APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SAMPLING OF CONFINED SPACES

摘要

In various embodiments of the invention, a cargo container can be monitored at appropriate time intervals to determine that no controlled substances have been shipped with the cargo in the container. The monitoring utilizes reactive species produced from an atmospheric analyzer to ionize analyte molecules present in the container which are then analyzed by an appropriate spectroscopy system. In an embodiment of the invention, a sorbent surface can be used to absorb, adsorb or condense analyte molecules within the container whereafter the sorbent surface can be interrogated with the reactive species to generate analyte species characteristic of the contents of the container.

主权项

1. A chemical signature system comprising:
a sorbent material adapted to collect one or more analyte molecules; and a chemical code positioned on the sorbent material, where the chemical code comprises a plurality of compounds, where two or more of the plurality of compounds produce a plurality of ions when analyzed by one or more atmospheric ionizers, where the plurality of ions generate a chemical signature, where the chemical signature represents one or more pieces of information about the one or more analyte molecules collected on the sorbent material.