A modular assembled ion transmission device

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the technical fields of mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry analysis, and specifically relates to a modular assembled ion transmission device; the main ion transmission components of the device are all composed of modular printed circuit boards. The single body is a rectangular cube assembled from single-chip printed circuit boards. The single-chip printed circuit board is a base circuit board, which is a hollow cuboid with the cavity serving as the ion transmission channel. Multiple sets of radio frequency and direct current electrodes are drawn on the inside of the rectangle to form a pseudopotential field to guide the direction of ion propagation. Gate electrodes are provided at both ends to block the ion path or guide ions into the channel in a specified direction. Through the reuse of transmission modules, the ion transmission channel can be freely derived and assembled in six directions: up, down, left, right, front, and back, and ions can be transmitted along any channel direction. The device uses few parts, has low manufacturing costs, and is simple to install and maintain.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry, and in particular to a modular assembled ion transmission device. Background Art

[0002] The combination of mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry has greatly enhanced its resolving power and application in life sciences. Mass spectrometry separates ions based on the ratio of their charge to their mass, known as the mass-to-charge ratio, while ion mobility spectrometry separates ions based on differences in their collision cross-sections. These two separation principles differ, but their combined use allows for the separation of numerous isomers commonly found in living organisms.

[0003] Since the working pressure requirements of mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry are different, the former is often -7 The first one works in an environment below Pa, while the latter generally works between 200-1000Pa. The widely used technologies such as electrospray ionization and laser ionization usually work under atmospheric pressure. The connection between the three will produce a drop from high pressure to low pressure, which will cause a large number of ions to be lost as the gas naturally expands and diffuses, resulting in lower signal intensity, sensitivity and separation ability. The ion transmission device can make good use of the electric field it generates to constrain the ions, prevent their disorderly diffusion with the airflow, and guide the ions to move in the specified direction. This greatly reduces the loss of ions and solves the problem of ion transfer under different air pressures.

[0004] However, existing ion transport systems are often designed specifically for different modules, specifically for a specific type or set of cavities. Problems such as ion flow redirection rely on pre-designed transmission channels. Once the design and assembly are complete, their future scalability and adaptability are significantly limited. New ion redirection methods or the need for new ion transport channels often require the replacement of the entire ion transport module. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the aforementioned challenges in the prior art, the present invention aims to provide a modular and scalable ion transport device for mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry. The device's primary ion transport component consists of a modular printed circuit board. Through modular reuse, it can be assembled in any of six directions—up, down, left, right, front, and back—to enable ion transport along any channel. It utilizes a minimal number of parts, offers low manufacturing costs, and simplifies installation and maintenance.

[0006] The technical solution of the present invention is specifically described as follows.

[0007] The present invention provides a modular assembled ion transmission device, wherein the unit is a rectangular cube assembled from single-piece printed circuit boards, wherein the single-piece printed circuit board is one or more of a basic circuit board, a first derivative circuit board, or a second derivative circuit board. The single-piece printed circuit board is a hollow cuboid, wherein the cavity is an ion transmission channel. Multiple sets of radio frequency and direct current electrodes are drawn on the inside of the rectangle to form a pseudopotential field to guide the direction of ion propagation. Gate electrodes are provided at both ends to block the ion path or guide the ions in a specified direction.

[0008] A modular assembled ion transmission device is formed based on the assembly of single units to extend the ion transmission distance or change the ion transmission direction; wherein: the difference between the first derivative circuit board and the second derivative circuit board and the basic circuit board is that they are relatively shorter at the ion steering direction end compared to the basic circuit board, so as to reserve an ion steering port.

[0009] In the present invention, the ion transmission distance is extended by connecting different monomers end to end.

[0010] In the present invention, the monomer includes one or more first derivative circuit boards and / or second derivative circuit boards as replacements to achieve a change in the ion transmission direction.

[0011] In the present invention, on the basis of the basic circuit board, the first derived circuit board or the second derived circuit board is obtained by reducing the number of gate electrodes at one end.

[0012] In the present invention, the electrode array drawn on the single printed circuit board is concentrated on the same side of the circuit board. When assembling, the electrode surfaces with electrodes of four circuit boards are assembled facing each other to form a single ion transmission channel.

[0013] In the present invention, the electrode array drawn on the single printed circuit board includes a traveling wave electrode group of 6-10 electrodes. There are several traveling wave electrode groups. After the traveling wave electrode group is input with a periodically changing voltage, an electric potential field is formed to guide the movement of ions.

[0014] In the present invention, the printed circuit board is a hard substrate circuit board, which is selected from any one of FR-4, Rogers or Teflon; the electrodes are drawn on the circuit board through a pad spraying process, and the pad spraying process is selected from any one of immersion gold, tin plating or bare copper.

[0015] In the present invention, slots and tooth structures are provided at both ends of the circuit board for fixing and installing the circuit boards. When in use, the circuit boards are fixed to each other through the tooth and slots to complete the installation.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0017] Compared to traditional ion transmission devices, which cannot extend the distance or add new ion transmission directions after construction, the present invention can replace, extend, and expand ion transmission channels at a lower cost simply by reusing, replacing, and splicing the same modular circuit boards. Furthermore, it requires fewer parts, is simple to install, and maintain, and has low repair and replacement costs.

[0018] Compared to traditional ion transfer tube designs, the device of this invention significantly reduces the number of components. Ion transport functionality can be achieved by simply splicing and reusing identical circuit boards. Components can be interchanged, creating a modular ion transport device. Assembly and disassembly are simple, maintenance is convenient, and replacement costs are low. Space requirements are minimal, and the device can be modified to different lengths and sizes based on actual needs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of electrodes of a single-chip circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a first derivative circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of a second derivative circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 4 This is a single tube assembly diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of multiplex transmission assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 6 This is an assembly diagram of a steering-derived single tube according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of a T-shaped branch transmission device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] The reference numerals are:

[0027] 1-gate electrode, 2-traveling wave electrode, 3-tooth, 4-slot, 5-basic circuit board, 6-first derivative circuit board, 7-second derivative circuit board. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0029] Example 1

[0030] In an embodiment, a single-tube ion transmission device for mass spectrometry ion mobility spectrometry is provided, such as Figure 4As shown, it consists of four printed circuit boards made of Rogers board material, and other hard brushed circuit board materials can also be used. Multiple groups of electrode arrays are drawn on a single circuit board, such as a traveling wave electrode group of eight, which is used to apply different electrical signals to form an electric field to achieve ion transmission and control ion steering, etc.; gate electrodes are set at the left and right ends of the circuit board, and the gate electrodes at the left and right ends can control the on and off of the ion channel after applying a DC voltage. The electrode arrays drawn on the single circuit board are concentrated on the same side of the circuit board. When the electrodes are drawn on the printed circuit board, a pad spraying process is adopted. Specifically, bare copper, immersion gold, tin spraying and other processes can be used.

[0031] When in use, the device can be installed at vacuum connections at various stages or other locations where ions need to be transmitted, to receive ions to be separated transmitted from the preceding system. During use, the electrode surfaces, i.e., the working surfaces, of the four circuit boards are aligned relative to each other to complete the assembly. Slots 4 and latch teeth 3 are designed at both ends of the circuit boards to secure and install the circuit boards. Installation is completed by securing the circuit boards to each other using the latch teeth 3 and slots 4. After mechanical fixation, the electrodes on the four circuit boards are connected to different power supplies according to their type, i.e., a traveling wave voltage is applied to the traveling wave electrode group, and a DC voltage is applied to the gate circuits in the same group. Such a single-tube ion transmission device can achieve ion transmission.

[0032] Example 2

[0033] In an embodiment, a multi-tube ion transmission device for mass spectrometry ion mobility spectrometry is provided based on a single-tube ion transmission device. The multi-tube ion transmission device or the multi-tube ion transmission device that requires extension and adjustment of ion transmission direction is an extension of the single-tube ion transmission device.

[0034] The overall ion transmission module is composed of single circuit boards. The single circuit board has a main shape for straight-line connection assembly, and two slightly modified derivative shapes for pipeline installation such as branch turns. At the same time, several groups of transmission channels can be assembled together to form multiple groups of channels according to different needs to achieve purposes such as extending the transmission distance and changing the direction of ion transmission.

[0035] Specifically, the distance of the ion transmission channel can be extended by connecting the same single-tube structure end to end. Two derivative circuit boards are used on the basis of the basic circuit board: a first derivative circuit board 6 and a second derivative circuit board 7, which are used to build a transmission channel that changes the direction of ion travel. The difference between it and the basic circuit board is that it is shorter than the left or right end of the standard circuit board to reserve the ion turning port. If the ion transmission direction needs to be changed, the circuit board on the turning side is replaced with a derivative circuit board so that the tail end distance of the ion turning side of the single-tube outlet is shorter than the non-turning side.

[0036] In the present invention, after the circuit boards are fixed to each other, the ion transmission direction can still be adjusted by disassembling and replacing the circuit boards, thereby increasing the ion transmission distance.

[0037] Figure 5 An ion transmission channel that can adjust the movement of ions in four directions is demonstrated. The required single tubes are first spliced ​​together in the manner of Example 1. However, the difference is that because the ions need to turn and adjust the direction, the basic circuit board 5 corresponding to the required turning direction is replaced with the first derivative circuit board 6 or the second derivative circuit board 7. The specific replacement choice is determined according to the required turning direction of the ions, that is, the circuit board on the same side of the ion turning direction is replaced with a derivative circuit board with a slightly shorter turning end. Assuming that multiple ion turning channels are required at the same time, the turning side circuit board can be replaced with the corresponding derivative board by the same logic.

[0038] Figure 6 This is an assembly diagram of a steering-derived single tube according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of a T-shaped branch transmission device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] The above describes specific embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and those skilled in the art may make various changes or modifications within the scope of the claims, which do not affect the essence of the present invention. The embodiments of this application and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other in any manner unless there is a conflict.

Claims

1. A modular assembled ion transmission device, characterized in that: The single body is a rectangular cube assembled by flat-packing single-piece printed circuit boards. The single-piece printed circuit board is one or more of the basic circuit board, the first derivative circuit board, or the second derivative circuit board. The single-piece printed circuit board is a hollow cuboid, and the cavity in the middle is an ion transmission channel. Multiple groups of radio frequency and direct current electrodes are drawn on the inside of the rectangle to form a pseudopotential field to guide the direction of ion movement. At the same time, gate electrodes are provided at both ends to block the ion path or guide the ions to a channel in a specified direction. A modular assembled ion transmission device is formed based on the assembly of single units to extend the ion transmission distance or change the ion transmission direction; wherein: the difference between the first derivative circuit board and the second derivative circuit board and the basic circuit board is that they are relatively shorter at the ion steering direction end compared to the basic circuit board, so as to reserve an ion steering port.

2. The modular assembled ion transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: By connecting different monomers end to end, the ion transmission distance can be extended.

3. The modular assembled ion transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The monomer includes one or more first derivative circuit boards and / or second derivative circuit boards to replace each other so as to achieve the change of the ion transmission direction.

4. The modular assembled ion transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: On the basis of the basic circuit board, the first derivative circuit board or the second derivative circuit board is obtained by reducing the number of gate electrodes at one end.

5. The modular assembled ion transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electrode array drawn on the single printed circuit board is concentrated on the same side of the circuit board. During assembly, the electrode surfaces with electrodes on the four circuit boards are assembled facing each other to form a single ion transmission channel.

6. The modular assembled ion transmission device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The electrode array drawn on the single printed circuit board includes a traveling wave electrode group of 6 to 10 electrodes. There are several traveling wave electrode groups. When a periodically varying voltage is input to the traveling wave electrode group, an electric potential field is formed to guide ions to travel.

7. The modular assembled ion transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The printed circuit board is a hard substrate circuit board, which is selected from any one of FR-4, Rogers or Teflon; the electrodes are drawn on the circuit board through a pad spraying process, and the pad spraying process is selected from any one of immersion gold, tin plating or bare copper.

8. The modular assembled ion transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: There are card slots and card tooth structures at both ends of the circuit board for fixing and installing the circuit boards. When in use, the circuit boards are fixed to each other through the card teeth and card slots to complete the installation.

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