Patent ID: 8580201

Claim:
A solution-draining component within an automated-polymer-synthesis system, the solution-draining component comprising: a wicking medium; and a mechanical assembly, to which the wicking medium is mounted, first controlled to place the wicking medium in contact with a solution within a reaction chamber in order to draw the solution by wicking action from the reaction chamber into the wicking medium and that is then controlled to remove the wicking medium from contact with the solution within the reaction chamber; wherein the mechanical assembly is vertically raised in order to position the wicking medium in contact with the solution within the reaction chamber at the onset of a solution-draining operation; and wherein the mechanical assembly includes a waste-removing chamber with an exposed tip that extends downward through the body of the solution-draining assembly to which a vacuum line or drain line can be removably affixed, the waste-removing chamber covered by a porous, hemispherically-shaped cap, above which the wicking medium is mounted.