Mass spectrometer with adjustable aperture mechanism
US5376787A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 10, 1993 |
| Grant date | Dec 27, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 10, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01J49/025
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In a mass spectrometer, an aperture defining a beam path to a particle detector (4) is defined by a fixed aperture (5) and a cover (6) mounted on respective carriage assemblies (50,49) running along a beam 46. When a shaft (36) drives carriage (50), a rod (22) on carriage (49) is engaged by an end of a slot (21) of carriage (50), so that both carriages can be moved to a desired aperture location. After reaching this position, carriage (50) may be moved in the opposite direction, within a range defined by the length of the slot (22), without causing movement of carriage (49), to vary the amount by which member (6) covers member (5) and to thereby define a desired aperture width. A plurality of carriages can be coupled to one another in this manner to form a chain of apertures whose positions and widths may be varied independently using a single drive shaft (36). The fixed aperture (5) and cover ( 6) may be replaced by a pair of opposed aperture-edge defining members in the same plane.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.