Cell scraper device having blade on handles with pivotal joints

Abstract

A cell scraper device includes a pair of elongated handles, a blade and a pair of spaced apart pivotal joints. The handles enable a user to hold and to operate the device. Each handle has a pair of opposite ends and a longitudinal axis extending between the opposite ends. The handles are spaced apart from and disposed along one another and movable in opposite directions along their longitudinal axes. Each joint, such as a pivotal ball type or a living hinge type, pivotally joins the blade to one of a pair of adjacent ends of the handles such that the blade is pivotally movable between a closed position and an open position upon corresponding movement of the handles in the opposite directions along their longitudinal axes. The blade in the closed position is disposed at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axis of each handle and on a side of the handle such that the blade and handles are positioned for insertion into and removal from a culture flask. The blade in the open position is disposed in a substantially transverse relationship to the longitudinal axes of the handles such that the blade provides a rake head that can be drawn past a culture medium on an interior surface of the culture flask so as to collect and bring layers of cells growing on the culture medium to an area adjacent to a top opening of the culture flask for decanting the layers of cells from the culture flask.