Patent ID: 7195709

Claim:
A chromatography apparatus comprising a chromatography column having a housing wall with side wall and end portions defining an internal bed space for containing a particulate chromatography medium, and having at least one transmitter for transmitting vibratory mechanical signals through the bed space, at least one detector for detecting such transmitted signals, and a control processor operatively connected to the transmitter/detector arrangement to detect and input the signals transmitted through the bed space, the control processor having any one or more of the following features: (i) being programmed to compare a transmitted signal profile, arising from passage of a band of eluted material through a packed bed in said bed space, with a model signal profile for such material stored in or accessible to the control processor, and to initiate a warning signal if the comparison indicates a mismatch between the actual profile and the model profile; (ii) being programmed to initiate the operation of system valves to switch liquid output from the chromatography column from a waste output line to a sample collector line, in dependence on the impending arrival, indicated by detected transmissions adjacent the downstream end of the column, of a band of an eluted component at the column outlet; (iii) being programmed to initiate a warning signal in dependence on the impending arrival, detected by a said transmission adjacent the downstream end of the column, of a band of eluted component at the column outlet; (iv) being programmed to indicate the degree of expansion of an expanded bed inside the bed space, relative to a packed condition.