Horizontal electrophoresis or isoelectric focusing apparatus

Claim 1

An electrophoresis or isoelectric focusing apparatus comprising: an elongated, electrically non-conductive, horizontal vessel having wall means defining an impermeable side wall and a pair of impermeable end walls; a pair of horizontally spaced-apart electrodes disposed inside said vessel close to the opposite ends thereof and adapted to be connected to a source of electrical potential for electrophoresis or isoelectric focusing; said vessel having therein a multiplicity of electrically non-conductive, impermeable, upright, generally parallel, horizontally spaced-apart partitions extending from one portion of said side wall transversely to the longitudinal axis of said vessel and partway across the cross section of said vessel, said partitions terminating at locations transversely spaced from the portion of said side wall that is opposed to said one portion of said side wall, so as to divide the space within said vessel into an unobstructed zone defined by the remainder of the cross section of said vessel and which extends from one longitudinal end to the other longitudinal end of said vessel and a multitude of separate horizontally spaced-apart compartments the inner ends of which compartments are open to said unobstructed zone, said compartments otherwise being isolated from each other, whereby a layer of starting species and an electrophoresis or isoelectric focusing medium can be placed in said unobstructed zone and subjected to electrophoresis or isoelectric focusing therein and then fractions of said starting species can be moved into said compartments by turning said vessel about the horizontal longitudinal axis thereof.