Abstract:
A crown, for a medical vial opening, has a top portion and a skirt surrounding the top portion. The skirt terminates at a lower edge defined in a first horizontal plane. An opener assembly is mounted to a portion of the top. A first scoring line extends from the portion of the top to which the opener assembly is mounted to the lower edge of the skirt in a continuous radial direction, and a second scoring line provides an upper radial segment extending from the opener assembly to the skirt along a radial axis, and a lower annular segment that extends circumferentially along the skirt in an annular direction and extending from a terminus of the upper radial segment. The lower annular segment is defined in a second horizontal plane equidistant to the first horizontal plane associated with the lower edge of the skirt.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/267,264, filed Oct. 6, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,608,006, which is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/698,247, filed Jan. 25, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,061,544, which is a continuation in part of International Application No. PCT/US2006/002421, filed Jan. 24, 2006, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/758,725, filed Jan. 14, 2006, the disclosures of which applications are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The present disclosure relates to caps and crowns for medical vials and other containers, and in particular, to a manual pull-to-open vial cap. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Fluid medicines are often stored in vials for dispensing with a syringe. A common type of vial is the open circle lens vial. This type of vial is familiar to anyone who has gotten a shot at the doctor&#39;s office, and typically has a thin metal top cover which protects a pierceable membrane that is sealed to the rim of the vial. Some modern vial covers have a plastic frame that rotates around the vial rim to align with a marking on the vial to indicate it is in proper opening position. The plastic frame then facilitates opening the metal cover that is attached to the frame. When the frame is pried up, the metal cover tears open across the top and down the side of the vial, the thin metal then breaks into two or more segments along the rim of the vial for easy removal of the frame and the metal cover to expose the membrane to be pierced by a syringe. 
     The problems with the standard open circle lens vials described above include the requirement to align markings on the plastic frame and the vial prior to opening and the creation of sharps by the metal segments of the cover. 
     Aligning markings can be difficult if the ambient lighting is poor or if the nurse has poor eyesight. Even when markings are aligned, the frame may not lifted up as expected if the tolerance for the markings is too strict so that one has to experiment through trial and error to make the alignment work. If the tolerances for the alignment are too loose, it defeats the purpose of aligning the markings in the first place. 
     Hospitals and doctors&#39; offices are always conscious of sharps such as needles and have protocols and equipment to isolate and dispose of sharps. This is particularly a concern if patients are in the area where there are sharps. It is, therefore, in the interest of medical professionals to reduce the number of sharps in their practice. 
     There is a need, therefore, for a medical vial cap that is easy to open manually, does not require alignment yet is safe, and which reduces sharps. To provide these advantages, certain features of the bottle crown described in the patents and patent applications related to this application have been adapted here to medical vial caps, in particular the opener assembly and the score lines, which advantageously allow a medial vial cap to be opened in a manner comparable to the beverage bottle cap previously described. 
     SUMMARY 
     A crown, for a medical vial opening, has a top portion and a skirt surrounding the top portion. The skirt terminates at a lower edge defined in a first horizontal plane. An opener assembly is mounted to a portion of the top. A first scoring line extends from the portion of the top to which the opener assembly is mounted to the lower edge of the skirt in a continuous radial direction, and a second scoring line provides an upper radial segment extending from the opener assembly to the skirt along a radial axis, and a lower annular segment that extends circumferentially along the skirt in an annular direction and extending from a terminus of the upper radial segment, the lower annular segment defined in a second horizontal plane equidistant to the first horizontal plane associated with the lower edge of the skirt. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The detailed description that follows, by way of non-limiting examples of embodiments, makes reference to the noted drawings in which reference numerals represent the same parts throughout the several views of the drawings, and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a medical vial cap of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 1  having an opener assembly. 
         FIG. 4  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of the alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 3 , partially opened. 
         FIG. 5  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 4 , opened. 
         FIG. 6  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of another alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 4 , opened. 
         FIG. 7  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of another alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 8  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of the alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 7 , partially opened. 
         FIG. 9  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of the alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of the alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 8  with the cover off. 
         FIG. 11  is a side cross-sectional view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 12  is a side cross-sectional view diagrammatic illustration of another alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 13  is a top view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of a medical vial cap of the present disclosure depicting alternative optional score lines and an off center attachment position for an opener assembly. 
         FIG. 14  is a side cross-sectional view diagrammatic illustration of a score line profile for a medical vial cap of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 15  is a side cross-sectional view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative score line profile for a medical vial cap of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 16  is a side cross-sectional view diagrammatic illustration of another alternative score line profile for a medical vial cap of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 17  is an isometric top view of an alternative embodiment of an unopened medical vial cap of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 18  is an isometric top view of an opened medical vial cap of  FIG. 17 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In view of the foregoing, through one or more various aspects, embodiments and/or specific features or sub-components, the present disclosure is thus intended to bring out one or more of the advantages that will be evident from the description. The present disclosure makes reference to one or more specific embodiments by way of illustration and example. It is understood, therefore, that the terminology, examples, drawings and embodiments are illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. The terms “crown” and “cap” may be used interchangeably in the description that follows. 
       FIG. 1  is a isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a medical vial cap of the present disclosure. Frangible score lines  6   d  extend in a straight line from opener assembly attachment position  15  to the edge  7  of the cap  1 . Dimples  101 ,  102  are positioned on the top of cap  1  so as to secure an opener assembly in position by inhibiting rotation of the opener assembly around attachment position  15 . 
       FIG. 2  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 1 . Score line  6   e  traces a continuous path from edge  7  around opener assembly position  15 , between position  15  and dimples  101 , 102 , and back to a different position on edge  7 .  FIG. 2  depicts an alternative embodiment of score line  6   e  in which the score line curves to intersect edge  7 . 
       FIG. 3  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 1  having an opener assembly. The opener assembly has pull tab ring  2 , pull tab  3  and an attachment means to attach the assembly to cap  1 , such as a rivet. In yet another alternative embodiment of the score lines, score line  6   e  descends below the top  310  of cap  1  and curves to form score line  6   e , which traverse along the side  320  substantially equidistant from top  310  and edge  7 . 
       FIG. 4  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of the alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 3 , partially opened. Pull tab ring  2  is a least partially deformable so that it can be lifted for a finger to fit into the ring. Pulling pull tab ring  2  causes frangible cap  1  to tear open along score lines  6   d ,  6   e  and creating opening  15   a  beneath pull tab  3 . Specific exemplary embodiments provide recessed depression  18  in crown  1  to house the opener assembly so that, in the unopened position, pull tab ring  2  is substantially flush with the top of cap  1 . Score line  6   d  terminates in a straight line at terminus  16   a.    
       FIG. 5  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 4 , opened. Further along in the opening sequence begun in  FIG. 4 , frangible cap  1  is cracked open at score line  6   d  but portion  520  remains pivotally attached to crown  1  at joint  510 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , terminus  16   a  forms a substantially right angle point. 
       FIG. 6  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of another alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 4 , opened. At the same point in the opening sequence as  FIG. 5 , the alternative embodiment of  FIG. 6  provides terminus  16   b  which is curved to reduce sharps. 
       FIG. 7  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of another alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 3 . The opener assembly is attached to cap  1  with rivet  4  and is positioned off-center. Score lines  706   a ,  706   b  do not extend from the attachment position to side  320 , but instead terminate before reaching pull tab ring  2 . Seam  710  circumscribes the circumference of cap  1  around the opener assembly to form cover  750 . 
       FIG. 8  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of the alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 7 , partially opened. The opener assembly lifts away from cap  1  by means of tab portion  720  creating opening  730 . Cover  750  protects membrane  740 , which is exposed upon opening. 
       FIG. 9  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of the alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 8 . Further along in the opening sequence of  FIG. 8 , more of membrane  740  is exposed and cover  750  remains pivotally attached to cap  1 . 
       FIG. 10  is an isometric top view diagrammatic illustration of the alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 8  with the cover off. Cover  750  is completely removed from cap  1 , fully exposing membrane  740  for access by a syringe, for example. 
       FIG. 11  is a side cross-sectional view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 3 . Divot  10  provides a fingernail access recess to facilitate grasping pull tab ring  2 . 
       FIG. 12  is a side cross-sectional view diagrammatic illustration of another alternative embodiment of the cap of  FIG. 3 . In an alternative embodiment to facilitate grasping pull tab ring  2 , ring  2  is provide with fingernail recess  11 . 
       FIG. 13  is a top view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of a medical vial cap of the present disclosure depicting alternative optional score lines and an off center attachment position for an opener assembly. Opener assembly attachment position  15  is off-center, almost to side  320 . A variety of optional score line arrangements are represented by dashed lines  6   g ,  6   a ,  6   b ,  6   c , and  6   d . From  6   d  to  6   g , the scores lines diverge at a wider angle. Dimples  101 ,  102  serve the same purpose as described above for  FIG. 1 . Score line  6   g  traverses around opener assembly attachment position  15 , between position  15  and dimples  101 ,  102 . 
       FIG. 14  is a side cross-sectional view diagrammatic illustration of a score line profile for an alternative exemplary embodiment of a medical vial cap of the present disclosure. The score line cross-sectional profile in  FIG. 14  has a substantially square or rectangular shape. 
       FIG. 15  is a side cross-sectional view diagrammatic illustration of an alternative score line profile for a medical vial cap of the present disclosure. The score line cross-sectional profile in  FIG. 14  has a substantially arcuate or curved shape. 
       FIG. 16  is a side cross-sectional view diagrammatic illustration of another alternative score line profile for a medical vial cap of the present disclosure. The score line cross-sectional profile in  FIG. 14  has a substantially v-shaped shape. 
     The reason score line  6  of  FIGS. 24A and 24B  is advantageous is that is reduces the sharps produced by tearing open crown  1  with the opener assembly. Round tear edges  6 M and  6 N render the opened crown dramatically less dangerous from sharps than would otherwise be the case. 
     Further regarding score line  6 , one consideration of a crown of the present disclosure is the ease with which the material of crown  1  can be torn once opened by the opener assembly. The ease of tearing relates to the amount of pull force that needs to be applied to tear the crown material. Pulling force may be reduced, that is, ease of tearing may be increased, with the use of crown coatings or lacquers known in the art that contain additives which increase the ease of tearing, by reducing the required pull force, of the crown  1  material along line  6 . 
       FIG. 17  is an isometric top view of an alternative embodiment of an unopened medical vial cap of the present disclosure.  FIG. 18  is an isometric top view of an opened medical vial cap of  FIG. 17 .  FIGS. 17 and 18  will be described together. Cap  1  provides pull tab ring  2 , as described above for other embodiments. However, in the embodiment of  FIG. 17 , pull tab ring  2  is attached to flap hinge  172  and to plug  174 , which has a top portion, shown in  FIG. 17 , and a bottom portion  176 , shown in  FIG. 18 . The top portion of plug  174  and bottom portion  176  form an annular receiving groove  182 . Pull tab ring  2  fits snugly into groove  182  so that when pull tab ring  2  is pulled upward, plug  174  is released from the top of cap  1 , pivoting on flap hinge  172 , to open the cap. Pull tab ring  2 , plug  174  and flap hinge  172  form an opener assembly for cap  1 . 
     To facilitate operation of pull tab ring  2 , a portion  180  of cap  1  is recessed or depressed to accommodate a human finger nail. Portion  180  makes it easier to access pull tab ring  2  with a fingernail to operate the opener assembly. 
     Alternative embodiments of the opener assembly of  FIGS. 17 and 18  provide a plug  174  that is integral with pull tab ring  2 . 
     Although not designed exclusively for such applications, the present vial cap is particularly useful for single use vials. Scored glass vials are in common usage for single uses but they have an inherent risk of shattering and causing lacerations. The present cap reduces such risks substantially. 
     A pulling force for a pull ring of the present disclosure of approximately 2.5 kg (kilograms) or less is preferred. A relatively small pull force such as this is recommended so that virtually everyone will have sufficient strength to open a bottle using a crown of the present disclosure. In contrast, a relatively large pull force has the disadvantage of requiring a great amount of initial force to tear the tinplate material, and once the cap material is torn open the sudden release of pulling force causes the bottle to jerk away from the user, spilling the contents often in dramatic fashion. 
     In addition to the low hardness of the crown material, the thinness or gauge of the crown may also contribute to achieving a small pull force. For example, a crown of the present invention is recommended to have a thickness of less than 0.28 mm Embodiments in which the crown material is strengthened by corrugation, such as in seated embodiments of  FIGS. 3, 17, and 18 , may be thinner than standard crowns, having, for example, a gauge as thin as approximately 0.16 mm. 
     The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments, and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all the elements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use of the structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural, materials, and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Figures are merely representational and may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may be exaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. 
     Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. 
     The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. 
     The description has made reference to several exemplary embodiments. It is understood, however, that the words that have been used are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Changes may be made within the purview of the appended claims, as presently stated and as amended, without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure in all its aspects. Although description makes reference to particular means, materials and embodiments, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed; rather, the disclosure extends to all functionally equivalent technologies, structures, methods and uses such as are within the scope of the appended claims.