Goniometer base apparatus and method

A goniometer-related assembly comprising:

• a goniometer base housing;
• and
• a deformable insert;
• wherein:
• the goniometer base housing structured, sized, shaped and/or having material properties to make it suitable for use in X-ray crystallography;
• the goniometer base housing includes a stage attachment hardware set structured, located, sized and/or shaped to be detachably attached to a goniometer stage assembly;
• the goniometer base housing defines a recess that defines an interior space, with the interior space being shaped to include an insert receiving sub-space and a rod receiving sub-space;
• the goniometer base housing is shaped to define a first axis, a first axial direction and a first angular direction,
• the deformable insert is located in the insert receiving sub-space;
• the deformable insert is shaped, located, sized, structured and/or has material properties so that it will engage a rod when the rod is inserted into the rod receiving sub-space;
• and
• the deformable insert is further shaped, located, sized, structured and/or has material properties so that when the rod is engaged by the receiving hardware set, the receiving hardware set will positionally secure the engaged sample-holding rod to some degree such that the engaged rod:
• (i) is secured against movement by forces and thermal affects normally encountered under standard x-ray crystallography operating conditions, and (ii) is freely positionally adjustable by a user, relative to the goniometer base housing, in at least the first axial direction.

An X-ray crystallography system comprising:

• an X-ray source;
• a cooling sub-system;
• an X-ray sensor sub-system;
• a goniometer stage assembly comprising a rotating portion;
• a goniometer base housing;
• a rod receiving hardware set;
• and
• a sample-holding rod sub-system comprising a rod;
• wherein:
• the X-ray source is structured and/or located to supply X-ray radiation suitable for X-ray crystallography on a sample;
• the cooling sub-system is structured and/or located to cool the sample down to a temperature suitable for X-ray crystallography;
• the X-Ray sensor sub-system is structured and/or located to detect radiation from the X-ray source for X-ray crystallography purposes;
• the sample-holding rod sub-system is sized, shaped, located and/or structured to hold the sample so that at least some of the X-ray radiation supplied by the X-ray source will be incident on the sample;
• the rod defines a first axis, a first axial direction and a first angular direction;
• the goniometer base housing is rigidly mechanically connected to the goniometer stage;
• the rotating portion is rotatable in a second angular direction about at least a second axis so that the base member and rod receiving hardware can be rotated in the second angular direction by rotation of the rotating portion;
• the rod receiving hardware set is mechanically connected to the goniometer base housing;
• the rod receiving hardware set is sized, shaped, structured and/or located to releasably engage a portion of the rod, and
• the rod receiving hardware set is further sized, shaped, structured and/or located so that when the rod is engaged by the receiving hardware set, the receiving hardware set will positionally secure the engaged rod to some degree such that the engaged rod:
• (i) is secured against movement by forces and thermal affects normally encountered under standard x-ray crystallography operating conditions, and (ii) is freely positionally adjustable by the user in at least the first axial direction.

A method comprising the steps of:

• positively mechanically engaging a first rod, which is part of a first sample holding hardware set, with a first goniometer base, with the positive mechanical engagement between the first rod and the first goniometer base being sufficiently strong so that the first sample holding hardware, with its engaged first rod, will not move relative to the first goniometer base under standard X-ray crystallography operating conditions;
• subsequent to the positively-mechanically-engaging-a-first-rod step, performing a first X-ray crystallography operation using the first goniometer base and the first sample holding hardware set with its engaged first rod;
• subsequent to the performing-a-first-X-Ray-crystallography step, disengaging the first rod from the first goniometer base without damaging the first sample holding hardware set and without damaging the first goniometer base;
• subsequent to the disengaging-the-first-sample-holding-hardware-set step, positively mechanically engaging a second rod, which is part of a second sample holding hardware set, with the first goniometer base, with the positive mechanical engagement between the second rod and the first goniometer base being sufficiently strong so that the second sample holding hardware, with its engaged second rod, will not move relative to the first goniometer base under standard X-ray crystallography operating conditions;
• and
• subsequent to the positively-mechanically-engaging-a-second-rod step, performing a second X-ray crystallography operation using the first goniometer base and the second sample holding hardware set with its engaged second rod.