Improved extraction apparatus

• Main Authors: Hugh Malkin, Nicholas James Hastings, Finbarr Charles Ronald Williamson
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 25.07.2018
• Subjects: CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING; CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING IN GENERAL; INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIRCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; MEASURING; MILLING GRAIN; MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING, DISPERSING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; PHYSICS; PREPARATORY TREATMENT OF GRAIN FOR MILLING; TESTING; TRANSPORTING

An apparatus for distributing a solid dosage form in an extraction fluid, the apparatus comprising a sample preparation bag for holding the solid dosage and extraction fluid, the bag comprising flexible walls defining a preparation chamber with an opening, an upper reservoir zone, a lower reservoir zone and a pulverizing zone between the upper and lower reservoir zones, wherein the pulverizing zone comprises opposed crusher plates fixed to a portion of the inner surfaces of the opposed walls of the bag, and a jaw crusher for comprising an upper pulverizer assembly comprising a pair of opposed jaws which are moveable relative to one another and each comprising opposed upper and lower crushing surfaces for contacting the outer surfaces of the pulverizing zone of the sample preparation bag; and (ii) a lower pump assembly comprising pumping means with a member for contacting an outer surface of the lower reservoir zone to displace extraction fluid to the pulverizing zone wherein the opposed upper crushing surfaces are adapted to nip with a first stroke length l1 and at a first frequency f1 and the opposed lower crushing surfaces are adapted to nip with a second stroke length l2 at a second frequency f2, and wherein l1 > l2 and f1 < f2.