US 11,911,731 B2
Droplet generator
Erik D. Torniainen, Corvallis, OR (US); Alexander N. Govyadinov, Corvallis, OR (US); Pavel Kornilovich, Corvallis, OR (US); David P. Markel, Corvallis, OR (US); and Richard W. Seaver, Corvallis, OR (US)
Assigned to Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Spring, TX (US)
Appl. No. 16/316,896
Filed by Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Spring, TX (US)
PCT Filed Oct. 21, 2016, PCT No. PCT/US2016/058235
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 10, 2019,
PCT Pub. No. WO2018/075069, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 26, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2019/0299169 A1, Oct. 3, 2019
Int. Cl. B01F 33/30 (2022.01); B01F 23/41 (2022.01); B01F 25/20 (2022.01); B01F 25/31 (2022.01); B01F 35/71 (2022.01)
CPC B01F 23/41 (2022.01) [B01F 25/20 (2022.01); B01F 25/31 (2022.01); B01F 33/30 (2022.01); B01F 35/71755 (2022.01); B01F 35/717612 (2022.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An immiscible droplet generation system comprising:
a chip;
a microfluidic channel integrated into the chip;
an input fluidically coupled to the microfluidic channel to permit filing of a first fluid into the microfluidic channel;
a droplet generator integrated into the chip and fluidically coupled to the microfluidic channel, the droplet generator configured to:
generate a droplet of a second fluid, immiscible within the first fluid, and
inject the droplet of the second fluid into the first fluid when the first fluid is present in the microfluidic channel,
wherein the droplet of the second fluid is injected into the first fluid without passing through air, and wherein the droplet of the second fluid generated has a size ranging from 1 picoliter to 100 picoliters; and
a sensor integrated into the chip along the microfluidic channel downstream of the droplet generator, the sensor configured to determine a frequency at which droplets generated by the droplet generator pass a predetermined point in the microfluidic channel.