Patent ID: 6590652
Filing Date: 2003-07-08
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
Apparatus for at least detecting particles in a fluid, which includes a light source that generates a light beam that moves along a beam path through a detect zone, and a plurality of detectors that detect light scattered in different predetermined directions by a particle lying at said detect zone, comprising:a carrier formed of a solid transparent material, said carrier having walls forming a passage into which the fluid can pass and forming an outside surface, said detect zone lying in said passage and said detectors lying outside said carrier with said walls isolating said detectors from fluid in said passage; said passage extends in a downward direction along an axis, said beam path extends in a forward direction, and said axis and beam path define a horizontal plane that is normal to said axis and that includes said beam path; said outside surface of said carrier has a top surface portion that lies above said horizontal plane and that extends around said axis with said top surface portion extending at an upward incline toward said axis, and said carrier has a bottom surface portion that lies below said horizontal plane and that extends around said axis, with said bottom surface portion extending at a downward incline toward said axis.