Special receptacle or package – For mixing
Patent
1996-08-21
1999-03-16
Sewell, Paul T.
Special receptacle or package
For mixing
222 94, 383206, 604290, B65D 2508
Patent
active
058818693
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
It is often the case in industry and medicine that multi-component systems are used, whereby pre-determined amounts of several components are mixed together either shortly before use or whilst being used.
For example, in the field of adhesives a dual component system may be used in which an activator is added to an unactivated composition in order that an adhesive is only formed shortly before it is intended to use it.
This avoids the potential problems of adhesive sticking to the sides of a container in which it may be stored and of the adhesive deteriorating during storage.
In the field of medicine also, dual component systems are used. For example foam cavity wound dressing systems are known in which a catalyst, cross linking agent or foaming taken from one container is added to a fluid polymer taken from another container in order that a foam is produced which can be poured into a cavity wound whilst liquid, and which then sets in situ. By using such a system a dressing can be produced which fills the cavity and which accurately conforms to the contours of the wound surface.
Such a dual component system is sold by The Wellcome Foundation Limited under the designation of "Silastic Foam Dressing".
However known multi-component systems can be disadvantageous in that user-compliance is often poor, especially with inexperienced users.
Thus, in the case of dual cavity wound dressing systems, for example, an inexperienced nurse may apply only one component of a two-component dressing to a wound site, with the result that an effective wound cavity dressing is not formed. This can happen despite clear packaging instructions. It can even happen with relatively experienced nurses, when under stress, as may often occur when treating large wound cavities.
There is therefore a long-established need to improve the ease with which multi-component systems can be used, especially for relatively inexperienced users.
In EP-0359847A and its counterpart U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,842 there is disclosed a container which inter alia can comprise two independently sealed components and which can be opened by removing a single strip of material for the region which separates and seals the components from each other to form two adjacent slits, each along one side of each component. The contents of the components are expelled and mixed together by bending and pushing the components together.
Whilst meeting the objective of being able to open both components in a single action there are a number of disadvantages associated with this design firstly, the non-sealed portion, for initiating opening, between the lid of the component and the remaining body, may compromise the integrity of both component seals since seal between the peripheral portions of the lid and body is smallest at this point. Further as this unsealed portion is at the periphery of the container there is an inherent danger that the unsealed portion may be inadvertently lifted and, because the seal is weakest at this point, it can break and thus expose the contents of both content-holding portions. A second disadvantage is that the bearable strip is itself part of the seal between the two containers. If the seal itself is too strong, the bond between the strip and the rest of the body may cause the strip to break when it is being pulled and for parts to remain attached or adhered to the lid or content-holding portions of the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,645 discloses a dual packaging system which comprises two containers which may be folded around a joining means and then torn open by a simultaneous single tearing action. However, the tearing action will be in a line parallel with the fold line.
Furthermore the arrangements described in the reference can only be used for opening a maximum of two components in a single action.
The present invention seeks to provide a multi-component packaging system which not only overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art but also provides advantages in ease of manufacture and can be readily adapted for three or more separately sealed c
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patent: 2350931 (1944-06-01), Salfisberg
patent: 3199671 (1965-08-01), Davy
patent: 3224640 (1965-12-01), Schneider et al.
patent: 4266692 (1981-05-01), Clark
patent: 5388699 (1995-02-01), Ratajczak et al.
patent: 5461845 (1995-10-01), Yeager
patent: 5465767 (1995-11-01), Harms et al.
Lam Nhan T.
Sewell Paul T.
Smith & Nephew plc
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