| US 7,517,395 B2 | ||
| Seal having low friction non-stick surface layer | ||
| Thomas M. Logan, Newtown Square, Pa. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Agilent Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif. (US) | ||
| Filed on Dec. 01, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/291,168. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0125234 A1, Jun. 07, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. B01D 53/02 (2006.01); F16J 15/10 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 96—105 [96/106; 95/89; 73/23.41; 277/652; 277/910; 277/945] | 10 Claims |
| 1. An inlet assembly for introducing a sample into a carrier gas stream for gas chromatography, said inlet assembly being
connectable to a chromatograph column, said inlet assembly comprising:
a housing having a bore with an inner surface;
a removable liner positioned within said bore, said liner having an outer surface in spaced relation to said inner surface
of said bore;
a sealing member positioned within said bore in sealing engagement with said inner and outer surfaces, said sealing member
having a core of untreated material surrounded by a thin surface layer of said material treated so as to chemically alter
said material such that said treated material of said thin surface layer has a lower coefficient of friction than said untreated
material of said core, said treated material of said thin surface layer thereby facilitating removal of said sealing member
from said bore, wherein the thickness of the thin surface layer relative to the diameter of the core of untreated material
is selected so that the sealing member provides a means for preventing the sealing member from sticking to the inner surface
of the bore;
a carrier gas inlet in fluid communication with said bore;
an injection port in fluid communication with said bore; and
a fitting adapted for connecting said chromatograph column in fluid communication with said bore.
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