Disposable Mixing Rotor with Contactless Magnetic Drive
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mixing devices for the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries face challenges in achieving high purity and sterility due to the complexity and cost of cleaning and sterilizing components, particularly those with permanent magnets, which are expensive and environmentally hazardous.
Innovation Solution
A mixing device design featuring a disposable, single-use plastic container with a magnetically driven rotor that eliminates the need for permanent magnets in the rotor, using a stator with permanent magnets and electromagnetic flux to drive the rotor, allowing for contactless operation and easy assembly without tools, while being cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If permanent magnets are used in the rotor of a mixing device, then the mixing performance and reliability are improved, but the production cost and environmental hazard increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes permanent magnets from the rotor entirely, extracting the problematic component that causes high production costs and environmental hazards. The rotor is redesigned to be driven purely by electromagnetic forces from the stator, eliminating the need for permanent magnetic materials while maintaining mixing functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor is designed as a disposable component without permanent magnets, making it inexpensive to produce and suitable for single-use applications. This aligns with the disposable device concept where the rotor can be easily replaced without costly demagnetization or cleaning processes.
2Reliability
If permanent magnets are used in the rotor, then the mixing performance is improved, but the sterilization complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
By removing permanent magnets from the rotor, the component becomes simpler and free from magnetic contamination risks, allowing for faster and more straightforward sterilization processes without concern for demagnetization or magnetic field interference during sterilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The disposable rotor design eliminates the need for complex sterilization cycles required for permanent magnet components, as the rotor can be discarded after single use, significantly reducing sterilization time and complexity.
3Reliability
If permanent magnets are used in the rotor, then the mixing performance is improved, but the environmental hazard increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts permanent magnets from the rotor design, eliminating the source of environmental hazards associated with rare earth magnetic materials. This prevents potential pollution from magnet disposal and avoids the environmental impact of permanent magnet manufacturing and waste handling.
4Reliability
If a disposable mixing container with rotor is used, then the purity and sterility are improved, but the assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mixing device is segmented into disposable components (container and rotor) and reusable components (stator), allowing the disposable portion to be pre-sterilized and assembled quickly without complex procedures, maintaining purity while simplifying assembly.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design reduces production and disposal costs, simplifies assembly and sterilization, and maintains high purity standards by minimizing the use of expensive and hazardous materials, ensuring efficient and economical operation while maintaining sterility and purity requirements.
Implementation Method 1
the stator and the rotor arranged in the mixing container form a bearingless motor... With the electrical windings of the stator, a rotating magnetic field can be generated which, on the one hand, exerts a torque on the rotor, which causes it to rotate
Implementation Method 2
exerts an arbitrarily adjustable transverse force on the rotor so that its radial position can be actively controlled or regulated
Data Source
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AI summary
A mixing device for mixing at least two substances is proposed, comprising a disposable device (70) designed for single use and a reusable device (50) designed for multiple uses. The disposable device (70) comprises a flexible mixing container (71) for receiving the substances to be mixed, made of a plastic, and a rotor (2) arranged in the mixing container (71), which includes a vane (21) for mixing the substances, which is magnetically driven without contact, and is coil-free and free of permanent magnets. The reusable device (50) comprises a support container (51) for receiving the mixing container (71) and a stator (3) with which the rotor (2) can be magnetically driven without contact about a predetermined axis of rotation (A) in the operating state, characterized in thatthat the stator (3) comprises at least one permanent magnet (33) for generating a permanent magnetic flux and at least one winding for generating an electromagnetic flux, wherein the permanent magnetic flux and the electromagnetic flux together drive the rotor (2). Furthermore, a disposable device (70) for a mixing device is proposed.