Fluid manifolding arrangement

Claim 1

A fluid manifolding arrangement including first and second manifolds adapted to be assembled together in stacked relationship; said first manifold comprising a plurality of spaced, parallel, elongated channels each of which has N discrete ports communicating therewith, where N is an integer greater than one; said second manifold comprising a plurality of spaced, parallel, elongated channels each of which has M discrete ports communicating therewith, where M is an integer greater than one; the channels of the respective manifolds when assembled extending at right angles to each other, the respective ports and channels being so arranged as to provide, when said manifolds are assembled, a matrix of MN paired, aligned ports, one port of each pair being in said first manifold and the other port of the pair being in said second manifold; and a masking plate sandwiched between the two manifolds, said plate providing a masking pattern such as to couple together the individual respective ports of only preselected pairs and to isolate from each other the individual respective ports of the remaining pairs.