Claims
- 1. A soil sample containment device, comprising:
first and second end caps for covering respective ends of a soil sampler liner section; and sealing means associated with the end caps for sealing respective ends of the liner section with a compression seal to prevent loss of volatiles from a soil sample contained within the liner section.
- 2. The soil sample containment device according to claim 1, further comprising a means for securing the end caps together when assembled over a soil sampler liner section to maintain the compression seals at the ends of the liner section.
- 3. The soil sample containment device according to claim 2, wherein said means for securing the end caps together comprises multiple latching points to accommodate soil sampler liner sections of different lengths.
- 4. The soil sample containment device according to claim 1, wherein said end caps each comprises a hook arm and an eye arm, and the hook arm of the first end cap can be coupled with the eye arm of the second end cap to secure the end caps together.
- 5. The soil sample containment device according to claim 4, wherein the hook arm of each end cap has a wedge-shaped hook protruding therefrom.
- 6. The soil sample containment device according to claim 5, wherein the eye arm of each end cap has at least one hole that accepts the hook protruding from the hook arm of the other end cap.
- 7. The soil sample containment device according to claim 6, wherein the ends of the eye arm and the hook arm are chamfered such that the arms slide past one another rather than butt up to one another during assembly.
- 8. The soil sample containment device according to claim 6, wherein the eye arm has a plurality of holes that accept the hook protruding from the hook arm of the other end cap to accommodate soil sampler liner sections of different lengths.
- 9. The soil sample containment device according to claim 1, wherein said sealing means comprises a flexible sealing material positioned within each end cap for providing a seal over a respective end of the soil sampler liner section.
- 10. The soil sample containment device according to claim 9, wherein each end cap includes a relief opening to allow the flexible sealing material to accommodate protrusions of a soil sample without compromising the sealing effect of the device.
- 11. The soil sample containment device according to claim 1, wherein each end cap includes a plurality of centering tabs to center a soil sampler liner section within the end cap.
- 12. The soil sample containment device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second end caps have a substantially identical structure and can be interchanged end-to-end when being assembled over a soil sampler liner section.
- 13. A soil sample containment device, comprising:
first and second end caps for covering respective ends of a soil sampler liner section, each end cap comprising a structure for coupling with the opposite end cap for securing the end caps together when assembled over the liner section.
- 14. A soil sample containment device, comprising:
a soil sampler liner section obtained from a soil sampler liner assembly having multiple liner sections; first and second end caps for covering respective ends of said soil sampler liner section; and sealing means associated with the end caps for sealing said respective ends of the liner section with a compression seal to prevent loss of volatiles from a soil sample contained within the liner section.
- 15. The soil sample containment device according to claim 14, further comprising a means for securing the end caps together when assembled over said soil sampler liner section to maintain the compression seals at the ends of the liner section.
- 16. The soil sample containment device according to claim 15, wherein the means for securing the end caps together comprises a coupling structure which couples the end caps together and accommodates different lengths of soil sampler liner sections.
- 17. The soil sample containment device according to claim 15, wherein said sealing means comprises a flexible sealing material positioned within each of the end caps, and wherein said means for securing the end caps together compresses the flexible sealing material over the ends of the soil sampler liner section with a predictable amount of compression to form a nonpermeable seal.
- 18. The soil sample containment device according to claim 15, wherein the means for securing the end caps together includes a hook arm and an eye arm, and wherein the hook arms each include a wedge-shaped hook protruding outwardly which is held in an outward fashion by the soil sampler liner section to prevent inadvertent removal of the end caps from the soil sampler liner section.
- 19. A soil sampler liner for use in a soil sampling system, comprising:
a first liner section made of a first material which is compatible with a first test to be performed; and a second liner section made of a second material which is compatible with a second test to be performed, wherein said first material is different from said second material.
- 20. The soil sampler liner according to claim 19, wherein said first material is transparent.
- 21. The soil sampler liner according to claim 19, wherein said first material is plastic.
- 22. The soil sampler liner according to claim 21, wherein said second material is metal.
- 23. A soil sampler liner for use in a soil sampling system, comprising:
a first liner section having a first volume corresponding to an amount of soil to be used in a first test to be performed; and a second liner section having a second volume corresponding to an amount of soil to be used in a second test to be performed, wherein said first volume is different from said second volume.
- 24. The soil sampler liner according to claim 23, wherein one of said first and second liner sections has a volume corresponding to approximately 25 grams of soil.
- 25. The soil sampler liner according to claim 23, wherein one of said first and second liner sections has a volume corresponding to approximately 30 grams of soil.
- 26. The soil sampler liner according to claim 23, wherein one of said first and second liner sections has a volume corresponding to approximately 50 grams of soil.
- 27. A method of containing soil samples, comprising the steps of:
providing a soil sampler liner assembly having at least one liner section; collecting a soil sample within said liner section; and placing first and second end caps over the ends of the liner section and forming a compression seal at each end of the liner section to prevent loss of volatiles from the soil sample.
- 28. The method according to claim 27, wherein said liner section has a volume corresponding to a mass of soil required for a standard test, and further comprising the step of extruding substantially all of the soil sample from the liner section for said test without subsampling.
- 29. The method according to claim 27, wherein said soil sampler liner assembly has a plurality of liner sections, and further comprising the steps of:
collecting soil samples in a plurality of said liner sections; and placing end caps over the ends of each of the liner sections and forming compression seals at the ends of each of the liner sections to prevent loss of volatiles from each of the collected soil samples.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/387,041 filed on Jun. 6, 2002.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60387041 |
Jun 2002 |
US |