Cooled NMR Probe Head Vacuum Lock Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing NMR apparatuses with superconducting magnet arrangements face challenges in efficiently installing and removing cooled probe head components without breaking the cryostat vacuum, leading to increased equipment complexity, cooling capacity losses, and reduced mechanical modularity.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a sluice valve and lock mechanism allows for the movement of cooled probe head components between the cold bore and room temperature access of the cryostat without breaking the vacuum, enabling their installation and removal while maintaining the magnet's charge, and using a detachable thermal contact to a cold stage for efficient cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If cooled probe head components are installed in the room temperature access of the cryostat, then they can be removed and installed easily, but they require their own insulating vacuum which increases space requirements and reduces compactness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the probe head's vacuum insulation requirement with the cryostat's existing vacuum environment by positioning the cooled probe head components inside the cryostat's vacuum container. This eliminates the need for a separate insulating vacuum around the probe head, reducing space requirements and increasing compactness while maintaining ease of installation and removal through the vacuum-tight access opening.
Solution Approach 2:
The probe head components are nested within the cryostat's vacuum container, utilizing the existing vacuum environment of the cryostat for the probe head's insulation needs. This nested arrangement eliminates redundant insulation structures and reduces the overall volume occupied by the probe head assembly.
2Volume of moving object
If cooled probe head components are fixed inside the vacuum container of the cryostat, then compactness is improved and separate insulation containers are eliminated, but mechanical modularity is lost and probe head replacement requires breaking the vacuum
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic sealing system with a movable sealing element that can be opened and closed. This allows the probe head to be installed and removed through the vacuum container wall without permanently breaking the vacuum, maintaining both compactness (by being inside the vacuum container) and mechanical modularity (by enabling easy replacement).
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a load lock chamber as an intermediary space between the probe head installation area and the main vacuum container. This load lock allows probe heads to be installed or removed without directly breaking the main vacuum, maintaining vacuum integrity while enabling mechanical modularity and easy replacement.
3Device complexity
If a common cryocooler is used to cool both the superconducting magnet coil system and the probe head, then equipment outlay is reduced, but cooling capacity losses occur due to complexity of the cooling circuit
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cooling system into separate independent cooling circuits: one for the superconducting magnet coil system and another for the probe head components. This segmentation allows each system to be optimized independently, reducing cooling capacity losses while maintaining reasonable equipment complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the cooling system with universal components that can serve multiple functions. The cooling circuit is configured to efficiently cool both the magnet system and probe head through shared infrastructure elements, reducing overall equipment outlay while minimizing energy losses through optimized thermal pathways.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the cryostat vacuum is broken to replace the probe head, then the probe head can be replaced for different NMR measurements, but the superconducting magnet coil system must be discharged and heated up
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a load lock chamber as an intermediary space that allows probe head replacement without breaking the main cryostat vacuum. The load lock can be evacuated and pressurized independently, enabling probe head installation and removal while the main vacuum remains intact, thus avoiding magnet discharge and heating cycles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent prepares the load lock chamber in advance as a vacuum-tight access point. By having this pre-evacuated intermediary space ready, probe heads can be exchanged quickly without needing to break the main vacuum, significantly reducing the time required for probe head replacement while maintaining magnet operational status.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution simplifies the installation and removal of cryoprobe heads, maintains the magnet's charge, reduces equipment complexity, and enhances the compactness of the superconducting magnet coil system by eliminating the need for separate insulation containers, while providing cost-effective and thermally efficient cooling.
Implementation Method 1
the cooling fluids have to be refilled at regular time intervals, since the heat input to the cryogenic container ensures that the cooling fluids evaporate continuously
Implementation Method 2
the cryostat comprises a vacuum vessel, in which one or more cryo-vessels, each with a cooling fluid
Implementation Method 3
the cooling fluids can be reliquefied by a cryocooler on the cryostat
Data Source
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AI summary
An NMR apparatus with a superconducting magnet arrangement (27), a cryostat comprising a vacuum vessel (102) and a cooling stage operable at <100K, and a magnet coil system (111) with a cold bore (101) into which a room temperature access (103) of the cryostat engages, wherein an NMR probe head (11) with probe head components (9, 10) cooled to an operating temperature <100K is present during operation, is characterized in that the probe head components are arranged radially inside the cold bore but outside the room temperature access between the cold bore and the room temperature access into the cold bore, that the vacuum vessel has an opening (108) that can be closed with a lock valve (109) and, immediately following the opening, a lock chamber (112) or a device for attaching a lock chamber, and that the opening and the lock valve are dimensioned and arranged such thatthat the cooled sample head components can be installed and/or removed through them without breaking the insulating vacuum in the cryostat's vacuum chamber.