WO2009059687A1

WO2009059687A1 - Analysis sampling tube

Info

Publication number: WO2009059687A1
Application number: PCT/EP2008/008798
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean-Jacques Legat; Mohieddine Boubtane; Yuria Puggioni; Didier Girard
Original assignee: A. Raymond Et Cie
Priority date: 2007-11-05
Filing date: 2008-10-17
Publication date: 2009-05-14
Also published as: WO2009059687A9; FR2923164A1; FR2923164B1

Abstract

The analysis sampling tube comprises a reservoir and an assembly part attached to said reservoir. The reservoir (2) and the assembly part (3) are connected by an attachment (F) comprising a male part (22) and a female part (30) that are inserted inside one another by sliding in a sliding direction (A) and that are arranged so that a relative rotation of said male part (22) and female part (30) causes the reservoir (2) to be pierced.

Description

The invention relates to a test specimen comprising a reservoir and a mounting piece attached to said reservoir.

In general, an analytical test piece is used in the industry to analyze samples of any form of product, such as liquids or powders. For example, during the various stages of manufacturing a product, it may be necessary to take a sample of product for testing and analysis to control its quality. This operation is sometimes made compulsory by law. Such a sample is stored in the reservoir of a test specimen. To avoid risks of contamination of products that could lead to analytical errors, which could be dramatic for example in the food industry, test specimens are often single-use. However, nothing prevents a priori the repeated use, fraudulent or by mistake, of the same test piece. In addition, to record a lot of information about this sample, such as the date and time of exit from the production line or the lot number, an identification device is affixed to the tank. Such an identification device may be in the form of a paper label, but the amount of information being limited on such labels and the risk of human error in reading these labels being too great, devices Electronic identification and storage devices including an RFID tag are often preferred and integrated directly into the specimen reservoir. An RFID tag consists of a memory chip and an antenna for exchanging information with a communicating device. The communicating device makes it possible to record and / or erase information on the memory chip. Thus, the identification of the test pieces can be carried out in a secure, fast and automated manner, from the filling of the test tube to the analysis of its contents. Since the RFID tags can be erased, an electronic identification device may be used to mark different successive test pieces to the extent that said electronic identification device is removably attached to the test pieces. It is therefore essential that the electronic identification device is attached to the outside of the specimen reservoir for reasons of cleanliness. Indeed, if the electronic identification device was placed inside the tank of the test tube, it could contaminate another tank during a subsequent use. It would then be necessary to carry out a thorough cleaning of the electronic identification device (washing, drying, sterilization ...), which could damage it or be too expensive.

Document WO99 / 03585 discloses a test piece to which an identification device in the form of an electronic memory is attached by means of a mounting piece. This mounting piece can be a mortise or a screw cap. Separating or attaching the identification device leaves a mark on the specimen that allows the user to determine whether the specimen has already been used or not. However, it is still possible, by mistake or fraud, to refill such a test tube and reuse it. Therefore, users of test specimens for industrial quality analysis purposes, for example, as well as quality control bodies, have a particular interest in having disposable test specimens that can not be used. only once to avoid any risk of contamination.

The object of the invention is to propose a specimen that is disposable and rendered unusable after a first use, for example by preventing any subsequent filling of said specimen.

For this purpose, the subject of the invention is an analysis test-piece comprising a reservoir and an integral mounting piece fixed to said reservoir, characterized in that the attachment between the reservoir and the mounting piece comprises a male part and a female part. slidingly inserting one into the other in a direction of sliding and being arranged such that a relative rotation of said male and female parts causes an opening of the reservoir.

The test specimen according to the invention may be provided with an RFID electronic identification device overmoulded in or bonded to said mounting piece.

This test specimen according to the invention may also have the following features:

said male portion of the fastener is formed on a tank wall at a rupture zone having a smaller wall thickness than the surrounding wall of the tank and said female portion of the fastener is formed in said mounting piece; the reservoir has a bottom wall in which the rupture zone is formed;

said male portion of the fastener has an outer profile of variable revolution in said direction of sliding of said male part in said female part of the fastener;

said male portion of the attachment has an outer peripheral surface having a first plurality of parallel lamellae extending in said sliding direction, said female portion of the fastener having an inner peripheral surface having at least one a tab perpendicular to said sliding direction, which sinks into said lamellae of the male part when the male and female parts are inserted into one another;

said female part of the binding comprises two tabs having ends facing one another on either side of said male part of the binding;

said female part of the binding is provided on its inner peripheral surface with a second plurality of parallel lamellae extending in said sliding direction, arranged so as to be interposed in said lamellae of said male part; fixing; the male part of the fastener has a cross-section in the substantially square direction of sliding direction and the female part of the fastener has a cross-section relative to the direction of sliding of rectangular shape, and the slats of the male part of fixing are distributed on all four sides of the square, the lamellae of the female part are disposed on the two opposite large sides of the rectangle and the one or more legs of the female portion are disposed on one or both of the opposite small sides of the rectangle;

the slats of the male part of the binding have chamfered ends;

the two tabs of the female part of the binding have a beveled end;

- The mounting part has a lower face with stability pads to maintain the reservoir in a substantially vertical position on a support surface;

- The reservoir is in the form of a cylindrical tube and the mounting piece in the form of a notched wheel of the same diameter as the reservoir;

the mounting piece and the reservoir are each made of thermoplastic material by injection molding;

- The reservoir is made of a first material, the mounting piece is made of a second material, the second material having a greater hardness than the first material.

The arrangement of the test specimen according to the invention contributes to reducing its cost price since on the one hand, the RFID memory can be recycled after being separated from the reservoir while remaining in the mounting piece, and on the other hand, the mounting piece and the reservoir can be made in a simple manner by injection molding a material plastic. The opening of the tank after separation of the mounting piece ensures a unique use of the reservoir of such a test piece.

The invention will now be described in more detail and with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate non-limiting examples thereof. Figure 1 shows a cutaway perspective view of a test specimen according to the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a partial perspective view of the reservoir of the test piece of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the mounting piece of the test piece of FIG. 1.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view in section along the axis IV-IV of Figure 1 of the mounting part fitted on the reservoir.

Figure 5 shows a perspective view in section along the axis IV-IV of Figure 1 of the mounting part before being fitted on the reservoir. Figure 6 shows a perspective view in section along the axis IV-IV of Figure 1 of the mounting part after the tank is opened.

In Figure 1, there is shown cutaway test specimen 1 according to the invention. This test piece 1 comprises a tank 2 of cylindrical tubular shape, closed at one end by a bottom wall 21. This tank 2 is fixed here at said bottom wall 21 to a mounting piece 3 in the form of a disc by the intermediate of a male part 22 and a female part 30 of a fixing F. This male part 22 and this female part 30 are arranged to fit into one another by sliding and interlocking, and cooperate with each other. with each other so that the rotation relative to each other causes an opening of said bottom wall 21 of the tank 2.

The mounting piece 3 may advantageously be in the form of a circular wheel of the same diameter as the tank 2 and bordered by axial notches 31.

The reservoir 2 has at its end opposite to said bottom wall 21 an opening 23 equipped with a bead 24 for hermetically fixing a plug 4 of suitable shape, here cylindrical.

More particularly, the test specimen 1 may advantageously be equipped with an electronic identification device 5 consisting of an RFID tag. The electronic identification device 5 is more precisely composed of an electronic chip 51 connected to a receiving antenna 52, here in the form of a wire wound in a cylindrical manner. This electronic identification device 5 is here advantageously protected by being overmoulded inside said mounting piece 3 which therefore comprises a hollow ring 53 (visible in FIG. 4) of a size substantially corresponding to said device of FIG. electronic identification 5. The electronic identification device 5 could also be glued or fixed in a similar manner on the mounting piece 3. Said male portion 22 of the fastener F is formed on said bottom wall 21 at the level of a rupture zone 25, while said female portion 30 of the fastener F is formed in said mounting piece 3, these two parts being respectively substantially centered. Said male portion 22 generally has a variable revolution profile in a direction of sliding said male portion 22 in said female portion 30, indicated by an arrow A in Figure 1. This form allows said male portion 22 to exert a locking force which opposes a rotation of the male and female parts 22 , Relative to each other, indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 1. It will be noted that the rotation can be carried out either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Thus, when the male and female parts 22,30 are rotated relative to one another, a shearing force is exerted on said rupture zone 25 surrounding the male part 22. When the breaking point of the material component 21 is reached, tearing or breaking of said rupture zone 25 occurs, causing an opening of the reservoir 2 at this zone 25. In order to facilitate the breaking of said rupture zone 25, this zone 25 advantageously a wall thickness lower than the surrounding wall 21 of the tank 2, as can be better seen in Figure 4. In Figure 2, we see more precisely the male portion 22 of the fastener F formed on the bottom wall 21 of the tank 2, on the outer side of the tank 2. This male portion 22 is shown in the form of a parallelepiped of square cross section relative to said sliding direction A, having a peripheral surface outer four-sided 26A, 26B, 26C, 26D substantially perpendicular to the wall 21. On each of these four sides 26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, the male portion 22 is provided with a plurality of lamellae 27, here four lamellae, parallel to each other and extending in said sliding direction A (that is to say substantially perpendicular to the wall 21). These lamellae 27 are chamfered at their end 28 to facilitate the insertion of the male portion 22 in the female portion 30. Furthermore, said rupture zone 25 has a shape substantially similar to the shape of the male portion 22, here rectangular. FIG. 3 shows the mounting piece 3 comprising said female part 30 of the fastener F. Said female part 30 is here in the form of a substantially rectangular through-opening, surrounded on its inner peripheral surface with uprights 32A , 32B, 32C, 32D substantially parallel in pairs and protruding on a lower face 33 of the mounting piece 3. The face of the mounting piece 3 opposite said lower face 33 is however substantially flat in order to be pressed against the wall 21 during the engagement of the mounting piece 3 on the reservoir 2. Two of said uprights 32B.32D disposed along the length of the rectangular female portion 30 are provided with a plurality of lamellae 34 parallel to each other and extending substantially in a direction perpendicular to the lower face 33, arranged to be interposed in said lamellae 27 of the male part 22. More particularly nt, three lamellae 34 of the female part 30 correspond to the spaces between said four lamellae 27 of the male part 22. The sliding of the lamellae 27 of the female part 30 and lamellae 34 of the male part 22 serves as a guide for the insertion of the male part 22 into the female part 30.

At least one of the other two of said posts 32A. 32C arranged along the length of the rectangular female portion is provided with a tab 35 perpendicular to said sliding direction A and projecting into the female part 30 (and therefore extends substantially parallel to the lower face 33 in the extension thereof). Preferably, the two opposite amounts 32A.32C are respectively equipped with two opposite tabs 35 facing each other. These lugs 35 each have a bevelled end 36 (better visible in FIG. 5), allowing the tabs 35 to bend slightly during insertion of the male part 22 into the female part 30.

Figure 4 provides a better view of the male and female portions 22,30 of the fastener F inserted into one another. In particular, it can be seen that the difference noted E between the respective ends 37 of the two tabs 35 is smaller than the distance marked D between the outer ends 27A of two opposite lamellae 27 of the male part 22, and greater than the distance noted. d between the bases 27B of the same two opposing lamellae 27. As a result, the tabs 35 engage slightly in the lamellae 27 of the male part 22 on either side of the male part 22, when the male part 22 is nested in the female part 30. In addition, four studs 38 identical to substantially the same height or higher than the amounts 32A, 32B, 32C, 32D are formed on the mounting piece 3 to ensure good vertical stability of said test specimen 1 when it is placed a support surface. These pads 38 also ensure a good grip of the mounting part 3 by the user. Finally, the mounting piece 3 may advantageously receive an inscription 39 on its lower face 33 indicating to the user how to detach said mounting piece 3 from the tank 2. It is important to note that the materials used to make the test piece 1 are advantageously chosen to facilitate the opening of the tank 2: the tank 2 is made of a first thermoplastic material; the mounting piece 3 is made of plastic material having a greater hardness than the first material. These two parts 2, 3 can in particular be produced by injection molding. The choice of a flexible material for the tank 2 makes it possible on the one hand to facilitate the tearing of said rupture zone 25, and on the other hand to facilitate the insertion of the rigid tabs into the lamellae 27 of the male part 22. , which ensures a good maintenance of the male part 22 in the female part 30.

In use, a user first proceeds to the insertion of the reservoir 2 in the mounting piece 3 by sliding it in said sliding direction A which is here the longitudinal axis of the reservoir 2, then fitting more particularly the male part 22 of the fastener F in the female part 30 of the fastener F. To do this, the user is aided both by the cooperation of the beveled end 36 of the tabs 35 of said female part 30 and the chamfers 28 of said male part 22, and by the sliding of the lamellae 27 of the male part 22 in the lamellae 34 of the female part 30, as can be seen more clearly in FIG. 5. In addition, the fact that the male part 22 comprises slats 27 on its four peripheral sides 26A, 26B, 26C, 26D facilitates the assembly of the mounting part 3 on the tank 2 since the user thus has four insertion possibilities of the mounting piece 3 on the tank 2 oriented perpendicular to each other.

Once the mounting piece 3 is inserted on the tank 2, the user can use the test specimen 1, and in particular at any time record information on the electronic identification device 5 by means of a device communicant known to those skilled in the art not described here.

After using the test piece 1, the user picks up the mounting piece 3 of the tank 2 in order to recycle the electronic identification device 5. To do this, he grasps the tank 2 with one hand and with the other the mounting piece 3, more particularly the notches 31 and the pads 38 of the mounting piece 3, in order to drive the tank 2 and the mounting piece 3 in rotation with respect to one another in one of the directions indicated by the arrow B, the chosen direction being indifferent. It should be understood that the male and female parts 22,30 have characteristics advantageously designed to prevent any skidding of one with respect to the other: first, the shape of the male part 22 of the attachment F which is opposed to the rotation, then the cooperation of the lamellae 27 of said male part 22 and the lamellae 34 of the female part 30 of the attachment F and finally the depression of the tabs 35 in the lamellae 27 of the male part 22. Thus, ensures effective shear of the rupture zone 25 which tears, which makes it easy to create a perforation 29 in the wall 21 of the reservoir 2, this perforation 29 having approximately the size of the male part 22, as illustrated in FIG. 6 This male part 22 surrounded by a part of the rupture zone 25A detached from the tank 2 is located in the female part 30 of the mounting piece 3. It will be understood that the rupture zone 25 is dimensioned so that, after rupture, the male part 22 surrounded by the part of the torn rupture zone 25A is smaller than the opening of the female part 30, as shown in FIG. 6. To release the mounting piece 3 from the male part 22, it is then sufficient to push the male part 22 into the female part 30 while continuing the interlocking movement in the sliding direction A described above, until the male part 22 out of the mounting piece 3. Finally, the tank 2 being pierced, it is impossible on the one hand, to fix on another mounting piece 3, and secondly, to refill the test piece 1 which is rendered completely unusable. On the other hand, all the information of the electronic identification device 5 can be easily erased by means of the communicating device known to those skilled in the art (not described here), the electronic identification device 5 thus becoming available for another interlocking use of the same mounting piece 3 on another tank 2 according to the invention.

It should also be noted that any attempt at fraud to remove the mounting piece 3 from the tank 2 without rotating to reuse the tank 2 is prevented by the beveled ends 36 of the tabs 35 which penetrate the lamellae 27 of the male part 22 of the fixing F and which oppose the displacement of the mounting piece 3 in a direction opposite to the sliding direction A. In addition, in the case where a user nevertheless managed to remove the mounting piece 3 of the reservoir 2 without rotating, said slats 27 would be damaged by said depression of the tabs 35 and this would be an unequivocal indication to the user that the tank 2 has already been used.

It goes without saying that the present invention can not be limited to the foregoing description of one of its embodiments, may undergo some modifications without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, it will be understood that the tubular tank 2 may have a section of any other suitable shape, for example oval. In the same way, the shape of said male part 22 of the fastener F which is generated by a variable revolution profile, as described above, may have a section other than square, for example rectangular or linear or any other shape having no circular geometry. Said female part 30 of the fastener F and the rupture zone 25 then have a shape respectively complementary and substantially similar to that of said male portion 22 of the fastener F. Similarly, the number and shape of the studs 38 of the piece mounting 3, as well as the shape of the plug 4 and the type of sealing used may vary.

Claims

An assay cylinder comprising a tubular reservoir (2) open at one end and closed at an opposite end by a bottom wall (21) and a mounting piece (3) attached to said reservoir (2), the reservoir (2). ) and the mounting piece (3) being connected by a fastener (F) having a male part (22) and a female part (30) slidably inserted into one another in a direction of sliding (A). ), said male part (22) of the attachment (F) is formed on said bottom wall (21) of the reservoir (2) on the outside of the reservoir (2), said female part (30) of the attachment (F) ) is formed in said mounting part (3) and said male part (22) and said female part (30) are arranged in such a way that a relative rotation of said male (22) and female (30) parts leaves a mark on the reservoir (2) to enable the user to determine whether the specimen has already been used or not, characterized in that the male part (22) of the fastener (F) is formed on a rupture zone (25) of said bottom wall (21) of the tank (2) and is arranged in such a way that the relative rotation of said male parts (22) and female (30) causes an opening of the reservoir (2) at said rupture zone (25).

The test specimen according to claim 1, wherein said rupture zone (25) has a smaller wall thickness than the surrounding wall of the reservoir (2).

3. test specimen according to one of claims 1 or 2, wherein said male portion (22) of the fastener (F) has an outer profile of variable revolution in said direction of sliding (A) of said male part ( 22) of the fastener (F) in said female part (30) of the fastener (F).

4. Test specimen according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mounting part (3) comprises an RFID electronic identification device (5).

5. Test specimen according to claim 4, wherein the RFID electronic identification device (5) is overmolded in the mounting piece (3).

6. test specimen according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said male portion (22) of the fastener (F) has an outer peripheral surface (26A, 26B, 26C, 26D) with a first plurality slats

(27) parallel to each other extending in said sliding direction (A), said female portion (30) of the fastener (F) having an inner peripheral surface (32A.32C) having at least one leg ( 35) perpendicular to said sliding direction (A), which sinks into said lamellae (27) of the male part (22) of the fastener (F) when said male (22) and female (30) parts of the fastener (F) are inserted into one another.

7. test specimen according to claim 6, wherein said female portion (30) of the fastener (F) comprises two lugs (35) having ends (37) facing each other on either side of said portion. male (22) of the fastener (F).

8. test specimen according to one of claims 6 and 7, wherein said female portion (30) of the fastener (F) is provided on its inner peripheral surface (32B.32D) with a second plurality of lamellae ( 34) parallel to each other extending in said sliding direction (A), and arranged to be interposed in said strips (27) of said male portion (22) of the fastener (F).

The test specimen according to claim 8, wherein the male portion (22) of the fastener (F) has a substantially square cross-section with direction of sliding (A) and the female portion (30) of the fastener (F) has a cross-section with respect to the sliding direction (A) of rectangular shape, and in which the lamellae (27) of the male part (22) of the fastener (F) are distributed on all four sides of the square (26A, _26B) 26C, 26D), the lamellae (34) of the female part (30) of the fixture (F) are arranged on the two opposite long sides of the rectangle (32B, 32D) and or tabs ( 35) of the female part (30) of the fastener (F) are arranged on one or both of the opposite small sides of the rectangle (32A.32C).

10. Test specimen according to one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the lamellae (27) of the male part (22) of the fastener (F) have chamfered ends (28).

11. test specimen according to one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the one or both lugs (35) of the female part (30) of the fastener (F) have a beveled end (37) (36). .

12. test specimen according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the mounting part (3) has a lower face (33) with stability pads (38) for maintaining the reservoir (2) in substantially vertical position on a support surface.

13. Test specimen according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the reservoir (2) is in the form of a cylindrical tube and the mounting piece (3) in the form of a notched wheel of the same diameter than the tank (2).

14. test specimen according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the mounting part (3) and the reservoir (2) are each made of thermoplastic material by injection molding.

15. test specimen according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the reservoir (2) is made of a first material, the piece mounting (3) is made of a second material, the second material having a greater hardness than the first material.