US 12,031,959 B2
Auto-sampler for chromatographs
Shotaro Ando, Kyoto (JP); Takashi Inoue, Kyoto (JP); and Kenichi Yasunaga, Kyoto (JP)
Assigned to SHIMADZU CORPORATION, Kyoto (JP)
Appl. No. 17/295,979
Filed by SHIMADZU CORPORATION, Kyoto (JP)
PCT Filed Dec. 10, 2018, PCT No. PCT/JP2018/045236
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 21, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/121365, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 18, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0026400 A1, Jan. 27, 2022
Int. Cl. G01N 30/24 (2006.01); G01N 30/32 (2006.01)
CPC G01N 30/24 (2013.01) [G01N 30/32 (2013.01); G01N 2030/328 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A chromatograph comprising:
a sampling needle having a tip end and a base end, the sampling needle being configured to suck sample through the tip end;
a pipe in fluid connection with the base end of the sampling needle; and
a connecting mechanism configured to fluidically connect the sampling needle and the pipe, the connecting mechanism including a first component fixed to the sampling needle and comprising a first recess having an inner circumferential surface and a second recess formed at a bottom surface of the first recess, a second component fixed to the pipe and housed in a packing holding portion, the packing holding portion being configured to fit into the second recess of the first component, the packing holding portion comprising a recess adjacent to the second component for receiving and holding a packing, and a fixing component rotatably provided on a side of the packing holding portion and around the pipe and comprising an outer circumferential surface, wherein
the second component is provided with a first screw on the outer circumferential surface, the first component is provided with a second screw on the inner circumferential surface, and the fixing component is configured to fix the first component and the second component by fitting the first screw into the second screw, rotating and pressing the second component toward the first component and into the second recess, and positioning the packing between the pipe and sampling needle,
the first component includes a first seal surface located at a bottom of the second recess on which an end surface of the sampling needle protrudes from or is disposed on the same plane of the first seal surface,
the second component includes a second seal surface facing the first seal surface, an end surface of the pipe protrudes from or is disposed within the same plane of the second seal surface,
the packing is interposed between the first seal surface of the first component and the second seal surface of the second component, and
the connecting mechanism fixes the first component and the second component by using the fixing component so that the end surface of the sampling needle and the end surface of the pipe are in contact with the packing, the packing being elastically deformable such that a gap between the end surface of the sampling needle and the packing and a gap between the packing and the end surface of the pipe vanish by fixing the first component and the second component.