Abstract:
Positive displacement pump system for the dispensing of droplets of liquid comprises a pump with a liquid-containing chamber (337) with a movable portion (313), an actuator (321) adapted to move said movable portion of said chamber for changing the volume of said chamber, a liquid outlet (343) in fluid communication with said chamber. A dispensing valve (344) for controlling flow through said liquid outlet and control means (326) for controlling said actuator and said valve are included. The system is characterized in that said actuator is a self-locking piezo-linear actuator in which the force required to produce a unit change in linear displacement of said movable portion of said chamber is substantially independent of the position of the actuator. Preferably the linear actuator is a walking piezo-motor. The pump may preferably be a bellows pump or a syringe pump. In a method to use the device the system pressure is stabilized before dispensing a plurality of droplets.