Beckman Instruments, Inc.

Varian Associates, Inc.

Other

Robert H Giebeler

Herschel E Wright

Robert C Wedemeyer

Allen P Minton

Steven J Chulay, Deceased

In a damper for a centrifuge for damping the rotor of the centrifuge when the rotor changes rotational velocity through a critical vibrational rotation speed, an improved vibration damper is disclosed. The damper is of the type wherein a conically shaped shaft extension is thrust into engagement with a friction bushing at a circular and central opening to increase shaft section and shift the critical vibrational rotation speed away from the particular critical vibrational rotation speed being traversed. The conical bushing is engaged by a solenoid and translates side-to-side rotor motion to an energy dissipating up and down motion at the solenoid. The improvement disclosed is a conically shaped cone having a negative radius of curvature in section. For small shaft side-to-side excursion (due to small vibration) this conically shaped cone has an initial small slope with respect to the bushing to provide reduced damping of the rotor when small vibration and hence small displacements effect the rotor. For large shaft side-to-side excursion, this same conically shaped cone has a large slope with respect to the low friction bushing which provides for increased displacement of the bushing at large displacements of the rotor. Discontinuities of damping are eliminated. Shaft damping at small excursion is damped with corresponding small damping forces. Shaft damping at large excursion is damped with larger force. Transition of damping between the two extremes is provided with an exponentially increasing damping force having no discontinuities. There results a centrifuge damper that can decelerate a classified sample without appreciable declassification of the sample due to vibration induced diffusion.

Low speed disengageable damper

A process and apparatus for predicting the time and position dependent concentration of macromolecules of differing species in a gradient forming solution during centrifugation is disclosed. A mathematical model of the time dependent behavior of gradient forming solutes in a centrifugal field, based upon the underlying physical principles governing sedimentation and diffusion is formulated. The simplifying approximation is made that the wall effects may be ignored, and that the transport of solute may be treated as a one dimensional process with forces dependent only upon the radial distance. A sedimentation diffusion (Lamm) equation in one dimension is numerically integrated. The sedimentation diffusion equation (Lamm equation) for each macrosolute is solved concurrently with that for the gradient forming solute, utilizing the experimentally based density dependent sedimentation coefficient. The equations are solved for incremental time periods for the centrifuged samples in successive radial segments. The equations use concentration dependent values of sedimentation and diffusion coefficients of gradient forming solutes. There is obtained the time and position dependence of the concentration of both gradient-forming solutes and macrosolutes at a fixed temperature for an arbitrarily specified starting concentrations of the density forming solute. The distribution of the macromolecule follows from distribution of the gradient forming solute for each time period and each radial slice.

Optimum centrifugal separation of particles by transient analysis and

In an optical system for measuring sample absorption of light at a primary wavelength output from a monochromator, a method of subtracting the effect of secondary wavelength components of light from the monochromator. The sample absorption of light at the primary wavelength including the effect of the secondary wavelength components and at the secondary wavelength are determined. The results are used to obtain the sample absorption of light at the primary wavelength without the effect of the secondary wavelength components.

Monochromator second order subtraction method

A centrifuge sample is optically scanned during centrifuging. The sample, placed in a centrifuge rotor having a cell with top and bottom windows, is spun until stratification and discrete layering occurs within the sample. Such layering occurs on layers that are precisely normal to the radius of the centrifuge at the point of sample and parallel to the spin axis of the centrifuge. A slit scanner having a slit normal to the sample plane transverses the width of the sample below the cell to detect with precision the precise location of the strata in the cell. A light source is reflected by a toroidal mirror having two radius of curvature. One radius of curvature is selected to collimate rays of light parallel to the layer of the sample. The mirror is ruled with respect to the other radius of curvature to chromatically classify light to preselect band width. Rotation of the mirror preserved collimation but enables selected scanning light frequency.

UV scanning system for centrifuge

A thermoelectric cooling design of the type having a nonconducting substrate mounting thermoelectric coolers is improved. Provisions for a flexible can and improved heat dissipation from the thermoelectric coolers are provided. For improved thermal response, the refrigerated vacuum can is provided with thin walls of high purity aluminum with the result that deformation of the wall surface, especially the bottom wall surface can occur both with respect to installation. A plurality of can heat sinks are placed on the walls of the can to form a unitary and locally rigid side wall to the can at the point of attachment. At least one thermoelectric cooler is communicated to the can heat sinks at a first side for receiving heat energy from the can. A second discharge heat sink is communicated to each thermoelectric cooler for dissipating heat energy from both the can and the thermoelectric cooler. Spring biased connections move the respective heat sinks towards one another and clamp the thermoelectric cooler firmly therebetween. The heat sinks dynamically conform to dimensional changes at the cooler interface during installation. The discharge heat sinks are integrally cast with copper plugs placed in an aluminum mold and the aluminum cast about the copper plugs. The copper plug is preferably gold plated to prevent oxidation and form a heat conducting alloy with the aluminum. This enables heat transfer with a low temperature gradient to produce cooling with high efficiency.

Thermoelectric cooling design

To enable centrifuging to occur at precisely determined sample temperatures, a method of centrifuge calibration which permits rapid and accurate refrigeration of the rotor containing the sample is disclosed. A rotor with sample to be centrifuged is placed within a centrifuge can. Temperature of the radiometer T.sub.ra, and temperature of the surrounding refrigerating can T.sub.c is determined at a first time, t.sub.0. Thereafter, and at a second time t.sub.1, temperature of the radiometer T.sub.ra, and the temperature of the surrounding refrigerating can T.sub.c are equilibrated. The temperature excursion between t.sub.0 and t.sub.1 for the temperatures of the radiometer T.sub.ra and the temperature of the refrigerating can T.sub.c are measured to yield respective .DELTA. T.sub.ra and .DELTA. T.sub.c. The radio of .DELTA. T.sub.ra /.DELTA. T.sub.c is taken to give a constant which comprises the view factor from the radiometer for the particular shape of rotor and the surrounding can. Thereafter, the temperature of the rotor Tr will equal the temperature of the radiometer plus the temperature of the radiometer minus the temperature of the refrigerating can T.sub.c times the determined view factor. It is thereafter possible to maintain a large temperature differential between the refrigerating can and the rotor and bring the rotor (and necessarily the sample) rapidly to a precise temperature where centrifuging can rapidly follow.

Rotor temperature control and calibration

A centrifuge sample is optically scanned during centrifuging. The sample, placed in a centrifuge rotor having a cell with top and bottom windows, is spun until stratification and discrete layering occurs within the sample. Such layering occurs on layers that are precisely normal to the radius of the centrifuge at the point of sample and parallel to the spin axis of the centrifuge. A slit scanner having a slit normal to the sample plane transverse the width of the sample below the cell to detect with precision the precise location of the strata in the cell. A light source is reflected by a toroidal mirror having two radius of curvature. One radius of curvature is selected to collimate rays of light parallel to the layer of the sample. The mirror is ruled with respect to the other radius of curvature to chromatically classify light to preselect band width. Rotation of the mirror preserved collimation but enables selected scanning light frequency.

An apparatus and method of protecting a centrifuge from rotor overspeed and resultant mishap by computation of the rotor moment of inertia is disclosed. In the preferred embodiment, a centrifuge is driven by a rotor mounted on a shaft which shaft is in turn driven by a constant current motor. A tachometer for detecting angular velocity of the drive shaft is used. A desired and ultimate centrifuge operating speed is selected by the operator. The times at which the rotor passes through discrete speeds are recorded and from the time difference the moment of inertia is computed. The moment of inertia can thereafter be utilized to discretely identify or 'finger print' rotors to disqualify certain rotors from use in particular centrifuge protocols and establish gross limits of centrifuge operating speed.

Method and apparatus for overspeed protection for high speed centrifuges

In a double thermal coupled radiometer for preferable use with a centrifuge, an improved radiometer configuration is disclosed. The isothermal radiometic system improved is of the double junction variety (preferably copper-constantan-copper) and includes a black body housing defining a central concavity. The central concavity has a black body disk at the bottom thereof. The disk is preferably suspended by a copper and a constantan wire with one junction formed on the surface of the disk and the other junction formed on the surface of the housing. The improvement includes a plurality of and preferably three annular baffles defining central, circular and preferably concentric opening. These baffles are lodged in the opening of the housing above the mounted radiometer disk. The annular baffles on the side towards the radiation sources are coated as a black body so as to increase the thermal coupling of the black body housing to the ambient being radiometically observed. The baffles on the side away from the radiation source and exposed to the radiometer disk are reflectively coated to decrease further any couple between the radiometer disk and the black body housing. The combination of the baffles and the disk combine to give the radiometer a small field of view which permits radiometic thermal measurement of a small solid angle and ignores the remainder of the environment. Preferred use of the radiometer in looking at a centrifuge rotor is disclosed.

Differential temperature measuring radiometer

An ultrasound hyperthermia applicator comprises a plurality of transducers which can be operated in different grouping modes so that the applicator is effectively provided with a variable number of elements having variable effective diameters transmitting coherent beams. The individually coherent beams from these elements are individually focused for incoherent superposition in the target volume according to a spiral or multi-spiral focusing scheme. Such an applicator is capable of uniformly heating without scanning a limited part of human body with volume greater than the inherent focal size of the individual transmitter element.

Ultrasound hyperthermia applicator with variable coherence by

A tube-cutting apparatus and method for separating centrifuged materials are shown in which a resilient axial compressive force is exerted on the tube during cutting by spaced tube-holding members; and the cutting knife has flat upper and lower sides against which the severed portions of the tube are held in sealing engagement by the axial force. Independent adjustment is provided for (a) the relative positions of the tube and the cutting knife, and (b) the relative positions of the spaced tube-holding members.

Centrifuge tube-cutting apparatus and method

In a standing-wave coupled-cavity linear particle accelerator the energy of the emergent particles can be adjusted by making the accelerating fields in one section of the accelerator different from those in another section into which the rf drive power is introduced. To do this the adjoining end cavities of the two sections are coupled through a 'side' cavity which is not traversed by the particle beam. The coupling coefficients of the side cavity to the two accelerating cavities are made unequal to create the difference in accelerating cavity fields. Asymmetrical coupling is realized by varying the extension of center conductor posts into the side cavity by means of a vacuum sealed mechanism for moving the center posts while maintaining microwave current connection between the center posts and the side cavity.

Accelerator side cavity coupling adjustment

An electrically resistive heater consisting of a helix of resistive wire, the helix being shaped into a toroid or a spiral, with the electrical return lead extending coaxially through the helix so as to provide a magnetic field of equal magnitude and opposite sense to that produced by current in the helix to cancel the magnetic fields.

Growing community of inventors

Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Robert H Giebeler