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:
Jun. 07, 2005
Filed:
Oct. 09, 2001
Robert C. Hughes, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Ronald P. Manginell, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Mark W. Jenkins, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Richard Kottenstette, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Sanjay V. Patel, San Diego, CA (US);
Robert C. Hughes, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Ronald P. Manginell, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Mark W. Jenkins, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Richard Kottenstette, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Sanjay V. Patel, San Diego, CA (US);
Sandia Corporation, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Abstract
A chemical-sensing apparatus is formed from the combination of a chemical preconcentrator which sorbs and concentrates particular volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and one or more chemiresistors that sense the VOCs after the preconcentrator has been triggered to release them in concentrated form. Use of the preconcentrator and chemiresistor(s) in combination allows the VOCs to be detected at lower concentration than would be possible using the chemiresistor(s) alone and further allows measurements to be made in a variety of fluids, including liquids (e.g. groundwater). Additionally, the apparatus provides a new mode of operation for sensing VOCs based on the measurement of decay time constants, and a method for background correction to improve measurement precision.