Sampling devices and sample dividers

The following are a few of the most commonly used devices for obtaining samples from bulk and for dividing large samples of powders into smaller samples. For a more complete description, with illustrations, refer to ISO 8212 and 607 [1,2]. 

Auger samplers are Archimedean screws and are used for sampling compact materials such as soap. They may be simple open augers or enclosed in a tube. The act of screwing the auger into the bulk material drives fragments of the sample up to the surface. 

Rotary sample dividers or rifflers may or may not use a cone or dome to spread the sample. With one type, the powder is poured through a funnel and falls either directly or down a stationary cone into a set of jars attached to a rotor, so that the sample receivers themselves rotate and similar proportions of the sample fall into all the jars. Another major variant employs a dome which rotates at high speed and flings the powder into an array of stationary receivers. 

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