PT1700071E - Process for the conditioning of liquefied natural gas - Google Patents

Description

1

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a container and apparatus for the production of the same " The present invention relates to a container, in particular a hermetically sealed ampoule, comprising a receiving hollow body for receiving a dispensing means, a discharge opening formed in the receiving body for discharging the discharge means, from of the receiving body, and a closure part presenting on the outer side of the receiving body, a hollow chamber which is freely retained in the discharge opening and forming a top part of the container, wherein the catch is detachably connected to the receiving body through a separation point and has wall components opposing each other in the hollow chamber area.

Known containers of this type particularly serve to accumulate in the hollow receiving bodies discharge means of various types, for example in the form of medical solutions, suspensions or semi-solid preparations, such as gels. In order to release a discharge opening from the receiving body rapidly, a catch part is provided which forms the top part of the container, wherein the catch part is removable from the receiving body, by means of a known Twist movement -Off (torsional movement) as a cable closure through a predetermined separation point.

In order that the discharge opening provided in the receiving body is not involuntarily closed during the molding process for the separating point vessel, the closure part has a hollow chamber, which passes to the receiving body in the predominant form of fluid or medium through the discharge aperture and delimiting its lateral collar, which is otherwise limited to the outside by the wall components of the container. If, upon opening the toggle closure by Twist-Off or twisting movement, the catch part separates from the remaining receiving body through the separation point, the hollow chamber also ensures that the discharge aperture remains free from the its original discharge content and the substantially non-delimiting wall components of the container are so displaced towards each other that there would be an undesired closure of the discharge port.

Thus, US 3 993 223 A1, DE 259 204 C and FR 1 283 152 A disclose solutions for a container with a conical pipette-type discharge opening, in order to aid in the reduction of inadvertent penetration of the discharge means from the discharge vessel. However, in the separation or shearing of the respective closure top piece, in order to release the discharge opening, displacement of the wall components delimiting the discharge opening may occur, which may inadvertently lead to the demonstrated closure of the opening of the closure. download. In order to ensure unrestricted discharge of the discharge means which is contained in the receiving body, the free cross-section of the discharge opening has to be dimensioned according to the size of the free inlet cross section of said hollow chamber. The latter has however the disadvantage that the provisioned medium in the receiving body proceeds into the hollow chamber and then fails to flow back, in particular when the fluid medium stored in the hollow chamber is retained in the hollow chamber due to its surface tension. If a part of the discharge means remains in the hollow chamber, it is lost in a withdrawal process from the container, which is particularly disadvantageous when it reaches the discharge of a precise dosage or when the discharge means is in itself very expensive, or where precise discharge of suspensions is required on mixing ratios and precise concentrations for subsequent application.

DE 102 02 907 A1, in order to avoid a loss of relevant active substance, proposes to provide a sealed container with an improved closure; however the proposed measures may further result in a loss of active substance in the hollow chamber of the closure part forming the top piece. The known container has, as part of a discharge opening, a discharge nozzle part and a hollow closure section with an enlarged area. The closure section is attached to the discharge nozzle piece through a detachable tape in the form of a separation point. The increased area in the hollow closure section partly avoids the presence of liquid droplets within the closure section, wherein the discharge nozzle part has a linearly extending inner and upward wall, which is intended to ensure that the liquid droplets or liquid particles in the closure section and the discharge nozzle piece flow back down into the container body section with the hollow receiving body. Accordingly, the liquid is no longer sprayed when the closure section, along the detachable strip in the form of a separation point, is separated from the discharge nozzle piece as part of the discharge opening.

In spite of these measures, it is not excluded in particular in fluids having a high surface tension that they are deposited in the remaining volume of the hollow chamber and that they are not available for removal and through the walls of the vessel which run in line straight and mandatorily provided in the area of the discharge nozzle part, the free design of container geometries is restricted. Said known container may be obtained in the context of a conventional blow molding, filling and sealing process, as well as the container according to the invention described below.

In addition, it is known from US 2004/182883 A1 a hermetically sealed generic container, in particular a hermetically sealed ampoule, with a hollow receiving body for receiving a discharge medium having a discharge opening, which opens, outer side of the receiving body, into a hollow chamber removably retained in the discharge opening, which belongs to a catch part forming the top part of the container, which is closed through a separation point with the body of in the area of the discharge opening. A further container of the type is disclosed in WO 01/89940 A1.

Below the separation point and thus outside the hollow chamber as part, in the container disclosed in US 2004/182883 A1 are opposed wall members of the receiving body, forming a bottleneck, within the scope , in the sense of occupying an equalized conicity with respect to one another, wherein the looseness point is at least 0.1 pulley apart from the opening of the removable container in order to reduce within the hollow chamber the possible amount of the storage medium in the container. The known solution, seen in the axial direction, is relatively large and needs an additional intermediate chamber for the formation of the bottleneck, which lies between the hollow chamber, above the separation point and bottleneck point, below of the separation point, resulting in an additional manufacturing cost. In the known solution, therefore, the discharge means remains at least partially within said hollow chamber above the point of separation with the opening of the vessel, so that it also leads to losses of the active substance or discharge means, since a container receiving is performed. From this state of the art, the invention aims to improve the solution already known for the purpose, insofar as any additional discharge means does not remain in said hollow chamber of the top or closure part, in which they do not have to be preset hopper geometries must be applied from the discharge opening in the receiving body as an effective container interior, so that in this regard, in the broader context, a free container design, geared to customer needs and considerations of practicality . This object is achieved through a container having the features of claim 1 in its entirety and such a container can be realized with a device having all the design features of claim 8. The container according to the invention is characterized by opposite wall components of the closure member, spaced apart from the separation point, are moved into the hollow chamber such that the remaining transverse section of the hollow chamber free chamber is reduced with its receiving volume such that the discharge means stored in the receiving body can not penetrate the hollow chamber. Contrary to the known solution, there is also no raised wedge-or-bead-like area at the free upper end of the hollow closure section of the top member as a hollow chamber, but rather the displacement of opposing wall sections is provided delimit the hollow chamber, and thus reduce the volume of the free chamber in the hollow chamber in the moved interior, which results in a clearly improved volume reduction.

Adjacent opposing wall components moving into the hollow chamber transversely or inclined to a discharge aperture reduce the volume of the hollow chamber such that the discharge medium, including also those having a thin viscosity, can not in any way remain in the hollow chamber, remaining only in the hollow receiving body. On this basis, therefore, there is no problem in the solution of the invention that the discharge medium penetrating the hollow chamber must be returned to the interior of the container through the straight surfaces of the discharge nozzle part, but rather the design of the discharge aperture, as well as the associated formed discharge nozzle part, is selected in an enlarged schematic concept, which in particular permits short longitudinal measurements in the axial direction of the container, during the embodiment. Said hollow chamber, in particular in spherical shape, also serves to remove plastic material in the molding of a " edge ", in order thereby to reduce the wall thickness of the plastic so as to arise said predetermined break point. The device according to the invention, which is for the manufacture of said container, comprises at least two molds for the manufacture of the top part of the container, which in turn has molding recesses for the hollow chamber and for the components of the closure part, which delimit the hollow chamber. In this regard, the devices are freely available on the market in a variety of embodiments and enable the embodiment of a known blow molding, filling and sealing process as has become known in the technological world, for example under the designation " Bottelpack® ". From these known devices, the device of the present invention is characterized in that within molding recesses existing in the hollow chamber are provided actionable molds which are facing one another in a retracted position allowing a complete realization of the hollow chamber and in a relaxed position form the adjacent wall components of the hollow chamber, under reduced free-chamber volume. In this regard. The molds which are formed as operative punches, advantageously pneumatically driven, allow sufficient space to be applied within the respective molding jaws with their molding re-entrances, and enable a safe operation in terms of time and process . By integrating the additional molds into the molding jaws, a sufficient space, as well as a safer functional shape, is thus ensured and can be realized more economically.

Other advantageous embodiments are the subject of further dependent claims. The container and apparatus according to the invention will now be explained in detail with reference to an embodiment based on the drawing. The figures show in principle, and in illustration not to scale

Fig. 1 is a front view of a container composite from five individual containers, wherein viewed in the direction of view of Fig. 1, the rightmost container represents an embodiment of the prior art;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the composite according to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged view in the direction of view of Fig. 1 of the top leftmost piece within the circular section shown with " X ";

Fig. 4 shows a front view of elements of a molding jaw, and that the molding jaw pieces are shown for performing the geometry of the container, according to Fig. 3, and the effective container is not shown from Fig. of the machining of the mold, for the sake of simplicity of illustration in Fig. 4;

Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of a partial section rotated 180Â ° on the mold according to Fig. 4, once with service plunger distended and again retracted;

Fig. 6 shows a longitudinal section through the mold according to Fig. 4 for a container manufacturing mold. The container according to the invention has in particular the form of a hermetically sealed ampoule. A composite of five pertinent containers is shown in Figure 1, wherein the individual containers can be separated along their respective longitudinal abutment collar under the formation of a single container. It can produce almost any series of containers, or individual containers.

Said containers are made of a plastic moldable material, for example, composed of polyamide or a polyethylene material. Furthermore, it is possible for the container products to be obtained by the coextrusion process with a multilayer wall structure, or the plastic can be provided with a coating, to increase its impermeability, where for example the container can be evaporated on the outer side. Preferably, materials are used for blow molding, filling and sealing processes, as for example became known in the technology world under the trade designation " bottelpack® ".

Each container has a blow molded hollow receiving body 10, which serves to receive a discharge medium not shown, inter alia, in the form of sterile bulk medical fluids, suspensions, gels and the like. As shown in particular in Figure 3, the receiving body 10 is provided with a discharge opening 12 for discharging the stored discharge means, which opens, from the outside of the receiving body 10, into a hollow chamber 14 being removably retained in the discharge opening 12 and which is a closure member 18 forming a top part 16 of the container, the closure member being releasably attached to the receiving body 10 through a dispensing point in the area of the discharge opening 12. In this sense, the separation point 20 can be designed through a wall member in low wall resistance plastic, which projects between the top piece 16 and the body of In this regard, the separating point 20 is in any case designed such that the top or catch part 16, 18 may be rotated and removed manually from the receiving body 10, in a manner such as a catch with handle (Twist- Off), to thereby enable release of the discharge opening 12 for a process of removing the discharge medium. In this regard, the separation process is known from the prior art in a variety of embodiments, such as are available on the market, so that the present document will not dwell on this point in more detail.

In the observation direction of Fig. 1, a container 10 is shown, which is further provided with a conventional hollow chamber solution. The hollow chamber 14 for this purpose is formed as a solid sphere and ensures with its collar that both during the molding process of the container and subsequently in the separation of the top piece 16, the discharge aperture 12 is not closed in such a way 11, while remaining open for the desired removal process.

Thanks to the spherical shape of the hollow chamber 14 it is ensured that the plastic material used can be drawn into the mold through a type of edge, so as to reduce the plastic material to form the predetermined break point 20.

Now, however, it can not be excluded that the discharge medium stored in the receiving body 10 remains in the hollow chamber 14 and remains there due to the respective surface tension of the discharge means, with the result that the discharge medium retained in the hollow chamber 14 can no longer be made available for the subsequent discharge process through the hollow discharge body 10. The relevant remainder is in particular not tolerable in the case of a high precision dosage when the discharge medium is in itself very expensive and / or in cases of mixtures and suspensions with the discharge medium in which a predefined or desired concentration plays a preponderant role.

In contrast, in the observation direction of Fig. 1, there are shown four containers of the solution according to the invention, which are arranged on the left and which also cover the conventional solution, wherein for reducing the free volume of the hollow chamber 14 , the opposing wall members 22 of the catch member 18 are moved into the hollow chamber 14, thereby to prevent the discharge means stored in the receiving body 10 from entering the hollow chamber 14.

Advantageously, it is envisaged that, according to the presentation illustrated in the figures, the displaced wall components 12 of the catch 18 protrude transversely with respect to the discharge opening 12 so that, in a wider context, a relatively large contact surface is obtained for opposing wall components 22 as they are in contact with one another in an opposite displacement, also transversely of the longitudinal axis 24 of the container (compare Fig. 2 and Fig. 3) . In combination with the embodiment, it would also be possible for the wall components 22 to be displaced to be left at an oblique angle (not shown) in opposite directions. The fact that both opposing wall components 22 are moved homogeneously with respect to each other, a favorable flow behavior is achieved for the plastic material, so that the tension peaks are avoided during the molding process and, therefore, any points of failure. It has also been ensured by the uniformly moving movement of the two wall components 22 to a hollow chamber 14, that the sensitive region of the discharge opening is not affected, in particular to ensure that the free rim of the discharge opening is preserved from the section transverse, so that a smooth collection process can subsequently be ensured. For sensitive process control, it is advantageous that opposing and opposing displaced wall components 22 engage within the hollow chamber 14 of the closure member 18; however, for the function of the invention, it would also be sufficient for the wall components 22 to be in any case moved relative to one another, that the remaining free cross-section of the hollow chamber 14 is so reduced with its reception volume , and that the discharge means 13 could not enter the hollow chamber 14 due to its surface tension.

As further shown by Figures 1 and 3, the wall components 22 moved in contact with one another leave a free annular chamber segment 26 within the hollow chamber 14 and the pertinent embodiment provides an optimum level with respect to the flow behavior of the plastic synthetic material, as for the effective molding and retention capacity of the discharge medium. Regardless of this, it is possible to define differently opposed wall components to move relative to each other, in specific container geometries, or to implement specific luer lock shapes (not shown). Said annular space in the form of the annular chamber segment 26 opens in the direction of observation of the figures from above into the discharge opening 12 and allows a compensation of the pressure based on the situation of the receiving body 10, so that at that point also the unwanted discharge means would be capable of being drawn from the receiving body 10, for example by means of a vacuum effect towards the hollow chamber 14, which also applies to the case where the separation is performed on the separation point 20. The device according to the invention for the production of the container according to one of Figs. 1 to 3 is described in more detail in accordance with the representations according to Fig. 4. The device according to the invention has at least two molding jaws 28 for the manufacture of the top piece 16 of the container. According to the presentation of Fig. 4, only half of one of the two molding jaws 28 is shown and, for the opening and closing of the mold, a second molding jaw not shown in detail is moved with re- molding 30 in spacing or approaching the shown molding jaws 28, according to Fig. 4. Both molding jaws 28 are regularly moved uniformly away from or close to one another. Mechanical molding devices commonly associated with the field of blow molding, filling and sealing processes, as for example known under the brand name " bottelpack " are commonly of relevant use.

In the molding jaw 28 shown in Fig. 4, in the direction of observation of Fig. 4, a further molding jaw 32 is provided which is only partially shown to form the receiving body 10 and on top of that is disposed a terminal molding jaw 34. Depending on the manufacturing process chosen, the molding jaws allow to be driven simultaneously; there is, however, also the possibility of the individual molding jaws moving against each other, for example by first activating a pair of molding jaws 28 for forming the top piece and catch part 16, 18 and then thereafter the remaining pair of molding jaws 32 being driven to provide the desired hollow receiving body 10 for a vessel.

As is further shown in Fig. 4, molding recesses 36 are provided in respective molding jaws 28, to obtain the hollow chamber 14, respectively, the wall components of the closure part 18 delimiting the hollow chamber 14. View in the direction of observation of Fig. 4, 15 the tool for the production of the container in which the hollow chamber 14 is conceived in the form of a hollow complete sphere according to the configuration of the container is again fully disposed to the right, according to the configuration of the container with the rightmost display of Fig. 1. Thus, the possibility arises of combining, within a molding mold, free hollow chamber cross-sections with one another and the like, with hollow chamber cross-sections reduced to different containers, if seemingly necessary from a practical point of view.

As is further shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, there are provided molds 38 operable within the molding recesses 36 which are in their hollow chamber 14, the molds being advantageously of the individual operating punch type design 40. The mold the relative extent 38 passes through the re-entrant 36 in the form of a canopy or hemisphere, within the respective molding jaw 28. The pertinent proportions are particularly evident in Fig. 5, which however, and contrary to the presentation according to Fig. 4 is shown in a 180 ° rotation, i.e., the molding re-entrances 30 for the receiving body 10 when viewed in the direction of observation of Fig. 5, shown above and the catch 18 is, consequently, oriented in the opposite direction, downwards.

To produce a hollow spherical chamber 14, when viewed in the viewing direction of FIG. 5, the right service punch 40 is retracted and, for the displacement of the wall components 22, the left service punch 40 for volume formation of the hollow chamber according to the invention, moves forward and projects into the interior 16 of the hemispherical re-entrant 36 and in each case, preferably, in that the relevant displaced wall section and the shape of wall member 22 comes into contact with the displaced wall member 22 of the service punch 40 of another corresponding molding jaw tool, which is not shown in detail and which is disposed on an opposite axis in the longitudinal direction.

If it is desired to achieve an intact hollow chamber cross-section, it naturally arises that, instead of the retracted cylindrical service punch 40 according to the representation of Figure 5, it completely abdicates and forms the shape in a conventional manner, as usual. If the hollow chamber 14 has a further geometrical structure, instead of the spherical shape shown, a corresponding free working cross-section of the service punch 40 used is then required. Since the molding jaw 28 shown in Fig. 4 is an independently actionable mold, in one embodiment of a modular concept the exchange of the molding jaws 28 is otherwise possible so as to achieve thereby with a single molding device or molding machine, different container geometries - and also the upper catch side. The representation according to Fig. 6 again refers to a longitudinal section through the molding tool associated with the molding jaw construction according to Fig. 4. According to the representation of Fig. 6, the service punch 40 is received therein in a guiding plate 42 which separates the interior of the drive chamber 44 within the same partial spaces 46, 48. Provided that the relevant partitions 46,48 are connected to a power source , for example in the form of a pneumatic supply, the service punch 40 can move from its inactive position shown in Fig. 6 to the right, in the sense of observation of Fig. 6, for example to assume a active position according to the representation according to Fig. 5, which represents the completion of the displacement of the achieved wall components.

By applying pressure in the chamber 46 and the pressure-free commutation of the partial chamber 48, the service punch 40 may again return to its inactive position, in which, at the free front end side of the service punch 40 it immediately coats the floor by means of sensors not shown in detail, the relevant operating position of the service punch 40 may be supervised and may be re-routed to a central drive of a service machine, which is presented without detailed description. Instead of the guide plate 42, it would also be possible in an embodiment of the device according to the invention, not shown in detail, to directly drive the service punch 40 through an operating or energy medium. It would also be possible to apply electromagnets, as they have been applied for example in the solenoid valve technique for years, in order to trigger a movement of the punch. There is also the possibility that at least a portion of the service punch 40 may proceed in an oblique configuration (not shown), rather than in a transverse configuration, provided that the geometry required for the container so requires. 18

In addition to said pneumatic or electromagnetic movement of respective operating punch 40, a purely hydraulic or electric drive unit is also possible. Depending on the desired hollow chamber geometry, the respective service punch 40 used may at least have an oval, star-shaped, or similar cross-sectional surface on its free end face. As indicated above, the movable service punch 40 may also extend in an inclined arrangement such that the hollow space 26 is closed above the predetermined break point 20. In addition, different shapes of hollow chamber, with the wall components supplied, in a finishing line for different contiguous containers, depending on the geometry of the respective service punch applied.

Lisbon, June 25, 2012

Claims (4)

A container comprising: a hollow receiving element (10) for receiving a discharge means, a discharge opening (12) formed in the receiving element (10) for dispensing the discharge medium from the receiving element (10), and a catch member (18) having a hollow chamber (14) on the outside of the receiving member (10), holding the discharge opening (12) free and forming a top member (16) of the container, the closure member (18) being detachably connected to the receiving member (10) by means of a separation point (20) and having wall components (22) opposite one another in the region of the chamber (14), characterized in that the wall components (22) of the closure element (18) opposite each other and spaced apart from the separation point (20) are moved into the hollow chamber (14) in order to reduce the remaining free cross-section of the chamber of the hollow chamber (14) with its reception volume, (10) can penetrate into the hollow chamber (14). The container according to claim 1, characterized in that the displaced wall components (22) of the closure element (18) project transversely towards the discharge opening (12) or assume an oblique angle thereto. The container according to claim 1, or 2, characterized in that the displaced wall components (22) touch inside the hollow chamber (14) of the closure element (18). The container according to claim 3, characterized in that the displaced wall components (22), which touch inside the hollow chamber (14), leave at least partially segments of the chamber (26) which open at least in the predominant form of discharge means in the dispensing aperture (12). The container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that on the outer peripheral side, the hollow chamber (14) is formed from wall components of a hollow sphere. The container according to any one of claims 4 to 5, characterized in that the chamber segments (26) form in their entirety an inherently closed annular space which encompasses the touchable wall components (22) and which ends into the dispensing aperture (12). An apparatus for the production of a container according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising at least two molding jaws (28) for producing the top component (16) of the container, which has molding recesses (36) for the hollow chamber (14) and for the wall components of the closure element (18), which delimit the hollow chamber (14), characterized in that within the molding recesses (36) (14) there are moldable parts (38) which can be triggered, wherein the parts, when turned towards one another in a retracted position, make possible the complete formation of the hollow chamber and, in a relaxed position, displace the components (22) of the hollow chamber (14) towards each other, as the free volume of the chamber is reduced in the molding. The apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that its molding part (38) consists of a forward and backward movable service punch (40) and which engages a molding re-entrant ( 36) to the hollow chamber (14), which may be associated therewith, preferably in a plane transverse to the longitudinal plane of the molding jaws (28) adjacent to one another or oblique thereto. The apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that a pneumatic drive means is used for the transverse movement of the respective service punch (40). Lisbon, June 25, 2012