Active pump phasing to enhance chromatographic reproducibility
US5897781A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 6, 1997 |
| Grant date | Apr 27, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 6, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2030/326
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A fluid delivery method and apparatus implementing active phasing to actively restore the substantially exact mechanical positions of driven components in a delivery system in order to precisely reproduce the mechanical signature and hydraulic characteristics of the system from run to run without perturbing output flow. The delivery system is configured to intelligently drive pump pistons to a known position and to deliver fluid(s) at a known pressure, and includes a plurality of pump modules each including motor driven syringes having respective pistons configured to reciprocate under control of a control mechanism. Pump phasing is accomplished through a mechanism of compensation delivery of the syringes. An independent, motor-driven syringe of any given pump in a plurality of pumps in a system has the ability to act as a delivering syringe to maintain a prescribed output flow while one other syringe of each of the plurality of pumps is repositioned under load. With the delivering syringe maintaining output flow, the syringe which is repositioning, i.e. being phased, can substantially simultaneously arrive at a destination position and at a destination pressure.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.