US2231418A

US2231418A - Liquid-administering apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2231418A
Application number: US321870A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harold O Trotter
Original assignee: Eli Lilly and Co
Current assignee: Eli Lilly and Co
Priority date: 1940-03-02
Filing date: 1940-03-02
Publication date: 1941-02-11
Anticipated expiration: 1958-02-11

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M .4. w ,0, u m a v w .4 WM/ a WWWWfl/MWZ Feb. 11, 1941.

Filed March 2, 1940 Feb. 11, 1941. v H. o. TROTTER 2,231,418

LIQUID-ADMINISTERING APPARATUS Filed March 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- $11 010 d 750/752, BY w v 5/! WW [TTOP/YE r INVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IJQUID-ADMINISTERING APPARATUS Harold 0. Trotter, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application March 2, 1940, Serial No. 321,870

4 Claims. (Cl. 128-214) 5 sure for containers for intravenously administrable solutions, such for instance as dextrose or salt or gum salt (such as acacia) solutions; and to provide in connection therewith a hollow supply needle by which the solution may be withdrawn from the container and administered intravenously with substantial freedom from danger of contamination and which is 'so' related to the closure that when inserted therein'itwill stay in place against accidental, removal and will pro- 15 vide a leak-proof joint.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention. In those drawings, Fig. 1 is a schematic view of the entire apparatus for the intravenous administration of the desired liquid, with the 20 liquid container in the inverted position which it has when in use for supplying liquid; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmental view, mainly in section but with the rubber stopper partly in elevation, of the upper end of the liquid container, in upright po- 25 sition, showing the container mouth and one form of closure means embodying my invention, with the closure complete; Fig. 3 is a fragmental view generally similar to Fig. 2, but wholly in section, and showing the container mouth and the 30 closure of Fig. 1 after the protecting device has 35 separately in position one above ,another in the order in which they are put together; and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are fragmental sectional views showing modified forms of holding means'of the closure assembly.

The liquid container I0, shown inverted in Fig. 1 and upright in the other figures, may contain any desired liquid N for intravenous ad- ,ministration, such for instance as .a dextrose solution or a salt solution or a gum salt (acacia) solution; the nature of the solution to be administered is no part of my invention. The container I0 is usually in the 'form of a bottle, which at one end has a neck l2 terminating in an open mouth for receiving the closure mechanism.

50 Near the end remote from its mouth the bottle 55 supported in inverted position from a. bracket 1 l during the process of administering the solution.

, The open mouth of the container neck |2 receives a rubber stopper 20, which is put in place after the container has been filled with the desired liquid. This rubber stopper 20 is of 5 peculiar construction. It has at least one hole 2 I, and desirably two holes 2|, which extend from its lower face well uptoward its upper face, where each hole is desirably provided with a transverse shoulder 22 extending inwardly toward the center line of the hole and from which a smaller hole-portion 23 extends upward still further toward the upper face of the stopper but not completely to that upper face. The upper end of each smaller hole-portion 23 is com- 'pletelgrclosed by a web 24 which lies just below the upper face of the stopper and is integral (of one piece). with the body of the rubber stopper 20. stopper 20 is provided with a depression 25 which indicates the location of the hole beneath it.

Therubber stopper 20 fits within-the mouth of the container neck I 2, and at its upper peripheral edge it has a circumferential flange 30 which overlies and'bears against the upper edge of the wall which forms the container neck. While the rubber stopper can be held in place merely by friction, due to its fit in the container mouth. I prefer to hold it in place by a ring 3|, preferably of sheetmetal, which has an inwardly extending and generally fiat portion which overlies the stopper-flange 30, and also has a skirt portion which extends down past the flange 30 and past a bead 32 that is provided around the mouth of the container neck l2. The ring 3| is put in place over the rubber stopper 20 after that stopper has been put into the container mouth. The skirt of the ring 3| may have different forms. In the forms shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 7, this skirt is unthreaded, and is crimped around and Above each web 24 the upper face of the under the bead 32 to hold the ring and the rubber l stopper 20 firmly in place. In the forms shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the skirt of the ring 3| is provided with screw threads which co-operate with screw threads 33 on the exterior of the container neck I 2. In normal use, the rubber stopper 20 and the ring 3| are never removed.

After the container has been closed by the rubber stopper 20, and the rubber stopper has desirably been fastened in place by the ring 3|, a removable protecting device is put in place over them. This removable protecting device may take different. forms.

In the form of protecting device shown in Figs.

2, 4, and 5, a relatively rigid disk 35, conveniently of sheet metal, is laid over the upper face of the rubber stopper 26, and over the fiat portion of the ring 3! when that ring is used. The disk 65 is conveniently of about the same diameter as the flange 36. In Figs. 2 and 4 the disk 361s held in place by a second sheet-metal ring 36,

which has an inwardly extending generally flat portion that extends inward andoverlies the edge of the disk 35, and also has a skirt portion which fits over the skirt portion of the ring 3! and which is also crimped below the bead 32. The ring 36, however, is an easily breakable ring. In the form shown in these figures, it has two parallel slots 3'5 in its skirt portion, and two parallel slots 38 in its flat portion, to provide between the slots a strip which may be easily torn out. That intervening strip between the slots 36 is continuous with an inwardly extending tab or finger-clip 39 which lies fairly close against the top of the disk and which can be lifted with the fingers to provide a handle by which the strip may be torn loose from the remainder of the ring 36 to break that ring and thus permit its easy removal from the container. When the ring 36 is thus removed, the disk 65 is released and may also be removed, to expose the upper surface of the rubber stopper 26, and thus to make accessible the two webs 26 which normally close the upper ends of the holes 2!. But the ring 3! still remains in place.

In the modifications shown in Figs. 5, 6, and '7, the rubber stopper 26 and the ring M are the same as has already been described, with that ring 3i held in place either by crimping (Fig. '7) or by screw threads (Figs. 5 and 6). But the protecting device is a screw-cap 66,-which isput over the stopper 26 and ring at and is screwed into place. The screw threads of the screw-cap 66 may co-operate with screw threads 6| provided on the exterior of the container neck l2 below the head 32 in Fig. '1 or below and larger "than the screw threads 33 in Fig. 6; or it may cooperate with screw-threads on the outside of the screw-threaded ring 6| of Fig. 5, in which case the skirt of the ring 3| may be extended downward to provide a portion which may be gripped by the thumb and fingers to prevent the ring 3| from unscrewing when the screw-cap 60 is unscrewed. When the screw-cap 66 is used, it may be a complete cap with no hole through its fiat top portion, as in the structures of Figs. 6 and '7, in which case no separate disk 35 need be provided to overlie the stopper 20 and ring 3!; or it may be of annular form, with a central hole through it, as in the structure of Fig. 5, in which case the separate disk 35 is needed. In any of these modifications, of Figs. 5, 6, and 7, the screwvcap 66 is unscrewed and removed, and the disk 35 is also removed if it is present, to give access to the top of the rubber stopper 26 and to the webs 26.

In any of the variations of my invention, the container l6 and its contents are made suitably sterile. For instance, the contents of the container I6 may be sterilized before being put into the container, as by sterilizing filtration or by heat, and the container l0 and all the parts that form the closure may be suitably sterilized before assembly and carefully kept sterile during assembly; and/or the container l6 and its contents may be sterilized by heat after the assembly is complete. In either case, the ring 36 "or the screw-cap 40 will not be removed until it is desired to administer the contents of the container 56, so that until then the upper surface of the rubber stopper 20 is protected and kept sterile.

Also, in any of the variations of my invention, the ring 35 may be omitted; but if the ring 3i is used, as I prefer, it normally will never be re- 6 moved in use.

Although the upper surface of the rubber stopper 26 is exposed in preparing for the administration of the liquid in the container ii), the rubber stopper 20 is also never removed in use. In- 10 stead, the integral rubber web or webs 24 of that stopper are punctured by special hollow supply needles 50, one for each web 26. Each supply needle 56 is a tubular member cut obliquely at one end to form a puncturing point 5!, and provided at the other end with a bead or enlargement 52 for receiving a rubber tube and holding it in place. Above the oblique cut-off portion which provides the puncturing point 5!, the tubular supply needle 50 is flared to provide an en- 30 largement 53 which is slightly larger than the reduced-size hole portion 23 of the hole 2|, and which desirably has its upper end rounded as is clear from Fig. 3. Slightly higher on the tubular supply needle 50 is a second enlargement 54, conveniently in the form of a substantially fiat circumferential flange 54,-which by engaging the face of the rubber stopper limits the distance the supply needle may be thrust therethrough.

The distance between the two

enlargements

53 and 52 is desirably such that they may grip between them transverse faces of the rubber stopper around the hole through which the supply needle extends. In the preferred embodis5 ment illustrated, in which the shoulder 22 is provided, that distance between the

enlargements

53 and 54 is slightly less than the distance between the shoulder 22 and the face of the depression 25, so that by the resilient action of the rubber of the punctured web 24 on the supply needle 40 50, either by the frictional grip of the web on the supply-needle stem or by direct action against the enlargement 54 or by both, after the supply needle has been thrust through the web 24, the enlargement 53 may be drawn tight against the rubber corner between the shoulder 22 and the reduced-size hole extension 23, as is clear from Fig. 3. An effective seal is provided, both by that tight engagement and by the grip of the punctured web on the stem of the supply needle.

When it is desired to administer the liquid contents of the container Hi, the ring 36 or screwcap is removed, and with it the disk 35 if one is used, as has already been described, and two sterile supply needles 50, are put in place through 5 the two webs 26. Rubber tubes 60 and 6| are attached to the two sterile supply needles 56, preferably prior to their insertion through the stopper 26, by being slipped over the beads or enlargements 52 thereof. The rubber tube 60 leads to an 60 air filter 62, which may be simply a glass tube open at both ends and provided with an enlargement filled with sterile cotton or glass wool, which air filter 62 is conveniently suppo'rtedmin spring fingers 63 provided on the suspending ring 13. The rubber tube 6|, which may be provided with a tube clamp 64 for controlling the liquid flow through it, leads to a glass drip-tube 65 (conveniently a "Murphy drip) of standard construction, and a rubber tube 66, which may also be provided with a tubeclamp 61 to control the liquid flow through it, leads from the lower end of the drip-. tube 65 to one end of a glass needle-adapter observation tube 68, to the other end of which is attached the hypodermic needle 69 which is inserted 16 into the patients vein for the desired intravenous administration. The parts 64 to 69 are of wellknown construction The flow of the liquid from the container l0 into the patients vein by way of the hypodermic needle 69 is controlled by the tube clamps 64 and/or 61, and the physician is informed as to the operation by inspection of the drip-tube B5 and the needle-adapter observation tube 68.

I claim as my invention:

1. A container-closure for containers of liquids for intravenous administration, comprising a rubber stopper which has a hole extending from its lower face almost to its upper face and which also has between the end of the hole and said upper face an integral web which closes the hole-end,

said hole having a smaller portion near said web and a larger portion remote from said Web to provide a shoulder between said hole portions, in combination with a tubular supply needle which has one endlpointed for puncturing and insertion through said web and also has two spaced enlargements which on insertion of the supply needle through said web grip between them the shoulder within the hole closed by said web and the upper face of the rubber stopper.

2. A container-closure for containers of liquids for puncturing and insertion through one of said webs and also has two spaced enlargements which on insertion of that supply needle through 0.18 of said webs grip between them the shoulder within the hole closed by said web and the upper face of said rubber stopper.

3. A container-closure for containers of liquids for intravenous administration, comprising a rub ber stopper which has a hole extending from its lower face almost to its upper face and which also has between the end of the hole and said upper face an integral web which closes the holeend, which rubber stopper also has transverse faces around the hole above and below said web, in combination with a tubular supply needle which has one end pointed for puncturing and insertion through the web of said rubber stopper and also has two spaced enlargements which on such insertion of the supply needle through said web grip said transverse faces between them.

4. A container-closure for containers of liquids for intravenous administration, comprising a rubber stopper which has two holes each extending from its lower face almost to its upper face and which also has between the end of each hole and said upper. face an integral web which closes the hole-end, which rubber stopper also'has transverse faces around each hole above and below said