Inlet heating device for ion mobility spectrometer
US5763876A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 4, 1996 |
| Grant date | Jun 9, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 4, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N27/622
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Generally, the present invention provides a device for heating the sample stream inlet of an ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) sensor. The heating device increases the temperature of the sample stream inlet surface to reduce the amount of time between adsorption and desorption taking place on the surface. This greatly improves the ability of the IMS sensor to follow rapidly changing analyte concentration levels. An alternate preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a flow smoothing device for decreasing the turbulence present in the fluid flow entering the IMS sensor's carrier stream inlet. This flow smoothing insert permits increasing the fluid flow rate entering the IMS sensor's carrier stream inlet to levels which maximize the IMS sensor's measurement sensitivity without causing mixing of the sample and carrier fluid stream flows.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.