JP4866651B2 - Fluid filling device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is a fluid filling device for filling a prefilled syringe with a fluid, and in particular, a fluid that is arranged with the spout provided at the tip of the syringe body upright and the fluid is filled from the spout into the syringe body. The present invention relates to a filling device.

  It is known that a prefilled syringe is prefilled with a fluid such as a liquid or jelly body, and in use, the internal fluid is pushed out by a piston and ejected from a spout at the tip.

  As what fills the fluid in the syringe main body of such a prefilled syringe, the following are known, for example.

  First, hold the syringe body on its holding member with its spout up, move this holding member on a conveyor, and when this syringe comes to a predetermined station, after positioning the tip of the spout on the syringe body A device is known in which a filling portion of a fluid filling device is pressed against a spout of a syringe body, and a liquid is poured into the syringe body from an injection port while pushing down a piston in the syringe body (Patent Literature). 1).

Also, a plurality of syringe bodies are vertically arranged with the spout facing down and held on the holding member, the syringe body is positioned with the spring material of the holding member, and the filling nozzle is opened from the opening at the rear end of the syringe body In which a fluid is filled into a syringe body from a filling nozzle is known (Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent No. 3268544 JP 2005-192947 A

  In the one shown in Patent Document 1, the syringe body is moved and stopped at the station, and after first positioning the spout of the syringe body with the positioning member, the filling portion of the liquid filling device is pressed against the tip of the spout. Since the fluid flows from the spout into the piston body while pulling the piston, the positions of the filling portion and the spout must be completely matched, but both are difficult to align because the opening area is small. Therefore, the manufacturing process cannot be speeded up. In particular, since the alignment device for accurately aligning separately is used for alignment each time, the device becomes complicated and the speed cannot be increased.

  Further, when the piston is pulled simultaneously with the fluid filling, the piston may rub against the inner wall of the syringe body to damage the inner wall, so that dust may enter or fluid may leak. Further, in order to fill while pulling the piston, it is necessary to accurately synchronize so that the adjustment of the filling amount and the piston pulling operation do not deviate from each other. This synchronous operation is not easy, filling efficiency is poor, and yield is poor. Further, since equipment such as a conveyor, a positioning member, and a piston pulling mechanism is required, there is a problem that the equipment becomes complicated and large.

  In the one shown in Patent Document 2, since the fluid is filled from the rear end portion of the syringe body having a large opening, fine alignment of the syringe body is not necessary, but it is necessary to push the piston into the syringe body after filling. Yes, the work process increases. In particular, since the fluid is already filled, it is difficult to push the piston while removing the air inside, and the workability is poor.

  Further, it is necessary to align and insert the needle-shaped filling nozzle of the filling member with respect to the aligned syringe main body, pull it out simultaneously with filling, and then move the filling nozzle onto the next syringe main body. At that time, there is a movement error of the filling nozzle, and there is a case where it does not necessarily come to the planned position of the opening of the next syringe body. In the syringe of this Patent Document 2, since the filling nozzle is inserted from the large opening at the rear end of the syringe body, there is no problem even if a slight misalignment occurs. In the configuration in which the filling nozzle is inserted from the spout, the positional deviation of the filling nozzle becomes a big problem. Therefore, a method of arranging the spouts side by side and inserting the needle nozzle into the syringe body has not been realized.

  An object of the present invention is to insert a piston into a syringe into a predetermined position, and arrange a stand up with a spout provided at the tip of the syringe body, and fill the syringe body with fluid from the spout. Providing a filling device that allows a piston to be inserted afterwards by using a syringe, and then aligns the needle-like filling nozzle of the filling device with high accuracy to the spout of the continuous syringe body. It is in.

The invention according to claim 1 is a prefilled syringe having a syringe body integrally having an elongated tubular spout at its tip and a piston that is slidably inserted into the syringe body and pushes the fluid filled therein from the spout. a fluid filling apparatus for filling a fluid, a plurality of upper Symbol syringe body, is supported in a state of standing side by side on top of the infusion outlet from the infusion outlet using a filling nozzle to be inserted into the infusion outlet A holding member, and a jig that covers the plurality of the spouts arranged side by side. The jig has a plurality of first openings into which the plurality of the spouts arranged in a row can be inserted on a lower surface side. has at intervals, a second opening plurality of tapered shape tapering toward the bottom on the upper surface side, and a tapered lower end portion of the bottom of the first opening and the second opening It communicates, the periphery of the first opening, the syringe Positioning of the spout with respect to the second opening is performed by contacting an axially middle portion of the outer peripheral portion of the tapered tubular portion forming the spout of the body, and the jig is positioned with respect to the holding member. It is characterized by being .

A second aspect of the present invention, a fluid-filled device according to claim 1, wherein the positioning member includes a plurality of aligned infusion outlet insertable hole at predetermined intervals, the positioning member to the holding member It can be positioned and set .

According to the invention of claim 1, since the filling nozzle is guided to the spout of the syringe body by the taper shape of the jig, the syringe body is filled from the spout even if an alignment error of the position of the filling nozzle occurs. The nozzle can be inserted securely .

According to the invention of claim 2 , a plurality of syringe main bodies can be easily and simultaneously positioned .

(Embodiment 1)
A fluid filling apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a fluid filling apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1 and 2, only one prefilled syringe is described, but actually, as shown by a one-dot chain line, about 10 prefilled syringes are erected side by side. In addition, in order to make a drawing intelligible, it abbreviate | omitted as a dashed-dotted line. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3, and is a diagram for explaining the size. FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the support structure of the syringe body. FIG. 6 shows an explanatory view for explaining the filling state. In the fluid filling apparatus 1, the tank 71 stores a viscous fluid such as jelly, a fluid mixed with liquid and powder, and the like. A valve 72 is disposed at the lower end of the tank 71, and is connected to a metering supply pump 73 through a pipe 74. A fixed supply pump 73 is connected to the filling device 6 through a pipe 75. The filling device 6 is supported by a filling support base 62, and a needle-like filling nozzle 61 is connected to the tip. The filling support base 62 is supported on the guide member 63 by a guide rail 64 of the guide member 63 so as to be movable up and down. The guide member 63 is supported by the lateral support members 65 and 65 so as to be movable in the lateral direction. Both ends of the lateral support members 65, 65 are attached to the support columns 66.

  The prefilled syringe 2 includes a cylindrical syringe body 21 and an elongated spout 22 provided at the tip of the syringe body 21. A flange portion 25 is integrally provided at the rear end portion of the syringe body 21. As shown in FIG. 5, the flange portion 25 has a hook shape protruding in two directions. A piston 26 is disposed in the syringe body 21. The piston 26 has a columnar piston top portion 26a inserted to substantially the center of the syringe body 21, and a piston rod 26b provided integrally with the piston top portion 26a. A push portion is provided at the rear end portion of the piston rod 26b. 27 is provided integrally. The piston rod 26b has a cross shape in cross section, and the push portion 27 has a substantially disk shape.

  In the holding member 3, pillars 36 are erected on both sides of a plate-shaped base 38, and a first support part 31 and a second support part 32 are passed between the pillars 36. As shown in FIG. 5, the second support portion 32 includes recesses 34 for supporting the piston rod 26 b at a predetermined interval for the number of syringes. The first support portion 31 includes recesses 33 corresponding to the outer diameter of the syringe body 21 at a predetermined interval for the number of syringes, and these recesses 33 are formed in the same shape as the recesses 34 although not shown. . The upper portion of the syringe body 21 is supported by the recess 33 of the first support portion 31 and is restricted from falling down in the rear direction and the left-right direction. A flange portion 25 provided at the rear end portion of the syringe main body 21 is placed on the upper surface of the second support portion 32, and the vertical position of the syringe main body 21 is determined. A third support portion 35 on which the pushing portion 27 of the piston 26 is placed is formed on the upper surface of the base 38, and the position of the piston rod 26 b of the piston 26 is determined by the third support portion 35. The position of the piston top 26a is determined.

  In FIG. 2, the jig 4 includes a first opening 41 having a circular cross section on the lower side (syringe side), and a tapered second opening that tapers toward the back on the upper side (filling nozzle side). The tapered portion 44 of the second opening 43 and the bottom surface 42 of the first opening 41 are communicated with each other.

  When the jig 4 is placed on the spout 22 of the syringe body 21, the tip 23 of the spout 22 is guided to the tapered end 44 by being guided by the first opening 41 as shown in FIG. 3. It comes to the position which almost agrees. At the same time, the positioning recess 51 of the jig 4 is fitted into the positioning pin 37, and the jig 4 is positioned with respect to the holding member 3. The positioning pin 37 may be provided on the jig 4 and the positioning recess 51 may be provided on the support column 36. The positioning structure is not limited to the pin 37 and the recess 51, and other structures such as a hook and a protrusion may be used. Moreover, the positioning part 5 is not limited to the position shown in Embodiment 1, and may be another position.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the inner diameter r <b> 2 of the first opening 41 is smaller than the outer diameter R <b> 2 of the rear end 24 of the spout 22 of the syringe body 21, and larger than the outer diameter R <b> 1 of the tip 23. When the spout 22 is covered, the tapered end 44 of the second opening 43 and the front end 23 of the spout 22 come to a substantially coincident position. Further, the inner diameter r3 of the tapered end 44 of the second opening 43 is the same as or slightly smaller than the inner diameter r1 of the tip 23 of the spout 22, and the filling nozzle 61 is smoothly inserted into the spout 22. It has become so. Particularly in the first embodiment, the tip end portion 41 a of the first opening 41 of the jig 4 comes into contact with the outer periphery of the spout 22, whereby the insertion position of the jig 4 is determined, and the tapered end portion of the second opening 43. And the distal end portion 23 of the spout 22 are positioned so as to substantially coincide with each other.

  Next, the filling operation of the first embodiment will be described based on FIG. In FIG. 6, (1)-(6) show the step of filling operation. First, in step (1), the filling syringe 61 is moved to a position above the second opening 43 and the spout 22. From this state, in step (2), even if the tip of the filling nozzle 61 is slightly displaced from the position of the tapered end 44 of the second opening 43, it is guided by the tapered surface of the second opening 43 and the tapered end. Combining with part 44. Next, in step (3), the tip of the filling nozzle 61 is inserted into the syringe body 21 through the spout 22 and inserted to the vicinity of the piston top 26 a of the piston 26. When this position is reached, the control unit 80 operates the fixed amount supply pump 73 to discharge the fluid from the filling nozzle 61. Then, as step (4), the filling nozzle 61 is moved so as to be pulled out while discharging the fluid from the filling nozzle 61. As a result, the fluid is filled from the vicinity of the piston top portion 26 a, and the air in the syringe body 21 exits from the tip of the spout 22.

  Therefore, the fluid can be filled without involving air in the syringe body 21. In step (5), when the fluid can be filled up to the middle of the spout 22, the pulling operation (upward movement) of the filling nozzle 61 is stopped and simultaneously the filling operation is stopped. As step (6), the filling nozzle 61 is pulled up to a position above the jig 4. And it moves to the next syringe and it will be in the same state as step (1). Thereafter, steps (1) to (6) are repeated with this syringe. Then move on to the next syringe.

  In the first embodiment, the filling nozzle 61 is inserted to the vicinity of the piston top portion 26a in the syringe body 21, so the length L1 of the filling nozzle 61 is (the length of the filling space of the syringe body 21 + the length of the spout 22). Length + length of the second opening) = longer than L2.

  In the first embodiment, when the filling is completed, the raising operation of the filling nozzle 61 is temporarily stopped. However, the filling nozzle 61 may be continuously raised without being temporarily stopped, and only the filling operation may be stopped.

( Reference Example 1 )
Reference Example 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the reference example 1 is obtained by partially changing the upper part of FIG. A part of the shape of the jig 104 is changed, and a straight portion is provided at the tapered end 144 of the second opening 143 so that even if the filling nozzle 61 is displaced, it is guided linearly to the spout 22. did. At the same time, the tapered end portion 144 comes into contact with the tip of the spout 22 and stops, and the inner diameter of the tip 141a of the first opening 141 does not come into contact with the outer periphery of the spout 22 so that there is a slight gap. It is.

In the reference example 1 , even if there is a slight dimensional error of the jig 4 or the outlet 22, the positions of the second opening 144 of the jig 4 and the outlet 22 of the syringe body 21 can be aligned. A slight error in the height direction can be absorbed and aligned.

(Embodiment 2 )
The second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, Embodiment 2 is a partial modification of the lower part of FIG. 3, and only the parts different from Embodiment 1 will be described, and the description of the same parts will be omitted. The base 138 is provided with a recess 135 into which the pushing portion 27 is fitted. Thus, in FIG. 8, the piston rod 26b and the syringe body 21 are prevented from jumping out in the right direction on the paper surface. In FIG. 2, it is designed not to jump to the front side of the page. With this configuration, the displacement of the syringe body 21 can be prevented more reliably.

  Although the recess 135 is formed in a circular shape in accordance with the circular shape of the push portion 27, the shape is not limited to this shape, and only the movement of the push portion 27 in the right direction on the paper surface in FIG. If it is good, the shape may be a single groove formed by connecting the recesses 135 continuously.

( Reference Example 2 )
Reference Example 2 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, the reference example 2 is obtained by partially changing the upper part of FIG. 3, only the parts different from the first embodiment will be described, and the description of the same parts will be omitted. The jig 204 has only a function of covering the spout 22 and guiding the filling nozzle 61. The jig 204 is made thin and has a positioning member 55 for positioning the spout 22, and the spout 22 is provided in the positioning member 55. Is provided with a through hole 57 to be inserted with a slight gap. The spout 22 is positioned as a structure in which the positioning hole 56 of the positioning member 55 is positioned and fitted to the positioning pin 37.

The first and second embodiments have been described as separate embodiments, but may be combined.

  The present invention is a fluid filling device for filling a prefilled syringe with a fluid, and in particular, a fluid that is arranged with the spout provided at the tip of the syringe body upright and the fluid is filled from the spout into the syringe body. The present invention relates to a filling device.

An overall schematic diagram of a filling apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is shown. FIG. 2 shows a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1. AA sectional drawing of FIG. 2 is shown. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3 illustrating the size of the dimensions. It is a figure explaining the support structure of the syringe main body of Embodiment 1. FIG. Explanatory drawing explaining the filling state of Embodiment 1 is shown. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the spout according to Reference Example 1 . The vicinity of the piston rear end portion is shown in the second embodiment. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view in the vicinity of a spout according to Reference Example 2 .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fluid filling apparatus 2 Prefilled syringe 21 Syringe main body 22 Outlet 25 Flange part 26 Piston 26a Piston top part 27 Pushing part 3 Holding member 37 Positioning pin 4 Jig 41 1st opening part 42 Bottom part 43 2nd opening part 44 Tapered end part 5 Positioning portion 51 Positioning recess 52 Hole 6 Filling tool 71 Tank 73 Metering supply pump 80 Control means

Claims (2)

Is slidably inserted into the syringe body and the syringe body having integrally spout elongate tubular tip is inserted into the infusion outlet the fluid filled in the prefilled syringe having a piston to push the infusion outlet A fluid filling device for filling a fluid from the spout using a filling nozzle .
A plurality of upper Symbol syringe body, includes a holding member for supporting in a state of standing side by side on top of the infusion outlet,
A jig that covers the plurality of the spouts arranged side by side;
The jig has a plurality of first tapered openings at a predetermined interval on the lower surface side into which the plurality of the spouts can be inserted, and a plurality of tapered shapes tapered downward on the upper surface side. A second opening of
And tapered lower end portion of the bottom portion and the second opening of the first opening is in communication,
Positioning of the spout with respect to the second opening is performed by contacting the peripheral edge of the first opening with the axially intermediate portion of the outer periphery of the tapered tubular portion forming the spout of the syringe body. ,
The fluid filling apparatus , wherein the jig is positioned with respect to the holding member . 2. The fluid filling device according to claim 1 , wherein the positioning member includes a plurality of holes through which the spouts can be inserted at predetermined intervals, and the positioning member can be positioned and set on the holding member. Fluid filling device.

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