Patents by Inventor Ian D. Duff

Ian D. Duff has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Testing a cuvette for cleanliness
    Patent number: 4227886
    Abstract: In testing for cleanliness a cuvette having translucent wall portions, the cuvette is preferably partially filled with pure water and then a beam of optical radiation is directed at a said wall portion, the intensity of radiation which has passed through the cuvette by direct transmission or by scattering is detected, and the state of cleanliness of the cuvette is determined from a comparison between the detected optical intensity and a criterion indicative of cuvette cleanliness.The invention finds particular application to testing cuvettes for cleanliness which have been washed in a laundry of an automatic blood analysing machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 1977
    Date of Patent: October 14, 1980
    Assignee: National Research Development Corporation
    Inventors: David G. Bullock, Roger A. Bunce, Ian R. Clark, Ian D. Duff, Geoffrey S. Greaves, Peter H. Lloyd, Ann M. Peters, Thomas P. Whitehead, Peter Wilding
  • Apparatus for use in investigating specimens
    Patent number: RE29880
    Abstract: The apparatus comprises a turntable carrying, in a circular array centered n a central rotational axis of the turntable, a plurality of vials extending below the underside of the turntable. A stepper motor imparts stepwise rotational motion to the turntable so that during dwell periods of the turntable, specimens in the vials can be investigated optically.Air in a space below the turntable and bounded laterally and at the bottom by an enclosure is circulated by a rotating vane, and a thermistor, responsive to the temperature in the region of the vials, controls a heater in the space below the turntable so as to maintain the temperature of the vials substantially at a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 1978
    Date of Patent: January 16, 1979
    Assignee: The Secretary of State for Social Services in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
    Inventor: Ian D. Duff
  • Apparatus for use in investigating specimens
    Patent number: RE30730
    Abstract: The apparatus comprises a turntable carrying, in a circular array centered on a central rotational axis of the turntable, a plurality of vials extending below the underside of the turntable. A stepper motor imparts stepwise rotational motion to the turntable so that during dwell periods of the turntable, specimens in the vials can be investigated optically.Air in a space below the turntable and bounded laterally and at the bottom by an enclosure is circulated by a rotating vane, and a thermistor, responsive to the temperature in the region of the vials, controls a heater in the space below the turntable so as to maintain the temperature of the vials substantially at a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 1979
    Date of Patent: September 1, 1981
    Assignee: National Research Development Corporation
    Inventor: Ian D. Duff