대표
청구항
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1. A sorbent cartridge for use in preparing samples for chemical analysis, comprising:a pipette tip having a longitudinal axis and a hollow distal tip with tapered walls defining an interior cavity extending along the axis and having an opening at a distal end of the tip which opening is not covered by a porous barrier;a porous barrier in the tapered cavity placed at a predetermined location in the tip to define a sorbent volume between the barrier, the cavity walls and the opening at the distal end of the tip, the barrier allowing processing fluids to p...
1. A sorbent cartridge for use in preparing samples for chemical analysis, comprising:a pipette tip having a longitudinal axis and a hollow distal tip with tapered walls defining an interior cavity extending along the axis and having an opening at a distal end of the tip which opening is not covered by a porous barrier;a porous barrier in the tapered cavity placed at a predetermined location in the tip to define a sorbent volume between the barrier, the cavity walls and the opening at the distal end of the tip, the barrier allowing processing fluids to pass through the barrier; anda sorbent material in the sorbent volume and extending from the opening toward the barrier, the sorbent material being selected for use in the chemical analysis and the porous barrier being selected to prevent passage of the sorbent material past the porous barrier and out of the sorbent volume, the sorbent material comprising a plurality of sorbent particles which are capable of being expelled through the opening in the distal end of the tip by pressure. 2. The sorbent cartridge of claim 1, further comprising a manually operated suction device on the pipette tip to exert a suction on the pipette tip to draw processing fluids through the opening in the tip, through the sorbent material and through the porous barrier. 3. The sorbent cartridge of claim 1, wherein the pipette tip has a second opening opposite the opening in the distal end, and further comprising a setter configured to mate with the second opening to place a first cavity in the setter in fluid communication with the porous barrier, the setter having a plunger slidably received in a second cavity in the setter and placed in fluid communication with the first cavity, the plunger and second cavity sized relative to each other so as to create a suction sufficient to draw fluid from the opening in the tip into the cavity in the setter when the plunger slides in the second cavity. 4. The sorbent cartridge of claim 1, wherein the sorbent material comprises a plurality of particles and the size of the opening in the tip is from about 2 to about 10 times the size of the particles used in the sorbent material. 5. The sorbent cartridge of claim 1, wherein the sorbent material is placed in the cartridge by drawing a slurry of a solvent and the sorbent material through the opening in the distal end of the tip, with the slurry solvent passing through the porous barrier to leave the sorbent in the sorbent volume. 6. The sorbent cartridge of claim 5, wherein the solvent is one of glycol, ethylene glycol or propylene. 7. The sorbent cartridge of claim 5, wherein the solvent includes a form of glycol. 8. The sorbent cartridge of claim 1, wherein the sorbent material comprises a plurality of particles with a coating of a solvent on the particles that is sticky enough to cause the particles to stick together and resist passage out of the opening in the tip under gravitational forces while allowing sorbent to be expelled under pressure. 9. The sorbent cartridge of claim 1, further comprising a removable cap covering the opening. 10. A sorbent cartridge, comprising:a pipette tip having an interior cavity in fluid communication with a distal opening located in the tip;a filter placed in the tip and defining a predetermined volume that extends between the filter and the distal opening with no further filter being in the predetermined volume; anda sorbent material substantially filling the volume, the filter retaining the sorbent material in the predetermined volume while allowing passage of processing fluids through the filter during use of the cartridge, the sorbent material comprising a plurality of particles which are capable of being expelled through the distal opening by pressure. 11. The sorbent cartridge defined in claim 10, wherein the pipette tip has a second opening adapted to removable receive a setter to draw fluid from the distal opening, through the sorbent material and filter into the setter. 12 . The sorbent cartridge of claim 11, wherein the pipette tip contains a fluid drawn from the distal opening through the sorbent material and filter. 13. The sorbent cartridge of claim 10, wherein the predetermined volume is tapered toward the distal opening to form a frusto-conical shaped cavity and the filter comprises a frusto-conical filter. 14. The sorbent cartridge of claim 10, wherein the sorbent material comprises particles having diameters and wherein the distal opening has a diameter of about 2 to about 10 times the maximum diameter of the sorbent material. 15. The sorbent cartridge of claim 10, wherein the sorbent material comprises a plurality of particles having a coating of a solvent that is sticky enough to cause the particles of the sorbent material to stick together and resist passage out of the opening in the tip under the influence of gravitational forces while allowing sorbent to be expelled under pressure. 16. The sorbent cartridge of claim 15, wherein the solvent is one of glycol, ethylene glycol, or propylene. 17. The sorbent cartridge of claim 15, in the solvent includes a form of glycol. 18. A sorbent cartridge for use in preparing samples for chemical analysis, comprising:a hollow tip having an opening in a distal end;means in the tip for retaining a porous barrier at a predetermined location to define a sorbent volume between the barrier and the opening in the hollow tip, with no porous barrier being interposed between the opening and said means; anda sorbent material between the opening and said retained means in the sorbent volume by the porous barrier for use in the chemical analysis, the barrier allowing passage of fluids but not the sorbent material, during use of the sorbent cartridge, the sorbent material including a plurality of sorbent particles capable of being expelled out of the opening in the distal end by pressure. 19. The sorbent cartridge of claim 18, further comprising suction means in fluid communication with the hollow tip to suck fluid through the opening in the distal end and through the sorbent material and porous barrier. 20. The sorbent cartridge of claim 18, further comprising a removable cap covering the opening. 21. A sorbent cartridge for use in preparing samples for chemical analysis, comprising:a tip having a longitudinal axis and a distal tip having cavity walls that define an interior cavity extending along the axis with an opening at a distal end of the tip;a porous barrier in the cavity placed at a predetermined location in the tip to define a sorbent volume between the barrier, the cavity walls and the opening at the distal end of the tip, the barrier allowing processing fluids to pass through the barrier; anda slurry containing sorbent material in the sorbent volume and extending from the opening toward the barrier, the sorbent not being restrained by a porous barrier at the opening from being expelled from the opening, the sorbent material being selected for use in the chemical analysis and the barrier being selected to prevent passage of the sorbent material out of the sorbent volume, the sorbent material being adapted to pass into the opening with the slurry. 22. The sorbent cartridge of claim 21, wherein the cavity walls at the opening extend toward the longitudinal axis to form a lip that helps retain the sorbent in the cavity. 23. The sorbent cartridge of claim 21, wherein the tip forms a tapered cavity ending at the distal end. 24. The sorbent cartridge of claim 21, wherein the sorbent material substantially fills the sorbent volume. 25. The sorbent cartridge of claim 21, wherein the sorbent comprises a plurality of particles coated with a material that helps prevent the sorbent from sliding out the opening. 26. The sorbent cartridge of claim 25, wherein the particles are coated with propylene glycol. 27. The sorbent cartridge of claim 25, wherein the particles are coated with ethylene glycol. 28. The sorbent cartridge of claim 25, wherein the particles are c oated with glycerol. 29. The sorbent cartridge of claim 21, wherein the sorbent comprises a plurality of particles filling between about 50-60% of the sorbent volume. 30. The sorbent cartridge of claim 21, further comprising a cap covering the opening and placed to prevent sorbent from passing out of the opening. 31. The sorbent cartridge of claim 21, wherein the sorbent material comprises particles having diameters and wherein the distal opening has a diameter of about 2 to about 10 times the maximum diameter of the particles. 32. A sorbent cartridge for use in preparing samples for chemical analysis, comprising:a tip having a longitudinal axis and a distal tip having cavity walls that define an interior cavity extending along the axis with an opening at a distal end of the tip;a porous barrier at not more than one location inside the cavity in the tip and defining a sorbent volume between the porous barrier, the cavity walls and the opening at the distal end of the tip, the porous barrier allowing processing fluids to pass through the barrier; anda slurry containing sorbent material in the sorbent volume and extending from the opening toward the barrier, the sorbent material being selected for use in the chemical analysis and the barrier being selected to prevent passage of the sorbent material out of the sorbent volume while allowing the passage of processing fluids through the porous barrier, the sorbent being sized to pass into the opening with the slurry and the opening having no porous barrier restraining the sorbent from passing out of the sorbent volume through the opening. 33. The sorbent cartridge of claim 32, wherein the tip is tapered toward the opening in the distal end of the tip. 34. The sorbent cartridge of claim 33, wherein the sorbent material substantially fills all of the sorbent volume. 35. The sorbent cartridge of claim 32, wherein the distal tip is conical. 36. The sorbent cartridge of claim 32, wherein the distal tip is tapered at least immediately adjacent the opening in tip. 37. The sorbent cartridge of claim 32, further comprising a removable cap. 38. A sorbent cartridge for use in preparing samples for chemical analysis, comprising:a tip having a longitudinal axis and a distal tip having cavity walls that define a tapered interior cavity extending along the axis with an opening at a distal end of the tip;a porous barrier at not more than one location inside the cavity in the tip and defining a sorbent volume between the porous barrier, the cavity walls and the opening at the distal end of the tip, the porous barrier allowing processing fluids to pass through the barrier; anda slurry containing sorbent material in the sorbent volume and extending from the opening to the barrier, the sorbent material being selected for use in the chemical analysis and the barrier being selected to prevent passage of the sorbent material out of the sorbent volume while allowing the passage of processing fluids through the porous barrier, the sorbent being adapted to pass into the opening with the slurry, the opening having no porous barrier restraining the sorbent from passing into or out of the sorbent volume through the opening. 39. The sorbent cartridge of claim 38, further comprising a removable cap covering the opening. 40. A sorbent cartridge for use in preparing samples for chemical analysis, comprising:a pipette tip having a longitudinal axis and a hollow distal tip with tapered walls defining an interior cavity extending along the axis and opening at a distal end of the tip which opening is not blocked by a porous barrier;a porous barrier in the tapered cavity placed at a predetermined location in the tip to define a sorbent volume between the barrier, the cavity walls and the opening at the distal end of the tip, the barrier allowing processing fluids to pass through the barrier; anda sorbent material in the sorbent volume, the sorbent material being selected for use in the chemical analysis and the barrier being selected to prevent passage of the sorbent material out of the sorbent volume, the sorbent material comprising a plurality of particles with a coating of a solvent on the particles that is sticky enough to cause the particles to stick together and resist passage out of the opening in the tip under the influence of gravitational forces while allowing sorbent to be expelled under pressure. 41. The sorbent cartridge of claim 40, wherein the solvent is one of glycol, ethylene glycol, or propylene. 42. The sorbent cartridge of claim 40, wherein the solvent includes a form of glycol. 43. A sorbent cartridge, comprising:a pipette tip having an interior cavity in fluid communication with a distal opening located in the tip, the opening not being blocked by a porous barrier;a filter placed in the tip and defining a predetermined volume between the barrier and the distal opening; anda sorbent material substantially filling the volume, the filter retaining the sorbent material in the predetermined volume while allowing passage of processing fluids through the filter during use of the cartridge, the sorbent material comprising a plurality of particles having a coating of a solvent that is sticky enough to cause the particles of the sorbent material to stick together and resist passage out of the opening in the tip under the influence of gravitational forces while allowing sorbent to be expelled under pressure. 44. The sorbent cartridge of claim 43, wherein the solvent is one of glycol, ethylene glycol, or propylene. 45. The sorbent cartridge of claim 43, further comprising a removable cap covering the opening. 46. The sorbent cartridge of claim 43, wherein the solvent includes a form of glycol. 47. A sorbent cartridge for use in preparing fluid samples for chemical analysis, comprising:a pipette tip with a first opening and a first porous barrier placed in the tip to define a sorbent volume of about 1 μml or less between the porous barrier and the first opening, with no other porous barrier between the first porous barrier and the opening;a plurality of sorbent particles in the sorbent volume coated with a solvent that wets the sorbent particles and can pass through the porous barrier during use of the pipette tip, the particles being loose enough to be expelled through the first opening by pressure after interacting with a fluid sample. 48. The sorbent cartridge of claim 47, wherein the solvent is sticky enough so the sorbent particles clump together and do not readily fall out of the first opening under the force of gravity but can be expelled through that opening under positive pressure. 49. The sorbent cartridge of claim 47, wherein the sorbent volume is filled by the sorbent particles.