FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate one example of an inlet device 15. As shown, the inlet device 15 can have an elongate tubular body 15b extending between the internal end 15i and the external end 15e. The device 15 can have at least one (shown as a single) inlet aperture 15a which merges into a longitudinally extending fluid (“fluid” refers to liquid and/or gas”) channel 15c. The device 15 can be sized and configured to have at least one capillary channel, e.g., be configured as a capillary tube. The at least one channel 15c can have a width and/or height dimension (shown as circular with a diameter) that is between about 0.05 mm to about 0.50 mm, more typically between about 0.100 mm to about 0.250 mm, and, in some embodiment can be about 0.125 mm. Other cross-sectional channel shapes may be used instead of circles.
FIG. 6C illustrates the at least one inlet aperture 15a can be a plurality of inlet apertures 15a each merging into a respective inlet channel 15c. Alternatively, two or more inlets 15a may merge into a shared elongate channel 15c. Although shown as five apertures 15a, more or fewer apertures 15a may be used, e.g., 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, for example.
The inlet device 15 can, in some embodiments, have an outer diameter that is between 1-5 mm, such as about 1 mm, about 1.2 about 1.5 mm, about 1.6 mm, about 1.7 mm, about 1.8 mm, about 1.9 mm and about 2 mm.
