Compact jam-resistant capillary dispenser for automation systems

Abstract

A compact capillary dispenser has been designed that reliably stores fragile glass capillaries [fn1]in a known orientation and positively inserts one on demand into a robotic gripper head. A unique feature of the design keeps the capillaries from jamming. A successful prototype was built that stores 3800, 5 μL glass capillaries (55 mm length, 838 μm outside diameter) in an 8 cm cube, excluding the space required for two small pneumatic cylinders. The fundamental design of this dispenser can be scaled to dispense virtually any size round cylindrical objects. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Lab Robotics and Automation 10: 15–17, 1998