The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 02, 1976
Filed:
Feb. 08, 1974
Gene E Lightner, Kennett Square, PA (US);
Other;
Abstract
According to the method disclosed, a capillary tube is first dipped into a sample receptacle and filled through capillary action. The tube is then withdrawn from the receptacle and lowered over a chromatographic plate such that the lower end of tube either just touches the plate or is spaced therefrom such that there is a small gap between the end of the tube and the plate. Air pressure is then applied to the other end of the capillary tube -- in the first instance to drive the liquid in the capillary out onto the plate at a known rate; in the second instance air pressure is applied to the other end of the capillary tube to form a droplet that bridges the gap between the tube end and the plate. Once the droplet makes contact with the plate, it is sucked into the interstices of the coating material of the plate. In alternative methods of the invention, air pressure is used to control the volume of the sample admitted to the capillary tube. A resilient, closed container, such as a bellows, is used for this purpose. This same container is positioned to be compressed as the tube is lowered for spotting to aid in forming the droplet and/or exhausting the tube at a reproducible rate. An apparatus is also disclosed for performing the method of this invention. This apparatus includes a capillary tube and a drive means for raising and then lowering the filled tube with respect to the chromatographic plate for spotting the plate, then rotating the tube to a filling position having a sample receptacle and lowering the tube into and out of the receptacle whereby the tube is filled by capillary action. The drive means may either maintain a predetermined gap between the lower end of the tube and the chromatographic element or allow the tube to touch the plate. An adjustable pressure means supplies a fluid pressure to the other end of the tube.