Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21F—PROTECTION AGAINST X-RADIATION, GAMMA RADIATION, CORPUSCULAR RADIATION OR PARTICLE BOMBARDMENT; TREATING RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED MATERIAL; DECONTAMINATION ARRANGEMENTS THEREFOR
  • G21F5/00—Transportable or portable shielded containers
  • G21F5/015—Transportable or portable shielded containers for storing radioactive sources, e.g. source carriers for irradiation units; Radioisotope containers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D11/00—Containers having bodies formed by interconnecting or uniting two or more rigid, or substantially rigid, components made wholly or mainly of plastics material
  • B65D11/16—Containers having bodies formed by interconnecting or uniting two or more rigid, or substantially rigid, components made wholly or mainly of plastics material with double walls
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D41/00—Caps, e.g. crown caps or crown seals, i.e. members having parts arranged for engagement with the external periphery of a neck or wall defining a pouring opening or discharge aperture; Protective cap-like covers for closure members, e.g. decorative covers of metal foil or paper
  • B65D41/02—Caps or cap-like covers without lines of weakness, tearing strips, tags, or like opening or removal devices
  • B65D41/04—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers secured by rotation
  • B65D41/0435—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers secured by rotation with separate sealing elements
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21F—PROTECTION AGAINST X-RADIATION, GAMMA RADIATION, CORPUSCULAR RADIATION OR PARTICLE BOMBARDMENT; TREATING RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED MATERIAL; DECONTAMINATION ARRANGEMENTS THEREFOR
  • G21F5/00—Transportable or portable shielded containers
  • G21F5/06—Details of, or accessories to, the containers
  • G21F5/12—Closures for containers; Sealing arrangements

Definitions

• This invention relates to containers and has a particularly useful but not exclusive use in relation to containers for the shipment of radiolabelled and other hazardous materials. These containers in some instances carry only a few microlitres.
• radiolabelled compounds such as 32P-, 33P- and 35S-labelled nucleotides
• the compounds have hitherto been transported from the site of manufacture to the end user at low temperatures (for example packed in dry ice at a temperature of -70 C to -80°C) to minimise radiochemical decomposition and this has resulted in bulky packaging which is inconvenient for disposal by users.
• a container having internally thereof a cavity opening to a neck portion of the container and a cap releasably secured on the neck, a liner adapted for disposition in the cavity and having an end flange arranged for engagement on the end of the neck, the liner having internally thereof and spaced from the inner end thereof an annular shoulder facing towards said end flange, and a sealing element for sealing the inner end portion of the liner and comprising a head adapted to form a seal with said shoulder and a stem extending along the liner for engagement with the underside of the cap whereby the cap operates to press said head into sealing engagement with said shoulder.
• the invention also provides a container having a neck to which opens a cavity formed in the container a cap releasably secured on said neck and covering the opening to said cavity, a liner disposed within the cavity and having an end flange by which the liner is supported from the upper end of the neck, the liner having internally thereof and spaced from its inner end an annular shoulder facing towards said end flange, and a sealing element having a head adapted to abut the shoulder and to form a liquid-tight seal therewith and a stem extending towards said end flange, the outer end of the stem being arranged for engagement with the underside of the cap such that when the cap is secured on said neck the head of the closure element is held in sealing engagement with the shoulder.
• the container is shown removably disposed in a two-part inner casing 10a, 10b which is in turn disposed in a multi-part outer casing 11a, 11b incorporating lead shielding.
• the container has a base part 12 formed from a transparent plastics mate-rial such as acrylic and providing an internal cav :.y 16, and a screw-cap 13 engaged on a screw-threaded collar portion 14 of the neck of the container. Spaced above the collar 14 the neck has a radially thickened end-part 15.
• the cavity 16 of the container is of generally cylindrical form with a rounded inner end, and a translucent liner 17 in the form of a v-vial made from a plastics material such as polypropylene is suspended by an end flange 18 thereof within the cavity.
• the end flange 18 of the liner rests on the top of the neck and has a down-turned skirt 19 which fits against the radially outer surface of the thickened end part 15 of the neck and which has an inturned lip 20 below the part 15.
• the end flange has an integral upstanding annular land 21 which is abutted by a gasket 22 contained within the cap 13.
• the upper portions of the liner 17 are disposed close to the wall of the recess, but the lower portions of the liner are of reduced diameter and are spaced away from the wall of the recess.
• the liner has spaced above its rounded lower or inner end an annular internal shoulder 23 facing towards the neck and a sealing element 25 extending along the liner has a head 26 which abuts the shoulder to form a seal.
• the shoulder 23 is substantially conical and the contacting surface of the head is part-spherical.
• the stem 27 of the sealing element is of much smaller diameter than the liner except at its outer end where it has an increased diameter portion 28 which is a loose fit against the internal surface of the liner and which provides an annular shoulder 29 at its inner end.
• the sealing element has a further annular shoulder 30 disposed inwardly of the shoulder 29 and facing towards the head 26. The upper end of the portion 28 abuts the gasket 22.
• An elongate conical recess 31 is formed in the upper end of the portion 28, and, when the cap 13 has been removed, is frictionally engageable by the correspondingly conical end of a rod-like implement e.g. a pipette tip (not shown) to enable the sealing element 25 to be lifted out of the cavity.
• a rod-like implement e.g. a pipette tip (not shown)
• FIG. 2 The construction illustrated in Figure 2 is generally similar to that shown in Figure 1 and corresponding components are indicated by corresponding reference numerals.
• the sealing element 25 is attached to the underside of the cap 13.
• no gasket is provided on the underside of the cap, and the upper end of the sealing element 25 extends upward beyond the end flange 18 and has an end portion 32 the outer diameter of which is an interference fit within the side wall of the cap.
• the upper end of the sealing element may be bonded to the underside of the cap.
• the underside of the enlarged end portion 28 of the sealing element abuts the sealing land 21 on the end flange of the liner.
• the sealing element 26 can be placed in a centrifuge tube to enable liquid remaining on the sealing element to be collected in the bottom of the centrifuge tube.
• the liquid to be transported is safely sealed in the bottom end of the cavity in the liner by the head 26 of the sealing element, and access to the liquid by means of a pipette for example is opened when the cap 13 and the sealing element 25 have been removed.
• the colourless transparency of the container and the colourless translucency of the liner enable a colour coding of the liquid to be used to identify the liquid in the container, if desired.
• the container can be used without the inner and outer casings 10a, 10b, 11a and 11b.
• the containers particularly described above provide a suitable means of transporting small volumes of potentially hazardous liquid materials in a container which has a much larger cavity. This large cavity provides greater convenience of operation.
• the ratio of liquid to total cavity volume can be typically in the range 1:2 to 1:100.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• High Energy & Nuclear Physics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Closures For Containers (AREA)
• Sealing Material Composition (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Centrifugal Separators (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=10743831

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Citations (4)

• 1993
  • 1993-10-20 GB GB939321612A patent/GB9321612D0/en active Pending
• 1994
  • 1994-10-19 WO PCT/GB1994/002288 patent/WO1995011511A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1994-10-19 JP JP7510189A patent/JPH08505233A/ja not_active Ceased
  • 1994-10-19 DE DE69411706T patent/DE69411706T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1994-10-19 CA CA002147656A patent/CA2147656A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1994-10-19 AT AT94930268T patent/ATE168495T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1994-10-19 EP EP94930268A patent/EP0679287B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (4)

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