Fluid sample receptacle

US5785044A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• KVM Technologies, Inc. · US

Inventors

• James W. Meador · Houston, US
• Thomas L. Kraft · Houston, US
• David P. O'Bryan · Kennett Square, US
• John F. Berry · Houston, US
• Thomas G. Miller · Houston, US
• Norman Hugh Smith · Bothell, US
• William S. Schnorr · Pittsburgh, US
• Christopher T. Nikirk · Houston, US
• Louis A. Waters, Jr. · Bellaire, US
• Sean M. Donnelly · Houston, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 18, 1996
• Grant date: Jul 28, 1998
• Expiry date: Apr 18, 2016

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61B2010/0009
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A fluid sample receptacle provides a means of assuring uncontaminated, multiple samples of a fluid specimen. An upper or isolated sample chamber and a lower or primary sample chamber provide redundant test samples. A cover or lid with a downwardly extending column includes a stopper with a removable plug attached to automatically seal the lower sample chamber when the cover is sealed across the top of the upper chamber. This feature guarantees that the sample chambers are sealed or isolated simultaneously and that the test samples are therefore identical when taken. Tamper evident seals prove that either sample has not been contaminated. A preferred embodiment provides a bellows assembly to accommodate variations in ambient pressure and to provide a positive means of expelling a precise quantity of fluid from the receptacle for testing.