Patent ID: RE39353

Claim:
A system for analyzing a plurality of samples, comprising: a plurality of portable sample supports each having a sample receiving surface thereon for accommodating a plurality of samples each at a fixed location on each sample support; identification means for identifying each sample location of each of the plurality of samples on each of the plurality of sample supports; a mass spectrometer for analyzing each of the plurality of samples on each sample support, the mass spectrometer having a sample receiving chamber therein for receiving each sample support; a laser source for striking each sample on each sample support while within the receiving chamber with a laser pulse to desorb and ionize sample molecules; support transfer mechanism for automatically inputting and outputting each of the sample supports from the sample receiving chamber of the mass spectrometer; a powered mechanism movable in both an x direction and a y direction perpendicular to the x direction within the sample receiving chamber for supporting a respective sample support thereon; a vacuum lock chamber connected to the sample receiving chamber of the mass spectrometer for receiving the sample supports and for maintaining one or more of the sample supports within a vacuum controlled environment while the plurality of samples on another of the sample supports are struck by laser pulses; and computer means for recording test data from the mass spectrometer for each of the plurality of samples on the sample supports as a function of the identification means.