Patent ID: 7374054

Claim:
A vial closure device for closing a mouth of a vial which in use contains one of a gas or a vapor to be analyzed by extraction through a gas sampling device which is connectable to an analytical instrument and is displaceable along a sampling axis, said vial closure device comprising: a tubular body member having opposite ends and locatable in the mouth of the vial, said tubular body member having at one end an aperture through which gas may pass from the vial into said tubular body member, said tubular body member further comprising a valve seat; a first seal comprising a tapered surface on the tubular body member for engaging with a tapered socket on the vial for making a substantially gas-tight seal between said tubular body member and the vial; a second seal arranged on said tubular body member for providing a gas-tight seal around the gas sampling device inserted through said second seal into said tubular body member, said second seal comprising one or more “O” rings located in one or more respective grooves within an interior wall of the tubular body member; and a valve body which cooperates with said valve seat, said aperture being closed by said valve body to prevent gas from passing from the vial into said tubular body member until said valve body is displaced along a valve axis by contact with the gas sampling device inserted into said tubular body member through said second seal by displacement along said sampling axis, thereby allowing gas to pass from the vial into said tubular body member and the gas sampling device, wherein, if said valve axis and said sampling axis are aligned, in use, a valve spindle associated with the valve body prevents the gas sampling device from being inserted into the vial.