Patent ID: 7067086

Claim:
A microfluidic accumulating and proportioning component, comprising: a reservoir including an aeration port ( 26 ), and an outlet for a liquid and capillary cavities ( 20 ′, 20 ″); a displacement chamber ( 34 ) having an inlet ( 36 ) and a proportioning outlet ( 9 ) for the liquid, and a capillary channel ( 22 ) connecting the outlet ( 30 ) of the reservoir ( 15 ) with the inlet ( 36 ) of the displacement chamber ( 34 ), wherein in a position of the microfluidic component in which the proportioning outlet ( 9 ) is directed perpendicularly downward during proportioning, the displacement chamber ( 34 ) is disposed, at least partially, at a same level as the reservoir ( 15 ), the aeration port ( 26 ) is located at a top of the reservoir, the outlet ( 30 ) is located at a bottom of the reservoir ( 15 ), the inlet ( 36 ) of the displacement chamber ( 34 ) is located at a top of the displacement chamber ( 34 ) and the proportioning outlet ( 9 ) is located at a bottom of the displacement chamber, and wherein the microfluidic component further comprises a capillary gap ( 31 ) for connecting the capillary channel ( 22 ) with the reservoir ( 15 ) and extending laterally of the capillary channel ( 22 ), the capillary gap ( 31 ) enabling a rising liquid flow substantially from the outlet ( 30 ) of the reservoir ( 15 ) into the displacement chamber ( 34 ) through the capillary channel ( 22 ) in the proportioning mode and, when the component is disposed in a centrifugal field directed counter to the direction of the flow in the capillary channel ( 22 ) in the proportioning mode, a descending liquid flow from the displacement chamber ( 34 ) and the capillary channel ( 22 ) into the reservoir ( 15 ).