Orifice inside optical element
First Claim
1. A particle analyzing apparatus for studying individual microscopic sized particles in liquid suspension, said apparatus including a flow cell having a particle sensing orifice through which a stream of said particles in suspension are passed, radiation source means for providing radiation to illuminate a given particle in said particle sensing orifice, radiation detector means responsive to optical signals caused by the passage of said given particle through said radiation for generating an analog electrical signal, said flow cell having an upstream passageway and a downstream passageway formed in opposed ends of said flow cell, said particle sensing orifice being disposed in liquid connecting relationship between said passageways, the improvement being characterized by:
- said flow cell comprising a substantially spherical element;
said spherical element having a monolithic structure;
a light illumination optical axis along which said radiation is provided by said radiation source means and at least one light collecting optical axis along which said optical signals are collected by said radiation detector means, said optical axes being aligned to intersect said orifice, and said spherical element being essentially radially symmetric with respect to said optical axes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is an electro-optical transducer for simultaneously making optical measurements and electrical volume measurements on particles suspended in a flow stream passing through an orifice positioned inside an optically clear spherical element.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A particle analyzing apparatus for studying individual microscopic sized particles in liquid suspension, said apparatus including a flow cell having a particle sensing orifice through which a stream of said particles in suspension are passed, radiation source means for providing radiation to illuminate a given particle in said particle sensing orifice, radiation detector means responsive to optical signals caused by the passage of said given particle through said radiation for generating an analog electrical signal, said flow cell having an upstream passageway and a downstream passageway formed in opposed ends of said flow cell, said particle sensing orifice being disposed in liquid connecting relationship between said passageways, the improvement being characterized by:
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said flow cell comprising a substantially spherical element; said spherical element having a monolithic structure; a light illumination optical axis along which said radiation is provided by said radiation source means and at least one light collecting optical axis along which said optical signals are collected by said radiation detector means, said optical axes being aligned to intersect said orifice, and said spherical element being essentially radially symmetric with respect to said optical axes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification