DISPOSABLE HERMETIC PACKAGE FOR EYE TREATMENT

Abstract: Hermetically sealed package (10), for bathing the eyes and for their general treatment, to be thrown away after use comprising a bath (11), having an edge (12) of a size and shape such as to adhere to the eye socket, containing a quantity of active liquid (14) sufficient for a single treatment hermetically closed by the maker, under sterile conditions, by means of a cap (13) which the user can easily detach when required but which cannot then be used again to close said bath, so that the eye treatment can be effected without the need for manipulation and without contamination of the fluid while maintaining maximum conditions of sterility.

Description: - 1 - DISPOSABLE HERMETIC PACKAGE FOR EYE TREATMENT For eye treatment, whether a plain or medicinal wash is concerned, use is made of small glass or plastic baths of a suitable shape and size such as will allow them to ad- here closely to the eye socket so that the open eye can be washed without letting the fluid in the bath run down the face. To wash or treat the eye, the bath is filled with a suit¬ able fluid poured into it from a bottle of already prepared fluid sold on the market. The bath is then kept for use on subsequent occasions and this means that it can be easily contaminated by bacteria or virus present in the eye, on the hands or in the envi¬ ronment. Contamination can also come from the bottle containing the liquid since said bottle is repeatedly opened and closed and is kept at room temperature favourable to development of bacteria. The invention here described almost entirely avoids these drawbacks as will be explained below. Subject of the invention is a disposable package for wash ing or treating the eyes by means of a liquid, said pack¬ age comprising a bath whose size and edge are such as to allow it to adhere closely to the eye socket without any trouble or harm. The packed receptacle contains sufficient active fluid for a single treatment and is hermetically sealed by the maker, under sterile conditions, by means of a cap which can ea¬ sily be torn off, or otherwise removed, at the time of use. The user can therefore carry out the eye treatment uinder sterile conditions without manipulation and contamination of the fluid and receptacle, all of which is thrown away after use. When the bath is filled, the cover is fixed round its ed- ges by heat welding, ultrasonic waves or some other method. The cap is sealed on in such a way as to withstand any stresses received during transport and storage while at the same time permitting the user to take it off by ap¬ plication of moderate force only, and without there re- maining on the edge of the receptacle any uneven zones, roughness or anything that could harm or irritate the eye socket and the eye during use. In a preferred type of execution the cap is made of a la¬ mina composed of two sheets fixed together, an outer one of aluminum and an inner one of polyethylene or other pla¬ stic material In another type of execution the cap is made with an edge that can be pressed onto the edge of the bath exploiting the elasticity of one or other edge or of both. Closure is ensured by a raised ring made inside the edge of the cap, said ring penetrating inside a ringwise chan¬ nel made outside the edge of the bath, or else by a raised ring made outside the edge of the bath which can penetrate into a ringwise channel made inside the edge of the cap, or by other equivalent means. The hermetic seal between cap and bath is ensured by means of a sealer spread between the two matching edges of the bath and of the cap. On the cap there is a projecting tongue, or equivalent means,by holding which the user can, when required, apply the force needed to detach the cap from the bath by pull¬ ing or by pressure. Characteristics and purposes of the invention will be made even clearer by the following examples of its execution illustrated by drawings. Fig. 1 Package with laminar cap, closed. Fig. 2 Package with laminar cap, being opened. Fig. 3 Package with cap applied by pressure. The package (10) includes a plastic bath (11) with edge(12) sized and shaped to fit into the eye socket and bevelled smooth to avoid harming or troubling both the eye and the area surrounding it. The laminar cap (13), with its tongue (17), is made of an outer sheet (15) of aluminum associated to an inner sheet (16) of polyethylene. The bath is sterile and is filled under sterile conditions with a fluid for washing or for treatment (14). A welder, fitted with a tool of a shape like that of the edge of the bath, still under sterile conditions fixes the sheet of polyethylene onto the edge of the bath by welding with heat or ultrasonic waves and then cuts the lamina to the shape of the bath. Welding ensures that the bath is hermetically sealed and that such seal will withstand the stresses encountered in transport and storage. When needed, the user pulls back the tongue and easily re_ moves the cap. When the cap has been pulled off, the edge (12) of the bath as seen in Fig. 2, is smooth and free of any residual ma¬ terial that could be harmful in contact with the eye socket or the eye. When the eye has been washed or treated the bath (11) can - be thrown away. The variant (18) shown in Fig. 3 consists of a bath (19) with an edge (20) in which there is a continuous ringwise channel (21). The cap (22), with tongue (25) of elastic plastic material, has a raised ring inside the edge (23). The bath is filled with washing or medicinal liquid (27) and,after application of sealing material (26) inside the channel (21), the cap (22) is applied by pressure. At the time of use the user pulls up the tongue (25) thus easily detaching the cap as shown by the dash-and-dot lines and by the numbers (22') » (25'), (2 f ) which indicate the cap and its parts while opening is proceeding. When washing or eye treatment has been completed, the bath and cap are discarded. Advantages As it is hermetically sealed, the package remains sterile and uncontaminated up to the moment of use and since it is to be thrown away after being used only once, it cannot bie come a means of carrying infection to the eyes. The material used for the bath and cap is of practically negligible cost and as no fluid is poured into the bath from a bottle, the inevitable waste connected therewith and related cost are avoided. Bearing in mind the serious nature of numerous eye infec- tions and their multiplication as a consequence of the in creasing use of contact lenses, the invention must undoubt¬ edly be considered of the greatest usefulness. As the applications of the invention have been described as examples only, not limited to these, it is understood that every equivalent application of the inventive concepts explained and every product executed and/or in operation in accordance with the characteristics of the invention, will be covered by its field of protection.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Hermetically sealed package (10), (18) for bathing and generally treating the eyes by means of a fluid, charac¬ terized in that, being disposable after use, it comprises a bath (11), (19), whose edge (12), (20) is of a size and shape such as to adhere to the eye socket, said bath con¬ taining a quantity of active fluid (14), (27) sufficient for one treatment only, hermetically sealed, under sterile conditions at the factory, by a cap (13), (22 , which the user can easily detach when required by pulling it off or otherwise removing it, said cap being so made that it can not be put on again and the eye treatment being therefore given without the need, for any manipulation and without contamination of the fluid, ensuring maximum sterility. 2. Hermetically sealed package (10), (18) for bathing and generally treating the eyes by means of a fluid as in claim 1, characterized in that after the bath (11) has been filled with active fluid (14), it is hermetically closed, fixing the cover (13) at its edge (12} by heat, ultrasonic waves or other type of welding in such a way that the seal so produced withstands stresses received during transport or storage while at the same time permitting the user to de- . tach the cap (13) by applying only moderate force and with out any uneven zones, roughness or anything else remaining on the edge (12) of the bath such as might harm or irritate the eye soάket and the eye during use. 3. Hermetically sealed package (10), (18) for bathing and generally treating the eyes by means of a fluid as in claim 1, characterized in that the cap (13) comprises a lamina composed of two sheets fixed together, an outer one (15) of aluminum and an inner one (16) of polyethylene or of some other plastic material. 4. Hermetically sealed package (10), (18) for bathing and generally treating the eyes by means of a fluid as in claim 1, characterized in that the edge (23) of the cap (22) is designed to adhere elastically by pressure to the edge (20) of the bath (19), its closed position being made sta ble by a raised'ringwise rim (24) round the inside edge (23) of the cap (22) said rim able to penetrate into a ringwise channel (21) made outside the edge (20) of the bath, or by a raised ringwise rim made outside the edge (20) of the bath able to penetrate into a ringwise chan¬ nel made inside the edge (23) of the cap (22), or by other equivalent means, the hermetic seal being ensured by seal- ing material (26) applied between the two matching edges (20), (23) of the bath and cap (22). 5. Hermetically sealed package (I0),(l8)for bathing and generally treating the eyes by means of a fluid as in claim 1, characterized in that the cap (22) has a projecting tongue (25), or equivalent means, by means of which the user can apply the force needed to detach said cap from the bath (19) at the time of use.

Inventors: GASTALDI FRANCESCO, TENENBAUM JOSEPH, GASTALDI, FRANCESCO, TENENBAUM, JOSEPH
Applicants: GASTALDI FRANCESCO, TENENBAUM JOSEPH, GASTALDI, FRANCESCO, TENENBAUM, JOSEPH
Application year: 1987
Main classification: A61H33
IPC codes: A61H35