Patent ID: 8307722

Claim:
A method of detecting dispensed quantity for detecting a liquid quantity of liquid suctioned and discharged by a dispensing apparatus having: a pipette tip; a liquid suctioning/discharging mechanism for said pipette tip; a pressure sensor that detects a pressure inside said pipette tip; and a lifting and lowering mechanism for said pipette tip, wherein said method comprises: an insertion step for inserting a distal end of said pipette tip into a deepest zone of a container that accommodates liquid to be measured, the deepest zone being at a position that is distanced upward from a bottom of said container by a predetermined distance that is greater than zero; a suctioning step for suctioning, using the liquid suctioning/discharging mechanism, said liquid into said pipette tip at a predetermined suctioning rate without moving said pipette tip from the deepest zone; a suction pressure measuring step for measuring a pressure change during suctioning said liquid into said pipette tip at the predetermined suctioning rate without moving said pipette tip from the deepest zone; and a suction detecting step for detecting a suction state based on a measured pressure change, a shape of said pipette tip, said predetermined suctioning rate, and a period of suction time, wherein the liquid quantity is detected based on the suction state.