Drug vessel

Abstract: A drug vessel (1) comprises a vessel body (2) with a narrow neck extending to an open end of a mouth portion (3) thereof, and a stopper (4) fitted in the open end. The stopper (4) comprises a stopper body (5) of an elastomeric material with a through-hole (5a) passing through a central portion thereof along its center axis, and a closing body (6) fitted into the through-hole (5a) of said stopper body (5) to block the through-hole (5a).

Description: The present invention relates to an intravenous drip infusion set. In general, vessels or vials containing liquid medicines are sealed tightly by fitting a rubber stopper in a mouth of the vial. Thus, a liquid medicine contained in a vial is generally taken out therefrom, using a syringe fitted with a hollow needle for example. In this case, the hollow needle is pierced into the rubber stopper and then the syringe is operated to draw the liquid medicine from the vial through the hollow needle. US-A-4 610 683 discloses an intravenous drip infusion set comprising a suction needle device for transfering liquids from a stoppered container to a syringe. The device has a sharpened needle which enters into the stopper. When piercing the needle into the rubber stopper, the rubber stopper is occasionally cored out or cut off by the pointed end of the hollow needle. Thus, there is a fear such that pieces of cored rubber stopper enter into the liquid medicine. To solve such a problem, inventors of the present invention have proposed a drug vessel with an improved sealing means in EP-A-0 528 231 filed July 30, 1992. This drug vessel includes a sealing means comprising an annular packing seated on a mouth portion of the vessel, a spherical closing body retained on the annular packing, and a cap-like holder having a through-hole to hold the spherical closing body in place. However, the sealing means of such a drug vessel is complex in structure and difficult to assemble. In addition, it is required to cover the holder and the mouth portion of the vessel with a cap to insure sterile conditions of the drug vessel during transportation and storage. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an intravenous drip infusion set which is simple in structure and easy to assemble and which makes it possible to take out a liquid medicine contained in the drug vessel thereof with ease and sterility without use of any hollow needles such as syringe needles. According to the present invention there is provided an intravenous drip infusion set according to claim 1. A drug to be contained in the drug vessel of the present invention may be liquid medicines, or solid or powdered medicines adapted to be dissolved in a solvent just before use to form a liquid medicine. According to the present invention, the stopper includes a retaining means for retaining the closing body forced out of the through-hole. Such a retaining means may be formed by provision of a retaining member on the bottom of the stopper body. In such a case, it is preferred to provide ribs on a bottom surface of the stopper to form passage between the bottom surface of the stopper body and the closing body when the drug vessel is turned upside down after the closing body has been forced out of the through-hole. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is an axial sectional view of a drug vessel illustrating one embodiment of the present invention: Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating another embodiment of the present invention: Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating still another embodiment of the present invention: Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the drug vessel taken along the line X-X in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a bottom view of a stopper employed in the drug vessel of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a side view, partially in section, showing a drug vessel of the present invention with an intravenous fluid administration set combined therewith. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to Figs. 1, there is shown a drug vessel or vial of the present invention. The drug vessel, generally indicated by reference numeral 1, comprises a vessel body 2 with a narrow neck extending to an open end of a mouth portion 3 thereof, and a stopper 4 fitted in the mouth portion 3 of the vessel body 2 to close the same. The mouth portion 3 of the vessel body 2 is covered by a cap member 7 to retain the stopper 4 as well as to ensure sterile conditions of the drug vessel 1. The vessel body 2 is made from glass or synthetic resin in the form of a bottom-closed cylinder with a narrow neck extending to its open end. When producing the vessel body 2 with synthetic resins, it is preferred to use a transparent, chemical-resistant resins such as, for example, polypropylenes and polyesters. The vessel body 2 is provided at its mouth portion 3 with an annular projecting portion 8 for engagement with the cap member 7. The stopper 4 comprises a stopper body 5 with a through hole 5a, and a closing body 6 fitted into the through-hole 5a of the stopper body 5. The stopper body 5 is generally made of an elastomeric material such as, for example, butyl rubber, butadiene rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber and nitrile rubber so as to have a cylindrical plug portion 5A and a flange portion 5B integrally connected thereto. The plug portion 5A is so designed as to have a diameter slightly larger than the inside diameter of the mouth portion 3. The stopper body 5 is provided with a through-hole 5a and a semispherical recess 5b in its central portion. The through-hole 5a passes through the central potion of the stopper body in its axial direction and is communicated with a top of the semispherical recess 5b formed in the lower part of the stopper body 5. The closing body 6 is generally made with glass or a synthetic resin in the form of a spherical body having a diameter larger than that of the through-hole 5a. The spherical closing body 6 is fitted in the middle part of the through-hole 5a to block the same until just before use. The cap member 7 is generally made of aluminum and fastened round the projecting portion 8 of the mouth portion of the vessel body 2 at a side wall thereof. A top wall of the cap member 7 is provided with a tearable portion 9 to provide the access to the through-hole 5. The above drug vessel 1 may be produced by placing a quantity of drug into the vessel body 2, forcing the stopper 4 into the mouth portion 3 of the vessel body 2 until the flange portion 5B of the stopper body 5 comes into close contact with the open end of the mouth portion 3, covering the mouth portion 3 of the vessel 2 with the cap member 7 to retain the stopper 4 as well as to prevent it from contamination with bacteria and dust. If the drug is a solid or powdered medicine to be dissolved just before use, the stopper 4 is preferably provided with a retaining means for retaining the closing body 6 forced out of the through-hole 5, to prevent it from falling into the vessel body 2. Such a retaining means may be defined by a retaining chamber 10 provided on the bottom of the stopper body, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. Referring now to Fig. 2, there is shown a modified form of a drug vessel 1 according to the present invention. This drug vessel 1 has the same structure as that of the drug vessel of Fig. 1 except for that the stopper 4 further has a plurality of ribs 11 and includes a retaining member 10 of a chemical resistant resin. The retaining member 10 is fitted in an annular groove 17 formed in the plug portion 5A of the stopper body 5. Thus, in this embodiment, the retaining means is defined by the cylindrical retaining member 10. The retaining member 10 may be formed into a basket shape, or a cylindrical shape with a plurality of arc-shaped cuts 15 or bores so that it allows the liquid to pass therethrough but prevents the closing body 6 to pass therethrough. The ribs 11 are formed as integral parts of the stopper body 2 and arranged radially at certain intervals along the semispherical surface of the recess 5b to form passages 16 for liquids between the spherical surface of the recess 5b and the closing body 6 rested thereon when the drug vessel is turned upside down after the closing body 6 is forced out of the through-hole 5. The provision of ribs 11 makes it possible to prevent the through-hole 5 from blockage by the closing body 6. In another embodiment shown in Fig. 3 to Fig. 5, the stopper body 5 is provided with a retaining means 12 in its cylindrical plug portion 5A. The retaining means 12 is defined by the retaining chamber which is connected to the lower end of the through-hole 5 and communicated with the interior of the vessel body 2 through several holes 13 provided in the bottom of the retaining means 12. The spherical top wall of the retaining means 12 is provided with a plurality of ribs 11 as integral parts of the stopper body 2, as best shown in Fig. 4. The ribs 11 are arranged radially at intervals to form passages 16. The passages 16 prevent the through-hole 5 from blockage caused by the closing body 6 when the drug vessel is turned upside down after the closing body 6 has been pushed out of the through-hole 5. The bottom wall of the retaining means 12 is provided with several holes 13 serving as passages for liquid, as shown in Fig. 5. Referring now to Fig. 6, there is shown the drug vessel 1 combined with an intravenous fluid administration set 30 including a drip chamber 31 and a flexible tube 38 connected thereto. The drip chamber 31 is provided at its upper end with a tapered, tubular connecting member 32 including an air filter 37. The flexible tube 38 includes a clamp 33, an air trap 34 and a venous needle 35. The vessel body 2 is provided at its lower portion with a pair of recesses for attachment of a handle 36. In use, after tearing off the central portion of the cap member 7, the tubular connecting member 32 is forced into the through-hole 5 of the stopper 5 to push the closing body 6 into the vessel body 2, thereby communicating the drug vessel 1 with the interior of the intravenous fluid administration set 30. Then, the drug vessel is turned upside down as shown in Fig. 6 and the clamp 33 is released for intravenous drip infusion. Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the closing body may be used in the form of a cylindrical solid body or egg-shaped solid body. Further, the closing body may be made from any other materials, provided that it has a good chemical-resistance and provide a smooth surface.

Claims: An intravenous drip infusion set comprising a drug vessel (1) containing a drug, and a fluid administration set (30) separated therefrom but combined therewith just before use, said drug vessel (1) comprising a vessel body (2) having a mouth at one end thereof, a stopper (4) fitted in the mouth of said vessel body to close the mouth thereof, said fluid administration set (30) comprising a drip chamber (31) having at one end thereof a flexible tube (38) connected thereto, characterized in that said drip chamber (31) is provided at the other end with a tubular connecting member (32), and in that said stopper (4) is composed of a stopper body (5) of an elastomeric material and having a through-hole (5a) passing therethrough along its center axis, and a closing body (6) fitted in the through-hole (5a) of said stopper body (4) to block the through-hole (5a), said closing body (6) is in the form of a spherical member with a diameter greater than that of said through-hole, and that said tubular connecting member (32) has an unpointed end for forcing the closing body (6) in the through-hole (5a) to push in the vessel-body (2) just before use. The drug vessel according to claim 1 wherein the stopper includes a retaining chamber for retaining the closing body forced out of the through-hole.

Inventors: FUTAGAWA HITOSHI, IKEDA KOJI, KIKUCHI TOSHIHIRO, FUTAGAWA, HITOSHI, IKEDA, KOJI, KIKUCHI, TOSHIHIRO
Applicants: NISSHO KK, NISSHO CORPORATION
Application year: 1992
Main classification: A61J1
IPC codes: A61J1, B65D51