Technical Field of the Invention.

The present invention relates generally to the field of chromatography vials and open hole caps that fit on the vials to contain laboratory substances that are extracted with an aspiration needle inserted through a septum in the open hole cap. More particularly, it relates to sampling vials and septum caps that are adapted to robotic automation sampling machines and yet where the caps can be conveniently removed manually and safely discardable.

Background Art.

Prior sampling vials with open hole septum caps have been either screw-on types for manual use or crimp seal types for robotic handling. There are no known screw-on types that are suitable for robotic automation. Nor are there any known screw-on types that are suitable for both robotic and manual use. Equally significant in our age of adaptive diseases, there have been no vials for robotic use where the contents are safely discardable after use.

In the prior art, it is well known that vials and caps for sampling vials have always been difficult for the customer to assemble, especially so if a crimp-type vial was utilized. Such a vial had to have a cap crimped by hand onto the vial with a set of crimp pliers. Additionally, the crimp cap could not be conveniently removed without destroying the cap, and sometimes destroying the vial, with or without the contents therein.

The prior art screw-on caps also proved to be less than effective inasmuch as they could not be used with robotic arms on autosampler machines. The snap- on caps of the prior art suffered similar disadvantages and they also degraded the

seal of the vial specimen if repeatedly removed from the vial. However, the snap-on caps further suffer from a problem of large evaporation losses around the septum and the vial top.

Disclosure of Invention.

In accordance with the present invention, it is contemplated that one objective of this invention is to provide a robot manipulatable vial with a septum having a screw-on open hole cap that can be used together for robotic handling with automated machinery such as autosamplers for aspiration functions, which provides integrity to the sample within the vial.

Another objective is to provide a robot manipulatable vial with a screw-on open hole cap having a septum that can be used together with manual handling for either adding sample material into or removing it from the vial with the open hole cap removed, and yet eliminates damage to the cap upon removal.

Another objective is to provide a robot manipulatable vial with a screw-on open hole cap having a septum that can be used together with manual handling for either adding sample material into or removing it from the vial with a syringe through the septum.

Another objective is to provide a robot manipulatable vial having a screw-on open hole cap with a septum that can be snap-fit onto the vial and then screwed off and screwed back on manually or robotically.

Yet another objective is to provide a robot manipulatable vial having a screw-on open hole cap with a septum that can be emptied conveniently, safely and economically for safe discard.

This invention accomplishes the above and other objectives with a robotic manipulative sampling vial having a septum in a screw-on open hole cap. A bottom

rim of the open hole cap and a shoulder on the vial are separated a select distance for insertion of robotic arms of automation machinery such as an autosampler. Optionally, the open hole cap can be screwed on and off with machinery or manually or snap-fit on and then screwed off and on manually or with automated machinery. After use, the open hole cap can be screwed off for emptying the vial, and then discarding the vial and the open hole cap safely without breakage which could cause injury and infection of workers.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing preferred embodiments of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings.

Figure 1 is a cutaway elevation view of a vial having a screw-on septum cap, and a neck sized and shaped to receive robotic arms of an automated sampling machine, and single turn threading;

Figure 2 is a cutaway elevation view of an embodiment having a screw-on septum cap that is also resilient for press-on snap-fitting, a lift ridge for robotic handling and an index for snap-fitting in a circumferential position in which threads are at a screwed on circumferential relationship;

Figure 3 is a sectional cutaway view of the Figure 2 illustration with a snap ring under the lift ridge;

Figure 4 is a sectional cutaway view of the Figure 3 illustration with a flex seal that seals with internal pressure developed by gases that may be generated from sample material;

Figure 5 is a sectional cutaway view of an embodiment having multiple turn threading, an optionally resilient open hole cap, an inside gas seal and a robotic arm

lift ridge;

Figure 6 is a sectional cutaway view of an embodiment having multiple turn threading and an optionally resilient open hole cap;

Figure 7 is a sectional cutaway view of the Figure 6 illustration with a robotic arm lift ridge;

Figure 8 is a sectional cutaway view an embodiment having ratchet-type threading for ease of optional press fit with resilient walls and multiple turn threads in addition to a gas lock and a robotic lift ridge;

Figure 9 is a sectional cutaway view of the Figure 8 illustration without the robotic lift ridge;

Figure 10 is a cutaway top view showing full-circumference threading and the robotic lift arms in three point manipulative relationship;

Figure 11 is a cutaway top view of the Figure 10 illustration with tab threading in the open hole cap; and

Figure 12 is a cutaway sectional view of the Figure 9 illustration with a funnelled open hole cap and a resiliently closeable orifice in the septum.

Figure 13 is a cutaway elevation view showing a vial assembled with a vial cap having a septum; and

Figure 14 is a sectional cutaway view of the vial cap in relation to the vial neck and the septum.

Best Mode of Carrying Out the Invention.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, reference is made first to Figure 1. A vial 1 has a neck 2 sized and shaped for insertion of robotic arms 3 between shoulders 4 and a bottom edge 5 of a open hole cap B having a septum 7 through which syringe needles are insertable for aspirating samples of substances from the vial . Vial threads 8 and mating cap threads 9 are provided for screwing the open hole cap 6 on and off. For many applications, threads 8 and 9 have only one circumferential length to minimize size and top weight.

Referring to Figure 2, the open hole cap 6 can be resilient in order to be pressed on with a snap-fit action and then screwed off and on as desired. For either rigid open hole caps 6 or for snap-fit embodiments of this invention, there can be a robotic lifting ridge 10 below the bottom 5 of the open hole cap 6. For snap-fit embodiments with resilient open hole caps 6, it is desirable to have a lid index 11 and a vial index 12. An additional ridge index 13 also can be provided on the robotic lifting ridge 10.

The function of the indices 11-13 is to align the vial threads 8 with the cap threads 9 in a screwed on relation-ship when snap-fit together. If the threads 8 and 9 are not in screwed on rotational relationship when the open hole cap 6 is pressed on, rotation of the open hole cap 6 in an on direction of rotation will be necessary to tighten the open hole cap 6 onto vial 1. Therefore, the indices 11 and 12 should be positioned in line when the open hole cap 6 is screwed on. Index 13 on the lifting ridge 10, should be fixed in line with vial index 1 .

The indices 11-13 can be any shape, form or color desired. For robotic purposes, however, they should have a physical structure which positions them automatically in automation machinery being used. A dent or a ridge, for example, can be shaped and positioned to cause the vial 1 and the open hole cap 6 to be accepted into the automation machinery with the indices 11-13 positioned appropriately.

Referring to Figure 3, a lock ring 14 can be provided below a robotic

ridge 10 as a resilient lifting surface and as a safety seal for snap-on open hole caps 6 that are resilient. A resilient lifting surface can add safety against breakage for some use conditions.

Referring to Figure 4, a gas pressure seal tube 15 can be positioned against a seal wall surface 16 at a top of neck 2 and provided with a resilient ring 17 to assure even contact of the seal tube 15 against the seal wall surface 16. The sealing principle is similar to that of a tubeless tire with a bead that assures uniform contact of the tire with a rim surface. The parts and their working relationships are different however. A portion of the seal tube 15 can be held between a top of the open hole cap 6 and a top of the neck 2 where it can be attached or unattached to either the open hole cap 6 or the neck 2. Gas pressure generated by chemical action of sample substances can create its own seal to the extent necessary. The seal tube 15 and the seal wall surface 16 can shaped variously for different use conditions. For some applications, for example, a contact surface for the resilient ring 17 can be a cylindrical surface concentric with the neck or a slightly concave section. The seal wall surface 16 can be coned either direction or straight cylindrically concentric with the neck 2. The seal tube can be shaped accordingly.

A robotic lifting ridge 10 and a lock ring 14 can be employed in conjunction with the seal tube 15 and a flexible open hole cap 6 for the Figure 4 embodiment.

Referring to Figure 5, a robotic lifting ridge 10 and a seal tube 15 can be employed in a combination without the lock ring 14 described in relation to Figures 3 and 4. Also, threads 8 and 9 can have a plurality of circumferences for greater strength and longer wear according to various use conditions.

Referring to Figure 6, a plurality of threads 8 and 9 can be employed with straight screw-on embodiment described in relation to Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 7, a plurality of threads 8 and 9 can be employed in conjunction with a flexible open hole cap 6 and a robotic lifting ridge 10.

Referring to Figure 8, a flexible open hole cap 6 can be snap-fit on with less pressure and provide greater holding power with tapered cap threads 18 and tapered vial threads 19 that are coned or tapered in a direction of a top end of the vial. Thread walls opposite to the tapered or coned walls 18 and 19 can be radially perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to an axis of the vial 1. A robotic lifting ridge 10 is optional, depending on use condition requirements. As with normal thread contours for glass-type material of the vial and plastic material for the open hole cap 6, there can be one or a plurality of circumferences of threads.

Thread depth of a plurality of these tapered or ratchet type threads 18 and 19 can be relatively shallow and yet hold well. They make a open hole cap 6 easy to snap-fit on. The self-sealing feature with components 15-17 then can assure sealing without the open hole cap 6 being screwed on tightly or aligned when snap-fit on.

Referring to Figure 9, the robotic lifting base 10 can be omitted as illustrated with high safety and reliability using a flexible open hole cap 6 with the tapered or coned threads 18 and 19.

Referring to Figure 10, threads 8 and 9 can be seen terminating and starting respectively from a top view. The septum 7 can have an uncovered surface equal to an inside diameter 20 of the neck 2. From a top view, the tapered or coned threads illustrated in Figures 8, 9 and 12 would appear similar to threads 8 and 9 in Figure 10.

Referring to Figure 11, tab threads 21 can be employed in place of full circumferential or multiple circumferential threads 8 and 18. Tab threads are arcuate,- rather than circumferential. They are similar to threads used in luers but are extended in an opposite direction from a cap as outside diameter instead of inside diameter threads.

Referring to Figure 12, a open hole cap 6, particularly one constructed of

resilient material, can have a funnel inlet 22 with a hard funnel surface 23 to guide aspiration needles. For either type of open hole cap, a resilience closed septum orifice 24 can be employed in combination with the funnel inlet 22 to prevent a plurality of holes from being opened up from repeated sampling with aspiration needles.

Referring- to Figures 13 and 14 a vial body 1 has a vial neck 2 on which is positioned a vial cap 6. A septum 7 is contained between a septum seat 25 and a top surface 26 of the vial neck 2. Septum-seat walls 27 position the septum 7 concentrically with a sampling orifice 28 in the vial cap 6 and concentrically with a vial throat 29 that is in fluid communication between the top surface 26 of the vial neck 2 and an inside periphery 30 of the vial body 1. A bottom surface 5 of the vial cap 6 is positioned at a desired distance vertically above a vial shoulder 14 to be a robotics lifting surface for robotic arms 3 of desired autosampler machines. With the vial cap 6 screwed onto vial threads 8 on the vial neck 6, the robotic arms can be positioned between the vial shoulder 4 and the robotics lifting surface on the bottom surface 5 of the vial cap 6 and then raised to contact the bottom surface 5 of the vial cap 6 for lifting and various robotics handling.

The vial threads 8 have an arcuate crest 31 and a thread size of eighteen and twenty-one threads per inch, preferably twenty threads per inch, on a vial neck 6 having an outside diameter of eight and thirty-hundredths millimeters.

Dimensional tolerance for the outside diameter of the vial neck 6 is plus-or-minus twenty hundredths of a millimeter.

Cap threads 9 on an inside periphery 32 of the vial cap are sized with a plurality of threads per inch to match the vial threads 8 but with different thread shapes. The cap threads 9 can have straight flanks with a steeper inside flank 33 than outside flank 34 and can have a truncate crest 35 with appropriate crest radii 36. Measured from a thread-perpendicularity line 37 of the cap threads 9 in relation to outside walls 38 of vial cap 6 and cylindrical inside walls 39 of the vial cap 6, the inside flank 33 can have a slant of preferably ten degrees and the outside flank 34 can have a slant of preferably thirty degrees. These are the slants

or inclines of cap threads 9 which are positioned against vial threads 8.

Different slants of the thread flanks 33 and 34 in conjunction with symmetrical vial threads 8 having relatively large arcuate crests 31 has multiple advantages that can be applied variously as desired. For vial caps 6 with appropriately rigid resiliency, the cap threads 9 in this straight-flank form can interact resiliently with sealing by the septum 7. This improves reliability of long- duration sealing under varying pressure conditions associated with some testing projects. Sealing pressure is compounded by resilience of the threads 9. Tolerance of rotational pressure for positioning the vial caps 6 can be greater. There is a point-to-line seal of the threads 8 and 9 respectively. For other applica¬ tions, the vial cap 6 can be made more resilient and the outside flank 34 can have a greater slant from perpendicularity to allow the vial cap 6 to be either snap-fit or screw-fit onto vial threads 8 and then rotated for removal or replacement. This increases both robotics and manual options.

Between a top of the vial threads 8 and the top surface of the vial neck 26 is a septum-seat thread relief 40 having a preferred length of eighty-eight hundredths of a millimeter. This prevents interference of threads 8 with sealing by septum 7.

A vial 41 has a preferred length from the top surface 26 of the vial neck 2 to a vial bottom 42 of thirty two millimeters with a dimensional tolerance of plus-or- minus fifty hundredths of a millimeter. Vial-wall thickness, however, can be designed differently for different inside volume requirements of various sampling projects. Also, wall thicknesses and insider peripheries can be constructed differently as desired for various types of vial inserts. For most applications, the bottom thickness can vary from one-half to one millimeter and have a concavity 43 of up to ten hundredths of a millimeter.

Preferable dimensions for the vial cap 6 include a height of two hundred and forty-thousandths of an inch from the bottom surface 5 to a cap top 44. Length of the sampling orifice 28 is thirty-two thousandths of an inch. Length of the

septum-seat wall 27 is thirty-five thousandths of an inch. Thickness of the septum 7 before being compressed in sealing relationship between septum seat 25 and the top surface 26 of the vial neck 2 is approximately forty thousandths of an inch or one millimeter.

Preferred dimensions for the vial neck 2 include a height from a top of the vial shoulder 4 to the top surface 26 of seven and sixty-hundredths millimeters with a dimensional tolerance of plus-or-minus twenty hundredths of a millimeter. The vial threads 8 extend from a bottom edge of the septum-seat thread relief 40 to a distance of three and sixty-hundredths millimeters with a dimensional tolerance of plus-or-minus forty hundredths of a millimeter from a shoulder top 45 of the vial shoulder 12. Like the inside periphery of the vial body 1, the vial throat 29 can have different inside dimensions for different applications and use conditions.

A new and useful robot manipulative, automatized sampling vial with a septum in a screw-on open hole cap having been described, all such modifications, combinations of components, adaptations, substitutions of equivalents, applications and forms thereof as described by the following claims are included in this invention.

Various modifications may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art and which are set forth in the appended claims.