Patent ID: 7097057
Filing Date: 2006-08-29
Classification: A61B,B01L,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A closure device for a vacuum sample collector, comprising an external cap ( 2 ) made of a hard material, preferably a hard-plastic component, with a front wall ( 4 ) and a side skirt ( 5 ) and at least one through hole ( 24 ) leading to a groove ( 19 ) which surrounds said front wall and may be attached to a sleeve-like opening portion ( 31 ) of the vacuum sample collector ( 30 ), and a sealing element ( 3 ) arranged on the container side of the external cap ( 2 ) and made of an elastic sealing material, preferably a soft plastic component which extends up to an inside edge ( 16 ) of opening ( 13 ) having a planar top surface terminating at the inner edge of said opening ( 13 ), the external cap ( 2 ) being made of a gas-impermeable material and the sealing element ( 3 ) being made of an elastomer, the front wall ( 4 ) of the external cap ( 2 ) being turned in to form a depression, and the bottom ( 10 ) of said turned-in part ( 8 ) in turn being turned-out, and said turned-out part being provided as an essentially hollow, cylindrical projection ( 11 ) comprising a smooth surface through hole ( 12 ), whose opening ( 13 ) is distanced from a front end of the external cap ( 2 ) and is disposed axially below through hole 24 to be outside a contact area of a finger, and that a narrow, gap-shaped annular space ( 15 ) not more than 1.5 times the wall thickness of the turned in part ( 8 ) is formed between the outside wall of the cylindrical projection ( 11 ) and the inside wall ( 9 ) of the inwardly directed, turned-in part ( 8 ), wherein the sealing element ( 3 ) fills the through hole ( 12 ) and further lines the inside wall ( 18 ) of the turned-in part ( 8 ) as well as a groove ( 19 ), which is formed on the inner side of the front end of the external cap ( 2 ) between the side skirt ( 5 ) and the turned-in part ( 5 ), whereby a gap ( 22 ) is formed on the inside wall ( 21 ) of the side skirt ( 5 ) to receive, in a sealing manner, the sleeve-like opening portion ( 31 ) of the vacuum sample collector ( 30 ), characterized in that the radial circumferentially spaced ribs ( 14 ) on the inside wall ( 9 ) of the inwardly directed, turned-in part ( 8 ) extend into the annular channel ( 16 ) from the front wall ( 4 ) to the bottom portion ( 10 ), the circumferentially spaced ribs ( 14 ) dividing the channel into a plurality of pockets extending from the front wall ( 4 ) to the bottom ( 10 ) to thereby reduce the free diameter of the turned-in part.