Patent ID: 6875402

Claim:
A micropipette, comprising: a pipette main body; a sample inlet port through which a sample is supplied into said pipette main body; a cavity in communication with said sample inlet port, into which the sample is received and temporarily stored; a nozzle portion including a sample ejection port in communication with said cavity, said sample ejection port having an inner surface and first and second ends opposite to one another, the sample being discharged from said cavity and out of said pipette main body through said sample ejection port, wherein a cross-section of said sample ejection port, when viewed in a plane perpendicular to a center axis of said sample ejection port, includes at least three projections extending radially away from said center axis, wherein each projection is defined by two adjacent surfaces that are either (1) linear and define at least one of at least one acute angle and at least one obtuse angle, or (2) curved, and wherein a cross-sectional area of said sample ejection port gradually decreases from said first end of said sample ejection port toward said second end of said sample ejection port; and a piezoelectric/electrostrictive element mounted on an outer surface of said pipette main body above said cavity, the activation of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive element changing the volume of said cavity to cause a predetermined amount of the sample stored in said cavity to be ejected from said sample ejection port.