Dispensing – With cutter and/or punch – To form dispensing opening in container
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-19
2001-10-23
Jacyna, J. Casimer (Department: 3751)
Dispensing
With cutter and/or punch
To form dispensing opening in container
C222S088000, C222S325000, C222S001000, C215S006000, C215SDIG008, C206S222000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305576
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to fluid containers and, more specifically, to aseptic containers for holding, mixing and/or dispensing fluids comprised of at least two different fluid components.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Fluids of various types must be stored, shipped, handled and often mixed in containers suitable for the intended application. As used herein, the term “fluid” may refer to any material that can flow, including gases, liquids or particulate solids, such as powders. Often, fluid products are comprised of one or more toxic or potentially harmful substances and one or more non-toxic substances. For example, a concentrated chemical, which may have a toxicity harmful to humans and animals, is often mixed with water and used for various purposes. The uses may be household uses, laboratory or scientific uses, medical uses or other industrial applications. Especially in the case of laboratory, scientific or medical situations, aseptic conditions are often required for the fluid material or materials during storage, shipping, handling and use. Adequate precautions must be taken to prevent outside contaminants from reaching the fluid material within the container. This is typically easy to accomplish during the storage, shipping and handling phases of the product life when all of the fluid components have been mixed at the manufacturing site and sealed in the container until use.
More recently, the use of concentrates mixable with a non-toxic base fluid, such as water, has proliferated due to the associated convenience and environmental benefits. For example, many manufacturers of fluid products now sell concentrates that are mixed with water to form the end product. This reduces the amount of packaging necessary for the product being sold and allows the consumer to reuse a container in which the concentrate is mixed with the base fluid, such as water. Certain drawbacks of two-part systems in which the consumer must mix concentrate with another fluid, such as water, have been recognized in the art. For example, handling large bottles of concentrate can be inconvenient, unsafe and difficult. U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,216 addresses some of these general problems with specific regard to a spray bottle. In this regard, the user can puncture a concentrate insert in the spray bottle by using the draw tube of the spray bottle. Once the insert is punctured, the concentrate is released and mixes with water contained in the bottle.
One area in which problems remain with respect to two-part or multi-part fluid mixing systems is the area of aseptic fluid storage and handling. The product shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,216 fails to address this problem as the use of the draw tube of a spray bottle can easily introduce outside contaminants into the fluid components within the bottle. For these reasons, it would be desirable to provide a fluid storage, handling and mixing system and components therefor that allow at least two fluid components to be mixed just prior to use while ensuring that the mixing takes place under aseptic conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention therefore provides a manner of safely and efficiently holding and subsequently mixing fluid materials in an aseptic manner within a container. In this regard, a first component fluid may be held in an aseptic manner and subsequently dispensed by a user or by other more automatic manners into a connected container holding a second component fluid while ensuring that the mixing takes place under completely aseptic conditions. The products and methods of this invention may be utilized for various flowable materials or fluids, such as powders, liquids or gases.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a cartridge is provided for holding and dispensing a fluid material in an aseptic manner. The cartridge generally includes a cartridge body for holding the fluid material and having first and second ends. A seal is affixed to the first end of the cartridge body and a movable portion is sealed to the second end. A movable member s disposed within the cartridge body and sealed, preferably in an aseptic manner, between the first and second ends. The movable member is moved in response to movement of the movable portion at the second end such that the movable member breaks or opens the seal and the fluid material is then dispensed from the first end.
In the preferred embodiment, the movable member comprises a piercing member mounted for linear movement within the cartridge body and adapted to piece through the seal when acted upon by the movable portion. Preferably, the movable portion of the cartridge is simply manually depressed by the user to push the piercing member through the seal. The seal may be a conventional foil and polymeric layered seal or another type of induction seal or otherwise openable seal structure. The movable portion of the cartridge may be a bellows-shaped portion adapted to manually depressed by a user to move the movable member toward the seal. Other types of movable actuating structure may be utilized as well.
As an alternative to a separately affixed seal at the first end of the cartridge body, the first end of the cartridge body may be an integral portion of the cartridge body, for example, molded integrally with the remaining portions of the cartridge body. In this case, the second end, or movable portion, may be separately affixed such that the fluid material may be introduced through the second end prior to sealing the movable portion thereto. Other manners of introducing the fluid may be devised by those of ordinary skill while retaining the preferred aseptic properties of the cartridge. As another alternative, the seal at the first end of the cartridge body may be configured to open at a predetermined temperature, such as just below an autoclave temperature or approximately 120° C.
The movable member may include a positioning portion which positions and stabilizes the movable member within the cartridge body. As one example, fins may extend radially outward from the movable member so as to center the movable member within the cartridge body, while allowing fluid to flow past the fins. Other manners of stabilizing the movable member within the cartridge body may be utilized as well, if necessary.
The cartridge can further comprise a connector portion operatively connected with the cartridge body. The connector portion is adapted to be affixed adjacent a cap assembly of a container such that the cartridge body extends into the container in position for dispensing the fluid material upon activation of the movable member. The connector portion may, for example, comprise a flange configured to engage the container and be removably received in an open end thereof.
As another aspect of the invention, a container is provided for holding a fluid material comprising at least two separate component fluids. The container includes a container body for holding the component fluids and having an opening. The opening receives the cartridge as described above. The container body may be flexible or rigid and may take on many different shapes and be formed of many different types of material and sizes. The opening that receives the cartridge may be a dispensing opening, for example, which includes a cap for selectively opening and closing the opening. Alternatively, the cartridge may communicate with the interior of the container body through a separate opening from a dispensing opening associated with the container. When used in conjunction with a cap on the opening, the cap may have a hole for allowing a user to access the movable portion of the cartridge such that the movable member may be manually or otherwise activated to dispense the fluid material from the cartridge body into the interior of the container body. Preferably, the cartridge is removable and replaceable with another cartridge when the application dictates that this desirable.
The present invention further contemplates a method of aseptically dispensing a first component fluid and mixing the first
Jacyna J. Casimer
Nalge Nunc International Corporation
Wood Herron & Evans L.L.P.
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