Fluid containment for laboratory containers

Abstract

A culture dish assembly includes a polygonal culture dish with a bottom wall and a side wall enclosure formed by a plurality of generally planar panels joined consecutively to one another by non-planar corners. The side wall enclosure includes a generally planar top edge. Inner surface regions of a plurality of the planar panels are formed with a plurality of projections or recesses that are spaced from one another and spaced from the corners. A splash guard includes engagement flanges disposed for nesting with inner peripheral surface regions of the panels of the side wall enclosure. The engagement flanges include projections or recesses disposed for releasably engaging the projections or recesses on the side wall enclosure to hold the splash guard on the culture dish without creating stress concentrations in the corners.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The invention relates to culture plates or dishes with a guard for preventing inadvertent splashing of fluid from the culture plate or dish.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Culture plates or dishes are used for culturing cells, bacteria or other biological materials. The typical culture dish is formed from a transparent plastic and has a substantially flat bottom wall, a short side wall enclosure that extends up from the bottom wall and an open top. The bottom wall typically is circular and the side wall typically is cylindrical. However, rectangular culture dishes are known.[0005]A liquid growth media is placed in the culture dish and a small sample of the cells, bacteria or other biological materials are placed in the liquid growth material. A transparent cover then may be placed over the open top of the side wall to provide a substantially controlled environment in which growth will occur. Samples of the ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a culture dish assembly that includes a square culture dish made of rigid transparent plastic material. The dish has a bottom wall, side walls, and an open top. The assembly also includes a splash guard that can be mounted on the open top of the dish. The splash guard has a top wall with outer and inner surfaces. The inner surface has splash guard mounts that engage with the inner surfaces of the culture dish. The assembly also includes a cover that can be placed over the culture dish to provide a convenient way to handle and transport it. The cover has indicia to identify different areas in the dish for measuring fluid levels. The assembly is easy to use and can be securely mounted on a planar surface.

Problems solved by technology

As noted above, the side walls of a culture dish are very short, and hence even a small wave in the liquid media can cause the liquid media to splash out of the culture dish.

The wave effects generated in such a large culture dish easily can exceed the height of the side wall, and hence significant amounts of liquid media can splash from the culture dish.

Splashing reduces the volume of liquid media and biological materials in the culture dish, and hence can affect the laboratory analysis.

Additionally, splashing of liquid media and other biological materials can cause contamination in the laboratory.

For example, liquid media in one culture dish can inadvertently splash into an adjacent culture dish.

However, these unitary structures are difficult to mold.

Splash guards that telescope over the side wall are undesirable because they add to the overall dimensions required for the culture dish.

This spacial arrangement of culture dishes result in substantial dead space between the points of tangency.

Hence, circular culture dishes result in an inefficient use of space.

It is difficult to ensure uniform orientation of round culture dishes after the culture dishes have been moved for sampling or replenishment of the liquid growth media.

Additionally, it is difficult to measure variations in the growth characteristics of cultures at various locations across the bottom wall of the culture dish.

Still further, it is difficult to pour liquid media from a round culture dish in view of the relatively large radius of curvature on the cylindrical side wall.

However, square culture dishes are not conducive to receiving a separately mountable splash guard.

However, it is difficult to achieve uniform forces along such a rectilinear array of interengaged surfaces, and stress concentrations are likely to exist.

The existence of non-uniform engagement forces around the peripheries of a square splash guard can complicate the mounting of the splash guard and can damage either the splash guard or the side walls.

Additionally, gaps may exist between mating surfaces of the square splash guard and the side wall.

Thus, although square culture dishes offer advantages over cylindrical culture dishes, the square culture dishes are not well suited to the splash guards that have been employed with round culture dishes.

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