Patent ID: 11911731
Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 13:
14. An apparatus comprising:
a chip;
a microfluidic channel integrated into the chip;
a pump integrated into the chip and operable to move a first fluid within and along the microfluidic channel;
a droplet generator integrated into the chip and fluidically coupled to the microfluidic channel, the droplet generator configured to:
generate droplets of a second fluid, immiscible within the first fluid, and
inject the droplets 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;

a sensor integrated into the chip along the microfluidic channel downstream of the droplet generator; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the sensor and configured to:
determine, based on data from the sensor, a frequency at which droplets generated by the droplet generator pass a predetermined point in the microfluidic channel
selectively activate the pump and the droplet generator based on the frequency.