Appeal No. 1997-2954
Application No. 08/401,876
APPENDIX
22. A device for heating and agitating sample vials
having caps with a septum therein for withdrawing gaseous
material from a headspace of said vials for analysis by gas
chromatography, comprising:
a platen mounted on a support and having a plurality of
chambers, each of said chambers having a bottom wall for
supporting one of said sample vials on the bottom wall, the
bottom wall having an opening for providing access to retained
sample vials from below;
an electrically powered heater mounted to heat said
platen;
a vial transport mounted relative to the platen for
transporting a vial from above a chamber to lower the vial
into such chamber, and the reverse;
a vial mixing device mounted relative to the platen and
alignable with the chamber and comprising a rod at least
partially extendible into said chamber through said opening
from below to contact said vial and mix the contents by
pulsating the vial to increase the rate of transport of
gaseous components from liquid in said sample vial to said
headspace; and
a needle mounted relative to the platen for alignment
with the chamber for extracting material from said headspace
through said septum after said needle punctures said septum of
said vial.
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