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US 5,495,108 AGranted
Orthogonal ion sampling for electrospray LC/MS
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorsJames A. Apffel, Jr., Mark H. Werlich, James L. Bertsch
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Abstract
The invention teaches the uses of a plurality of electric fields and of orthogonal spray configurations of vaporized analyte which combine so as to operate to enhance the efficiency of analyte detection and mass analysis with a mass spectrometer by reducing vapor in the vacuum system and concomitant noise. Several embodiments of the invention are described for purposes of illustration.
Claims19
An apparatus for converting a solute sampled into ionized molecules, comprising:
- a first passageway having a center axis, an orifice for accepting a solute sample and an exit for discharging the sample from the passageway in the form of an electrospray containing charged molecules;
- an electrically conductive housing connected to a first voltage source and having an opening arranged adjacent to the first passageway exit;
- and
- a second passageway arranged within the housing adjacent to the opening and connected to a second voltage source, the second passageway having a center axis, an orifice for receiving charged molecules attracted from the electrospray and an exit, wherein the center axis of the second passageway is arranged in transverse relation to the center axis of the first passageway such that charged molecules in the electrospray move laterally through the opening in the housing and thereafter pass into the second passageway under the influence of electrostatic attraction forces generated by the first and second voltage sources.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.