and functional integration details.

Overall claim coverage is centered on securing a pipette tip to a coupling device using a plurality of spherical balls carried by an annular crown shaped raceway, while an elastomeric element adjacent a distal end plate seals the coupling interface; the diameter relationship between the coupler body and shank and the open passageway through the distal end plate define the core structural constraints.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications