U.S. patent number 5,582,665 [Application Number 08/378,925] was granted by the patent office on 1996-12-10 for process for sealing at least one well out of a number of wells provided in a plate for receiving chemical and/or biochemical and/or microbiological substances, and installation for carrying out the process.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Wissenschaften e.V.. Invention is credited to Manfred Eigen, Wolfgang Simm.
United States Patent |
5,582,665 |
Eigen , et al. |
December 10, 1996 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Process for sealing at least one well out of a number of wells
provided in a plate for receiving chemical and/or biochemical
and/or microbiological substances, and installation for carrying
out the process
Abstract
A plate having wells therein for receiving chemical substances
is provided with a coverplate covering said filled wells. The
process for sealing the wells by providing a joining seam running
around the wells provides the joining seam such that it has a
profiled cross-section in order to increase the contact surface
between the plate and the coverplate. To this end a welding die has
a front surface provided with projecting profiled regions and being
heated to a temperature in the region of the melting point of the
coverplate. The welding die is placed on the coverplate means and
remains there for a fixed first period. Then the welding die is
pressed down through a fixed path and remains in this position for
a fixed second period. Removing the welding die from the coverplate
is the last step in the process.
Inventors: |
Eigen; Manfred (Gottingen,
DE), Simm; Wolfgang (Rosdorf, DE) |
Assignee: |
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur
Forderung der Wissenschaften e.V. (Gottingen,
DE)
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Family
ID: |
25895113 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/378,925 |
Filed: |
January 25, 1995 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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969823 |
Jan 15, 1993 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jul 18, 1990 [DE] |
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40 22 793.6 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
156/69; 53/478;
53/374.2; 53/453; 53/471; 53/559; 156/292; 156/308.4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B29C
65/305 (20130101); B29C 66/8432 (20130101); B29C
66/91641 (20130101); B29C 66/849 (20130101); B29C
65/7808 (20130101); B29C 66/73921 (20130101); B29C
66/8181 (20130101); B29C 66/81433 (20130101); B29C
66/71 (20130101); B29C 66/91421 (20130101); B29C
66/73521 (20130101); B29C 66/91431 (20130101); B29C
66/8223 (20130101); B29C 66/8322 (20130101); B29C
66/24221 (20130101); B29C 66/112 (20130101); B29C
66/53461 (20130101); B29C 65/18 (20130101); B29C
66/131 (20130101); B29C 66/91231 (20130101); B29C
66/81831 (20130101); B65B 9/042 (20130101); B29C
66/71 (20130101); B29K 2069/00 (20130101); B29C
66/73113 (20130101); B29C 66/954 (20130101); B29C
66/73365 (20130101); B29C 66/919 (20130101); B29C
66/961 (20130101); B29C 66/8122 (20130101); B29C
66/949 (20130101); B65B 7/165 (20130101); B29C
66/71 (20130101); B29K 2027/06 (20130101); B29C
66/8122 (20130101); B29K 2905/12 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65B
9/00 (20060101); B65B 9/04 (20060101); B29C
65/00 (20060101); B29C 65/18 (20060101); B65B
7/16 (20060101); B29C 065/18 (); B65B 009/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;156/69,581,582,308.2,308.4,292,251
;53/452-454,478,471,559,560,900,374.2 ;435/288.4,305.3 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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0326846 |
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Aug 1989 |
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EP |
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1880933 |
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Oct 1963 |
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DE |
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2608777 |
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Sep 1977 |
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DE |
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273833 |
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Feb 1951 |
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CH |
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Other References
Arbeitsmappe fur den Verpackungspraktiker, "Maschinelles
Verpacken", neue rpackung Aug. 1982, Prof. D. Berndt, Berlin, pp.
979-986..
|
Primary Examiner: Aftergut; Jeff H.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Harness, Dickey & Pierce,
P.L.C.
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
07/969,823, filed as PCT/DE91/00081 on Jan. 29, 1991, now
abandoned.
Claims
We claim:
1. A process for sealing at least one well out of a number of wells
having openings facing upwards, said wells being provided in a
plate means and serving to receive chemical and/or biochemical
and/or microbiological substances, the openings having their
orifices in the upper side of said plate means, wherein the process
comprises the steps of:
a) placing said plate means with said wells facing upwards onto a
receiving member having means for receiving said wells so that said
plate means contacts an upper face of said receiving member,
b) placing a heat deformable coverplate from a thermoplastic resin
sheet on said upper side of said plate means, at least said opening
of said at least one well to be sealed being covered by an area of
said coverplate, which coverplate has an upper side facing upwards,
and then
c) providing a joining seam running at least around said opening of
said well to be sealed and joining at least the area, covering said
opening of said well with said coverplate, said joining seam having
a profiled cross-section in order to increase the contact surface
between said upper side of said plate means and said coverplate, by
the following steps:
ba) providing a welding die member having a front face above said
receiving member so that said front face thereof opposes said upper
face of said receiving member,
bb) providing one of said opposing faces with a substantially flat
surface and the other of said opposing faces with projecting
profiled regions, wherein at least said other face is heated to a
temperature which is in the region of the melting point of, at
least, said coverplate,
bc) bringing the opposing faces of said welding die member and said
receiving member together so that said front face of said welding
die member contacts said upper side of said coverplate, said
profiled regions coming into contact with one of said upper side of
said coverplate or said plate means in the area around said
opening; then
bd) pressing said welding die member and said receiving member
together through a fixed path so that said profiled regions at
least penetrate into said coverplate; and then
d) separating said welding die member from said receiving
member.
2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said front face of
said welding die member is provided with said projecting profiled
regions.
3. The process according to claim 2, wherein the provision of the
joining seam comprises the provision of a joining seam which is
closed in itself.
4. The process according to claim 3, wherein the provision of said
joining seam comprises the provision of a join which is
positive-locking, at least in sections, between said plate means
and said coverplate.
5. The process according to claim 3, wherein said joining seam
seals said well gas-tight.
6. The process according to claim 2, wherein an individual joining
seam is provided for each of said wells.
7. The process according to claim 2, wherein said receiving member
is kept at a fixed temperature and said wells are brought into
thermal contact with said receiving member when they are placed on
the latter.
8. The process according to claim 7, wherein a holding device is
placed from above onto said coverplate before said welding die
member is placed in position, which holding device presses said
coverplate onto said upper side of said plate means and brings said
wells into thermal contact with said receiving member.
9. The process according to claim 2, wherein said plate means is
produced from a thin polycarbonate film having a thickness of less
than 0.5 mm, wherein said coverplate is produced from a thin
polycarbonate film having a thickness of less than 0.3 mm, wherein
said wells have a wall with a thickness of less than 0.08 mm and a
volume smaller than 200 mm.sup.3, and wherein said temperature of
said welding die member is between 250.degree. and 300.degree..
10. The process according to claim 2, wherein said fixed path is
approximately equal to the thickness of said coverplate.
11. A process according to claim 2 wherein during pressing the
welding die member and receiving member together, through the
action of said welding die member material of said cover plate
partially penetrates into the upper side of the plate means.
Description
The invention relates to a process for sealing at least one well
out of a number of wells which have their openings facing upwards
and are provided in a plate and serve to receive chemical and/or
biochemical and/or microbiological substances, the plate being
deformable by the action of heat and the openings having their
orifices in the upper side of said plate, wherein the process
comprises the steps of:
a) Placing a coverplate, which is deformable by the action of heat,
on the upper side of the plate, at least the opening of the at
least one well to be sealed being covered by an area of the
coverplate, which has its upper side facing upwards, and then
b) providing a joining seam which runs at least round the opening
of the well to be sealed and joins at least the area, covering the
opening of the well to be sealed, with the plate.
A process of the above-mentioned kind is known from document DE-GM
18 80 933.
The invention also relates to an installation for sealing at least
one well out of a number of wells which have their openings facing
upwards and are provided in a plate and serve to receive chemical
and/or biochemical and/or microbiological substances, the plate
being deformable by the action of heat and the openings having
their orifices in the upper side of said plate, wherein the
installation comprises a receiving device for receiving the plate,
which may be covered by a coverplate, a welding means for
connecting said coverplate with said plate, and a delivery device
for said welding means, via which device the welding means can be
brought into contact with the coverplate covering the wells.
An installation of the above-mentioned kind is also known from
document DE-GM 18 80 933.
The known process and the known installation serve for sealing
plastic cups suitable for serial tests in diagnostics, in order to
avoid loss of material, contamination or cross talk of the
samples.
With the installation known from DE-GM 18 80 933 a cup block is
provided having recesses corresponding to the cups for what
concerns the arrangement and the form. For sealing the cups or
wells the cup foil is placed in the cup block and covered by a
coverplate. Further, a clamping rail is provided, which rail is
moved towards the cup block via a delivery device such that the
cover foil is pressed on the cup foil.
For sealing the cover foil with the cup foil a welding means is
provided, which welding means comprise two heater bands, one of the
heater bands being arranged in the cup block and the other heater
band being arranged in the clamping rail. The heater bands consist
of annular chain links being interconnected via ridges. In order to
perform sealing the heater bands are heated pulsewise by a current
pulse and produce thereby an even joining seam around each of the
cups to be sealed from below the cup foil and from above the cover
foil.
With the known process and the known installation PVC-foils can be
sealed having eleven cups arranged in a line.
According to the finding of the applicant the known installation
and the known process are not suitable for sealing cup foils having
a thin foil size and/or a great number of cups. This is because
with a great number of wells especially thin plates suffer great
deformations in case the latter--as usual in the laboratory workday
routine--are handled. The mechanical stress arising in this
connection will lead to the cover foil working loose from the cup
foil.
Further, this happens also in a case when inside of the cups an
overpressure arises because the solutions placed in the cups were
for example heated or carried to such high temperatures, that the
air volume enclosed in the cups expands by a great amount.
Further plates having wells are marketed by several suppliers and
are known as microtest plates or microtitre plates.
The known plates have a rigid base which is surrounded on all sides
by a stand-up edge. Wells, which are arranged in rows and columns,
are made in the more than one millimeter thick base from above. The
known plates are supplied with wells of various volumes, which as a
rule are between a few hundred microliters and a few
milliliters.
It is known to cover the edge of the plate with a lid or an
adhesive film in order to protect the wells and the interior space
bounded by the edge against the ingress of contamination of any
type.
The plates consisting of polystrene or polyvinyl chloride are used
in order to keep solutions at constant temperature. This is
effected either for storage purposes, for example in a
refrigerator, or in order to allow a reaction to proceed at a
specific temperature. For the latter, the plates are placed in an
incubator, which as a rule is set at 37.degree..
The interior space closed off by the lid has a significantly larger
volume than the wells themselves. If only a few of the wells are
filled with solutions, moderate temperatures of about 50.degree. C.
are already sufficient to allow the solutions to dry up within a
very short time. The reason is that the small volume of the
solutions is not sufficient to generate a saturated water vapor
atmosphere in the considerably larger interior space without a
substantial loss in volume. For these reasons the known plates are
only used at lower temperatures. Moreover, even at lower
temperatures some of the wells are often filled with solutions
known as "sacrificial solutions" in order to keep the loss in
volume of the reaction solutions low.
In addition, conically tapered plastic reaction vessels which have
a snap-on lid or a screw lid are known. It is known to provide the
lid with a base which extends into the vessel in order to keep the
volume of air above the solution placed in the reaction vessel low.
In this way evaporation and condensation problems are largely
avoided.
The known plastic reaction vessels are, however, as a rule several
centimeters high and have an external diameter in the range of 12
to 18 mm. If the number of samples or solutions to be processed is
large, the space requirements are correspondingly large, although
each individual reaction volume is in the range of a few hundred
microliters.
In the case of a large number of samples, which can rapidly be
several hundred per day, it is also necessary to open and reclose a
correspondingly large number of lids, which is very time
consuming.
In addition it is known to heat-seal reaction solutions of small
volumes in glass capillaries in order to be able to heat the
solutions to high temperatures without significant evaporation
problems. However, with this procedure the reaction solutions are
strongly heated, so that this process, which is also very arduous
and often not successful, cannot be used for many reaction
solutions.
Many of the new chemical, biochemical or microbiological methods
require that the reaction solutions are brought to different
temperatures as the test proceeds. The temperatures required in
these methods range from far below 0.degree. C. to above
110.degree. C. The reactions often have to follow a specific
temperature profile cycle, which can consist of several heating
and/or cooling operations. Especially in the case of enzymatic
processes on nucleic acids, a change between high temperatures of
about 100.degree. C. for denaturing the nucleic acids and low
temperatures of about 30.degree. C. for initiating the reaction is
required.
Further, from document "ARBEITSMAPPE FuR DEN VERPACKUNGSTECHNIKER,
MASCHINELLES VERPACKEN, NEUE VERPACKUNG 8/82, pages 797-986" there
are known bag forming, filling, and sealing machines for packing
sheet pieces.
The known machines operate at a high clock rate and form a sheet
foil into a bag which is then filled with the sheet pieces and
sealed. The packings produced with the known machines are sealed
via water vapor-tight or aroma-tight seams.
The seams are produced in that the packing material or the packing
foil is transported through pairs of continuously heated sealing
rolls, whereby the seams thereby produced are provided either with
a longitudinal ribbing or with a transversal ribbing for producing
tighter seams. The ribbings are produced by a respective profile of
the sealing rolls.
With the known machines a packing material either sealing on one
side or sealing on both sides is used, having mostly a cover of
lacquer. Depending on the coating of the packing material fin seams
or overlapping seams can be produced. The width of the sealing
seams should be at least 12-15 mm.
It is not possible to use the known machines or the known process
for sealing plates having wells with upwardly facing openings.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a
process of the kind mentioned at the outset, in which process the
above-mentioned disadvantages are avoided. In particular, it should
be possible to seal what may be a large number of reaction
solutions, even of small volumes, in a simple operation in such a
way, that not only the evaporation or condensation problems are
reduced but that the sealed plates should further show a great
mechanical burden without the sealing seams being opened.
According to the process mentioned at the outset this object is
achieved in that the joining seam is produced with a profiled
cross-section in order to increase the contact surface between the
upper side of the plate and the coverplate.
According to the installation mentioned at the outset this object
is achieved in that the welding means comprises at least one
welding die, which has projecting profiled regions on its front
face, and that the front face of the welding die faces towards the
receiving device.
The object on which the invention is based is achieved in full in
this way. Because, with the new process, the wells filled with
solutions are covered by an area of the coverplate and sealed by
the joining seam, the evaporation or condensation problem is solved
in a way known as such. The volumes of air above the samples are
only such that their moisture content can be controlled by the
samples themselves when the temperature of the samples is changed,
without significant changes in volume; the samples are thus under
saturation pressure.
Due to the profiled cross-section of the joining seam the sealed
plate has a high mechanical strain. When it is inserted in and
removed from holding devices it is unavoidable that the plate will
sag particularly in the case of a large number of wells. The new
process now makes it possible safely to handle even a flexible
plate containing a very large number of samples, which can be in
the region of 1,000. Even when the solutions and/or substances
placed in the well are heated the profiled joining seam will not
work loose despite of the what may be a high overpressure inside of
the wells.
Moreover, with the new process it is now possible to provide a
large number of wells per plate and to seal said wells rapidly but
nevertheless tightly using a single lid, by a joining seam.
In a preferred further development of the new process, the
provision of the joining seam comprises the provision of a joining
seam which is closed in itself.
This measure has the advantage that the wells are sealed
liquid-tight, which is an advantage in particular in the case of
toxic and/or infectious solutions.
It is particularly preferred with this process if the provision of
the joining seam comprises the production of a join which is
positive-locking, at least in sections, between the plate and the
coverplate.
This measure enables a good mechanical hold of the coverplate to
the plate, so that under normal handling there is no risk of the
coverplate becoming detached again.
With this process, a further advantage is achieved if an individual
joining seam is provided for each well.
This measure prevents the reaction solutions from different wells
"creeping" via the upper side of the plate and mixing with one
another. The solutions remain separate even if the sealed plate
falls.
Furthermore, it is advantageous if the joining seam seals the well
gas-tight.
This measure has the advantage that no exchange of moisture takes
place between the volume placed in the well and the atmosphere,
even at relatively high temperatures. Since the volume of air
present above the reaction solution in the well is small, the
evaporation problem is completely eliminated by this means.
In the case of this embodiment, it is also preferred if the
provision of the joining seam comprises the following steps:
bb) placing a welding die, which has projecting profiled regions on
its front face, with the front face on the upper side of the
coverplate, the profiled regions coming into contact with the upper
side around the area covering the opening; then
bd) pressing down the welding die through a fixed path, so that the
profiled regions at least penetrate into the coverplate; and
then
c) removing the welding die from the coverplate.
As a result of these measures, the production of the profiled seam
is very simple. The process can be carried out rapidly, so that
even a large number of wells can be sealed individually.
Furthermore, with this embodiment it is preferred if
ba) before the welding die is placed in position, at least its
front face is heated to a temperature which is in the region of the
melting point of, at least, the cover film, if
bc) after the front face of the welding die has been placed in
position, the welding die is left in this position for a fixed
first period and if
be) after pressing down the welding die into the coverplate, the
welding die is left in this position for a fixed second period.
By means of these measures, all the advantages listed hitherto are
combined. The individually sealed wells are gas-tight even under
high pressure. The joining seam does not open even when the joining
seam is subjected to high mechanical stress, as can be generated by
temperature stresses or sagging.
In the case of this illustrative embodiment, it is further
preferred if the plate is placed on a receiving device before the
joining seam is produced.
This measure offers the advantage that the plate is supported from
below, so that the joining seams can more easily be produced in the
correct position.
In the case of this illustrative embodiment it is further preferred
if the receiving device is kept at a fixed temperature and the
wells are brought into thermal contact with the receiving device
when they are placed on the latter.
By keeping the wells at a controlled temperature it is possible to
introduce into the wells even reaction solutions which must not
depart from a specific temperature range and then to seal the
wells.
According to a further development of this illustrative embodiment,
the new process comprises placing a holding device from above onto
the coverplate before the welding die is placed in position, which
holding device presses the coverplate onto the upper side of the
plate and brings the wells into close thermal contact with the
receiving device.
As a result of this simple measure the joining seams can be made
either simultaneously or successively. This is because the holding
device prevents the joining seam which has not yet cooled down from
opening again when the welding die is removed from the coverplate
if the coverplate should remain partially caught on the welding
die. The holding device thus ensures reproducibly good and tight
joining seams. In the case of this illustrative embodiment it is
also preferred if the plate is produced from a thin polycarbonate
film having a thickness of less than 0.5 mm, if the coverplate is
produced from a thin polycarbonate film having a thickness of less
than 0.3 mm, if the wells have a wall with a thickness of less than
0.08 mm and a volume smaller than 200 m.sup.3, if the fixed path is
approximately equal to the thickness of the coverplate, if the
first period is between 5 and 20 seconds, if the second period is
between 1 and 5 seconds and if the temperature of the welding die
is between 250.degree. C. and 300.degree. C.
The result of these measures is that the area covering the opening
of the well bulges in a lens-like manner when the joining seam is
made. This results in a simple manner in an optical test for
gas-tightness, since only wells which are sealed gas-tight display
this bulging. The plate used here and the cover film are
particularly preferred, since they guarantee a rapid penetration of
heat because of the wall thickness which is matched to the volume
of the wells, the thermal conductivity of polycarbonate and the
outer surface of the wells. Therefore, solutions which must be kept
within a very narrow temperature range can also be sealed in the
wells.
With the new installation a profiled joining seam is produced
between the plate and the coverplate by the profiled welding die
when the latter is advanced. This measure thus leads to a
mechanically strong joining seam which holds even at high
temperatures. In the event of the unavoidable sagging of a flexible
plate containing a large number of wells mechanical stresses arise
which subject the joining seams to severe strain. However, because
of the profiled design of the joining seams these remain tight.
This embodiment is advantageously further developed if a welding
die is provided for each well to be sealed.
This measure offers advantages inasmuch as the wells are all
completely separate from one another. Even if the sealed plate
falls, the solutions sealed in the wells do not mix.
Furthermore, in the case of this embodiment it is preferred if a
heating device is provided for the at least one welding die.
As a result of this measure, joining seams are produced which are
gas-tight even under high pressure and withstand high mechanical
stress. This is because the hot welding die not only produces a
relatively large contact surface between the coverplate and the
plate, but, at least in sections, also produces an integral join.
The contact pressure for the welding die which is required for this
purpose depends on the level of the temperature of the welding die
and is as a rule small.
In the case of this illustrative embodiment, a further advantage is
achieved by the fact the heating device provided is a heating block
made of metal, preferably made of copper, with which the dies are
in thermal contact and into which the dies are fitted from
below.
As a result of this measure all the welding dies can be heated at
the same time, since the copper block has such a good thermal
conductivity that no significant temperature gradient develops in
the block.
This illustrative embodiment is further developed in a particularly
advantageous way if a holding device which can be mounted on the
receiving device is provided for the plate.
By means of this measure, slipping of the coverplate and the plate
relative to one another is prevented in a simple manner. Since the
coverplate is now lying tightly against the upper side of the
plate, the residual volume of air above the solutions present in
the wells is small.
An advantageous further development of this embodiment is
characterized by an arrangement wherein the holding device is a
perforated mask in which a through-hole is provided for each die,
which through-hole is aligned centrally and in the longitudinal
direction to a well to be sealed when the plate is arranged between
the receiving device and the perforated mask.
By means of this measure it is achieved that the region which
covers the opening of the well displays a lens-shaped bulging after
the joining seam has been produced. Consequently a simple optical
test for gas-tightness of the sealed well is possible.
In the case of this illustrative embodiment it is particularly
preferred if the feeding means have an electrically controllable
motor.
As a result of this measure there is a good and reproducible
control of the welding die, so that the depth of penetration into
the coverplate and the residence times on the plate can be adhered
to very accurately.
A further advantage is achieved in the case of this illustrative
embodiment if a cooling device is provided for the receiving
device.
In this way it is also possible to fill the wells with solutions
which must not depart from a specific temperature range and to seal
them in with the coverplate. The heat which may be transported into
the solutions during production of the joining seam is
instantaneously dissipated by the temperature-controlled receiving
device.
In the case of this illustrative embodiment it is further preferred
if a negative mold of the wells is arranged on the receiving
device, which negative mold can be brought to engage with the
wells, which have protuberances projecting downwards beneath the
plate.
This measure has the advantage that the wells are in close thermal
contact with the receiving device, so that even solutions which
have to maintain a very narrow temperature range, or even are to be
kept at temperatures below 0.degree., can be sealed in the
wells.
Furthermore, in the case of this illustrative embodiment it is
preferred if the installation has a baseplate on which a receiving
block containing cups as the negative mold is arranged as holding
device, if a top plate which carries the motor and is joined to the
baseplate via guide rods is arranged above the baseplate, if a
support plate, which is controlled by the guide rods and is
connected to the motor via gearing means and on which the heating
block is arranged facing downwards, is arranged between the
baseplate and the top plate, and if a cooling device is provided
for the support plate.
These measures give the installation a simple, compact mechanical
construction with which, as a result of the cooling and guiding of
the support plate, jam-free feeding of the welding die is
possible.
In the case of this illustrative embodiment it is furthermore
preferred if the projecting profiled regions have pyramids which
are arranged in the form of a ring and at their base are
constructed as a single piece with the welding die and have their
tips facing away from the welding die, and if the pyramids delimit
between them a recess which has a larger cross-section than the
openings of the wells.
These measures offer the advantage that, because of the high
profiling of the front face of the welding die, the contact surface
with the plate is increased in a simple manner when the welding die
penetrates into the coverplate. Although it is also possible for
the profiling to have a corrugated form, this zig-zag form of
profiling has proved suitable. Because the pyramids are formed as a
single piece with the die, a good temperature control is also
ensured.
In the case of this illustrative embodiment it is further preferred
if the pyramids are arranged in rows offset relative to one
another.
When the welding die penetrates into the coverplate, the offset
rows produce a corresponding negative profile, which constitutes a
high flow resistance for gas molecules which wish to escape from
the sealed well. This design of the welding die produces a joining
seam which is gas-tight even at high temperature.
A further advantage is achieved in the case of this illustrative
embodiment by the fact that the pyramids have a height, measured
between their base and their tip, which is greater than the
thickness of the coverplate.
By means of this measure it is achieved that when the welding die
is advanced the material of the coverplate partially penetrates
into the upper side of the plate. This yet again leads to a
mechanically stronger joining seam.
Further advantages are apparent from the description and the
appended drawing.
It is obvious that the features which have been mentioned above and
which are still to be explained below can be used not only in the
particular combination indicated but also in other combinations or
alone, without departing from the scope of the present
invention.
One illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the
drawing and is explained in more detail in the following
description. In the drawing:
FIG. 1 shows the plate according to the invention with the wells
open towards the top, in section and in a perspective view;
FIG. 2 shows the plate from FIG. 1, in a sectional view along the
line II--II from FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a process for the production of the plate from FIG. 1,
in a diagrammatic representation;
FIG. 4 shows the covering of a plate according to FIG. 1 with a
cover film, in section and in a perspective view;
FIG. 5 shows the covered plate from FIG. 4 with circular joining
seams which are positioned around the wells and join the cover film
to the plate, as seen in the direction of the arrow V from FIG.
4;
FIG. 6 shows a welding die for producing the joining seams from
FIG. 5, in a sectional partial view;
FIG. 7 shows the welding die from FIG. 6, in a partial view from
above along the arrow VII from FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 shows the joining seam from FIG. 5, in a sectional side view
along the line VIII--VIII from FIG. 5;
FIG. 9 shows an installation for welding the cover plate from FIG.
4, in which several of the welding dies from FIG. 6 are used, in a
perspective view; and
FIG. 10 shows the use of the welded plate from FIG. 5 in
combination with a thermoblock in a perspective view and in
section.
In FIG. 1 a rectangular flexible plate 2 is shown in section with
one of its longitudinal edges 3 and one of its side edges 4. The
plate 2, which may for example be made of a rigid plastic film, has
a plane upper side 5 and an underside 6 parallel thereto. Its
thickness, measured between the upper side 5 and the underside 6 is
indicated at 7. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the thickness 7 is small
compared with the transverse dimensions of the plate 2.
Through-holes 9 are provided and wells 11, which are open towards
the top, are formed in the plate 2. The wells 11 are arranged in
rows 12 and columns 13, the rows 12 running parallel to the
longitudinal edge 3 and the columns 13 parallel to the side edge 4.
The rows 12 and columns 13 each have a mutual row spacing or column
spacing, indicated at 14 and 15 respectively. In the illustrative
embodiment shown, the wells 11, which are of circular cross
section, have an internal diameter 16, which can be better
discerned in Fig. 2. The row spacings 14 and the column spacings 15
are identical, the internal diameter 16 of the wells 11 of course
being smaller than the row spacing 14 or the column spacing 15.
The wells 11 lie with their openings 18, which are surrounded by a
rounded opening edge 17, in the plane of the upper side 5 of the
plate 2. They have a wall 20 which delimits their interior space 19
and is constructed in the manner of a beaker-like protuberance 21
and for each of the wells 11, which are identical to one another,
lies below the underside 6 of the plate 2.
In the remainder of the description "upwards" will be used to
indicate the direction out of the interior space 19 of the wells 11
through the opening 18 and "downwards" accordingly will be used to
indicate the opposite direction.
As can be better discerned in FIG. 2, the protuberance 21 has a
hollow cylindrical upper section 22 and a hemispherical lower
section 23 integral therewith, the curved bottom wall 24 of said
lower section closing off the well 11 at the bottom. The upper side
5 merges directly as inner surface 15 into the interior space 19 of
the well 11, forming at the transition the peripheral rounded edge
17, while the underside 6 runs, as the outside 28 of the
protuberance 21, essentially parallel to the curved inner surface
25, forming a neck groove 27 surrounding the protuberance 21.
Bridges 29, which separate the individual openings 18 from one
another, run between the individual wells 11.
As can further be seen in FIG. 2, the bottom wall 24 has the
thickness, indicated at 31, which is measured between the inner
surface 25 and the outside 28. In the region of the hollow
cylindrical upper section 22, a correspondingly measured thickness,
which is approximately equal to the thickness 31, is indicated at
32. The wells 11 each have a volume 33, which is essentially
determined by their depth, indicated at 34, and the internal
diameter 16. The depth 34 is measured between the bottom wall 24
and an imaginary maximum filling height indicated at 35 by a dashed
line. The filling height 35 is approximately at the height at which
the curved opening edge 17 merges into the vertical inner surface
25. Because of the surface tension and the precurvature associated
therewith, the fill volume of the substances to be received will be
smaller than the maximum volume 33, especially when the volume 33
is small.
The wells 11 of the plate 2 described thus far serve to receive
chemical and/or biochemical and/or microbiological substances,
which are stored or subjected to a reaction in the wells 11. The
volume 33 and the number of wells 11 per plate 2 depend on the
substances to be received in the wells 11. In addition to the
internal diameter 16 and the depth 34, the row spacing 14 and the
column spacing 15 are also largely determined by the volume 33. The
thickness 7 of the plate 2 in the region of the bridges 29 is so
chosen that the plate 2 has an adequate strength despite the
closely adjacent wells 11 and does not break through buckling when
being transported with filled wells 11. The thicknesses 31 and 32
of the wall 20 of the wells 11 are so chosen from the mechanical
standpoint that the filled wells 11 do not start to tear or even
tear off under the weight of the substances received therein.
In addition to the purely mechanical standpoint, the material from
which the plate 2 is made and the thicknesses 31 and 32 of the wall
20 are also chosen from physical standpoints. The thicknesses 31
and 32, which--as can be seen in FIG. 2--are considerably less than
the thickness 7, enable good transport of heat into the interior
space 19 of the wells 11 and out of the interior space 19. By this
means it is possible to cool or to change the temperature of the
substances in the wells very rapidly, as the entire outside 28 is
brought into contact, as a heat exchange surface 28', with a
temperature-control material which is at the particular temperature
desired.
In the illustrative embodiment chosen, the plate 2 is made of
polycarbonate and has a thermal conductivity of .lambda.=0.21 W per
Kelvin and per meter. The thickness 7 is about 0.27 mm and for the
thickness 31: x=0.04 mm. The spacings 14 and 15 between the rows 12
and, respectively, the columns 13 are about 10 mm and the volume 33
of the wells 11 is V=85 .mu.l. The size of the heat exchange
surface 28' corresponds to the outside 28 and is: A=75 mm.sup.2. In
accordance with the equation ##EQU1## a heat transfer coefficient
of about 4.5.times.10.sup.31 3 W/(K mm.sup.3) results using these
figures.
It has been found that for such a heat transfer coefficient the
heat exchange through the wall 20 takes place so rapidly that the
determining time factor is the heat conduction in the substances
themselves.
Thus, the novel plate 2 enables, for example, a large number of
reactions to be carried out in separate wells 11 within a small
space, it being possible to achieve very good thermal control of
the reactions through the wall 20 of the wells.
Moreover, the material of the plate 2 is so chosen that optical
analytical procedures, such as, for example, absorption
measurements or fluorescence measurements, are possible through the
wall 20 of the wells 11. For this purpose, the material must be
transparent in the light wavelength range of interest, i.e it must
display neither significant absorption nor fluorescence emission in
this wavelength range.
With reference to FIG. 3, a process for the production of the plate
2 from FIG. 1 will now be described. The starting material is a
thin film 36, for example made of a polycarbonate, which has a
thickness 7. This film 36 is placed on a temperature-controlled
shaping block 37, in which blind holes 38, open towards the top,
are provided, which holes, like the wells 11, are arranged in rows
12 and columns 13. The blind holes 38 have a wall surface 40 which
surrounds their interior 39 and is smooth and coherent. The
dimensions of the blind holes 38 are so chosen that they correspond
to the external dimensions of the protuberances 21 to be formed: in
the chosen example the blind holes have a diameter of about 6 mm
and a depth of about 4 mm.
A heater, indicated diagrammatically at 43, is provided in the
shaping block 37, which is made of metal, for example aluminum, the
shaping block 37 being heated uniformly to 100.degree. C. by said
heater. An air nozzle 45, which is moveable in the direction of the
arrow 46, is arranged above the shaping block 37 in the direction
of the blind holes 38. The direction 46 is parallel to the columns
13 or the rows 12, so that the air nozzle 45 can be positioned
centrally above each individual blind hole 38. The direction 46 is
also aligned parallel to the upper side 5 of the film 36 placed on
the shaping block 37, so that the spacing between the air nozzle
and the upper side 5 remains constant.
The air nozzle 45 releases a jet 47 of hot air which is at about
280.degree. C. and issues downwards at a velocity of about 2-5
m/sec from its outlet orifice 48 approximately vertically to the
shaping block 37. The outlet orifice 48 has a diameter of about 5
mm and is 4 mm above the upper side 5 of the film 36. The air
nozzle 45 is positioned successively centrally above the individual
blind holes 38, where it remains stationary for about 3 to 5
seconds. By means of the jet 47 of hot air impinging on the upper
side 5, the film 36 is heated to such an extent that it is
plastically deformable.
The jet 47 of hot air then blows that area of the film 36
originally located above the blind hole 38 into the interior 39 of
the particular blind hole, this area gradually stretching and the
original thickness 7 of the film 36 becoming ever smaller in this
area until, finally, the wall 20 of the well 11 formed has the
thicknesses 31 and 32 indicated in FIG. 2.
In FIG. 3 the righthand well 11/1 has already been completely
formed and the air nozzle 45 is located above the blind hole 38/2,
in which the well 11/2 is just being formed. The bottom 24 of the
well 11/2 has already partly moved into the interior 39/2 of the
blind hole 38/2 and subsequently will lie with its entire surface
against the smooth inner wall of the blind hole 38/2. As can be
seen in FIG. 3, the bridge 29, which has the original thickness 7
of the film 36, remains between the wells 11/1 and 11/2. When
forming the wells 11, the occluded air escapes without the
formation of bubbles.
Of course, it is possible to use, instead of one air nozzle 45,
several parallel air nozzles 45, the outlet orifices 48 of which
are arranged in the grid pattern of the columns 13 or the rows 12.
In this way, depending on the number of air nozzles 45, all the
wells 11 of one row 12 or also of one column 13 can be produced at
the same time.
As has already been described above, the film 36 consists of a
polycarbonate having a thickness of 0.27 mm. Before forming the
wells 11, the film 36 has a milky turbidity. However, it has been
found that when the temperature of the jet 47 of hot air is
280.degree. C. and the temperature of the shaping block 37 is
100.degree. C. the film 36 becomes transparent in the region of the
wall 20 of the completely formed wells 11, as is required for the
above-mentioned optical analytical methods. Bringing the shaping
block 37 to a controlled temperature of 100.degree. C., which is
not necessary for the actual forming of the wells 11, has the
additional effect that the outside 28 of the well 11 lies fully
against the wall surface 40 of the particular blind hole 38. By
this means it is achieved that the outside 28 of each individual
well 11 also has a smooth and uniform surface, which is of great
advantage for changing the temperature of substances placed in the
wells 11. The reason is that the protuberances 21 have virtually
identical contours, so that they can be brought, with their heat
exchange surface 28', into direct contact with correspondingly
shaped counter-surfaces in the blind hole bores 38 without any
layers of air interfering with the heat transfer. This is also
described further below with reference to FIG. 10.
Especially if the volume 33 of the wells 11 is small, the wells 11
should be sealed against the outside atmosphere. For this purpose,
a coverplate shown in FIG. 4 is provided which consists of a thin
cover film 49. Through-holes 50, which are arranged in the same
grid pattern as the through-holes 9 in the plate 2, are provided in
the cover film 49. The cover film 49 has a plane upper side 51 and
an underside 52 which is parallel thereto and with which the film
comes to lie on the upper side of the plate 2 when the latter is
covered. The cover film 49 has a thickness 53, measured between the
upper side 51 and the underside 52, which is small compared with
the transverse dimensions of the cover film 49. The cover film 49
is, for example, made of a polycarbonate having a thickness of 0.1
mm.
When it is placed on the plate 2, the cover film 49 is aligned such
that the through-holes 50 are aligned with the through-holes 9. In
this way, the cover film 49 and the plate 2 can simultaneously be
joined to one another and be fixed to a support device, in a manner
which will be described in more detail.
Of course, instead of the through-holes 50 or the through-holes 9,
it is possible to provide cylindrical pegs which project downwards
or, respectively, upwards and which engage in the through-holes 9
or, respectively, the through-holes 50 when the cover film 49 is
placed on the plate 2 and thus join the cover film 49 to the plate
2 in a detachable manner.
The material preferably used for the cover film 49 is, as already
mentioned, a polycarbonate having a thickness of 0.1 mm. This film
is transparent in the wavelength range of interest for the optical
analytical methods used and displays only slight inherent
fluorescence. The optical analytical methods can thus also be
applied from above through the cover film 49; in particular it is
possible, using the irradiation method through the cover film 49
and the bottom wall 24 of the wells, to measure the optical density
of the substances placed in the wells 11.
In the case of the preferred small volumes 33 of the wells 11,
which are in the range between 30 and 100 .mu.l, the volume of
solutions placed in the wells 11 can change as a result of
condensation and/or evaporation effects. This applies in particular
if frequent changing of the temperature of the solutions between
high and low temperatures is required, as occurs in the case of the
polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a method frequently used for high
amplification of individual nucleic acid strands.
In order to increase the sealing effect of the cover film 49, the
cover film 49 is joined to the plate 22 in the region of each well
11 by a closed circular joining seam 55 surrounding the opening
edge 17 of the well. In FIG. 5 it can be seen that each joining
seam 55 bounds a circular area 57 of the cover film 49, which in
each case covers the opening 18 of an assigned well 11. In this way
each well 11 is so to say covered by its own lid in the form of the
circular area 57, which, by means of the joining seam 55 is joined
in such a way with the bridges 29 surrounding the well 11 that each
well 11 is sealed gas-tight against the atmosphere and the other
wells 11.
A welding die 59 which is profiled on its front face 58 and is
shown in section in FIG. 6 serves, for example, for making the
individual joining seams 55. The welding die 59 has a solid
cylindrical base body 60, which at its upper end 61 carries an
annular attachment 62 which is integral with the base body 60. The
annular attachment 62 delimits a circular recess 63, which is
concentric with the base body 60 and thus with its longitudinal
axis 64, and carries the ring-shaped front face 58 facing away from
the base body 60.
Profiling in the form of pyramids 65 arranged in rows, which
pyramids are constructed in one piece with the annular attachment
62 at their square base 66, is provided on the front face 58 which
surrounds the recess 63 in ring form. The tips 67 of the pyramids
65 face away from the base body 60 in a direction parallel to the
longitudinal axis 64 of the welding die 59.
FIG. 7. shows the top view on the front face 58 in the direction of
the arrow VII from FIG. 6 in section. As can be seen, the pyramids
65 are arranged in rows 68 and 69 which are offset relative to one
another by half the width of the pyramid base 66. The arrangement
is such that a row 69/1 runs between two rows 68/1 and 68/2, which
are parallel to one another and are not offset relative to one
another, which row 69/1 is accordingly offset relative to the rows
68/1 and 68/2 by half the width of the pyramid base 66. The row
68/2 is directly followed, remote from the row 69/1, by a row 69/2,
which is parallel to the row 69/1 and aligned laterally with
respect to the latter.
Returning to FIG. 6 it can be seen that the welding die 59 is
provided with a heater, indicated diagrammatically at 71, by means
of which the welding die 59, which is preferably made of V2A steel,
is heated to about 280.degree. C. In order to make the joining seam
55, the heated welding die 59 is placed from above onto the upper
side 51 of the cover film 49, which is laid on the plate 2, in such
a way that its profiled, ringrshaped front face 58 centrally
surrounds the edge 17 of the opening of the well 11 which is
located below the cover film 49 and is to be sealed. The circular
recess 63 has a diameter which is so large that the tips 67 of the
pyramids come to lie outside the edge 17 of the opening on sections
of the cover film 49 which are located above the bridges 29.
The square base 66 of the pyramids 65 measures 0.5.times.0.5 mm and
the tip 67 of the four-sided pyramid 65 lies 0.25 mm vertically
above the pyramid base 66, i.e. two sides of a pyramid which are
opposite one another enclose a vertical and opposite angle of
90.degree.. In the radial direction up to three pyramids 65 are
arranged in succession on the ring-shaped front face 58, so that
the welding die 59 overall has an external diameter which is larger
by at least 6 base lengths of a pyramid 65 than the diameter of the
recess 63.
The following procedure has proved suitable for welding a cover
film 49, the thickness 53 of which is about 0.1 mm, to a plate 2,
the thickness 7 of which is about 0.27 mm:
The cover film 49 is placed from above onto the plate 2 in such a
way that it covers the wells 11 and that the through-holes 50 are
aligned with the through-holes 9. The welding die 59, which is
heated to 280.degree. C., is placed from above, with its front face
58 first, onto the upper side 51 of the cover film 49 in such a way
that it is located centrally above a well 11 which is located below
the cover film 49 and is to be welded. The pyramids 65 on the front
face 58 now lie with their tips 67, which may penetrate somewhat
into the material of the cover film 49, on the upper side 51 and
heat the latter. The cover film 49 is pre-heated in this way for
about 13 seconds by the honeycomb profile of the front face 58. The
welding die 59 is then pressed downwards through about 0.1-0.2 mm
onto the cover film 49, so that each pyramid 67 penetrates into the
cover film 49 and this in turn penetrates into the bridges 29 of
the plate 2. The welding die 59 remains in this position for two
seconds and is then removed completely from the cover film 49.
The joining seam 55 which is thus produced and which is a type of
weld seam is shown in FIG. 8 in a cross-section along the line
VIII--VIII from FIG. 5. The cooled down joining seam 55 has a
profiling corresponding to that of the welding die 59. The pyramids
65 have pressed into the preheated upper side 51 of the cover film
49 upside-down pyramid-like depressions 73, which in respect of
their shape correspond to the pyramids 65. In addition, in the
region of the depressions 73, the cover film 49 has penetrated with
its underside 52 into the upper side 5 of the bridges 29, which is
indirectly preheated through the cover film 49, and has formed
depressions 74, which correspond to the depressions 73, in said
upper side 5. In this way a contact surface 75, which in
cross-section has a zig-zag form, has formed between the underside
52 of the cover film 49 and the upper side 5 of the plate 2. As a
result of this zig-zag shape, the contact surface 75 is larger than
the bearings surface which existed before the welding between the
underside 52 of the cover film 49 and the upper side 5 of the plate
2 in the envisaged region of the joining seam 55.
Not only has the bearing surface been enlarged by the heating
action of the pyramids 65; the cover film 49 and the bridges 29
have also been integrally welded to one another along the contact
surface 75. It has been found that this joining seam 55 ensures a
good, not only liquid-tight but also gas-tight, seal of the
individual wells 11 even in the case of frequent changing between
high and low temperatures at the underside 6 or the outside 28.
This even holds true in case a pressure above atmospheric arises
inside of the wells due to the fact that the solutions placed in
the wells are heated or carried to such a high temperature that the
gas volume above the solution tends to expand. The joining seam 55
also withstands, without any problems, the customary mechanical
stresses to which the sealed plate 2 is subjected in everyday
laboratory practice, as well as the slight changes in shape and
strains which are associated with changing the temperature.
During the welding operation described above, the circular section
57 of the cover film 49 which covers the opening 18 bulges upwards
in a dome-like manner, so that a plate 2 which is sealed and welded
as described above has a lens-like bulge 76 in the cover film 49
above each well 11.
Since, however, the bulge 76 is formed only in the case of wells 11
which are welded gas-tight, it is at the same time an optical
indication that the joining seam 55 formed has provided a gas-tight
seal of the relevant well 11, which seal is also capable of
withstanding to an overpressure having arisen inside of the wells.
If the cover film 49 does not display any bulges 76 after welding
then, for example, the welding operation was defective in respect
of the residence times, the temperature of the welding die 59 or
the depth of penetration of the pyramids 65 into the upper side
51.
In the illustrative embodiment described, the temperature of the
welding die 59, the dimensions of the pyramids 65 and the depth of
penetration of the pyramids 65 into the upper side 51 of the cover
film 49 are indicated merely by way of example for a cover film
made of polycarbonate having a thickness of 0.27 mm. For thicker
polycarbonate films, the depth of penetration of the pyramids,
which approximately corresponds to the thickness of the cover film,
must be adjusted to the new thicknesses.
In addition to correctly maintaining the residence time of the
welding die 59, initially on the upper side 51 and then in the
position where it has penetrated into the upper side, the depth to
which the pyramids 65 penetrate into the material of the cover film
49 is also important for the success of the welding operation.
Although the welding operation described above can be carried out
manually, the yield of correctly positioned joining seam 55 is
substantially increased by the use of a welding installation 78 as
shown in FIG. 9.
The welding installation 78 has a flat, rectangular baseplate 79
and a flat top plate 80, which is arranged above the baseplate 79
and has approximately the same transverse dimensions as the
baseplate 79. The top plate 80 is fixed to the baseplate 79 with
the aid of four guide rods 81. Of the four guide rods 81, which are
screwed into the baseplate 79 from above, each in the region of one
of the four corners, the front righthand guide rod 81/4 has been
omitted from FIG. 9 for reasons of clarity in the drawing.
A support plate 82, the height of which is adjustable and in the
outer corners of which spherical liners 83 are let in, through
which the guide rods 81 pass, is provided between the baseplate 79
and the top plate 80. As drive for the height adjustment of the
baseplate 82, an electrically operated drive motor 84 is attached,
by its flange 85 from above on the top plate 80, remote from the
baseplate 82. The motor 84 has a motor shaft, indicated at 86,
which is connected to a ballscrew pinion gear indicated at 87. The
ballscrew pinion gear 87 is connected on the other side to the
support plate 82 and serves to translate the rotary movement of the
motor shaft 86 into the adjusting movement of the support plate 82
along the guide rods 81.
Remote from the ballscrew pinion gear 87, a heating block 89, which
is fixed from below to the support plate 82 by four distance bolts
90, is provided centrally below the support plate 82. The heating
block 89, which is made of copper, fulfills the role of the heater
indicated at 71 in FIG. 6 for the welding die 59, three of which
are indicated in FIG. 9. The welding dies 59/1, 59/2 and 59/3 plug,
remote from the distance bolts 90, from below into the heating
block 89 and their front faces 58 face downwards away from the
heating block 89.
A blind hole 91, in which an electrically heatable heating
cartridge is inserted, which for reasons of clarity is not shown in
more detail, is provided in the heating block 89 and in FIG. 9
passes virtually completely through said heating block from right
to left. The temperature of the heating block 89 is suitably
measured by a temperature probe, which is not shown in more detail,
and passed to a control circuit, which is likewise not shown and
which, in turn, controls the heating cartridge. A closed control
circuit, via which the temperature of the heating block 89 is kept
at a constant value, for example 280.degree. C., is thus formed in
a manner known per se. Via the distance bolts 90, the heating block
89 heats the support plate 82, which can result in jamming of the
spherical liners 83 on the guide rods 81. For this reason, coolant
bores 92, through which the support plate 82 is connected to a
thermostat-controlled cooling circuit, are provided in the support
plate 82. In this way, the temperature of the support plate 82 can
be adjusted independently of the temperature of the heating block
89 via an external thermostat, so that a smooth-running adjustment
of the support plate 82 along the guide rods 81 is ensured.
A receiving block 93, which faces upwards, is provided on the
baseplate 79 approximately centrally below the heating block 89,
the height of which can be adjusted via the support plate 82. The
receiving block 93 has a coolant bore 94 which passes through it
and which is connected, in the same way as the coolant bore 92 of
the support plate 82, to an external thermostat circuit which keeps
the receiving block 93 at a constant and adjustable
temperature.
The receiving block 93 has cups 95 which are open at the top and
are designed to receive the protuberances 21 projecting downwards
beyond the plate 2. The cups 95 therefore have the same dimensions
as the blind holes 38 which can be seen in FIG. 3 in the shaping
block 37 and, like the wells 11, are arranged in rows 12 and
columns 13.
A plate 2 is placed from above on the receiving block 93, which
plate 2 is in turn covered by a cover film 49. A perforated mask
96, which engages around the receiving block 93 on all sides from
above, is slipped over the cover film 49 and presses the cover film
49 onto the plate 2 and the latter, in turn, with its wells 11 into
the receiving block 93. Through-holes 97, aligned with the welding
die 59, are provided in the perforated mask 96, said holes likewise
being arranged in rows 12 and columns 13 in such a way that one
hole 97 is centrally aligned above each well 11. For reasons of
clarity, the perforated mask 96, the cover film 49 and the plate 2
are shown broken off and offset relative to the receiving block
93.
Of course, a hole 97 and a welding die 59 are provided for each
well 11 in the plate 2.
On either side of the receiving block 93 two identical upwardly
facing pedestals 98 are arranged for fixing the perforated mask 96
on the baseplate 79, the righthand pedestal 98/2 of which is shown
broken off. The pedestal 98/1 has a fixing bore 99, which faces
upwards and to which a fixing clamp, which, for example, can be
constructed as a spring clamp or as a locking bar, is fastened in
order to press the perforated mask 96 downwards onto the receiving
block 93.
For reasons of clarity, the fixing clamp has been omitted in FIG.
9.
The welding installation 78 which has been described thus far
operates as follows:
The support plate 82 is in the raised starting position shown in
FIG. 9. After the perforated mask 96 has been removed from the
receiving block 93, a plate 2, to be welded, is placed from above
on to the receiving block 93 in such a way that the wells 11 come
to lie with their protuberances 21 in the cups 95. The wells 11,
the openings 18 of which face upwards, are already filled with the
desired substances and covered by a cover film 49, or are now
appropriately filled and then covered with a cover film 49, which
is aligned such that its through-holes 50 are aligned with the
through-holes 9 in the plate 2. The perforated mask 96 is slipped
over the plate 2 covered in this way, the through-holes 97 of said
mask coming to lie centrally above the wells 11. With the aid of
the fixing clamps provided on the pedestals 98, the perforated mask
96 is pressed firmly downwards onto the receiving block 93.
The heating block 89 is heated to 280.degree. C. by means of the
heating cartridge inserted in the blind hole 91. The welding dies
59, which are connected to the heating block 89 in a thermally
conducting manner, also have this temperature. Via the ballscrew
pinion gear 87, the rotary movement of the motor shaft 86 of the
drive motor 84 is translated into a downwards movement of the
support plate 82 guided via the spherical liners 83 and the guide
rods 81. As the support plate 82 and thus the heating block 89 are
lowered, the welding dies 59/1 and 59/2 push from above into the
assigned holes 97/1 and 97/2 respectively in the perforated mask
96. The transmission of the ballscrew pinion gear 87 and the number
of revolutions of the motor shaft 86 are set such that at the end
of the downwards movement of the support plate 82 the welding dies
59 come to lie with their front face 58 or the tips 67 of the
pyramids 65 just in contact with the upper side 51 of the cover
film 49, as has already been described above.
The welding installation 78 pauses for about 13 seconds in this
position, in which the welding dies 59 preheat the cover film 49
and the plate 2 in the area where the joining seams 55 are to be
made. After this preheating time, the support plate 82 is gradually
moved 0.1 mm further downwards towards the receiving block 93, via
the ballscrew pinion gear 87 of the motor 84, so that the pyramids
65 on the front face 58 of the welding dies 59 penetrate into the
cover film 49 and the latter penetrates into the bridges 29 of the
plate 2. After a further two seconds, the motor 84 is driven such
that its motor shaft 86 turns in the direction opposite to the
previous direction of rotation and, via the ballscrew pinion gear
87, the support plate 82 and thus the heating block 89 and the
welding dies 59 are thus raised again to the initial position shown
in FIG. 9.
After loosening the fixing clamps, the perforated mask 96 can be
removed and the plate 2, which is welded as shown in FIG. 5, is
removed from the receiving block 93. The next plate 2 is now placed
on the receiving block 93 and the welding operation begins
anew.
For many experiments it is necessary to keep the substances placed
in the wells 11 at low temperatures to prevent their being heated
during the welding operation just described. For this purpose, the
receiving block 93, and thus its cups 95, is thermostat-controlled
via the coolant bore 94 to a temperature which is required for the
particular substances, for example to 10.degree. C. The wells 11
lie with their heat exchange surface 28' close against the inner
wall of the particular cup 95, so that, because of the low
thickness 31 of the wall 20 of the wells 11, the substances present
in the wells 11 are kept at the same temperature as the receiving
block 93 itself. Because of the good heat transfer, the heat which
may be supplied to the substances during welding is instantaneously
dissipated through the wall 20 into the receiving block 93.
In this way, substances which have a very sensitive reaction to
temperature variations can also be welded in the wells 11 of the
new plate 2 with the aid of the novel welding installation 78.
Consequently it is possible, to a degree not known hitherto, to
package temperature-sensitive substances or solutions, or highly
infectious substances, gas-tight in a large number in an extremely
small space. The substances can be, for example, reaction solutions
prepared for biochemical and/or microbiological test methods, which
are supplied to the user already in portioned and welded form in
the novel plates 2. The substances to be tested by the user can,
for example, be introduced into the test solutions present in the
wells 11 by piercing the bulges 96, covering the openings 18 of the
wells 11, from above using a thin hollow needle. The substances to
be tested are then injected into the test solutions present in the
wells 11.
After withdrawing the hollow needle, which, for example, is a
syringe commonly used in everyday laboratory practice, a
capillary-like channel remains in the bulge 76. Exchange of
moisture with the surrounding atmosphere is not possible via this
channel, so that the volume of the substances or solutions placed
in the wells 11, which have been welded gas-tight, does not change
as a result of condensation or evaporation effects.
Usually, however, the wells 11 of the novel plate 2 are filled in
situ, for example in the chemical laboratory, and sealed gas-tight
with a cover film 49 using the novel welding installation. The
fixed grid pattern of the columns 13 and rows 12 makes it possible,
with this procedure, to fill several wells 11 at the same time
using a multiple pipette known per se.
Fig. 10 shows a plate 2 with wells 11, sealed gas-tight, in which,
for example, solutions are present, the course of reaction of which
can be influenced via their temperature. The solutions have either
been filled into the wells 11 in situ or were already in the plate
2, supplied as a welded plate, and were subsequently inoculated by
the user with the substances to be tested--for example DNA
molecules to be tested.
The plate 2 prepared in this way is inserted from above into a
thermoblock 101 which has blind holes 102 which are open at the top
and serve to receive the beaker-like protuberances 21. The blind
holes 102 have the same shape as the blind holes 38 in the shaping
block 37 used to produce the plate 2. After the protuberances 21
have been inserted in the blind holes 102, the inner wall 103 of
said blind holes lies directly against the heat transfer surface
28' of the protuberances 21. Therefore there are no layers of air
between the outside 28 and the inner wall 103, which acts as
counter-surface 103', interfering with the heat transfer between
the thermoblock 101 and the interior 19 of the wells 11.
Threaded holes 104, which are open towards the top, are also
provided in the thermoblock and, when the plate 2 is inserted in
the thermoblock 101, align with the through-holes 50 and 9 in the
cover film 49 and in the plate 2, respectively. Screws 105 are
screwed into the threaded holes 104 from above through the
through-holes 50 and 9, and the plate 2 sealed with the cover film
49 is thus firmly connected to the thermoblock 101. The upper side
106 of the thermoblock 101 comes to lie tightly against the
underside 6 of the plate 2 and the protuberances 21 are pressed
firmly with their heat exchange surface 28' on the inner wall 103
of the blind holes 102.
Because of the smooth surface of the outside 28, which is in direct
thermal contact with the inner wall 103, and because of the high
heat transmission coefficient described, the solutions present in
the wells 11 assume the temperature of the thermoblock 101 within a
few seconds. If the solutions are, for example, to be stored for a
prolonged period at a low temperature, the thermoblock 101, which
is made of a metal having good thermal conductivity, is temperature
controlled, for example to +4.degree. C., via a thermostat
connected to it.
If the reaction in the solutions is to be initiated, the
thermoblock 101 is heated in a suitable manner to the reaction
temperature of the solutions, which, because of the good heat
transfer, follow the temperature change in the thermoblock 101
virtually immediately. The temperature change in the thermoblock
101 itself can be effected in a manner known per se by immersing
the thermoblock 101 in water baths of different temperatures, by
bringing the thermoblock 101 into heat-conducting contact with
further metal blocks pre-regulated to the desired temperature, or
by moving the thermoblock 101 along a metal rail on which a
temperature gradient has been established.
In particular the metal rail with the temperature gradient makes
possible the cyclic changing of the temperature of the thermoblock
101 and thus of the temperature of the solutions in the wells 11.
For carrying out the polymerase chain reaction in the wells 11, the
thermoblock 101 is, for example, first kept at 37.degree. C. for 60
seconds, then at 72.degree. C. for 120 seconds, then at 94.degree.
C. for 60 seconds and then again at 37.degree. C. for 60 seconds,
etc. Due to the even at overpressure gas-tight seal of the single
wells, even at the high temperatures no water vapour saturated gas
can escape from inside the wells. The amount of water vapour in the
air volume above the solution placed in the well is controlled by
the fluid, however, since no air can escape, this will not lead to
any evaporation processes, so that the initial concentration of the
solutions will not vary during the great number of temperature
cycles. This provides for a good yield of the experiment.
The time which is needed to bring the solutions to the individual
temperatures is decisive for the course of the polymerase chain
reaction. Whereas a typical course of reaction in the known plastic
reaction vessels takes more than 10 hours and is usually carried
out overnight, when the new plate 2 is used the reaction is
complete in less than 4 hours. An experiment of this type can,
therefore, now be prepared, carried out and analyzed within one
day.
After the experiment has proceeded to completion the solutions are
at least partially further used, for example to analyze them on a
separating gel. For this purpose, the bulge 76 is punctured using
the syringe indicated at 107 in FIG. 10 and a portion of the
solution is removed. After withdrawing the syringe 107, the
solution remaining in the well 11 can be stored, for example in the
manner described above. Although the hole formed in the bulge 76
during sampling does not result in any significant exchange of
moisture, it can subsequently be sealed again, for example using an
adhesive film.
Finally, it may be mentioned, solely for the sake of completeness,
that the transverse dimensions of the new plate 2, and also the row
and column spacings 14 and 15 respectively, essentially depend on
the fill volume 33 of the wells 11 which is desired in the
particular case. The thermoblocks 101, receiving blocks 93 and
shaping blocks 37 used in each case are adapted to these spacings.
In every case, however, the thickness of the film 36 is so chosen
that the wells 11 in the finished plate 2 have a bottom wall 24
which has a thickness 31 in the region of 0.04 mm, so that the heat
transfer co-efficient has the necessary high value.
* * * * *