Gas valves for ion guides
AssigneeThermo Fisher Scientific (Bremen) GmbH
InventorHenning Wehrs
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ion optical arrangement (1) for use in a mass spectrometer comprises electrodes (11) defining an ion optical path, a housing (18) for accommodating the electrodes, a voltage source for providing voltages to the electrodes to produce electric fields, and a valve for allowing gas to enter and/or leave the housing. The valve comprises an electrostatic mechanism and/or a pneumatic mechanism. The electrostatic mechanism may comprise a flexible foil (30, 31) configured for covering at least one opening (16) in the ion optical arrangement when a first voltage is applied and being spaced apart from the at least one opening when a second voltage is applied. The pneumatic mechanism may comprise a Bourdon tube.
Claims6
An ion optical arrangement for use in a mass spectrometer, comprising:
- electrodes defining an ion optical path,
- a housing for accommodating the electrodes, the housing including an entrance aperture for ions to enter, an exit aperture for ions to exit, and multiple through holes for gas to exit,
- a voltage source for providing voltages to the electrodes to produce electric fields, and
- a valve for allowing gas to leave the housing, wherein the valve comprises an electrostatic mechanism;
- and
- wherein the electrostatic mechanism comprises a flexible foil arranged in a spacing between the housing and a support element, the electrostatic mechanism configured for covering the multiple through holes in the housing when a first voltage is applied to the flexible foil and being spaced apart from at least a portion of the multiple through holes to provide a flow path for gas to flow through the multiple through holes and out at least one edge of the flexible foil when a second voltage is applied to the flexible foil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.