Docking stand for analytical instrument
AssigneeThermo Niton Analyzers LLC
InventorsMichael E. Dugas, Mark Hamilton, Kenneth P. Martin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An analytical instrument may be docked in a stand. The stand provides electrical power, cooling, gas to purge air from an analytical gap within the instrument and/or other supplies or services to the instrument. The stand contains a contactless memory, such as an RF-ID tag, which stores information about the supplies and/or services the stand is capable of providing to the instrument. The instrument reads the stand's contactless memory and automatically sets operational parameters of the instrument in accordance with the supplies and/or services the stand is capable of providing. Thus, the instrument may automatically operate in an enhanced mode, such as at a higher x-ray beam power, as a result of being mounted in the stand.
Claims18
A method for automatically setting an operating parameter of an analytical instrument, comprising:
- automatically determining if the analytical instrument is mounted on a stand;
- if the analytical instrument is determined to be mounted on the stand, operating the analytical instrument according to a first operating parameter;
- and
- if the analytical instrument is determined not to be mounted on the stand, operating the analytical instrument according to a second operating parameter different than the first operating parameter.
A method for automatically preventing unsafe operation of an analytical instrument that can operate in at least two different modes, the method comprising:
- automatically determining if the analytical instrument is mounted on a stand;
- if the analytical instrument is determined to be mounted on the stand, operating the analytical instrument according to a first of the at least two different modes only if a safety device on the stand has been activated;
- and
- if the analytical instrument is determined not to be mounted on the stand, operating the analytical instrument according to a second of the at least two different modes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.