Patent ID: 8047086

Claim:
An apparatus for removing a contamination limiting element from a distal end of a resilient fluid transfer tube, the fluid transfer tube comprising a conduit having an outer transverse dimension, and the contamination limiting element comprising a conduit having an inner transverse dimension and an outer transverse dimension, wherein the outer transverse dimension of at least a portion of the contamination limiting element is larger than the outer transverse dimension of the distal end of the fluid transfer tube, and wherein the distal end of the fluid transfer tube is adapted to be inserted into the contamination limiting element to removably secure the contamination limiting element to the distal end of the fluid transfer tube, the apparatus comprising: a stripper plate having a stripper hole formed therethrough, the stripper hole comprising: a first portion having a transverse dimension that is at least as large as the outer transverse dimension of the distal end of the fluid transfer tube but that is smaller than the outer transverse dimension of at least part of the contamination limiting element; a second portion having a transverse dimension that is at least as large as the outer transverse dimension of the largest portion of the contamination limiting element; and a beveled surface surrounding at least a portion of the stripper hole and configured so that as the fluid transfer tube and contamination limiting element are moved into the stripper hole in a first, generally axial direction with respect to the fluid transfer tube, the beveled surface urges the fluid transfer tube and contamination limiting element into the second portion so that the contamination limiting element can pass through the second portion of the stripper hole, and wherein the stripper hole is configured so that, after the contamination limiting element has passed through the stripper hole, resilience of the fluid transfer tube causes the distal end of the fluid transfer tube to move into the first portion of the stripper hole so that when the fluid transfer tube is moved in an opposite axial direction, the contamination limiting element is blocked from passing through the first portion of the stripper hole and a peripheral edge of the first portion contacts the contamination limiting element and strips the contamination limiting element off the distal end of the fluid transfer tube.