IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,429,144
Granted Patent B2
US 12,429,144 · App. 18/242,278 · Granted Sep 30, 2025

Clean rinsing reversing bypass rotary valve

Inventors: Erik Bluemner (Verona, WI); Dorian Lust (Columbus, WI)
Assignee: Northstar Medical Technologies LLC
F16K31/055F16K11/0743
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,429,144
App. No.
18/242,278
Granted
Sep 30, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A clean rinsing revering bypass rotary valve is provided. The valve can include a rotor and a stator. The stator can include one or more flow-through holes, each coupled to a fluid conduit in a valve housing. The rotor can include one or more rotor conduits. The rotor conduits can interact with the flow-through holes of the stator to create one or more configuration combos, each with a distinctive fluid flow path.

Claims (38)

1. A valve comprising:

a rotor coupled to a stator, the stator including

a first surface opposite a second surface, the second surface defining a stator conduit, the stator conduit being a blind groove fluidly isolated from the first surface; and

an external loop in fluid communication with the stator,

wherein the rotor and the stator are configured to form a first configuration having a first fluid pathway and a second configuration having a second fluid pathway such that the first fluid pathway is different from the second fluid pathway,

wherein the stator further comprises a first flow-through hole, a second flow-through hole, a third flow-through hole, and a fourth flow-through hole,

wherein the rotor further comprises a first rotor conduit, a second rotor conduit, and a third rotor conduit, each provided on a surface of the rotor,

wherein the first configuration is formed by the first flow-through hole being in fluid communication with the third flow-through hole through the third rotor conduit, the third flow-through hole being in fluid communication with the fourth flow-through hole through the external loop, the fourth flow-through hole being in fluid communication with the second flow-through hole through the first rotor conduit, the stator conduit, and the second rotor conduit.

2. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the rotor and the stator are further configured to form a third configuration having a third fluid pathway different from the first fluid pathway or the second fluid pathway.

3. The valve of claim 2 , wherein the rotor is rotatable and the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration are formed depending on a rotational position of the rotor relative to the stator.

4. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the stator is at least partially non-cylindrical.

5. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the stator conduit is arcuate.

6. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the rotor and the stator are each at least partially cylindrical, and the rotor has a first diameter substantially equal to a second diameter of the stator.

7. The valve of claim 1 , wherein two of the first flow-through hole, the second flow-through hole, the third flow-through hole, or the fourth flow-through hole are coupled to a tube forming the external loop external of the valve.

8. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the external loop is in fluid communication with, the stator via a housing conduit.

9. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the second configuration is formed by the first flow-through hole being in fluid communication with the fourth flow-through hole through the first rotor conduit, the fourth flow-through hole being in fluid communication with the third flow-through hole through the external loop, and the third flow-through hole being in fluid communication with the second flow-through hole through the third rotor conduit.

10. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the second configuration is formed by the first flow-through hole being in fluid communication with the second flow-through hole through the second rotor conduit.

11. The valve of claim 1 , further comprising:

a housing coupled to the stator, wherein the housing comprising a plurality of conduits each coupled to one of the first flow-through hole, the second flow-through hole, the third flow-through hole, and the fourth flow-through hole.

12. A method for creating a flow path comprising:

providing a rotor and a stator, the stator including

a first surface opposite a second surface, the second surface defining a stator conduit, the stator conduit being a blind groove fluidly isolated from the first surface;

providing an external loop in fluid communication with the stator; and

providing a first fluid pathway and a second fluid pathway by rotating the rotor relative to the stator, wherein the first fluid pathway is different from the second fluid pathway,

wherein the stator also includes a first flow-through hole, a second flow-through hole, a third flow-through hole, and a fourth flow-through hole,

wherein the rotor also includes a first rotor conduit, a second rotor conduit, and a third rotor conduit, each provided on a surface of the rotor,

wherein the first fluid pathway is formed by rotating the rotor such that the first flow-through hole is in fluid communication with the third flow-through hole through the third rotor conduit, the third flow-through hole is in fluid communication with the fourth flow-through hole through the external loop, the fourth flow-through hole is in fluid communication with the second flow-through hole through the first rotor conduit, the stator conduit, and the second rotor conduit.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

providing a third fluid pathway by rotating the rotor relative to the stator, wherein the third fluid pathway is different from the first fluid pathway or the second fluid pathway.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the third fluid pathway is formed by rotating the rotor such that the first flow-through hole is in fluid communication with the second flow-through hole through the second rotor conduit.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the stator is at least partially non-cylindrical.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the rotor and the stator are each at least partially cylindrical, and the rotor has a first diameter substantially equal to a second diameter of the stator.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein:

providing the external loop in fluid communication with the stator includes coupling two of the two of the first flow-through hole, the second flow-through hole, the third flow-through hole, or the fourth flow-through hole.

18. The method of claim 12 , the external loop is in fluid communication with the stator via a housing.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the second fluid pathway is formed by rotating the rotor such that the first flow-through hole is in fluid communication with the fourth flow-through hole through the first rotor conduit, the fourth flow-through hole is in fluid communication with the third flow-through hole through the external loop, and the third flow-through hole being in fluid communication with the second flow-through hole through the third rotor conduit.

20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

providing a housing, wherein the housing comprising a plurality of conduits each coupled to one of the first flow-through hole, the second flow-through hole, the third flow-through hole, and the fourth flow-through hole.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 6, 2024
From: BLUEMNER, ERIK; LUST, DORIAN
To: NORTHSTAR MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 066672/0812 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63428177 · Nov 28, 2022
Related Publication 20240175512A1 · May 30, 2024
References Cited (24)
US 4625569A · Toei · 1986 [cited by examiner]
US 5110474A · Horwitz et al. · 1992 [cited by applicant]
US 5603834A · Rogers et al. · 1997 [cited by applicant]
US 5707525A · Rogers et al. · 1998 [cited by applicant]
US 5854968A · Horwitz et al. · 1998 [cited by applicant]
US 5863439A · Dietz et al. · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 5888397A · Rogers et al. · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 6012487A · Hauck · 2000 [cited by examiner]
US 6511603B1 · Dietz et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 6852296B2 · Bond et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 7157022B2 · Horwitz et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 7553461B2 · Horwitz et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 9299466B2 · Isensee et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9336912B2 · Isensee · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20100032604A1 · Wilen · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20100127200A1 · Kallback · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20150165341A1 · Isensee · 2015 [cited by applicant]
McAlister, D.R et al, “Automated Two Column Generator Systems for Medical Radionuclides,” Applied Radiation and Isotopes, vol. 67, issue 11, pp. 1985-1991, Nov. 2009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2009.07.019. [cited by applicant]
Gula, M. et al, “Separation, Concentration, and Immobilization of Technetium and Iodine from Alkaline Supernate Waste,” Final Report by Eichrom Industries, Inc. for U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, Fe… [cited by applicant]
Bond, A.H. et al, “Design, Synthesis, and Uptake Performance of ABEC Resins for the Removal of Pertechnetate from Alkaline Radioactive Wastes,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 1999, 38, 4, pp. 1676-1682. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie… [cited by applicant]
Bond, A.H. et al., “Flowsheet Feasibility Studies Using ABEC Resins for Removal of Pertechnetate from Nuclear Wastes,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 1999, 38, 4, pp. 1683-1689. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie980611o. [cited by applicant]
Argyrou, M. et al, “Rhenium-188 Production in Hospitals, by w-188/re-188 Generator, for Easy Use in Radionuclide Therapy,” Int J Mol Imaging. 2013; 2013:290750. doi: 10.1155/2013/290750. [cited by applicant]
Horwitz, E.P. et al., “A Lead-Selective Extraction Chromatographic Resin and its Application to the Isolation of Lead from Geological Samples,” Analytica Chimica Acta, vol. 292, issue 3, Jul. 11, 1994, pp. 263-273. http… [cited by applicant]
International Preliminary Report on Patentability & Written Opinion, re application No. PCT/US2023/031989, dated May 27, 2025. [cited by applicant]