Patent ID: 6461287
Filing Date: 2002-10-08
Classification: B01D,B01L,B04B,F26B,G01N,Y10S

Abstract:
A centrifugal vacuum concentrator for concentrating liquid samples contained in sample vessels comprising:a base; a rotor assembly mounted on said base, said rotor assembly including a drive shaft upright and rotatable on the base about a fixed axis, a plurality of rotors carried on the drive shaft spaced one above another each at a corresponding one of a plurality of locations above said base; sample vessel holding structure carried on each rotor; a cover receivable on said base, said cover having a closed position wherein it surroundingly encloses said rotor assembly and defines with said base an operating chamber, said cover in closed position being engaged with said base such as to establish an air excluding seal of the operating chamber with respect to an outside air environment, said cover having an open position wherein the cover is disengaged from said base unit and unobstructedly located relative to the base such that alongside at rotor level access is user available from locations in each of four quadrants of an imaginary circle the center of which lies on said fixed axis for mounting and demounting sample vessels from said rotor sample vessel holding structure; and means for communicating said operating chamber with a source of vacuum, said cover being moveable to an open position by elevating said cover a distance upwardly from said base; and means connected to said cover for moving it between cover closed and cover open positions and vice versa, said cover moving means comprising an elevator unit, the elevator unit having an upwardly and downwardly traveling part fixed to said cover.