CONTAINER SYSTEM

SYSTEME DE CONTENANT

English Abstract

A container system includes a squeeze bottle (10) of a specific volume having
a neck (14) with an open end (16) and a medicament disposed within the bottle.
A tip (40) is provided which is insertable into the open end of the squeezable
bottle and includes an internal tapered nozzle with the nozzle (46) having
increased diameter toward a tip opening (50). A cap (80) is provided for
removable attachment to the bottleneck for sealing the tip opening and a
shoulder (50) formed in the bottle proximate the neck and disposed at an angle
is provided in order to enhance bubbless flow of the medicament to the nozzle
and facilitate tamper proof sealing of the cap.

French Abstract

La présente invention a trait à un système de contenant comportant un flacon pressable (10) de volume déterminé présentant un goulot (14) avec une extrémité ouverte (16) et un médicament disposé dans le flacon. Un embout (40) est prévu qui est insérable dans l'extrémité ouverte du flacon pressable et comporte une buse interne effilée, la buse (46) ayant un diamètre croissant vers l'ouverture de l'embout (50). Une capsule (80) est agencée pour une fixation amovible au goulot pour le scellement de l'embout et un épaulement (50) est formé dans le flacon à proximité du goulot et disposé à un angle agencé pour améliorer l'écoulement sans bulles du médicament vers la buse et faciliter le scellement inviolable de la capsule.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. A container system comprising:
a squeeze bottle of a specific volume having a neck
with an open end;
a medicament disposed in the bottle;
a tip insertable into said open end and having an
internal tapered nozzle, the nozzle having increased diameter
toward a tip opening;
a cap for removable attachment to the bottle neck
for sealing said tip opening;
a shoulder formed into the bottle proximate said
neck and disposed at an angle of between about 45° and about
50° to a bottle centerline in order to enhance bubbless flow
of medicament to the nozzle and facilitate tamper proof
sealing of said cap.
2. The container system according to claim 1 further
comprises a tip face surrounding said tip opening with a face
width to control uniformity and size of medicament droplets
formed at said tip opening by squeezing of the bottle.
3. The container system according to claim 2 wherein
said face width is between about 0.015 inches and about 0.060
inches and the specific volume is between about 5 ml and about
15 ml.
4. The container system according to claim 3 wherein
the droplet size is between about 10µl and about 50µl.
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5. A container system comprising:
a squeeze bottle of a specific volume having a neck
with an open end;
a medicament disposed in the bottle;
a tip insertable into said open end and having an
internal tapered nozzle, the nozzle having increased diameter
toward a tip opening, said tip including a face surrounding
said tip opening with a face width to control uniformity and
size of medicament droplets formed at said tip opening by
squeezing of the bottle; and
a threaded cap for removable attachment to the
bottleneck for sealing said tip opening.
6. The container system according to claim 5 wherein
said face width is between about 0.015 inches and about 0.060
inches and the specific volume is between about 5 ml about 15
ml.
7. The container system according to claim 6 wherein
the droplet size is between about 10µl and about 50µl.
8. The container system according to claim 5 further
comprising a shoulder formed into the bottle proximate said
neck and disposed at an angle of between about 45° and about
50° to a bottle centerline in order to enhance bubbless flow
of medicament to the nozzle and facilitate tamper proof
sealing of said cap to said neck.

Description

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CONTAINER SYSTEM
The present invention generally relates to dropper
bottles for dispensing of medicaments in droplet form and is
more particularly directed to a container system for
dispensing medicaments in less than 100 ml volumes with
precise and uniform droplets.
Heretofore, dropwise container systems have typically
included nozzles that are press fitted or otherwise inserted
into a neck portion of a squeeze bottle.
In operation, squeeze bottle is inverted and manually
squeezed by a user to dispense one or more drops through the
nozzle. When medicament delivery when the medicament is fully
dispensed, the container system is typically discarded.
Heretofore, resilient squeeze bottles often have
substantial drop-to-drop volume variation when dispensing one
or more drops in volumes of less than 100 ml, particularly in
the 10 to 50 ml range.
This variation may be due to a bubble formation on
interior surfaces of the bottle when the bottle is inverted so
that drops, particularly eye drop medicati_on, are dispensed
unevenly. Such adhered bubbles may be prevalent in square
shoulder bottles and nozzles having areas which promote such
bubble formation.
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In addition, in view of the popularity of tamper proof
bottles, it is desirable to facilitate the installation of
such tamper proof systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved container
system for providing a uniform dropwise dispensing of
medication.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A container system in accordance with the present
invention generally includes a squeeze bottle of a specific
volume having a neck with an open end and a medicament
disposed within the bottle.
A tip fixable to the open end and includes internal
tapered nozzle with the nozzle having increased diameter
toward a tip opening.
A cap is provided for removably sealing the tip opening
by attachment to the bottleneck.
A shoulder formed into the bottle proximate the neck and
disposed at an angle of between about 45 and about 50 to a
bottle centerline, is provided in order to both enhance
bubbless flow of medicament to the nozzle and facilitate
tamper proof sealing of the cap.
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More particularly, the container system in accordance
with the present invention may include a tip face surrounding
the tip opening with a face width to control the uniformity
and size of the droplets formed at the tip opening by
squeezing of the bottle. In that regard, the face width may
be between about 0.015 inches and about 0.060 inches with the
specific volume of the bottle of between about 5 ml and about
ml.
10 Preferably, the container system in accordance with the
present invention provides droplet sizes between about 10 ml
and about 50 ml.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The advantages and features of the present invention will
be better understood by the following description when
considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in
which:
Figure 1 is a side view of a 5 ml bottle in accordance
with the present invention generally showing a neck with an
open end and a shoulder formed into the bottle proximate the
neck having an angle of between about 45 and 50 to a bottle
centerline;
Figure 2 is a top view of the bottle shown in Figure 1;
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Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of the bottle shown in
Figure 2 taken along the line 3-3;
Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the bottleneck shown in
Figures 1 and 3;
Figure 5 is a side view of a 10 ml bottle in accordance
with the present invention;
Figure 6 is a top view of the bottle shown in Figure 5;
Figure 7 is a cross sectional view of the bottle shown in
Figure 6 taken along the line 7-7;
Figure 8 is a side view of a 15 ml bottle in accordance
with the present invention;
Figure 9 is a top view of the bottle shown in Figure 8;
Figure 10 is a cross sectional view taken along the line
10-10 of Figure 9;
Figure 11 is a side view of a tip in accordance with the
present invention for insertion into the neck of the bottle of
the present invention;
Figure 12 is a top view of the tip shown in Figure 11;
Figure 13 is a bottom view of the tip shown in Figure 11;
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Figure 14 is a cross sectional view of the tip shown in
Figure 13 taken along the line 14-14 and showing an internal
nozzle and a face surrounding a tip opening;
Figure 15 is a side view of another tip in accordance
with the present invention;
Figure 16 is a top view of the tip shown in Figure 15;
Figure 17 is a bottom view of the tip shown in Figure 15;
Figure 18 is a cross sectional view taken along the line
18-18 of Figure 17 showing a larger face surrounding a tip
opening and an internal nozzle;
Figure 19 is a side view of a cap suitable for closure of
the tips and bottles of the present invention;
Figure 20 is a top view of the cap shown in Figure 19;
Figure 21 is a bottom view of the cap shown in Figure 19;
Figure 22 is a cross sectional view of the cap taken
along the line 20-22 of Figure 21; and
Figure 23 is a side view of an assembled bottle and cap
along with a taper proof seal.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
With reference to Figures 1-3, there is shown a squeeze
bottle 10 in accordance with the present invention having a
neck 14 with an open end 16, see also Figure 4, which is an
enlarged view of the neck 14 of the bottle 10 in accordance
with the.present invention...
The bottle 10 may be formed from a suitable material,
such as, for example, low-density polyethylene. The bottle 10
has a specific volume of 5 ml for containing a medicament 20
suitable for installation into an eye, not shown, by droplet
formation, as will be hereinafter discussed in greater detail.
Figures 5-7 illustrate a bottle 24 in accordance with the
present invention similar to that shown in Figures 1-3 with
the bottle 24 having a specific volume of 10 ml and a neck 26
with an opening 28 therein.
Figures 8-10 illustrate a bottle 32 in accordance with
the present invention which has a specific volume of 15 ml
along with a neck 34, an opening 36.
As illustrated in Figures 12-14, a tip 40 in accordance
with the present invention includes a base 42 sized for
insertion into the bottleneck opening 16 and includes an
internal tapered nozzle 46 having increased diameter toward a
tip opening 50.
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With reference again to Figures 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10
each of the bottles 10, 24, 32 include shoulders 50, 52, 54
proximate necks 14, 26, 34 and disposed at an angle of between
about 450 and about 500 to bottle centerlines 58, 60, 62, with
an angle of 470 in 30 seconds being shown as a specific
example.
This shoulder angle enhances bubbless flow of medicament
20 to the nozzle 46.
Figures 15-18 illustrate another nozzle 66 in accordance
with the present invention including a base 68 sized for
insertion into openings 16, 28, 34 and including an internal
nozzle 70 similar to the nozzle 46 of the tip 40.
In comparing the tip 46 and 68, it can be seen that each
include tip faces 72, 74 respectively surrounding openings 50,
80 respectively and having different surface areas, or face
widths.
In the case of tip 40, the face width is about 0.015
inches while with the tip 66 the face width is about 0.060
inches. While only two tips 40, 66 being shown, it should be
appreciated that similar tips having different tip face width
dimensions are to be considered within the scope of the
present invention and taken in combination with various bottle
sizes, such as, for example, 5 ml, 10 ml, and 15 ml
illustrated by the bottles 10, 24, 32 enable the control
dropwise dispensing of medicament 20 with droplet sizes
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between less than l0p1 and about 50u1, preferably between
about 8-12 pl. A greater face area provides for a larger
droplet size.
With reference to Figures 19-22, there is shown a cap 80,
formed from a suitable material having internal threads 82 for
engaging a neck threads 84, see Figures 1 and 3 for example,
and sealing the tip opening 50 with a convex surface 88.
An assembled container system 92 is shown in Figure 23
along with a tamper proof seal 96. Importantly, the sloped
shoulder 50 facilitates the application of the seal 96 and
enables a larger surface of the bottle 10 upper surface 100 to
be sealed along with the cap 80 in order to provide a more
secure tamper proof seal 96.
Although there has been hereinabove described a specific
container system in accordance with the present invention for
the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention
may be used to advantage, it should be appreciated that the
invention is not limited thereto. That is, the present
invention may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist
essentially of the recited elements. Further, the invention
illustratively disclosed herein suitably may be practiced in
the absence of any element which is not specifically disclosed
herein. Accordingly, any and all modifications, variations or
equivalent arrangements which may occur to those skilled in
the art, should be considered to be within the scope of the
present invention as defined in the appended claims.
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Representative Drawing