Apparatus for the automated production of a series of samples for the analysis of mixtures

Claim 1

Apparatus for the manufacture of a series of samples of a mixture, the apparatus comprising: a guide path; a continuous filter strip; means for intermittently advancing the filter strip along the guide path; a suction head located below the guide path at a first position along said guide path; a movable bell member located above the guide path at said first position and opposite the suction head and capable of being raised and lowered to an upper and lower position so that a portion of the filter strip is sealed between the moveable bell member and the suction head when the moveable bell member is in the lower position; feeding means for conveying a sample of a mixture by suction pressure to the suction head through the moveable bell member to deposit the sample onto the sealed portion of the filter strip when the moveable bell member is in the lower position; stamping means located above the guide path at a second position along said guide path downstream from said first position for stamping out the portion of the filter strip on which the sample has been deposited; and sample receiving means located below the guide path at said second position and opposite said stamping means for receiving the stamped out portion of the filter strip, said stamping means further including means for conveying the stamped out portion of the fulter strip to the sample receiving means and supplying reagent fluid to the sample receiving means.