JP2010269973A - Method for producing glass vessel for medical use - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means which can reduce the elution value of alkali components defined in ISO4802 or the like as much as possible in a glass vessel used for the preservation of medicines. <P>SOLUTION: The method comprises: a vessel forming stage where a glass tube 60 is worked into the shape of a vessel having a bottom part 53 and a mouth part 51 so as to form a vial 50; and a fire blast stage where, while jetting the flame 20 of a point burner 10 to the inside space 52 of the vial 50 and applying the flame 20 to the inside face 54, the flame 20 is scanned to the whole of the inside face 54 of the vial 50. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical glass container with little elution of alkali components and the like from the inner surface of a glass wall and a method for producing the same.

  For pharmaceutical vials molded using borosilicate glass tubes, it is required to satisfy the elution criteria for alkaline components defined in ISO4802-1 or ISO4802-2. In the step of forming a vial from a borosilicate glass tube, the mouth of the vial is first formed, and then the bottom is formed. In the process of forming the bottom, the glass tube is heated to a high temperature, whereby alkali components and the like are volatilized from the glass tube and condensed on the inner surface of the vial. Thereby, it is thought that the process deterioration area which an alkaline component etc. tends to elute arises in the inner surface of a vial. In order to solve such a problem, so-called low-temperature processing is performed in which the heating temperature of the glass tube in forming the bottom of the vial is lowered.

In addition, as a method of reducing the elution of alkali components, sodium sulfate (Na ₂ SO ₄ ) is obtained by reacting alkali components present on the inner surface of a vial formed from a glass tube with sulfate, etc. A sulfur treatment method for removing by water washing and a chemical vapor deposition method (CVD method) in which the inner surface of the vial is covered with a silica (SiO ₂ ) thin film are known (see Patent Document 1).

  It is also known that the elution of alkali components is reduced by rotating the vial formed from the glass tube while the oxygen-gas flame by the point burner is fireblasted to the processing deterioration area on the inner surface of the vial. (See Patent Document 2). This method has the advantage that it is not necessary to introduce a new compound into the inside of the vial, and that the number of steps for forming a vial with little elution of alkaline components is small.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-76233 International Publication No. 2006/123621

  However, with the increase of pharmaceuticals sensitive to alkaline components, vials with lower elution of alkaline components compared to the elution standards set by ISO 4802 and the like have been demanded.

  Further, in the case of forming a vial, when a vertical type automatic molding machine that holds the glass tube with the axial direction as the vertical direction is used, even if the glass tube is heated at a low temperature, an alkali component that volatilizes at that time Moves upward in the glass tube due to the chimney effect. And in the upper part of a glass tube, it adheres to a glass tube inner surface accumulatively. Thereby, in the vial formed from the upper part of the glass tube, the alkaline component eluted from the inner surface may exceed the standard such as ISO4802. Therefore, even if low temperature processing is adopted, there is a possibility that the standard such as ISO 4802 cannot be satisfied for the vial formed from the upper part of the glass tube.

  In addition, regardless of the glass tube direction and heating temperature in the vial molding process, the introduction of new compounds and the increase in man-hours are minimized to produce vials with low elution of alkaline components, etc. It is desirable that

  In addition, it is conceivable that other components than the alkaline component are also eluted from the vial as the primary packaging material for the pharmaceutical product. In pharmaceuticals such as protein preparations that are expected to increase in the future, elution of trace components may be a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and its purpose is to provide means for reducing as much as possible the elution value of alkaline components defined by ISO 4802 etc. in glass containers used for storage of pharmaceuticals and the like. There is to do.

  Another object of the present invention is to greatly reduce most of the components other than the alkaline component eluted from the inner surface of a glass container used for storage of pharmaceuticals.

  (1) A method for producing a medical glass container according to the present invention is a fire blasting method in which a flame of a burner is jetted into an internal space of a glass container and the flame is scanned over the entire inner surface of the glass container while the flame is applied to the inner surface. Process.

  The medical glass container is, for example, a glass container in which liquid medicine is stored and held and from which the medicine can be taken out during use, and generally called a vial or an ampule Is mentioned.

  In the fire blasting process, the burner flame is directly applied to the inner surface of the glass container, so that residues such as alkali components condensed and attached to the inner surface of the glass container and alkali components generated when the glass tube is formed are formed. It is blown off and discharged outside the glass container.

  (2) In the fire blasting process, flame may be applied to the inner surface of the glass container while rotating around the axis.

  Thereby, a flame can be uniformly applied to the inner surface of the glass container. Moreover, since a part of inner surface of a glass container is not continuously heated with a flame, a deformation | transformation of a glass container is prevented.

  (3) In the fire blasting process, it is preferable that the distance between the inner surface of the glass container and the tip of the burner is kept constant.

  Thereby, a flame can be uniformly applied to the whole inner surface of a glass container.

  (4) In the fire blasting process, it is preferable that a portion rich in plasma of flame ejected from the burner is applied to the inner surface of the glass container.

  (5) It is preferable to use a burner having a ceramic nozzle.

  As a nozzle made from a ceramic, the nozzle which consists of heat resistant ceramics, such as an alumina, a zirconia, and magnesia, is mentioned, for example.

  (6) The method for producing a medical glass container according to the present invention may further include a container forming step of processing the glass tube into a container shape having a bottom part and a mouth part to obtain the glass container.

  In the container forming step, a glass tube as a raw material is processed to form a container-shaped glass container having a bottom portion and a mouth portion. In this processing, the glass tube is heated and deformed into a bottom part and a mouth part. When the glass tube is heated, the alkali component of the glass is volatilized, and the alkali component volatilized in the process of cooling the glass container is condensed and attached to the inner surface of the glass container. The region where such an alkali component is condensed and attached varies depending on whether the processing is performed with the axis of the glass tube set in the horizontal direction or in the vertical direction, for example. Moreover, when a glass tube is shape | molded, it is assumed that an alkali component etc. remain on the inner surface.

  (7) The present invention may be regarded as a medical glass container manufactured by the method for manufacturing a medical glass container.

  (8) It is preferable that the amount of sodium eluted from the inner surface of the medical glass container satisfies the ISO 4802 standard.

  (9) It is particularly preferable that the amount of sodium eluted from the inner surface of the medical glass container is 1/10 or less of the ISO 4802 standard.

  (10) It is preferable that the amount of silicon eluted from the inner surface of the medical glass container is 0.1 ppm or less.

  (11) It is preferable that the amount of boron eluted from the inner surface of the medical glass container is 0.05 ppm or less.

  According to the present invention, a flame of a burner is jetted into the internal space of the glass container, and the flame is scanned on the entire inner surface of the glass container while being applied to the inner surface, thereby being eluted from the inner surface of the glass container. Alkali components and the like are dramatically reduced.

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a point burner 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the container forming process. FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the container forming step. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the fire blasting process. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the fire blasting process.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. In addition, this embodiment is only one embodiment of this invention, and it cannot be overemphasized that an embodiment can be changed in the range which does not change the summary of this invention.

[Point burner 10]
The point burner 10 shown in FIG. 1 is used in the method for manufacturing a medical glass container according to the present invention. The point burner 10 is used to treat the inner surface 54 of the vial 50 in the fire blasting process of the present invention.

  The point burner 10 is mainly divided into a burner body 11 and a nozzle 12. The burner body 11 has a tubular shape having a first flow path 13 through which a mixed gas flows. The mixed gas is a mixture of gas and oxygen, and the mixed gas generated by a known technique is circulated through the first flow path 13 of the burner body 11 at a predetermined flow rate.

  The nozzle 12 is provided on the tip side of the burner body 11. The nozzle 12 is roughly divided into a nozzle portion 14 and a connecting portion 15. The connecting portion 15 is a conical member having an internal thread formed on the inner surface thereof. Although not shown in detail in FIG. 1, a female screw formed in the connecting portion 15 is screwed into a male screw formed at the tip of the burner body 11, and the nozzle 12 is connected to the tip of the burner body 11. Is done. Thereby, the nozzle 12 is comprised so that replacement | exchange with respect to the burner main body 11 is possible.

  A nozzle portion 14 is provided on the apex side of the connecting portion 15. The nozzle portion 14 is an elongated member having a straw shape, and is provided so as to extend from the apex side of the connecting portion 15 in the axial direction of the burner body 11. The nozzle portion 14 is made of ceramic. The outer diameter R1 and the axial length L1 of the nozzle portion 14 are set in consideration of the inner diameter R2 of the mouth portion 51 of the vial 50 to be processed, the depth L2 of the vial 50, and the like. The outer diameter R1 of the nozzle portion 14 is set so that at least the distal end side can be inserted from the mouth portion 51 of the vial 50 into the internal space 52. Specifically, the outer diameter R1 of the nozzle portion 14 is sufficiently smaller than the inner diameter R2 of the mouth portion 51. The length L1 in the axial direction of the nozzle portion 14 is set to a length that allows the flame 20 blown from the tip of the nozzle portion 14 to reach the vicinity of the bottom 53 of the vial 50. Specifically, the length L1 of the nozzle portion 14 is longer than the depth L2 of the vial 50.

  The second flow path 16 that is the internal space of the nozzle portion 14 is continuous with the first flow path 13 of the burner body 11 via the internal space of the connecting portion 15. As a result, the mixed gas flowing through the first flow path 13 at a predetermined flow velocity is ejected from the tip of the nozzle portion 14 through the second flow path 16. The flame 20 is formed by burning this mixed gas.

[Vial 50]
The vial 50 has a mouth part 51 and a bottom part 53 formed by processing the glass tube 60. An inner diameter R3 of the internal space 52 of the vial 50 is larger than an inner diameter R2 of the mouth portion 51. That is, the vial 50 is a so-called narrow-mouthed glass container. This vial 50 is an example of the glass container in the present invention.

[Manufacturing method of vial 50]
Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of the vial 50 is demonstrated. This manufacturing method is mainly divided into the following two steps.
(1) A container forming step in which the glass tube 60 is processed into a vial 50 having a mouth part 51 and a bottom part 53.
(2) A fire blasting process in which the nozzle 20 of the point burner 10 is scanned along the inner surface 54 while the flame 20 of the point burner 10 is ejected to the inner space 52 of the vial 50 and the flame 20 is applied to the inner surface 54.

[Container molding process]
As shown in FIG. 2A, the glass tube 60 is fixed so that the axial direction thereof is the horizontal direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 2), and the flame of the burner 61 is applied to one end side of the glass tube 60. 60 is preheated. Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, a mouth 51 is formed by applying a forming jig 62 to one end of the preheated end. Specifically, one end of the glass tube 60 is narrowed by the forming jig 62 so as to narrow the outer diameter of the glass tube 60.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the glass tube 60 is moved relative to the burner 61 in the horizontal direction (left and right direction in FIG. 3), and the flame of the burner 61 is applied to the glass tube 60. The flame of the burner 61 burns out one end side of the glass tube 60 in which the mouth portion 51 is formed, and forms a bottom 53 in the burned-out portion. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, one vial 50 having a mouth 51 and a bottom 53 is formed. The container forming step is performed by a so-called vertical automatic molding machine in which the glass tube 60 is fixed so that the axial direction thereof is the vertical direction, and the mouth portion 51 and the bottom portion 53 are formed on the lower end side thereof. Also good.

[Fire blasting process]
Subsequently, a fire blasting process using the point burner 10 is performed on the obtained vial 50. In the present specification, a process described later is referred to as a “fire blast process”.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the tip side of the nozzle portion 14 of the point burner 10 is inserted into the internal space 52 from the mouth portion 51 of the vial 50, and the flame 20 ejected from the tip of the nozzle portion 14 is the inner surface near the bottom portion 53. 54, the position of the point burner 10 is fixed with respect to the vial 50. The point burner 10 can be moved toward and away from the vial 50.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the vial 50 is placed on the support 21 in a posture in which the mouth portion 51 and the bottom portion 53 are opposed to each other in the horizontal direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 4). Fixed. The support 21 supports the horizontally oriented vial 50 with the horizontal direction as the axis. The nozzle portion 14 of the point burner 10 is inserted from below the vial 50 into the mouth portion 51 supported by the support tool 21 and opened in the horizontal direction. The axis of the nozzle portion 14 faces the upper surface of the inner surface 54 near the bottom 53 of the vial 50. That is, the flame 20 ejected from the nozzle portion 14 hits the upper side of the inner surface 54 near the bottom portion 53 of the vial 50.

  In the flame 20 ejected from the point burner 10, there is a portion rich in plasma. In the point burner 10, the distance between the tip of the nozzle 12 and the inner surface 54 is adjusted so that the plasma-rich portion of the flame 20 hits the inner surface 54 near the bottom 53 of the vial 50.

  As described above, the vial 50 supported by the support tool 21 is rotated by the rotating machine (not shown) while the plasma-rich portion of the flame 20 is applied to the inner surface 54 of the vial 50, and the flame 20 The portion rich in plasma is equally applied to the inner surface 54 near the bottom 53. Due to the plasma-rich portion of the flame 20, the alkali component or the like that adheres to or remains on the inner surface 54 near the bottom 53 is removed.

  The point burner 10 is moved relative to the vial 50 from the state shown in FIG. 4 to the state shown in FIG. Specifically, the point burner 10 is moved in the axial direction of the vial 50 so that a plasma-rich portion of the flame 20 is scanned from the inner surface 54 near the bottom 53 of the vial 50 to the inner surface 54 near the mouth 51. Moved against. In this scanning, the distance between the tip of the nozzle 12 and the inner surface 54 along the axial direction of the nozzle 12 is kept constant.

  As described above, the point burner 10 is moved relative to the vial 50 while the inner surface 54 of the vial 50 is in contact with the plasma-rich portion of the flame 20, so that the plasma-rich portion of the flame 20 is at the bottom. Scanning is performed from the inner surface 54 near 53 to the inner surface 54 near the mouth 51. During this scan, the vial 50 supported by the support 21 is rotated by a rotating machine (not shown). As a result, the alkaline component or the like adhering to or remaining on the inner surface 54 of the vial 50 is uniformly removed. Thereby, elution of the alkaline component etc. from the inner surface 54 of the vial 50 is suppressed.

  The direction in which the point burner 10 is moved with respect to the vial 50 is not particularly limited. For example, even when the point burner 10 is directed from the inner surface 54 near the bottom 53 to the inner surface 54 near the mouth 51, the direction is the opposite. Alternatively, it may be from the middle between the bottom 53 and the mouth 51 toward the mouth 51 or the bottom 53, respectively.

[Operational effects of this embodiment]
According to this embodiment, the flame 20 of the point burner 10 is jetted into the internal space 52 of the vial 50, and the flame 20 is scanned over the entire inner surface 54 of the vial 50 while the plasma-rich portion of the flame 20 is applied to the inner surface 54. By doing so, alkali components and the like eluted from the inner surface 54 of the vial 50 are dramatically reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the manufacturing method of the vial 50 including the container forming process and the fire blasting process has been described. However, the medical glass container manufacturing method according to the present invention requires the container forming process. It is not a thing. That is, the fire blasting process may be performed on a glass container manufactured by a known process different from the container forming process described above.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below.

[Manufacture of vial 50]
By the container forming step in the above-described embodiment, a vial having an outer diameter of 15 mm, a total length of 33 mm, a mouth inner diameter of 7.0 mm, and a volume of 2 mL was prepared. The temperature at which the glass tube was heated when the vial was prepared was relatively low or high. In this embodiment, a glass tube whose heating temperature is low is called low-temperature processing, and a glass tube whose heating temperature is high is called high-temperature processing. The glass tube was processed using a so-called vertical automatic molding machine.

[Examples 1 and 2]
The fire blasting process in the above-described embodiment was applied to each of the low temperature processed and high temperature processed vials. An alumina nozzle having an inner diameter of 1.0 mm was used as the nozzle portion of the point burner. The inner surface of the low-temperature processed vial was subjected to a fire blast process for 45 seconds, and the inner surface of the high-temperature processed vial was subjected to a fire blast process for 55 seconds. A low-temperature processed vial subjected to such a fire blasting process was designated as Example 1, and a high-temperature processed vial subjected to a fire blasting process was designated as Example 2.

[Comparative Examples 1 and 2]
The low temperature processed vial was set as Comparative Example 1 and the high temperature processed vial was set as Comparative Example 2 without performing the fire blasting process for each of the low temperature processed and high temperature processed vials.

[Elution amount of alkali components]
The elution amount of the alkaline component was measured for each of the vials of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 described above. For the measurement, each vial was filled with 2 mL of distilled water and heated at 121 ° C. for 60 minutes. After cooling, sodium contained in distilled water filled in each vial was measured. Sodium was measured by the atomic absorption method described in ISO4802-2. The amount of sodium (μg / mL) obtained for each vial of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 is shown in Table 1.

  As shown in Table 1, elution of 0.36 μg / mL sodium was confirmed from the vial of Example 1, and 0.39 μg / mL sodium was eluted from the vial of Example 2. All of these values were significantly lower than about 1/10 of the maximum value 4.5 μg / mL specified in ISO4802-2. On the other hand, elution of 1.63 μg / mL sodium was confirmed from the vial of Comparative Example 1, and elution of 8.10 μg / mL sodium was confirmed from the vial of Comparative Example 2. Although the elution amount from the vial of Comparative Example 1 was less than the maximum value 4.5 μg / mL specified in ISO4802-2, it was more than 4 times that of the vial of Example 1, and The amount of elution from the vial greatly exceeded the maximum value of 4.5 μg / mL specified in ISO4802-2.

[Elution amount of components other than alkali components]
For each of the vials of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 described above, the elution amount of components other than the alkaline component was measured. For the measurement, each vial was filled with 2 mL of distilled water for injection and heated at 121 ° C. for 60 minutes. After cooling, other components (Si, Al, B, Ca, Ba) contained in distilled water filled in each vial were measured. The other components were measured by ICP (inductively coupled plasma) emission analysis. Table 2 shows the amounts (ppm) of other components obtained for the vials of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2.

  As shown in Table 2, elution of 0.03 ppm Si was confirmed from the vial of Example 1, and Al, B, Ca, and Ba were all 0.00 ppm. From the vial of Example 2, elution of 0.06 ppm Si, 0.01 ppm Al, and 0.01 ppm B was confirmed, and Ca and Ba were both 0.00 ppm.

  On the other hand, elution of 1.34 ppm Si, 0.01 ppm Al, 0.79 ppm B, 0.01 ppm Ba was confirmed from the vial of Comparative Example 1, and Ca was 0.00 ppm. . From the vial of Comparative Example 2, elution of 23.3 ppm Si, 2.39 ppm Al, 6.99 ppm B, 0.50 ppm Ca and 0.86 ppm Ba was confirmed.

  Thus, from each vial of Examples 1 and 2, trace amounts or no other components of Si, Al, B, Ca, Ba were detected, whereas each of Comparative Examples 1 and 2 was not detected. From the vial, all other components were detected except for Ca in Comparative Example 1, and especially for Si, Al, and B, the difference between the measured values from Examples 1 and 2 was large.

10 ... Point burner 12 ... Nozzle 20 ... Flame 37 ... Inner tube 38 ... Outer tube 50 ... Vial (glass container)
51 ... mouth part 52 ... internal space 53 ... bottom part 54 ... inner surface 60 ... glass tube

Claims (11)

  A method for producing a medical glass container, comprising a fire blasting process in which a flame of a burner is jetted into an internal space of a glass container and the flame is applied to the inner surface while the flame is scanned over the entire inner surface of the glass container.   The method for producing a medical glass container according to claim 1, wherein in the fire blasting process, a flame is applied to the inner surface of the glass container while rotating the glass container around an axis.   The manufacturing method of the medical glass container of Claim 1 or 2 with which the distance of the inner surface of a glass container and the front-end | tip of a burner is kept constant in the said fire blast process.   The method for producing a medical glass container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein in the fire blasting step, a plasma-rich portion of the flame ejected from the burner is applied to the inner surface of the glass container.   The method for producing a medical glass container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the burner having a ceramic nozzle is used.   The manufacturing method of the medical glass container in any one of Claim 1 to 5 which further includes the container formation process which processes a glass tube into the container shape which has a bottom part and a mouth part, and makes it the said glass container.   The medical glass container manufactured by the manufacturing method of the medical glass container described in any one of Claim 1 to 6.   The medical glass container according to claim 7, wherein an amount of sodium eluted from the inner surface of the medical glass container satisfies ISO 4802 standards.   The medical glass container according to claim 7, wherein an amount of sodium eluted from the inner surface of the medical glass container is 1/10 or less with respect to a standard of ISO4802.   The medical glass container according to claim 7, wherein the amount of silicon eluted from the inner surface of the medical glass container is 0.1 ppm or less.   The medical glass container according to claim 7, wherein an amount of boron eluted from the inner surface of the medical glass container is 0.05 ppm or less.

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