JPH0361461B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Technical Field) The present invention relates to an eye drop container, and in particular, to completely prevent bacteria from entering the container even when the container is opened, and to maintain the eye drop solution in the container in a sterile state. This invention relates to an eye drop container that can be used as an eye drop container.

(Prior art and its problems) Conventional eye drop containers generally include a container body containing a predetermined eye drop solution, and a spout body provided with a liquid outlet for dripping the eye drop solution in the container body. The inside of the container body is connected to the outside through the liquid outlet hole of the mouth body.

Therefore, when the container is unsealed, the stored drug solution is directly exposed to the atmosphere through the liquid outlet hole, so that the sterile state can be maintained before the eye drop container is opened, but after the container is opened ( (during use), it is unavoidable that bacteria in the atmosphere will enter through the drainage hole, and in addition, the eyes and the area around the eyes are particularly rich in germs, so the opening of the container cannot be avoided when instilling the eye. Furthermore, if the liquid outlet comes into contact with the container, these bacteria can easily enter the container, making it impossible to maintain the medicinal solution contained in the conventional container in a sterile state. It was hot.

To this end, in the past, large amounts of preservatives and bactericides have been added to eye drops, and by reducing the amount of medicine contained, the above-mentioned bacterial growth has been prevented. Prevention is being done.

However, even with such methods, it is not possible to completely prevent the proliferation of bacteria, and such preservatives and bactericides have an adverse effect on the eyes, such as irritation, and are particularly harmful to soft contact lens wearers. For some people, soft contact lenses have the inherent problem of being difficult to use because they themselves absorb preservatives and the like.

(Solution Means) Here, the present invention has been made against the background of the above, and does not require the adoption of an expensive or complicated structure, and even in the unsealed state, the present invention does not require the adoption of an expensive or complicated structure. Prevents the invasion of bacteria,
An object of the present invention is to provide an eye drop container that can maintain the eye drop solution in the container in a sterile state.

That is, the eye drop container according to the present invention is characterized by: (a) an elastic material that can be compressed and that can be compressed and can return to its original shape when released from the compressed pressure; (b) a mouthpiece attached to the opening of the container body and having a drainage hole for dripping the eye drops in the container body; (c) a mouthpiece of the mouthpiece. installed inside,
(d) a porous membrane module comprising a hydrophilic porous membrane means in the form of a flat membrane or hollow fibers that allows the eye drop solution in the container body to pass through but does not allow bacteria and air in the air to pass through; A membrane module is a flat membrane or hollow fiber that is provided separately or integrally with the porous membrane module and that allows air to pass through but does not allow bacteria in the air or the eye drops in the container body to pass through. hydrophobic porous membrane means, and the eye drop solution in the container body is made to drip from the liquid exit hole of the mouth body through the porous membrane module by the squeezing pressure of the container body. .

(Effects) That is, in the eye drop container according to the present invention,
The inside of the container is in contact with the outside air through a porous membrane module, and the porous membrane module has a pore size that allows the eye drops in the container to pass through but prevents bacteria from passing through. In addition, it is possible to completely prevent external bacteria from entering the container, and therefore, once a medicinal solution has been rendered sterile, its sterility can be maintained well even when the container is opened. Become.

Therefore, using the eye drop container according to the invention,
Since there is no need to add preservatives or bactericidal agents to the medicinal solution as in the past, it is possible to easily provide an eye drop solution that can be used well even by soft contact lens wearers and has extremely excellent efficacy. Eye drops can be used extremely safely over a long period of time.

(Examples) Hereinafter, in order to clarify the present invention more specifically, some examples according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an eye drop container 10 according to an example of the present invention.
It is shown. In this figure, reference numeral 12 denotes a container main body having a substantially rectangular shape, the upper part of which is a cylindrical outflow passage section 16. and,
The upper end of the outflow passage section 16 has a cylindrical attachment section 1.
8, and inside the mounting portion 18, a spout 22 having a porous membrane module 20 is attached, and the spout 22 is covered by a cover cap 24.

More specifically, the container body 12 is made of an elastic material that can be squeezed with fingers or the like and that can easily return to its original shape when released from such pinching pressure, and is generally made of a suitable resin material, For example, it is formed using various polymeric materials having elasticity such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polycarbonate, polyester, and polyvinyl chloride. As shown in FIG. 2, the container body 12 is provided with an opening 14 at its upper end, and during manufacture, a predetermined eye drop solution 26 is passed through the opening 14 into the container body. 12.

Further, a mouth body 22 which is a resin molded product is attached to a cylindrical attachment part 18 that forms an opening 14 of the container body 12, and closes the opening 14. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the mouth body 22 has a tapered cylindrical medicinal liquid discharge part 28 that protrudes outward at its center and has a liquid discharge hole 27 inside. An outlet 30 of a predetermined size is provided at the tip of the chemical liquid discharge part 28.
On the other hand, due to the presence of a ring-shaped liquid leak prevention piece 32 integrally formed inside the spout 22, when the spout 22 is attached to the attachment part 18 of the container body 12, In addition, the mounting portion 18 can be held liquid-tight.

Moreover, inside the mouth body 22, in a state fitted to the inner peripheral part of the liquid leakage prevention piece 32,
A porous membrane module 20 is attached and configured integrally with the mouth body 22. This porous membrane module 20 is made by bundling a plurality of hollow fibers 34 into a loop shape (U-shape) and bonding and fixing the ends with a suitable adhesive such as polyurethane resin to form a hollow fiber holding part 36. and this holding part 3
6, it is fitted onto the inner circumferential surface of the liquid leakage prevention piece 32 of the spout 22, and is fixedly or removably attached. Further, as is clear from FIGS. 2 and 3, both ends of each hollow fiber 34 are formed into openings 40 that are opened to the liquid passage 38 inside the spout 22, and The portion 36 maintains a liquid-tight and gas-tight state between the opening 40 of each hollow fiber and the liquid leakage prevention piece 32.

By the way, each of the plurality of porous hollow fibers 34 constituting the porous membrane module 20 is
As shown in FIG. 4, it is composed of a hollow fiber in which hydrophobic portions 42 and hydrophilic portions 44 coexist so as to be alternately located in the fiber length direction.
Such a hollow fiber 34 has a pore size in its hydrophilic portion 44 that allows the eye drop solution 26 contained in the container body 12 to pass through, but does not allow bacteria to pass through. It is necessary to have a membrane pore size as large as possible and low filtration resistance. Further, due to its hydrophilicity, the hydrophilic portion 44 cannot allow air to pass therethrough due to the eye drops 26 entering into its membrane pores. The membrane pore size that can be removed by this bacterium is Pseudomonas demiumuta.
It is desirable to have something that can block ATCC19146,
Generally, a material that blocks standard particles of 0.2 to 0.3 μm is suitable. On the other hand, the hydrophobic portion 42 must have a membrane pore size that allows air to pass through but not bacteria in the air. Therefore, if the membrane pore size is about 0.45 μm or less, the invasion of bacteria can be effectively prevented.

Further, due to its hydrophobic nature, the hydrophobic portion 42 is capable of absorbing the eye drops 26 contained within the container body 12.
cannot be passed through.

In addition, as a method for manufacturing the porous hollow fiber 34 in which the hydrophobic portion 42 and the hydrophilic portion 44 coexist, a known method can be appropriately adopted, but in the present invention, the following method is used. Such a method will be suitably adopted.

That is, it is a method of partially making hydrophobic porous hollow fibers obtained from hydrophobic polymers such as polyolefins, polyesters, and polytetrafluoroethylenes hydrophilic, and a specific example thereof is shown in FIG. This is carried out using an apparatus such as that shown in FIG. When adhering to polyolefin porous hollow fibers as hydrophobic hollow fibers, cutouts 86 are provided in the rollers 84 to make the contact of the hollow fibers 88 with the rollers 84 non-uniform, so that the surfactant is non-uniformly deposited. By this, the desired porous hollow fiber 34 in which the hydrophobic portion 42 and the hydrophilic portion 44 coexist can be obtained.

In addition, when obtaining the polyolefin porous hollow fibers as described above, known methods can be adopted as appropriate, but in particular, in the case of polyolefin porous fibers made porous by a stretching method, slit-like pores may be used. It is preferably used in the present invention because it can inhibit bacteria and have high water permeability at the same time.

However, contrary to the above, polyvinyl alcohol, polysulfone, cellulose acetate,
By applying a non-uniform hydrophobic treatment to a hydrophilic porous hollow fiber formed of polyamide or the like, a porous hollow fiber in which the desired hydrophobic portion 42 and hydrophilic portion 44 coexist is formed. It is also possible to obtain a thread 34.

The dimensions of the hollow fibers 34 are not particularly limited, but usually have an inner diameter of 50 to 50 mm.
2000 μm, and the film thickness is selected within the range of 10 to 200 μm.

Then, a cover cap 24 having a cylindrical shape with a bottom is attached to the outlet passage portion of the container body 12, in which the mouth body 22 having such a porous membrane module 20 therein is fitted into the opening portion 14 of the container body 12. By being screwed on the outer peripheral surface of the mouth body 22
is installed to cover the

By the way, when using the eye drop container 10 in the embodiments described above, after removing the cover cap 24, the body of the container body 12 is held in a tilted or overturned state. If the eye drops are compressed using a device such as the
Due to the increase in pressure within the container body 12, the hydrophilic portion 44 of the coexisting hollow fiber 34 constituting the porous membrane module 20 is forced to pass through the hole in the hollow fiber wall, and the opening at the end thereof. 40 to the liquid passage 38, and is allowed to flow out (drop) to the outside from the outlet 30 through the liquid outlet 27 of the spout 22.

After the eye drop solution 26 in the container body 12 is dripped from the outlet 30 of the mouth body 22, when the squeezing action on the body of the container body 12 is released, the container body 12 can be restored to its original shape and used. The pressure inside the container is reduced, and the container (main body 12) is in a deformed state, but such deformation is resolved as follows. That is, the external air guided through the outflow port 30, the drain hole 27, and the fluid passage 38 penetrates the pores in the hollow fiber wall of the hydrophobic portion 42 in the coexisting hollow fiber 34 that constitutes the porous membrane module 20. is caused to flow into the container body 12 through the
This returns the inside of the container to atmospheric pressure and restores the container (main body 12) to its original shape.

At this time, since the membrane pore diameter of the wall of the hydrophobic portion 42 of the hollow fiber 34 is such that bacteria in the air can be removed, there are no bacteria in the air supplied into the container body 12. not included,
Therefore, it can be supplied as clean air.
Furthermore, even in the hydrophilic portion 44 of the hollow fiber 34,
Since the membrane has a pore size that does not allow bacteria to pass through, it is possible to completely prevent bacteria from entering the container body 12 from the outside.

Therefore, in the eye drop container 10 of this embodiment, once the inside of the container is made sterile, for example at the time of manufacture, the sterile state is well maintained over a long period of time, and it can be used extremely safely. Therefore, there is no need to add or mix preservatives or bactericides as in the past.

In addition, since hollow fibers having these functions are used as a filtration medium for chemical liquids and air, a large filtration area can be easily obtained, and a member equipped with such a filtration medium can be made significantly more compact. In addition, the container can be easily used without requiring a relatively large force to press the container during use, and the container can be quickly restored.

Furthermore, the porous membrane module 20 in this embodiment has a structure manufactured by bundling a plurality of hollow fibers 34 and bonding the ends with an adhesive or the like, and the hollow fibers 34 are Since the porous membrane module 20 functions not only as a drug solution passage but also as an air passage, the structure of the porous membrane module 20 is very simple, and the desired eye drop container 10 can be manufactured easily and economically. It is.

Next, FIGS. 5 to 7 show another embodiment of an eye drop container 50 constructed in accordance with the present invention.

As is clear from these figures, in this embodiment, the spout 56 is attached to the attachment portion 62 of the container body 54 as in the above embodiment, which accommodates a predetermined eye drop solution 52. A cover cap 58 is provided to cover the mouth body 56.

More specifically, as shown in FIG.
A mouth body 56, which is a resin molded product, is attached to a cylindrical attachment part 62 that forms an opening 60 of the container body 54, and closes the opening 60. The mouth body 56 has a tapered cylindrical liquid medicine discharge part 64 that protrudes outward at the center thereof and has a liquid discharge hole 63 formed therein, and has a predetermined size at the tip of this medicine liquid discharge part 64. Sano outlet 66
On the other hand, a cylindrical portion with a relatively large diameter located on the other end side is fitted onto the outer peripheral surface of the mounting portion 62 to hold the mounting portion 62 liquid-tight. I'm starting to get it.

Further, in the mouth body 56, a disc-shaped porous flat membrane 68 as a porous membrane module is attached to the mounting portion 6.
On the inside of the cylindrical part fitted into 2,
The peripheral part of the mounting part 62 is fixed to the part that the upper end surface of the mounting part 62 comes into contact with, so that it is integrally attached, so that the inner space of the container is
At the opening 60 of the container body 54, it is isolated from the fluid passage 74 inside the spout 56 and from the external space.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the porous flat membrane 68 is composed of one porous flat membrane, the center of which is a hydrophilic portion 70. On the other hand, the periphery is a hydrophobic part 7
It is said to be 2. Such a porous flat membrane 68 has a pore size in its hydrophilic portion 70 that allows the eye drops 52 contained in the container body 54 to pass through, but does not allow bacteria to pass through. A material capable of blocking standard particles of 0.2 to 0.3 μm, such as the hydrophilic portion 44 in the hollow fiber 34 in the above embodiment, is applied. Similarly, as for the hydrophobic portion 72, the membrane pore diameter is
A material with a diameter of about 0.45 μm or less can be suitably used.

Note that as a method for manufacturing the porous flat membrane 68 in which the hydrophobic portion 72 and the hydrophilic portion 70 coexist, a known method may be appropriately adopted. The yarn 34 can be manufactured according to the various methods mentioned above.

A cover cap 58 having a cylindrical shape with a bottom is attached to the container body 54 in which the mouth body 56 having such a porous flat membrane 68 inside is fitted into the opening 60 of the container body 54. It is attached so as to cover the mouth body 56 by being screwed onto the outer periphery of the cylindrical outflow portion located at the top.

That is, the eye drop container 50 in this embodiment as described above can be used in the same manner as the eye drop container 10 in the above embodiment, and
The container internal space and the external space are separated by a porous flat membrane 68, and the hydrophilic portion 70 and hydrophobic portion 72 of the porous flat membrane 68 prevent bacteria from entering the container body 12 from the outside. Therefore, the effects of the present invention, such as safety in use and economical production, can be effectively achieved.

Furthermore, in such an eye drop container, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, an opening 76 as a drug solution supply port is provided at the bottom of the container, and the opening 76 is sealed with a cap 78. By doing so, the eye drop container 80 can be configured as a reusable container. In addition,
In the case of the eye drop container 80 having such a structure, there is a risk that bacteria, etc. may enter the container during the supply of the drug solution. Membrane module 68,2
0 can effectively eliminate bacteria, and therefore the effects of the present invention can be expressed satisfactorily.

In addition, in the eye drop containers 10, 50, 80 as shown in this embodiment, the liquid passage portions 38, 7 are connected from the upper surface of the porous membrane module 20, 68.
4 and the outflow ports 30, 6 via the liquid exit holes 27, 63.
It is desirable to form the space leading to 6 as small as possible. However, by adopting such a structure, it is possible to minimize the risk of contamination by airborne bacteria, etc. of the drug solution passage and the remaining drug solution in the space after the drug solution is extracted, and also to minimize the risk of contamination by airborne bacteria, etc. This is because the chemical liquid can immediately flow out based on the pinching pressure of 12 and 54, and its usability can be further improved.

Although several embodiments according to the present invention have been described in detail above, these are literal illustrations, and the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited to these specific examples.

For example, the porous membrane modules 20, 68 may be provided at a position that isolates the inside of the container body from the external space, and the arrangement position, shape, and number thereof are not particularly limited. For example, in the eye drop container 10 in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to attach the chemical liquid discharge part 28 of the body 22 by fitting it into the liquid discharge hole 27, and in the case of such a structure, the porous membrane module 4
The space from the opening of No. 6 to the outflow port can be effectively reduced, and the safety and usability of such an eye drop container as described above can be further improved.

Furthermore, the hollow fibers 34 constituting the porous membrane module 20 in the above embodiments do not need to be formed so that the hydrophobic portions 42 and the hydrophilic portions 44 are alternately located in the fiber length direction; In the hollow fiber 34, as long as such a hydrophobic portion and a hydrophilic portion are allowed to coexist, various methods may be used, such as the hydrophobic portion 42 and the hydrophilic portion 44 being arranged side by side in the fiber length direction. Needless to say, it is possible for the two to coexist.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, all of the hollow fibers 34 constituting the porous membrane module 20 were hollow fibers in which the hydrophobic portion 42 and the hydrophilic portion 44 coexisted, but some of them were of the coexisting type. It is sufficient if the hollow fibers 34 are the same. However, if a part of the porous membrane module 20 is composed of such coexisting hollow fibers 34, all other hollow fibers are composed of hydrophilic hollow fibers. It is desirable that However, in the case of a hollow fiber whose entire surface is hydrophobic, if the inside of the hollow fiber is filled with a drug solution, even if the pressure inside the container body 12 is reduced, the drug solution inside the hollow fiber will not be absorbed by the hollow fiber. This is because air cannot easily pass through the walls of the hydrophobic hollow fibers, making it difficult for air to flow in from the outside through the hydrophobic hollow fibers.

Furthermore, when using a flat membrane as a porous membrane module, in order to protect the porous flat membrane and prevent its damage etc., a protection with a shape that can ensure a sufficient water flow area is required. The members are appropriately provided to sandwich the porous flat membrane.

In addition, the porous membrane module 20 has a structure in which the hollow fibers 34 are bundled in a loop shape, and both ends are opened to the liquid passage 38, but instead of this, one end of the hollow fibers is opened to the liquid passage 38. sealed,
It is also possible to have a structure in which the other end is bonded with an adhesive to form a holding portion and opened to the liquid passage 38.

Also, the eye drop container 50 in the above embodiment
The porous membrane module in has a hydrophilic portion 70
Although it is formed by one porous flat membrane 68 which integrally has a hydrophilic part 72, it is also possible to form it by a plurality of porous flat membranes, and even a hydrophilic flat membrane 68. It is also possible to form a combination of membranes and hydrophobic flat membranes.

Further, in the embodiment, the porous membrane module 20, 68 provided inside the mouth body 22, 56
is formed of only a hydrophilic porous membrane, and separately from the porous membrane modules 20, 68, for example, in the container bodies 12, 54, a hydrophobic flat membrane or hollow fiber porous membrane is formed. It is also possible to provide a member.

Further, the cover caps 24, 58 that cover the mouth bodies 22, 56 effectively prevent the outlet ports 30, 66 from being contaminated by bacteria or the like. 58 is not necessarily necessary.

In addition, although not listed one by one, various modifications,
Things that can be implemented with improvements, modifications, etc. are:
It goes without saying.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing an embodiment of an eye drop container according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part thereof, and FIG. 3 is a -
This is an explanatory cross-sectional view, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view showing the hollow fiber used in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part thereof, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the negative cross section in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 9 is a fifth embodiment showing still another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view corresponding to the figure. Moreover, FIG. 10 is a structural explanatory diagram of an apparatus suitably used in manufacturing the hollow fibers used in FIG. 1. 10, 50: Eye drop container, 12, 54: Container body, 20, 46, 68: Porous membrane module, 2
2,56: Oral body, 27,63: Ejection hole, 26,5
2: Eye drops, 30, 66: Outlet, 34: Hollow fiber, 42, 72: Hydrophobic part, 44, 70: Hydrophilic part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A container capable of being squeezed and containing a predetermined eye drop solution;
A container body made of an elastic material that can return to its original shape when released from the pinching pressure, and an outlet attached to the opening of the container body for dripping the eye drops in the container body. A mouth body having liquid holes, and flat membrane-like or hollow fiber-like hydrophilic pores that are provided inside the mouth body and allow the eye drop solution in the container body to pass through, but do not allow air and bacteria in the air to pass through. a porous membrane module provided with a porous membrane means; and a porous membrane module provided separately from the porous membrane module or integrally with the porous membrane module, which allows air to pass through, but allows bacteria in the air and bacteria in the container body to pass through the porous membrane module. It has a hydrophobic porous membrane means in the form of a flat membrane or hollow fiber through which the ophthalmic solution cannot pass, and the ophthalmic solution in the container body passes through the porous membrane module by the squeezing pressure of the container body. An eye drop container, characterized in that the container body is configured to allow the liquid to be dripped from the outlet hole, and to return the container body to its original shape by the inflow of air through the hydrophobic porous membrane means. 2. The porous membrane module comprises, as the hydrophilic porous membrane means, a hydrophilic porous flat membrane or hollow fiber that allows the eye drop solution in the container body to pass through but does not allow air and bacteria in the air to pass through. Further, the hydrophobic porous membrane means is a hydrophobic porous flat membrane or hollow fiber that allows air to pass through but not bacteria in the air or the eye drops in the container body, and two types of porous membranes or hollow fibers are provided. The eye drop container according to claim 1, wherein the porous membrane module is constituted by a porous membrane means. 3. The porous membrane module further includes a hydrophilic portion as the hydrophilic porous membrane means that allows the eye drop solution in the container body to pass through but does not allow bacteria and air in the air to pass through. The membrane means includes a porous flat membrane or hollow fibers coexisting with a hydrophobic portion that allows air to pass through but does not allow bacteria in the air or the eye drops in the container body to pass through. The eye drop container according to scope 1.