Injector with minimal flow-interrupt transient

Abstract

An injector is described for injecting a sample at a high pressure into a chromatographic column, which avoids sample dilution that is characteristic of bypass loop injectors, and which also avoids significant flow interruption into the column that is characteristic of prior non-bypass injectors. The stator includes pump and column ports with openings (34a, 42a, FIG. 4) at the stator-rotor interface, where the openings are spaced by a small angle (m) of less than 10.degree. from one another. In the load position, a channel (50) formed in the interface surface of the rotor, which connects the pump and column openings in the load position, extends away from the pump opening by an angle (n) which is many times greater than the angle between the pump and column openings. As a result, as the injector is turned toward the inject position, the channel (50) continues to connect the pump and column openings until the rotor is close to the inject position. As the inject position is approached (FIG. 8), the trailing edge (50t) of the channel passes beyond the pump openings (34 a), while the leading edge (50f) of the channel connects to a sample opening (the channel is always connected to the column opening (42a). Thus, when the rotor is rapidly turned from load to inject positions, there is only a very brief interruption of liquid flow into the column.