WO2015064596A1

WO2015064596A1 - Eye drop container

Info

Publication number: WO2015064596A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/078673
Authority: WO
Inventors: 繁彦小久保
Original assignee: ロート製薬株式会社
Priority date: 2013-11-01
Filing date: 2014-10-28
Publication date: 2015-05-07
Also published as: JP2015085997A; JP6310674B2

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a feature related to an eye drop container that is suitable for a small amount of eye drops and that can prevent solution leakage, without having a disadvantage such as causing a nozzle to deform. Provided is an eye drop container comprising the following: a container main body (1) including a nozzle (16) from which an eye drop solution is led out; and a cap (2) which is fit onto the container main body so as to be removable. The nozzle includes a head part (17) having a nozzle hole. The cap includes the following: a side wall part (30) that encloses the nozzle; a top part (32) that is connected to the side wall part and faces the head part of the nozzle; a first stopper part (34) that is provided protruding from the top part and is inserted into the nozzle hole; and a tubular second stopper part (36) that is provided protruding from the top part at a position on a concentric circle having as the center thereof the first stopper part.

Description

Eye drops container

The present invention relates to an eye drop container for containing eye drops (eye drops).

Conventionally, it includes a container body with a nozzle and a cap that is detachably attached to the container body. Such ophthalmic containers are generally known.

For example, in Patent Document 1, as one type of eye drop container, when a cap is attached to a container body, a shaft-shaped plug portion formed on the cap side is inserted into the nozzle hole (lightly press-fitted), and the plug is inserted. The nozzle opening is closed by the part. According to such an eye drop container, liquid leakage from the nozzle can be prevented while being carried.

Recently, for reasons such as prevention of breakage of makeup, an eye drop container has been considered in which the diameter of the nozzle is reduced and the amount of eye drops once applied, for example, about 40-50 μl, is about half of that amount, for example, about 20-30 μl.

In this type of eye drop container, the diameter of the nozzle hole is relatively small, and the cap portion on the cap side is also made smaller. For this reason, it becomes difficult to manage the dimensions of the nozzle hole and the plug portion, and it is difficult to reliably prevent liquid leakage from the nozzle. In particular, when the nozzle is formed of an elastomer, a soft resin, or the like, if the plug portion is inserted into the nozzle hole for a long period of time, the nozzle hole may be deformed (expanded) and cause liquid leakage. In the case of a conventional nozzle having a relatively large diameter, such a phenomenon does not occur because the periphery of the nozzle hole is thick.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-329855

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of preventing liquid leakage from an eye drop container suitable for a small amount of eye drop without causing the disadvantage of causing deformation of a nozzle.

An ophthalmic container of the present invention comprises a container body provided with a nozzle through which ophthalmic solution is led out, and a cap removably attached to the container body, and the nozzle has a head portion provided with a nozzle hole. The cap includes a side wall surrounding the nozzle, a ceiling connected to the side wall and opposed to the top of the nozzle, and a first protruding from the ceiling and inserted into the nozzle hole A plug portion, and a cylindrical second plug portion that protrudes at a position on a concentric circle centered on the first plug portion of the ceiling portion and contacts the outer peripheral surface of the head portion. It is.

These are the partial cross section fronts which show the container for eye drops which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1 showing the eye drop container. These are the partial cross-sectional front views which show the principal part of the said container for eye drops, and are the states from which the cap was removed. These are the partial cross sections front which show the principal part of the said container for eye drops, and are the states with which the cap was mounted | worn.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 schematically show an eye drop container according to the present invention. An ophthalmic container (hereinafter abbreviated as “container”) C is a container body including a liquid container 10 in which an ophthalmic solution (eye drops) is stored and a nozzle 16 for deriving the eye drops stored in the liquid container 10. 1 and a cap 2 that is detachably attached to the container main body 1 so as to cover the nozzle 16. The container C is a so-called twist cap type container.

The method of using the container C is the same as the conventional one. That is, when instilling ophthalmic solution, the tip of the nozzle 16 faces downward with the cap 20 removed, and the ophthalmic solution is dripped from the tip of the nozzle 16 by lightly pressing the liquid container 11.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the liquid container 10 has a flat shape in the front-rear direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1). The liquid container 10 includes a liquid container 11 that can store about 10 to 15 ml of ophthalmic solution, a shoulder 12 that is connected to the upper side thereof, and a cylindrical mouth that is connected to the upper side and is located at the upper center of the liquid container 11. And neck 13. The liquid container 10 has a configuration in which the liquid container 11, the shoulder 12, and the cylindrical mouth / neck 13 are integrally formed of a synthetic resin material such as polypropylene, polyethylene, or polyethylene terephthalate.

The nozzle 16 is fixed to the liquid container 10 by being inserted into the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 13. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the nozzle 16 includes a substantially spherical top portion 17 and a substantially truncated cone-shaped body that is connected to the lower side of the top portion 17 and extends in the vertical direction along the central axis of the nozzle 16. Part 18, a disk-like flange 19 that extends outward from the lower end of body 18, and cylindrical leg 20 that extends downward from the lower surface of body 18. In the nozzle 16, the head portion 17, the body portion 18, the flange portion 19 and the leg portion 20 are integrated with a soft synthetic resin material such as low-density polyethylene, linear low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, or polypropylene, or an elastomer. It has the structure shape | molded. Then, the leg portion 20 is press-fitted into the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 13 so that the collar portion 19 abuts on the upper end of the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 13 of the liquid container 10, whereby the nozzle 16 is moved to the liquid container 10. It is fixed to the upper end of the.

The nozzle 16 has a nozzle hole 22 extending in the vertical direction from the tip of the head portion 17 to the lower end of the body portion 18 along the center line. When instilling the ophthalmic solution, the ophthalmic solution in the liquid container 10 is led to the tip of the head portion 17 through the nozzle hole 22.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the outer diameter of the body portion 18 of the nozzle 16 gradually decreases from the flange portion 19 side toward the leading end portion 17 side (from the base end portion to the tip end portion). The area is gradually reduced). As a result, in the container C of this example, the tip of the nozzle 16 is made thinner than the conventional container of this type (the container for eye drops described in the background art), and the diameter of the nozzle hole 22 is approximately 0. 0. It is set to 5 mm to 1.5 mm. As a result, the amount of one eye drop can be suppressed to about 20 to 30 μl, for example.

1 and 3, the cap 2 is formed so as to cover the container body 1 above the shoulder portion 10. More specifically, the cap 2 includes a side wall portion 30 that surrounds the nozzle 16 and the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 13 and the like, and a ceiling portion 32 that is connected to the upper end of the side wall portion 30 and faces the head portion 17 of the nozzle 16. It has a crested cylindrical shape. In the cap 2, the side wall portion 30 and the ceiling portion 32 are integrally formed of a synthetic resin material such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, etc., like the liquid container 10.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the side wall portion 30 has a side surface of the liquid storage portion 11 and a side surface of the cap 2 in a state where the cap 2 is mounted on the container body 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as a cap mounting state). It is configured to form a smooth outline line that is continuous in the vertical direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, a shaft-shaped first plug portion 34 that protrudes downward (nozzle 16 side) from the center of the bottom surface is integrally formed on the ceiling portion 32 of the cap 2. In addition, a cylindrical second plug portion 36 that protrudes downward from a position on a concentric circle centering on the first plug portion 34 is integrally formed on the ceiling portion 32 of the cap 2.

The first plug portion 34 is inserted into the nozzle hole 22 from the tip of the nozzle 16 to close the nozzle hole 22 in a cap mounted state. The first plug portion 34 has a hemispherical distal end portion and is formed in a cross-sectional mountain shape whose outer diameter dimension gradually increases from the distal end side toward the proximal end side. With this configuration, when the cap is attached, the first plug portion 34 is inserted into the nozzle hole 22 so that the outer peripheral surface of the first plug portion 34 is in close contact with the opening edge of the nozzle hole 22.

The second plug portion 36 substantially closes the nozzle 16 by being in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the head portion 17 of the nozzle 16 in the cap mounted state. As shown in FIG. 3, the inner diameter dimension D <b> 2 of the second plug part 36 is set to a value slightly smaller than the maximum diameter dimension D <b> 1 of the head part 17 of the nozzle 16. With this configuration, the second plug portion 36 is in close contact with the nozzle 16 from the outside only at the position of the substantially maximum diameter of the head portion 17 formed in a spherical shape in the cap mounted state. In addition, a taper portion for inviting the nozzle 16 (leading portion 17) to the inside of the second plug portion 36 when the cap 2 is attached to the container body 1 is provided inside the tip (lower end) of the second plug portion 36. 36a is formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ceiling portion 32 of the cap 2 is further provided with a pair of locking arms extending downward from the positions of the lower surfaces of the

cap portions

34 and 36 on both the left and right sides (left and right sides in FIG. 1). 38 is integrally formed.

These locking arms 38 lock the cap 2 attached to the container main body 1 to the container main body 1, and the cap 2 is attached to the container main body 1 when the cap 2 is attached to the container main body 1. It is a guide.

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a locking projection 13 a is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the base end portion of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion 13 of the liquid container 10. On the other hand, a locking recess 38 a is formed in the vicinity of the tip of the opposing surface of each locking arm 38. When the cap 2 is attached to the container body 1, as shown in FIG. 1, the nozzle 16 and the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 13 are inserted between the locking arms 38, and the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 13 The locking projection 13a is inserted into the locking recess 38a. As a result, the cap 2 is locked to the container body 1 (liquid container 10) via both locking arms 38.

In addition, each of the locking arms 38 is formed so that the opposing surface has an arc shape so as to correspond to the outer peripheral surface shape of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 13 over the entire arm longitudinal direction, and the opposing surface is a cylindrical mouth. The interval is set so as to come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the neck 13 from both the left and right sides. With this configuration, when the nozzle 16 and the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 13 are inserted between the locking arms 38 when the cap 2 is mounted on the container body 1, the cap 2 is interposed via the locking arms 38. The whole is guided along the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 13.

In the container C as described above, at the time of instillation, the cap 2 is rotated about 90 ° around the cylindrical mouth-neck portion 13 from the cap-mounted state shown in FIG. 1, thereby removing the cap 2 from the container body 1. When the cap 2 is rotated, the cap 2 rides on the shoulder portion 12 of the liquid container 10, and the cap 2 is pushed upward along with this riding. Thereby, the latching state of each latching arm 38 with respect to the cylindrical mouth neck part 13 is cancelled | released. In this way, the cap 2 can be instilled by removing it from the container body 1.

On the other hand, after use, the cap 2 is attached along the cylindrical mouth and neck 13 of the container body 1 (liquid container 10). Specifically, the cap body 2 is covered with the cap 2 so that the nozzle 16 and the cylindrical mouth-neck portion 13 are inserted between the locking arms 38, and the cap 2 is guided along the cylindrical mouth-neck portion 13. Then, the cap 2 is pushed into the container body 1 side.

When the cap 2 is attached to the container body 1 in this way, the first plug portion 34 of the cap 2 is inserted into the nozzle hole 22 and the nozzle hole 22 is closed as shown in FIG. In addition, the top portion 17 of the nozzle 16 is inserted inside the second plug portion 36, and the inner peripheral surface of the second plug portion 36 is in close contact with the nozzle 16 at the position of the substantially maximum diameter of the top portion 17. Become. As a result, the nozzle 16 is closed by the

plug portions

34 and 36. Further, the locking projections 13 a of the cylindrical mouth and neck portion 13 are inserted into the locking recesses 38 a of the locking arms 38, whereby the cap 2 is locked to the container body 1.

According to the ophthalmic container as described above, the nozzle 16 is double-closed by the first plug portion 34 and the second plug portion 36 as described above. Precisely, the nozzle hole 22 is blocked by the first plug portion 34, thereby preventing liquid leakage from the nozzle hole 22. Even if the ophthalmic solution flows out from the nozzle hole 22, the second plug portion 36 is in close contact with the nozzle 16 (head portion 17) and the gap between the nozzle 16 and the second plug portion 36 is sealed. The ophthalmic solution is prevented from leaking outside the two-plug portion 36. Therefore, liquid leakage from the container C can be prevented to a high degree. Further, since the second plug portion 36 is in contact with the nozzle 16 from the outside, even when the first plug portion 34 is inserted into the nozzle hole 22 for a long period of time, the deformation (expansion) of the nozzle hole 22 is performed. Is suppressed.

Moreover, in this container C, the spherical top portion 17 is formed on the nozzle 16 and the second stopper portion 36 contacts the nozzle 16 at the position of the substantially maximum diameter, so that the detachability operability of the cap 2 is hindered. In addition, there is an advantage that the ophthalmic solution can be prevented from leaking without inconvenience such as deformation of the nozzle 16 during the attaching / detaching operation. That is, in order to reliably prevent liquid leakage, it is necessary to bring the second plug portion 36 into close contact with the nozzle 16. In this case, resistance when the cap 2 is attached and detached increases, and operability is hindered. It is conceivable that the nozzle 16 itself is deformed. However, according to the above structure in which the second plug portion 36 abuts on the nozzle 16 at the position of the substantially maximum diameter of the head portion 17, the nozzle 16 and the second plug portion can be formed with a relatively small contact area where contact resistance does not become too large. It is possible to ensure a sufficient contact pressure with which 36 can be brought into close contact with each other, that is, a liquid-tight state can be achieved. Therefore, the ophthalmic solution can be highly prevented from leaking without the inconvenience such as hindering the detachability of the cap 2.

Moreover, according to this container C, since the top part 17 of the nozzle 16 is spherical, and the tapered part 36a is formed inside the tip (lower end) of the second plug part 36, the cap 2 is attached. At this time, the nozzle 16 is smoothly guided to the inside of the second plug portion 36. Therefore, the nozzle 16 abuts against the end surface (lower end surface) of the second plug portion 36 and is prevented from being deformed.

Therefore, according to this container C, it is possible to highly prevent liquid leakage from the container C without inconveniences such as hindering the detachability of the cap 2 and causing deformation of the nozzle 16.

In addition, the container C mentioned above is an illustration of preferable embodiment of the eye drop container which concerns on this invention, The specific structure can be suitably changed in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

For example, in the container C of the above-described embodiment, the body portion 18 of the nozzle 16 is formed such that the outer diameter dimension gradually decreases from the flange portion 19 (liquid container 10 side) toward the head portion 17. Of course, the outer diameter dimension of the trunk portion 18 may be constant from the flange portion 19 to the head portion 17. However, according to the configuration of the container C, it is possible to increase the rigidity of the entire nozzle 16 while reducing the diameter of the tip of the nozzle 16 and suppressing the amount of eye drops per one time. Therefore, it is advantageous in suppressing deformation of the nozzle 16 due to external contact or the like. In addition, since the constriction is formed at the connecting portion between the head portion 17 and the body portion 18, liquid breakage at the time of instillation is good. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 and the like, the body portion 18 of the nozzle 16 is formed so that the outer surface changes in a curved shape in the direction along the central axis. It may be formed to change upward. Further, the cross-sectional shape of the body portion 18 of the nozzle 16 is not limited to a circle, but may be a quadrangle or a polygon more than that.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a so-called twist cap type eye drop container has been described. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to a so-called screw type eye drop container.

In the nozzle 16 of the container C of the above embodiment, the shape of the leading portion 17 is “spherical”. In short, this “spherical” means that the leading end from the base end (body 18 side) toward the leading end. It means a shape in which the outer diameter of the portion 17 gradually increases and reaches a maximum diameter and then gradually decreases, and the outline of the leading portion 17 is rounded as a whole. Therefore, the head portion 17 is not limited to the shape described in FIG. 3 and the like, and can be appropriately changed within a range that matches the above definition.

The characteristics of the present invention described above are summarized as follows.

According to this container for eye drops, the nozzle hole is substantially double-closed by the first plug portion and the second plug portion, so that it is possible to prevent liquid leakage more reliably. In addition, since the second plug portion is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the nozzle, deformation (expansion) of the nozzle hole is suppressed even when the first plug portion is inserted into the nozzle hole for a long time.

In this ophthalmic container, it is preferable that the top portion is spherical, and the inner peripheral surface of the second stopper portion is circular in a cross-sectional view. Note that the circular shape in a cross-sectional view does not mean only a strict true circle but also includes a slightly elliptical circle.

According to this configuration, the nozzle and the second stopper can be satisfactorily brought into close contact with each other with a relatively small contact area where the contact resistance does not increase too much. Therefore, it is possible to highly suppress the ophthalmic solution from leaking without inconveniences such as hindering cap detachment operability and deformation of the nozzle. In addition, since the top portion of the nozzle is spherical, when the cap is mounted, the nozzle is easily guided to the inside of the second plug portion. Therefore, it is also suppressed that the nozzle hits the end surface of the second plug portion and the nozzle is deformed.

In this case, it is preferable that the second plug portion is in contact with the head portion at the position of the maximum diameter of the head portion. The inner diameter of the second plug part is preferably smaller than the maximum diameter of the leading part.

According to these configurations, it is possible to reduce the contact resistance as much as possible while bringing the leading portion and the second stopper portion into contact with each other in a liquid-tight state.

In this eye drop container, it is preferable that the second stopper portion has a tapered portion on the inside.

According to this configuration, when the cap is mounted, the nozzle is more easily guided to the inside of the second plug portion, which is advantageous in suppressing deformation of the nozzle during the cap mounting operation.

In the above eye drop container, the nozzle includes a body portion having a distal end portion extending along a predetermined central axis and connected to the leading end portion, and a proximal end portion opposite to the leading end portion, The cross-sectional area of the trunk is preferably smaller at the tip than at the base. In this case, it is preferable that the cross-sectional area of the trunk portion gradually decreases from the base end portion toward the tip end portion. Further, it is preferable that the outer surface of the body portion is changed in a curved shape in a direction along the central axis.

That is, the body portion may have a constant cross-sectional area from the base end portion to the tip end portion. However, according to the above-described configuration, it is possible to ensure the rigidity of the entire nozzle while reducing the diameter of the nozzle tip and relatively reducing the amount of eye drops once. Therefore, it is advantageous in suppressing deformation of the nozzle due to contact with the outside. That is, it can be suitably used for an eye drop container designed so as to relatively reduce the amount of eye drop once.

Further, each of the eye drop containers described above is also useful when the nozzle is made of an elastomer. That is, a flexible material such as an elastomer has a property that it is difficult to return to its original shape when the deformed state is maintained. In a structure in which the plug portion is simply inserted into the nozzle hole, There was a possibility that the deformation of the nozzle may occur because only the force in the direction outward) is applied. However, according to the structure described above, the second plug portion comes into contact with the nozzle hole from the outside in a state where the first plug portion is inserted into the nozzle hole, so that the nozzle is bi-directional (radially outward and radially inward). ), The deformation of the nozzle is suppressed. Therefore, even when a flexible material such as an elastomer is used as the nozzle material, the deformation of the nozzle is effectively suppressed. In addition, according to the eye drop container of the present invention, it is possible to use a flexible material such as an elastomer that has heretofore been difficult to apply as the nozzle material. .

Claims

A container body provided with a nozzle through which ophthalmic solution is derived;
A cap detachably attached to the container body,
The nozzle includes a leading portion with a nozzle hole,
The cap includes a side wall that surrounds the nozzle, a ceiling that is connected to the side wall and faces the head of the nozzle, and a first plug that protrudes from the ceiling and is inserted into the nozzle hole. And a cylindrical second plug portion that protrudes at a position on a concentric circle centered on the first plug portion of the ceiling portion and contacts the outer peripheral surface of the head portion. A container for eye drops.
The ophthalmic container according to claim 1,
The ophthalmic container characterized in that the top portion is spherical and the inner peripheral surface of the second plug portion is circular in cross-sectional view.
The ophthalmic container according to claim 2,
The ophthalmic container, wherein the second stopper portion is in contact with the head portion at a position of the maximum diameter of the head portion.
The ophthalmic container according to claim 3,
An ophthalmic container, wherein an inner diameter of the second stopper is smaller than a maximum diameter of the head.
In the ophthalmic container according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The ophthalmic container, wherein the second stopper portion has a tapered portion inside.
In the ophthalmic container according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The nozzle includes a body portion having a distal end portion extending along a predetermined central axis and connected to the leading portion and a proximal end portion on the opposite side of the distal end portion,
An ophthalmic container characterized in that a cross-sectional area of the body portion is smaller at the distal end portion than at the proximal end portion.
The ophthalmic container according to claim 6,
An ophthalmic container characterized in that a cross-sectional area of the body portion gradually decreases from the base end portion toward the tip end portion.
The ophthalmic container according to claim 7,
The ophthalmic container characterized in that an outer surface of the trunk portion changes in a curved shape in a direction along the central axis.
The ophthalmic container according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The ophthalmic container, wherein the nozzle is made of an elastomer.