Air displacement liquid delivery system and related method

Abstract

An air displacement liquid delivery system including a liquid delivery device, one or more sensors, a control unit, and a preprogrammable computing device, and a method for using the air displacement liquid delivery system. The one or more sensors are capable of obtaining information regarding conditions within and external to the liquid delivery device and sending this information to the control unit and/or the computing device. In turn, the control unit and/or computing device are capable of using this information to calculate one or more properties of gas contained within, and the air external to, the liquid delivery device, and one or more properties of a liquid that it is to be aspirated or dispensed by the liquid delivery device. The system may optimally control the performance of the liquid delivery device based upon any one or more of these calculated properties.

1 - 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . A liquid delivery system for the aspiration of a liquid aliquot from a liquid source and the dispensation of the liquid aliquot, the system comprising:
 a. a liquid delivery device, the liquid delivery device including:
 i. a piston with a plunger; 
 ii. an actuator connectable to the plunger; 
 iii. a cylinder within which the piston moves, wherein the cylinder includes a shaft; 
 iv. one or more internal sensors to sense conditions within the shaft; and 
 v. a tip reversibly connectable to the shaft; 
   b. one or more external sensors to sense conditions outside of the shaft;   c. means to calculate movement of the actuator based on the sensed conditions inside and outside the shaft; and   d. means to control movement of the actuator to control movement of the tip into or out of the liquid source based on the movement calculation.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the conditions sensed within the shaft include temperature and pressure and the conditions sensed outside the shaft include temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity, and flow of gas through or past the one or more internal sensors. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25  wherein one of the conditions sensed outside the shaft is the temperature of the liquid source. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26  wherein the liquid is aspirated from a liquid source and the means to control movement of the actuator includes means to calculate an optimal removal time and means to generate a signal to initiate removal of the tip from the liquid source at the optimal removal time. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27  wherein the signal is transmitted to an operator to initiate manual removal of the tip from the liquid source. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 27  wherein the signal is transmitted to an automated control unit to initiate automated removal of the tip from the liquid source. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the means to calculate incorporates one or more properties of the liquid and the establishment of a protocol for aspiration or dispensation of the liquid based on the one or more properties, and the one or more conditions on the inside and the outside of the shaft. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 30  wherein the one or more properties are selected from the group consisting of viscosity, vapor pressure, density, contact angle between the liquid and the material of the tip, and surface tension. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the means to calculate movement and the means to regulate movement are computer programs executable on a computing device. 
     
     
         33 . A system for optimizing the operation of a liquid delivery device in aspirating a liquid from a liquid source, the system comprising:
 a. a liquid delivery device, the liquid delivery device including:
 i. a piston with a plunger; 
 ii. an actuator connectable to the plunger; 
 iii. a cylinder within which the piston moves, wherein the cylinder includes a shaft; 
 iv. one or more internal sensors to sense conditions within the shaft; and 
 v. a tip reversibly connectable to the shaft; 
   b. means to calculate an optimal time to remove the tip from the liquid source based on the sensed information inside the shaft; and   c. means to control movement of the actuator to control movement of the tip out of the liquid source at the optimal removal time.   
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33  including means to transmit the signal to an operator to initiate manual removal of the tip from the liquid source. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 33  including means to transmit the signal to an automated control unit to initiate automated removal of the tip from the liquid source. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the means to calculate incorporates one or more properties of the liquid and the establishment of a protocol for aspiration of the liquid based on the one or more properties. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the one or more properties are selected from the group consisting of viscosity, vapor pressure, density, contact angle between the liquid and the material of the tip, and surface tension. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 33  further comprising one or more external sensors to sense conditions outside the shaft, wherein the means to calculate incorporates the sensed conditions outside the shaft. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38  wherein one of the one or more sensed conditions outside the shaft is the temperature of the liquid source.