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Pneumatic concentric nebulizer with adjustable and capillaries

  • US 5,884,846 A
  • Filed: 09/18/1997
  • Issued: 03/23/1999
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/19/1996
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A pneumatic concentric nebulizer with an adjustable and replaceable central sample capillary comprising:

  • a central housing having an open rear end, an open front end, a bore extending from said rear end to said front end, and a gas entrance opening communicating with said bore, said gas entrance opening being adapted for gas-tight engagement with a source of pressurized gas for introducing pressurized gas into said housing;

    a nebulizer tube having a rear gas entrance end, a forward gas expulsion end and an interior surface extending between said gas entrance and gas expulsion ends and defining a channel therebetween, said forward end terminating in a gas expulsion orifice;

    nebulizer tube sealing means proximate to said front end of said housing for removably receiving and sealably engaging said nebulizer tube proximate its gas entrance end so that a gas tight seal is formed between said nebulizer tube and said housing when the apparatus is in use;

    a central capillary having a sample intake port, a sample exit port, an outer wall, and an inner wall, said inner wall defining a sample channel that extends from said sample intake port to said sample exit port, said sample intake port being attachable to a source of sample to be nebulized;

    capillary sealing means proximate to said rear end of said housing, said capillary sealing means being movable between an open position and a sealing position for slidably and removably receiving, and selectively sealably engaging, said capillary such that when said capillary sealing means are in the open position said sample exit port of said capillary may be received through said rear end of said housing and translated linearly forward within said housing toward said gas expulsion end of said nebulizer tube until a desired location for said sample exit port with respect to said gas expulsion orifice has been attained at which point said capillary sealing means can be moved into its sealing position to form a gas tight seal between said housing and said capillary so that when said nebulizer tube and said capillary are both sealably engaged by said housing, and pressurized gas is introduced into said housing through said gas entrance opening, the gas is expelled through said gas expulsion orifice of said nebulizer tube at a high enough velocity to create a low pressure system in the vicinity of said sample exit port of said capillary sufficient to draw sample from said capillary by free suction into the path of the exiting g as which in turn will nebulize the sample and propel it generally in the direction of the exiting gas.

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