Mass spectrometry grid electrode and method of forming same

Abstract

The application relates to a mass spectrometry grid electrode forming method, which can comprise the following steps: S1: selecting a target metal plate as a grid electrode material, and clamping and fixing the target metal plate by using two upper and lower clamping blocks, wherein the clamping blocks are the same in length and width as the target metal plate, and the thickness of the clamping blocks is greater than 5 mm; S2: adopting high-precision wire cutting equipment to perform wire cutting according to a preset path to form a parallel wire mesh structure; S3: removing metal waste formed by cutting; S4: taking away the upper clamping block, and fixing and installing an upper electrode on the same position; S5: turning over the whole structure upside down, so that the original lower clamping block faces upwards, taking away the original lower clamping block, and installing a lower electrode on the same position to form a grid electrode.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of mass spectrometer manufacturing, and particularly relates to a mass spectrometer grid electrode and a forming method thereof, which is suitable for various mass spectrometers requiring high-precision electric field control. BACKGROUND

[0002] In a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS), a grid electrode is used to divide an electric field to achieve accurate acceleration, focusing and transmission of ions. At present, the grid electrode is mainly manufactured by the following methods: (1) a mesh structure is formed by weaving metal wires vertically intersecting each other; (2) an etching technology is used to process a grid structure; and (3) a plurality of parallel metal wires are clamped or glued to an electrode frame. However, these methods generally have problems such as complex process, poor grid flatness, and easy damage, which affect the mass spectrometry performance and assembly stability. SUMMARY

[0003] The present application aims to provide a mass spectrometer grid electrode and a forming method thereof to solve the above problems. To this end, the technical solution adopted by the present application is as follows:

[0004] According to an aspect of the present application, a mass spectrometer grid electrode forming method is provided, which can include the following steps:

[0005] S1: selecting a target metal plate as a grid electrode material and clamping and fixing it with upper and lower clamping blocks, wherein the clamping blocks are the same size as the target metal plate in length and width, and the thickness of the clamping blocks is greater than 5 mm;

[0006] S2: using a high-precision wire cutting device to perform wire cutting according to a preset path to form a parallel wire mesh structure;

[0007] S3: removing the metal waste formed by cutting;

[0008] S4: removing the upper clamping block and fixing and installing the upper electrode at the same position;

[0009] S5: turning the overall structure upside down so that the original lower clamping block faces upward, removing the original lower clamping block, and installing the lower electrode at the same position to form a grid electrode.

[0010] In an embodiment, in S1, fixing holes are provided at the four corners of the clamping blocks and the target metal plate, and the clamping blocks and the target metal plate are then fixed together with bolts and nuts.

[0011] In an embodiment, in S2, a plurality of wire passing holes are processed on the clamping blocks and the target metal plate before cutting.

[0012] In an embodiment, the number of wire passing holes is two, which are arranged diagonally.

[0013] In an embodiment, the preset path of each cutting in S2 is a zigzag shape.

[0014] In an embodiment, in S2, for each slit, the cutting path is divided into multiple rectangular paths connected in sequence to divide the waste corresponding to each slit into multiple small sections.

[0015] In an embodiment, the length of each section of waste is 1 / 3-1 / 10 of the length of each slit.

[0016] In an embodiment, it further comprises applying adhesive glue on the upper electrode and the lower electrode in advance before the upper electrode and the lower electrode are installed.

[0017] In an embodiment, the thickness of the target metal plate is 0.2-1 mm.

[0018] According to another aspect of the present application, a mass spectrometry grid electrode is also provided, wherein the mass spectrometry grid electrode is made by the above-mentioned mass spectrometry grid electrode forming method.

[0019] The present application has the beneficial effects of,

[0020] 1. Integrated molding, reducing assembly error: Compared with the traditional braiding or clamping method, the present method directly processes by wire cutting, avoiding the arrangement error of metal wires, ensuring the uniformity and high flatness of the grid.

[0021] 2. Improve the stability of the grid electrode: The whole metal sheet is processed to form the grid, and the mechanical structure stress itself helps to reduce the problems of metal wire loosening and breaking, and improves the long-term stability.

[0022] 3. Simplify the process and improve the processing precision: Wire cutting processing avoids the problem of uneven corrosion in traditional etching process, and can accurately control the grid aperture and shape, improving the uniformity of the electric field.

[0023] 4. Suitable for a variety of metal materials: The method is suitable for a variety of metal materials such as stainless steel, molybdenum, titanium, etc., meeting the application requirements of different mass spectrometers. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 is a flowchart of the mass spectrometry grid electrode forming method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 2 is a cutting path diagram of each slit of the mass spectrometry grid electrode forming method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 3 is an assembly diagram of the target metal plate and the clamping block;

[0027] Figure 4is a schematic diagram of the wire cutting of the target metal plate and the clamping block;

[0028] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of taking away the upper clamping block and installing the upper electrode;

[0029] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of turning over the whole plate;

[0030] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of taking away the lower clamping block and installing the lower electrode.

[0031] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the shaped mass spectrometry grid electrode DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The preferred embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, in which the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and therefore the description will be given only with respect to the differences from the previous embodiments. It is understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings are not limiting the scope of the present application, but are merely intended to illustrate the essential spirit of the technical solutions of the present application.

[0033] In the following description, for the purposes of explaining various disclosed embodiments, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosed embodiments. However, persons of ordinary skill in the relevant arts will recognize that embodiments can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, structures, and techniques have not been shown or described in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring embodiments.

[0034] Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words "comprise," "comprising," and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as

[0035] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0036] As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. It should be noted that the term "comprising" as used in this specification and the appended claims is inclusive or open and does not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps. It should be noted that the term "or" as used in this specification and the appended claims is inclusive and not exclusive, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0037] In the following description, in order to clearly show the structure and working mode of the present application, many directional words will be used for description, but the words of "front", "back", "left", "right", "outer", "inner", "outward", "inward", "up", "down" and the like should be understood as convenient words, and should not be understood as limiting words.

[0038] In addition, the terms "horizontal", "vertical", "overhanging" and the like do not mean that the components must be absolutely horizontal or overhanging, but can be slightly inclined. For example, "horizontal" only means that it is more horizontal relative to "vertical", and does not mean that the structure must be completely horizontal, but can be slightly inclined.

[0039] In the description of the present application, it should also be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "arrangement", "installation", "connection", "connection" should be understood broadly, for example, it can be fixedly connected, or it can be detachably connected, or integrally connected; it can be mechanically connected, or it can be electrically connected; it can be directly connected, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium; it can be the communication inside two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0040] As shown in Figure 1 A method for forming a mass spectrometry grid electrode according to the present application can include the following steps:

[0041] S1: Select a target metal plate 1 as the grid electrode material, and clamp and fix it with an upper and lower clamp block 2 (as shown in Figure 3 The clamp block 2 is the same size as the target metal plate 1, and the thickness of the clamp block 2 is greater than 5mm, so as to provide sufficient support force and keep the target metal plate 1 flat. The thickness of the target metal plate is 0.2-1mm. The target metal plate 1 and the clamp block 2 can be the same metal or different metals. The target metal plate can be stainless steel, molybdenum or titanium, etc. In a specific embodiment, the target metal plate is a 1mm thick stainless steel plate, and the clamp block is an 8mm thick stainless steel plate.

[0042] In order to conveniently fix and assemble the target metal plate and the clamp block together, fixing holes 11 and 21 are provided at the four corners of the clamp block and the target metal plate. In this way, the clamp block and the target metal plate can be fixed together with bolts and nuts, which is very convenient. In other embodiments, they can also be fixed together by threading a wire through the fixing holes.

[0043] S2: Use a high-precision wire cutting device to cut along a predetermined path to form a parallel wire mesh structure (as shown in Figure 4(As shown). Before cutting, several wire-threading holes (not shown) need to be pre-machined on the clamping block and the target metal plate for the wire cutting equipment to pass through. To reduce the number of wire-threading operations, a wire-threading hole is machined on the left and right sides of the clamping block and the target metal plate. Preferably, these two wire-threading holes are arranged diagonally. That is, two wire cutting operations are performed from the left and right sides respectively. The travel path of each wire cutting operation is roughly Z-shaped. That is, when cutting starts from the wire-threading hole in the upper left corner, the cutting route is to first cut from the left end of the slit 10 to the right end, then cut downwards for the width of the slit, and then cut to the left to return to the left end to complete the cutting of one slit. After cutting downwards for the distance of one slit, the next slit is cut, and so on, until the bottom slit is cut. The cutting route of the wire-threading hole in the lower right corner is opposite to that of the wire-threading hole in the upper left corner.

[0044] If the length of the grid electrode is relatively large, the waste material will also be relatively large when a slit is cut in one go from left to right and then from right to left, which is not conducive to removal. Therefore, for each slit 10, the cutting path is divided into multiple sequentially connected rectangular paths (such as...). Figure 2 As shown in the diagram, this divides the waste material into smaller segments for easier removal. The length of each segment is approximately 1 / 3 to 1 / 10 of the length of each gap. The longer the gap, the more segments the waste material needs to be divided into.

[0045] The width of the gap 10 in the grid electrode can be 100–500 μm. In one specific embodiment, the width of the gap is 100 μm.

[0046] S3: Remove the metal scrap generated during cutting. This metal scrap can be removed by vacuum or air blowing.

[0047] S4: Remove the upper clamp 2 and fix the upper electrode 3 in the same position (e.g., Figure 5 (As shown). To ensure a secure fit between the upper electrode and the fabricated grid, apply adhesive to the upper electrode before installation.

[0048] S5: Flip the entire structure over so that the original lower clamping block 2 faces upwards (e.g., Figure 6 As shown), with the upper electrode 3 facing down, remove the original lower clamp 2 and install the lower electrode 4 in the same position (as shown). Figure 7 As shown), a mass spectrometry grid electrode 100 is formed (e.g., Figure 8 (As shown). Similarly, to ensure that the lower electrode and the processed grid are well fixed, adhesive is applied to the lower electrode before installation.

[0049] The method described above for fabricating mass spectrometry grid electrodes has the following advantages:

[0050] 1. Integrated molding, reducing assembly error: Compared with traditional weaving or clamping methods, the method uses wire cutting to directly process, avoiding metal wire arrangement error, ensuring grid uniformity and high flatness.

[0051] 2. Improve the stability of the grid electrode: The metal sheet is processed as a whole to form the grid, and the mechanical structure stress itself helps to reduce the problems of metal wire loosening and breaking, and improves the long-term stability.

[0052] 3. Simplify the process and improve the machining precision: Wire cutting processing avoids the problem of uneven corrosion in traditional etching process, and can accurately control the grid aperture and shape, improving the uniformity of the electric field.

[0053] 4. Suitable for a variety of metal materials: The method is suitable for stainless steel, molybdenum, titanium and other metal materials, meeting the application requirements of different mass spectrometers.

[0054] The application also provides a mass spectrometry grid electrode made by the above method. The mass spectrometry grid electrode has uniform aperture and smooth edges.

[0055] The preferred embodiments of the application have been described in detail above, but it should be understood that, after reading the above teaching of the application, those skilled in the art can make various modifications or changes to the application. These equivalent forms also fall within the scope defined by the claims attached to the present application.

Claims

1. A method for forming a mass spectrometer grid electrode, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1: Select the target metal plate as the grid electrode material and clamp it with two clamping blocks, wherein the length and width of the clamping blocks are the same as those of the target metal plate, and the thickness of the clamping blocks is greater than 5mm. S2: High-precision wire cutting equipment is used to cut wires along a preset path to form a parallel wire mesh structure; S3: Remove the metal scrap generated during cutting; S4: Remove the upper clamping block and fix the upper electrode in the same position; S5: Flip the entire structure over so that the original lower clamping block faces upward, remove the original lower clamping block, and install the lower electrode in the same position to form a grid electrode.

2. The method for forming a mass spectrometer grid electrode according to claim 1, characterized in that, In S1, fixing holes are set at the four corners of the clamping block and the target metal plate, and then the clamping block and the target metal plate are fixed together with bolts and nuts.

3. The method for forming a mass spectrometer grid electrode according to claim 1, characterized in that, In S2, several wire-threading holes are pre-machined on the clamping block and the target metal plate before cutting.

4. The method for forming a mass spectrometer grid electrode according to claim 3, characterized in that, There are two threading holes, arranged diagonally.

5. The method for forming a mass spectrometer grid electrode according to claim 4, characterized in that, In S2, the preset path for each cut is a zigzag shape.

6. The method for forming a mass spectrometer grid electrode according to claim 1, characterized in that, In S2, for each slit, the cutting path is divided into multiple sequentially connected rectangular paths to divide the waste material corresponding to each slit into multiple small segments.

7. The method for forming a mass spectrometer grid electrode according to claim 6, characterized in that, The length of each piece of waste material is 1 / 3 to 1 / 10 of the length of each gap.

8. The method for forming a mass spectrometer grid electrode according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: Apply adhesive before installing the upper and lower electrodes.

9. The method for forming a mass spectrometer grid electrode according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thickness of the target metal sheet is 0.2 to 1 mm.

10. A mass spectrometry grid electrode, characterized in that, The mass spectrometer grid electrode is manufactured using the mass spectrometer grid electrode forming method as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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