Agilent Technologies has received US Patent No. 7,159,959, “Methods and systems for detecting errors in printhead pattern data and for preventing erroneous printing.” The patent claims methods, systems, and computer-readable media for identifying print errors caused by erroneous print-pattern data received at the printhead of a printer. Methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also provided for enhancing the printing speed of a system adapted to identify or prevent printing errors. Additionally, methods and systems for providing delayed clocking are used to generate accurate clocking of a printing signal that is sent back from the printhead to the printhead controller for purposes of comparison with a locally stored set of printhead pattern data.
NGK Insulators of Nagoya, Japan, has received US Patent No. 7,160,512, “Method for manufacturing biochips.” The patent claims a biochip manufacturing method that can densely align spots of a plurality of samples in predetermined locations on a substrate using a discharge head equipped with one or more discharge modules. According to the patent, high precision in the operation for densely aligning and fixing droplets with a minute volume on a predetermined substrate can be attained, and the time required for the micro spot-forming operation can be shortened as well.
CyVera (now Illumina) of Wallingford, Conn., has received Patent No. 7,164,533, “Hybrid random bead/chip based microarray.” The patent claims a method and apparatus for performing an assay process featuring microbeads in a solution. According to the patent’s abstract, the method places the microbeads on an alignment substrate, reads codes of the microbeads and their position on the substrate; reading the fluorescence on each microbead and the position order on the alignment substrate; and determines an assay result based on bead position order and bead code of the earlier reading steps. The patent describes the microbead as an encoded particle having a particle substrate that is partially made of material with “at least one diffraction grating” embedded capable of providing an “optical output signal indicative of a code when illuminated by an incident light signal propagating from outside of the substrate.” The optical output signal of the bead is a result of “passive, non-resonant scattering from the grating when illuminated by the incident light signal,” the patent’s abstract adds.