Dialysis apparatus

Claim 1

A dialysis apparatus comprising a plurality of stacked supporting plates and a plurality of pairs of membranes each pair of membranes being disposed between a pair of plates and in stacked relation therewith, said plates being provided with grooves facing said pairs of membranes to permit passage of a liquid to be purified between the membranes of each pair and to permit passage of a purifying liquid between the outside of each pair of membranes and the surface of the adjacent plate, said stack of plates and membranes being provided with a distributing passage extending transversely of the stack of plates and membranes for introducing liquid to be purified, annular distributing button-like members disposed between the membranes of each pair, the center opening of each annular button-like member coinciding with the transverse distributing passage, each member being provided with an outer annular surface on one side of said member and an inner annular surface on the other side thereof, said one side also having first radial grooves extending from the central opening of said member to the inner boundary of the outer annular surface, and said other side having second radial grooves extending from the outer boundary of said inner annular surface to the outer periphery of said button-like member, each of said first radial grooves meeting a second radial groove to form a continuous passage from the center to the outside of said member, the portions of said member between said radial grooves forming transverse connecting bars, one of the annular surfaces and the surface of the adjacent plate surrounding the distributing passage therein being provided with annular sealing means for providing a seal between the outer surfaces of each pair of membranes and the surface of the adjacent plate, whereby the liquid to be purified may be passed into said transverse distributing passage and then radially outwardly through the continuous passage to pass between each pair of membranes.