A bubbler bottle has an upper chamber and a lower chamber of smaller diameter than the upper chamber. A central inlet tube extends from near the bottom of the lower chamber up through the upper chamber and the top of the bottle. An exhaust tube extends from near one side of the inlet tube laterally out through the side of the upper chamber, with its outer end adapted to be connected to a suction pump for drawing contaminated air down through the inlet tube and out of its lower end into a predetermined volume of liquid in the lower chamber. The liquid is spaced from a collar which encircles the inlet tube and is sealed to the side of the upper chamber below the exhaust tube but with clearance around the inlet tube. The capacity of the lower chamber is such that the liquid remaining in it when the bottle is on its side is beneath the inlet tube, and the capacity of the upper chamber is such that when the bottle is inverted all of the liquid in the inverted upper chamber will be below the exhaust tube. When the bottle is turned back on its side, the inner end of the exhaust tube will always be above the liquid in the upper chamber.

This invention is concerned with a miniature gas sampler that can be worn 
by a person during work for sampling contaminated air or any other gas 
containing a pollutant that can be adsorbed in a liquor sorbent. 
It is among the objects of this invention to provide a gas sampler which is 
a single inexpensive unit, which is compact and only a few inches long, 
which can be attached to the clothing of a man at work, and which is of 
such construction that the liquid within it will not escape regardless of 
the position of the sampler.

Referring to the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 
2 of the drawings, the bubbler includes a normally upright bottle 1, 
preferably made of glass or transparent plastic. The lower portion of the 
bottle most suitably has a smaller diameter than the upper portion. 
Extending from near the bottom of the bottle up through the top there is a 
central inlet tube 2. It is sealed in the top of the bottle, by which it 
is supported. The bottle is divided into upper and lower chambers 3 and 4 
by means of a collar 5 that encircles the inlet tube in the lower part of 
the larger upper portion of the bottle and is sealed to the side of the 
bottle. The opening through the collar is slightly larger than the tube so 
that there is clearance between them to provide a passage 6 between the 
two chambers. Although the collar can be flat, it is preferred to provide 
it with a slight downturned lip. An exhaust tube 7 is sealed in the side 
of the upper chamber 3, with the inner end of the tube near one side of 
the central inlet tube. The outer end of the exhaust tube can be connected 
by a flexible tube 8 to a battery-operated suction pump 9 for drawing a 
gas, such as contaminated air, for example, down through the inlet tube 
and out of its lower end. The pump is a standard item. 
The lower chamber 4 of the bubbler contains a predetermined volume of a 
sorbent solution 10, through which it is desired that the contaminated gas 
should bubble. The liquid may be water or any other suitable sorbent. Its 
depth will depend upon the glass being treated, which can be any gas 
containing a pollutant that can be adsorbed in a liquid sorbent, but the 
lower end of the inlet tube 2 must be located beneath the surface of the 
liquid. The gas drawn through the bubbler may be, for example, air 
contaminated with anti-cholinesterase inhibitors such as phosphate and 
phosphate ester pesticides that may be present in low concentrations. The 
contaminated air bubbles up through the liquid, which removes the 
contaminants. Indentations 11 in the side of the reduced lower portion of 
the bottle help to break up the bubble path. 
It is a feature of this invention that the capacity of the lower chamber 4 
of the bubbler is such that when the bubbler is turned on its side as 
shown in FIG. 3, some of the liquid will remain in the lower chamber and 
all of it will be beneath the inlet tube 2. The rest of the liquid may 
pass through the central passage 6 and into the upper chamber. It will be 
seen that in this position all of the liquid is beneath the outlet of the 
inlet tube and the inlet of the exhaust tube 7. 
Even though the bottle is inverted as shown in FIG. 4, the capacity of the 
upper chamber 3 is such that all of the liquid in that chamber will be 
below the exhaust tube and, of course, below the outlet of the inlet tube. 
If the bottle is then turned back on its side as shown in FIG. 5, the 
upper level of the liquid in the upper chamber will still remain below the 
inlet of the exhaust tube. 
Consequently, no matter what position the bottle is in, none of the liquid 
will escape through the inlet tube or be drawn into the exhaust tube by 
the pump. The gas sampler disclosed herein is intended to be attached to 
the clothing of a worker who also carries the suction pump on his belt or 
in some other convenient way. Since the sampler is spill-proof, it 
continues to function regardless of the motions of the worker. Even though 
he bends over, twists or lies on his back, the liquid in the bubbler will 
not escape. By preventing the liquid from running out of the bottle or 
being sucked into the pump, there is no danger of ruining the test, which 
may have to extend over an eight hour period. 
In the modification shown in FIG. 6, the bubbler includes the same basic 
parts as the one just described, but the collar 13 that encircles the 
inlet tube 14 includes a tubular portion 15 that extends down into the 
lower chamber 16. This forms a receptacle around the inlet tube when the 
bubbler is inverted as shown in FIG. 9, so that most of the liquid 17 is 
retained in the inverted lower chamber by the collar. Consequently, there 
is no danger of any of the liquid being drawn into the exhaust tube 18. 
When the bubbler is in a horizontal position as in FIG. 7, all of the 
liquid in the lower chamber remains beneath the inlet tube so that it 
cannot escape through that tube. If the bubbler is tilted as shown in FIG. 
8, most of the liquid will remain above the collar and no liquid will be 
able to escape through either tube. 
According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the 
principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now 
consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it 
understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention 
may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.