US3758275A

US3758275A - Apparatus for providing test specimens in the form of spots

Info

Publication number: US3758275A
Application number: US00159346A
Authority: US
Inventors: B Quame
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-07-02
Filing date: 1971-07-02
Publication date: 1973-09-11
Anticipated expiration: 1990-09-11

Abstract

AN APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING TEST SPECIMENS IN THE FORM OF SPOTS. THE APPARATUS INCLUDES A SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR SUPPORTING A SHEET MATERIAL WHICH IS TO RECEIVE THE SPOTS. A RACK IS PROVIDED TO HOLD BEAKERS OR OTHER CONTAINERS IN WHICH THE SPECIMEN MATERIAL IS SITUATED DISSOLVED IN SUITABLE LIQUID SOLVENT. A CARRIER STRUCTURE CARRIES A PLURALITY OF CAPILLARY TUBES WHICH HAVE RECEIVING ENDS SITUATED IN THE BEAKERS IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE SOLVENT THEREIN WHEN THE RACK IS PLACED AT A PREDETERMINED POSITION WITH RESPECT TO THE CARRIER STRUCTURE FOR THE CAPILLARY TUBES. THESE TUBES RESPECTIVELY HAVE DISCHARGE ENDS WHICH ARE SPACED SUITABLY FROM EACH OTHER AND LOCATED OVER THE SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR THE SHEET MATERIAL SO THAT THROUGH CAPILLARY ACTION THE SPECIMENS DISSOLVED IN THE SOLVENT WILL BE DEPOSITED ON THE SHEET MATERIAL TO FORM THEREON SPECIMENS IN THE FORM OF DRY SPOTS RESULTING FROM EVAPORATION OF THE SOLVENT.

Description

P 1973 B. A. QUAME 3,758,275

APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING TEST SPECIMENS IN FORM OF SPOTS Filed July 2, 1971 2 Sheets-Shoat 1 54 70 70 INVENTOR. 2 BABINGTON A. QUAME ATTORNEYS Sept. 11, 1973 B. A. QUAME 3,758,275

APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING TEST SIECIMENS IN FORM OF SPOTS Filed July 2, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 62 NH; :1 M M 5 INVENTOR.

BAB l NGTON A. QUAME BY ,2 z 2 A TTORN E Y5 United States Patent O 3,758,275 APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING TEST SPECIMENS IN THE FORM OF SPOTS Babington A. Quame, 331 E. 29th St., New York, N.Y. 10016 Filed July 2, 1971, Ser. No. 159,346 Int. Cl. G01n N14 US. Cl. 23-259 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for providing test specimens in the form of spots. The apparatus includes a supporting structure for supporting a sheet material which is to receive the spots. A rack is provided to hold beakers or other containers in which the specimen material is situated dissolved in suitable liquid solvent. A carrier structure carries a plurality of capillary tubes which have receiving ends situated in the beakers in communication with the solvent therein when the rack is placed at a predetermined position with respect to the carrier structure for the capillary tubes. These tubes respectively have discharge ends which are spaced suitably from each other and located over the supporting structure for the sheet material so that through capillary action the specimens dissolved in the solvent will be deposited on the sheet material to form thereon specimens in the form of dry spots resulting from evaporation of the solvent.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for providing specimens in the form of spots situated on suitable sheet material.

At the present time it is known that specimens or samples can be provided in the form of spots on suitable sheet material. The specimen is usually located initially in a beaker forming a residue therein. A solvent is added to the beaker to dissolve the specimen, and then it is conventional through tedious time-consuming manual operations to utilize a capillary tube for transferring the dissolved specimen together with the solvent to a suitable thin-layer plate or paper. Particularly where a number of spots are to be provided on such sheet material, an extreme amount of time-consuming manual operations are required.

A further disadvantage encountered with conventional arrangements of this type resides in the fact that when the solvent With the desired specimen or sample dissolved therein is applied through the above Operations in the form of a spot on suitable sheet material, it is necessary to permit the solvent to evaporate so that a dry spot will be achieved. This requirement also involves loss of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which will avoid the above drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which is capable of providing a relatively large number of specimens in the form of dry spots on suitable sheet material in a manner which will provide these specimens in a period of time which is far shorter than has heretofore been possible and in a manner which will eliminate all of the tedious time-consuming manual operations previously required.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of this type which can be manufactured at a relatively low cost and which can be used by relatively unskilled personnel.

In addition it is an object of the present invention to Patented Sept. 11, 1973 provide for an apparatus of the above type a structure which will reduce to a minimum the time required for the solvent to evaporate.

Also it is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement which will conveniently be capable of handling a relatively large number of specimens.

According to the invention the apparatus includes a support means for supporting a sheet material which is to receive the spots. A rack carries a plurality of containers in which the specimens are located, dissolved in a suitable solvent. A carrier means is carried by the support means between the rack and the sheet material, and this carrier means carries a plurality of capillary tubes which have receiving ends respectively situated within and communicating with the solvent in the containers carried by the rack when the latter is placed in the predetermined position on the support means. These capillary tubes respectively have discharge ends which are suitably spaced from each other and which are located over the support means above the sheet material thereon so that through capillary action the solvent in the several containers is delivered through the capillary tubes onto the sheet material. A suitable heating means is provided for hastening the evaporation of the solvent on the sheet material so that dry spots of the specimens will remain on the sheet material suitably spaced from each other in accordance with the spacing of the discharge ends of the capillary tubes from each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION 'OF DRAWINGS" The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of an apparatus according to the present invention shown without the carrier means for the capillary tubes, without the sheet material which receives the spots, and without the rack for the beakers which contain the specimens dissolved in suitable solvent;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective illustration of the manner in which a plurality of capillary tubes are arranged with respect to beakers and a sheet material which is to receive the spots;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 shown with the rack for the beakers and with the carrier means and capillary tubes carried thereby;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional elevation of the structure of FIG. 3 taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 5 is a wiring diagram showing the electrical circuitry of the apparatus of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a support means 10 made of any suitable rigid material such as wood, plastic, metal, or the like or any combination of these materials. The support means 10 includes side walls 12 and a front wall 14. The side walls 12 and front wall 14 are fixed to extend upwardly from a bottom wall 16'which is visible in FIG. 4, and behind the front wall 14 is a rear wall 18, the inner surface of which is visible in FIG. 4.

The support means 10 also includes a top wall 20 having a rear elongated portion 22 extending all the way across the space between and being fixed to the top edges of the side walls 12 and rear wall 18. This top wall 20 includes also a pair of side portions 24 which extend forwardly from the rear transverse portion 22. These

portions

22 and 24 of the top wall 20 are situated at an elevation higher than the central front portion 26 of the top wall of the support means '10. Between the

upper portions

22 and 24 of the top wall 20 and the lower portion 26 thereof is a vertically extending part of the top wall 20, this vertically extending part having a rear transversely extending portion 28 extending between and fixed to the wall portion 22 and wall portion 26, and the top wall 20 has a pair of vertically extending side portions 30 extending between and fixed to the wall portion 26 and the portions 24 of the top wall 20. These wall portions 30 are also illustrated in FIG. 4.

Thus, the vertically extending

wall portions

28 and 30 of the top wall 20 extend upwardly from the periphery of the wall portion 26 of the support means 10. This wall portion 26 is adapted to support a sheet material 32, fragmentarily illustrated in FIG. 2. This sheet material 32 will have a size corresponding to the area of the wall portion 26, and the

vertical wall portions

28 and 30 will extend upwardly from the edges of the sheet material 32. This sheet material 32 may be a suitable precoated thinlayer chromatographic plate or paper to receive the spots which initially are in the form of specimens dissolved in suitable organic solvent, the specimens or samples being spotted on the thin-layer plate or paper to concentrate the specimen or sample to a small diameter at the location where they are applied to the sheet material 32. This sheet material 32 may, for example, have dimensions on the order of 20 cm. by 20 cm. As is also indicated in FIG. 2, the samples or specimens are initially located in organic solvent within the containers such as the several beakers 34 schematically represented in FIG. 2. A plurality of capillary tubes 36 have receiving ends located in these beakers 34 so that the solvent with the specimens dissolved therein will travel by capillary action through the several capillary tubes 36. These capillary tubes are carried by an elongated carrier means 38 in the form of a suitable elongated bar formed with bores through which the several capillary tubes 36 extend so as to be carried by the carrier means 38. This elongated bar 38 may be in the form of any elongated rod of rigid material, made of wood, plastic, metal or the like, and having a rectangular or square cross section. The several capillary tubes 36 have discharge ends 40, respectively, which become situated over the sheet material 32 carried by the support means 10 at the area 26 thereof, so that through capillary action the solvent with the specimens dissolved therein is deposited from the several containers 34 onto the sheet material 32 in the form of a plurality of spots 42, and upon evaporation of the solvent the specimens will remain in the form of dry spots on the sheet material 32. Of course it is to be understood that the illustration in FIG. 2 is schematic only and that actually in the apparatus of the invention it is possible to locate a relatively large number of capillary tubes and beakers 34 in order to provide a relatively large number of spots 42 distributed across the sheet material 32.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the support means 10- further includes a pair of opposed side walls 44 fixed to and extending upwardly from the rear portion 22 of the top wall 20. At their front ends the side walls 44 terminate next to a pair of upstanding channels 46 of substantially U-shaped cross section. These channels 46 are fixed to and extend from the top surface of the top wall 20. While the channels 46 are shown at the region of the rear of the wall portion 26, they may be located at the front region of the rear portion 22 of the top wall 20, if desired.

The hollow interiors 48 of the channels 46 are directed toward each other. These hollow interiors 48 have top open ends and may extend all the way down to the top surface of the top wall 20. However, the hollow interiors 48 may be terminated at a suitable distance above the top surface of the top wall 20, if desired, depending upon the height of the carrier means 38. The length of the carrier means 38 is such that its opposed end regions can be slipped down into the channels 48 so that when the carrier means 38 is introduced into these channels it will be properly held thereby with the several capillary tubes situated at a proper elevation with respect to support means 10.

The inner side surfaces of the upstanding walls 44 fixedly carry elongated stop bears 50 which have rear ends situated at locations which will determine the position of a rack which carries several beakers 34.

Referring to FIG. 3, it will be seen that a rack 52 is illustrated carrying a plurality of beakers 34. This rack 52 may be in the form of an elongated bar of wood, plastic, metal, or the like, formed with suitable openings in which the several beakers 34 are located. The carrier means 38 is also illustrated Within the channels of the upstanding members 46. The rack 52 simply rests directly on the rear portion 22 of the top wall 20, and after the carrier means 38 is situated within the hollow interiors 48 of the channels 46, the rack 52 is moved forwardly along the top surface of the rear portion 22 of the top wall 20. The result will be that the several receiving ends of the several capillary tubes 36 will extend into solvent in the several beakers 34. The discharge ends 40 of the several capillary tubes 36 are arranged as illustrated in FIG. 3 so as to provide a row of spots 42 suitably distributed with respect to each other across the sheet 32.

Thus, in order to use the apparatus the operator will first place a plurality of capillary tubes 36 in clean, dry condition, carried by the carrier means 38 on the apparatus in the manner illustrated in FIG. 3, and then the beakers 34 carried by the rack 52 will be placed in the position illustrated so that the receiving ends of the capillary tubes will extend into the solvent so that the latter will travel through the capillary tubes onto the sheet 32 in order to provide the spots thereon. As the operator moves the rack 52 forwardly it will extend up to the stop members 50 to be held thereby at locations which will assure that the receiving ends of the capillary tubes 36 extend into the solvent.

In order to provide a relatively rapid absorption and evaporation of the organic solvent specimens, a heating means is provided. This heating means includes electrical heating elements 54 suitably insulated and arranged beneath the wall portion 26 of the support means 10 in the manner shown in FIG. 4.

In addition to the heating provided by the heating elements 54, a blower means 56 is provided. This blower means is in the form of a suitable fan or blower driven by a suitable motor and sucking air in from the exterior through an inlet pipe 58. This pipe extends to the exterior through one of the side walls 12 and the blower and motor assembly is carried by the bottom wall 16 beneath the wall portion 26.

The blower means 56 has an upwardly directed discharge end 60 communicating with an elongated tube 62 which extends across the wall 26 beneath the latter, and this tube 62 has upwardly directed discharge ends 64 directing the air into the elongated channels 66 situated beneath the wall portions 24. The vertical wall portions 30 are respectively formed with elongated slots 68 which extend from the region of the rear vertical wall portion 28 to the region of the front wall 14, so that through these slots 68 air streams will be directed across a sheet 32 on the wall portion 26. Suitable heating elements 70 are situated in the path of flow of the discharge air flowing from the discharge 60 into the tube 62, so that the air will be heated by the heating elements 70.

The front wall 14 carries the controls for the apparatus. As may be seen from FIG. 3, through a suitable cord 72 having electrical conductors therein a plug 74 may be situated in any suitable wall outlet to provide the electrical energy required to operate the apparatus of the invention. The front wall 14 carries a switch-operating element 74 for turning the apparatus on an off. In addition there is a pilot light 76. Also the front wall 14 carries a rotary control knob 78 for controlling the heating elements 54 and a rotary control knob 80 for controlling the heating elements 70.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the switch-operating element 74 is operatively connected with a switch 82 for turning the entire apparatus on and off. This switch is situated in one of the lines 84 to which the apparatus is connected by the plug 74. Between these lines is connected a motor 86 connected to the blower means 56, so that when the switch 82 is closed by manipulation of the knob 74 the blower means 56 will be operated.

The rotary control knob 70 is connected to a rotary contact 88 which can connect into the circuit either the left heating element 54 shown in FIG. 5 or the pair of right heating elements 54 shown in FIG. 5 depending upon the position of the control 78. This control 78 can locate the rotary contact 88 in an off position where it does not connect any of the heating elements 54 into the circuit or it may have a warm position connecting only one element into the circuit or a hot position connecting a pair of the heating elements into the circuit. Thus, in a position shown in FIG. 5 the central heating element 54 will be connected into the circuit while in the hot position the pair of heating elements 54, located at opposite sides of the central element 54, will be connected into the circuit.

The heating elements 70 are also shown in FIG. 5. The manipulation of the knob 80 will connect one or both of these elements into the circuit. Thus, the knob 80 is connected to a rotary contact member 90 carrying an elec trically conductive element 92 and an elongated electrically conductive element 94 extending along an arc of a circle whose center is in the turning axis of the rotary contact 90. The element 92 will contact only the left contact 70 while the element 94 which is insulated by material 96 from the element 92 will engage both of the heating elements 70 to connect them both into the circuit. Thus in the hot position of control 80 both elements will be located in the path of air while in the warm position shown in FIG. 5 only one element 70 will be located in the path of heating air. This control 80 also has an ofl? position where neither one of the heating elements 70 will be connected into the circuit.

FIG. 5 also shows the manner in which the pilot lamp 76 is connected into the circuit.

Thus, with the apparatus of the invention it is possible to provide controls according to which the sheet material 32 is heated either by heating elements 54 or by an air stream which may be heated to an adjustable extent, or both of these expedients may be used simultaneously if desired, and in this way an extremely rapid evaporation of the solvent is achieved to provide the dry spots on the paper.

It is apparent from the above description that the apparatus of the invention can be manufactured at relatively low cost in order to achieve a substantially automatic deposition of spots on the paper or plate. The only manual operations required is placing of the beakers into engagement with the stops 50 so that the receiving ends of the capillary tubes will extend into the solvent, and then all of the operations will follow automatically. A sheet 32 with the spots thereon is easily removed from the wall 26 because the side wall portions 30 extend all the way to the front wall 14 so that a sheet or plate which is to receive the spots can be readily slipped onto and off from the wall 26 through the space between the vertical wall portions 30 at the front end regions of the latter.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for providing specimens in the form of spots on a given sheet material, stationary support means for supporting the sheet material which is to receive the spots and for maintaining the sheet stationary while it is supported by said support means, a rack for carrying containers having specimen material dissolved in solvent therein, and a plurality of capillary tubes respectively having receiving ends to be situated at the containers carried by the rack in communication with the interiors of the containers, respectively, for receiving the specimens dissolved in the solvent and respectively having discharge ends spaced from each other and situated over said support means to deposit the solvent with the specimens dissolved therein onto the stationary sheet material carried by said support means, whereby upon evaporation of the solvent the specimens in the form of spots will be situated on the sheet material which may then be manually removed from the stationary support means.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein an elongated carrier means carries the capillary tubes.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said support means supports said carrier means at a position for situating the receiving ends of said capillary tubes in said containers when the rack with containers carried thereby is placed in a predetermined position on the support means.

4. The combination of claim .3 and wherein a heating means is carried by said support means for heating the sheet material to hasten the evaporation of the solvent.

5. The combination of claim 3 and wherein a blower means is carried by said support means for blowing warm air over said sheet material carried by the support means for hastening the evaporation of the solvent.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said support means includes a supporting wall on which the sheet material is to be placed beneath the discharge ends of said capillary tubes, said wall having a pair of upstanding portions situated at opposed side edges of the sheet material and formed with elongated openings, said blower means communicating with said openings for directing air streams toward each other from the side edges of the sheet across the latter.

7. The combination of claim 3 and wherein a heating means coats with said support means for heating sheet material carried thereby to hasten evaporation of the solvent, and wherein a blower means communicates with the space over the sheet material for directing across the sheet material a stream of air for also contributing to the rapidity of the evaporation of the solvent.

8. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said support means removably supports said carrier means so that the latter and the capillary tubes can be readily placed on or removed from said support means.

9. The combination of claim 8 and wherein said rack carries a plurality of beakers having open ends through which the receiving ends of said capillary tubes are received to be placed in communication with specimens dissolved in a solvent in the beakers.

10. The combination of claim 9 and wherein a positioning means carried by said support means coacts with said rack for positioning the latter to situate the receiving ends of the capillary tubes in the beakers in communication with the solvent therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,368,872 2/1968 Natelson 23-253 3,533,744 10/1970 Unger 23-259 X 3,554,700 1/1971 Maxon 23-259 X 3,607,090 9/ 1971 Maxon 23-253 3,650,698 3/ 1972 Adler 23-259 X MORRIS O. WOLK, Primary Examiner R. E. SERWIN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

23-253 TP, R; 141-130