Densitometer having an analog computer for calculating a fraction of the total area under a curve

Claim 2

A densitometer which comprises in combination: a. a source of energy; b. means to expose a sample to be analyzed to said energy; c. means to cause the scanning of the sample by relative movement between the sample and said energy; d. means to convert the energy emerging from the sample to an electrical signal; e. means to display a selected signal in analog form; f. means to iNtegrate a selected signal; g. means to select a portion of the analog form from which additional information is desired; h. means to cause the rescanning of the sample and to integrate the signal received; i. means to compare the integrated rescan signal with the integrated scan signal; and j. means to record the compared signals in digital form.

Claim 3

The densitometer of claim 1 wherein the source of energy is light energy and which includes means to focus said light energy as a beam, the means to expose the sample to the beam of light energy includes an aperture therein whereby the sample may be placed on a support means and the beam of light energy adapted to pass through said aperture, and wherein the means to scan the sample includes means to drive the support means along a predetermined path.

Claim 4

bridge means secured to the housing means and extending across the chart recording means,

Claim 5

bridge means secured to the housing means and extending across the chart recording means,

Claim 6

sensing means adapted to indicate when the rescan of a selected portion of the analog trace has been completed and pen means disposed in the bridge means, and wherein the chart recording means includes a chart which is magnetically secured to a support means, wherein the digital printing means are disposed within the housing of the bridge assembly and axially aligned with and spaced apart from the sensing means along the y axis of the recording chart.

Claim 7

sensing means adapted to indicate when the rescan of a selected portion of the analog trace has been completed and pen means disposed in the bridge means, and wherein the chart recording means includes a chart which is magnetically secured to a support means, wherein the digital printing means are disposed within the housing of the bridge assembly and axially aligned with and spaced apart from the sensing means along the y axis of the recording chart.

Claim 8

The densitometer of claim 2 wherein the support means includes a holding means having a flat surface thereon, said surface being characterized by a slot therein and being formed of a magnetizable material, and further wherein a magnetic mat having an aperture slit therein is secured to the flat surface of the holding means whereby the sample is placed on the flat surface of the holding means and the magnetic mat engages the magnetizable material thereby holding the sample firmly in place.

Claim 9

The densitometer of claim 2 wherein the means to drive the support means includes a motor means adapted to operate at a selected constant speed which reciprocates the support means between preselected positions.

Claim 10

The densitometer of claim 1 wherein the means to convert the light energy to an electrical signal includes a photometer whereby the energy is converted to current and said current is transmitted to an amplifier whose output signal is voltage, wherein the means to display in analog form includes a servomechanism in combination with a recording stylus adapted to trace a profile, wherein the means to integrate includes a voltage-to-frequency converter and a plurality of BCD cascade counters, wherein the means to select portions of the profile trace to be integrated on rescan includes means to mark a medium on which the density profile trace is formed, and which includes means to control the scan and rescan cycles.

Claim 11

The densitometer of claim 1 wherein the means to rescan the sample includes holding means and drive means to move the holding means along a predetermined path, wherein the means to integrate the signal during rescan includes means to accumulate a plurality of pulses on BCD cascade counters, wherein the means to compare the rescan signal with the total accumulated signal includes means to calculate the percent of rescan signals compared against the total accumulated signal, and wherein the means to record the signal in digital form includes print means.

Claim 12

The densitometer of claim 6 wherein the means to calculate the area percent includes a digital divider.

Claim 13

The densitometer of claim 1 wherein the sample being analyzed is a thin layer chromatography plate.

Claim 14

The densitometer of claim 1 which includes means to define preselected areas of the analog trace.

Claim 15

An improved densitometer which comprises in combination: a. a source of light energy; b. means to form a beam of said light energy; c. means to expose a sample to be analyzed to the beam of light energy; d. means to scan the sample with the beam of light energy; e. means to convert the light energy transmitted through the sample to an electrical signal; f. function generator means to convert the signal from the sample to a level related to the amount of material to be analyzed in the sample; g. means to record the signal in analog form as a profile trace on a recording medium; h. means to integrate the selected signal with the recording of the selected signal in analog form in communication with the function generator means; i. means to select a portion of the analog profile trace from Which additional information is desired; j. means to rescan the sample and to integrate the signal received; k. means to compare the integrated rescan signal of the selected portion of the analog profile trace with the total accumulated scan signal whereby on comparison the pulses are discharged; and l. means to record the compared signals in digital form on the medium.

Claim 16

An improved densitometer which comprises in combination: a. a source of light energy; b. means to form a beam of said light energy; c. means to expose a sample to be analyzed to the beam of light energy; d. means to scan the sample with the beam of light energy; e. means to convert the light energy transmitted through the sample to an electrical signal; f. function generator means to convert the signal from the sample to a level related to the amount of material to be analyzed in the sample; g. means to record the signal in analog form as a profile trace on a recording medium; h. means to integrate the selected signal with the recording of the selected signal in analog form in communication with the function generator means; i. means to select a portion of the analog profile trace from Which additional information is desired; j. means to rescan the sample and to integrate the signal received; k. means to compare the integrated rescan signal of the selected portion of the analog profile trace with the total accumulated scan signal whereby on comparison the pulses are discharged; and l. means to record the compared signals in digital form on the medium.

Claim 17

The densitometer of claim 10 wherein the function generator means includes a linear inverse converter, a log inverse converter, function of x converter, and further includes the means to record in one of said functions and integrate in that or another of said functions as desired, wherein the medium includes chart recording means, and wherein the means to record in digital form includes:

Claim 18

The densitometer of claim 11 wherein the means to compare the integrated rescan signal against the total accumulated scan signal includes means to calculate percents.

Claim 19

The densitometer of claim 12 wherein the means to calculate includes: means to store a number representing the total amount of material; means to control the movement of the holding means and bridge assembly means; means to control the selection of the information transmitted to the digital printing means in the bridge assembly means; means to multiply percent times the total amount of material; and means to print the percent and the material amount for the selected portion of the analog trace upon the receipt of a command from the sensing means.

Claim 20

The densitometer of claim 10 wherein the sample being analyzed is an electrophoresis strip.

Claim 21

The densitometer of claim 11 wherein the bridge assembly means and the holding means for the sample are each driven by stepping motors which stepping motors are driven by pulses derived from the same pulse train.

Claim 24

The method of claim 16 which includes converting the light energy emerging from the sample into an electrical signal by transmitting said signal to a photometer; integrating said signal by converting the signal to a plurality of pulses and accumulating the pulses.

Claim 25

The method of claim 16 which includes recording the signal from the photometer as an analog profile trace by tracing said signal on a recording medium, and further which includes selecting the desired portion of the profile trace from which additiOnal information is desired by marking the medium.

Claim 26

The method of claim 16 which includes converting the signal received on rescan into pulses and totalizing the pulses received and further which includes dividing digitally the pulses received on rescan by the pulses previously accumulated during scan in a digital divider.

Claim 27

The method of claim 16 which includes printing the calculated value in digital form on the medium, and further which includes storing a material amount level, multiplying the value times said material amount level and recording said calculations in digital form on the medium.

Claim 28

The method of claim 16 which includes: transmitting the electrical signal to one of a plurality of function generators, selecting the function in which the analog trace is to be recorded, and selecting the function in which the integration is made.

Claim 29

The method of claim 21 wherein the function generators include a log inverter, a linear inverter, and a function of x converter.

Claim 30

The method of claim 16 wherein the sample to be analyzed is an electrophoresis sample.

Claim 31

A modular computer for calculating a fraction of a total area under a curve which comprises: a. means to receive signals representative of variations in composition of a scanned sample from a source; b. means to display said signals in analog form; c. means to integrate said signals; d. means to select a portion of the analog form from which additional information is desired; e. means to receive and integrate signals representative of variations in composition of the sample rescanned; f. means to compare the integrated rescanned signal with the integrated scanned signal; and g. means to record the compared signals in digital form.

Claim 32

A modular computer for calculating a fraction of a total area under a curve which comprises: a. means to receive signals representative of variations in composition of a scanned sample from a source; b. means to display said signals in analog form; c. means to integrate said signals; d. means to select a portion of the analog form from which additional information is desired; e. means to receive and integrate signals representative of variations in composition of the sample rescanned; f. means to compare the integrated rescanned signal with the integrated scanned signal; and g. means to record the compared signals in digital form.

Claim 33

The computer of claim 24 wherein means to integrate the signals received includes means to accumulate a plurality of pulses on BCD cascade counters and wherein the means to compare the rescan signal with the total accumulated scan signal includes means to calculate the percent of rescan signals compared against the total accumulated signal.

Claim 34

The computer of claim 24 wherein the means to display in analog form includes a servomechanism in combination with a recording stylus adapted to trace a profile, wherein the means to integrate includes a voltage-to-frequency converter and a plurality of BCD cascade counters, and wherein the means to select portions of the profile trace includes means to mark a medium on which the analog trace is formed.

Claim 35

The computer of claim 24 which includes: a. function generator means to convert the signals received to a level related to the amount of material to be analyzed in the sample; b. means to record the signals in analog form as a profile trace on a recording medium; c. means to integrate the selected signals with the recording of the selected signals in analog form in communication with the function generator means; d. means to select a portion of the analog profile from which additional information is desired; e. means to compare the integrated rescan signals of the selected portion of the analog profile trace with the total accumulated scan signals whereby on comparison the pulses are discharged; and f. means to record the compared signals in digital form on the medium.