Patent ID: 6656433
Filing Date: 2003-12-02
Classification: A61J

Abstract:
An adaptor device for releasable mounting on respective first and second fluid vials to provide needle-less access to the fluid within each vial, each vial having a cap including a cylindrical rim of predetermined outside diameter and a pierceable septum bounded by the rim, the predetermined outside diameter of the rim of the first vial being smaller than the predetermined outside diameter of the rim of a second vial, said adaptor device comprising a longitudinal central axis along which a piercing member extends and a peripheral sidewall surrounding said piercing member, said piercing member being hollow and terminating at a sharpened end arranged to pierce through the septum of the vial to which said device is releasably mounted, said peripheral sidewall including an upper portion having a circular inner surface centered around said piercing member and a lower skirt flaring outward from said upper portion, said skirt terminating in a peripheral free edge extending beyond said sharpened end of said piercing member, said peripheral sidewall having a plurality of slits extending upward from said peripheral edge to enable portions of said sidewall between said slits to flex outward, said sidewall including plural equidistantly spaced projections extending radially inward adjacent the inner surface of said upper portion of said sidewall to form a ledge, said equidistantly spaced projections being resiliently mounted on said sidewall to enable the cap of the first vial to pass between said projections and then return to a position wherein said ledge has an inside diameter just slightly less than the outside diameter of the rim of the first vial to form a seat on which the rim of the first vial may sit to releasably secure said adaptor to the cap of the first vial, with the rim of the first vial being adjacent said inner surface of said sidewall and said sharpened end of said piercing member piercing through the septum of the first vial, said resilient mounting of said equidistantly spaced projections also enabling the cap of the second vial to pass between said projections and then return to a position wherein said ledge has an inside diameter just slightly less than the outside diameter of the rim of the second vial to form a seat on which the rim of the second vial may sit to releasably secure said adaptor to the cap of the second vial, with the rim of the second vial being adjacent said inner surface of said sidewall and with said sharpened end of said piercing member piercing through the septum of the second vial.