Spacer accessory for XRF handheld analyzers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9746432-B2
Application number	US-201414493892-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 23, 2014
Priority date	Sep 23, 2014
Publication date	Aug 29, 2017
Grant date	Aug 29, 2017

Abstract

Disclosed is an attachable spacer applied to the front base plate of a hand-held and self-contained XRF testing device that holds the face plate at a forwards tilt towards a test sample, and ensures that only the top rim of the face plate ever touches a test sample. The resulting triangular gap minimizes contact between the front plate window and the test surface, prevents the transfer of heat to the XRF testing device's circuitry, and locks in a fixed distance between the face plate of the XRF testing device and the sample being tested.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An X-Ray Florescence (XRF) test system comprises an XRF test instrument used for testing a test object's responses to X-rays, the instrument comprising a front face configured to be placed facing the test object, the front face including a front base plate and a test window through which the X-rays and its responsive energy is allowed to pass through, wherein the front face and the window are substantially in the same plane,
the system further comprising at least one spacer to be attached to or be part of the front face to create a constant space between the front face and the test object when the front face is put against the test object, and,
wherein the test instrument further comprises an X-ray source, an X-ray detector, and a data processor and memory, the data processor and memory further comprising a calibration module including at least two calibration modes, of which the first mode corresponds to the operational status of the instrument without the spacer being applied onto the front base plate, and the second mode corresponds to the operational status of the instrument with the spacer applied onto the front base plate.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the front base plate abuts the window and is in the same plane with the window.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the spacer is configured to be attached to the front base plate in a fashion to be removed from or attached or re-attached over the front base plate.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the at least one spacer is configured to be removably attached to the front base plate along or partially along the circumference of at least one front base plate.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one spacer is configured to be removably attached to the front base plate by screws along or partially along the circumference of at least one front base plate.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one spacer is configured to be removably attached to the front base plate by pressure fitting along or partially along the circumference of at least one front base plate.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the calibration modes correspond to the calibration values obtained for different numbers and different kinds of the spacer being attached to the front base plate.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the calibration values for a specific one of the at least one spacer is obtained from calibration procedures on the XRF instrument with the specific one of the at least one spacer attached.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the calibration values for a specific one of the at least one spacer is calculated by applying the calibration value of the first mode with a corresponding calibration factor specific to the specific one of the at least one spacer.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the calibration factor is obtained by comparing the calibration values obtained with and without the specific one of the at least one spacer applied.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the spacer calibration modes encompass the entire or any part of possibilities under which any and any number of the at least one spacer is applied to the front base plate.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data processor and memory is configured, during a calibration session, to execute the steps including:
prompting the user whether and how many of the at least one spacer calibration mode is currently applied, and recommending which of the at least one spacer calibration mode should be applied,
confirming which of the at least one, or none, of the spacer calibration mode is being used for the present testing,
selecting the first or the second spacer calibration mode according to the spacer mode applied, and
calibrating and readying the XRF instrument for testing.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the steps further including identifying which kind and how many of the at least one spacer are applied.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the steps further including providing checking and identifying whether the identified spacer is a good match to the test as tasked.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the steps further including prompting the user when the identified spacer application is not a good match with the test as tasked.

16. A method of providing at least one spacer to be attached to or to be part of a front face of an XRF instrument used for testing a test object's responses to X-rays, the instrument comprising a front face configured to be placed facing the test object, the front face including a front base plate and a test window through which the X-rays and its responsive energy is allowed to pass through,
wherein the front face and the window are substantially in the same plane, wherein the at least one spacer is to create a constant space between the front face and the test object when the front face is placed against the test object, and,
wherein the instrument has at least two calibration modes, of which the first mode corresponds to the operational status of the instrument without the spacer being applied onto the front base plate, and the second mode corresponds to the operational status of the instrument with the spacer applied onto the front base plate.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the front base plate abuts the window and is in the same plane with the window.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the spacer is configured to be attached to the front base plate in a fashion to be removed from or attached or re-attached over the front base plate.

Assignees

• Smith Jr Kenneth Lee
• Shields Ted Michael
• Olympus Scient Solutions Americas Inc

Inventors

• Smith Jr Kenneth Lee
• Shields Ted Michael

Classifications

• G01N2223/303

  calibrating, standardising · CPC title

• G01N2223/301

  portable apparatus · CPC title

• G01N23/223 Primary

  by irradiating the sample with X-rays or gamma-rays and by measuring X-ray fluorescence · CPC title

• G01N2223/076

  X-ray fluorescence · CPC title