The present invention is premised upon method of manufacturing rolled pierce nuts having a predetermined profile from a metal rod, more particularly to a method and apparatus delivering greater manufacturing flexibility through the use of multiple stations with flexible inputs and outputs.

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a fitting that has a configuration where a fitting plate and a blind nut are integrally formed and also provides a tap tool for use in this method. According to the present invention, performing tap processing to an internal diameter portion to integrally form a portion corresponding to the blind nut, when a tap tool having a protrusion at an end thereof is utilized to be inserted into the bag-like blind hole at a planned part of the blind nut and the tap processing is carried out, the protrusion provided at the end of the tap tool comes into contact with an inner wall at the end of the bag-like blind hole, and a pressed material thereby forms a convex shape on an outer side of the bag-like blind hole.

A thread forming tap having a complete thread portion, formed with a predetermined back taper with that decreases rotational torque during tapping work, which reduces load acting on first complete protruding portions, formed at an extreme leading end of the complete thread portion, and thereby suppressing degradation in service life of the tool due to wear.

A full-round head nail having an offset head is configured with a gusset formed integrally between an undersurface of the offset head and a superior portion of a shank. The head of the nail is relatively thin, and the shank is positioned radially off center of the round head such that no heel is formed at a point tangential to both the head and the shank. The gusset has a lofted surface tapering radially from a roundness at the zero heel to a taper at the toe. The gusset reinforces the junction of the shank with the head, supports the toe of the head, and distributes the force of a load on the head through a longitudinal axis of the shank, preventing the toe from bending or yielding and prevents the shank from yielding to the stresses of the load applied.

In FIG. 2, a diameter Dd of drilling edges of a drill is selected smaller than a valley diameter d1 of a male thread of a tap portion, and an inner diameter D1 of a female thread is defined by the valley diameter d1 of the male thread. Therefore, a predetermined radial gap is formed between the male thread 30 formed by the tap portion and the drill. When a tap with the drill is reversely rotated to be pulled out from the female thread after cutting the female thread, the tap released from the restriction may deflectively displace in the diameter direction upon pulling out the male thread of the tap portion from the female thread. However, the drill hardly contacts with the female thread, so that the occurrence of the defective product due to the contact is suppressed.

Disclosed is a tap driver and tap driver system for rigid tapping, which includes a unique flexure system. In some embodiments, an integrated flexure component and housing configuration provides and may provide both a more economical and a universal configuration of the tap driver flexure component that allows the central body to be integrated with and into different types of tap drivers.

A form tap for tapping an article may include a longitudinal shank having a mounting end opposite a tip, the shank having a shank length, and a thread portion with a plurality of threads for engaging a surface of the article. The thread portion includes a first region, a second region and a third region. The form tap includes a plurality of lobes extending though the first and second regions from the tip to the second region end, the lobes being spaced circumferentially around the shank and lying on a crest circumference. Each lobe may be disposed between respective first and second convex relief portions and each relief portion may be spaced radially inward from the crest circumference. Each lobe has a lobe width, the lobe width at the second region end being greater than the lobe width at the tip. The third region is free of lobes.

A radial tapping attachment for a motor-driven tool includes an enclosed, box-shaped housing, a main shaft assembly adapted to retain a tap, a drive mechanism rotatably driven by the tool and a guide member assembly for supporting an object to be tapped. The main shaft assembly includes a main shaft rotatably coupled to the housing by a pair of bearings, a pair of spaced apart discs fixedly mounted on the main shaft, and a pair of axially mounted compression springs that allow for slight, bi-directional, axial displacement of the main shaft relative to the housing. The drive mechanism includes a drive shaft rotatably coupled to the housing at an approximate right angle relative to the main shaft and a drive wheel mounted on the drive shaft that selectively engages the pair of discs to rotate the main shaft in either direction when an axial force is applied to the tap.

A spiral fluted tap is provided which includes a threaded portion having an external thread corresponding to an internal thread to be cut and a cutting edge formed along a spiral flute formed to divide the external thread, and being screwed into a prepared hole that is provided on a workpiece to cut an internal thread by the cutting edge on an inner circumferential surface of the prepared hole with discharging chips toward a shank via the spiral flute, the spiral flute having a stepped portion at a rear end of a chamfer portion or in a portion on a shank side from the rear end of the chamfer portion in the threaded portion, and a flute bottom diameter on a distal end side of the spiral fluted tap from the stepped portion being smaller than a flute bottom diameter on a shank side from the stepped portion.

In various embodiments, a tapered thread roll, a set of tapered thread rolls, a thread rolling tool, and a thread rolling method are provided for rolling angled or tapered threads onto a workpiece to create a threaded workpiece. In at least one embodiment, the threaded workpiece may comprise a polished rod or a polished rod precursor as specified by the American Petroleum Institute for use in an oil-field sucker-type pump, for example.

A full-round head nail having an offset head is configured with a gusset formed integrally between an undersurface of the offset head and a superior portion of a shank. The head of the nail is relatively thin, and the shank is positioned radially off center of the round head such that no heel is formed at a point tangential to both the head and the shank. The gusset has a lofted surface tapering radially from a roundness at the zero heel to a taper at the toe. The gusset reinforces the junction of the shank with the head, supports the toe of the head, and distributes the force of a load on the head through a longitudinal axis of the shank, preventing the toe from bending or yielding and prevents the shank from yielding to the stresses of the load applied.

An apparatus to produce a self-piercing and clinch nut includes a first forging die assembly, a second forging die assembly, a third forging die assembly, a transfer mechanism, and a controller. The first forging die assembly is configured to subject a blank to first processing. The second forging die assembly is adjacent to the first forging die assembly and configured to subject the blank to second processing after the blank has undergone the first processing in the first forging die assembly. The third forging die assembly is adjacent to the second forging die assembly and configured to subject the blank to third processing after the blank has undergone the second processing in the second forging die assembly. The controller is configured to control the first forging die assembly, the second forging die assembly, the third forging die assembly, and the transfer mechanism to operate.

Tap and die devices are provided to repair internal and external threads, respectively. The tap and die devices are provided with components that coaxially align the tap and die to the nut or fitting being repaired. The tap and die devices are easily portable, compact tools that can be used in tight places.

A nail-forming apparatus and method to rapidly form nails typically with circular heads is provided. One aspect relates to a sequential wire piece positioner configured for sequentially positioning wire pieces respectively adjacent a plurality of nail head formers. The wire piece positioner may include several carriages related to moving and forming the wire pieces.

A thread forming tap has a full thread portion and a leading portion contiguous with the full thread portion and reducing in diameter toward its tip. The full thread and leading portions are provided with external thread on which lobes and recesses are alternately formed. When δ represents an angle around a tool center line toward a thread forming side, the shape of the lobe varies along a quadratic curve relative to angle δ so that relief amount increases toward inflection point angle δ. However, in a rough plastic deformation section where angle δ is greater than inflection point angle θ and exceeds the working region, the shape varies along an Archimedean curve with clearance angle α1 so that the relief amount increases linearly relative to angle δ, and a margin section is substantially zero or within a range where angle δ is less than or equal to 1°.

Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for monitoring a glass plate polishing state. The apparatus may include a location measuring unit for measuring a location on a glass plate being polished by a polishing machine, a current measuring unit for measuring an electric current flowing into the polishing machine, a memory unit for storing a reference value of the electric current flowing into the polishing machine for each polishing location of the glass plate, and a control unit for determining whether a polishing state is faulty, by comparing a value of the electric current measured by the current measuring unit for each polishing location measured by the location measuring unit with a corresponding reference value of the electric current stored in the memory unit for each polishing location.

Methods of shaping a glass sheet each include a step of removing a first portion of the glass sheet to form a first beveled surface. The methods further include the step of removing a second portion of the glass sheet to form a second beveled surface. The methods still further include the step of removing a third portion of the glass sheet comprising a remainder of an end surface of an edge portion of the glass sheet. In further examples, glass sheets are also provided with a first bevel surface intersecting a first glass-sheet surface and an apex surface, and a second bevel surface intersecting a second glass-sheet surface and the apex surface. The glass sheet exhibits a probability of failure of less than 5% at an edge stress of 135 MPa.

The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus for polishing an object to be polished (substrate) such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus includes a polishing table configured to support a polishing pad, a polishing head having a top ring configured to press an object to be polished against the polishing pad while the object to be polished is rotated, and a dresser head having a dresser configured to dress the polishing pad. The polishing apparatus has a head cover having a purge gas introducing unit configured to introduce a purge gas into the head cover and an exhausting unit configured to exhaust the interior of the head cover. The pressure in the head cover is set to a pressure level slightly higher than the pressure outside the head cover, and main components of the polishing head are housed in the head cover.

Disclosed is a grinding tool, which includes a first disk having an installation hole in a center portion thereof such that the grinding tool is installed on a grinder, a second disk forming a discharge passage with partitions on a bottom surface of the first disk, wherein air intaken from a central lower portion of the grinding tool is discharged to an outside thereof through the discharge passage, and a ring-shaped shank disposed under the second disk and including grinding tips to grind a target.

An abrasive article including a base having an annular shape defining a central opening; and a mounting assembly coupled to the base, wherein a portion of the mounting assembly is under a compressive force, and a grinding segment coupled to the mounting member.

Particularly, a thin-film solar cell panel or the like is processed without necessity of attaching and detaching of mask and washing steps with respect to a workpiece in a fine blasting employing a fine abrasive. A negative pressure space (20) and an opposing negative pressure space (40) having openings (22, 42) are opposed by being spaced at a movement allowable interval of the workpiece such as a thin-film solar cell panel or the like and so as to face one side edge in the same direction as a moving direction of the workpiece. Further, a fine abrasive is injected while relatively moving the workpiece in a moving direction (T) with respect to a blast gun (30) in which an injection hole (31) is disposed within the negative pressure space (20), and the fine abrasive injected into the negative pressure space (20) and/or the opposing negative pressure space (40) and a cut and removed cut scrap such as a thin film layer or the like are sucked and recovered through the intermediary of suction devices (21a, 21b) and/or an opposing suction device (41) respectively communicating with the spaces (20) and/or (40).

An automated method for reconditioning a plurality of digital discs within a reconditioning apparatus is disclosed. The method comprises holding the digital discs in a load area, and then transferring each of the digital discs from the load area to at least one workstation with a disc transfer mechanism. The method also comprises reconditioning each of the digital discs transferred to the workstation with at least one worktool operable to remove a portion of the protective coating of each of the digital discs without removal of the data underlying the protective coating. The method further comprises transferring each of the digital discs from the workstation to an unload area with the disc transfer mechanism, and then holding the digital discs in the unload area for manual retrieval. Advantageously, the digital discs may be automatically reconditioned within the reconditioning apparatus without manual manipulation of the digital discs during the reconditioning process. Various exemplary embodiments of the reconditioning apparatus and associated method are provided.

An apparatus for shaping an edge of an aerofoil, the apparatus having first and second brushes and each brush having a plurality of bristles. A first motor rotates the first brush about a first axis and a second motor rotates the second brush about a second axis. The axes are arranged substantially parallel to the bristles of the respective brush. A support structure holds the first brush such that the first axis intersects a first surface of the edge of the aerofoil and holds the second brush such that the second axis intersects a second surface of the edge of the aerofoil. There are means to produce relative movement the first and second brushes and the aerofoil such that the first and second brushes move longitudinally along the edge of the aerofoil to shape the edge of the aerofoil.

An enclosed polishing apparatus include a housing, a fixing seat, a guiding mechanism, and a chain-driven polishing mechanism. The housing includes a bottom housing and a top housing connected to the bottom housing. The fixing seat is securely placed in the bottom housing. The guiding mechanism is placed in the top housing above the fixing seat. The polishing mechanism is movably mounted on the guiding mechanism above the fixing seat. The polishing mechanism is driven and guided by the guiding mechanism to follow a desired polishing contour on a workpiece.

A carriage is moved in a direction including a Y axis component in order to move a turning process tool that is attached to a tool spindle along a horizontal line that is perpendicular to a Z axis, and thus, a turning process is carried out on a workpiece which is attached to a workpiece spindle.

A tool stocker includes main stockers for holding a plurality of tools detachably mounted on a main spindle for machining a workpiece, an auxiliary stocker for holding and transferring tools to and from the main stockers, and a tool transfer mechanism for transferring tools between the main stockers and the auxiliary stocker. The auxiliary stocker includes a plurality of tool pods for removably supporting the tools therein, a rail in sliding engagement with outer surfaces of the tool pods, a chain for moving the tool pods in sliding engagement with the rail, and a motor for actuating the chain. The rail has a recess defined therein in alignment with the tool transfer mechanism, such that the tools transferred by the tool transfer mechanism pass through the recess.

A carriage is moved in a direction including a Y axis component in order to move a turning process tool that is attached to a tool spindle along a horizontal line that is perpendicular to a Z axis, and thus, a turning process is carried out on a workpiece which is attached to a workpiece spindle.

A shaping machine system including a shaping device and a computer is provided. The shaping device includes at least one jig mount body configured for mounting a jig; a shaping tool support body configured for supporting a shaping tool; a first drive device configured for rotating the shaping tool; and a second drive device configured for driving the shaping tool support body or the at least one jig mount body or changing a posture of the shaping tool relative to the workpiece. The computer is configured for controlling the first and second drive devices according to predetermined shaping data. The computer includes a jig position measuring unit configured for measuring a position of the jig; a position error detecting unit configured for detecting a position error of the jig, and a shaping data correcting unit configured for correcting the predetermined shaping data according to a jig position error.

The invention relates to a machine tool (1), comprising a plurality of fixed tool spindles (3) and such that can optionally be displaced from a retracted idle position to an extended working position and can be positioned at different positions in a frame-like rack (2), and a workpiece carrier (4) with at least one workpiece holder (5), with the workpiece (4) carrier being movable at least in several axes in a translational manner and preferably also in a rotational manner. In order to provide advantageous constructional conditions it is proposed that at least one of the tool spindles (3) is associated with a tool magazine (7) plus tool changer (8).

There is provided a component mounting apparatus, which includes: a nozzle which sucks a component; a nozzle supporting member, on which the nozzle is installed, which moves in a vertical direction with respect to an upper surface of a substrate on which the component sucked at the nozzle is mounted; an optical system which captures an image of a leading edge portion of the nozzle where the component is sucked in a component mounting operation, from a side direction, such that an optical axis of the optical system is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a sucking surface of the nozzle; and an analyzer which analyzes the image of the leading edge portion to determine whether a sucking state of the component sucked by the nozzle is normal or abnormal.

A carriage is moved in a direction including a Y axis component in order to move a turning process tool that is attached to a tool spindle along a horizontal line that is perpendicular to a Z axis, and thus, a turning process is carried out on a workpiece which is attached to a workpiece spindle.

A machine tool is provided with a chain-type bit-storing apparatus which includes a frame, two sprockets, a chain and a pivoting unit. The frame includes a cutout. The sprockets are placed in the frame. The chain is driven by the sprockets. The chain includes links each including a socket for containing a bit, two plates for supporting the socket, first and second blocks placed between the plates, first and second bearing units for rotationally supporting the first and second blocks on the plates, and a connecting unit for pivotally connecting the first block thereof to the second block of an adjacent link. The pivoting unit is used to pivot the socket of a selected one of the links to move an open end of the socket out of the frame through the cutout.

A welding tip replacement apparatus is used for a welding torch that includes a tubular tip connection body, a tubular retaining member fitted over the tip connection body, and a tubular welding tip fitted within the tip connection body, the welding torch being configured such that displacing the retaining member toward the proximal end of the tip connection body along the axis of the tip connection body causes the welding tip axially fastened to the tip connection body to be released. The apparatus includes a first grasping mechanism grasping the retaining member, a second grasping mechanism grasping the welding tip protruding from the retaining member in a direction away from the distal end of the tip connection body, a first driving mechanism driving the first grasping mechanism axially, and a second driving mechanism driving the second grasping mechanism axially.

A system and method are disclosed for transporting deterministic traffic in a gigabit passive optical network. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, an Optical Line Termination (OLT) for exchanging data traffic in a Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) having a controller programmed to generate a timeslot schedule for transport of a desired bandwidth of constant bit rate (CBR) data traffic by selecting one or more timeslots from periodic frame clusters operating according to a GPON Transmission Convergence (GTC) protocol. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

A method and apparatus for controlling update of digital pre-distortion (DPD) coefficient is provided. The apparatus is applicable to a digital power control system, wherein the apparatus comprises: an update controlling unit configured to determine a group of fully-trained DPD coefficients among a plurality of DPD coefficients; and a DPD coefficient generating unit configured to update adaptively the group of fully-trained DPD coefficients according to the result of judgment of the update controlling unit. The DPD coefficients are allowed to be updated after being judged as being able to be fully trained according to power distribution information of DPD input signals, or according to address distribution information of an LUT, or according to average power of output of an HPA; otherwise, they may not be updated, thereby efficiently preventing DPD abnormality resulted from unfull training of coefficients in being updated.

The disclosure discloses an apparatus and method for rerouting multiple traffics. The apparatus includes a path computation unit and a traffic path incorporation unit, the path computation unit forwards a received uniform route computation notification message including multiple pieces of failed traffic connection information to the traffic path incorporation unit, and also forwards a route inquiry request transmitted from the head node of the fault traffic to the traffic path incorporation unit; the traffic path incorporation unit analyzes and detects the failed traffic connection information according to traffic incorporating and route inquiry statistic algorithm, and uniformly obtains and records the recovery route information from the path computation unit; when receiving the route inquiry request forwarded by the path computation unit, the traffic path incorporation unit is further configured to search the record according to the route inquiry request, and return the found corresponding recovery route information to the head node which requests the recovery through the path computation unit. The disclosure uses a incorporating and uniform route inquiry method, the resource loss of the path computation unit is reduced, and the efficiency of link restoration is improved.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods for allocating bandwidth to a plurality of traffic containers of a passive optical network. The method comprises receiving upstream data from a plurality of traffic containers of the passive optical network and passing the upstream data to a traffic manager. The method further comprises dynamically changing the allocated bandwidth based at least in part on the amount of the upstream data stored in one or more queues of the traffic manager.

Methods and apparatus related to the detection of low-rate visible light communication (VLC) signals and the recovery of information communicated by the VLC signals are described. Various methods and apparatus are well suited for embodiments in which a device, e.g., a smartphone, including a camera which uses a rolling shutter. The rolling shutter facilitates the collection of different time snapshots of a received low rate time varying VLC signal with different pixel rows in the image sensor of a frame corresponding to different time snapshots. In some embodiments, demodulation is used to recover and identify a single tone being communicated in a frame from among a plurality of possible alternative tones that may be communicated, each different tone corresponding to a different set of information bits.

Techniques are provided describing a first connector unit that receives first data from a first transceiver and a second connector unit that receives second data from a second transceiver. A switch unit is configured to receive first switch data from the first connector unit at a first data rate and second switch data from the second connector unit at the first data rate. A third connector unit receives the first switch or the second switch data from the switch unit and a second portion of the second data from the second connector unit. The third connector unit also sends the first switch data to a host port when the first connector unit receives the first data and to send the second switch data and the second portion of the second data to the host port when the second connector unit receives the second data.

An apparatus and method for fault indication and localization in a Passive Optical Network (PON) comprising a multistage power splitter (100, 200, 300) with at least one 1:N splitter (120, 221, 222, 321, 322) followed by N items of 2:M splitters (131, 132, 231-233, 331-336), wherein N and M are integers greater than 1. The apparatus also comprises an Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) device (110, 210, 310) capable of inserting an OTDR signal into the power splitter (100, 200, 300), and adapted to insert the OTDR signal between the first stage of the at least one 1:N splitter (120, 221, 222, 321, 322) and the second N items of 2:M splitters (131, 132, 231-233, 331-336).

The device identification apparatus includes: a remote controller signal detecting section for detecting an optical signal from a remote controller; a receiving section for receiving the optical signal from the remote controller; a signal decryption section for decrypting the optical signal received by the receiving section; and a transmitting section for transmitting a device identification signal when the optical signal is a device selecting signal, and configured such that operations of the receiving section, the signal decryption section, and the transmitting section are started in response to a detecting signal of the remote controller signal detecting section, thereby realizing a device identification apparatus in which power consumption during standby is minimized.

Intrapersonal communication systems and methods that provide an optical digital signal link between two or more local devices are disclosed. In some embodiments, the system includes a first signal converter disposed at a first end of the optical digital signal link and configured to convert between electrical digital signals from a first local device and optical digital signals from the optical digital signal link. The system can include an optical connector having a non-contact portion configured to couple optical digital signals between the first signal converter and the optical digital signal link across a gap. The system can include a second signal converter disposed at a second end of the optical digital signal link and configured to convert between electrical digital signals from the second local device and optical digital signals from the optical digital signal link.

An apparatus for storing and dispensing a test strip includes a container configured to store a stack of test strips. The container maintains appropriate environmental conditions, such as humidity, for storing the test strips. An engaging member is disposed in the container and is adapted to contact one test strip of the stack of test strips. An actuator actuates the engaging member to dispense the one test strip from the container. Since one test strip is dispensed at a time, the remaining test strips are not handled by the user. Accordingly, the unused test strips remain free of contaminants such as naturally occurring oils on the user's hand.

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and process for forming medical devices from an injectable composition. The apparatus includes a supply assembly configured to maintain and selective dispense a first precursor and a second precursor, a mixing assembly configured to mix the first and second precursors, and at least one catalyzing element including a transition metal ion to aid in the polymerization of the first and second precursors. The process includes dispensing a volume of the first precursor and a volume of the second precursor into a mixing assembly and mixing the first and second precursors. The first and second precursors each possess a core and at least one functional group known to have click reactivity with each other. The mixed precursors are contacted with a transition metal catalyst to produce a flowable composition for use as a medical device.

A laminated body composed of a holding member and an inner cylinder is arranged between a heat generation element, which is electrically energized to generate heat, and a case which covers the heat generation element, and the inner cylinder has an upstream side end portion extended to a more upstream side than an upstream side end face of said heat generation element and an upstream side end face of said holding member to form an extension portion, which is formed with a protruding portion protruding to an inner side in a diametrical direction. A flow of an exhaust gas, which flows backwards after colliding with the heat generation element, will be obstructed by said protruding portion. As a result, the backflow exhaust gas stops flowing into a gap between the case and the inner cylinder.

The present invention extends to a disinfection cap for disinfecting a male luer end of an infusion therapy device. The disinfection cap can include an internal reservoir containing an antimicrobial or saline solution which is sealed with a flexible septum to prevent the solution from evaporating. The septum can include one or more slits or pierceable seams that allow a male luer end of an infusion therapy device to be inserted through the septum and into the solution. While the male luer is inserted through the septum, the solution contacts both the inner and outer surfaces of the male luer. Because the septum reduces evaporation of the solution and prevents the solution from leaking out of the cap, the solution remains in contact with the male luer for a longer duration then when typical disinfection caps are used thereby increasing the effectiveness of the disinfectant.

A centrifuge to which sample tubes can be introduced while the centrifuge is in motion. The centrifuge comprises a carousel having an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion of the carousel has a plurality of positions for sample tubes for a centrifugation operation, a plurality of drive mechanisms attached to the upper portion of the carousel, a movable element mounted upon each drive mechanism, the movable element capable of traversing the length of the drive mechanism when the drive mechanism is actuated, a sample tube-holding assembly comprising a sample tube holder and a bearing attached to each movable element, and at least one balancing element capable of contributing to a force vector that cancels an imbalance vector generated by rotation of the centrifuge.

The present invention includes microfluidic systems having a microfabricated cavity that may be covered with a removable cover, where the removable cover allows at least part of the opening of the microfabricated cavity to be exposed or directly accessed by an operator. The microfluidic systems comprise chambers, flow and control channels formed in elastomeric layers that may comprise PDMS. The removable cover comprises a thermoplastic base film bonded to an elastomer layer by an adhesive layer. When the removable cover is peeled off, the chamber is at least partially open to allow sample extraction from the chamber. The chamber may have macromolecular crystals formed inside or resulting contents from a PCR reaction. The invention also includes a method for making vias in elastomeric layers by using the removable cover. The invention further includes methods and devices for peeling the peelable cover or a removable component such as Integrated Heater Spreader.

This disclosure is directed to an apparatus, system and method for retrieving a target material from a suspension. A system includes a processing vessel, such as an Eppendorf tube, a syringe or a test tube, and a collector. The collector is sized and shaped to fit into a primary vessel, such as a test tube. The collector funnels the target material from the suspension through a cannula and into the processing vessel. The cannula extends into a cavity at a first end of the collector that holds the processing vessel. The collector includes a funnel at a second end in fluid communication with the cannula. In one implementation, the processing vessel includes at least one displacement fluid to be expelled, such that the at least one displacement fluid pushes the target material into the collector.

An apparatus for sampling and storing biological fluids from a human or animal subject is provided. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the apparatus includes a main body, lancet carrier or hub, lancet, lancet trigger, capillary tube, and sample compartments for collecting and storing dried blood and other bodily fluids. The lancet hub supports a lancet and provides for moving the lancet longitudinally between a first retracted position and a second extended position. The device includes a capillary tube having an internal diameter sized to draw and retain fluid from a contacted source using capillary action. The main body of the apparatus further includes a sample compartment for holding sampling and storage materials. In at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the sample compartment can be accessed by lifting sample compartment lid. Also included is a new “fan” or “daisy” shaped collection material format for use in collecting and preserving samples.