Patents Examined by Frank A. Spear, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4409103
    Abstract: A process for the preparation of the calcium salt of heparin containing an amount of sodium by weight not in excess of 0.1% and containing an amount of calcium by weight not less than 9.5% is described, which comprises subjecting a solution of sodium heparinate to dialysis, hyperfiltration (inverse osmosis) or ultrafiltration by means of a semi-permeable membrane and isolating the calcium heparinate with anticoagulant activity essentially equal to the anticoagulant activity of the sodium heparinate. For the ultrafiltration, a membrane may be used in the form of a planar sheet or a membrane in the form of a spiral or "needle" having a molecular nominal cut-off at 20,000 Dalton. For the hyperfiltration (inverse osmosis), a membrane may be used having a rejection of sodium ion between 0 and 75%. For the dialysis, a membrane may be used in the form of multiple sheets or a coiled tube or hollow fibers. A plurality of dialyzers in series or in parallel is used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 1980
    Date of Patent: October 11, 1983
    Assignee: Italfarmaco S.p.A.
    Inventors: Pietro Cremonesi, Giancarlo Sportoletti
  • Patent number: 4409162
    Abstract: A process for producing hollow acrylonitrilic separation membranes in fibrous form which comprises shaping a membranous product in hollow fibrous form from a solution of acrylonitrile polymer dissolved in formamide-containing dimethylformamide while maintaining the temperature of said polymer solution within a specified range and subjecting said membranous product to a solvent removal treatment under a specific condition, thereby producing an acrylonitrilic separation membrane which is asymmetric, porous in structure, and excellent both in separation ability and in mechanical strength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 1980
    Date of Patent: October 11, 1983
    Assignee: Japan Exlan Company Limited
    Inventor: Seiji Takao
  • Patent number: 4407665
    Abstract: A device for removing dissolved gases from liquids is provided by utilizing a tall column initially filled with liquid which is then opened at the bottom allowing the liquid level to drop forming a vacuum above the liquid level. Dissolved gases migrate to the vacuum area and the purified liquid is then drained from the bottom of the column and the process repeated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 1980
    Date of Patent: October 4, 1983
    Inventor: Henry C. Lasater
  • Patent number: 4406673
    Abstract: A process for producing ultrathin solid membranes from a solvent solution of an addition polymer derived from an ethylenically unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer or a conjugated unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer in a solvent composed mainly of a volatile, substantially water-immiscible organic liquid medium capable of dissolving the addition polymer and another organic compound having a distribution coefficient k, which is the ratio of the concentration of the other organic compound in the organic liquid medium to that in water, of from 0.5 to 35. The solvent satisfies the equationc.sub.1 -(a.sub.1 +b.sub.1).gtoreq.25wherein c.sub.1 is the surface tension (dynes/cm) of water, a.sub.1 is the surface tension (dynes/cm) of the solution of the addition polymer in the solvent, and b.sub.1 is the interfacial tension (dynes/cm) between the solvent solution and water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1980
    Date of Patent: September 27, 1983
    Assignee: Teijin Limited
    Inventors: Takeyoshi Yamada, Shizuka Kurisu, Shizuo Azuma, Kiyoshi Sugie, Teizo Yamaji
  • Patent number: 4406791
    Abstract: The method of breaking down emulsions resides in that the emulsion is made to bubble through a coalescent matter of a pelletized polymeric material featuring its specific gravity below that of the lighter emulsion component, said matter being filled with said lighter component of the emulsion under process and being exposed to effect of the field of centrifugal forces. The device for breaking down emulsions is in fact a centrifugal separator whose bowl has the respective chambers for the lighter and the heavier emulsion components to collect, said chambers communicating with the bowl interior space. A perforated inlet sleeve is provided coaxially with the bowl axis for admission of the emulsion being broken down to admit, while the bowl interior is filled with the coalescent matter made of the pelletized polymeric material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 1980
    Date of Patent: September 27, 1983
    Assignee: Sevastopolsky Priborostroitelny Institut
    Inventor: Vadim M. Khapaev
  • Patent number: 4406796
    Abstract: A mixture of oil, mostly finely divided solids, and water (a typical example would be steel rolling mill scale mixture) is one of the feed materials for this process. Most of the water is first drawn off. Then the material is fed through a plurality of mixers, and after each mixer the entire composition is passed through a separator, herein described as a dewetting apparatus, which separates the fine solids from the oil and solvent and returns the expended solvent upstream toward the feed point. The diminished volume of material then passes through a final dewetting screen where the solids are washed by a small stream of fresh solvent and the fine solids then pass through a dryer. All expended solvent is collected and passed through a fractionating still which separates the recovered oil, for storage, and the solvent vapors pass through a condenser to a regenerated solvent storage tank. All of the expended solvent is saved and used over repeatedly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1981
    Date of Patent: September 27, 1983
    Inventor: Leonard A. Duval
  • Patent number: 4405460
    Abstract: In a process for separating mixtures of matter in the liquid phase and a device suitable therefor, liquid (12) absorbs heat during its passage through a first cavity (3), said heat having been generated during the condensation yielding the condensate (13) at the upper wall portion (5) of the first cavity. The thus preheated liquid is passed to a third cavity (9), the upper wall portion (10) of which is liquid-tight and gas-tight and absorbs the thermal radiation (11). Part of the liquid further heated by said process evaporates and penetrates in vapor form through the liquid-tight, steam-permeable upper wall portion (8) of the third cavity (9) into a second cavity (6), the upper wall portion (8) of which is one and the same as the lower wall portion (9) of the third cavity. This steam condenses under the cooling action of the first cavity (3). The condensate (13) so formed is withdrawn from the second cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1981
    Date of Patent: September 20, 1983
    Assignee: Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Dieter Disselbeck, Klaus Speier
  • Patent number: 4404100
    Abstract: A hemodialyzer having a reinforced blood side case half and a reinforced dialysate side case half, said case halves having generally trapezoidal cross sections with the longer sides being open and joinable together in the assembled form along a parting line. Wedge elements extending within said case halves positioned with their apexes at said parting line. The base walls of the wedges and case halves define together a generally rectangular cavity in which a stack of pleated cofolded semipermeable membrane and dialysate permeable separator is positioned. The last pleat of the membrane on either side of the stack extends over the end of the adjacent wedge element on the blood side and is trapped and adhesively sealed between the side walls of the blood side case half and the coextending wall of the wedge element. The dialysate side of the stack is sealed to the base wall of the dialysate side case half by a non-adherent solid preformed body of resilient elastomeric material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 1982
    Date of Patent: September 13, 1983
    Assignee: Medical Incorporated
    Inventor: Adel A. Mikhail
  • Patent number: 4404102
    Abstract: The invention relates to a filtration apparatus with an upper casing part and a base part, each provided with a fluid chamber and an inlet or outlet respectively, for holding a flat filter plate cut to size which is enclosed between a permeable filter support associated with at least one casing part, and the other casing part, in which structure the two casing parts with inclusion of the flat filter plate cut to size are in the edge area sealed against each other in a leakproof manner and are connected by detachable tightening means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 1982
    Date of Patent: September 13, 1983
    Assignee: Sartorius GmbH
    Inventors: Gunter Pradel, Ulrich Quaschning
  • Patent number: 4401566
    Abstract: A body fluid-filtering device includes a housing provided with a body fluid inlet, a filtrate outlet and a filtration residue outlet, and a filtering means disposed in the housing and including first and second filtering elements alternately superposed on each other with a space therebetween. The first and second filtering elements are each formed of a meshed core material and filtering membranes which cover both sides of the core. The core material of the first filtering element has openings of 700 to 1300 microns, and the core material of the second filtering element has openings of 300 microns or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 30, 1983
    Assignee: Terumo Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Igari, Tsutomu Murakami
  • Patent number: 4400276
    Abstract: In apparatus containing a bundle of tubes such as permeators, a tubular spacer substantially surrounds a tube sheet in which tubes are embedded for at least a portion of the lateral surface of the tube sheet. The tubular spacer serves to position the tube sheet within the apparatus. The tube sheet has at least one rise region intermediate a face and an expanded zone having larger cross-sectional dimensions than the corresponding dimensions of the face, and the rise region is adapted to abut the tubular spacer. The tube sheet can have sufficient length along the orientation of the tubes in order to ensure a fluid tight relationship between tubes and the tube sheet, and the amount of material to form the tube sheet can be reduced, thereby minimizing the effect of differential expansions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 23, 1983
    Assignee: Monsanto Company
    Inventors: Wayne A. Bollinger, Roger G. Guay
  • Patent number: 4400272
    Abstract: A self supporting grate for a drain structure can be improved by including as part of the grate a mounting base sized and shaped to attach the grate to the drain structure. At least a portion of the grate is formed as a generally upwardly projecting wall attaching to and extending from the base. The wall includes a plurality of weirs capable of forming a variable flow fluid pathway to the interior of the grate for fluid disposal by the drain structure. The weirs are constructed so as to allow fluid at a first fluid level on the wall as measured from the base to flow at a first rate from the exterior of the grate into the interior grate and fluid at a second fluid level likewise measured along the wall from the base to flow at a second rate into the interior of the grate, with the second rate being different from the first rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 23, 1983
    Inventor: Duane D. Logsdon
  • Patent number: 4399030
    Abstract: A cleaning and/or disinfecting system for flushing water and chemical treatment liquids through the hydraulic circuitry of dialysate preparation and supply apparatus, the system employing, for each particular treatment liquid of a plurality of possible liquids, a keyhole adjacent to a chemical intake port and means to send electrical signals to an electrical controller indicating the presence of a key within a particular keyhole, whereby the particular treatment liquid connected to the port is flushed through the hydraulic circuitry of the apparatus at the proper flowrate and for the desired period of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 16, 1983
    Assignee: Cobe Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis J. Hlavinka, Steven H. Johnson, James L. Zook
  • Patent number: 4399036
    Abstract: A proportioning system for compounding a bicarbonate-containing dialysate suitable for hemodialysis of human blood is disclosed. An aqueous alkali metal carbonate solution and an aqueous hydrochloric acid-containing solution are combined at a predetermined volumetric rate, and the conductivity as well as the hydrogen ion activity of the resulting bicarbonate-containing dialysate is monitored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 1979
    Date of Patent: August 16, 1983
    Assignee: Diachem, Inc.
    Inventors: Albert L. Babb, Belding H. Scribner
  • Patent number: 4399035
    Abstract: A screen type hollow filament microfilter made of a polyvinylidene fluoride type resin and having a layer structure of two kinds of layers with the support layer and the internal and external skin layers having an easily-controllable and wide average effective pore diameter of 0.05 to 1.0 .mu.m, characterized by having a high selectivity in permeation, a high permeability, a high porosity, an excellent mechanical strength and an excellent chemical resistance and an excellent inertness to living bodies. The microfilter, which has a number of excellent performances, can be produced by extruding a spinning solution comprising a polyvinylidene fluoride type resin, a solvent therefor and at least one kind of surfactant from an annular hollow filament spinning orifice and coagulating the extrudate by using coagulating liquids.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 16, 1983
    Assignee: Asahi Kasei Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takashi Nohmi, Takao Yamada
  • Patent number: 4396510
    Abstract: A separatory apparatus for selectively separating components of multi-component fluids in which a multiplicity of contiguous capillary fibers are uniquely arranged and supported within a housing having a non-cylindrically shaped central portion. In the primary application of the device a multicomponent fluid such as blood flows interiorly of the fibers and a dialysate flows externally of the fibers. Embodied proximate the fluid inlet portion of the device is a uniquely configured fluid distribution element which stratigically positions the fibers and directs the flow of the external fluid, or dialysate, uniformly through the passageways defined by the external walls of the fibers. In this way channeling of the fluid is eliminated and a uniform fluid flow along the external surfaces of each fiber is realized. In this way all of the fibers can be effectively used for mass transfer thereby markedly improving the overall efficiency of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 2, 1983
    Assignee: Bio-Med Corporation
    Inventor: Paul Hsei
  • Patent number: 4396509
    Abstract: A screen assembly is provided for the dewatering of flowing suspensions. A screen body having a perforated wall has a first slide bearing mounted at a first end thereof, and a second slide bearing mounted to a second end thereof. The screen body is mounted in a generally cylindrical container through which suspension to be dewatered flows in a first direction, and the screen slide bearings engage first and second bearing surfaces mounted interiorly of the container. The bearing surfaces have different effective cross-sectional areas. The screen between the first and second ends thereof and the bearing surfaces define a screen cavity volume, and a rod attached to a linear actuator moves the screen in the first direction, and in a second direction opposite the first direction, so that the cavity volume changes during movement of the screen. The screen and bearings may have any desired configuration or cross-sectional area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 1980
    Date of Patent: August 2, 1983
    Assignee: Kamyr AB
    Inventor: Tore Foyn
  • Patent number: 4394265
    Abstract: A suction dredger provided with sweeping arms at the side of the vessel which arms can be placed at an angle with respect to the body of the vessel and are provided with suction apparatus to suck away the upper layer of the water collected in front of the sweeping arms to pump it into the hold of the vessel so that said hold optionally can be used for storing dredging material or oil respectively. The invention further relates to the construction of the apparatus for connecting the sweeping arms to the vessel and to move said arms from an inward storage position into an outboard operative position and vice versa, the sweeping arms being in a tilted position when inboard and if necessary displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the vessel along its deck so that in the case of a suction dredger the normal dredging apparatus can perform its function without being hampered by the sweeping arms, the construction of said apparatus being such that the sweeping arm can be applied to any other type of vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 1979
    Date of Patent: July 19, 1983
    Assignee: IHC Holland N.V.
    Inventors: Nicolaas J. van Drimmelen, James P. Barneveld Binkhuysen, Johan van Renssen, Pieter Verboom
  • Patent number: 4392960
    Abstract: A process for the removal of urea from an aqueous solution containing same, which comprises subjecting the solution to reverse osmosis through a polymeric membrane prepared from a polymer of the formula--(--A--X--).sub.nwhereinA designates an aromatic moiety andX designates a bivalent linking group, the aromatic moiety A being chosen from the group consisting of phenyl, biphenyl, naphthyl, and mixtures of such moieties; and such moieties connected by means of linkages selected from --O--, --SO.sub.2 --, --SO--, --NH--, --CH.sub.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1976
    Date of Patent: July 12, 1983
    Assignee: A. T. Ramot Plastics, Ltd.
    Inventors: Menahem A. Kraus, Moshe A. Frommer, Mara Nemas, Rodika Gutman
  • Patent number: 4392955
    Abstract: In liquid sedimentation and clarification apparatus recirculation of previously settled solids is controlled without affecting the volume or rate of flow of incoming untreated liquid. A throttle plate is placed above an updraft tube in the liquid flow path. Movement of the throttle plate toward or away from the end of the updraft tube alters the quantity of settled solids that are mixed with the incoming liquid during the treatment process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 1979
    Date of Patent: July 12, 1983
    Assignee: Ecodyne Corporation
    Inventor: Alfonse J. Soriente