Patent ID: 7261858

Claim:
A detector arrangement in an instrument for analysis of discrete liquid sample volumes in the microliter and/or nanoliter range contained in detection microcavities of microchannel structures that are present in a disc shaped substrate having an axis of symmetry perpendicular to the plane of the disc, the detector arrangement comprising: a rotary drive having a motor and a spindle; a rotary member carried on the spindle and driven for rotation about a central axis in a second plane; a detector disposed so as to move linearly in a line through a central axis of the rotary drive in a first plane which is in parallelism with the second plane, such that each perpendicular to the second plane forms a normal to the first plane; and a vacuum source connected with the rotary member and in air flow communication with a planar top surface of the rotary member through a plurality of channels for distribution of sub-pressure over said top surface, the rotary member carrying the disc shaped substrate in adhering contact with the top surface for spinning the shaped substrate about a symmetry axis of the disc shaped substrate.