Forced hot air heating device
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus for heating biological samples to a selected temperature, said apparatus comprising:
- a housing having top, bottom, opposite side walls and at least one end wall, said housing having at least one air inlet for receiving outside air into said housing;
a heating chamber positioned in said housing and providing an air space between said housing and an outer surface of said heating chamber, said heating chamber having a sample opening for receiving biological samples;
a closure member for closing said sample opening in said heating chamber and hermetically sealing said heating chamber;
at least one heating element positioned on an outer surface of said heating chamber for heating an interior of said heating chamber;
a vent in said heating chamber for maintaining said heating chamber substantially at ambient pressure during a heating cycle; and
a filter coupled to said vent for capturing particulate materials escaping from said heating chamber.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A forced air heating apparatus for providing automatic cyclical heating and cooling of biological samples includes a housing and a heating chamber within the housing. The heating chamber supports a biological sample tray for supporting a plurality of sample containers. A heating device and an impeller are provided to heat the heating chamber and to direct heated air over the sample containers. The heating chamber is sealed to prevent escape of materials and includes a vent coupled to a filter to maintain ambient pressure in the heating chamber and trap particulate materials passing through the vent.
21 Citations
33 Claims
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1. An apparatus for heating biological samples to a selected temperature, said apparatus comprising:
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a housing having top, bottom, opposite side walls and at least one end wall, said housing having at least one air inlet for receiving outside air into said housing; a heating chamber positioned in said housing and providing an air space between said housing and an outer surface of said heating chamber, said heating chamber having a sample opening for receiving biological samples; a closure member for closing said sample opening in said heating chamber and hermetically sealing said heating chamber; at least one heating element positioned on an outer surface of said heating chamber for heating an interior of said heating chamber; a vent in said heating chamber for maintaining said heating chamber substantially at ambient pressure during a heating cycle; and a filter coupled to said vent for capturing particulate materials escaping from said heating chamber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for heating biological samples, said apparatus comprising:
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a closed and sealed heating chamber having an access opening; a closure member for closing and hermetically sealing said access opening; a heating element on an external surface of said heating chamber for heating an internal air space of said heating chamber; a vent in said heating chamber for maintaining substantially ambient pressure in said heating chamber when said heating chamber is heated; a filter device coupled to said vent for filtering gases passing through said vent and collecting particulate materials from said gases; a rotatable and magnetically driven air impeller mounted in said heating chamber for circulating air in said heating chamber; a drive motor adjacent an external surface of said heating chamber, said drive motor having a rotatable drive magnet for driving said impeller; and a programmable control device for actuating said heating element and drive motor for a selected time period to heat said heating chamber to a predetermined first temperature during a heating cycle and for deactivating said heating element during a cooling cycle. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An apparatus for subjecting biological samples to heating and cooling cycles, said apparatus comprising:
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a housing having an air inlet for passing cooling air through said housing, said housing further including a top, bottom and opposite side walls; a heating chamber positioned in said housing and being spaced from said top, bottom and opposite side walls for forming a first air channel substantially surrounding said heating chamber, wherein said heating chamber includes a top and bottom wall, and a sample opening for receiving said biological samples; a closure member for closing said sample opening in said heating chamber and hermetically sealing said heating chamber; a heating element for heating said heating chamber; an air impeller mounted in said heating chamber for circulating heating air within said heating chamber and uniformly heating said biological samples; a drive motor mounted outside said heating chamber and being magnetically coupled to said air impeller for driving said air impeller; a control device for actuating said heating element and said drive motor to heat said biological sample for a preselected amount of time during a heating cycle, and for deactivating said heating element while continuing actuation of said drive motor during a cooling cycle to circulate air within said heating chamber to cool said heating chamber and biological sample; and a sample tray for supporting a plurality of biological samples, said sample tray being removably received in said heating chamber. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification