Method and apparatus for filtering and drying a product
First Claim
1. An apparatus for filtering and drying a product, the apparatus comprising:
- a first product chamber;
a vacuum chamber;
a first porous wall that at least partially defines the first product chamber and that at least partially defines the vacuum chamber;
wherein the first product chamber is configured to hold the product for filtering through the first porous wall;
further comprising a heat transfer chamber coupled to the first product chamber;
further comprising a first solid wall at least partially defining the heat transfer chamber and at least partially defining the first product chamber; and
wherein the distance between the first solid wall and the first porous wall is at most five inches.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for filtering and drying a product. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus comprises a container having a plurality of porous walls and a plurality of solid walls that divide the container into a plurality of product chambers, a plurality of vacuum chambers, and, preferably, a plurality of heat transfer chambers. Each product chamber shares at least one porous wall with an adjacent vacuum chamber. Each product chamber preferably shares at least one solid wall with an adjacent heat transfer chamber. According to the method of the present invention, a product is introduced into the product chambers, where the product is held while a substance is filtered from the product through the porous walls and the product is dried by reducing the pressure in the vacuum chambers and the product chambers. In a preferred embodiment of the method, a heat transfer fluid flows through the heat transfer chambers to facilitate keeping the product frozen and/or to facilitate faster drying of the product.
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Citations
55 Claims
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1. An apparatus for filtering and drying a product, the apparatus comprising:
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a first product chamber; a vacuum chamber; a first porous wall that at least partially defines the first product chamber and that at least partially defines the vacuum chamber; wherein the first product chamber is configured to hold the product for filtering through the first porous wall; further comprising a heat transfer chamber coupled to the first product chamber; further comprising a first solid wall at least partially defining the heat transfer chamber and at least partially defining the first product chamber; and wherein the distance between the first solid wall and the first porous wall is at most five inches. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An apparatus for filtering and drying a product, the apparatus comprising:
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a first product chamber; a vacuum chamber; a first porous wall that at least partially defines the first product chamber and that at least partially defines the vacuum chamber; wherein the first product chamber is configured to hold the product for filtering through the first porous wall; further comprising a second product chamber; and a second porous wall that at least partially defines the vacuum chamber and that at least partially defines the second product chamber.
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6. An apparatus for drying and filtering a product, the apparatus comprising:
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a container comprising a plurality of porous walls and a plurality of solid walls separating the container into a plurality of product chambers, a plurality of vacuum chambers, and a plurality of heat transfer chambers; wherein each of the plurality of product chambers shares at least one of the plurality of porous walls with at least one of the plurality of vacuum chambers and each of the plurality of product chambers shares at least one of the plurality of solid walls with at least one of the plurality of heat transfer chambers. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. An apparatus for filtering and drying a product, the apparatus comprising:
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a container comprising a plurality of substantially concentric walls dividing the container into a plurality of chambers, wherein each chamber and each wall surrounding that chamber is assigned a number from 1 to n, counting consecutively from the innermost chamber and innermost wall to the outermost chamber and outermost wall, wherein if (n+3)/4 is a whole number then the wall with that number is a solid wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a heat transfer chamber; if (n+2)/4 is a whole number then the wall with that number is a porous wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a product chamber; if (n+1)/4 is a whole number, then the wall with that number is a porous wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a vacuum chamber; if n/4 is a whole number, then the wall with that number is a solid wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a product chamber. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 50)
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44. An apparatus for filtering and drying a product, the apparatus comprising:
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a container comprising a plurality of substantially concentric walls dividing the container into a plurality of chambers, wherein each chamber and each wall surrounding that chamber is assigned a number from 1 to n, counting consecutively from the innermost chamber and innermost wall to the outermost chamber and outermost wall, wherein if (n+3)/4 is a whole number, then the wall with that number is a porous wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a vacuum chamber; if (n+2)/4 is a whole number then the wall with that number is a solid wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a product chamber; if (n+1)/4 is a whole number then the wall with that number is a solid wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a heat transfer chamber; if n/4 is a whole number, then the wall with that number is a porous wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a product chamber. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46)
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47. An apparatus for filtering and drying a product, the apparatus comprising:
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a container comprising a plurality of substantially concentric walls dividing the container into a plurality of chambers, wherein each chamber and each wall surrounding that chamber is assigned a number from 1 to n, counting consecutively from the innermost chamber and innermost wall to the outermost chamber and outermost wall, wherein if (n+2)/3 is a whole number, then the wall with that number is a solid wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a heat transfer chamber; if (n+1)/3 is a whole number then the wall with that number is a porous wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a product chamber; if n/3 is a whole number then the wall with that number is a solid wall and the chamber surrounded by that wall is a vacuum chamber. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49)
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51. A method of filtering and drying a product comprising the steps of:
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providing a product chamber and a vacuum chamber, the product chamber and the vacuum chamber sharing a porous wall; delivering a product into the product chamber; filtering a substance from the product through the porous wall; and drying the product; wherein the product comprises fine frozen particles and the substance comprises liquid nitrogen.
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52. A method of filtering and drying a product comprising the steps of:
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providing a product chamber and a vacuum chamber, the product chamber and the vacuum chamber sharing a porous wall; delivering a product into the product chamber; filtering a substance from the product through the porous wall; and drying the product; wherein the product comprises polymer microspheres.
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53. A method of filtering and drying a product comprising the steps of:
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providing a product chamber and a vacuum chamber, the product chamber and the vacuum chamber sharing a porous wall; delivering a product into the product chamber; filtering a substance from the product through the porous wall; and drying the product; wherein the product comprises a protein.
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54. A method of filtering and drying a product comprising the steps of:
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providing a product chamber and a vacuum chamber, the product chamber and the vacuum chamber sharing a porous wall; delivering a product into the product chamber; filtering a substance from the product through the porous wall; and drying the product; wherein the product comprises a drug.
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55. A product filtered and dried according to a method of filtering and drying a product comprising the steps of:
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providing a product chamber and a vacuum chamber, the product chamber and the vacuum chamber sharing a porous wall; delivering a product into the product chamber; filtering a substance from the product through the porous wall; and drying the product.
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Specification