US 11,885,786 B1
Insect olfactometer
Rudolph Strohschein, Micanopy, FL (US); James B. Estaver, Gainesville, FL (US); William Toreki, Gainesville, FL (US); David Mays, Gainesville, FL (US); and Neil H. Weinstein, Gainesville, FL (US)
Assigned to Sigma Scientific LLC, Micanopy, FL (US)
Filed by Sigma Scientific LLC, Micanopy, FL (US)
Filed on Jan. 31, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/589,850.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/143,047, filed on Jan. 29, 2021.
Int. Cl. G01N 33/00 (2006.01)
CPC G01N 33/0027 (2013.01) [G01N 33/0001 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An olfactometer comprising:
a) an enclosure comprising a floor, wall and lid, which together define an enclosed space containing gaseous fluid,
b) means for generating two or more discrete odor zones within said enclosed space, said means for generating comprising an inlet to deliver a gaseous fluid and an outlet to remove said gaseous fluid for each of the discrete odor zones to be generated by said means, wherein said inlet and outlet are positioned so that each discrete odor zone is will be spatially separated from every other discrete odor zone within said enclosed space by at least a portion of a background odor zone within said enclosed space, and size, shape, position, uniformity, and intensity of each of the discrete odor zones are established by size, position, and geometry of the inlet and outlet, and composition and rate of gaseous fluid flow,
c) means for controlling the composition and rate of gas flow through the inlet and outlet for each of the discrete odor zones,
d) means for inserting and releasing at least one live organism test subject into said enclosed space, and
e) means for permitting detection of a sensory response to one or more of the discrete odor zones by said at least one live organism, and
wherein at least one of said inlets for delivering gaseous fluid comprises an inner pipe, and at least one of said outlets to remove said gaseous fluid comprises an outer pipe having a greater diameter than the inner pipe, and wherein the inner pipe extends within and protrudes through the outer pipe.