Systems and methods for inline sampling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9038488-B2
Application number	US-201313776563-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2013
Priority date	Feb 19, 2010
Publication date	May 26, 2015
Grant date	May 26, 2015

Abstract

Methods and devices for inline sampling of a bulk material, such as a powder, are provided. The material's bulk density can be determined from samples drawn using methods and devices described herein. One embodiment of a method of sampling a material allows the material to flow through a sampling compartment, closes off the flow of material below the sampling compartment, builds up a column of material through the sampling compartment, shifts the sampling compartment to remove a slice of material in the column, and places the slice of material into a sample container. A device for sampling a material is provided in another embodiment. The device includes an inlet, an outlet aligned with the inlet, and a sample collector. The sample collector can include at least one through hole and be configured to move such that the at least one through hole can be moved into and out of alignment with the inlet and the outlet.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device for sampling a material, the device comprising:
an inlet;
a first outlet aligned with the inlet;
a flowpath between the inlet and the first outlet;
a sample collector moveably disposed in the flowpath, wherein the sample collector comprises a first through hole and a second through hole;
a valve disposed in the flowpath below the sample collector, the valve configured to inhibit flow of the material through the first outlet while allowing fl…

Assignees

• Vertex Pharma

Inventors

• Sinclair James E
• Griffin B Albert
• Vuong Minh

Classifications

• G01N9/02 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G01N1/20

  Physics · mapped topic