US 4,540,397 AGranted

Centrifugal apparatus

AssigneeFresenius AG

InventorsHoushang Lolachi, Bernd Mathieu, Wolfram Weber

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Abstract

A centrifugal apparatus, in particular a flow-through centrifugal apparatus for processing biological fluids in continuous fluid communication, has a flexible tube securely fixed to a rotatably processing chamber and a stationary terminal coaxially above said processing chamber, and being formed in a loop around the outer periphery of said processing chamber so as, in operation, to orbit said loop around said processing chamber at half the rotational speed thereof to avoid twisting or drilling of said tube. To guide said loop of tube in its orbital movement, a rotating frame is provided also rotating at half the speed of the processing chamber. The drive trains for said processing chamber and said rotating frame, respectively, each comprise an individual drive shaft each drivingly connected separate from the other to a drive motor. This avoids any necessity of reversal of rotational direction in the drive trains and allows for a compact and simple construction with a minimum of rotating masses.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A centrifugal apparatus comprising

a processing chamber assembly,
a flexible cable or tube permanently connected between a stationary terminal and said processing chamber assembly,
a loop formed by said cable or tube, said cable or tube being connected to said processing chamber assembly on the side thereof opposite to said stationary terminal, and being guided around the outer periphery of said processing chamber assembly,
a drive train for driving said processing chamber assembly at a determined rotational speed,
a loop guide assembly for said loop of said cable or tube being capable of revolving, or orbiting, said loop at half the rotational speed and in the same rotational direction as said processing chamber assembly, said processing chamber assembly being rotatably mounted on said loop guide assembly,
characterized in that
there is provided a first drive shaft for a drive train driving said loop guide assembly, and
there is provided a second drive shaft for said drive train driving said processing chamber assembly,
said first and second drive shafts each being drivingly connected to a driving shaft of a motor drive unit mounted on a stationary supporting structure.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.