US 11,911,760 B2
Caps for assay devices
Kapil Mahakalkar, San Diego, CA (US); Kenneth Chng, San Diego, CA (US); Jesse Lu, San Diego, CA (US); Edgar Gutierrez, San Diego, CA (US); and Yi Zhang, San Diego, CA (US)
Assigned to Plexium, Inc., San Diego, CA (US)
Filed by Plexium, Inc., San Diego, CA (US)
Filed on Jun. 21, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/353,693.
Application 17/353,693 is a continuation of application No. 16/774,875, filed on Jan. 28, 2020, granted, now 11,040,343.
Prior Publication US 2021/0308668 A1, Oct. 7, 2021
Int. Cl. B01L 3/00 (2006.01)
CPC B01L 3/5025 (2013.01) [B01L 2200/026 (2013.01); B01L 2300/042 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0829 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
 
1. A method of sealing wells of an assay device component to prevent contamination or evaporation of the wells, the wells comprising two rows of wells that have respective openings, the two rows of wells each extending from an end to an opposite end, each of the openings being coplanar with a top surface of a rectangular block of the assay device component, the method comprising:
forming a conduit defined by:
the top surface of the rectangular block;
side walls extending above the first surface; and
a bottom surface of a cap disposed atop the first surface and extending between the side walls, wherein the forming of the conduit comprises:
adhering two layers directly onto the top surface of the rectangular block, wherein the two layers comprise two respective side surfaces that correspond to the side walls that define the conduit and the two layers are disposed on opposite sides of the two rows of wells;
adhering upper blocks onto the two layers, the upper blocks extending across a space between the two layers, wherein:
the upper blocks comprise a first upper block having an inlet reservoir and an inlet port, and a second upper block having an outlet reservoir and an outlet port,
the inlet port is at a bottom of the inlet reservoir and the outlet port is at a bottom of the outlet reservoir, and
the inlet port is positioned directly above the two rows of wells at the end and the output port is positioned directly above the two rows of wells at the opposite end; and
adhering the cap directly onto the two layers, wherein the cap extends between the two layers; and
injecting a hydrophobic fluid via the inlet port to fill at least a portion of the conduit.