Measuring and testing – Sampler – sample handling – etc. – Capture device
Patent
1995-07-18
1997-07-01
Raevis, R.
Measuring and testing
Sampler, sample handling, etc.
Capture device
G01N 108
Patent
active
056440910
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a device for sampling a material and to the method of taking samples of said material by using said device.
Said device and method of the invention are particularly suitable for taking samples of a material such as a liquid--solution or suspension--a viscous fluid--sludges, for example--or a friable solid--a solid having very low hardness: sand or a hard solid that has previously been crushed--.
At present: comprise a hollow tube mounted at the end of a string of rods and having a sharp bottom edge; drill a sampling well, after which a pump is used to take the sample contained in the well;
The present invention proposes an original device which is nevertheless unsuitable for taking samples of a material that is hard, as will easily be seen by the person skilled in the art and reading the text below. Said device is particularly suitable for taking samples of sludges.
The device of the invention comprises a hollow "sampling cylinder" or "sample-taking" cylinder defining an open cavity, said cavity co-operating with vent-forming means and also including inflatable shutter means shaped, after said cavity has been filled with said material, to ensure that said material is held inside said cavity.
Once inserted into the mass of material to be sampled, said hollow cylinder is intended to fill, at least in part, with said material. To this end, at least one opening is provided, and the open cavity defined in this way co-operates with vent-forming means enabling the air (or possibly some other gas initially present in said cavity) to be expelled by the material as the cavity fills with said material.
Said vent may be formed directly through one of the walls of the open cavity. It may also be provided in another part of a device that is more complex: said device including both the sampling cylinder and means for putting the inside of said cylinder (the sampling cavity) into communication with said vent.
The sampling cavity also includes inflatable shutter means suitable for shutting its opening(s) after it has filled, and for holding the sampled material that has been trapped in this way inside the cavity. Said means are retractable during positioning of the sampling device and while it is filling. They are connected to a device capable of applying pressure thereto in order to shut the opening(s) of the sampling cylinder and in order to apply suction thereto to open said opening(s). Said inflatable shutter means advantageously comprise a rubber membrane that has been thoroughly checked for strength and constant thickness. Said membrane must be capable of withstanding internal pressure suitable for closing the cavity in sealed manner while it contains the sample that has been taken.
The sampling cavity of the device of the invention is described above using the term "hollow cylinder". This term is not limiting in any way. The person skilled in the art will easily understand that the teaching of the present invention is transposable to other embodiments and in particular to cavities that are hemispherical, bell-shaped, . . . . Advantageously, the cavity of the sampling device of the invention is a circular cylinder.
Said sampling device of the invention may consist in the means described above: a sampling cylinder with one or more filling openings, a vent, and inflatable shutter means for the said opening(s) and connected to a source for feeding gas under pressure.
Advantageously, said means, which are essential, are associated with other means.
Thus, the device of the invention advantageously includes, in addition to the essential means described above, means for providing guided displacement of the sampling cylinder between a position in which the opening(s) of said cylinder is/are outside the material to be sampled, and a "sampling" position in which the opening(s) is/are in said material, and means for stopping said displacement and positioning said cylinder in said sampling position.
For these purposes of guiding and positioning in the sampling position, it is possible to design n
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patent: 4376392 (1983-03-01), Beitel
patent: 4887413 (1989-12-01), Tuckey, Jr.
International Search Report for corresponding International Application No. PCT/FR 94/00092, dated May 4, 1994.
Patent Abstracts of Japan; vol. 10, No. 250, p. 491, Aug. 28, 1986.
Gineste Claude A.
Jacq Patrick H.
Kerlau Daniel M.
Roux Patrice B.
Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires
Raevis R.
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