SAMPLE PROCESSING CONTAINER

1300461 Sample container GILFORD INSTRUMENT LABORATORIES Inc 19 Jan 1970 [23 Jan 1969 26 Sept 1969] 2575/70 Heading B1X A sample holding and processing container comprises flexible bag 20, an elongate header 34 having a capillary tube carrying cavity 50, 48 in it, a passageway 58 perpendicular to the cavity and connecting the cavity and the interior of the bag, "anti-blocking structure" at the inner end of the cavity to enable liquid flow from the inner end of a sample-filled capillary "bottomed" in the cavity through passageway 58 into the bag, and means which may be flap valve 60 and/or piercable plug 76 for preventing loss of liquid from the cavity. A method of diluting and providing for testing a sample entrained as a known volume of sample in a capillary tube comprises mounting the tube in a cavity in a header sealed to a flexible bag, the cavity having a passageway into the bag, forcing a known volume of diluent into the cavity to flush the sample into the bag, manipulating the bag to mix sample and diluent and withdrawing a portion of the resulting sample through the wall of the bag. In the sample container shown, sample identification data and optionally test results are carried on card 100 which fits into slots in the header 34. Sample may be extracted by insertion of a needle 90 through plug 76 or through an independent passage through the header (Fig. 18, not shown). For transporting the containers, shoulders 44 on the header may be supported by the lower edges of a facing pair of channel members (Fig. 11 not shown) or the containers may be slidable on rods passing through notches or loops on the headers (Figs. 8, 9 not shown). The contents of the containers may be heated using a microwave oven (Fig. 17 not shown).