Method and apparatus for the inspection of foreign matter from reusable vessels

A method is to be provided for checking for contaminants, in which expediently only one analytical system, for example a mass spectrometer, is required, to which the test air in question of each bottle is fed in succession. As a result, the overall expenditure for such a checking machine is to be reduced. This object is achieved by drawing in, during the analysis of a preceding bottle, a predeterminable amount of air from the next and/or further bottle, and keeping it in readiness within the system for subsequent direct in-feed to the analytical instrument and by feeding it to the analytical instrument after the preceding bottle has been checked and by then removing it from the system by inverting the flow direction and feeding in flushing gas.