Patent ID: 6767732
Filing Date: 2004-07-27
Classification: G01N,Y10S

Abstract:
An apparatus for detection of volatile products from a sample which comprises:(a) a wall or walls defining a confined space comprising therein an open container for containing the sample which produces the volatile products in the confined space, the open container having a bottom with sidewalls extending upwards therefrom to form the open container and wherein the sidewall has two openings positioned to be opposed to each other, each opening having a collimating lens therein; (b) one or more transducer means in a circuit mounted on an inner surface of the container defining the confined space which detects one or more volatile products produced from the sample to produce an analog signal; (c) an analog to digital conversion means in the circuit for converting the analog signal from the transducer means to a digital signal in the circuit; (d) an acquisition means in the circuit which stores the digital signal resulting from the analog signal in memory as a first detectable signal and retrieves the first detectable signal to provide the detection of the one or more volatile products, wherein the one or more volatile products in the confined space are detected by the one or more transducer means over time to produce a gas signature; (e) a spectrophotometer coupled to the collimating lenses by fiber optics wherein one lens is coupled to the fiber optics from the light source in the spectrophotometer and the opposite lens is coupled to the fiber optics to the light detector in the spectrophotometer so that light absorption or scattering caused by a multiple of the volatile products in the confined space from the sample are detected by the spectrophotometer, to produce a second detectable signal which is a spectral footprint which is stored, and (f) an analyzer including a library of gas signatures and spectral footprints, wherein the analyzer compares the detected gas signature and spectral footprint to the library to determine the volatile products contained in the sample.