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:
Jan. 27, 2004
Filed:
Apr. 26, 2000
Michael J. Finney, San Francisco, CA (US);
Daniel E. Sullivan, Cambridge, MA (US);
Bruce R. Turner, Exeter, NH (US);
Alexis Vira, Somerville, MA (US);
Peter B. Vander Horn, Foster City, CA (US);
Charles P. Andre, San Francisco, CA (US);
Sean Rubin, Mountain View, CA (US);
Corey Nislow, San Francisco, CA (US);
John R. Linton, Lincoln, MA (US);
William D. Bowers, Peabody, MA (US);
MJ Research, Inc., Waltham, MA (US);
Abstract
The invention provides an electrophoresis cassette to cast electrophoresis gels and to separate and analyze molecular components by electrophoresis. The electrophoresis cassette comprises a top plate assembly, a spacer and a bottom plate. The top plate assembly is seated to the bottom plate with the spacer there between to define a thickness of the electrophoresis cassette and to seal an outer perimeter of the assembly. The top plate assembly includes a cathode reservoir connected to a first terminal end of a central plate, and an anode reservoir connected to a second terminal end of the central plate. When the electrophoresis cassette is assembled, the cathode and anode reservoirs are in alignment with the first and second terminal ends of the central plate to facilitate formation of leak-proof seals between the reservoirs and the assembly components. An embodiment of the invention provides a plurality of sample wells incorporated with the cathode reservoir and constructed of rigid, electrically non-conducting material to provide a hard-well sample loading site for uniform and consistent sample injection. Another embodiment provides a mechanical biasing system incorporated with a cathode reservoir body to bias the assembly components together. The invention also provides a method of casting electrophoresis gels with the electrophoresis cassette provided herein.