Patent ID: 8506688

Claim:
A gas chromatographic device comprising an inlet system, and a chromatography column having an inlet portion, the inlet system including a liner having pressure reducing means contained therein for reducing pressure between an inlet of the pressure reducing means and an outlet of the pressure reducing means, the liner having connection means for removably attaching the liner to the inlet portion of the chromatography column by merely stacking the liner onto the inlet portion of the chromatography column without creating a press-fit connection therebetween, and for detaching the liner from the inlet portion of the chromatography column by merely unstacking the liner from the inlet portion of the chromatography column without any need for tools and without any clipping of the chromatography column to disconnect the liner from the chromatography column, the pressure reducing means comprising a pressure reducing portion of a passageway extending through the liner, the pressure reducing portion of the passageway having a cross section smaller than that of the passageway upstream thereof, the pressure reducing portion of the passageway being hollow, the liner having a surface along the passageway downstream of the pressure reducing portion of the passageway which when the device is in use contacts the inlet portion of the chromatography column, the chromatography column when in use being positioned at its inlet in the liner downstream from the pressure reducing means, and the chromatography column when in use being under vacuum at its outlet.