US2236491A

US2236491A - Container

Info

Publication number: US2236491A
Application number: US151250A
Authority: US
Inventors: Campbell Argyle
Original assignee: Baxter Laboratories Inc
Current assignee: Baxter International Inc
Priority date: 1937-06-30
Filing date: 1937-06-30
Publication date: 1941-03-25
Anticipated expiration: 1958-03-25

Description

March 25, 1941. I CAMPBELL I 2,236,491

CONTAINER Filed June 30, 1937 This invention relates to a. container and more particularly tothe type of container in "which sterile fluids, such as intravenous solutions, are.

carried.

An object of the invention is to provide a container having improved sealing means which is efl'ective in maintaining a vacuum and which may be easily and conveniently removed to premore the container for withdrawal of its contents.

A specific object is to provide means Ior seaI- ing a container employing a flexible sealing member and including sin-table structure for clamping the flexible member against a plug or closure. Other objects will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment by the which according to my invention and with-all parts in place; Figure 2, a. plan view of the container as Figure 1, but with the cap and metal disk removed; Eigure 3, a sectional view in elevation, the section being taken as indicated at line 3 of Figure 1; Figure 4, 'a perspective view of the cap; Figure 5, a perspective view of the metal disk; Figure 6, a perspective view of the clamp ing ringyand Figure 7, a perspective view of the flexible disk.

In the illustrations given, A desimatu a contamer; B, a plug or closure; C,-'a sealing mem- 4 pair of openings l3 I, which may be of theher; and D, the means by which the plug and sealing member are held and conflned.

The, container A may be of any suitable type or size. As here shown'it comprises a bottle having a neck. ill equipp d with ribs or threads H extending therearound' TheplugBisseatedwithintheopeningof neck II and preferably has a top flange l2 extending horizontally from the top of the. plug and resting upon the top edge of the neck II. A

shape shown in. 8. 3.'extend through the plug,

. and if desired, a glass tube ll may be extended through opening II, the head ll of the tube resting within the shallow recess at the upper endoiopeningl3 Rreferably the p ugsshould be of or other resilient material, and-itis especially desirable that the portion of the plug M the 'annular flange I! be of resilient material.

. Over plug 3.1m thefleniblesealingmemher which commisesarelatively. tlln disk or g heet '0! soft rubber or accompanying drawing,' in

Figure 1 is a plan view of a container sealed sued PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER Argyle Campbell, Glenview, 11L, assignor to Baxter Laboratories, Inc a corporation of Delaware Application June 30, i937, Serial No. 151,250

2 Claims. (01. sis-s7) Disk C may be circular in form and is preferably coextensive with the top surface of plug B.

The means D by which the. plugand sealing member are con-fined in place comprises a. clamphis ring it which has its lower edge engaged under the beads H on the exterior of the bottle neck. Th top of the ring is turned inwardly forming a horizontal flange H which extends over the edge portion of the flexible disk C. As

shown more clearly in Figure 6 of the drawing,

the flange .II has one area cut away, th out It! extending to the base of the flangeand into side walls I. The purpose of this cut is toiexpose the'edge of the flexible disk at this area. so that when the seal is to be brokem'the edge of the disk may be grasped by the fingers or suitable instrument and tom 01!.

Over the disk and clamping member, I prefer to place a. metal disk. 2| which is also circular and has its edge portion extending over the horizontal flange ll of the clamping member. As shown in Figure 3, disk 20 is substantially coextensive with the annular flange H of the plug and sealing member 0.

Over the metal disk 2| is placed the cap 21 which at its lower edge is engaged under bead and has its side walls 22 extending adjacent the walls I. of the clamping member. The top of the cap is cut away at the center leaving the flange 13 which has its inner peripheral edge extending inwardly of the outer periphery of the metal disk II. If desired, a tear flap 24 maybe provided. The metal of the WP may be comparatively thin so that with the aid oi the flap, the metal may be torn away along the diametrically oppcoitethe weakened lines 25. -With this construction-the cap can be readily from the after being severed flh Sm or thecap halves notch rear wallet the cap to employed m1 umembodiment is more from the applicationSerialNo,v 86,878, "28, 4936.}; lt'isunder totearbeyond, 'thebottomv ,50" aka ..-"Iheparticulortypeo1cap' No. 2,108,583 which isstood, however, that any suitable cap or holding means may be used for confining the members in place in the manner described.

The improved container may be used for various and many purposes, but since it is particularly useful for shipping and storing intravenous solutions while maintaining the solutions under partial vacuum, the operation of the device will be explained in connection vwith this use.

After the container A is filled with the solution, the plug B is placed in the neck and the disk C placed on top of the plug. When a suitable vacuum has been drawn, or produced the flexible disk will operate as a valve and will be drawn tight against the plug to prevent the admission of air. Being resilient and flexible, the disk will be pulled downwardly into the top of openings i3 and i4, and slight depressions will appear on the top of the disk which mark the location of the openings through the plug. .Being thus drawn into the openings of the plug, the disk is main-'- tained in tight engagement with the top, edges of these openings so that there is less likelihood of air escaping into the container. In the case of opening l3 where the glass tube it is used, the disk will be drawn slightly into the end of the tube and will make tight engagement with the top interior edge of the tube.

The seal formed as above described, however, is not sufiicient for an extended period of time, and a permanent seal is provided by clamping the edges of the flexible member to the plug and securing the whole structure firmly tothe' container. This is accomplished by placing the clamping member 15 over the disk C and turning it tobring its lower edge into tight engagement with the under side of threads Ii. It will be ob served that the horizontal flange ll of member l6 extends over the peripheral edge portion of disk C and is disposed directly over the top edge of 'the container neck and annular flange II of plug B. As the clamping member [6 is turned down, this horizontal flange I1 presses the peripheral portion of disk C against the annular flange l2, and also causes the flange I! to be pressed tightly against the top edge'oi the container.

To provide a. more firm pressure against the edge of disk C, I place the metal disk 20, over the clamping ring, and then place the cap 2| over the disk 20. When the cap 2| is tightly turned into place, it will bear down firmly against the edge portion of metal disk 20, and this pressure is transmitted through horizontal flange ll of member 16 to the edge portion of the flexible disk. In' this way the soft-flexible disk is pressed into sure sealing engagement with the resilient annular flange of the plug. Also the plug is securely clamped to the container and held firmly in place. With this construction the openings through the plug are doubly sealed, bea ing sealed first through the engagement of the disk with the top edge of these "openings, and secondly by having the edge portions of the disk clamped firmly to the plug flange.

When the contents of the container are to be used, the tear'flap 2| may be grasped with the fingers and pulled to sever the front side of the cap. After spreading thesides oi the cap it will fall free of the bottle,and the metal disk II is then loose and may. be'removed.

Removal of the cap and metal disk, however, does not release the vacuum, and the openings through the plug are still held by the double seal. To expose these openings so that the contents may be withdrawn, the operator grasps the flexible disk C at the cut away area of member 16 where the edge is exposed and pulls this disk free of the container. It may often occur that the disk is so tightly held under horizontal flange ll that it' will not pull from under this flange but 5 will tear. Whether the flexible disk tears or not makes little difl'erence because it is always possible to remove the portion over openings I3 and II and permit the removal of the contents.

, In the common use of such containers the clamping ring I6 is left in place to maintain the plug in position during subsequentoperations. Here it may be noted, however, that were it not for the cut l8 in member Ii, it would be exceedingly diflicult to remove the flexible disk since the edges of the disk would then be tightly held under the flange with no place to obtain a start in removing this disk.

As shown inthe drawing, I prefer to locate the two openings l3 and M in line with the cut it in member l6. By this arrangement, the user will be required to uncover opening Mfirst, thus causing the air to enter this opening before it has an opportunity to enter the opening 13 which is farther removed from cut 18. Thus when the container is standing in the position shown in Fig. 3, the air entering the container will be caused to enter through opening it and thus remain at the top of the container without passing through the liquid. 11f the air which enters the bottle upon the breaking of the vacuum should pass through opening I3, it would be guided by the glass tube 15 to the bottom of the liquid and then allowed to bubble back through the liquid to the top of the-container. Thus the incoming aid would be washed by the liquid and the liquid would be to some extent thereby contaminated.

In some instances, it may be desirable to have the air first enter through opening I3 as, for example, if the bottle should be inverted, the air entering would pass through the tube and come to rest at the bottom of the bottle which now, after inversion, is the top, and thus the air would not be permitted to pass through the liquid. To accomplish this purpose, the plug B would be rotated to bring the opening 13 closer to the cut l8 while opening ll would be on the opposite side.

The important advantage of the cut I8 is that it permits an alignment of the openings whereby the user can be caused, in the normal operation of opening the container, to uncover one opening before he uncovers the other. In this connection, it will be understood that there may be 5:) any number of openings and that they may be arranged in any desired alignment.

It will be understood that while 'we'have shown telescoping cap members for clamping the plug in position, the cap members may, if desired, 00

be equipped with threads for securing the cap therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible, in view of the prior art.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by letters patent, is: I

'1. In combination with a. container having a neck with its opening closed by a plug, said plug 1 having at least one opening therethrough, a clamping ring engaging said container and having an edge extending over.said plug, a flexible sealing diskover said plug and having itsperipheral edge portion extending between said clamping ring edge and said plug, a metal disk extending over said flexible disk and over said clamping ring edge, and a cap extending over said metal disk.

2. In combination with a container having an opening and a rubber plug closing said opening, said plug being provided with at least one opening therethrough, a flexible rubber sealing disk extending over said plug, a clampingmember engaging said container and having its central area cut away, said member being'provided with an integral endless peripheral portion extending around said container, the inner peripheral edge portion of said member extending over the edge portion of said sealing disk, said inner peripheral edge portion having an area cut away so as to expose a part of the edge of said disk, and means secure with said container for bearing against said peripheral edge portion of said clamping member to maintain said rubber disk and plug in resilient engagement. g

3. In combination with a, containerhaving an opening and a closure for said opening, said closure being provided with at least two passages therethrough, a flexible disk extending over said closure, a clamping ring engaging said container, said clamping ring being provided with an integral endless peripheral portion extending around said container and having an edge portion extending over said flexible disk and pressing it against said closure, said edge portion having an area cut away to expose a portion of the peripheral edge of said flexible disk, said cutaway edge portion being in alignment with said two passages.

- ARGYLE CAMPBELL.