Apparatuses and methods for cutting porous substrates

An apparatus comprising:

• a stripping sleeve;
• a load spring;
• a c-frame support having a die with an inner opening;
• a pillar;
• a puncher seated in the pillar and coaxially located within the stripping sleeve, and having a punch head to cut a biological sample from a substrate,
• wherein:
• the stripping sleeve is to hold the substrate against the die,
• the load spring is to actuate the stripping sleeve to hold the substrate against the c-frame support as the punch head passes through the inner opening of the die,
• the punch head is to cut the biological sample by passing through the inner opening of the die,
• the puncher has a diameter at the punch head that is smaller than a diameter at an upper end of the puncher,
• the stripping sleeve is movably coupled to the pillar by one or more guides and one or more channels, the one or more guides being configured to engage with the one or more channels to control relative movement between the stripping sleeve and the pillar, wherein one of the one or more guides are formed by one of the stripping sleeve and the pillar, and wherein the one or more channels are formed by the other one of the stripping sleeve and the pillar,
• when the stripping sleeve holds the substrate against the c-frame support, the one or more guides and the one or more channels allow the stripping sleeve to move relative to the puncher to compress the load spring to apply a force to the substrate,
• a bottom end of the stripping sleeve forms a shoulder against which the load spring presses to actuate the stripping sleeve when the puncher is driven towards the die,
• the load spring surrounds the puncher, and is located between an inner surface of the stripping sleeve and an outer surface of the puncher, and
• the stripping sleeve forms a first tapered head, and wherein the die forms a second tapered head that engages the first tapered head when the puncher is driven downward towards the die, and
• the c-frame support is to hold the die in a fixed position relative to the puncher and the stripping sleeve.

An apparatus comprising:

• a stripping sleeve;
• a load spring;
• a support having a die with an inner opening;
• a pillar;
• a puncher seated in the pillar, and having a punch head to cut a biological sample from a substrate,
• wherein:
• the stripping sleeve is to hold the substrate against the die,
• the load spring is to actuate the stripping sleeve to hold the substrate against the support as the punch head passes through the inner opening of the die,
• the punch head is to cut the biological sample by passing through the inner opening of the die,
• a diameter of the inner opening of the die increases from an upper end to a bottom end of the die, and the puncher is to cause a stroke of the punch head to continue through to the bottom end of the die,
• a bottom end of the stripping sleeve forms a shoulder against which the load spring presses to actuate the stripping sleeve when the puncher is driven towards the die,
• the load spring surrounds the puncher, and is located between an inner surface of the stripping sleeve and an outer surface of the puncher,
• the support is to hold the die in a fixed position relative to the puncher and the stripping sleeve, and
• a bottom end of the stripping sleeve extends beyond the punch head, such that the punch head is recessed within the stripping sleeve when the puncher is in a resting mode.

An apparatus comprising:

• a stripping sleeve;
• a load spring;
• a c-frame support having a die with an inner opening;
• a pillar;
• a puncher seated in the pillar and coaxially located within the stripping sleeve, and having a punch head to cut a biological sample from a substrate,
• wherein:
• the stripping sleeve is to hold the substrate against the die,
• the load spring is to actuate the stripping sleeve to hold the substrate against the c-frame support as the punch head passes through the inner opening of the die,
• the punch head is to cut the biological sample by passing through the inner opening of the die,
• the puncher has a diameter at the punch head that is smaller than a diameter at an upper end of the puncher,
• the stripping sleeve is movably coupled to the pillar by one or more guides and one or more channels, the one or more guides being configured to engage with the one or more channels to control relative movement between the stripping sleeve and the pillar, wherein one of the one or more guides are formed by one of the stripping sleeve and the pillar, and wherein the one or more channels are formed by the other one of the stripping sleeve and the pillar,
• the apparatus comprises a retaining element that engages the one or more guides at a notch portion to hold the one or more guides in place against the pillar, wherein the notch portion is wider than a head portion of the one or more guides, the head portion being received in the one or more channels, such that the notch portion forms a flange extending from the head portion,
• when the stripping sleeve holds the substrate against the c-frame support, the one or more guides and the one or more channels allow the stripping sleeve to move relative to the puncher to compress the load spring to apply a force to the substrate,
• a bottom end of the stripping sleeve forms a shoulder against which the load spring presses to actuate the stripping sleeve when the puncher is driven towards the die,
• the load spring surrounds the puncher, and is located between an inner surface of the stripping sleeve and an outer surface of the puncher, and
• the c-frame support is to hold the die in a fixed position relative to the puncher and the stripping sleeve.