Abstract:
A cylindrical vial having a bottom, for a medicine, in which an open end of the cylindrical vial is sealed by a needle-penetrable rubber closure through which a needle can be penetrated, the cylindrical vial including a conical bottom end provided opposite to the open end, wherein the apex of the conical bottom end is located on a central axis of the cylindrical vial at the bottommost point inside the cylindrical vial.

Description:
This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/881,368, filed on Jun. 14, 2001. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a cylindrical vial, with a bottom for a medicine, in which an opening is closed by a rubber closure (needle-penetrable rubber closure) which can be penetrated therethrough with a syringe needle. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In general, a vial for a medicine is in the form of a cylinder with a bottom. The vial is provided at its one end with an opening which is closed by a rubber closure made of a rubber material, such as butyl rubber, after the vial is filled with a predetermined quantity of liquid medicament. When the liquid medicament is used, a syringe needle is penetrated into the rubber closure to aspirate the liquid medicament into the syringe. In the aspiration operation, the internal liquid medicament of the vial must be completely transferred into the syringe. Namely, a dosage of liquid medicament is contained in the vial, and hence, if the entirety of the liquid medicament contained in the vial fails to be aspirated, there is a possibility that the expected effect of the dosage of liquid medicament is not achieved. 
     Therefore, a doctor or nurse carefully carries out the aspiration operation of the liquid medicament in the vial. In a conventional vial, in order to aspirate the liquid medicament in the vial completely, it is necessary to incline the vial at the end of the inspiration operation and to move the front end of the syringe needle to the deepest portion of the vial, i.e., the corner portion of the bottom of the vial to thereby aspirate the liquid medicament remaining therein. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a cylindrical vial with a bottom, for a medicine, in which the entirety of liquid medicament in the vial can be completely and easily aspirated by a syringe, without need of inclination of the vial so as to aspirate the liquid medicament remaining at a corner portion of the bottom of the vial by the syringe whose front end is moved to the corner portion. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The inventors have conceived that if the needle which is penetrated into a vial through a needle-penetrable rubber closure is automatically brought to the deepest or innermost portion of the vial on the center axis thereof, it is possible to easily aspirate the whole quantity of liquid medicament in the vial into the syringe. Namely, in order to achieve the above object, a cylindrical vial having a bottom, for a medicine, in which an open end of the cylindrical vial is sealed by a needle-penetrable rubber closure through which a needle can be penetrated, the cylindrical vial including a conical bottom end provided opposite to the open end, wherein the apex of the conical bottom end is located on a central axis of the cylindrical vial at the bottommost point inside the cylindrical vial. 
     In general, a conventional cylindrical vial having a bottom is made of a resin material by blow molding. However, it is difficult to precisely form the conical bottom end by the blow molding. To solve this problem, in an embodiment, the cylindrical vial is formed using an injection molding die assembly including a core pin, the core pin being in the form of a rod having a uniform diameter and having a conical front end. Dies other than the core pin are not limited to a specific shape or structure and can be of any structure. 
     In another embodiment, the cylindrical vial is formed using an injection molding die assembly including a core pin, the core pin being in the form of a tapered rod having a conical front end and having an outer diameter gradually increasing from the conical front end toward the other end thereof. Dies other than the core pin are not limited to a specific shape or structure and can be of any structure. 
     To make it possible to aspirate the whole quantity of liquid medicament in the cylindrical vial by a needle of a syringe without inclining the cylindrical vial, the conical bottom end of the cylindrical vial preferably defines an angle in the range of 30° through 70° between the generatrix of the conical bottom end and the central axis of the cylindrical vial. If the angle is less than 30°, it is necessary to increase the length of the cylindrical vial in order to provide the same capacity as that of a conventional cylindrical vial, and there is a possibility that the needle cannot reach the deepest or innermost portion of the cylindrical vial. Furthermore, since the mass of resin of which the bottom portion of the cylindrical vial is increased, the cylindrical vial becomes heavy. If the angle exceeds 70°, no effect expected from the conical shape can be obtained. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, a cylindrical vial for a medicine is provided, including an axial hollow portion, an open end connected to the axial hollow portion and a closed end opposite to the open end. The open end is sealed by a needle-penetrable rubber closure through which a needle can be penetrated into the cylindrical vial. The closed end includes a conical bottom end, the apex of the conical bottom end being located on a central axis of the axial hollow portion at the bottommost point inside the axial hollow portion. 
     In an embodiment, the axial hollow portion is formed using an injection molding die assembly including a core pin, the core pin being in the form of a rod having a uniform diameter and having a conical front end. 
     In another embodiment, the axial hollow portion is formed using an injection molding die assembly including a core pin, the core pin being in the form of a tapered rod having a conical front end and having an outer diameter gradually increasing from the conical front end toward the other end thereof. 
     Preferably, the conical bottom end of the cylindrical vial defines an angle in the range of 30° through 70° between the generatrix of the conical bottom end and the central axis of the axial hollow portion. 
     The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No.2000-201936 (filed on Jul. 4, 2000) which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be discussed below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; 
     FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of a vial for a medicine in which an open end is sealed by a needle stickable rubber closure, according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a lower portion of FIG. 1; and, 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of an injection molding die assembly for producing a vial for a medicine, according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 shows a bottomed cylindrical vial  10  which is filled with a liquid medicament, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The cylindrical vial  10  is long and elongated and is provided with a closed end and an open end  11  which is closed by a rubber closure (needle-penetrable rubber closure)  20 . The rubber closure  20  is provided on its center portion with a reduced thickness portion  21  through which a needle of a syringe can be penetrated. The rubber closure  20  is secured, in a liquid-tight fashion, to the open end  11  by a retainer (rubber closure holding member)  22 . 
     The axial hollow portion  12  of the bottomed cylindrical vial  10  has a rotationally symmetrical shape with respect to the axis  10 X of the cylindrical vial  10  and has a uniform diameter over the overall length thereof from the open end  11  to a conical bottom  13  thereof. The conical bottom  13  is deepest at the apex of the cone located on the axis  10 X and gradually decreases the depth toward the periphery thereof. The angle α (FIG. 2) defined between the generatrix of the conical bottom  13  and the axis  10 X is preferably in the range of 30° to 70°, from the viewpoint of facilitation of use, and is more preferably in the range of 40° to 60°. 
     The bottomed cylindrical vial  10  is made of a resin material by injection molding. FIG. 3 schematically shows an injection molding die assembly. The injection molding die assembly  30  is provided with a core pin (rod-like central die)  32  in the form of a rod whose diameter corresponds to the inner diameter of the axial hollow portion  12  and which has a conical front end  31  formed by rotating a leg of a right triangle about the central axis  10 X corresponding to the conical bottom  13 , and a pair of right and left split dies  33  and  34  which define therebetween a molding cavity  10 M for the bottomed cylindrical vial  10 , together with the core pin  32 . At least one of the split dies  33  and  34  is provided with a gate  35  through which a molding resin material is introduced into the molding cavity. p Various split structures of the split dies  30  to define the molding cavity  10 M can be used, provided that the axial hollow portion  12  is formed by the core pin  32 , and that the core pin  32  is provided on its front end with the conical portion  31  corresponding to the conical bottom  13 . 
     The bottomed cylindrical vial  10  for a medicine, which is formed by the injection molding die assembly  30 , is washed and is subject to other necessary operations. Subsequently, a liquid medicament is filled in the axial hollow portion  12  of the cylindrical vial  10 . Thereafter, the needle-penetrable rubber closure  20  is attached to the open end  11  of the cylindrical vial  10  and is secured thereto by a retainer  22  to seal the open end. 
     When liquid medicament in the cylindrical vial  10  is used, a needle  40  attached to a syringe is penetrated into the cylindrical vial  10  through the thin portion  21  of the rubber closure  20 . The retraction (inward movement) of a plunger in the syringe causes the liquid medicament in the cylindrical vial  10  to be aspirated into the syringe. When the needle  40  is inserted up to the innermost portion of the cylindrical vial  10 , the front end of the needle  40  naturally moves to the apex of the cone of the conical bottom  13  while being guided by the conical surface. Since the liquid medicament in the cylindrical vial  10  is collected in the conical bottom  13 , substantially all of the liquid medicament in the cylindrical vial  10  can be aspirated by the syringe without needing to incline the cylindrical vial  10 . 
     Although the core pin  32  of the molding die assembly  30  shown in FIG. 3 has a uniform diameter, it is possible to provide the core pin  32  with a tapered peripheral surface for easy release thereof. Namely, the core pin  32  can be in the form of a slightly tapered rod whose outer diameter is gradually increased from the conical end  31  toward the other end. The taper angle should be as small as possible. 
     As may be understood from the above discussion, according to the present invention, when the liquid medicament in the cylindrical vial with a bottom is aspirated into a syringe by a needle, it is possible to easily aspirate the whole quantity of the liquid medicament without inclining the cylindrical vial. 
     Obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiments of the present invention described herein, such modifications being within the spirit and scope of the invention claimed. It is indicated that all matter contained herein is illustrative and does not limit the scope of the present invention.