Apparatus and process for arraying beads
US5935859A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 29, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 10, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 29, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T436/2575
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A mixture of beads from a combinatorial library is held in suspension either by inducing circulating flow of a liquid in a tapered vessel by rising air bubbles or by floating the beads at the interface between two immiscible liquids. Beads are selected individually from the suspension by drawing liquid into the tip of a needle having a circular opening smaller than the diameter of a bead. After a bead is captured on the tip of a needle, excess beads are jarred loose or washed away by flow of a solvent through a sheath surrounding the needle, and the needle is moved by a robotic manipulator to a well into which the bead is released.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.