Appeal No. 95-4369
Application 08/117,242
The Invention
The invention is directed to an apparatus and method using a
remote laser to ablate a hazardous material sample, exciting the
sample in a remotely located inductively coupled plasma source,
and analyzing the elemental constituents of the sample in a
detector remotely located from the plasma source.
Claims 45, 64, 73 and 81 are the only independent claims.
Claims 45, 64 and 81 recite an aerosol transport system for
transporting the material sample to the remote inductively
coupled plasma source. Claim 73, on the other hand, recites not
an aerosol transport system but a filter for collecting the
sample. Representative claims 64 and 73 are reproduced below:
64. A method for sampling and analyzing a material located
at a hazardous site, the material having a surface and elemental
constituents, comprising the steps of:
a) positioning a portable sampling probe proximate the
surface of the material at the hazardous site;
b) directing laser radiation from a laser source
located remote from the probe onto the surface of the
material through a first optical fiber, the first optical
fiber having two ends, a first end coupled to said laser
source and a second end mounted to the portable sampling
probe, the laser radiation ablating a sample from the
material;
c) transporting the sample through an aerosol transport
system from said probe to a remotely located inductively
coupled plasma source; and
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