Patent ID: 8062905

Claim:
A purge and trap concentrator system, comprising: (a) a system controller; (b) a source of gas, which provides a first gas; (c) a plurality of fluidic control devices and a plurality of fluidic passages which fluidically connect said plurality of fluidic control devices; (d) a gas flow control valve that is controlled by a signal from said system controller, said gas flow control valve having a first fluidic inlet and a first fluidic outlet which, under control of said signal, acts to pass a gas flow therethrough, said first fluidic inlet being in fluidic communication with said source of gas and receiving said first gas, said first fluidic outlet dispensing a second gas when required by said signal; and (e) an analytic trap, having: (i) a second fluidic inlet, a third fluidic inlet, and a second fluidic outlet; wherein: (A) said second fluidic inlet is in fluidic communication with said first fluidic outlet of the gas flow control valve, (B) said third fluidic inlet is in fluidic communication with a third outlet of an external instrument, and (C) said second fluidic outlet is in fluidic communication with a fourth inlet of said external instrument; (ii) a first chamber that is coupled to said third fluidic inlet, said first chamber having previously received a concentrated chemical sample, said first chamber acting to remove at least one predetermined substance from said concentrated chemical sample, thereby creating a third extracted sample gas flow; and (iii) a second chamber that is coupled to said first chamber, to said second fluidic inlet, and to said second fluidic outlet, said second chamber being configured to receive: (A) said third extracted sample gas from said first chamber, and (B) said second gas from the first fluidic outlet of said gas flow control valve by way of said second fluidic inlet; (f) wherein during a desorbtion procedure: (i) said second gas is received at said second fluidic inlet of the analytic trap, (ii) a fourth gas is received at said third fluidic inlet of the analytic trap from the third outlet of said external instrument; and (iii) at said second chamber said second gas is combined with said third extracted sample gas, thereby creating a larger overall fifth gas flow that now becomes available for analysis by said external instrument.