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US 5,718,509 AGranted
Materials dispersion apparatus with relatively slidable blocks
AssigneeInstrumentation Technology Associates, Inc.
InventorWilliam D. Dunfee
Life of this patent
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AssigneeInstrumentation Technology Associates, Inc.
InventorWilliam D. Dunfee
Estimating the term…
A dispersion apparatus for microgravity experiments comprises two blocks in face to face relationships, each having an array of wells for containing liquids and being relatively slidable so that the wells in one of the blocks can be brought into communication with corresponding wells in the other block. The blocks are held together by a retention mechanism which imparts a substantially constant pressure at the interface between the blocks. The retention mechanism comprises rails situated in grooves in the outside surfaces of the blocks and a series of coiled tension springs connected to the rails. The springs, acting through the rails, apply pressure to the blocks, but impart almost no force tending to cause the blocks to slide relative to each other. The blocks are guided by guide plates which cooperate with grooves in the mating faces of the blocks. An embodiment in which one of the blocks has a row of wells with optical windows, utilizes a guided camera to observe the interior of the wells.
Apparatus for mixing fluids comprising first and second blocks, each block having a surface and a plurality of wells having openings in said surface and extending into the interior thereof, each of the wells being adapted to contain a fluid, and in which the blocks are disposed in face-to-face relationship, with said surfaces in contact with each other, and the blocks are relatively slidable so that the wells of each block can be moved from a position in which they are closed off by the surface of the other block into a position in which they are in register with corresponding wells of the other block, wherein the improvement comprises means for exerting a pressure on said blocks to maintain said surfaces in contact with each other, the pressure-exerting means comprising a plurality of tension springs and means for connecting each of said springs to both blocks, whereby the blocks are maintained in face-to-face relationship with each other while the blocks are not in a container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.