US 12,377,416 B2
Reversible micro-valve devices
Pavel Kornilovich, Corvallis, OR (US)
Assigned to HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P., Spring, TX (US)
Appl. No. 18/030,749
Filed by Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Spring, TX (US)
PCT Filed Oct. 9, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/054957
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 6, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/075997, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 20, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0383866 A1, Nov. 30, 2023
Int. Cl. B01L 3/00 (2006.01); F16K 99/00 (2006.01)
CPC B01L 3/502784 (2013.01) [B01L 3/50273 (2013.01); F16K 99/0019 (2013.01); B01L 2200/0673 (2013.01); B01L 2200/0689 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0816 (2013.01); B01L 2400/0442 (2013.01); B01L 2400/0688 (2013.01); B01L 2400/084 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A reversible micro-valve device, comprising:
a main channel comprising a pair of capillary breaks:
a passage comprising an opening at an end of the passage into the main channel, the opening between the pair of capillary breaks;
a side chamber to house a volume of trapped gas, the side chamber communicably attached to the passage to control flow along the main channel, the side chamber to be larger in volume than the main channel to which the trapped gas expands, wherein the micro-valve device includes each of the following two states at different points in time:
an open state in which the main channel is open and flow proceeds through the main channel, and
a closed state in which the trapped gas within the side chamber is to expand across the passage and the full width of the main channel to block the flow in the main channel.