Patent ID: 8302477

Claim:
A balanced resonator for a powder handling device for granular material to be analyzed by an analytical instrument, comprising: a sample holder adapted to hold the granular material to be analyzed; a balanced mechanical resonator mountable to an external chassis, comprising a) a sample holder arm attached to the sample holder in which the granular material is loaded and b) a balancer arm fitted with a counterweight mass; and an actuator to excite the resonator at or near one of its resonance frequencies to obtain vibration of the sample holder arm and balancer arm with respect to each other by imparting angular motion less than 360 degrees in anti-phase, the actuator producing a given excitation force to obtain convection of granular material loaded in the sample holder; wherein a mechanical amplification is produced to enable vibration at a higher amplitude than the actuator excitation force; whereby vibrations transmitted to the external chassis are substantially eliminated.