Patent ID: 11879766
Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC B  G

Claim 13:
14. A droplet dispensing apparatus with self-calibration function, the droplet dispensing apparatus comprising:
a base plate;
a wellplate mount on the base plate at a first position;
a sensor holder on the base plate at a second position spaced from the first position and configured to hold a crystal sensor;
a moveable liquid dropping device mount configured to move a liquid dropping device to the first position and the second position to discharge a liquid as droplets at the first position and the second position;
a vibration voltage generation unit configured to apply a vibration voltage to the crystal sensor;
a resonance frequency measuring unit configured to detect a resonance frequency of the crystal sensor; and
a controller configured to:
obtain the measured resonance frequency of the crystal sensor before droplets are discharged from the liquid dropping device,
control the liquid dropping device to discharge droplets on to the crystal sensor,
obtain the measured resonance frequency of the crystal sensor on which droplets are adhered after the droplets are discharged from the liquid dropping device,
estimate a volatilization amount for the droplets during a first period of time beginning when the droplets are adhered to the crystal sensor, the volatilization amount being estimated based on a temporal change trend in the resonance frequency of the crystal sensor measured for a second period of time after the first period of time, and
calculate a weight of the droplets discharged from the liquid dropping device on to the crystal sensor based on the difference in resonance frequency of the crystal sensor before and after the droplets are discharged and the estimated volatilization amount.