Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
WO 91/06484 PCI/US90/06300
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CONTAINER HAVING IMPROVED CLOSURE
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to containers in general and
to sealing closures for containers in particular.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many medical liquids, such as sterile water, saline
solution, electrolyte solution and the like, are packaged in
containers which dispense the liquid by simply pouring out the
- contents, as opposed-to,- for-example, intravenous --- -
administration. Such pour-type dispensers are typically
referred to as pour bottles. Such pour-type dispensing of
medical liquids is utilized, for example, in operating rooms or
for emergency site wound irrigation and the like.
In the art, plastic bottles have been utilized as a low
cost container for such pour-type dispensing. Such bottles
typically include a body portion in which the contents are
stored and a neck portion which threadingly secures a screw-cap
type closure. Suçh bottles provide convenient access to the
contents by simply removing the cap, usually in a
counterclockwise rotation to open the bottle and pour.
In the medical industry, the contents of the bottle must
be provided sterile and stored isolated from possible airborne
contaminants such as bacteria. To this end, the bottle
closures are provided sealed against the outside environment.
In the art, this seal is provided by addition of a gasket
between the lower rim of the closure cap and a rim provided on
the neck of the bottle. An additional seal can also be
provided by providing a gasket in the interior surface of the
top of the closure cap to seal against the upper or pouring lip
of the neck of the bottle.
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While this dual seal provides satisfactory environmental
isolation against contamination of the contents of the bottle,
such a dual seal requires maintenance of exacting tolerances in
the production of the bottles, use of expensive gasket
materials, and added steps in production to install the two
gaskets. While these drawbacks can be avoided by providing
only a single seal under the cap, a single seal does not
provide the environmental isolation that the dual seal
provides. What would thus be advantageous would be to devise a
dual seal type of closure assembly which avoids the drawbacks
of the prlor art devices.
SUMMARY OF THE lNVENTION
The present invention provides a container having an
improved closure which avoids the drawbacks of prior art. The
container includes a body portion, a neck portion and a closure
cap. The closure cap includes a side wall and a top wall. The
neck portion of the container includes a shelf member on which
a gasket rests. The gasket seals between the upper portion of
the shelf member and the closure cap side wall lower rim.
Extending downwardly from the top wall of the closure cap
is a conical sealing lip. The conical sealing lip contacts and
seals against the neck portion's inner surface. The conical
sealing lip is preferably tapered to facilitate the sealing.
In addition, the inner surface of the neck portion is also
preferably tapered or stepped to further facilitate sealing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container made in
accordance with the principles of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a partially cut-away, side elevational view of
the closure of the container of Figure 1;
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Figure 3 is a cut-away view of the device of Figure 1
taken along the line III-III of Figure 1; and
Figure 4 is a cut-away view of an alternative closure made
in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to Figure 1, a container made in accordance with
the principles of the present invention is seen. This
embodiment is a one-piece, hermetically sealed plastic
container 10 having a body portion 12 and a neck portion 14. A
closure cap 16 is provided as a separate attachable element.
The contiiner 10 contents are stored in the body portion 12. ~ ~~
The body portion 12 narrows at its upper periphery to form neck
portion 14. Closure cap 16 and neck portion 14 each provide
cooperating threaded members so that closure cap 16 can be
threadedly connecte~ to neck portion 14.
The container of the present invention can be made of any
material suitable for storage of medical fluids. Such material
is preferably drug compatible and autoclavable. In the
preferred embodiment the material is a rigid plastic material
that is capable of blow molding or injection molding such as
polyethylene or polypropylene. Additionally, while the
container 10 and closure cap 16 can be made of different
materials, such as, for example, a glass container and plastic
closure cap, the container 10 and closure cap 16 are preferably
formed of the same material.
Referring to Figure 2, the neck portion 14 of the device
of Figure 1 is seen in detail. The body portion 12 narrows
into and 'orms a cylindrical neck portion 14 having an interior
surface 11 and an exterior surface 13. The terminal end of the
neck portion 14 defines a pouring lip 18. Contained on the
exterior surface 13 of the neck portion 14 is a threaded
portion which has a standard thread 20 formed to permit
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clockwise tightening of the closure cap 16. Below the threaded
portion is an expanded diameter flange 22 which enhances
structural integrity and retains a gasket 30 in place.
Below the expanded diameter flange 22 is a radially
S outwardly extending shoulder portion 24 which includes an
optional circumferential groove 26 defined therein. The
circumferential groove 26 reduces the amount of material needed
in forming the container without substantially sacrificing
structural integrity. In addition, the circumferential groove
26 can be utilized to support the container 10 by a
correspondingly designed support.
The outwardly-extending shoulder portion 24 includes at
its upper periphery a generally flat shelf member 28 which
extends generally perpendicularly from the longitudinal axis of
15 neck portion 14. Resting on shelf member 28 is gasket 30 which
acts in cooperation with closure cap 16 to form a seal, as will
be discussed in detail below. Gasket 30 is preferably made of
a material which has good sealing qualit-ies such as silicone
rubber or the like.
Referring now to Figure 3, the detail of the closure cap
16 of the device of Figure 1 is seen. The closure cap 16
includes a continuous cylindrical side wall 36 having an
interior surface 39, an exterior surface 40 and a lower rim
43. A top wall 38 is also provided joined to the side wall 36
to form a cap-like structure. The presently described
embodiment includes at the center of the top wall 38 an
interiorly extending dimple 35. The side wall 36 outer surface
40 is buckled or knurled to help the user in gripping the
closure cap 16 (as best seen in FIGURE 2). The side wall 36
inner surface 39 includes a threaded portion which has a
cooperating standard thread 41 to engage the thread 20 of the
neck portion 14.
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As previously discussed, the gasket 30 is contained on the
shelf member 28 of shoulder portion 24 of neck portion 14. The
gasket 30 seals against shelf member 28 and the closure cap 16
lower rim 43 when the closure cap 16 is secured on the
container 10.
To this end, the lower rim 43 of the closure cap 16
includes an inner contact ring 45 which presses against gasket
30 to form a first seal. The lower rim 43 further includes an
outer ring member 42 which extends downwardly a distance
greater than the inner contact ring 45 and has an inner
diameter larger than the gasket 30. When the inner contact
ring 45 contacts the resilient gasket 30 and presses against ~~
the resilient gasket 30, the resilient gasket 30 deforms in a
horizontal as well as vertical direction. This horizontal
deformation causes the resilient gasket 3U to press against the
exterior surface 13 of the neck portion 14 and the outer ring
member 42 to retain gasket 30 in place below inner contact ring
45 and to further enhance the seal provided by gasket 30
against the outside environment.
To provide still further isolation from the outside
environment, a second seal is provided. To this end, an
internally extending hollow conical sealing lip 50 having an
exterior surface 52 and an interior surface 54 is provided
which seals against the inner surface 11 of neck portion 14.
The internally extending hollow conical sealing member 50 is
integrally formed with the closure cap 16.
The exterior surface 52 of sealing lip S0 is the contact
surface which forms a seal against the interior surface 13 of
neck portion 14. To facilitate this sealing contact, the
contact surface 52 of the sealing lip S0 is tapered inwardly.
As a result of this taper, as the closure cap 16 is tightened
on the neck portion 14 by the threads 20 and 41, the sealing
lip 50 comes into contact with the interior surface 11 of neck
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portion 14. In the preferred embodiment, the sealing lip 50
comes into contact with the inner surface 11 of neck portion 14
just as contact ring 45 comes into contact with gasket 30. As
the closure cap 16 is tightened, contact ring 45 tightens into
S gasket 30 while the taper on the seating lip contact surface 52
compresses the sealing lip 50 against the inner surface 11 of
the neck portion 14.
In a preferred embodiment, the inner surface 11 of neck
portion 14 is also tapered to further facilitate sealing. In
the preferred embodiment, the taper on the sealing lip contact
surface 52 is greater than the taper on the inner surface 11 of
the neck portion 14. The degree of taper of the contact -~
surface is preferably within 20~ of 0.05"/in/side.
Referring now to Figure 4, an alternative closure made in
accordanc~ with the principles of the present invention is
seen. In this preferred embodiment, like elements are
designated by reference numerals in the one hundred series of
the elements in the preceding FIGURE 3. In addition, in this
alternative embodiment, outwardly extending shoulder portion
124 is solid.
In the alternative preferred embodiment, while the contact
surface 152 of sealing lip 150 is tapered, the inner surface
111 of neck portion 114 is not. Rather, the inner surface 111
of neck portion 114 includes a reduced diameter portion 58.
Provided between the inner surface 111 and the reduced diameter
portion 58 is a conical step 60. The diameters of the inner
surface 111 and reduced diameter portion 58 are provided such
that the sealing lip always is in contact with one of the
surfaces. This alternative embodiment is particularly suited
when manufacturing processes and materials utilized in forming
the container 110 result in large tolerances on the inner
surface 111 of the neck portion 114.
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It should be understood that various changes and
modifications to the preferred embodiments described herein
will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and
modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and
scope of the present invention and without diminishing its
attendant advantages. It is therefore intended that such
changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.
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