Interested in licensing this patent?
MTEC can help explore whether this patent might be available for licensing for your application.
Publication Number
US-12330851-B2
Publication Date
2025-06-17
Expiration Date
Abstract
A gas sampler device has a top plate with a concaved outer wall. The concaved outer wall allows users easily to lift the top plate off of the bottom plate without disturbing the bottom plate because the curved surface permits more positive contact between the outer wall and users' fingers. Moreover, the weight of the top plate is reduced by approximately twenty percent compared to conventional top plates, a feature that also makes it easier for users to lift the top plate off of the bottom plate.
Core Innovation
The ergonomic sampler device includes a top plate and a bottom plate that are separable. The top plate includes a top surface with a plurality of through bores and a side wall having an inner surface and an outer surface, where the inner surface is straight and the outer surface is concaved inward.
A channel in the bottom plate terminates at a hole in the side surface and fluidly connects the plurality of through bores of the top plate with the hole in the side surface of the bottom plate. The top plate is separable from the bottom plate so that the top surface of the bottom plate mates with the side wall of the top plate.
The outer surface of the top plate includes a rounded lip between the top surface and the side wall, and the side wall has a sharp lip opposite the rounded lip, with each lip extending outwardly beyond the outer surface. In the ergonomic use described, the top plate is separable by a user’s fingers gripping the rounded lip and lifting the top plate, providing positive finger contact for gloved users while maintaining a sterilizable metal construction in a controlled environment.
Claims Coverage
The document provides two independent claims that share a common inventive structure of an ergonomic, separable top and bottom plate with a fluid channel connecting top through bores to a bottom side hole, combined with an inwardly concaved outer side wall featuring a rounded lip for finger and grip ergonomics.
Separability of top and bottom plates with mated surfaces
The top plate is separable from the bottom plate, and the top surface of the bottom plate mates with the side wall of the top plate.
Fluid channel connecting top through bores to a bottom side hole
A channel terminates at a hole in the side surface and fluidly connects the plurality of through bores of the top plate with the hole in the side surface of the bottom plate.
Inward-concaved outer side wall with rounded lip
The outer surface of the top plate is concaved inward, with a rounded lip between the top surface of the top plate and the side wall of the top plate.
Opposite outward-projecting rounded and sharp lips
The side wall has a sharp lip opposite the rounded lip, with each of the rounded and sharp lips extending outwardly beyond the outer surface and the outer surface terminating at the rounded and sharp lips, respectively.
Concavity with substantially straight inner surface and user lifting by fingers gripping the rounded lip
The inner surface of the top plate is substantially straight, the outer surface is substantially concaved inward, and the top plate is separable from the bottom plate by a user's fingers gripping the rounded lip and lifting the top plate.
Across the independent claims, the inventive coverage is directed to an ergonomic sampler device with a separable, mated top plate and bottom plate; a bottom channel that fluidly connects multiple top through bores to a bottom side hole; an inwardly concaved top plate outer surface; and an outward-projecting rounded lip, with an opposite sharp lip in one claim, that enables separation by finger contact.
Stated Advantages
Provides positive finger contact for gloved users to lift the top plate without disturbing the bottom plate.
Reduces top-plate weight about 20%.
Maintains sterilizable metal construction.
Reduces difficulty grasping the top plate compared to a prior art flat, smooth, heavier top plate.
Documented Applications
Ergonomic microbiological gas/air sampling in controlled environments such as a clean room or clean hood.
Interested in licensing this patent?