Spectrometer

Details Spectrometer Spectrometer

1999-01-19

2000-06-13

Evans, F. L.

Optics: measuring and testing

By dispersed light spectroscopy

Utilizing a spectrometer

G01J 310, G01J 318

Patent

active

060755954

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns a spectrometer. The invention particularly concerns an LED (light emitting diode) spectrometer operating without moving parts, applying the sweep principle, and intended to be used as a structural component in measuring apparatus.
It is possible, by means of designs based on a line of LEDs and on stationary grating optics, to implement a sweep spectrometer operating without moving parts and appropriate to be used for structural component in a wide variety of spectroscopic concentration analysers and calorimetric instruments. In such measuring apparatus, information is gained concerning chemical composition. colour or any other physical characteristic of a sample by means of measuring the transmission or reflection spectrum from the sample in a given, desired wavelength range. Present technology enables LED radiation sources to be produced at least for the wavelength range from 430 to 4800 nm; it is therefore possible, in principle, to utilize a spectrometer based on an LED radiation source, in widely different measurement applications in the visible light and infrared ranges. The best chances for application of the LED spectrometer are perhaps to be found in the wavelength range under 1100 nm; representing a well-tested, mature branch of technology, LED radiation sources in this range are available from a number of commercial manufacturers, as high power, favourably priced components. One of the practical applications that can be contemplated thus consists pf measurement of fat, albumin and water content of foodstuff raw materials, which are carried out, at present, with concentration analysers based on measuring the 800 to 1050 nm transmission spectrum.
The LED spectrometer has been further developed in recent years, in a variety of projects. The construction and operating principle of an adjustable LED radiation source that has been worked out is known through the International Patent No. WO 88/10462. The design described in this reference presents the salient feature that the intensity of the output beam from an LED radiation source module is controlled, or maintained constant, by measuring this intensity and, on the basis of such measurement, adjusting the current passing through the respective LED. The apparatus disclosed by the reference comprises, as an essential component thereof, a beam divider, a monitoring detector, and appropriate signal processing, so that it might be possible during operation to measure the intensity of the output beam.
Furthermore, there is known, through International Patent No. WO 94/15183, a spectrometer radiation source and its tuning arrangement. The radiation source of said reference, comprising a light element base and a plurality of light elements, these light elements being disposed on said light element base in linear array with a given spacing, and optics means disposed in conjunction with the radiation source, for collecting the radiation produced by the light elements, for dispersing it to a predetermined wavelength spectrum and for aiming it at the object of measurement, will produce between 2 and 16 measuring wavelength bands having comparatively narrow half-value widths. Moreover, by the aid of the tuning arrangement described in the reference, tuning of the radiation source is performed, this operation comprising such adjustment of the locations in relation to each other of the optics and light elements that wavelength bands can be formed such as are desired.
It has been successfully demonstrated by means of the above-described, implementation designs of the first generation spectrometer, based on LED technique, that this technique is generally operational; and potential applications of the technique have been successfully studied e.g. in concentration measuring apparatus in foodstuff industry. However, any introduction of the LED spectrometer in its use as a core component of industrially manufactured concentration analysers, and calorimeters, implies substantially enhanced performance and/or less expensive manufacturing, comp

REFERENCES:
patent: 5029245 (1991-07-01), Keranen et al.
patent: 5257086 (1993-10-01), Fateley et al.
patent: 5477322 (1995-12-01), Webster

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