

teach that the placement of the capillary tube adjacent to or in contact with the inside wall of the cup provides faster more uniform blood flow from the source to the interior of the cup than if the capillary tube was positioned centrally in the cup away from the interior walls.

The distal end of the capillary tube is outside of the cup and the proximal end of the capillary tube is in contact or near the inside wall of the cup. teaches a device for collecting blood from several capillaries including a cup, a removable vented top attached to the open end of the cup and a capillary tube passing through the top. Such arrangements minimize the need for withdrawing a larger quantity of venous blood from the patient. Accordingly, a patient's finger or earlobe, for example, may be punctured or cut and a very small quantity of capillary blood rapidly collected into a microcollection container for subsequent analysis. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ARTĪdvancements in analytical instrumentation have made it possible to carry out a variety of hematological diagnostic procedures on very small quantities of blood. The present invention relates to a blood collector for a microcollection container and more particularly concerns a blood collector having an improved configuration of the blood flow passageway. The discontinuity includes side walls extending from the blood flow passageway through the body. along the periphery of the body in a portion of the rear end portion being substantially adjacent to an interior surface of the container side wall when the cap engages a container. The rear end portion includes a generally longitudinally extending discontinuity interrupting the proximal edge for up to substantially about 120.degree. A vent is provided in said cap for air displacement therethrough. The body includes a distal front end portion adapted to receive blood from a wound and a proximal rear end portion terminating in a proximal edge for carrying blood to an interior surface of the container side wall. A blood collector, for a microcollection container having an open end, a closed end and a container side wall therebetween, includes a cap for engaging the open end of a container and an elongate body extending through the cap defining a longitudinal axis and having a blood flow passageway therethrough.
