Described is a stirrer of a machine for making and dispensing ice cream products, the stirrer rotating about an axis inside a mixing and cooling cylinder and comprising: a body defining a plurality of helical scraping blades extending around the axis and acting on an inside wall of the mixing and cooling cylinder to be scraped; a shaft for rotating the stirrer about the axis of rotation; a plurality of scraping members, each designed to be coupled to a blade and equipped with elastic coupling means for the blade adapted to be elastically deformed in order to allow it to be coupled to the blade.

A mixing device includes a base, shaft, impeller sleeve, and impeller blades. The base can be constructed for releasable attachment to an opening of a container, such as a 55-gallon drum. The shaft extends from the base and is coupled thereto such that rotation can be transmitted to the shaft by way of or through the base. The impeller sleeve is mounted on the shaft and supports the impeller blades. Each impeller blade includes an attachment leg and a stirring leg extending from the attachment leg. The impeller blades are supported so as to transition from a collapsed position with the stirring leg proximal to a central axis of the shaft to an extended position with the stirring leg distal from the central axis when the shaft is rotated. Each impeller blade can be formed of a plastic, such as a glass-filled polypropylene or glass-filled nylon.

A planting system includes a seed spreading assembly mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The seed spreading assembly includes a hopper having a hopper cavity, and an agitator. The agitator is coupled to the hopper, and includes an agitator frame in the hopper cavity. The agitator frame includes one or more agitator members coupled to a support subframe. The one or more agitator members are more flexible than the support subframe. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

A planting system includes a seed spreading assembly mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The seed spreading assembly includes a hopper having a hopper cavity, and an agitator. The agitator is coupled to the hopper, and includes an agitator frame in the hopper cavity. The agitator frame includes one or more agitator members coupled to a support subframe. The one or more agitator members are more flexible than the support subframe. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

A bone cement delivery system including a mixer, a reservoir for holding bone cement, a cannula that is connected to the reservoir and through which the bone cement is delivered into living tissue. A plunger that is advanced by a drive assembly, pushes the bone cement out of the delivery tube into the cannula for discharge from the cannula. A valve is located upstream of the cannula. A control unit regulates both drive assembly and the setting of the valve. The control unit is configured to, when deactivating the valve so as to stop the advancement of the plunger, close the valve. The closing of the valve reduces the extent to which the bone cement, which is under pressure continues to flow into and be discharged out of the cannula.

A method of mixing a fluid includes at least partially unfolding a collapsible bag bounding a compartment, the collapsible bag containing in the compartment at least a portion of an elongated drive line or drive shaft and an impeller secured to the drive line or drive shaft, the impeller including a plurality of impeller blades that are pivotable relative to the drive line or drive shaft, at least one of the plurality of impeller blades being in a collapsed position. A fluid is delivered into the compartment of the collapsible bag. The drive line or drive shaft is then rotated so as to rotate the impeller within the compartment and mix the fluid therein, the at least one of the plurality of impeller blades pivoting from the collapsed position to an expanded position as the impeller is rotated within the compartment.

The present set of embodiments relate to a bioproduction system, method, and apparatus for creating a scalable bioreactor system. Specifically, the present set of embodiments enable the determination of bioreaction performance characteristics of a commercial scale by matching operational parameters between a small test scale bioreaction to that of a commercial scale bioreaction. The system and methods do not rely on simply making bioreactor apparatuses across scales the same dimensionally which would not account for differences in fluid dynamic properties between very small to very large volumes, but requires tuning of a variety of systems (mixing assembly, sparger system, and headspace airflow system) in conjunction with one another to achieve predictive outcomes.

The present set of embodiments relate to a bioproduction system, method, and apparatus for creating a scalable bioreactor system. Specifically, the present set of embodiments enable the determination of bioreaction performance characteristics of a commercial scale by matching operational parameters between a small test scale bioreaction to that of a commercial scale bioreaction. The system and methods do not rely on simply making bioreactor apparatuses across scales the same dimensionally which would not account for differences in fluid dynamic properties between very small to very large volumes, but requires tuning of a variety of systems (mixing assembly, sparger system, and headspace airflow system) in conjunction with one another to achieve predictive outcomes.

A bone cement mixing and delivery system including a mixer, a delivery device, and a flexible extension tube. A connector is attached to a distal end of the flexible tube. The connector includes a housing, a fitting and an enlarged knob. A spindle that extends through the housing connects the fitting to the knob so the fitting rotates with the knob. A cannula is connected to the mixing and delivery system by placing the cannula fitting adjacent the connector fitting. The knob is rotated to result in the like rotation of the connector fitting. This causes the complementary threading on the connector fitting and the cannula fitting to engage.

The present set of embodiments relate to a system, method, and apparatus for culturing cells within a cell culture vessel having a mixing element. The cell culture system includes a flexible portion and a mixing element disposed therein. The mixing element includes a suspended foldable portion. The system is configured to reduce shear stress on cells without compromising mixing efficiency. This reduction is accomplished by using a mixing element having a large surface area allowing for reduced rotational speeds. The system is collapsible for ease of transport and disposal. The flexible portion collapses and the foldable portion folds to minimize the volume of the system while not in operation.