Historicalarchived

6875602

I. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This present invention relates to thermal cyclers, or "thermocyclers." More particularly, the present invention relates to novel portable thermocyclers. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Systems which require multiple or cyclic chemical reactions to produce a desired product often require careful temperature control to produce optimal results. Such reactions include nucleic acid amplification reactions such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the ligase chain reaction (LCR). Consider PCR for instance. PCR is a technique involving multiple cycles that results in the geometric amplification of certain polynucleotide sequences each time a cycle is completed. The technique of PCR is well known to the person of average skill in the art of molecular biology. The technique of PCR is described in many books, including, "PCR: A Practical Approach," M. J. McPherson, et al., IRL Press (1991), "PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications," by Innis, et al., Academic Press (1990), and "PCR Technology: Principals and Applications for DNA Amplification," H. A. Erlich, Stockton Press (1989). PCR is also described in many U.S. patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,195; 4,683,202; 4,800,159; 4,965,188; 4,889,818; 5,075,216; 5,079,352; 5,104,792; 5,023,171; 5,091,310; and 5,066,584, which are hereby incorporated by reference for the purpose of providing examples of PCR devices and techniques. The PCR technique typically involves the step of denaturing a polynucleotide, followed by the step of annealing at least a pair of primer oligonucleotides to the denatured polynucleotide, i.e., hybridizing the primer to the denatured polynucleotide template. After the annealing step, an enzyme with polymerase activity catalyzes synthesis of a new polynucleotide strand that incorporates the primer oligonucleotide and uses the original denatured polynucleotide as a synthesis template. This series of steps (denaturation, primer annealing, and primer extension) constitutes a PCR cycle. As cycles are repeated, the amount of newly synthesized polynucleotide increases geometrically because the newly synthesized polynucleotides from an earlier cycle can serve as templates for synthesis in subsequent cycles. Primer oligonucleotides are typically selected in pairs that can anneal to opposite strands of a given double-stranded polynucleotide sequence so that the region between the two annealing sites is amplified. The temperature of the reaction mixture must be varied during a PCR cycle, and consequently varied many times during a multicycle PCR experiment. For example, denaturation of DNA typically takes place at around 90 degrees to 95 degrees C., annealing a primer to the denatured DNA is typically performed at around 40 degrees to 60 degrees C., and the step of extending the annealed primers with a polymerase is typically performed at around 70 degrees to 75 degrees C. For this reason, apparatuses have been developed which permit the accurate control of the temperature of reaction vessels in which such amplification reactions are performed. For example, there are a number of thermal "cyclers" used for DNA amplification and sequencing in the prior art in which one or more temperature controlled elements or "blocks" hold the reaction mixture, and the temperature of a block is varied over time. As will be appreciated,

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Claims

I claim: 1. A thermocycler device comprising: a case; a rotary plate housed in said case; a plurality of heating blocks having a set temperature disposed in an interior of said rotary plate; and at least one vessel movable relative to said heating blocks and adapted to contact at least two heating blocks; wherein said temperature blocks are arranged in a geometric pattern configured to allow said at least one vessel to be rotated into contact with each of said heating blocks; and wherein said geometric pattern comprises a central heating block having outside faces defining a hexagon and six outside heating blocks disposed around the periphery of said rotary plate. 2. The thermocycler device of claim 1, wherein said central heating block has a temperature of between about 90 and 95 degrees Celsius, three of said outside heating blocks have a temperature of about 50 to 60 degrees Celsius, and the other three of said outside heating blocks have a temperature of about 70 to 75 degrees Celsius. 3. The thermocycler device of claim 1, wherein said rotary plate includes a plurality of rotating wheels adapted to rotate a plurality of vessels into contact with at least two of said heating blocks. 4. The thermocycler device of claim 3, wherein said temperature blocks are arranged in a geometric pattern configured to allow said vessels to be rotated into contact with each of said heating blocks. 5. A thermocycler device comprising: a case; a rotary plate housed in said case; a plurality of heating blocks having a set temperature disposed in an interior of said rotary plate; and at least one vessel, movable relative to said heating blocks and adapted to contact at least two heating blocks; wherein said rotary plate includes a plurality of rotating wheels adapted to rotate a plurality of vessels into contact with at least two of said heating blocks; wherein said temperature blocks are arranged in a geometric pattern configured to allow said vessels to be rotated into contact with each of said heating blocks; and wherein said rotating wheels comprise tri-lobed wheels adapted to accept three vessels carrying cassettes. 6. The thermocycler device of claim 5, wherein said wheels are maneuvered by meshed gears having spindles associated with said wheels. 7. The thermocycler device of claim 6, wherein said rotary plate includes wobble wheels beneath said tri-lobed wheels. 8. The thermocycler device of 7, wherein said geometric pattern comprises a central heating block having outside faces defining a hexagon and six outside heating blocks disposed around the periphery of said rotary plate. 9. The thermocycler device of claim 6, wherein said central heating block has a temperature of between about 90 and 95 degrees Celsius, three of said outside heating blocks have a temperature of about 50 to 60 degrees Celsius, and the other three of said outside heating blocks have a temperature of about 70 to 75 degrees Celsius. 10. The thermocycler device of claim 5, further comprising a power source for said device. 11. The thermocycler device of claim 5, wherein said heating blocks are associated with a heating source. 12. A portable three-temperature thermocycler device for DNA amplification comprising: a case; said case having a hinged-lid to enable access to an interior area of said case and being constructed of shock-resistant material; a plurality of touchpad controls integral with a top surface of said case; a digital display on said top surface of said case, said display adapted to provide visual information; a LED display for providing information to a user of the device integral with said top surface of said case; a rotary plate disposed in said interior space of said case, said rotary plate having a honeycomb configuration; a central heating block disposed centrally in said rotary plate, said central heating block having six faces defining a hexagon; six outside heating blocks disposed around the periphery of said rotary plate and defining a hexagonal pattern; six tri-lobed wheels, each lobe being configured to be matable with a cassette of capillary vessels, said six wheels being disposed between said central heating block and said outside heating blocks in a circular pattern, wherein said wheels are rotatable around said central block via cooperation with meshed gears on an underside of said rotary plate and being pivotable relative to said heating blocks such that each of said cassettes is capable of being contacted to each of said heating blocks in a repeatable cycle. 13. The device of claim 12, further comprising a wobble cam disposed between said gears and said tri-lobed wheels. 14. The device of claim 13, further comprising means for heating said heating blocks. 15. The device of claim 13, further comprising means for powering said device.

Provenance

Original: https://dodtechmatch.com/dod/patent/patentdetail_type-claims-id-6875602-hl-on.aspx?id=6875602
Archived copy: Wayback Machine snapshot

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