Patent ID: 7776023

Claim:
A method for opening a hole in a plug made of soft material, the plug sealing a sampling tube, by use of a tubular hole-opening implement having a first cutting part, a second cutting part and a longitudinal axis, said method comprising the steps of: piercing the plug with the hole-opening implement; moving the hole-opening implement towards the sampling tube in the direction of the longitudinal axis so as to cut the plug with the first cutting part and the second cutting part; passing the first cutting part through the plug, wherein the second cutting part remains in the plug so as to leave a cut piece, having been a part of the plug, inside the hole-opening implement so that the cut piece remains bound to the plug after the first cutting part is passed through the plug; further moving the hole-opening implement towards the sampling tube in the direction of the longitudinal axis so as to pass the second cutting part through the plug, thereby removing the cut piece from the inside of the hole-opening implement and thereby forming a hole through the plug, so that the cut piece remaining bound to the plug is disposed outward from the hole; and inserting a suction nozzle into the hole so as to suck a sample in the sampling tube, wherein the hole-opening implement has a peripheral tip edge disposed perpendicular to the piercing direction of the hole-opening implement so as to constitute the first cutting part, the piercing direction being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hole-opening implement.