The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 01, 1997
Filed:
Jun. 06, 1995
David W Walker, Milwaukee, WI (US);
Brent A Burdick, Brookfield, WI (US);
James F Jolly, Glendale, WI (US);
Daniel D Zender, Muskego, WI (US);
Pharmacia Biotech, Inc., Milwaukee, WI (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for dispensing reagent spheres from a vial includes a housing with an inlet through which the reagent spheres are received from the vial. Within the housing is a dispensing tube which forms a passageway for the reagent spheres and which has a first relatively large section in communication with the inlet and a funnel section in which the passageway reduces in cross section to a narrower linearizing section. The cross sectional area of the linearizing section is only slightly larger than one of the reagent spheres being dispensed. A metering shaft extends across and blocks the linearizing section of the passageway. The metering shaft has a depression for conveying one reagent sphere at a time between portions of linearizing section when the metering shaft is rotated 180 degrees. A gear on the metering shaft meshes with teeth on a plunger which is slidably mounted to the housing. A user pressing the plunger causes the metering shaft to rotate transferring a reagent sphere to a portion of the passageway connected to the outlet of the housing and thereby ejects that reagent sphere from the housing.