Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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WO 00/06976 PCT/US99/17280
VESSEL FOR CONTAINING/TRANSPORTING A FLUENT SUBSTANCE
Background of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to the packaging into a suitable
container and
transport over some distance, of fluids in liquid form destined for use in a
"downstream", or
subsequent, manufacturing/product-fabrication/test process. This disclosure
is, by and large, not
concerned with the transport and administering of medical solutions for
mammalian
use/consumption (including intravenous delivery of medicines and nutrients to
humans and other
mammals). But rather, the present invention relates to the novel containment
for shipping and
ultimate dispensing (preferably gravity fed) for ready use in a
manufacturing/product-
fabrication/test process (whether the process is deemed part of a commercial
enterprise or done
in a basic-research facility), of "fluent" substances from the same flexible
vessel- without the
need for mid-stream staging containers. The flexible walls of the vessel have
an outwardly-facing
identification indicia (for purposes of tracking/quality control and
inventory) and are preferably
made of a flexible material compatible with the fluent contents. A portable
framework is used
to support the vessel when dispensing its contents.
The filling of polymeric bags with liquids for storage and dispensing is not,
by itself, new.
Modern human and veterinary medicine conveniently uses intravenous fluid
("IV") bags for
bedside administration of medicine, nutrients, and other solutions (water,
saline solution, dialysis
solutions, etc.) to patients in hospitals, nursing-care facilities, clinics,
mobile critical-care
transporters (life-flight helicopters, ambulances, and medically-equipped
airplanes), and to
patients who are well enough to have been sent home. Apart from the medical
use of polymeric
bags-at least one thin flexible bag having a tent structure" and a multi-
component specially-
designed dispensing valve has been patented in the U.S. The bag is filled with
still wine, shipped,
and stored intact until a keeper ring is stripped away so that a sharp plunger
is free to thrust
inwardly to pierce the bag. Although the patent indicates this tent structure
bag can stand up on
a table for dispensing, it has not been seen in general use. But rather, wine
bags seen in kitchen
refrigerators are supported by rectangular cardboard boxes designed for
dispensing in a horizontal
orientation.
On a much different and greater scale than this, one finds the instant
invention. It
addresses a need specifically identified by the inventor hereof in the
manufacturing/
production/test arena (whether for commercial production and/or basic
research) for less-costly
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WO 00/06976 PCT/US99/17280
ways to ship and dispense solutions used in the commercial manufacture,
research/ bench-testing,
fabrication for laboratory/research use, and so on, of products. In the past,
the design efforts of
storage and transport containers have been driven, by-and-large, by the
requirement that the wa11s
of the containers be compatible with the solutions contained therein (such as
reagents, organics,
cleaning/sterilizing solutions, pesticides, etc.). Glass bottles, although
very breakable and heavy
to transport, have primarily been the container of choice due to the relative
stability of glass and
the compatibility of glass with so many solutions. And, while wall-
compatibility is an important
design consideration of storage vessels (due to the need to use containers
made of materials that
are substantially inert with respect to corrosion and do not leach
extractables into the solutions
they contain) - wall-compatibility can no longer be the only major design
consideration of
solution storage vessels. This is especially true as shipping and handling
costs continue to sharply
increase; such costs include the additional labor of skilled technicians that
must be employed to
properly measure/dispense and carefully use (without contaminating) the
solutions, the cost of
brittle-container breakage during shipment and/or use, as well as costs
associated with the sheer
weight of hard walled containers.
Due to the ingenious effort and targeted problem identification, the novel
apparatus and
method of containing for transport and dispensing a fluent substance as well
as the novel method
of building an order for replenishing stock, disclosed herein, are targeted to
processes performed
in connection with commercial as well as basic research purposes-including the
fabrication
and/or analysis/test of products and constituents thereof, whether the product
is headed for
commercial sale; bench-testing of products and their constituents; beaker
cleaning; and so on.
As one can appreciate, unlike the instant invention, known hard-walled storage
containers
used for transporting solutions delivered to a manufacturing plant or research
environment
generally require a substantial amount of labor-intensive packing material to
surround the
containers in order to ship them any distance using common carriers. Although
there have been
a couple of reagent bags patented as designed for specialized test equipment,
these designs do not
accommodate large-scale production or bench-test/laboratory use of reagent
solutions.
Surprisingly, there simply is no adequate low-cost storage-for-transport
alternative to the hard-
walled containers (made, mostly, of glass and brittle plastics) currently
being used for shipping
the large quantities of solutions used day-in and day-out in manufacturing and
research facilities.
The new apparatus for transporting a fluent substance and method were
developed to
address the problems associated with shipping heavy, breakable hard-walled
containers which are
cumbersome to use and store in a manufacturing/test environment. The new
apparatus and
method, as designed, offer a lower-cost and less labor-intensive alternative
that utilizes space
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CA 02336692 2007-07-19
more-efficiently while at the same time provides sufficient durability. As can
be appreciated, in the
spirit and scope of suggested design goals (whether expressly communicated
herein) and as described
further, the flexible-walled vessels can be fabricated from many suitable
materials into many different
shapes and sizes, filled with countless different types of reagents, cleaning
solutions, solvents,
pesticides and other fluent substances, then transported to, and used in,
production/test environments
(including food production) throughout the word.
Summary of the Invention
It is a primary object of this invention to provide an apparatus and
associated method for
transporting in a flexible-walled vessel a fluent substance for ready
dispensing there-from during a
production/product-fabrication/test process (whether deemed part of a
commercial enterprise or done in
a basic-research facility). The vessel, which has an upper end and a lower
portion having at least one
port through which the fluent substance is dispensed, can be oriented by a
support framework for the
dispensing. It is also an object of this invention that such an apparatus and
method utilize a valve of
some type for controlling the dispensing of a preselected amount of the fluent
substance during the
process. A further object is to provide a method of building an order for
replenishing stock of a fluent
substance contained in a flexible-walled vessel having an indicia.
The advantages of providing the new apparatus and associated new methods are
as follows:
(a) The inventive vessel is preferably used for one-time dispensing of its
contents (and,
thereafter, disposed-of). A vessel may be reused by refilling with an
identical fluent contents for
another dispensing (reuse depends on the level of sterilization needed for its
fluent contents, as well as
the structural integrity of the flexible material). Regardless of reuse,
vessels are preferably reclaimed
by recycling the flexible material after its contents has been dispensed.
(b) Versatility -- The invention can be used for dispensing reagents, cleaning
solutions,
solvents, pesticides, etc., used in a wide range of production/testing
environments to carry out
associated processes (whether carried out as part of a commercial enterprise
or done in a basic-research
facility) such as : end-product fabrication and/or QC testing; in-line
monitoring and/or mixing of
constituents of a product; sample bench-testing of end-products or
constituents thereof for purposes of
quality control (QC); bench-testing of a product undergoing research to assess
its manufacturability;
plus, testing/sample monitoring, etc., in a'pure' research sense of a material
or substance (e.g., material
identification, measuring properties and behaviour, and so on).
(c) Simplicity of use -- The new vessel allows for reliable transporting to a
dispensing site,
ease of positioning/orienting for dispensing, plus straightforward
repositioning within the process, as
necessary, and later removal of the vessel from the process, all without
disruption of the production/test
environment.
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(d) The design of the apparatus and method is such that it allows for handy
integration
into automated equipment currently in use in the lab or on-the-floor. The use
of the apparatus in
automated equipment decreases the opportunity for mistakes and safety hazzards
associated w'ith
making large quantities of chemical reagents and transporting from a mixing
site to equipment.
(e) Structural design flexibility-The vessel may be fabricated of flexible
stock material
(whether tube-stock, sheet-stock, multi-layered, etc.) formed into one of many
suitable egonomic
shapes of varying capacity depending upon: space available within the
production/test process,
the fluent substance contained and transported in the vessel, its use in the
process, and the specific
design of the framework fabricated to support the vessel during dispensing of
its contents.
(f) Design for cost-effectiveness-The vessel, as designed, lowers the cost to
ship
(especially, since the vessel walls are preferably not hard/brittle and
heavy), and the novel indicia
on the vessel can include many coded pieces of information for cost-effective
automatic tracking
of vessel 'where-abouts' as well as tracking use of its contents (especially
important for inventory
control, tracking lots, monitoring product shelf-life, and so on). The new
method allows useful
information to be provided at a faster rate. By eliminating certain labor-
intensive steps in a
production/test process, such as the handling, measuring, and
sterilization/aseptic-warming of
reagents, cleaning solutions, pesticides, and/or other solutions (typically
done by skilled
technicians), production and lab costs may be greatly decreased.
(g) Design for decreasing the chance of operator error- The novel apparatus
and method
are targeted to decrease the amount of handling required by technicians during
vessel transport
and the dispensing of its contents in a production/test process. Operator
handling has traditionally
included: removing the correct bottle from shelving holding many similarly-
shaped hard walled
bottles, pouring-out and measuring the requisite amount of the liquid reagent
into a clean beaker,
warming/sterilizing/mixing the beaker and its contents if necessary, dumping
the contents of the
2 5 beaker into a test tube or vat to carry-out a predesignated step in the
production/test process (e. g. ,
a chemical reaction, analysis, the dissolving of a solute, cleaning to remove
rust/corrosion, etc.),
cleaning the beaker for reuse. Decreasing such operator handling in a
production/test process can
substantially decrease the costs associated with carrying out the process,
especially where highly
trained technicians are needed to perform the operator handling (as is most
often the case when
3 o performing steps to manufacture/produce/test chemicals whether destined
for commercial use or
done in a research facility).
(h) Design for volume dispensing - The framework incorporated in the apparatus
and
method of the invention may, as needed, be designed to stage several of the
novel vessels
simultaneously (for example: several vessels can be hung from a sturdy
projection of the
3 5 framework by passing the projection through an opening fabricated into
each of the vessels;
several vessels can be oriented between corresponding pairs of forward and aft
walls lined up
between two extending side strut-walls; or each of a plurality of vessels can
be oriented by sliding
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CA 02336692 2007-07-19
one of a plurality of vertical stem projections extending upwardly from a base
of the framework,
through a corresponding channel fabricated into the side of the vessel).
(i) Tracking method simplicity and efficiency - The method of building an
order for
replenishing stock of the invention is straight-forward to integrate and
implement into existing
production and lab environments, especially using the novel indicia affixed to
a vessel of the invention.
This indicia also allows for automatic tracking of productlvessels along the
production/test process. In
light of strict internal quality control policies and federal regulations, as
well as product liability
concerns, reducing the number of manual steps required to order (including
replenishing stock), track,
and 'inventory' fluent substances used in a production/test process makes the
overall process more
economically feasible and less-prone to operator error.
Briefly described, the invention includes an apparatus (having a flexible-
walled Vessel
compatible with a fluent substance) for transporting the fluent substance and
dispensing during a
production/test process. The process (whether it is carried out in a
production/ manufacturing
environment or a research-laboratory environment) is separate from a filling
site where the vessel is
filled. The vessel, as oriented by a support framework for the dispensing, has
an upper end and a lower
portion. The lower portion has at least one port through which the fluent
substance is dispensed during
the process. This port is in communication with a primary flow channel and a
valve for controlling the
dispensing of a preselected amount of the substance as needed. The fluent
substance can be selected
from the group consisting of liquid reagents, cleaning solutions, solvents,
pesticides, and/or other fluent
substances used in a production/test type environment (not for direct
mammalian consumption). The
vessel preferably has an outwardly-facing indicia, and the vessel's upper end
and a lower end of the
vessel's lower portion can be hermetically formed from sheet material such
that: a volume is formed
between these two ends having a capacity greater than that required to contain
the preselected amount.
A second flow channel, in communication with a second port of the vessel's
lower end, may be added
for filling the vessel at the filling site (and, once a vessel is filled, this
second flow channel can be
blocked re-opened for re-filling). The framework, if used, can have a
multitude of suitable structural
designs.
The invention also includes a method of transporting a fluent substance for
dispensing during
a production/test process, including the steps of: providing a flexible-walled
vessel with an upper end
and a lower portion having at least one port in communication with a primary
flow channel and a valve;
filling the vessel, for the transporting, with the fluent substance at a
filling-site that is separate from the
production/test process; orienting the vessel (can be by way of a support
framework); and dispensing
through the valve, as needed, a preselected amount of the fluent substance.
Preferably, the flexible-
walls are made of a material compatible with the fluent substance and the
vessel has an outwardly-
facing indicia (whether coded). Again, the fluent substance can be selected
from the many reagents,
pesticides, and cleaning and other solutions.
5
CA 02336692 2004-04-16
Also characterized herein, is a method (and associated system) of building an
order for
replenishing stock of a fluent substance (contained in a flexible-walled
vessel) for use in a
production/test process (whether it is carried out in a production environment
or a researe'fi-
laboratory environment). This method incorporates a novel broadened use of
such a vessel with
an indicia (a portion of which is machine-readable). The steps include:
reading the indicia;
transmitting at least a part of the information provided by the indicia to a
remote processor;
accessing a database with the remote processor to search for a package record
that corresponds
with the indicia information; using the indicia information, update and review
an inventory file
record (maintained by the remote processor); and generating the order for
acceptance and, once
accepted, automatically transmitting a request for determining a shipping-
carrier and availability
of stock at a warehouse. The step of reading the indicia can include using a
computerized device
to read the portion which is machine-readable, and/or visually reading the
indicia and manually
inputting a package serial number (PSN) therefrom to an input device at a
dispensing location.
A first-pass order may be generated and modified (via display), if necessary,
prior to acceptance.
There are additional features that further distinguish this method of the
invention: Adding
the step of awaiting credit approval for the accepted order prior to
performing the automatic
transmission of a request (and the method may also require that, prior to
giving this credit
approval, a guarantee of payment of the order must be received by electronic
transmission); and,
the step of transmitting indicia information preferably includes connecting to
a global information
network through a modem interconnected to a computer-processing-unit (CPU) at
a dispensing
location where the production/test process takes place, and accessing a remote
modem
interconnected to said remote processor.
Brief Description of the DrawinQs
For purposes of illustrating the flexibility of design and versatility of the
innovative
preferred apparatus and method, the invention will be more particularly
described by referencing
the accompanying drawings of embodiments of the invention (in which like
numerals designate
like parts). The figures have been included to communicate the features of the
invention by way
of example, only, and are in no way intended to unduly limit the disclosure
hereof.
FIGs. 1 and 2 are isomeric views of a typical hard-walled container packaging
and
transport system: A glass bottle with removable cap packed into a sturdy
cardboard box with
loose packing material (FIG. 1); and a large glass staging beaker into which
the solution from the
glass bottle is poured for mixing and storage prior to use in a laboratory.
FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a preferred packaging and transport system of
the invention.
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CA 02336692 2004-04-16
FIG. 4 is a side view of a plug-in spout and valve for use with the vessel;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the vessel without and with a spout
inserted;
FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 illustrate preferred embodiments of an apparatus of the
invention.
- 6a - {E4168161.DOC;1 }
CA 02336692 2007-07-19
FIG. 9 illustrates a preferred vessel of the invention along with a bar-code
reader.
FIGs. 10 and 11 are flow diagrams detailing preferred and alternate steps of a
method of
transporting a fluent substance for dispensing during a production/test
process.
FIG. 12 is a flow diagram detailing preferred and alternate steps of a method
of building an
order for replenishing stock of a fluent substance utilizing, in an expanded
novel manner, the indicia on
a wall of a flexible-walled vessel of the invention.
FIG. 13 is a schematic representation of preferred hardware and the
interconnections
therebetween that may be used to carry out the method represented in FIG. 12.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
As identified above, the handling difficulties encountered by using typical
hard-walled
container packaging and transport systems currently in use are not hard to
imagine: The glass bottles
(10) having removable caps (11) often break during shipping; and for those
bottles 10 packed well
enough in heavy-sturdy cardboard boxes (12) with packing material (FIG. 1) to
make it to a destination
site in-tact, there are handling concerns along the production line related to
storage, pulling of stock,
and dispensing. For example, one must tightly grasp the bottle 10, pick it up,
tip and pour its contents
without spillage into a staging container such as the large glass staging
beaker 14 shown in FIG. 2 atop
a magnetic mixer (16) for use at some point in a manufacturing/
production/test process. In comparing
FIGs. 1 and 2 with FIG. 3, one can readily appreciate the advantages of the
flexible-walled vessel of
the invention 20 in FIG. 3 which has been placed on top of a cardboard
separator 22 into packing box
22.
The alternative vessel structure shown in FIGs. 4 and 5 has an upper end 27
and a lower
portion 29 having at least one port 26 through which the fluent substance can
be dispensed during a
production/test process. Port 26 is in communication with a primary flow
channe124B and a valve
24A for controlling the dispensing of a preselected amount of the fluent
substance contained in the
vessel. The plug-in spout 24 has a sharpened end 24C for insertion at 26 to
break the initial seal of a
rubber septum (located at 26), a suitable valve 24A for controlling flow along
channe124B. A lower
end, in the form of a wall (25) of suitably flexible material, has been
hermetically integrated with
vessel 20.
The preferred vessel 30 illustrated in FIG. 6 has an upper end 37 and a lower
portion 39
having at least one port 36 through which the fluent substance is dispensed.
Port 36 is in
communication with a primary flow channel 34B and an interlocking pinch-clip
valve 34A that is
engaged to pinch the walls of tubing 34D connected to port 36 via suitable
unitary connector 34C. At
some point downstream from port 36 (for example, at the point connector 34C
has been positioned), a
flowmeter device can be readily added to measure flow out of vessel 30; this
flow
7
CA 02336692 2007-07-19
measurement can readily be converted into a measurement of volume dispensed.
Devices that take
measurements of fluid flow through an orifice of known diameter are available
on the market.
Alternatively, the vessel may be made with a single piece of tubing an end of
which is hermetically
sealed directly to the lower end 35 (eliminating the use of connector 34C).
Many suitable connectors
and valves may be employed to control the flow along flexible tubing 34D, such
as the unitary plastic
valve shown at 34A (pinch-clamp distributed by Fresenius Medical Care AG).
Here, upper end 37 and
a lower end 35 of lower portion 39 have been hermetically formed from
polymeric tubular stock
material such that: preferably at least the front of the vessel 30 is
transparent for viewing the level of
its contents; and a pillow-shaped volume of vessel 30 has been formed between
ends 35 and 37 having
a capacity greater than that required to contain the preselected amount. Also,
primary flow channel
34B has been hermetically sealed to prevent leakage and a support opening 38
is integrated within
upper end 37. Although not shown specifically, here, primary flow channe134B
could readily be
sealed to extend from along a sidewall of vessel 30. Port 36 can be used for
filling, as well as the
dispensing, of vesse130; alternatively, a second port 32A in communication
with a second flow
channe132B may be desired for filling, and once the vessel has been filled,
this second flow channel
can be permanently or temporarily blocked. An indicia 31 is affixed to
vesse130 by suitable means
such as stick-backed label, silkscreened onto the flexible wall, connected by
way of a pull-tag secured
through opening 38, and so on. The indicia can, without being overly large in
size, contain many
different pieces of valuable information about the vesse130, its contents, and
the purchaser of the filled
vessel 30, including a package serial number (PSN) tying the vessel to a lot-
number of the batch from
which it was manufactured/filled, shelf-life, the stock material used to form
the vessel, and so on. The
value of indicia 31 can be better appreciated in connection with FIGs. 12 and
13.
One of several preferred support framework structures is shown at 40 in FIG.
6. It is not
critical to have such a framework, especially if the vessel is formed into a
shape that is self-supportive
and can remain oriented for dispensing. Framework 40 is formed of forward and
aft walls (41 and 42
respectively) and side strut-walls (43, 44) which have been adhesively
interconnected, plus a lower
aperture 46 through which a primary flow channel can fit for dispensing the
fluent substance. Here, for
viewing the level of fluent substance in vesse130, framework walls 41, 42, 43,
44 have been made of a
transparent, plastic-resin material having sufficient structural integrity to
orient vesse130 upright.
FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative vessel 50 of the invention formed between
ends 57 and 55
having indicia 51 and primary flow channel 54B. Flexible tubing 54D may have
an integral connector-
piece 54C as shown to connect the tubing to the dispensing port. A valve 54A
for controlling the
dispensing has a knurled set-screw 54E for pinching tubing 54D to stop flow of
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the substance contained in vessel 50. Second flow channel 52B communicates
with a second port
52A for filling along direction (arrow 54); and once filled, suitable plug
such as that labeled 53
may be employed to temporarily or permanently block channel 52B. Vessel 50 is
oriented'by
framework 60 having a weighted base 65 and stand 64. Upper-end 57 can be
'pinched' between
forward and aft fmgers (61 and 62), having first been opened by pivoting the
fmgers at hinge 63.
FIG. 8 illustrates yet another novel apparatus of the invention wherein vessel
80 with indicia 81
and primary flow channel 84 is hung on a projection 91 of framework 90 having
a stand 94 and
a base 95 with rollers/wheels at 96 for moving the framework 90 from station-
to-station within
the production/test process, and dispensing, for example, into a container 89.
The flow-diagrams FIGs. 10, 11, and 12, as well as the hardware-communication
schematic labeled FIG. 13, include additional written detail for convenient
viewing to better
appreciate the novel features of the invention. Turning, first, to box 210 in
FIG. 10, preferably,
the flexible-walled vessel is compatible with the fluent substance it
contains: Not only is it
preferable that the stock material be inert but that the amount of chemical
'extractables' that leach
into the substance be negligible and undetectable by normal testing procedures
used in
laboratories. Examples of suitable commercially-available polymeric materials
for building a
vessel include flexible poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) film and CRYOVAC M312 multi-
layer film
distributed by Cryovac Sealed Air Corporation. Sealed Air Corp. describes its
CRYOVAC
M312 film product as an "alternative to glass bottles, poly-propylene and
polyethylene materials"
that is a "highly inert, very clear material that exhibits extremely low
extractables in a wide
variety of solutions." Next (box 212), fluent substances as used herein
include the multitude of
substances considered flowable, or capable of flowing such as reagents,
cleaning solutions, water
(with many uses, including use as an inorganic solvent), organics, pesticides,
and other substances
used in a production/test type environment. 'Reagent', as defined, is any
chemical compound
used in laboratory analyses to detect and identify specific constituents of
the material being
examined. Though reagents may be gases, liquids, or solids, they are usually
prepared as
solutions (in water or common solvents) of various concentrations, e.g., 1
molar, 0.1 normal, etc.
Several thousand chemicals of varying specificity are used as reagents; they
are subject to strict
specifications, especially as regards purity. A non-exhaustive list of
reagents includes, without
limitation: glacial acetic acid; sulfuric acid; hydrogen sulfide;
dimethylglyoxime; potassium
iodide; 0.05 M Potassium Phosphate, pH 7.5; Sodium Acetate Buffer Solution, pH
5.0; .5% SLS
in 0.1 M Phosphate Buffer (pH 8.0); 0.05 M Potassium Phosphate, pH 6.8; .025 M
Phosphate
pH 3.2, has Phosphoric and Acetic Acid; .05 M Sodium Phosphate pH 6.8; 0.2%
diethylamine
3 5 in 0.2 M Potassium Phosphate. Generally, 'solvent' is a term that
designates a liquid which can
reduce certain solids or liquids to molecular or ionic form by relaxing the
intermolecular forces
that unite them. There are tens-of-thousands of solvents currently in use.
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Prior to transport over any distance, the vessel is packaged 214 (see, also,
FIG. 3 at 22).
Then, either at the physical location/point of dispensing, or at a separate
location, the vessel may
be oriented by a support framework having a suitable structure corresponding
with the speciic
structural design of the vessel. In the event a vessel is formed in such a
manner that it can be
oriented on its own, it is not critical that a support framework be used. As
noted, the framework
can have a number of suitable structures to support the vessel by: hanging
(including, clipping
as shown in FIG. 7) from the upper-end of the vessel, sliding a vertical rod
of a counter-top
framework through a side channel of the vessel, wedging the vessel between
front and aft support
walls (see, FIG. 6), and so on. Once positioned in place at the physical
location of dispensing,
a preselected amount, as needed, of the fluent substance is dispensed (218).
As detailed in FIG.
11, and discussed above, step 210 can further include: 210A, hermetically
forming the ends
(e.g., FIG. 7 at 55, 57) of sheet-stock to form a desired storage capacity
(preferably from about
5 milliliters to 20 Liters in volumetric-capacity); 210B, adding indicia
(whether coded) for use
in product tracking and inventory control; and 210C, including a second flow
channel (for
example, see FIG. 7 at 52B).
By way of example only, and not intended to specifically limit the disclosure
hereof, a
flexible vessel can be constructed of fluid and microbial impervious flexible
sheet material that
has minimal gas permeability to aid in maintaining the integrity of the
chemistries packaged in
the vessel (which, depending upon use, may be sparged or otherwise treated
before being
packaged in a flexible vessel). Preferably, to reduce shipping costs, the
total weight of the
flexible vessel is less than the weight of a hard-walled (e.g., glass or high-
density polyethylene
plastic) container large enough to hold an equivalent volume of liquid. The
flexible material can
be of a multi-layer construction, and in the event the contents of the vessel,
once filled, requires
some type of treatment (e.g., sterilization, electron beam irradiation, gamma
irradiation, and so
on), preferably a flexible material is used that can withstand such treatment
with minimal, or no,
degradation. One use for the packaged chemistries of a vessel of the
invention, is during the
process of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Such chemistries
include high-
purity water (H20), numerous buffered reagents, and organic solvents.
FIGs. 12 and 13 represent the flow of a preferred method of building an order
for
replenishing stock of a fluent substance utilizing, in an expanded manner,
indicia (such as that
shown at 31, 51, 81) on a wall of a flexible-walled vessel. Commercially
available 'supply chain'
software tools fall short of effective comprehensive use of the INTERNET
global information
network and wireless (cellular) technologies to handle ordering and
fulfillment of orders for
reagents and other solutions used in a production/test environment. Each of
the commercially
available products only addresses one segment of the supply chain: There are
"enterprise-wide"
CA 02336692 2001-01-04
WO 00/06976 PCT/US99/17280
systems (such as those distributed by the German company SAP, the European-
based Baan,
Oracle Corporation, and PeopleSoft, Inc.) and there are warehouse management
software
4
suppliers (Catalyst, EXE, and Manhattan) who have developed warehousing
solutions.
Turning, to FIG. 12, a vessel with indicia is preferably used (box 310) in
connection with
the method of building an order. A portion of the indicia is encoded for
reading/sensing with a
reader-device interconnected to a computer, such as the handheld device
illustrated in FIG. 9 at
100 to read/scan indicia 31 of vesse130. Preferable modes of affixation of
indicia (31) to a vessel
(e.g., that shown at 30), have been discussed in connection with FIG. 6. As
shown in more detail
in the schematic labeled FIG. 13, a remote processor must be (at 400) capable
of accessing
database information 402, represented here as separable 'local' databases of
credit information
and package records, which may incorporate special product-handling
information from the
manufacturer, and if not, a separate database of manufacturer records can be
used. Also, if local
database records 402 do not include warehouse stock and common carrier
information, the remote
processor 400 should preferably be able to access such information via WAN 420
(e.g.,
INTERNET global information network via modem, both through hardwired phone
lines and
cellular communication networks) to additional 'sub-databases' (e. g. ,
warehouse stock availability
432 and common carrier location, cost, and availability 442).
The indicia is read 314 (visually or automatically by suitable electronic
device, e. g. , FIG.
9 at 100 and FIG. 13 at 414) and at least certain of the indicia information
is transmitted to a
remote processor (400 in FIG. 13). If the accessible database information
(including 402, 432,
442) does not have a package record that corresponds with the transmitted
indicia information
316, then the indicia information can be re-entered (318) and if no package
record is matched the
second time (319), the indicia information may just not be in the database,
yet: Write it to an
'exception' file for future use. If a match is made the indicia information is
used (box 322) to
begin building a replenishment order and corresponding shipment request. For
example, a simple
alphanumeric-text type search may be performed of the accessible database
information 402, 432,
442 to find a package record that contains a package serial number (PSN) match
to the PSN of
the indicia as transmitted (see box 314). Also, the indicia information is
preferably used to
update and review an inventory file record maintained by the remote processor
for the dispensing
site prior to generating the order for acceptance.
It may be desired, but certainly not critical, to include suitable means of
communicating
an initial 'first-pass' order to an order-authorization site (such as an
interactive display monitor,
FAX 405 or other hardcopy printing device 403, connected to remote processor
400). Also, the
first-pass order may be communicated to someone at the dispensing site 410 for
update and/or
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WO 00/06976 PCT/US99/17280
modification (such as by display monitor at the dispensing location 410, or
FAX 412 or other
hardcopy printing device 413, connected to remote processor 410). If a first-
pass (or any updated
or later-modified version, for that matter) of the order is rejected for any
reason (327), this
information must be communicated to the dispensing site 410, preferably via
WAN 420. Action
necessary (arrow 328) can be taken to move the order to the next step, 329:
Send the
replenishment order and shipping request to a credit module for automatic
approval or rejection.
If credit approval is given 330, the final version of the order and shipping
request is sent to a
transport planning system to choose carrier (based upon availability,
location, cost, etc. at 440)
and check on product availability (430) for fulfillment of the order. If
credit approval for the
order is not given (330), an individual may have to seek payment and/or
payment guarantee
elsewhere and communicate this (box 332) to the remote processor for order
fulfillment (334).
An approved order and shipping request (box 330) can be assigned an order-
tracking
number, and if desired to keep track of multiple shipments, a shipment number
can be assigned
to each such shipment. Once an order and shipping request has been sent to a
transport planning
system 334, the transport planning system can access an off-site processor
(440) and/or sub-
databases to collect information to find an available common-carrier and plus
make a decision
about which carrier is most cost-effective, and so on. A warehouse management
system (WMS),
whether run as a module on the remote processor 400 or performed off-site on a
warehouse
computer processor 430, can be employed to locate available stock of vessels
of fluent substance
in accordance with the approved order and shipping request (box 330). The WMS
can include
the capability to manage the stock picking and packaging processes by way of
communicating
with warehouse employees via portable-wireless device. The remote processor
400 can be
notified (via the WAN 420, for example) that a particular shipment of a
particular order has been
2 5 picked from the warehouse and is on a carrier vehicle heading to the
dispensing site. The remote
processor can automatically generate an invoice for that shipment and update
an internal-local
accounts receivable database, as well as electronically send the invoice or
print a copy for postal
mailing. Once the shipment safely reaches its destination, information
concerning the vessels of
that shipment can be transmitted to the remote processor for updating the
database 402 in a
3 0 manner similar to that set for at steps 312 and 314 in FIG. 12. It should
be noted, that very
powerful computer systems (whether personal computers, workstations, or
mainframe computers)
are commercially available for readily handling the computing tasks described
above in connection
with FIGs. 12 and 13 in a cost-effective manner.
While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown merely
for the
purpose of illustrating the invention, those skilled in the art will readily
appreciate that various
modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the novel
teachings or scope
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WO 00/06976 PCT/US99/17280
of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be
included within the
scope of this invention as defined in the following claims. Although the
commonly employed
preamble phrase "comprising the steps of' may be used herein, or hereafter, in
a method cla"un,
the Applicants in no way intends to invoke Section 112 16. Furthermore, in any
claim that is filed
hereafter, any means-plus-function clauses used, or later found to be present,
are intended to
cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and
not only structural
equivalents but also equivalent structures.
13
