History of Centrifuge

Centrifuge

Classic design of centrifuge (1941, made by Shimazu Seisaku-sho)




References
・『島津化学器械目録』（1941）200号 (From National Diet Library Digital Collections)
・『島津化学器械目録』（1936）300号
・「光学顕微鏡の技術系統化調査」(PDF)
・Evolution of the Laboratory Centrifuge (PDF)
・『医療筌蹄. 上巻 』(1897)
ヘルマン・リーデル 著[他] (南江堂)
The author introduces a centrifuge (called “Steenbech-Litten Centrifuge”) made by Germany. The mechanism of the centrifuge is explained in detail.


p.219
「スチーンベック、リッテンの遠心分離機（Steenbech-Litten’sche Centrifuge）は特に尿を速かに沈澱せしめ、之に依て診断を速定し得るの目的にて案出せしものなり。／此器械は手柄を装せし曲柄（a）に依て廻転せられ、而して歯輪伝搬の作用に依て需要の回転速力を得るものに＊青銅色の台上に鋼鉄円柱ありて之に二個の硝子管（cc）を有する遠心分離臀（b）を附せり。／小硝子円筒（第百二十六図）は此器械に供用すへき液を入るるに充て且つ硝子/p.220/の破裂に於けるか如き不慮の事変を予防せん為め金属鞘（第百二十五図　c）の中に包容す。／器械の安置し在るときは硝子円筒及ひ金属鞘は横棹の両端に於て鉛直に懸吊し、器械の動作を＊なむときは金属鞘と硝子円筒は一個の間接中に運動し得るを以て高挙せられて、第百二十五図の點線を以て仮示せるか如く横棹と同方向即ち地平の方向を取って振動す、此際液を充填（漢字）しある円筒硝子の其基底は一圏の周辺を描き其中心を横棹の中央に在す、此遠心力に依って液中の固形分即ち最も重き成分は圏の最外部即ち硝子円筒の基底に向/p.221/つて駆逐せらる而して既に全く固形文を沈澱するの后は之を吸液菅に取りて顕微鏡的及ひ化学的に固形分の検査に着手すへし。（以下略）」

・医療用（尿の分離）
・国会図書館デジタルライブラリーで発見できた（図付きの）最古の文献がこれだった。
・1897年まで資料上で遡ることができたのに驚いた。
・構造が剥き出しなので、初期の遠心分離機の構造がなんとなく想像できた。
・ハンドルから背部の歯車までの動力の伝達のしかたは理解できるが、背部の構造が想像できない。どのような仕組みで上のチューブを回すところに
・土台は鉄製か？重くてしっかりしていそう。
・どれくらいの速さで回るのか。島津のカタログのシンプルな遠心分離機は、歯車と棒がかみ合わさっただけなので、あまり回転速度はなさそうに思われる。


1951年のクリーンベンチ（毎日新聞）

Infographics: how centrifuge have developed

(Image from here)

“1864: Antonin Prandtl developed and commercialized the first dairy centrifuge for separating cream from milk.”

“1869: Friedrich Miescher was the first to adopt a crude centrifuge for laboratory application, using it to isolate a cell oragelle. This process led to the discovery of an important class of biological constituents, later to be known as nucletic acids.”
（Oragelle=細胞小器官）

“1879: Gustaf de Laval, a Swedish engineer and inventor, demonstrates the first continuous centrifugal separator, leading to the widespread commercialization of the technology for the first time”

超遠心機
“1920-1930: Theodor Svedberg, a Swedish colloid chemist, develops the first ultracentrifuge. Capable of achieving 900,000×g, Svedberg used his centrifuge to determine the molecular weight and subunit structure of highly complex proteins such as hemoglobin”

エアーコンプセッサー式、分析機器から飼料調整に以降
“1930: Emile Henriot developed a centirifuge able to achieve high rotational speeds by means of a bearingless top, driven and supported by compressed air. This transitioned the ultracentrifuge out of the realm of a purely analytical instrument and into sample preparation.”

真空遠心分離（？）
“1930s: Edward Pickels and Johannes Bauer together build the first high-speed vacuum centrifuge suitable for the study of filterable viruses. Later, Pickels went on to develop the more convenient, electrically driven ultracentrifuge.”

卓上型遠心分離機の発明
“1940s: Ivan Sorvall started Sorvall in the 1940’s, and invented the Superspeed centrifuge, the SS-1, an open tripod tabletop unit.”

“1946: Edward Pickeles cofounded Spinco(Specialized Instruments Corp.) in Bermont, California, and marketed an ultracentrifuge based on his design. However, sales of the technology remained low and Spinco nealy went bankrupt in the early years.”“

“1949: Spinco introduces the Model L, the first preparative ultracentrifuge to reach a speed of 40,000rpm, and marking a change in the fortunes of Spinco.”
（・・・・）

Reference
William B. Jensen. 2017. Fleeing the Center:A Brief History of the Laboratory Centrifuge(Notes from the Oesper Collections), Museum Notes, No.47, 1-4.
https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/bitstream/handle/2374.UC/750867/Fleeing_the_Center.pdf?sequence=1
（The articule for the exhibition シンシナティ大学化学生物学図書館とシンシナティ大学化学学部の共同事業である「化学史におけるエスパー・コレクション」から。エスパー（Ralph Edward Oesper: 1886-1977）は化学者で、1918年から1951年までシンシナティ大学で教鞭をとった。）

Centrifuge in Dairy Farming

4/1(Fri)

Movie: History of Centrifuge
https://youtu.be/Q3CSUfjfgus

The origin of centrifuge that was developed for milk separation.
A Swedish engineer invented the first centrifuge in 1880s in order to help cattle farmers to separate fresh cream from milk.

“How to work centrifuge basic principe”
https://youtu.be/nX0NNfV8nWw

“Babcock centrifuge”

Stephen Moulton Babcock (1843-1931), who was an American agricultural chemist at the University of Wisconsin, developed Babcock centrifuge (See picture). He made it to “test for the butterfat content of milk known as the Babcock test”(Jensen 2017:1). The test became popular among creameries and cheese factories to prevent farmer from diluting milk.
（Butterfat=乳脂肪）
Wikipedia(Japanese)

この検査では、牛乳を特製のフラスコの中に入れ、そこに濃硫酸を加え、脂肪の遊離を促す。
700～1200rpm × 5min.



↓これが大型化してこう変化？

(Image from here)

The picture how it was used.

(Image from here)

It is really similar to the centrifuge which I saw on the Shimazu Seisakusho’s catalogue published in 1941. It could be thought that the designs of centrifuge both in science and dairy farming were alike until a certain point. It is quite interesting.

Movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJoC3AyZBYk