Patent ID: 6984318

Claim:
A chromatography column comprising a column body having an open top and an open bottom and a volume between, said volume being defined by one or more vertical walls which form the body having an inner and an outer wall; a fixed or adjustable bottom plate containing an outlet, said bottom plate being liquid tightly sealed either fixedly or adjustably relative to the bottom of the column body, a movable or fixed top plate contained within the column body volume, said top plate being formed of a flow distributor, one or move movement rods attached to a top surface of the flow distributor and a seal plate arranged around the outer periphery of the flow distributor, the seal plate comprising a seal attached to the seal plate, the seal plate being mounted around and above the top surface of outer periphery of the flow distributor and fixed to the top surface by one or more pins, said one or more pins having a positive compression means for normally and positively biasing the seal plate against the top surface of the flow distributor, a space formed between the seal plate lower surface and the flow distributor top surface, an opening formed in the seal plate for the selective introduction or evacuation of a pressure source to the space, and one or more second seals placed between the seal plate and the flow distributor for containing the pressure source within the space.