Packaging, shipping and storage device for capillary tubes

Abstract

Capillary tube holder, a storage and shipping container in which a loaded capillary tube holder is securely held, a fixture for loading capillary tubes onto a capillary tube transfer fixture for transferring, removing or replacing individual capillary tubes from a loaded capillary tube holder.

1 . A capillary tube holder comprising
 a) a holder body ( 1 ) having a front side, a rear side, two flank sides, a bottom surface and a top surface ( 3 ), grooves ( 2 ) in said top surface ( 3 ) and a depression in said top surface at the rear of said body, said depression running from one of said two flank sides to the other, transverse to said grooves, said grooves running parallel to said flank sides beginning at the front of said body and ending at said depression, said depression being lower than the lowest part of said grooves, and mating elements on the flank sides of the holder body   b) a holding clip ( 20 ), having a top side, a bottom side, and two ends, two side arms ( 21 ) extending at approximately right angles from said bottom side at said ends, said bottom side having a compression element ( 24 ) inserted into a corresponding recess in the surface thereof or being adhered to the surface thereof, and extending away from said surface of said bottom side, said holding clip side aims having mating elements ( 22 ) at the ends thereof which mating elements are complementary to the mating elements on the flank sides of said holder body, the distance between the legs being adapted to fit over the flank sides of said holder body, with said side arms fitting over said flank sides of said holder body to engage the mating elements of said arms with the mating elements on the flank sides of said holder body to lock said holding clip in place over a grooved section of said top surface of said holder body with said compression element compressed against the grooves on said section of said top surface or against any capillary tubes present in or on said grooves.   
   
   
       2 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 1 , wherein said holder body further comprises additional mating elements on the bottom surface thereof. 
   
   
       3 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 1 , wherein said front side of said holder body has a detent groove therein, running perpendicular to said flank sides. 
   
   
       4 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 1 , wherein said mating elements on the flank sides of said holder body are tapered mating elements, disposed perpendicularly from the top surface and tapering increasingly further away from the flank sides along the direction from the top surface towards the bottom surface. 
   
   
       5 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 1 , wherein said compression element of said holder clip is an elastomeric insert. 
   
   
       6 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 5 , wherein the elastomer of said elastomeric insert has a Shore A durometer hardness of greater than 40 and less than 60. 
   
   
       7 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 6 , wherein said Shore A durometer hardness is between 45 and 55. 
   
   
       8 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 5 , wherein the elastomer of said elastomeric insert is a platinum cured silicone rubber. 
   
   
       9 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 5 , wherein said elastomeric element is a rubber gasket. 
   
   
       10 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 9 , wherein the rubber of said rubber gasket is a butadiene-acrylonitrile rubber. 
   
   
       11 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 5 , wherein said compression element has a rectangular cross-section. 
   
   
       12 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 1 , wherein said grooves are V-shaped grooves. 
   
   
       13 . The capillary tube holder of  claim 1 , wherein said mating elements ( 22 ) of said side arms ( 21 ), said mating elements ( 9 ) on said holder body and said compression element are disposed in relationship to each other, and the Shore A hardness of said compression element selected at a value whereby said mating elements ( 22 ) of said arms ( 21 ) engage with said mating elements ( 9 ) of said holder body to compress said compression element against any capillary tubes present in said groves with a force sufficient to prevent movement of said tubes in said groves until a movement initiating force of between 0.04 and 3.0 Newtons are applied directly to said tubes along the tube axis to said tubes to begin movement of said tubes in said grooves, and a sliding force of between 0.04 to 2.8 Newtons is applied to maintain said movement. 
   
   
       14 . A container for the capillary tube holder of  claim 2 , comprising a box ( 85 ) having a top wall, a bottom wall, two side walls a front end and a rear wall which define the interior of said box, the interior surface of said bottom wall being provided with mating elements ( 81 ) which are complementary to the mating elements on the bottom surface of capillary tube holder body  1 , the top wall having a hinged section which is integral with a front wall for said box, and which in the open position exposes said mating elements for insertion of said capillary tube holder thereon from the top to engage the mating elements of said tube holder body with the mating elements on the interior surface of said bottom wall of said box, and for withdrawal of any capillary tubes mounted on said holder from the front, and being closable to bring said front wall into contact with said bottom wall at the front end of said container, and enclose said capillary tube holder, and any capillary tubes mounted thereon, within said box. 
   
   
       15 . The container of  claim 14 , wherein said hinged section is transparent. 
   
   
       16 . The container of  claim 14  wherein, between the hinges of said hinged section and the front side of said container said sidewalls are comprised of two sections, a first section extending from said bottom surface and a second section extending from said hinged section of said top wall, said two sections meeting each other upon closure of said hinged section. 
   
   
       17 . The container of  claim 14 , wherein said first sections of said sidewalls have either a bump or a hole, and said second sections have the other of a bump or a hole, said bumps and holes being complementary to and engagable with each other to secure said hinged section in a closed position. 
   
   
       18 . The container of  claim 14  wherein said container is formed of a front section and a rear section which are engagable with each other to form the container, said front section comprising said mating elements  81  and said hinged section of said top wall, said rear section having a length which is defined in accordance with the length of capillary tubes to be mounted on said holder body and enclosed by said box. 
   
   
       19 . The container of  claim 14  wherein the bottom of said container has an inwardly extending indentation which aligns with the hinge in the top wall of a second said container when two of said containers are stacked one on top of the other. 
   
   
       20 . A loading fixture for loading capillary tubes onto a capillary tube holder of  claim 1 , comprising an alignment fixture ( 30 ), loading mount ( 40 ) and loading clip ( 50 ), wherein
 a) said alignment fixture ( 30 ) comprises a body having a front side, a rear side and a top surface, at least one magnet ( 32 ) located on said top surface, and an upward protrusion projecting from said top surface at the rear side thereof, said protrusion having an inwardly facing flat surface ( 34 ) forming an approximately 90° angle with said top surface,   b) said loading mount ( 40 ) comprises a body having a top surface, a bottom surface, a front side, a rear side ( 43 ) and two flank sides, with at least one magnet ( 42 ) mounted in said body and being exposed at or through said top surface and said bottom surface and being disposed to align with said at least one magnet ( 32 ) on said alignment fixture, said loading mount ( 40 ) having an elevated section having an upwardly stepped edge ( 41 ) on the top surface thereof adjacent the rear side, said upwardly stepped edge ( 41 ) facing the front side of said loading mount ( 40 ),   c) said loading clip ( 50 ) having a top side, bottom side, two ends and a planar rear face ( 55 ), with two side arms projecting from said bottom side at said ends, at an approximately 90° angle from said bottom side, each side arm terminating in a side arm end having a magnet ( 53 ) affixed thereto, an elastomeric insert  54  held against said rear face ( 55 ) by a pressure clamp ( 52 ) and projecting beyond the bottom side of said loading clip  50 , the plane of said rear face ( 55 ) forming an acute angle with an axis passing through said side arms from the bottom of said loading clip to the side arm ends.   
   
   
       21 . The loading fixture of  claim 20 , wherein said at least one magnet mounted in said body are two magnets, and said at least one magnet of said alignment fixture are two magnets. 
   
   
       22 . The loading fixture of  claim 20 , wherein said planar rear face of said loading clip has two threaded holes therein adjacent the ends thereof, and said pressure clamp has two holes aligned with said holes in said planar rear face of said loading clip whereby said pressure clamp is attached to said planer rear face by screws, to hold said elastic insert against said planar rear face. 
   
   
       23 . The loading fixture of  claim 20 , wherein said elastic insert has an approximately rectangular shape and an approximately flat edge on the portion projecting beyond the bottom side of said loading clip. 
   
   
       24 . The loading fixture of  claim 20 , wherein when a capillary tube holder body having a grooved surface is placed on mount ( 40 ) and loading clip ( 50 ) is placed over said holder body on said mount, said loading clip magnets ( 53 ) are brought into alignment with and magnetically attached to said at least one magnet ( 42 ) of loading mount ( 40 ) to bring the projecting part of said elastomeric insert ( 54 ) of loading clip ( 50 ) into angular contact with said grooved surface of said holder body, said projecting part of said elastomeric insert ( 54 ) imparts a resistance to the insertion of capillary tubes into said grooves that will require a force of less than one Newton to initiate movement of said capillary tubes into said grooves, and a force of less than 0.04 Newton up to about 0.2 Newton to maintain said movement of said capillary tubes into said grooves. 
   
   
       25 . A method of loading capillary tubes into a capillary tube holder, which comprises
 a) placing loading mount ( 40 ) of  claim 20  on an alignment fixture ( 30 ) of  claim 20 , with rear side ( 43 ) of loading mount ( 40 ) abutting the inwardly facing flat surface of the upward protrusion of alignment fixture ( 30 ), and bringing the at least one magnet ( 42 ) of loading mount ( 40 ) into alignment with and magnetic attachment to the at least one magnet ( 32 ) of alignment fixture ( 30 ) to hold loading mount ( 40 ) to alignment fixture ( 30 ),   b) placing a holder body ( 1 ) of  claim 1  on mount ( 40 ) with rear face ( 13 ) of holder body ( 1 ) abutting the upwardly stepped edge ( 41 ) of said elevated section of loading mount ( 40 ),   c) placing loading clip ( 50 ) of  claim 20  over holder body ( 1 ) on mount ( 40 ) and bringing the loading clip magnets ( 53 ) into alignment with and magnetic attachment to the at least one magnet ( 42 ) of loading mount ( 40 ) to bring the projecting portion of the elastomeric insert ( 54 ) of loading clip ( 50 ) into angular contact with a portion of said grooved surface of said holder body ( 1 ), or with any capillary tubes ( 91 ) that are present in or on said grooves,   d) inserting one or more capillary tubes in the grooves of holder body ( 1 ) by sliding said capillary tubes between said grooves and said elastic insert ( 54 ) of said loading clip ( 50 ),   e) placing the holding clip ( 20 ) of  claim 1  over said grooved surface of holder body ( 1 ) and engaging mating elements ( 22 ) of said holding clip with the mating elements on the sides of holder body ( 1 ) to compress said compression element of said holding clip ( 20 ) against said capillary tubes ( 91 ) in said grooves,   f) removing loading clip ( 50 ) from said mount ( 40 ), and removing said holder body ( 1 ), with tubes ( 91 ) thereon, from said mount ( 40 ).   
   
   
       26 . A transfer carrier, for transferring or removing a group of tubes from a tube holder ( 1 ) on which said tubes are held in alignment with respect to each other, while maintaining said alignment, comprising a carrier body ( 60 ) and carrier clip ( 70 ), said carrier body having a front, a rear, two sides and a top surface ( 68 ), a plurality of grooves  64 ) in said top surface, running in the direction from the front to the rear, and a cavity ( 65 ) through said top surface, adjacent the rear and configured to receive a tube holder ( 1 ), securing elements for removably securing said tube holder within said cavity, said cavity having sufficient interior clearance for said tube holder ( 1 ) and holding clip ( 20 ) to pass through said cavity upon application of sufficient force to release said holder ( 1 ) from said securing elements. 
   
   
       27 . The transfer carrier of  claim 26 , further comprising a slot ( 61 ) through the rear thereof adapted to receive at least one projection ( 5 ) extending from a side of a holder body ( 1 ) of a capillary tube holder. 
   
   
       28 . The transfer carrier of  claim 26 , wherein said securing elements are compressive elements ( 63 ). 
   
   
       29 . The transfer carrier of  claim 28 , wherein said compressive elements are spring loaded pins. 
   
   
       30 . The transfer carrier of  claim 29 , wherein said spring loaded pins are adapted to interface into detents in a face of a holder body ( 1 ) of a capillary tube holder. 
   
   
       31 . The transfer carrier of  claim 26 , wherein a portion of the top surface, beginning at the front of said transfer adjacent the front of said carrier, adjacent the part of the cavity closest to the front of said transfer carrier, or both, is stepped down to a level equal to or lower than the bottom of said grooves. 
   
   
       32 . The transfer carrier of  claim 26 , wherein said carrier clip ( 70 ) comprises a body having a top side and a bottom side with two side arms projecting from the bottom side, and a compression element or insert on the surface of the bottom side of said body. 
   
   
       33 . The transfer carrier of  claim 32 , wherein the side arms of said transfer clip ( 70 ) and the sides of said carrier body comprise interlocking complementary mating elements.