A lyophilized spore dispenser is provided which produces a finely divided, monoparticulate cloud of bacterial spores. The spores are contained within a tightly sealed chamber, and a turbulator orifice connected to an air supply source provides a jet of air which stirs up the spores and causes the spores to be suspended in eddy currents within the chamber. This air jet also produces a positive pressure within the chamber which forces the spores out of an injection orifice

Jessup, A. D.

English

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https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19740005065 2020-03-17T14:11:03+00:00Z
United States Patent
Jessup,
[in 3,776,432
[45] Dec. 4, 1973
[54]
[75]
[73]
[22]
[21]
LYOPHILIZED SPORE DISPENSER
Inventor: Artie D. Jessup, Hampton, Va.
Assignee: The United States of America as
represented by the National
Aeronautics and Space
Administration, Washington, D.C.
Filed: Oct. 13, 1971
Appl. No.: 188,928
[52] U.S. Cl 222/193
[51] Int Cl B67d 5/54
[58] Field of Search 222/552, 554, 4,
222/399, 193, 195, 522-525; 128/265;
195/142; 239/227; 134/113, 167
[56] References Cited
UNITED STATES PATENTS
1,855,938 4/1932
2,126,924 8/1938
3,206,078 9/1965
1,276,653 8/1918
Collins 222/193 X
Rose 222/195 X
Leimegger 222/523 X
Herbert et al 222/193
3,127,329 3/1964 Andersen 195/142 X
3,308,840 3/1967 Ketley 134/167 R
2,236,960 4/1941 Salmond et al 222/552 X
3,243,083 3/1966 Reynolds et al 222/552 X
737,485 8/1903 Rippley 222/193
780,330 1/1905 Egert 222/193
197,601 11/1877 Cassidy 222/193
Primary Examiner—Samuel F. Coleman
Assistant Examiner—Norman L. Stack, Jr.
Attorney—Howard J. Osborn et al.
[57] ABSTRACT
A lyophilized spore dispenser is provided which pro-
duces a finely divided, monoparticulate cloud of bac-
terial spores. The spores are contained within a tightly
sealed chamber and a turbulator orifice conected to
an air supply source provides a jet of air which stirs up
the spores and causes the spores to be suspended in
eddy currents within the chamber. This air jet also
produces a positive pressure within the chamber
which forces the spores out of an injection orifice.
2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures
AIR
SUPPLY
SOURCE
24-
• •—=*
(NASA-Oase«=LAB~inRau nDISPEL p«..? (£«>'.-Tjatlgs ?ISH
Unclas
24228
. PATENTED DEC 41973 3,776,432
40-Aj
FIG. 1
21
22
FIG. 2
INVENTOR.
ARTIE D. JESSUP
BY
ATTORNEYS
3,776,432
1 2
.,. JLYOPH1LIZED SPORE DISPENSER
' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a spore dispenser in ac-
The invention described herein was made by an em- cordance with a presently preferred embodiment; and
ployee of the United States Government and may be 5 FIG. 2 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 1 but is ex-
manufactured and used by or for the Government for ploded to illustrate the various components of the dis-
governmental purposes without the payment of any penser.
royalties thereon or therefor.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIELD OF THE INVENTION .. _ , . „„„, .-10 Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a spore dispenser particu-
The present invention relates to the dispensing of dry larly useful in dispensing lyophilized spores is shown.
spores and more particularly to a lyophilized spore dis- The dispenser comprises a hopper chamber generally
penser for dispensing such spores in a finely divided, designated by reference numeral 10 having an asso-
monoparticulate cloud. ciated screw cap or cover 12 and including a inlet or
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION '5 turbulator tube 14 and an outlet or injector tube 16.
Hopper chamber 10 is preferably generally cup-
The dispensing of lyophilized or freeze-dried spores shaped in cross section and in the specific embodiment
for laboratory and other purposes presents a number of
 under consideration includes a cylindrical side wall 21
difficulties particularly where the spores are to be dis-
 and ^^^ base 22. An outwardly extending periph-
pensed in a finely dispersed monoparticulate cloud. For 20
 era, flange ^ includes ^ o.ring groove 24 in the
example, the dried spores are difficult to handle and it
 upper surface ^ eof whereas the upper portion of the
is difficult to prevent the formation of a multiparticu-
 interna, chamber of cylindrical side wall 21 is threaded
late, in contrast to monoparticulate, output spray.
 M shown to ^ cap 12 to te screwed onto chamber
In accordance with a technique used in the past, a .Q
modified spray can, such as used for insect spray, has 25 ^ ,2 .^^ a downward, extending generally
been utihzed with distilled water as the conveying me-
 lmdricaj fl 27 which is externally threaded so to
dmm, the spores being suspended ,n the water within ^
 ent between ^  12 ^ d hopper 10 as
the spray can and dispensed therewith. This technique
 mentioned above. An outwardly extending portion 28
suffers several senous disadvantages. Findy, the lyoph-
 Qf n coyere o.ri e Mmdm o.ri 25 re.
ilized spores are afforded undesired protection from 30 ^.^
 fa ^ ^ ^.^ ^ ^^ ^
degrading elements because of the moisturizing effect .. -._ . . .. ,,„ «.»••
,
6
.
 6
 . .. _ . .
 6
. and hopper 10. A shoulder 29 on screw cap 12 is ma-
of the water conveying medium. Further, when the aer- .. .. .. ..- . „ . - .... . ..
, , j • -i. chined to provide flats so as to facilitate wrenching
sol of spores and water comes into contact with a sur- , , „ , _ , _ - ,_ «.. • • i_ i
face^tinydroplets are formed which tend to puddle and °f <**>„"• thereby ensumg that cap 12 ,s tightly
run. In addition, multiparticulate aersols or clouds are 35 ****** onto chamber 10.
rod ed central bore 31 through cap 12 is adapted to re-
' ceive turbulator tube 14 therein. Bore 31 extends
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION through an upper tube guide 32 which is drilled and
In accordance with the present invention, a dispenser taPPed at 33 to P6™' insertion of a xt XTew 3S
for lyophilized spores is provided which overcomes «° therem- !t w11 te appreciated that tube 14 is movable
these and other disadvantages of the prior art. The dis- within bore 3» and set screw 35 enables tube 14, and
penser of the invention permits the formation of a hence oriflce 15 t"6"** to ** fixed in a desired P°si-
finely divided, monoparticulate cloud or spray of bac- don w1*111 hopper 10.
terial spores which can be sprayed into an atmosphere *» '""strated in FIG. 1, turbulator tube 14 may be
or onto a surface at a desired rate. 45 provided with a suitable fitting, indicated schematically
According to a presently preferred embodiment at 37, to permit connection of tube 14 to a supply hose
thereof, the dispenser comprises a hopper chamber 38 of "> «* suPP'y s0"106 indicated at 40. In a specific
wherein the spores to be dispensed are contained, the example, turbulator tube 14 has an outside diameter of
chamber being formed by an open-receptacle prefera- one-eighth inch and orifice 14a is 0.020 inch in diame-
bly having a screw-on cap or cover and being sealed by ter-
an O-ring captured in a groove between the receptacle Injector tube 16 extends outwardly from the side wall
and the cap when the cap is screwed on. A "turbulator" 21 of hopper 10 and terminates in an orifice 17 through
orifice formed in a tube which extends into the cham- which spores from within hopper chamber 10 are dis-
ber is connected to a supply of a gas, such as air, under pensed. In an exemplary embodiment, the dimensions
pressure. The gas is released through the orifice in the for injector tube 16 may be the same as those given for
form of a jet which causes the spores to become sus- turbulator tube 14.
pended in the eddy currents produced within the cham- Considering the operation of the spore dispenser of
ber. Further, the jet also provides the necessary posi- the invention, hopper chamber 10 is filled with suitable
live pressure within the chamber to force the spores out spores and cap 12 is screwed thereon, O-ring 25, as
of an outlet or injector orifice. mentioned, providing sealing fit. Air supplied through
The depth to which the turbulator extends into the turbulator 14 is released through orifice 15 in the form
chamber may be varied and wrenching flats provided of a high velocity jet so as to cause the lyophilized
on the cap ensure, together with the O-ring, that the spores to become suspended in the chamber 10. This
chamber is tightly sealed. „ jet of air also provides positive pressure within chamber
Other features and advantages of the invention will 10 so that the spores are forced into injector tube 16.
be set forth in or apparent from the description of a The orifice 17 of injector tube 16 regulates the flow
preferred embodiment thereof found hereinbelow. from chamber 10 into or onto the desired medium.
3,776,432
In an alternative embodiment of the invention the
turbulator tube could be located on the side of the hop-
per chamber with the orifice tangent to the inside wall
thereof, so as to promote turbulence within the cham-
ber. Further, multiple turbulator orifices fed from a 5
common manifold could be utilized to possibly improve
the suspension of the spores within the chamber. It will
be understood that these examples are in no way in-
tended to be exhaustive and, of course, variations and
modifications other than these specific examples can 10
also be effected without departing from the scope and
spirit of the invention.
I claim:
1. A spore dispenser particularly for use in dispensing
lyophilized spores in a finely dispersed monoparticulate 15
output spray comprising:
a cylindrical hopper containing the spore material to
be dispensed;
said cylindrical hopper being sealed at one end
thereof and having a removable cover at the other 20
end thereof to permit ready access to the hopper
interior for inserting the spores therein that are to
be dispensed;
said removable cover being provided with at least
one opening therethrough; 25
a turbulator tube having a first open end extending
through said removable cover into said hopper and
a second open end exterior of said hopper and in
fluid connection with a source of pressurized gas;
means for adjusting the depth to which said first open 30
end of said turbulating tube extends into said hop-
per;
said means for adjusting the depth to which said first
open end of said turbulator tube extends into said
hopper includes a tube guide circumferentially dis- 35
posed about said turbulator tube exterior of and in
intimate contact with said removable cover;
said tube guide being provided with at least one set-
screw therein for selective contact with said turbu-
lator tube to permit the adjustment thereof within 40
said hopper, and
an injector tube extending outwardly from £he,sidet
wall of said hopper with one end thereof being an
open nozzle for dispensing spores and the other
end thereof extending through and communicating
with the interior of said hopper;
whereby when lyophilized spores are introduced into
said hopper and said removable cover is secured
thereto said turbulator tube is connected to said
source of pressurized gas such that the gas flowing
through said turbulator tube forms a high velocity
jet causing the spores to become suspended within
said hopper and creates a positive pressure within
said hopper forcing the suspended spores out
through said injector tube nozzle in a finely dis-
persed monoparticulate output spray.
2. A method for dispensing lyophilized spores in a
finely dispersed monoparticulate output spray compris-
ing:
confining the spores to be dispensed within a dispens-
ing hopper;
providing a high pressure gas source leading into the
dispensing hopper and an outlet orifice leading out
of the dispensing hopper; and,
dispensing the spores out of the dispensing hopper
through the outlet orifice by the introduction of
high pressure gas into the dispensing hopper so as
to cause a turbulent movement of the confined
spores and so as to create a positive pressure within
the dispensing hopper and thereby force the spores
out the outlet orifice in a finely dispersed monopar-
ticulate output spray.
dispensing the spores out of the dispensing hopper
through the outlet orifice by the introduction of
high pressure gas into the dispensing hopper so as
to cause a turbulent movement of the confined
spores and so as to create a positive pressure within
the dispensing hopper and thereby force the
spores out the outlet orifice in a finely dispersed
monoparticulate output spray.
* * * * *
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Lyophilized spore dispenser

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