A photometric dispensing nozzle unit, a photometric dispensing apparatus, and a photometric dispensing method are for preventing an increase in apparatus scale and have a simple structure to be easily handled. A nozzle performs suction/discharge of gas through a distal end opening and can have a dispensing tip attached thereto. A light guide end portion is provided in the nozzle and can receive or irradiate light at a distal end of the nozzle. A dispensing cylinder has a cylinder having a cavity therein, a plunger that is slidable in the cavity, and a suction/discharge port that performs suction/discharge of gas. A suction/discharge flow path passes through the nozzle and communicates with the suction/discharge port and the distal end opening of the nozzle. A light guide path is optically connected to the light guide end portion through the nozzle but not through the dispensing cylinder.

The present disclosure provides better aspiration and dispensing by a common innovative mechanism by (i) offsetting the diameter of a bottom piston (tube) with a slightly narrower top piston (rod) when the two are swept together by O-rings to give extremely fine resolution, thereby eliminating the need for any filamentous piston and sealing means, (ii) letting the bottom tube be swept alone without offset to give high flow (iii) using a tapered top rod with thick-walled compliant O-ring seals to increase the resolution multiplier another order or magnitude, (iv) an at-the-ready interpiston space for contact-free blowoff, including viscous samples, (v) dead space filler mandrels and an integrated small valve to reduce or eliminate interpiston and disposable tip space prior to aspiration, and (vi) a mechanism for storing energy during disposable tip pickup to shoot dispensed samples contact-free down into long tubes.

Automated diagnostic analysis apparatus for analyzing patient specimens may include a probe to aspirate and dispense a bio-liquid. A probe tip on the probe may require replacement after contact with each bio-liquid. The automated diagnostic analysis apparatus may include a probe tip eject device and a waste chute for controlled removal and disposal of the probe tip to mitigate splattering or splashing of any residual bio-liquid in the probe tip as it is removed from the probe. A sloped ramp in the probe tip eject device may engage and remove the probe tip as it rotates through the probe tip eject device. The waste chute may include guides to transfer a removed probe tip directly into a waste bin without any surface contact by the probe tip. Methods of removing and disposing of a probe tip in an automated diagnostic analysis apparatus are described, as are other aspects.

An automatic pipette system is provided which includes a module body, said body including a stationary contact surface, and an ejection assembly, including a mount for a pipette tip, and a motor, located within the module body and configured to: dispense liquid by actuating a piston in a cylinder, and to move the ejector assembly in a first direction in such a manner that the pipette tip contacts the contact surface and disengages from the mount.

Described are exemplary embodiments of a handheld, powered positive displacement pipette having unique mechanisms for the retention, identification and ejection of associated pipette syringes.

Multivolume liquid pipettes with nested plunger and vacuum chamber configurations and methods of using such pipettes are disclosed herein. These pipettes typically include a body and a fluid displacement assembly with a small plunger element slideably received within a larger plunger element, each movable within a vacuum chamber for the precise and accurate control of the displacement of fluid, such as air. In turn, this allows for a single device to aspirate and dispense a broad range of liquids in a dynamic, accurate, and precise manner. In addition, the devices disclosed herein may also include a multi-tiered spring-loaded ejection mechanism to allow the user to use and eject pipette tips of different sizes.

A pipette comprises a pipette housing, a neck configured to clamp on a pipette tip, and a drive apparatus. The drive apparatus comprises a drive element configured to displace a displacement element to draw a liquid sample into the pipette tip and to eject the liquid sample from the pipette tip. A scanning apparatus comprises a scanning element positioned proximate the neck and configured to be displaced relative to the pipette housing by a collar of the pipette tip when clamping the pipette tip onto the neck. A mechanical display apparatus is coupled to the scanning apparatus and comprises a display. When the pipette tip is clamped to the neck the scanning apparatus is configured to adjust the display depending on a height of the collar of the pipette tip relative to the neck, and the neck is configured to accommodate different collar heights.

The present disclosure provides better aspiration and dispensing of liquids by an innovative mechanism by (i) offsetting the diameter of a bottom tube with a narrower and tapered top piston when the two are moved together in the same chamber to give extremely fine resolution, thereby eliminating the need for any skinny or filamentous piston, (ii) using thick walled compliant O-rings to seal against the different diameters of the tapered piston to given an additional order of magnitude range of resolution, (iii) letting the bottom tube move in the chamber alone without offset to give high Row, and (iv) an at-the-ready space between the tube and piston in the chamber to permit contact-free blowoff, including viscous samples.

A pipette tip made of plastic with an elongated tubular body with a lower opening at the lower end for the passage of liquid and an upper opening at the upper end for clamping onto an attachment of a pipetting device, wherein a seating region for the attachment is present next to the upper opening on the inner circumference of the tubular body, wherein at least one flattened area extending in the axial direction is present next to the upper opening on the outer circumference of the tubular body, the wall thickness of the tubular body gradually decreases in a cross-section through the tubular body, starting from one of the two regions of the tubular body adjoining the flattened area, in the flattened area towards its central region, and the flattened area has in the cross-section through the tubular body a straight or a less strongly curved profile than the adjoining regions.