Patent ID: 7517395

Claim:
An inlet assembly for introducing a sample into a carrier gas stream for gas chromatography, said inlet assembly being connectable to a chromatograph column, said inlet assembly comprising: a housing having a bore with an inner surface; a removable liner positioned within said bore, said liner having an outer surface in spaced relation to said inner surface of said bore; a sealing member positioned within said bore in sealing engagement with said inner and outer surfaces, said sealing member having a core of untreated material surrounded by a thin surface layer of said material treated so as to chemically alter said material such that said treated material of said thin surface layer has a lower coefficient of friction than said untreated material of said core, said treated material of said thin surface layer thereby facilitating removal of said sealing member from said bore, wherein the thickness of the thin surface layer relative to the diameter of the core of untreated material is selected so that the sealing member provides a means for preventing the sealing member from sticking to the inner surface of the bore; a carrier gas inlet in fluid communication with said bore; an injection port in fluid communication with said bore; and a fitting adapted for connecting said chromatograph column in fluid communication with said bore.