KR20040050571A - Plastic ampule with a novel structure of neck - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A plastic ampule with a new neck structure is provided to make it more convenient to use the plastic ampule manufactured through the BFS by the neck structure efficiently using a substance property of plastics. CONSTITUTION: The plastic ampule including a body portion for storing matter(200) and a cover portion formed as one with the body portion and removed upon use comprises a neck extended from a storing case for containing the matter(200) to the cover portion. The neck has an opening width being 1/2.5 to 1/1.5 times over the width of the body portion and is projected 1/5 to 1/3 times as high as the body portion. The projected portion from the upper side of the body portion to the upper side of the neck is tapered.

Description

Plastic neck ampoule with novel neck structure {PLASTIC AMPULE WITH A NOVEL STRUCTURE OF NECK}

The present invention relates to a plastic ampoule having a neck of a novel structure, and more particularly, to a plastic ampoule comprising a main body portion containing the contents and a cover portion integrally molded and separated during use, the main body portion Inserting the syringe when taking out the contents by inserting the syringe while exhibiting the characteristics of the plastic material sufficiently such that the neck extending from the reservoir has a constant opening width and protrusion height and its protrusion shape is rhombic in cross section. It provides a plastic ampoule that is very easy to use, such as having an increased angle and easy removal of the cover.

The contents to be sealed and kept in a sterile state, such as injections, nourishing tonics, or oral liquids, are mainly packaged in the form of glass ampoules. That is, a glass ampoule is manufactured by injecting contents into a thin glass tube and melting and sealing the upper end portion with a flame or the like. In order to open such a glass ampoule, it is necessary to apply a shock to the upper part to destroy a weak area, and thus, a hand is often injured at a sharp part of the broken glass during opening. In addition, some of the glass powder enters the contents during this opening process and enters and concentrates in the human body at the time of administration (oral administration or injection), for example, causing coagulation of blood and consequent clots. These clots can cause thrombophlebitis and lead to dangerous conditions with high fever.

Meanwhile, in order to prevent breakage of the glass ampoule during distribution, a method of thermoforming a PVC or PET sheet to create a place for the glass ampoule to be put therein and putting the glass ampoule into the paper box may be used. However, this packaging method is inconvenient to use, such as the cost of double packaging and must be handled with care.

Therefore, in order to solve this problem, plastic ampoules have been developed instead of glass ampoules, and such plastic ampoules have no such problems when opened. Furthermore, the molding-filling-sealing process developed in this regard (typically as a BFS process: Blowing-Filling-Sealing) reduces manufacturing costs since the molding and filling and sealing of the container are carried out in one continuous process. There is also an advantage that can be significantly lowered. Such details can be found in the applicant's Korean Patent No. 270,397, which discloses a method for producing a plastic ampoule by an improved BFS process. The patent is incorporated herein by reference.

A representative example of the plastic ampoule thus prepared is shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional plastic ampoule 100 includes a main body 110 containing a liquid content 200 and a cover 120 that is integrally formed with the main body 110 and separated / removed in use. ) In the BFS process, the contents 200 are filled by one process at the time of molding the main body 110 and the cover 120.

Figure 2 shows the shape of the cover 120 of the plastic ampoule 100 is removed in use. 1 and 2 together, the structure of the main body 110 and the cover 120 for opening the plastic ampoule 100 can be understood more clearly. The main body 110 has a structure in which the neck 114 extending from the reservoir 112 containing the contents 200 protrudes into the cover 120. Due to the characteristics of the plastic ampoule 100, in order to switch from the storage state (Fig. 1) to the open state (Fig. 2), the cover portion 120 must be separated from the body portion 110 by twisting or pulling, wherein the body portion The outer circumferential surface of the top 116 of the neck 114 should be easily separated from the outer circumferential surface of the cap 124 inside the cover part 120. Unlike the glass ampoule in the handling process, the plastic ampoule 100 having stability has a property of being not easily separated even when twisted or pulled due to the flexibility, toughness, etc. of the plastic itself. Therefore, as described above, the ampoule as a whole has flexibility and toughness, while the connection portion of the neck 114 and the cap 124 (specifically, the connection portion between the neck upper outer circumference and the cap lower outer circumference) integrally forms a force. When applied, it should be possible to express the opposite characteristics at the same time, which should be easily separated. Therefore, the connecting portion of the neck 114 and the cap 124 is, the upper end 116 of the neck 114 is bent in the central axis direction, the lower end 126 of the cap 124 is also bent in the central axis direction In the state of being present, these upper end 116 and lower end 126 are comprised so that it may be formed integrally.

Based on this structure, the neck 114 of the conventional plastic ampoule 100 has an opening width w of approximately 1/3 times the width W of the main body 110 and the opening width w. It has a rectangular protrusion shape in cross section, having a protrusion height h about 1/3 times as large as. This width w and height h of the neck 114 and the rectangular protrusion shape are based on that of the glass ampoule.

FIG. 3 illustrates a drawing of the contents 200 using the syringe 300 in the conventional plastic ampoule 100. The needle 310 and the needle connector 320 of the syringe 300 are inserted into the main body 110 through the opened neck 114 to extract the contents 200 contained in the storage container 112. However, due to the limitation of the shape of the neck 114, only a part of the contents 200 can be taken out in a slightly inclined state, and in order to take out more contents 200, the main body 110 must be further inclined. In order to prevent this, the overall length of the main body 110 may be reduced, but in this case, it is possible to achieve the effect of stably holding a large amount of the content 200 which is another feature of the plastic ampoule 100. There will be no. For reference, in the case of a glass ampoule, the risk of breakage increases when the container is enlarged in order to increase the storage amount, and when the thickness of the glass ampoule is thickened in order to reduce the risk of breakage, the glass ampoule has a problem inconvenient to use.

Accordingly, there has been a demand for the development of a plastic ampoule having a neck shape having a sufficient structure and easy removal of the cover part while fully exhibiting the unique characteristics of the plastic ampoule.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a plastic ampoule that is more convenient to use in a plastic ampoule manufactured by a BFS process, not by a neck structure based on the structure of a conventional glass ampoule, but by a neck structure that can more efficiently use the physical properties of the plastic. It aims to provide.

After paying attention to the problems of the prior art and repeating various experiments and studies, the present inventors have set the opening width and the protrusion height of the neck in a specific range in the plastic ampoule, and when the protrusion is formed into a lozenge in cross section, Unexpectedly, the unique properties of plastics have led to the present invention, confirming the fact that plastic ampoules can be manufactured that are easy to manufacture and very convenient to use.

1 is a front view of a conventional plastic ampoule;

FIG. 2 is a state diagram in which the cover part is removed from the plastic ampoule of FIG. 1; FIG.

3 is a state diagram used to take out the contents by inserting a syringe into the plastic ampoule of FIG. 1;

4A, 4B, 4C are front, side and bottom views of a plastic ampoule according to one embodiment of the present invention;

4D is a bottom view of a plastic ampoule according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a state diagram of use of the cover part removed from the plastic ampoule of FIG. 4A; FIG.

6A and 6B are use state diagrams for taking out the contents by inserting a syringe into the plastic ampoule of Fig. 4A;

7A is a front view and a bottom view of a plastic ampoule assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention in which a plurality of plastic ampoules are laterally connected so as to be detachable;

7B is a front view and a bottom view of a plastic ampoule assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention in which a plurality of plastic ampoules are laterally connected so as to be detachable.

Description of the main symbols in the drawings

100: conventional plastic ampoule

200: contents

300: syringe

400, 400 ': plastic ampoule according to the present invention

500, 500 ': plastic ampoule assembly according to the present invention

The plastic ampoule according to the present invention for achieving the object, in the plastic ampoule consisting of a main body portion for storing the contents and a cover portion that is separated / removed when used in a state integrally molded in the body portion,

The neck extending from the reservoir containing the contents toward the lid portion has an opening width of 1 / 2.5 to 1 / 1.5 times the width of the body portion and is 1/5 to 1/3 times the height of the opening width. It protrudes from the upper end surface of the main body, and the protruding portion from the upper end surface of the main body to the neck upper end is tapered (cross section is projected in a rhombic shape).

Accordingly, the plastic ampoule according to the present invention has a neck having a shape protruding slightly from the top surface of the main body in its overall shape, and unlike the conventional plastic ampoule, the opening width of the neck has a considerably larger size than the width of the main body. . In addition, the neck has a shape in which the neck protrudes in a rhombic shape from the upper end surface of the body portion.

Compared with conventional plastic ampoules, this structural feature causes a special effect of the present invention. In other words, the wide opening width of the neck facilitates the insertion of the syringe and increases the insertion angle of the syringe, thereby reducing the angle of lying down the container for taking out the contents, greatly reducing the risk of spilling the contents during use. The low protruding height of the neck also facilitates the insertion of the syringe and enables the above effects by increasing the insertion angle of the syringe. In addition, the lowered protrusion height of the neck makes the connecting portion between the upper outer peripheral surface of the neck and the lower outer peripheral surface of the cap closer to the main body side, so that the cover portion can be more easily separated from the main body portion. When removing the cover part, in general, by holding the main body portion with one hand to apply a fixed force to the body portion, the other hand pulls or twists the cover portion to apply a moving force to the cover portion, the fixing force and the moving force is broken The connection part of the main body part and the cover part (specifically, the connection part of the outer peripheral surface of the net top and the outer peripheral surface of the cap bottom) is located closer to the main body side to which the fixing force is applied, so that it can be separated more stably and more easily by the efficient transmission of force. It becomes possible.

The opening width of the neck is the width of the opening at the top of the neck that appears when the cover part is removed / removed. As described above, the width of the neck is 1 / 2.5 times to 1 / 1.5 times the width of the body part. When the size is 1 / 2.5 times or less, the insertion angle and the tiltable angle of the syringe become smaller, which is not preferable because it is inconvenient to use. On the contrary, when the width of the width is 1 / 1.5 times or more, the insertion angle and the tilt of the syringe are possible. Although the angle becomes large, the cross-sectional area of the connection portion between the main body portion and the lid portion becomes large and difficult to separate, which is undesirable. More preferably, the size of the opening width of the neck is 1 / 2.2 to 1 / 1.8 times with respect to the body portion.

As described above, the height of the neck protrusion is 1/5 times to 1/3 times the opening width, and if the opening height is 1/5 times or less with respect to the opening width, the cover part can be easily separated from the main body part in use. When the connecting portion of the neck upper end and the lower end of the cap becomes difficult to be formed by the BFS process, and if the opening is 1/3 times or more with respect to the opening width, the position of the connecting portion is further away from the main body part, and the cover part is separated from the main body part in use. Since a lot of force must be applied, each is undesirable. More preferred neck protruding heights are 1 / 4.5 to 1 / 3.5 times the opening width.

In the conventional plastic ampoule, as described above, the protrusion of the neck was rectangular in cross section or quadrangular with a curved surface. However, in the plastic ampoule of the present invention, the projecting shape of the neck is rhombic in cross section. Since the plastic ampoule of the present invention has a relatively low height neck, in order to manufacture a connection part (a connection part that can be separated when used) in the BFS process, a rhombic shape in cross section, that is, from the top surface of the body portion to the neck top surface It is necessary to configure the protrusion of the taper. As can be seen in the Applicant's Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2002-1987 for the BFS process for the production of plastic ampoules, the protruding inner surface of the sealing mold forms the connection by compressing the parison when forming the neck. Therefore, when the height of protrusion of the neck is low, it is advantageous to form the upper part of the neck in the form of a lozenge in cross section as in the present invention.

The plastic ampoule according to the present invention is not particularly limited in cross-sectional shape of the main body, and various shapes having a symmetrical structure such as a circle, a square, a hexagon, and an octagon are possible.

The plastic ampoules according to the invention may also be made in one individual unit, but are preferably made of a collection of two or more ampoules in which these ampoules are connected laterally so as to be separable. A method of manufacturing such an ampule assembly is disclosed in detail in Korean Patent No. 270,397 of the applicant described above, and this manufacturing method is incorporated in the present invention by reference.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

4A, 4B and 4C show front, side and bottom views, respectively, of a plastic ampoule 400 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to these drawings, the plastic ampoule 400 is, in its overall configuration, a main body portion 410 containing the contents 200 and a cover portion integrally formed on the main body portion 410 and separated / removed in use. Consists of 420. The main body 410 is composed of a reservoir 412 containing the contents 200 and a neck 414 extending from the reservoir 412 toward the cover 420. The lower end surface of the cover part 420 is indented so that it may be merged according to the shape of the upper surface of the main body part 410 (specifically, the upper end surface of the main body part and the upper end surface of the protruding neck).

The outer circumferential surface of the upper end 416 of the neck 414 is connected to the outer circumferential surface of the lower end 426 of the inner cap 424 of the lid 420. As shown in FIG. 5, the connection part 430 is a part which is removed when the cover part 420 is pulled or twisted in a state where the main body part 410 is fixed. Therefore, the main body portion 410 in the state before separation is connected to the cover portion 420 by the connection portion 430. Although the upper surface of the body portion 410 and the lower surface of the cover portion 420 may be interconnected in the molding process by the BFS process, the force applied for the separation of the cover portion 420 is mainly the connection. Used to separate the portion 430.

As described above, since the connection portion 430 is formed by being compressed by the protruding inner surface of the sealing mold in the BFS process, the cap 424 of the lid 420 is hollow like the neck 414.

5, in the plastic ampoule 400 according to the present invention, the top opening width w of the neck 414 is approximately 1 / 2.5 times to the width W of the body portion 410. It has a size of 1 / 1.5 times. In addition, the height h at which the neck 414 protrudes from the top surface 418 of the body portion 410 is approximately 1/5 times to 1/3 times the opening width w. The reason for setting these ranges is the same as the above description. Further, the protruding surface 418s from the upper end surface 418 of the main body portion 410 to the upper end 416 of the neck 414 is tapered, thus exhibiting a diamond shape in cross section.

The shape of the main body 410 may be in the form of a square pillar as shown in FIG. 4C as a whole, or may be in the form of a cylinder as shown in FIG. 4D as a whole. However, various other forms are possible regardless of these shapes.

6a and 6b show a state of use of the plastic ampoule according to the invention. First, referring to FIG. 6A, the cover part 420 is removed / removed from the body part 410 of the plastic ampoule 400, and then the syringe 300 is inserted into the body part 410 through the neck 414. The contents 200 contained in 412 are taken out. At this time, at least the needle 310 and the needle connector 320 of the syringe 300 is inserted into the body portion 410, the plastic ampoule 400 according to the present invention has a wide range of opening width (w) and low protrusion of a specific range Since it has the neck 414 which consists of height h, the insertion angle (alpha) of the syringe 300 with respect to the main-body part 410 can be enlarged. In addition, even if the inclination angle β of the main body 410 with respect to the bottom surface is reduced, the contents 200 in the main body 410 can be easily taken out using the syringe 300.

6B shows another use state of the plastic ampoule 400 according to the present invention. In FIG. 6B, the neck of the plastic ampoule 400 has a wider opening width w, or the width of the syringe 300 used is relatively small, such that the needle 310 and the needle connector 320 of the syringe 300 are smaller. In addition, a part of the main body 330 is also inserted into the main body 410 through the neck 414. In this case, even when the main body 410 is not tilted, the syringe 300 may be inserted deeply to extract the contents 200. However, since the contents 200 may be contaminated by the body 330 of the syringe 300, special care is required.

7A and 7B show front and bottom views of an assembly in which a plurality of plastic ampoules according to the present invention are connected. FIG. 7A shows an aggregate 500 of plastic ampoules 400 whose overall shape is close to a square pillar, and FIG. 7B shows an aggregate 500 'of plastic ampules 400' whose overall shape is close to a cylinder.

The manufacturing method of such aggregates 500, 500 ', in which a plurality of plastic ampoules are connected laterally, is disclosed in detail in the applicant's Korean Patent No. 270,397 described above, which is incorporated herein by reference. The plastic ampoules 400, 400 ′ are connected to the adjacent plastic ampules 400, 400 ′ by the side projections 418 of the body portions 410, 410 ′, which are easily separated by small forces. Can be.

Those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will be able to make various applications and modifications within the scope of the present invention based on the above contents.

Unlike the conventional plastic ampoule based on the structure of the glass ampoule, the plastic ampoule according to the present invention has a neck configured to exhibit sufficient physical properties of the plastic and to be manufactured. It makes the separation / removal easier, and when inserting the syringe through the neck to take out the contents, the insertion angle can be increased and the contents can be taken out even when the main body is not inclined much. It has the advantage of less risk.

Claims (5)

In the plastic ampoule comprising a main body portion for storing the contents and a cover portion removed when used in a state integrally molded in the main body portion, The neck extending from the reservoir containing the contents toward the lid portion has an opening width of 1 / 2.5 to 1 / 1.5 times the width of the body portion and is 1/5 to 1/3 times the height of the opening width. A plastic ampoule protruding from an upper end surface of the main body and tapered from the upper end surface of the main body to a neck upper end (providing a lozenge shape in cross section). The plastic ampoule according to claim 1, wherein the opening width of the neck is 1 / 2.2 to 1 / 1.8 times the width of the body portion. 2. The plastic ampoule of claim 1 wherein the size of said projecting height of the neck is 1 / 4.5 to 1 / 3.5 times the opening width. The plastic ampoule according to claim 1, wherein the overall shape of the main body is a square column or a cylinder. A plastic ampoule assembly in which the plastic ampoules according to claim 1 are interconnected at the side of each body part in a number of two or more so that the force can be easily separated into individual units.