Automated sample extractor or feeder/inoculator for bioreactors and similar equipment

An apparatus for moving a sample of a flowable material through a port in a wall of a vessel or conduit comprising:

• a body having an end wall and an internal cavity communicable with an orifice formed in said end wall, said body having a generally centrally disposed longitudinal axis extending therethrough;
• a bellows positioned within said internal cavity, said bellows having a tubular body and a sealing tip cooperable with said orifice for opening and closing said orifice, said tubular body being spaced from interior surfaces of said internal cavity to define a sample cavity between said tubular body and said interior surfaces, said sample cavity being communicable with said orifice;
• a valve operating rod extending within said body for reciprocating the sealing tip of the bellows to thereby open and close the orifice;
• a drain passage formed within said body, said drain passage communicating at one end with said sample cavity and extending away from said orifice, the drain passage having a longitudinal axis which is nonparallel, nonperpendicular and offset from the longitudinal axis of the body;
• and
• an inlet passage formed within said body, said inlet passage communicating at one end with said sample cavity and extending away from said orifice, the inlet passage having a longitudinal axis, a plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the drain passage and the longitudinal axis of the body being nonparallel, nonperpendicular and offset from the longitudinal axis of the inlet passage.