HK1118779B - Capped ampoule to be filled with a liquid by vacuum and corresponding production method - Google Patents

Description

The field of invention is that of packaging of pharmaceutical or parapharmaceutical products. More specifically, the invention concerns packaging in the form of ampoules, intended to contain a liquid substance, whether or not it is drinkable.

In the field of the invention, three main types of conditioning are known: The bulbs are called two-pointed ; the bulbs are bottles; the bottles are.

Bottle ampoules are most commonly used for the packaging of injectable pharmaceuticals or cosmetics.

These bulbs are conditioned in a special room with filtered atmosphere and are made by hot-forming glass tubes to have a flat bottom and a hollow or closed opening, with a blockage between the bulb body and the opening to form a break zone when opened.

The filling of these ampoules is carried out by means of needles which penetrate the opening of the ampoules and which allow homogeneous quantities of products to be delivered.

The closure is achieved by a conventional flame closure technique.

The bottles are also made of glass and filled with needle systems or nozzles.

The needle filling technique ensures a high precision in the amount of product delivered inside the container.

However, this technique does not allow very high fill rates, except to increase the number of needles in the systems used, which would then lead to considerable investment.

Another technique is used to increase fill rates when it is not necessary to achieve a high level of accuracy.

This is a stage of filling the vacuum.

The bulbs are made from glass tubes and have a closed (flammable) and an open end for filling.

To fill the ampoules, the ampoules are arranged in crystal tubes, which are brought by manipulation into a container containing the liquid substance intended to fill the ampoules.

The crystal display is placed in the tank so that the open tips point downwards at a specified level in the liquid substance. The next operation is to vacuum the tank to expel air from the inside of the tank and the bulbs. When the vacuum is achieved, the vacuum is broken by returning the tank to atmospheric pressure.

The return to atmospheric pressure causes the bulbs to fill up, acting as pumps that suck in the liquid.

When the tank and the bulbs have all returned to atmospheric pressure, filling is completed.

The level of filling depends on the pressure applied to the tank.

After filling, the crystal mirrors are turned over and the open tips used for filling are washed with showers with alternating cold/hot water to clean the tip.

The cleaned tips are then sealed with a torch.

To extract the liquid from the bulbs, the user must break one tip, present the tip open above a container, and then break the other tip for the liquid to be poured.

As mentioned earlier, these bulbs are made from glass tubing, which is naturally brittle.

It is therefore not excluded that when the user breaks the bulb tips, glass fragments may form, possibly of such small dimensions that they are not detected by the user.

These glass fragments may therefore fall into the container into which the liquid is poured, or be carried away by the liquid when it is poured from the bulb.

Of course, it is not acceptable to expose the user to such a risk of ingesting glass fragments, which can of course cause injuries to the digestive system with varying degrees of severity.

In addition, the tips may break off in a blurred manner, resulting in a sharp edge that may cause injury when the bulb is handled.

This is obviously to be avoided.

Some countries have banned the distribution of these bulbs for the reasons just mentioned and therefore use bottles with caps.

Document FR-794 592 describes a glass ampoule for medicinal products, with a drain tip and a filling opening at the end of the ampoule opposite the tip.

The invention aims to overcome the disadvantages of the earlier art.

Specifically, the object of the invention is to propose a container for liquid substance which allows the use of a vacuum filling technique and which avoids or at least greatly reduces the risk of cracking of the material in which the container is made.

The invention also aims to provide such a container that is simple and convenient for the user.

The invention also aims to provide such a container which is simple in design and easy to implement.

Another aim of the invention is to propose a method of manufacturing such a vessel.

These and other objectives are achieved by the invention of a bulb forming a container for a liquid substance, made of a refractory, hot-melting rigid material, of a type comprising a body with at one end a point for filling by suction of the liquid substance, characterised by the opposite end forming an opening for the discharge of the liquid substance, and by means of watertight and removable closures attached to the opening.

This results in a bulb that no longer presents a risk of shrapnel forming from the fragile material in which it is made (unless, of course, improper handling leads to an accidental shock) when opened to spill its contents.

The bulb is only released by removing the removable closing devices.

It is no longer a question of breaking the bulb as was the case with the classic solutions of earlier art.

This eliminates the risk (again, except for improper handling) of ingestion of material fragments and the risk of cutting edge formation.

The advantage is that the body is in the shape of a cylindrical tube, the opening having a diameter corresponding to that of the tube.

This results in a simple design that can be easily manufactured.

The opening can be obtained very simply when the bulb is being manufactured, by simply cutting a tube, without the need for further shaping of the tube.

In addition, such an opening has a diameter which allows air to be introduced during the discharge, which is therefore almost instantaneous.

According to a preferential method of implementation, these means of closure include an operculum.

According to another advantageous method of manufacture, these closing devices include a stopper.

In either case, the means of closing are preferably fixed removably to the opening by means of a heat sealing or bonding technique.

In another possible variant, the opening has a peripheral rim on which the means of closing are reported.

This may increase the support surface of the closing devices, possibly to ensure better holding of the closing devices on the container.

In this case, according to a preferred variant, the rim extends into the container.

This reduces the bulb's overall volume, which makes it possible to present the bulbs in close proximity to each other in the glass mirrors used for their filling.

A second possible variant is that the rim extends outwards from the container.

The bulb is preferably made of glass.

Of course, other materials with similar mechanical properties can be used without going beyond the scope of the invention.

The invention also concerns a process for manufacturing a bulb made of a refractory hot-melting rigid material, consisting of a step of hot-forming a tube to obtain a bulb with a suction filling point of that liquid substance at one end, characterised by the fact that it includes a step of hot-forming the end opposite that point to form a drainage opening of that container and a step of making the watertight and airtight closing devices fit on that opening.

Preferably, the step of reporting the watertight and removable closing means to the opening is a heat sealing step of an operculum.

Another advantageous solution is that the heat-sealing step is carried out while the bulb retains residual heat from the hot-forming steps.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be made clearer by reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention and some of its variants, given as illustrative and non-limiting examples, and the attached drawings, among which: Figures 1 and 2 are each a view of a bulb of the invention, without and with closing devices, respectively; Figures 3 and 4 are each a partial view of a variant of a bulb of the invention.

As mentioned above, the principle of the invention is to construct a bulb in the form of a container with a filling point at one end and an opening at the other end with removable closing devices.

This is illustrated by Figures 1 and 2.

According to this method of manufacture, the bulb is made from a cylindrical glass tube and has a filling point 1 at one end and an opening 2 at the other end of the bulb, the diameter of which is the same as that of the bulb body 3.

It should be noted that depending on the operating phase of such a bulb, tip 1 is open or closed.

The bulb is usually manufactured and filled at separate sites.

At the end of the manufacture, the bulbs appear with the filling tip open, to allow filling by a process explained in more detail later.

They are then sent in this form to the site where they are filled.

Of course, once filled, the filling points are closed and the bulbs are packaged and distributed with the ends closed.

In the manufacturing method shown in Figure 2, the removable closing devices consist of an operculum 4 attached to the opening 2, for example by a thermal sealing technique (or bonding according to another possible manufacturing method).

It is understood that the thermal seal (or bonding) is carried out in such a way as to obtain a peelable operculum, i.e. designed to withstand a predetermined pulling force and to detach from the bulb beyond that force.

Such an operculum may be made of a complex containing aluminium, of low thickness (e.g. 20 to 80 microns) and be assembled to the bulb with one or more layers of thermosetting products, possibly with the addition of PVC or PET (or any other suitable material) to strengthen the operculum.

The paper may also be printed and/or coloured.

Preferably, the operculum has a 41-tip which facilitates the grip of the operculum when it is removed.

Alternatively, the means of closing the bulb may be a stopper, which is also attached to the bulb by means of a heat seal or bonding or any other suitable system.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate possible variants whereby the opening 2 has a peripheral edge to increase the supporting surface of the operculum.

Such a ledge may extend outwards from opening 2 (Figure 3) or inwards from opening 4 (Figure 4).

It should also be noted that tip 1 is as short as possible in order to reduce the overall dimensions of the bulb and to optimise the mechanical strength of the tip.

The tip of a light bulb according to the invention is not intended to be broken, unlike the tips of light bulbs of the earlier art. To spill the liquid contents of the light bulb, it is sufficient to tear the opening of the bulb and turn the bulb over, the opening being largely sufficient to allow the introduction of air simultaneously with the spill of the liquid (which was not the case with the light bulbs two tips with which it was necessary to break each tip, one to spill the liquid and the other to allow the passage of air).

The manufacturing process of the bulbs according to the invention is as follows.

Glass tubes are inserted into rotary machines such as those traditionally used for making the two-pointed bulbs of the earlier art.

The bulbs are therefore formed by hot-forming them so that they have an open end at one end and an opening at the other.

The bulbs at the outlet of the annealing furnace retain residual heat used for the thermal sealing of the opercules.

An additional heat supply is made to bring the bulbs to a temperature high enough to allow thermocollage of the opercules by pressure of the opercules on the glass.

The temperature of the glass is checked, without contact, to regulate the heating of the glass before the thermal sealing of the operculum.

Once the opercules have been thermoselected on the bulbs, the sealing of the bulbs (opercule side) is controlled by pressure (after cooling the bulbs), using a pressostat, to remove any bulbs that would not be satisfactory.

The filling of the ampoules shall be carried out using a technique identical or similar to that described for the filling of the ampoules two-point .

Claims (10)

1. Ampoule forming a receptacle for a liquid substance, produced from glass, of the type comprising a body (3) having at one of its ends a filling point (1), the point (1) being closed, characterised in that the end (2) opposite of the closed point (1) forms an opening for emptying the receptacle, waterproof and removable closure means (4) being fitted to the opening (2), the closure means (4) being intended to be removed in order to pour the substance from the ampoule.
2. Ampoule forming a receptacle for a liquid substance according to claim 1, characterised in that the body (3) is in the form of a cylindrical tube, the opening (2) having a diameter corresponding to that of the tube.
3. Ampoule forming a receptacle for a liquid substance according to anyone of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the closure means (4) comprise a cap.
4. Ampoule forming a receptacle for a liquid substance according to anyone of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the closure means (4) comprise a stopper.
5. Ampoule forming a receptacle for a liquid substance according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the closure means (4) are removably fixed to the opening using heat-sealing techniques, adhesion or any other appropriate means.
6. Ampoule forming a receptacle for a liquid substance according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the opening has a peripheral edge, to which the closure means (4) are fitted.
7. Ampoule forming a receptacle for a liquid substance according to claim 6, characterised in that the edge extends towards the interior of the receptacle.
8. Ampoule forming a receptacle for a liquid substance according to claim 6, characterised in that the edge extends towards the exterior of the receptacle.
9. Method for producing an ampoule according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that it comprises a step for heat molding the end opposite of said point in order to form an opening for emptying the receptacle, and a step for heat-sealing a cap to the opening of the waterproof and removable closure means.
10. Method according to claim 9, characterised in that the heat-sealing step is carried out while the ampoule retains residual heat due to the heat molding steps.