Agile-Walled Sampling Bags with Shape Memory
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fluid containers for sampling, whether with rigid or flexible walls, face issues such as high cost, bulkiness, contamination risks, and the need for external energy sources like pumps, which can dilute samples and lead to incomplete recovery of chemical compounds.
Innovation Solution
The development of sampling bags with agile walls that utilize shape memory components to return to an initial configuration, providing a built-in regeneratable energy source for fluid sampling without external pumps, reducing contamination and enabling self-sampling with a compact, lightweight design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If containers with rigid walls are used for storing gas mixtures under pressure, then the integrity and volume stability of the container is improved, but the cost and bulkiness of the container increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible walls made of inert, low-permeability materials (such as Kynar and Tedlar) to create sampling bags that can contain pressurized gas mixtures while being lightweight and cost-effective. The flexible material provides sufficient structural integrity without requiring rigid construction, thereby reducing manufacturing costs and bulkiness while maintaining volume stability through the material's low permeability properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses composite wall structures combining multiple layers of different materials to achieve both flexibility and structural integrity. The composite construction allows the container to maintain its shape and volume under pressure while using lighter, less expensive materials than solid rigid walls, resolving the contradiction between stability and manufacturing cost.
2Ease of operation
If sampling bags with flexible walls are used for fluid sampling, then the portability and cost-effectiveness is improved, but the risk of contamination from adsorbed residues increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a comprehensive preparation process for sampling bags that includes flushing with neutral gas and applying high vacuum to substantially remove all fluid from the container before use. This preliminary action removes adsorbed residues and residual gases that could contaminate samples, addressing the contamination risk while maintaining the portability benefits of flexible walls.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses inert, low-permeability materials for the sampling bag walls that minimize adsorption of sample components. The inert nature of materials like Kynar and Tedlar creates a chemically passive environment that prevents contamination of samples, while the flexible structure maintains portability and ease of operation.
3Reliability
If conventional vacuum pumps are used to evacuate sampling bags before filling, then the removal of residual gas is improved, but the complexity and cost of equipment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent describes methods where the sampling bag itself is used to create the vacuum condition through its flexible structure, eliminating or reducing the need for external vacuum pumps. The bag can be manually evacuated or use its own elasticity to assist in creating negative pressure, thereby achieving effective evacuation while minimizing equipment complexity and cost.
4Stress or pressure
If additional carrier gas is added to rigid wall containers to increase pressure after sampling, then the pressure recovery is improved, but the sample concentration accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic pressure management in flexible sampling bags, where the bag's flexible walls automatically adjust internal pressure in response to volume changes during sampling. This dynamic system maintains near-constant pressure conditions without requiring additional carrier gas additions, thereby preserving sample concentration accuracy while achieving pressure recovery through the elastic properties of the flexible container.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
These agile-walled sampling bags achieve high recovery rates of chemical compounds, reduce external contamination, eliminate the need for external energy sources, and are cost-effective, allowing for multiple uses and easy transportation, while maintaining sample integrity.
Implementation Method 1
The agile walls may comprise one or more component with a shape memory component that biases the sampling bag toward its initial configuration.
Implementation Method 2
The elastic component may be a coil spring, a leaf spring, a disc spring, a rubber band or any other suitable elastic component.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure is directed to sampling bags having flexible walls. The sampling bags may have agile walls that include a shape memory component. The shape memory component tends to return the sampling bag to its initial shape. Such sampling bags may be used in a variety of sampling methods.