Patent ID: 7892494

Claim:
A system for precision dispensing of liquids, comprising: a liquid cartridge having a substantially cylindrical body, a dispensing tip, and a sliding piston for driving a volume of liquid contained in the liquid cartridge through the dispensing tip; a piston-moving device for moving the sliding piston; a coupling device for reversibly coupling the liquid cartridge with the piston-moving device to form a rigid assembly; a detecting device configured to accommodate the liquid cartridge and detect the presence of a liquid meniscus surface of a liquid drop on the dispensing tip of the liquid cartridge; a detaching device configured to hold the rigid assembly and detach the liquid drop adhering to the dispensing tip by applying acceleration or deceleration to the rigid assembly; and a control device connected to the detecting device, the piston-moving device, and the detaching device, wherein the control device measures an apparent position change of the end of the dispensing tip caused by the detected presence of the liquid meniscus surface of the liquid drop, calculates a volume of the liquid drop based on the measured apparent position change, and controls the movement of the piston-moving device to dispense a required volume of liquid with proper compensation for the calculated volume of the liquid drop.