Refractometer
AssigneeCarl Zeiss Jena GmbH
InventorsWolfgang Nebe, Rolf Godat
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a transmitted-light refractometer wherein a slit diaphragm is imaged on a diode array through a cuvette holding the sample. The cuvette itself is arranged in the telecentric beam path. The exit window of the cuvette has several regions in which the inner surfaces of the exit window are inclined differently to the inner surface of the entry window. In this way, several slit images are generated on the diode array and the relative spacings of these images are independent of a possible disadjustment of the condenser and the objective. An embodiment of the invention permits the simultaneous measurement of the refractive index and the absorption of the sample.
Claims12
A refractometer comprising:
- a light source for generating rays of light;
- illuminating optic collimating means for collimating said rays to form a collimated light beam defining an optical axis and having a predetermined cross section transverse to said axis;
- a cuvette arranged on said axis and defining a hollow enclosed interior space for receiving a sample to be analyzed;
- said cuvette having a transparent entry window and a transparent exit window for passing said light beam into and out of said interior space, respectively;
- said entry window having an entry inner surface and said exit window having an exit inner surface and said inner surfaces delimiting said interior space;
- sensor means disposed downstream of said exit window and defining a plurality of independently registering surface areas for detecting deflections of the light transmitted through said cuvette;
- said inner surfaces extending over at least two regions of said cross section of said collimated light beam;
- and,
- said exit inner surface being subdivided into a plurality of component surfaces arranged in corresponding ones of said regions of said cross section with said component surfaces being inclined at different angles with respect to each other.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.