BOTTLE FOR MIXING AND METHOD OF MIXING WITH THE SAID BOTTLE

Abstract: This invention relates to a bottle and a method of mixing with the bottle capable of readily mixing solute or dispersoid and liquid contained in different bottles as required. This invention employs as one bottle a glass or hard plastic bottle (12) like a Vial and as the other bottle a flexible plastic bottle (11), both bottles are engaged and fluctuated to mix the solute or dispersoid in the liquid.

Description: This invention relates to a bottle for readily mixing solute or dispersoid and liquid contained in different bottles as required and a method of effectively mixing solute or dispersoid, such as freeze-drying product and liquid, such as buffer solution, contained in different bottles as required to dissolve or disperse the solute or dispersoid in the liquid. In commodities, such as clinical diagnostic reagents, a substance to be dissolved (solute), such as freeze-drying product like enzyme or other powder, and solubilizer (solvent), such as buffer solution for dissolving the solute are frequently contained in different containers like bottles in most cases, and it is designated to mix both for use as required. For example, there is known from FR-A-2 270 163 a self-supported system of two bottles and an instrument for piercing the closing cap of one of the bottles. Said system comprises a first or lower container and a second or upper container. The containers are interconnected by means of a connecting member connected on the one hand with the neck of the lower container, whereas the inner surface at the lower end of the upper container is connected with the outer surface of the connecting member. The connecting member forms a cover for the lower container which will be pierced when it is desired to mix the contents of both containers. The lower container is formed of glass, whereas the upper container is formed of a synthetic material. With this known structure an assembly shall be provided which permits mixing of two substances shortly before the mixture is to be used. For this purpose the upper container comprises a piercing tube which can be lowered by depressing a respective projection so that the lower end of the tube will pierce the cover of the lower container. Thereafter the content of the upper container may flow into the lower container by entering the said tube through apertures formed in the wall thereof. There is also known from US-A-2 787 296 a system for mixing solute or dispersoid and liquid so as to dissolve or disperse the solute or dispersoid in the liquid, comprising a first and a second bottle, one of which containing said solute or dispersoid and the other of which containing said liquid, each of said bottles having an open neck which can be closed by a removable cap, the open neck of the first bottle being shaped so as to be insertable into the open neck of the second bottle when mixing is desired, and one of the bottles being made of rigid material. In this known system the second bottle is made of glass and the first bottle is made of any material not described. The open neck of the first bottle comprises an axial projection which, when mixing is desired, is inserted into the open neck of the second bottle which has a smooth inner surface. The present invention starts from the last named system which corresponds to the preamble of claim 1 and, according to the invention, is characterized in that the first bottle is in the form of a glass or rigid plastic bottle-like vial and its open neck having a flange disposed adjacent the open end thereof which has a flat end face and a flat outer peripheral surface defining a ring-shaped engaging portion and the second bottle is in the form of a flexible plastic bottle and its open neck having a stepped interior surface so as to define an inner small diameter portion and an outer large diameter portion, said outer diameter portion being sized so as to receive said flanged end portion of said first bottle such that said flat end face sealingly engages a step intermediate said outer and inner portions of said second bottle when said bottles are assembled for mixing. The present invention also concerns a method of mixing a solute or dispersoid and a liquid as defined in claim 4. The invention is described below referring to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a bottle according to this invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the neck of the bottle for solute; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view for describing a method of mixing solute and solvent with the bottle of this invention. Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a bottle according to this invention. In this embodiment, a liquid bottle 11 formed with a step 13 of small diameter on the inner surface of the neck thereof, and a solute or dispersoid bottle 12 having a neck to be engaged closely with the bottle 11 are closely engaged, and the bottle 12 is connected with the step 13 of the bottle 11. The solute or dispersoid bottle 12 may employ a glass bottle like a Vial or hard plastic bottle. The liquid bottle 11 may employ a flexible plastic bottle. The flexible plastic may preferably use a soft polyethylene, a soft polypropylene etc., due to the reason that this bottle can be used for almost all liquid contents, but this invention is not limited to these. In order to closely engage the bottle 12 with the bottle 11 by a small force, when the bottle 12 employs the Vial or the hard plastic bottle and the bottle 11 employs the flexible plastic bottle, it is preferable to slightly reduce the inner diameter of the neck of the bottle 11 such that it is smaller than the outer diameter of the neck of the bottle 12. In the embodiment described above, a step 13 of small diameter is formed on the inner surface of the neck of the bottle 11. This is not always necessary, but may be tapered to engage the bottle 12 with the bottle 11. Thus, since the insertion of the neck of the bottle 12 can be stopped at the step 13, it is not necessary to regulate the inserting degree of the bottle 12 into the bottle 11, but can standardize the insertion. Further, in the embodiment described above, the end 14 of the neck of the bottle 12 is formed flatly and a short ring-shaped engaging portion 15 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the neck of the bottle 12. Thus, the liquid leakage, when the bottles are fluctuated, can be prevented more reliably by the connection of the neck of the bottle 12 with the step 13 of the small diameter of the bottle 11. In the embodiment described above, the solute or dispersoid container employs the glass bottle or hard plastic bottle and the liquid container employs the flexible plastic bottle. However, this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments. In general, large bottles may be preferably used as liquid containers. The bottle of this invention can be applied, for example, to clinical diagnostic reagents fields like the combination of enzyme and buffer solution. However, this invention is not limited to this application. For example, this invention can also be applied to the mixture of detrimental substance and solvent for dissolving the substance or high viscous liquid and solvent for dissolving the liquid. In order to mix solute or dispersoid and liquid with the bottle of this invention, as shown in Fig. 3, the neck of the solute bottle 12 is engaged with that of the solvent bottle 11 and both are fluctuated. According to the method of this invention, the possibility of liquid leakage or contamination of the contents can be extremely reduced. Since a wasteful element such as a connector is eliminated, the mixing operation can be highly simplified to eliminate the drawbacks of using the connector.

Claims: A system for mixing solute or dispersoid and liquid so as to dissolve or disperse the solute or dispersoid in the liquid, comprising a first (12) and a second (11) bottle, one of which containing said solute or dispersoid and the other of which containing said liquid, each of said bottles (12,11) having an open neck which can be closed by a removable cap, the open neck of the first bottle (12) being shaped so as to be insertable into the open neck of the second bottle (12) when mixing is desired, and one of the bottles being made of rigid material, characterized in that the first bottle (12) is in the form of a glass or rigid plastic bottle-like vial and its open neck having a flange disposed adjacent the open end thereof which has a flat end face and a flat outer peripheral surface defining a ring-shaped engaging portion (15), and the second bottle (11) is in the form of a flexible plastic bottle and its open neck having a stepped interior surface (13) so as to define an inner small diameter portion and an outer large diameter portion, said outer diameter portion being sized so as to receive said flanged end portion of said first bottle (12) such that said flat end face sealingly engages a step intermediate said outer and inner portions of said second bottle (11) when said bottles (12,11) are assembled for mixing. The system according to claim 1, wherein the larger diameter portion of the neck of the flexible plastic bottle (11) is slightly less than the outer diameter of the engaging portion of the first bottle (12) so as to be engaged closely by a small force with the glass or hard plastic bottle. The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the larger diameter portion of the neck of the flexible plastic bottle (11) is tapered towards the stepped interior surface (13) (Fig. 3). A method of mixing a solute or dispersoid and a liquid contained in first and second bottles so as to dissolve or disperse the solute or dispersoid in the liquid comprising the steps of: providing a first bottle formed from glass or a rigid plastic bottle-like vial, said first bottle having a first closed end, a second open neck-like end, and a flange defined adjacent said open end of said neck which has a flat end face and a flat peripheral surface defining a ring-shaped engaging portion; providing a second bottle formed from flexible plastic and having a first closed end and a second neck-like open end, the interior of said neck-like end having a stepped inner surface so as to define an outer large diameter portion and an inner small diameter portion; inserting said neck-like end of said first bottle into said neck-like end of said second bottle such that the larger diameter portion receives said engaging portion and said flat end face sealingly engages a step defined between said outer and inner portions; and fluctuating said assembled containers to mix the solute or dispersoid in the liquid. The method of mixing according to claim 4, wherein the larger diameter portion of the neck of the flexible plastic bottle is slightly less than the outer diameter of said engaging portion of the glass or hard plastic bottle.

Inventors: KITAMURA, MASARU, KONISHI, SHOJI, SASAKI, HIROSHI
Applicants: WAKO PURE CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES, LTD.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: B65D81
IPC codes: B65D81