US 7,461,671 B2 · Automatic sample collector

Abstract

This invention relates to an automatic sample collector for liquids which are discharged from a chromatographic column, a dialysis apparatus, or a reaction container, for example, and are consecutively collected at a give volume division, a method for collecting samples of a liquid in a predefined chronological sequence, and uses of the inventive sample collector. The volume is divided by assigning one or several gas-permeable liquid barriers (4, 5) to each collection container (3). The sample collector can be produced as one piece which is for single use and is made of polypropylene, Teflon, or other suitable materials. The inventive sample collector has the advantage that it requires no source of energy and can be autoclaved and miniaturized, among other things. The design of the inventive sample collector makes it possible to keep the content of the collection containers free from oxygen or immediately freeze the liquid flowing into the collection containers.

Claims21

Dependent claims

Automatic sample collector for chronological deposition of liquids having

a plurality of collection containers arranged in series, each connected to a supply line through a liquid inlet,
a supply liquid barrier located in the supply line after each liquid inlet that is gas-permeable in dry condition and becomes permeable to liquids after contact with the liquid and after a defined pressure difference thereover is exceeded and on the basis of wetting resistances, and
a second gas-permeable liquid barrier on the basis of wetting resistances being integrated into the collection container for preventing the inflow to the collection container through the liquid inlet after the collection container has been filled, wherein the collapse of said second gas-permeable liquid barrier requires a greater pressure difference thereover than the collapse of the supply liquid barrier.

Method extracting a sample from a flow of liquid, comprising

guiding the liquid in a supply line of a sample collector to a gas-permeable liquid barrier on the basis of wetting resistances and which becomes permeable to liquids after contact with the liquid and after a defined pressure difference thereover is exceeded and guiding the liquid via a liquid inlet that branches off from the supply line upstream of the gas-permeable liquid barrier and runs into a collection container,
then filling said liquid into the collection container through the liquid inlet,
then interrupting the feed-in of the liquid through the liquid inlet by a second gas permeable liquid barrier on the basis of wetting resistances, wherein collapsing the second gas-permeable liquid barrier requires a greater pressure difference thereover than collapsing the supply liquid barrier,
the second gas-permeable liquid barrier being integrated into the collection container, whereupon
a pressure in the collection container increases,
the liquid barrier is permeated after a defined pressure difference thereupon is exceeded and
the liquid continues to flow through the supply line.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Automatic sample collector

Life of this patent

Automatic sample collector

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims21