Electropneumatic apparatus for sampling rapidly predetermined volumes of a mixture, to be connected to a computer

An electropneumatic apparatus for performing a fast sampling of a liquid mixture, comprising:

• a chamber for containing said mixture, said chamber having a bottom aperture provided with a flow sensor connected to a processing and controlling means, and an upper aperture;
• a pressurized air system connected to said upper aperture and capable of alternately producing inside said chamber positive and negative pressures relative to an ambient pressure existing outside said chamber, said liquid mixture being held inside said chamber by said negative pressure produced by said air system, said air system being controlled by said processing and controlling means;
• and
• a manifold array under said bottom outlet for collecting predetermined sample volumes of said liquid mixture, said manifold array being movable by means of a motor controlled by said processing and controlling means;
• whereby a succession of said negative and positive pressures inside said chamber are producible by means of said pressurized air system controlled by said processing and controlling means, for exiting said predetermined sample volumes from said bottom aperture, said processing and controlling means calculating said predetermined sample volumes by means of said flow sensor, and said manifold array collecting said predetermined sample volumes.