Sampling apparatus for material collection
AssigneeJoel Steven Harris
InventorJoel Steven Harris
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus to collect a sample of material has a handle with a tubular sample sleeve extending from an end of the handle. The end of the sleeve distal from the handle forms a cutting edge circumscribing a circular sampling region. A plunger slides reciprocally within the tubular sample sleeve between a retracted position and an expulsion position. A user cuts a sample from a source material by engaging contact between the cutting edge of the tubular sample sleeve and the source material. The sample cut from the source is lodged within the tubular sample sleeve. Actuation of the plunger from the retracted position toward the expulsion position displacing the sample from the sleeve.
Claims15
An apparatus to collect a sample comprising:
- a handle;
- a tubular sample sleeve depending from the handle forming a cutting edge at an end remote from the handle;
- a plunger slidably disposed within the lumen of said tubular sample sleeve reciprocally movable between a retracted position and an expulsion position;
- a linkage that joins the plunger to an actuator means so that the actuator means can translocate the plunger using the linkage;
- and
- actuator means operable to actuate said plunger between the retracted position and the expulsion position.
A sampling device comprising:
- a handle and a spring ejection cover depending from the handle, the handle having:
- a hollow body;
- a first end that engages a spring ejection cover;
- and
- a terminal end into which is mounted one end of a tubular sample sleeve having a cutting blade
- at an opposite end to that mounted to the terminal end of the handle;
- and the spring ejection cover having:
- a cap that engages the first end of the said handle;
- a spring and shaft assembly having an actuator, a shaft, a spring and an enclosure, said actuator
- moving from a released position to a compressed position, the actuator connecting to the shaft at a first end of the shaft, the shaft engaging the spring at a second end of the shaft, and the shaft connecting to a linkage at the second end of the shaft;
- the linkage connecting to a plunger at the end of the linkage that is not connected to the shaft;
- the spring ejection cover moving the plunger between a first position and a second position, whereby the actuator is moved from a position where the spring is extended against the shaft to a position where the actuator moves within the sleeve of the spring ejection cover, the actuator moving the shaft to compress the spring against the enclosure and the shaft moving the plunger to the second position, and upon release of the actuator, the spring forces the shaft and the actuator to their original positions by extending to its original shape, moving the plunger with the shaft to the first position, the first position being a retracted position located where the plunger does not pass through the length of the tubular sample sleeve past the cutting blade, and the second position being an expulsion position where the plunger is forced through the tubular sample sleeve and past the cutting blade.
A method of extracting a sample from a soft source using a sampling device where the source is cut by a cutting blade of a tubular sample sleeve, the tubular sample sleeve being mounted to a terminal end of a handle, the tubular sample sleeve holding the sample until a plunger is actuated to expel the sample from the tubular sample sleeve, the plunger being contained within the sampling device and being actuated from a first end of the handle opposite the terminal end of the handle, the plunger moving from a first position to a second position, the first position being where the plunger is predominantly or entirely contained within the handle, and the second position being where the plunger passes through the tubular sample sleeve and past the cutting blade, expelling the sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.