Our standard sandwich covers can be handled  by robotic grippers, but have a number of drawbacks in this respect:

• robust, but relatively heavy (150-170 g)
• have to be clamped in during shaking (otherwise they start "rattling", above a certain shaker frequency, because the silicone seals are flat)
• smooth surface of the stainless steel: can slide out of the gripper at an insufficient gripper force (note: many users sofar solve this by putting autoclave tape on the sides)

The "robot-friendly covers" that we have developped in the past year (patent pending, priority date May 2023) address these issues with the following characteristics:

• 50% lighter (approx 80 g)
• seal part rests on the the walls of the MTP under an angle of approx 50 degrees, and are therefore well positioned/fixed (no rattling, even during shaking without clamping)
• rough structure at the sides (made from rubber), so a reduced risk of "sliding" out of a gripper

The robot-friendly covers consist of the following parts:

• a soft rubber (50 shore A, SEBS, medical grade) seal produced by injection molding
• a thin stainless steel side, under an angle of 5 degrees, so that mispositioning by the robot of 1 mm (in all 4 directions) is allowed; gravity will automatically cause the cover to "fall" in the proper position
• an ultra-flat carbon-epoxy plate of 1.5 mm thickness for the necessary rigidity
• replacable air filters to prevent air-borne contaminants to enter the headspaces

Available for our 24-square deepwell plates CR1424cl (CR2224, and the extra-low evaporation version CR2224a), and our 6-deepwell plates CR1406 (CR2206 and the extra-low evaporation version CR2206a). Soon, similar covers will be available for 96-square well MTPs.

These sandwich covers are compatible (in terms of weight and dimensions) with the requirements for the Thermo Fisher Scientific Cytomat automated incubators (Laboratory Automation Incubators | Thermo Fisher Scientific): 

Cytomat™ 2 Selector Automated Shaking Incubator (thermofisher.com)