Patent ID: 7430043

Claim:
An apparatus for measuring the turbidity of a liquid sample, which comprises: (a) a sample cell including a cuvette and an opaque upper cap which is threadedly engageable with the cuvette, a midsection of the cuvette having a transparent wall with a generally cylindrical outer surface which, in assembled relation, is disposed downwardly of the upper cap; and (b) a sensor block having first and second elements and a vertically-aligned hinge pin, the first element being movably interconnected to the second element by the hinge pin; the first and second elements having first and second concave walls which define first and second elongated concavities, respectively, each of which is approximately semi-circular in transverse cross-section and extends vertically; the first and second concave walls, when the first and second elements are fully closed, defining an elongated through passageway, the through passageway and the midsection of the cuvette being approximately circular in transverse cross-section; the radius of curvature of each of the concave walls being at least slightly greater than the radius of curvature of the outer surface of the transparent wall of the midsection of the cuvette, so that, in use, the midsection can be held within the through passageway; a portion of the midsection being slideably insertable sideways into the second elongated concavity when, prior to use, the first element has been pivoted away from the second element through at least as large an angle as is required to pass the midsection of the cuvette upright, between the first and second elements, from points on the second element which are distal from the hinge pin to the second concave wall.