Title of Invention

MEMBRANE, A PROCESS FOR PREPARING THE SAME AND HOLDER FOR THE MEMBRANE

Abstract

A process for manufacturing a cellulose membrane comprising the steps: procuring plant material; extracting the contents of the plant material such as herein described; decanting the extract in a non-metallic or a non- metallic lined metallic container, adding sugar or sugar alcohol or other sources of carbon and energy for growth to the said extract; inoculating culture of bacteria of the kind as herein described into medium containing either yeast or a yeast free spent medium, if desired adding additives such as herein described to the said mixture and keeping the said culture for at least 4 hours at 0°C to 35°C to get a gelatinous film; was ling said film with the water to remove gelatinous matter to obtain the filter membrane.

Full Text

FORM 2 THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION SECTION 10 "Membrane, a process for preparing the same and holder for the membrane" Dr. Bosco Maria Agnelo Henriques, an Indian national of I-21 Stone Castle, Mandapeshwar, Borivil (West), Mumbai- 400103, India The following specification particularly describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed. GRANTED 27-4-2005 ORIGINAL 263/MUMNP/2000 The present invention relates to a cellulose membrane, a process for preparing the same and a holder for holding the membrane. The said membrane can be used for filtration among other uses such as blotting applications, ultra filtration dialysis, reverse- osmosis, electrodialysis and Electro-osmosis. BACKGROUND Membranes essentially have the following basic properties -pore size and resistance to chemicals, wet strength and temperature resistance for being used in any of the above applications. The known membranes are made of plastics such as cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate, nylon, PVDF (poly vinyl difluouride) and PTFE (Teflon). These membranes cannot be used. The disadvantages associated with the synthetic membranes are that these are costly as specialized technology is required to manufacture them and are not biodegradable and can be reused after lot of difficulties. The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a natural filter membrane, which besides being cost effective, economical, biodegradable is also easy to synthesize. Also since the culturing conditions is resistant to contamination it can be made by any housewife and villager. Another important advantage of the present invention is that it can be prepared under ordinary conditions and can be used in remote places such as villages where it is difficult for the hi-tech filters to reach. The membrane according to the present invention can be reused by washing it with dilute alkali hydroxide. Accordingly, the present invention provides a process for manufacturing a cellulose membrane comprising the steps: procuring plant material; extracting the contents of the plant material such as herein described; decanting the extract in a non-metallic or a non- metallic lined metallic container, adding sugar or sugar alcohol or other sources of carbon and energy for growth to the said extract; inoculating culture of bacteria of the kind as herein described into medium containing either yeast or a yeast free spent medium, if desired adding additives such as herein described to the said mixture and keeping the said culture for at least 4 hours at 0°C to 35°C to get a gelatinous film; washing said film with the water to remove gelatinous matter to obtain the filter membrane. The said filter membrane is primarily comprised of cellulose. The said plant material used is selected from tea leaves, coffee beans etc. The sugar used is preferably sucrose etc The plant extracts are obtained by boiling it with water for at least one minute or putting the plant material extract in hot water. The said inoculum is covered with a non-metallic or a metallic lined covering such as plastic, glass, ceramic, wood covering or a Teflon coated metallic covering to prevent contamination. The said container used is either a plastic or glass container or a Teflon coated metallic container. The said bacteria used in the preparation of the membrane have the following properties: gram-negative rods usually occurring in pairs and able to grow on a medium containing yeast extract only; can grow in a defined minimal medium comprising of one sugar or sugar alcohol (preferably glucose), the cations of sodium, potassium, ammonium, magnesium, calcium and anions of chloride, sulphate and phosphate with trace amounts of manganese, cobalt, borate, molybdate, iodide, copper and iron; it does not need nicotinamide to grow, cannot use ethanol as the sole carbon source and will lower the pH to less than 5.9 when grown in the presence of the following sugars or sugar alcohols viz., glycerol, sorbitol, mannitol, xylose and maltose; according to the Bergy's manual of Determinative Bacteriology these properties distinguish it from the common cellulose producer Acetobacter xylinum. The temperature for growing the culture is 0- 35°C The present invention also provides a holder for the membrane comprising: . a sturdy perforated or porous support for holding the membrane in place, said membrane being placed and held in place above the support, channeling means to direct the flow of the liquid under positive pressure onto the membrane and a resilient material to prevent leakage of the liquid. The said holder further comprises suction means for drawing the liquid through the membrane The said perforated or porous support is made from plastic, metal, glass, ceramic, wood, fiber etc. [We claim: 1. A process for manufacturing a cellulose membrane comprising the steps: procuring plant material; extracting the contents of the plant material such as herein described; decanting the extract in a non-metallic or a non- metallic lined metallic container, adding sugar or sugar alcohol or other sources of carbon and energy for growth to the said extract; inoculating culture of bacteria of the kind as herein described into medium containing either yeast or a yeast free spent medium, if desired adding additives such as herein described to the said mixture and keeping the said culture for at least 4 hours at 0°C to 35°C to get a gelatinous film; was ling said film with the water to remove gelatinous matter to obtain the filter membrane. 2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein said filter membrane is primarily comprised of cellulose. 3. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein said plant material used is selected from tea leaves, coffee beans. 4. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein sugar used is preferably sucrose. 5. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein plant extracts are obtained by boiling the plant material with water for at least one minute or putting the said extract in hot water. 6. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inoculum is covered with a non-metallic or a metallic lined covering such as plastic, glass, ceramic, wood covering or a Teflon coated metallic covering to prevent contamination. 7. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein said container used is either a plastic or glass container or a Teflon coated metallic container. 8. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bacteria used in the preparation of the membrane have the following properties: gram-negative rods usually occurring in pairs and able to grow on a medium containing yeast extract only; can grow in a defined minimal medium comprising of one sugar or sugar alcohol (preferably glucose), the cations of sodium, potassium, ammonium, magnesium, calcium and anions of chloride, sulphate and phosphate with trace amounts of manganese, cobalt, borate, molybdate, iodide, copper and iron; it does not need nicotinamide to grow, cannot use ethanol as the sole carbon source and will lower the pH to less than 5.9 when grown in the presence of the following sugars or sugar alcohols viz., glycerol, sorbitol, mannitol, xylose and maltose; according to the Bergy's manual of Determinative Bacteriology these properties distinguish it from the common cellulose producer Acetobacter xylinum. 9. 10. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the temperature for growing the culture is 0- 35°C. 11. A process for manufacturing a cellulose membrane as claimed in claim 1 wherein the membrane has a holder comprising: a sturdy perforated or porous support for holding the membrane in place, said membrane being placed and held in place above the support, channeling means to direct the flow of the liquid under positive pressure onto the membrane and a resilient material to prevent leakage of the liquid. 11. A holder as claimed in 10 further comprising suction means for drawing the liquid through the membrane 12. A holder as claimed in 10 wherein said perforated or porous support is made from plastic, metal, glass, ceramic, wood, fiber etc. 13. A process for manufacturing a cellulose membrane substantially as herein described. 14. A holder for membrane substantially as herein described. Dated this 20th day of June 2001 Of Anand And Anand Advocates Attorney for the Applicant

Documents:

263-mum-2000-cancelled pages(27-4-2005).pdf

263-mum-2000-claims(granted)-(27-4-2005).doc

263-mum-2000-claims(granted)-(27-4-2005).pdf

263-mum-2000-correspondence(27-4-2005).pdf

263-mum-2000-correspondence(ipo)-(29-6-2007).pdf

263-mum-2000-form 1(23-3-2000).pdf

263-mum-2000-form 19(19-5-2004).pdf

263-mum-2000-form 2(granted)-(27-4-2005).doc

263-mum-2000-form 2(granted)-(27-4-2005).pdf

263-mum-2000-form 3(1-8-2001).pdf

263-mum-2000-form 3(26-4-2005).pdf

263-mum-2000-form 4(21-6-2001).pdf

263-mum-2000-form 5(21-6-2001).pdf

263-mum-2000-power of authority(23-3-2000).pdf