Gas sample collecting device

Claim 1

Gas sample collecting apparatus, comprising: A. a closed, rigid-walled container provided with an opening and a cover for hermetically sealing and unsealing said opening; B. a carton nested within said container and smaller in size relative thereto to permit insertion of said carton within said container and withdrawal therefrom through said opening; C. a flexible gas sample bag within said carton and having a neck through which gas may be introduced; D. said carton being stiff in construction and substantially closed except for the provision of an outlet for accommodating the neck of said sample bag and of a multiplicity of holes for permitting ready exhaust of the interior thereof and of the space between said carton and said container and to limit expansion of said sample bag to the volume enclosed thereby; E. a source of pressurized inert gas; F. a first gas flow path for conducting said inert gas to a common junction; G. a second gas flow path for conducting sample gas to said common junction where it is mixed with said inert gas; H. a third gas flow path extending from said common junction to said sample bag for conducting the mixture of inert gas and sample gas to said sample bag; I. means in said first and second gas flow paths incLuding means coupled therebetween for adjusting the relative flow rates of said inert gas and said sample gas to attain a desired dilution ratio; and J. an exhaust system for evacuating the space between the exterior of said sample bag and the interior walls of said container so as to cause said sample bag to fill with said gas mixture to a volume limited by the interior of said carton; K. means for sealing the neck of said gas sample bag, said bag being separable from said third gas flow path upon filling with said gas mixture, thereby to permit removal of said carton containing said sealed and gas filled sample bag from said container.