JP3134325U - Chromatograph mass spectrometer - Google Patents

Abstract

A self-closing tubule insertion gate that can be inserted even in a fragile capillary column is provided, thereby improving the efficiency of column exchange work in GC / MS.
In a self-closing type thin tube insertion gate 1 configured to open and close a thin tube insertion hole 17 by movement of a ball 18 enclosed in a member (body 11) through which the thin tube insertion hole 17 is provided, this ball is provided. 18 is made of a magnetic material, and the body 11 is made of a nonmagnetic material. With this configuration, the capillary 18 can be inserted without applying excessive force because the capillary 18 can be opened by moving the ball 18 by bringing the magnet close to the ball 18 from the outside. In addition, when the capillary column 4 is extracted, the ball 18 falls by its own weight and immediately closes the narrow tube insertion hole 17 to prevent inflow of air.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an analyzer such as a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (hereinafter abbreviated as GC / MS), and more particularly to a self-closing tubule insertion gate for inserting a tubule into a vacuum vessel or the like at an interface section.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a conventional GC / MS with particular emphasis on the connecting part (interface) between the gas chromatograph part and the mass spectrometer part.
As shown in the figure, the end of the capillary column 4 provided in the gas chromatograph unit 2 is inserted into the mass analysis unit 3 via the capillary insertion gate 1 (the configuration of such a connection unit is a capillary direct connection type interface and Sometimes called). The sample injected from the sample introduction unit 5 in the gas chromatograph unit 2 is separated into each component in the process of being carried through the capillary column 4 by the flow of the carrier gas, and is introduced into the mass analysis unit 3, where mass analysis is further performed. To obtain data for qualitative and quantitative analysis.

  The narrow tube insertion gate 1 has a body 11 fixed to a vacuum partition 16 of the mass analysis unit 3 with a nut 15 as a main constituent member, and the capillary column 4 is inserted into a thin tube insertion hole 17 penetrating the body 11, and a ferrule 13 is inserted. The capillary column 4 is fixed while maintaining airtightness by tightening the nut 12 with pinching. Reference numeral 14 denotes a packing that maintains the airtightness between the body 11 and the partition wall 16.

  The capillary column 4 needs to be frequently replaced depending on the purpose of analysis. When the capillary column 4 is replaced, if the nut 12 is loosened and the capillary column 4 is pulled out, the air flowing into the vacuum system through the narrow tube insertion hole 17 is removed. As a result, the inside of the mass spectrometer 3 may be contaminated. Therefore, it is necessary to first replace the capillary column 4 after stopping the vacuum pump (not shown) of the mass spectrometric section 3 to lower the vacuum. In this case, since it takes a long time to operate the vacuum pump again after the replacement to reach the required vacuum level for analysis, the work efficiency is extremely poor. For this reason, there is a need for a self-closing tubule insertion gate that automatically closes the tubule insertion hole 17 even if the capillary column 4 is extracted without lowering the vacuum.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a conventional self-closing tubule insertion gate. This is an example of a self-closing gate used in a part for introducing sample ions from an atmospheric pressure ionization part into a vacuum system in a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer (hereinafter referred to as LC / MS). Is shown as
In FIG. 4, the right side of the partition 16 is a vacuum system, and the left side is an atmospheric pressure space. A ball 33 is enclosed in the middle of a thin tube insertion hole 35 penetrating through the body 32 fixed to the partition wall 16, and the metal thin tube 31 is inserted by pushing up the ball 33. Since the thin tube 31 is easily contaminated with a sample residue or the like, it often requires cleaning. When the thin tube 31 is removed for cleaning, the ball 33 is pushed by the spring 34 and moves downward, and closes the thin tube insertion hole 35 to prevent inflow of air. Reference numeral 36 denotes a cover for maintaining airtightness and preventing contamination.

Utility Model Registration No. 3109181

The conventional example of the self-closing gate shown in FIG. 4 is a method in which the ball is pushed away by the capillary tube itself in the process of inserting the capillary tube, but the weak capillary column has insufficient strength to push the ball away. If the structure is applied to GC / MS as it is, the capillary column may be damaged.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and aims to provide a self-closing tubule insertion gate that can be inserted even with a fragile capillary column, thereby improving the efficiency of column exchange work in GC / MS. And

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a thin tube insertion gate in the interface portion, a nonmagnetic material member through which a thin tube insertion hole is penetrated, and enclosed in this member, and moved by an external magnetic field to move the narrow tube. It is comprised with the ball | bowl of the magnetic material which opens and closes an insertion hole. By configuring in this way, it is possible to open the capillary insertion hole by moving the ball by bringing the magnet close to the vicinity of the ball from the outside, so that it can be inserted without applying excessive force to the capillary column, Moreover, when the capillary column is pulled out, the ball falls and immediately closes the narrow tube insertion hole to prevent inflow of air.

  By using the narrow tube insertion gate of the present invention configured as described above for the GC / MS interface unit, it becomes possible to replace the column without dropping the vacuum of the mass analysis unit, and the efficiency of the column replacement work is improved. The equipment utilization rate is improved.

The chromatographic mass spectrometer provided by the present invention has the following characteristics. That is, the first feature is that the narrow tube insertion hole is opened and closed by the movement of a ball enclosed in a member through which the thin tube insertion hole is provided. The second feature is that the ball is made of a magnetic material. And the member is made of a nonmagnetic material.
Therefore, the basic configuration of the best mode is a chromatograph mass spectrometer equipped with a thin tube insertion gate having the above two characteristic configurations.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those shown in FIG.
This embodiment is different from FIG. 3 in that a ball 18 made of a magnetic material (for example, soft iron) is enclosed in the middle of the narrow tube insertion hole 17. On the other hand, the body 11 is made of a nonmagnetic material (for example, nonmagnetic stainless steel). The ball 18 can move in a direction perpendicular to the thin tube insertion hole 17 in the same manner as the ball 33 in FIG. 4. In the state of FIG. 1, the ball 18 is retracted above the inserted capillary column 4. When 4 is extracted to the left, it falls by its own weight and closes the thin tube insertion hole 17.
Reference numeral 19 denotes a plug for enclosing the ball 18.

When inserting the capillary column 4, if a magnetic force is applied from above the plug 19, the ball 18 is attracted by this and moves upward, so that the capillary column 4 can be inserted without difficulty. FIG. 2 shows this process. In the figure, the same components as those in FIG.
Hereinafter, the process of inserting the capillary column 4 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6A, the capillary column 4 previously passed through the nut 12 and the ferrule 13 is inserted into the narrow tube insertion hole 17 until just before the ball 18, and then the permanent magnet 20 is brought close to the ball as shown in FIG. After pulling 18 upward, the capillary column 4 is further inserted as shown in (C) and the nut 12 is tightened, and the state shown in FIG. 1 is obtained and the insertion is completed.

Note that, instead of the permanent magnet 20, an electromagnet may be installed in advance, and a magnetic force may be generated by energizing when the thin tube is inserted. If the plug 19 in FIG. 1 is also made of a magnetic material such as soft iron, the plug 19 acts as a yoke. Therefore, the ball 18 can be attracted even with a relatively weak magnetic force, and the reliability of the present invention is improved.
Further, as is obvious from the above description, the present invention can be applied not only to GC / MS but also to an atmospheric pressure ionization section in LC / MS.

  The present invention can be used for an analyzer such as GC / MS.

It is a figure which shows one Example of this invention. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of this invention apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a conventional structure. It is a figure which shows the other example of a conventional structure.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Narrow tube insertion gate 2 Gas chromatograph part 3 Mass spectrometry part 4 Capillary column 5 Sample introduction part 11 Body 12 Nut 13 Ferrule 14 Packing 15 Nut 16 Bulkhead 17 Narrow pipe insertion hole 18 Ball 19 Plug 20 Permanent magnet 31 Narrow pipe 32 Body 33 Ball 34 Spring 35 Narrow tube insertion hole 36 Cover

Claims (1)

  In a chromatograph mass spectrometer in which a thin tube through which a sample separated in a chromatograph section passes is inserted into a vacuum system of a mass analyzing section through a thin tube insertion gate, the thin tube insertion gate is a thin tube insertion hole through which the thin tube is inserted. A chromatographic mass analysis comprising: a member made of a non-magnetic material through which is inserted; and a ball made of a magnetic material enclosed in the member and moved by an external magnetic field to open and close the capillary insertion hole apparatus.

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