Floating magnetic stirrer for culture medium
AssigneeTechne Corporation
InventorNorman A. de Bruyne
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A stirrer for stirring liquid in a flask comprises a magnetically attractable member formed by or supported by a buoyancy chamber, the stirrer having less density than the liquid to be stirred; the stirrer may include an impeller. A method of stirring a liquid comprising introducing liquid and a buoyant, magnetically attractable stirrer into a vessel, and causing a rotating magnetic field to rotate the stirrer.
Claims32
A stirrer apparatus for stirring a liquid medium in a flask comprising:
- (a) a flask for holding liquid medium,
- (b) stirrer means for stirring substantially all of the liquid medium in the flask comprising an element of magnetically attractable material, and buoyant means for supporting said element in the liquid medium in the flask, said element and said buoyant means having a density less than the density of the liquid medium, and
- (c) means for causing said stirrer means to rotate while supported in the liquid medium generally about an axis substantially perpendicular to the surface of the liquid medium, said axis extending through said stirrer means,
- whereby the stirrer means is rotated by said rotating magnetic field and effects the stirring of substantially all of the liquid medium in the flask.
A stirrer for use in stirring a liquid medium in a vessel comprising:
- (a) a linearly extending body of magnetically attractable material,
- (b) a hermetically sealed, buoyant envelope encompassing said body being of greater volume than said body, and being of plastic material capable of withstanding wet steam at 123.degree.,
- (c) said magnetically attractable body and said buoyant envelope together having a density less than the density of the liquid medium.
A method of stirring a liquid medium comprising placing said medium in a flask, stirring substantially all of the liquid in said flask by placing the flask with the liquid therein in a rotating magnetic field and placing in said flask a magnetic stirrer buoyant relative to said liquid and capable of causing the stirring of substantially all of the liquid in the flask when rotated, and causing said rotated magnetic field to rotate said stirrer about an axis extending therethrough and which axis is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the liquid.
A stirrer apparatus for stirring a liquid medium in a flask comprising:
- (a) a flask for holding liquid medium having an opening at the top and being generally symmetrical about an axis extending through said opening,
- (b) stirrer means for stirring substantially all of the liquid medium in the flask comprising an element of magnetically attractable material, buoyant means for supporting said element in the liquid medium in the flask, said element and said buoyant means having a density less than the density of the liquid medium, said stirrer having a length greater than the radius and less than the diameter of the flask at the surface of liquid culture medium therein;
- and
- (c) magnetic field means for causing said stirrer means to rotate while supported in the liquid medium generally about an axis passing therethrough, said last mentioned axis being substantially perpendicular to the surface of the liquid medium and substantially at the center of said liquid medium surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.