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. 30, 1999
Filed:
May. 29, 1998
James E Young, La Honda, CA (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus, system and method of fabricating the apparatus utilize a flexible substrate to provide structural integrity for the apparatus. The apparatus is an optical path device used in mass spectrometers to manipulate ions extracted from a sample of interest. The apparatus uses traces on a surface of the flexible substrate to generate a desired electrostatic field. Preferably, the flexible substrate is made of KAPTON.RTM. and the traces are composed of stainless steel or nickel. In one embodiment, an ion mirror is formed by shaping the flexible substrate and the traces to create a hollow conduit for the ions. In another embodiment, an einzel lens is formed by varying the configuration of the conductive material on the flexible substrate. In a different embodiment, a region of resistive material on the flexible substrate is utilized to create a field gradient. The resistive material can be used to create an ion mirror.