A capillary system with thermal-bubble-actuated 1×N micro flow switch via time-sequence power control for continuous liquid handling

Author

Cheng, Chih-Ming ; Liu, Cheng-Hsien

Author_Institution

Dept. of Power Mech. Eng., Nat. Tsing Hua Univ., Hsinchu, Taiwan

Volume

1

fYear

2005

Firstpage

660

Abstract

In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a novel thermal-bubble-actuated 1×N micro flow switch without the need of external macro pumps. This device is a valveless switch by means of the thermal-bubble-actuated method and the area control of the hydrophobic patches on the microchannels. The switch mechanism among different microchannels is dominated by controlling the format and timing of power input that generates thermal bubbles. The experimental results successfully demonstrate the switch function of our micro flow switches devices to switch continuous liquid into desired outlet ports based on our hydrophobic-patch design and programmable time-sequence bubble actuation.

Keywords

flow control; microactuators; microfluidics; microswitches; capillary system; continuous liquid handling; hydrophobic patches; micro flow switch; microchannels; programmable time-sequence bubble actuation; thermal-bubble actuation; time-sequence power control; valveless switch; Fluid flow control; Laboratories; Mechanical engineering; Microchannel; Power control; Power generation; Pumps; Reservoirs; Switches; Timing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, 2005. Digest of Technical Papers. TRANSDUCERS '05. The 13th International Conference on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8994-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SENSOR.2005.1496503

Filename

1496503