1. A method of producing glass pipettes or glass capillaries, for patch-clamp experiments comprising:
fixing at least one glass pipette or glass capillary, which has a conical tip and tubular section adjoining the tip in a retaining device,
introducing the fixed glass pipette into a thermal-radiation field of a heating device, wherein the fixed glass pipette is moved into the thermal-radiation field of the heating device with the aid of a positioning device,
softening or optionally melting the glass pipette at least in a region of the tip at a base surface of the cone and, optionally, in a part of the tubular section which adjoins the tip, the softening operation taking place in sections,
prior to the softening operation andor in the softened state, subjecting the interior of the glass pipette to a gas pressure such that the diameter of the pipette between the base surface of the cone and the tubular section of the glass pipette widens abruptly over a short length, to a larger diameter than that at the base surface to a diameter of at least 100 \u03bcm,
removing the widened glass pipette from the thermal-radiation field of the heating device, the glass pipette being moved out of the thermal-radiation field with the aid of the positioning device, wherein
abrupt widening of the diameter of the glass pipette is monitored and controlled with an optical observation device.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the glass pipette is transferred into the retaining device directly from an apparatus for drawing such glass pipettes.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, upon introduction and upon removal from the thermal-radiation field, the fixed glass pipette is moved essentially only axially in its longitudinal direction, with the positioning device.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, following softening in the thermal-radiation field, the glass pipette is moved back essentially into a starting position, in which it was located prior to being introduced into the thermal-radiation field.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a continuous gas pressure is built up in the interior of the glass pipette.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein various longitudinal sections of the glass pipette are introduced one after the other into the thermal-radiation field and widened when subjected to gas pressure, wherein the length of the resulting widened contour of the glass pipette in axial direction is greater than the extent of the thermal-radiation field in the axial direction.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, to monitor and control abrupt widening of the diameter, change in the outer contour of the glass pipette is observed, with values being determined for change in dimensions of the glass pipette at predefined locations.
8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein values are determined for at least one diameter of the glass pipette at a fixed distance from the tip of the glass pipette.
9. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the value is determined for a length of the tip between the base surface and top surface of the cone.
10. An apparatus for producing glass pipettes or glass capillaries (1), in particular for patch-clamp experiments, having
a retaining device (2) for fixing the glass pipette (1),
a heating device (3) for softening, in particular melting, regions of the glass pipette with the aid of a thermal-radiation field,
a positioning device for the controlled movement and positioning of the glass pipette, at least in the axial direction thereof, in relation to the heating device, it preferably being possible for the retaining device to be moved with the aid of this positioning device,
a device for subjecting the interior of the glass pipette to a gas pressure in a defined manner,
an observation device (4) for the optical observation of the glass pipette, in particular of the region of the tip of the glass pipette, as the glass pipette is heated up and subjected to gas pressure, and
a controlmonitoring device for selecting and influencing the parameters of the method implemented by the apparatus, in particular for influencing the temperature in the heating device, the gas pressure and the movement of the positioning device.
11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the retaining device (2) is a clamping means.
12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the glass pipette can be fixed in a pressure-tight manner in the retaining device.
13. The apparatus as claimed claim 10, characterized in that the heating device (3) is a so-called heating filament.
14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the heating device (3), in particular the heating filament, is of U-shaped design and, accordingly, at least partially encloses the glass pipette around its outer circumference.
15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the heating device (3), in particular the heating filament, is positioned obliquely in relation to the longitudinal direction of the glass pipette, preferably at an angle of approximately 45\xb0.
16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the heating output of the heating device is current-controlled.
17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the device for subjecting the interior of the glass pipette to a gas pressure in a defined manner is designed for subjecting the glass pipette to pressure on a continuous basis.
18. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the observation device is a measuring microscope (6) with a CCD camera (7).
19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the controlmonitoring device comprises an image-processing system, with the aid of which it is possible to track the change in the outer contour of the glass pipette as the latter is heated up and subjected to pressure.
20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, further characterized by a device for drawing glass pipettes or glass capillaries.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An ink delivery regulation apparatus, comprising:
an ink chamber configured to contain a quantity of ink;
a support configured to be coupled to said ink chamber; and
a resilient deflection member coupled to said support, said resilient deflection member extending into said ink chamber and occupying a volume thereof, said resilient deflection member being configured to resiliently deflect between a generally concave shape and a generally convex shape in response to a change in a negative pressure in said ink exterior to said resilient deflection member, said resilient deflection member comprising a plurality of pressure tuned panels disposed at angles with respect to each other.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said support is configured to sealingly engage said ink chamber.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said resilient deflection member comprises first, second, and third pressure tuned panels.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said second panel is coupled to said support, said second panel being initially at a first angle relative to said first panel, at a second angle relative to said support, and at a third angle relative to said third panel.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said deflection member comprises an elastomeric material.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, where said elastomeric material comprises EPDMButyl.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said resilient deflection member is of substantially uniform thickness.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said deflection member is configured to change shape in response to a change in ambient conditions so as to maintain said negative pressure within predetermined limits.
9. An ink delivery apparatus, comprising:
an ink chamber; and
a pressure regulation member having a support configured to be coupled to said ink chamber and a resilient deflection member extending from said support and into said ink chamber occupying a volume thereof, said resilient deflection member being configured to resiliently deflect between a generally concave shape and a generally convex shape in response to a change in a negative pressure in said ink chamber exterior to said resilient deflection member, said resilient deflection member comprising a plurality of pressure tuned panels disposed at angles with respect to each other.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a fitment associated with said ink chamber.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said fitment is configured to couple with a print head.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a bubble generator associated with said chamber.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said bubble generator is configured to limit said negative pressure within said chamber to a pressure equivalent to about 6\u2033 of water column during an operational period of said apparatus.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said bubble generator is disposed in said fitment.
15. An ink delivery apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of ink chambers; and
a plurality of pressure regulation members, each a pressure regulation member being attached to a support that is configured to be coupled to said ink chambers, each pressure regulation member configured to be positioned within an ink chamber and comprising a resilient deflection member, said resilient deflection member being configured to resiliently deflect between a generally concave shape and a generally convex shape in response to a change in negative pressure.
16. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a plurality of ink chambers.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a plurality of pressure regulation members associated with said chambers.
18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said plurality of ink chambers is configured to contain a plurality of differently colored inks.
19. An ink delivery apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of ink chambers; and
an integral pressure regulation assembly having a plurality of pressure regulation members corresponding to said plurality of ink chambers, said assembly being configured to couple to said plurality of ink chambers;
wherein each pressure regulation member is configured to be positioned within one of said plurality of ink chambers and includes a resilient deflection member, said resilient deflection member being configured to resiliently deflect between a generally concave shape and a generally convex shape in response to a change in negative pressure, said resilient deflection member comprising a plurality of pressure tuned panels disposed at angles with respect to each other.
20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said plurality of ink chambers is configured to contain a plurality of differently colored inks.
21. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a fitment associated with said ink chamber.
22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said fitment is configured to couple with a print head.
23. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising a bubble generator associated with said chamber.
24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said bubble generator is configured to limit said negative pressure within said chamber to a pressure equivalent to about 6\u2033 of water column during an operational period of said apparatus.
25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein said bubble generator is disposed in said fitment.
26. A printing device, comprising:
an ink chamber configured to contain a quantity of ink; and
a pressure regulation member having
a support coupled to said ink chamber;
a resilient deflection member extending from said support into said ink chamber and occupying a volume thereof, said resilient deflection member being configured to resiliently deflect between a generally concave shape and a generally convex shape in response to a change in a negative pressure in said ink chamber exterior to said resilient deflection member, said resilient deflection member comprising a plurality of pressure tuned panels disposed at angles with respect to each other;
a fitment coupled to said ink chamber;
a bubble generator in communication with said ink chamber;
a print head coupled to said ink chamber.
27. The device of claim 26, wherein said pressure tuned panels comprise first, second, and third pressure tuned panels, wherein said second panel is coupled to said support, said second panel being initially at a first angle relative to said first panel, at a second angle relative to said support, and at a third angle relative to said third panel.
28. The device of claim 26, wherein said bubble generator is configured to provide a substantially constant pressure equivalent to about 6\u2033 of water column.
29. The device of claim 28, wherein said constant pressure is substantially equivalent to pressures of between about 3\u2033 and 7\u2033 inches of water column.
30. The device of claim 26, further comprising a plurality of ink chambers.
31. The device of claim 30, wherein said plurality of chambers comprises three chambers.
32. The device of claim 31, wherein said plurality of chambers are configured to contain a plurality of differently colored inks.
33. The device of claim 26, further comprising a fitment comprising first and second fluid interconnects, said first fluid interconnect being configured to fluidly couple said print head and said chamber, and said second fluid interconnect being configured to fluidly couple an ink supply and said chamber.
34. A method of delivering ink, comprising:
providing an ink chamber containing an ink and wherein is disposed a deflection member extending into said ink chamber and occupying a volume thereof, said resilient deflection member comprising a plurality of pressure tuned panels disposed at angles with respect to each other;
establishing a negative pressure in said chamber exterior to said deflection member;
supplying said ink to print head;
regulating a level of said negative pressure within a pre-determined range during said supplying of said ink by resiliently deflecting said deflection member in response changes in said negative pressure.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein said regulating step further comprises resilient deflecting said deflection member between a generally concave shape to a generally convex shape.
36. The method of claim 34, further comprising providing a plurality of said ink chambers and a corresponding plurality of said deflection members, wherein a deflection member is disposed in each of said chambers.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein each of said plurality of said chambers is configured to contain a differently colored ink.
38. The method of claim 34, further comprising using an internal pressure source.
39. The method of claim 38, wherein said internal pressure source comprises a bubble generator.
40. The method of claim 39, wherein said bubble generator is tuned to pressure equivalent to about 6\u2033 of water.
41. The method of claim 34, wherein said step of establishing said negative pressure comprises applying a positive pressure to said deflection member during a filling step, and removing said positive pressure at an end of said filling step.
42. The method of claim 34, wherein said step of establishing said negative pressure comprises removing a small amount of said ink.
43. The method of claim 34, further comprising moving said ink chamber with said print head.