Sample dispatching with fluidic sample retaining

A method of dispatching at least a portion of a fluidic sample to a fluid separation apparatus, wherein the fluid separation apparatus comprises a mobile phase drive configured for driving a mobile phase, and a separating device configured for separating a portion of a fluidic sample when comprised within the mobile phase the method comprising:

• providing a sample dispatcher comprising:
• a sampling path comprising a sampling volume, a sampling unit, and a retaining unit;
• and
• a switching unit configured to couple to the sampling path, a sampling fluid drive, the mobile phase drive, and the separating device,
• wherein the sampling fluid drive is configured to move at least a portion of the fluidic sample received by the sampling unit into the sampling volume, and to move at least a portion of the fluidic sample stored in the sampling volume into the retaining unit;
• receiving the fluidic sample by the sampling unit;
• temporarily storing an amount of the received fluidic sample in the sampling volume;
• at the retaining unit, receiving and retaining from the sampling volume at least a portion of the fluidic sample stored in the sampling volume, wherein the retaining unit comprises different retention characteristics for different components of the fluidic sample;
• and
• introducing, via the switching unit, at least a portion of the fluidic sample retained by the retaining unit into the mobile phase upstream of the separating device, wherein:
• during the introducing, the mobile phase drive, the separating device, and the sampling path are coupled together in a coupling point, and the sampling fluid drive is coupled to the sampling path;
• and
• the introducing comprises combining into the coupling point a flow from the sampling fluid drive with a flow of the mobile phase from the mobile phase drive, wherein the flow from the sampling fluid drive is through the sampling path and contains the fluidic sample retained by the retaining unit.