Patent ID: 8216184

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a housing of a membrane filter; a removable clamp for supporting the housing of the membrane filter, the housing of the filter having a length that extends between a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet of the filter, a width that extends approximately orthogonal to the length, and a thickness, the housing of the filter including a first sidewall, through which vent holes are formed in proximity to the fluid inlet, and a second sidewall joined to the first sidewall at a perimeter seam of the housing, the first sidewall having a first major surface and the second sidewall having a second major surface, opposite the first major surface, the first and second major surfaces extending on either side of the seam, and the thickness of the housing being defined from the first major surface to the second major surface, at a location around a common perimeter of the surfaces, and being less than a length and a width of the housing, and the clamp comprising: a first support wall including an inner surface, a first end and a second end, opposite the first end; a second support wall, opposite the first support wall, including an inner surface, a first, terminal end and a second end, opposite the first, terminal end, the second end of the second support wall being fixedly and flexibly connected to the first end of the first support wall to allow the first, terminal end of the second support wall to move toward and away from the first support wall; and a locking feature connected to the second end of the first support wall and being configured to engage and disengage the first, terminal end of the second support wall; wherein the first support wall has a width, defined from the first end thereof to the second end thereof, and the width of the first support wall spans the width of the housing of the filter, when the clamp is assembled about the housing; the first support wall, in proximity to the first end thereof, is spaced apart from the second support wall, in proximity to the second end thereof, over a distance that spans the thickness of the housing when the clamp is assembled around the housing; the clamp supports the housing, without extending over the vent holes of the filter, when the clamp is assembled around the housing and when the locking feature engages the first, terminal end of the second support wall; the inner surface of each of the first and second support walls is formed by an inward projecting plateau, each plateau having a width that is less than the width of the first support wall, the plateaus being opposite one another and spaced apart from one another over a distance that is less than the thickness of the housing of the filter, when the clamp supports the housing of the filter; and the clamp is removable from around the housing when the locking feature disengages the first, terminal end of the second support wall.