Segmenting valve
US6012488A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 17, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jan 11, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 17, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T137/86533
- WIPO fieldMechanical elements
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A valve that receives sample and solvent streams, and delivers slugs of different fluid samples separated by slugs of the solvent, to a detector. The valve includes a stator (140) having a central hole (40) and a circle of sample holes (51-54) and solvent holes (91-94). The valve also includes a rotor (150) with a first groove (162) that connects one of the sample or solvent holes to the central hole to flow to the detector. The first groove is wide enough and the space between adjacent supply holes is small enough, that as the first groove moves from one hole of the circle to the next, the groove becomes partially open to the next hole before it leaves the last hole to minimize the sudden increase in pressure along the flow to the detector. The stator face has a waste recess (144) and the rotor has one or more waste grooves (171-177) that extend between the first circle and the waste recess, so when a sample from a sample hole is not flowing as a slug toward the detector, the sample instead flows to the waste recess for disposal, to minimize the sudden increase in pressure at the sample holes.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.