Thermionic detector for gas chromatography

Claim 1

A CHROMATOGRAPHIC DETECTOR, COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: (A) ELECTRODE MEANS FOR DEFINING AN INTERELECTRODE SPACE, (B) MEANS FOR DEFINING A FLOWPATH FOR EFFLUENT GAS EMERGING FROM A CHROMATOGRAPHIC COLUMN, (C) MEANS FOR MIXING SAID EFFLUENT GAS WITH A COMBUSTIBLE GAS TO FORM A COMPUSTIBLE GAS MIXTURE, SAID MIXING MEANS ALSO DEFINING A FLOW PATH FOR THE GAS MIXTURE, (D) A HOMGENEOUS SOLID SALT BLOCK FORMING AN ION SOURCE, SAID BLOCK HAVING AT LEAST ONE FLOW PASSAGE THEREIN, SAID ION SOURCE BEING POSITIONED IN THE FLOW PATH OF SAID COMBUSTIBLE GAS MIXTURE SUCH THAT THE MIXTURE FLOWS THROUGH THE FLOW PASSAGE IN SAID ION SOURCE, (E) MEANS FOR IGNITING SAID COMBUSTIBLE GAS MIXTURE AT THE POINT WHERE IT EMERGES FROM THE ION SOURCE, WHEREBY THE HEAT OF THE RESULTING FLAME IONIZES MATERIAL FROM THE SURFACE OF THE ION SOURCE AND INTRODUCES CHARGED PARTICLES INTO SAID INTERELECTRODE SPACE, (F) MEANS FOR CAUSING AN ELECTRICAL CURRENT TO FLOW ACROSS SAID INTERELECTRODE SPACE, AND (G) MEANS FOR MEASURING THE MAGNITUDE OF SAID ELECTRICAL CURRENT.