Design of a mechanism for sorting and filling of pipette tips into racks
Mohammad Ghanatian, Sajjad Taghvaei, Seyyed Arash Haghpanah · 2019 5th Conference on Knowledge Based Engineering and Innovation (KBEI) · 2019
Pipettes are tools that are used for transporting a measured volume of liquid and they are widely used in laboratories. Pipettes have a disposable tip that is called "pipette tip". A huge number of these pipette tips are kept in a container called "rack". Putting the pipette tips in a rack is a task done several times a day by lab technicians and each time 96 pipette tips should be placed in a rack. As this task is very boring and repetitive, engineers wondered if they can design a mechanized device for doing this chore. This research will describe the design of a one degree of freedom mechanism for sorting and finally filling pipette tips in racks. Since one degree of freedom mechanisms can operate with a single ordinary motor, the mechanism designed in this research has the benefits of high simplicity and low manufacturing cost. After putting the pipette tips in this mechanism and also placing a rack in its specified position and following this, activating the motor, the lab technician can get the rack while the pipette tips are placed in their particular positions.