Thermo Electron Scientific Instruments Corporation

Matthew Daniel Ebersole

Jeffrey G Hirsch

John R Iverson

Carla S Draper

Dennis Merrill, Ii

A mixing bin for the blending of materials (e.g., pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, etc.) bears a spectrometer which monitors the characteristics of the material being tumbled within the bin interior to thereby obtain an indication of the degree to which the material is mixed. An accelerometer also rides on the mixing bin with the spectrometer, and it monitors the position of the mixing bin as it rotates. The accelerometer measurements can then be used to trigger the taking and/or recordation of spectrometer measurements at times during which the material within the bin falls against the spectrometer's input window, thereby promoting greater accuracy in spectrometer measurements, and/or at the same bin position, thereby promoting greater uniformity between spectrometer measurements.

Spectrometric measurements during blending / mixing

An optical probe for use in infrared, near infrared, Raman, and other spectrometers includes a probe outer surface with a cavity defined therein. The probe emits light into a sample via emission locations on the probe outer surface, at least one being in the cavity. The light emitted into the sample is then collected at collection locations which include at least two of (a) a reflectance collection location situated on the probe outer surface for collecting diffusely reflected light from any adjacent sample; (b) a transmittance collection location situated in the cavity and receiving light transmitted across the cavity from an emission location situated on an opposite side of the cavity; and (c) a transflectance collection location situated in the cavity and receiving transflected light emitted from an emission location in the cavity, with such light being reflected from a side of the cavity opposite the transflectance collection location.

Multi-mode sampling probes

A spectrometer () includes a light source () providing output light () to the bundled input ends () of multiple light pipes (). The light pipes () branch into sets () between their input ends () and output ends (), with each set () illuminating a sample detector () (via a sample chamber ()) for measuring light scattered or emitted by a sample, or a reference detector () for obtaining a reference/datum measurement of the supplied light, so that comparison of measurements from the sample detector () and the reference detector () allows compensation of the sample detector measurements for drift. Efficient and accurate measurement is further assured by arraying the multiple light pipes () in each set () about the input bundle () so that each set receives at least substantially the same amount of light from the light source ().

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Sun Prairie, WI, United States of America

Matthew Daniel Ebersole