Patent ID: 8047060

Claim:
A rotary shear-seal injection valve comprising: a stator having a plurality of stator ports, including: a first stator port for fluidly connecting the valve to a pump, a second stator port for fluidly connecting the valve to a column, and a third stator port for fluidly connecting the valve to a first end of a sample loop, and a first stator groove extending from the first stator port toward the second stator port; and a rotor abutting said stator, said rotor having a plurality of channels fluidly connecting at least two of the stator ports, wherein the rotor is rotatable, relative to the stator, between a load position, in which a first one of the channels fluidly connects the first stator port to the second stator port, and an inject position, in which the first one of the channels fluidly connects the second stator port to the third stator port, and wherein the first one of the channels and the first stator groove have sufficient length to maintain a continuous flow path from the first stator port to the second stator port during rotation of the rotor from the load position toward the inject position at least until fluid communication is established between the second stator port and the third stator port.