Patent ID: 7449050

Claim:
Apparatus for concentrating a vaporous substance, which comprises: a sorbent material capable of capturing said vaporous substance; a first housing in which the sorbent material is located, which housing is metallic and has an inlet port and an outlet port, said housing being fitted with a heating element proximate the exterior of the housing, which heating element is capable when activated of delivering an amount of heat energy to a zone within the interior volume of the housing, the amount of said heat energy being sufficient to effect release of said substance captured by the sorbent material; at least one metallic screen element welded to the interior surface of said first housing, said screen element holding the sorbent material in position within the housing between the inlet and outlet ports and in said zone; a second housing defining a chamber within which the first housing resides, the first housing being located in said chamber such that there is a space permitting gas flow between the outside of the first housing and the inside of the second housing; and a pump, the intake of which is interconnected with the interior volume of said first housing, such that when the pump is activated gas possibly containing said vaporous substance is caused to flow through the inlet port and to come in contact with the sorbent material, and the exhaust of which is interconnected with the space between the first housing and the second housing, such that when the pump is activated the exhaust gas therefrom is caused to flow through the space in contact with the outside of the first housing.