Bizarre Patents
Pet Toilet-Like Water Disk and Food Storage
One pet-friendly inventor patented "a device for watering pets, e.g., a dog or cat." The device, he helpfully noted, "has the general shape of a toilet."
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8110392 | Methods and devices for microfluidic point-of-care immunoassays Microfluidic methods and devices for heterogeneous binding and agglutination assays are disclosed, with improvements relating to mixing and to reagent and sample manipulation in systems designed for safe handling of clinical test samples. ... | 02/07/2012 |
| 8093040 | Method for growing bacteria A biomass generator useful for continuously growing and withdrawing bacteria to be used in a desired beneficial application, the generator having a bacteria growth chamber; water and nutrient inlet ports; upper and lower outlet ports; a recirculating pump withdrawin... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8080406 | Ethanol production system The present invention provides a method of automating the production of ethanol in an economical method yet maximizing the conversion of grains into ethanol in an even greater conversion efficiency with a greatly improved feed value byproduct. ... | 12/20/2011 |
| 8030058 | Automated apparatus for pancreatic islet isolation and processing Advanced islet separation technology incorporates an automated method, automated control methodology, process control interface, and automated apparatus to separate (isolate) and process pancreatic islets in a tissue suspension in physiologic process solution, utili... | 10/04/2011 |
| 7981661 | Flow cytometer system with sheath and waste fluid measurement The fluidic system of the preferred embodiment includes a sheath pump to pump sheath fluid from a sheath container into an interrogation zone, a sheath volume measurement device to measure the fluid in the sheath container, a waste pump to pump the sheath fluid and ... | 07/19/2011 |
| 7932078 | Direct inoculation method using frozen concentrated cultures and associated device A device for the continuous dosage of frozen starter cultures into a liquid fermentation medium is provided. The device comprises a fermentation unit and a container for the thawing of the starter cultures. It further comprises means of retaining the frozen cultures... | 04/26/2011 |
| 7932079 | Apparatus for producing and handling a flowing substance A system (1) for producing a dough starter culture is provided which comprises a plurality of reservoirs (15) pre-loaded with a small amount (“mother level”) of a previously obtained starter culture. Into the reservoirs (15) are inoculated t... | 04/26/2011 |
| 7846716 | Microchip and analysis method using the same An object of the present invention is to provide a microchip whereby, when chemical analysis is conducted, a specimen liquid can be directly collected and weighed without using any collecting and weighing devices. The present invention provides a microchip for analy... | 12/07/2010 |
| 7820427 | Microfluidic device and methods of using same A variety of elastomeric-based microfluidic devices and methods for using and manufacturing such devices are provided. Certain of the devices have arrays of reaction sites to facilitate high throughput analyses. Some devices also include reaction sites located at th... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7816121 | Droplet actuation system and method A droplet actuation system is provided including a droplet actuation device including a substrate that includes electrodes for conducting droplet operations; temperature control means for heating and/or cooling a region of the droplet actuation device and arranged s... | 10/19/2010 |
| 7790438 | Apparatuses and methods for detecting an analyte A method and apparatus for detecting an analyte includes a sensor chamber for detecting an analyte, an analyte feed chamber, a distributor, and a controller for controlling the transport medium flow. The distributor includes an annular channel with four connections ... | 09/07/2010 |
| 7776583 | Methods and apparatuses for conducting assays Disclosed are methods for conducting assays of samples, such as whole blood, that may contain cells or other particulate matter. Also disclosed are systems, devices, equipment, kits and reagents for use in such methods. One advantage of certain disclosed methods and... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7767435 | Method and device for biochemical detection and analysis of subcellular compartments from a single cell A method and system for performing biochemical detection or analysis on micro- and nano-scale subcellular component within a single biological cell is provided. An integrated platform device and method to perform the biochemical analysis is also provided. ... | 08/03/2010 |
| 7736889 | Fluidic force discrimination This invention describes a method of using controlled fluidic forces to improve the performance of a biochemical binding assay where a target molecule is captured by specific molecular recognition onto a substrate surface with an affinity coating, and then labeled w... | 06/15/2010 |
| 7704728 | Microfluidic gravity pump with constant flow rate A microfluidic system employs a microchannel and a gravity driven pump comprising horizontally oriented fluid supply reservoirs which supplies fluid to the microchannel at a substantially constant rate. The device is useful for numerous microfluidic applications, fo... | 04/27/2010 |
| 7674615 | Mechanical cartridge with test strip fluid control features for use in a fluid analyte meter A structure for controlling fluid flow from a sample receiving pad into a lateral flow assay test strip, including: a lateral flow assay test strip; a sample pad abutting the lateral flow assay test strip; a pinch wall positioned to direct fluid flow from the sample... | 03/09/2010 |
| 7635587 | Biomass generator A biomass generator useful for continuously growing and withdrawing bacteria to be used in a desired beneficial application, the generator having a bacteria growth chamber; water and nutrient inlet ports; upper and lower outlet ports; a recirculating pump withdrawin... | 12/22/2009 |
| 7618810 | Metering strip and method for lateral flow assay devices A diagnostic method and associated test kit for detecting an analyte residing in a test sample is provided. The kit includes a housing, and a membrane disposed within the housing having a detection region and a collection region. A blood sample meter is provided hav... | 11/17/2009 |
| 7510864 | Decision-making spectral bioreactor This invention fills several voids in bioreactor technology that allows efficient connection of aspects of physical science (optics, electronics, physical chemistry, sensors) to aspects of microbial and cell culture physiology in a uniquely interactive manner. This ... | 03/31/2009 |
| 7439048 | Apparatus for acoustic ejection of circumscribed volumes from a fluid This invention is directed to the use of focused energy, particularly focused acoustic energy, in the spatially directed ejection of circumscribed volumes of a fluid which differ in acoustic impedance from the surrounding fluid. ... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7407781 | Oocyte recording chamber An oocyte recording chamber for electrophysiological measurements. The recording chamber includes a base and a cover attached to the base. The cover and the base define a chamber having a size sufficient to accommodate an oocyte. The recording chamber includes a fir... | 08/05/2008 |
| 7390652 | Device for cultivating cells and propagating viruses This invention relates to methods for the cultivating cells, and in particular to methods for propagating viruses. ... | 06/24/2008 |
| 7371330 | Particle sedimentation apparatus and method for performing particle sedimentation A particle sedimentation apparatus includes a rotation body rotatable about a rotation axis and a separation chamber formed in the rotation body, to cause sedimentation of particle suspension in the separation chamber upon rotation of the rotation body. The particle... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7368282 | Process and device for determining the activity of enzymes in liquids, or the concentration and/or activity of inhibitors in liquids A process and device are disclosed to determine the activity of enzymes in liquids in a largely automatic manner. The device for carrying out this process has a column (1) with a chromatographic carrier for treating a measurement sample. The carrier is mixed ... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7368080 | Smear preparing apparatus A smear preparing apparatus for preparing a smear of a specimen on a glass slide by using a spreader based on a smearing condition, the apparatus includes a memory for storing smearing conditions in connection with pertinent information required for establishing the... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7364657 | Integrated system for on-site cell acquisition, processing, and delivery Numerous embodiments of a system and method for treating cardiac tissue are described. In one embodiment, bone marrow cells are extracted from a patient. The cells are then processed to isolate mononuclear cells, which can then be delivered back near the cardiac tis... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7364695 | High void volume and/or high liquid imbibing based apparatus The present invention provides test carriers to determine the presence or amount of a given substance in a liquid sample. The present invention also provides apparatus and methods for analyzing liquid samples using these test carriers. ... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7358078 | Auto microfluidic hybridization chip platform An auto microfluidic hybridization chip platform is disclosed to provide a hybrid reaction test system with the features of fast reactions, automatic operations, and a convenient platform. The platform includes a flow control system with a platform base, a microflui... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7358051 | Liquid flow actuation and suspension manipulation using surface tension gradients Disclosed herein is a method of collecting suspensions in a liquid film including the steps of developing a variation in surface tension at a gas-liquid interface of the liquid film to generate a circulating flow pattern within the liquid film, and scanning the liqu... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7348175 | Bioreactor with plurality of chambers for conditioning intravascular tissue engineered medical products A microprocessor controlled and instrumented bioreactor for conditioning intravascular tissue engineered medical products. One bioreactor design including an integrated pump to provide a relatively small volume of fluid nutrient. The microprocessor control providing... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7341865 | Liquid delivery devices and methods Methods and devices are provided for using high-density arrays of diverse chemical entities. In preferred embodiments, small volumes of multiple liquids are delivered to multiple reaction sites on a single substrate where the liquids are constrained to localized rea... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7341652 | Stationary capillary electrophoresis system A system and method for capillary electrophoresis are provided for analyzing a macromolecule prepared from a complex liquid mixture. In particular applications, methods and apparatus are provided for separating and analyzing a solution containing a denatured macromo... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7341863 | Method for the degradation of MTBE and TBA A method for the degradation of methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (MTBE) and tertiary-butanol (TBA) using a mixture of Pseudomonas putida is described. The method enables almost complete remediation of MTBE and TBA in situ in contaminated water and/or soil. ... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7338517 | Tissue scaffold having aligned fibrils and artificial tissue comprising the same A tubular tissue scaffold is described which comprises a tube having a wall, wherein the wall includes biopolymer fibrils that are aligned in a helical pattern around the longitudinal axis of the tube where the pitch of the helical pattern changes with the radial po... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7335470 | Compilations of nucleic acids and arrays and methods of using them In one aspect the invention provides compilations of nucleic acids, articles of manufacture, e.g., arrays, and methods for the detection of chromosomal abnormalities, such as a chromosomal aneuploidies, deletions, amplifications, and the like, and the diagnosis or p... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7332326 | Centripetally-motivated microfluidics system for performing in vitro hybridization and amplification of nucleic acids This invention relates to methods and apparatus for performing microanalytic and microsynthetic analyses and procedures. The invention provides a microsystem platform and a micromanipulation device for manipulating the platform that utilizes the centripetal force re... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7329388 | Electrophoresis apparatus having staggered passage configuration An electrophoresis apparatus is generally disclosed for sequentially analyzing a single sample or multiple samples having one or more analytes in high or low concentrations. The apparatus comprises a relatively large-bore transport capillary which intersects with a ... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7329394 | High throughput incubation devices The invention provides an efficiently automated incubation device that reduces the number of powered moving parts in the device and the amount of air transfer between environments that are internal and external to the device. ... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7329535 | Apparatus for circulating carrier fluid Provided are an apparatus for circulating a carrier fluid having two or more chambers or sections, an apparatus for amplifying a nucleic acid using the same, and a chip containing the same. The apparatus for circulating a carrier fluid includes two or more chambers ... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7329533 | Unit for the treatment of histological samples The invention relates to a unit for the treatment of histological samples. The unit comprises a treatment chamber (1), a device (2) for supplying and removing treatment agents (3, 3′, 3″) to and from the treatment chamber (1), and a c... | 02/12/2008 |
