Patent ID: 9534987
Date: 2017-01-03
CPC Classifications: E21B,G01N

Claim:
1. An apparatus with a reduced dead volume associated with sampling, comprising: a sample container configured to store a fluid; a sample line configured to transport the fluid from a first sampling area to a second area in the sample container; at least one valve in the sample line, the at least one valve configured to selectively range from a closed configuration to an open configuration; and a flow restrictor configuration disposed within an interior volume of the sample line, the flow restrictor configured to reduce the dead volume for the sample container by the flow restrictor having a first configuration and a second configuration, wherein the flow restrictor occupies more of the interior volume of the sample line when in the second configuration than when in the first configuration, and wherein the flow restrictor comprises a piston rod with a sample port, the piston rod movable from an inserted closed position to a second fluid by-pass position to a third fluid sampling position, the piston rod having a channel in an internal of the rod extending from a first end of the rod to a second end of the rod and configured to transport fluid from the sample port near the first end of the rod to the sample container near the second end of the rod.