Patent EA-003646-B1 (EA)
Title: Liquid delivery container
Inventor: BENNWIK PERCY
IPC: A61M15/00
Filed: 2000-07-20
Abstract: 1. Container for storing and ejecting liquid, the container comprising a) a front wall having or surrounding a cavity corresponding to the form of an open vessel, b) an opening in the front wall adapted for ejection of the liquid from the container, said opening defining a container axis, c) optionally a sealing over the opening adapted for temporary use, and d) a rear wall closing and sealing the open part of the front wall vessel to confine a space for the liquid in the container, the rear wall running at least partially perpendicular to the container axis and being displaceable or deformable for movement towards the opening to pressurize the container liquid, characterized in the improvement comprising, that the front wall is substantially rigid in relation to the rear wall, that the rear wall before pressurizing the container is substantially flat or substantially single-curved and that the rear wall is deformable under stretching to substantially fill out the container cavity. 2. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the cavity has the form of a generally concave deepening when seen from the rear wall side. 3. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the cavity has little, and preferably no, undercut parts when seen from the rear side. 4. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the front wall has a roughly constant thickness when measured normal to the cavity surface towards the front wall. 5. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the front wall has thickness, as measured normal to the cavity surface towards the front wall, increasing when moving away form the axis. 6. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the front surface of the front wall is substantially flat or substantially single-curved, at least in the area around the opening. 7. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the rear surface of the front wall is substantially flat or substantially single-curved, at least in the area around the cavity. 8. The container of claim 1 characterized in that the front and rear surfaces of the front wall in the neighborhood of the cavity, but disregarding cavity and opening as such, are substantially parallel or concentric. 9. The container of claim 8, characterized in that the front wall has the overall shape of a plate or cylinder part. 10. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the opening duct has a cross-section which is one of roughly constant, roughly converging, roughly diverging or a combination thereof. 11. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the opening is designed to assist in atomizing the liquid. 12. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the opening is designed to assist in forming a coherent linear liquid stream. 13. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the front wall front side has a cut-out area around the opening. 14. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the container is connected to at least one other container to form a multiple container unit. 15. The container of claim 14, characterized in that the front wall surface of several containers lies in the same flat or single-curved plane. 16. The container of claim 15, characterized in that the front wall surfaces of several containers are covered by a single sheet material. 17. The container of claim 14, characterized in that the rear wall surface of several containers lies in the same flat or single-curved plane. 18. The container of claim 17, characterized in that the rear wall surfaces of several containers are covered by a single sheet material. 19. The container of claim 14, characterized in that the unit is a substantially rigid and self-bearing structure. 20. The container of claim 19, characterized in that that the unit comprises an enlarged front wall structure in which several cavities with openings are provided to form the multiple containers. 21. The container of claim 20, characterized in that the front and rear surfaces of the front wall structure are substantially parallel in the neighborhood of the cavities, when disregarding the cavities and openings as such, to give a general plate form. 22. The container of claim 21, characterized in that the front wall structure has the overall shape of a disc. 23. The container of claim 22, characterized in that the several containers are positioned along at least one circle concentric with the disc periphery. 24. The container of claim 20, characterized in that the front and rear surfaces of the front wall structure are substantially single-curved and concentric in the neighborhood of the cavities, when disregarding the cavities and openings as such. 25. The container of claim 24, characterized in that the front wall structure has the overall shape of a full or partial cylinder. 26. The container of claim 25, characterized in that the several containers are positioned over two dimensions of the cylinder surface. 27. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the rear wall is folded in a continuous or discontinuous manner. 28. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the rear wall has substantially the same overall shape as the rear surface of the front wall. 29. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the rear wall is designed to be deformed elastically. 30. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the rear wall is designed to be deformed inelastically or permanently. 31. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the rear wall comprises a laminate. 32. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the rear wall comprises a metal layer. 33. The container of claim 1, characterized in that a temporary sealing is provided over the opening. 34. The container of claim 33, characterized in that the sealing is rupturable or removable. 35. The container of claim 33, characterized in that the sealing comprises a flat or single-curved sheet. 36. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the liquid volume is less than 25 microliter, preferably less than 15 and most preferably less than 10 microliter. 37. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the opening diameter is between 10 and 1000 micron, preferably between 20 and 800 micron. 38. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the font wall thickness is between 0.5 and 10 mm, preferably between 1 and 5 mm. 39. The container of claim 1, characterized in that the maximum cavity diameter is about 1 to 20 mm, preferably between 2 and 10 mm. 40. Container for storing and ejecting liquid, the container comprising a) a front wall having or surrounding a cavity corresponding to the form of an open vessel, b) an opening in the front wall adapted for ejection of the liquid from the container, said opening defining a container axis, c) optionally a sealing over the opening adapted for temporary use, and d) a rear wall closing and sealing the open part of the front wall vessel to confine a space for the liquid in the container, the rear wall running at least partially perpendicular to the container axis and being displaceable or deformable for movement towards the opening to pressurize the container liquid, characterized in the improvement comprising, that in the vicinity of the cavity the front wall has the overall shape, except for the cavity itself, of a flat or single-curved plate with substantially parallel or concentric front and rear surfaces, that at least a part of the cavity is formed between the front and rear surfaces with the opening exposed on the front surface and the open part of the vessel exposed on the rear surface, and that the rear wall being attached to the rear surface. 41. The container of claim 40, characterized in any characteristic of claims 1 to 39. 42. Container for storing and ejecting liquid, the container comprising a) a front wall having or surrounding a cavity corresponding to the form of an open vessel, b) an opening in the front wall adapted for ejection of the liquid from the container, said opening defining a container axis, c) optionally a sealing over the opening adapted for temporary use, and d) a rear wall closing and sealing the open part of the front wall vessel to confine a space for the liquid in the container, the rear wall running at least partially perpendicular to the container axis and being displaceable or deformable for movement towards the opening to pressurize the container liquid, characterized in the improvement comprising, that the front wall thickness, as measured along lines running through the cavity and normal to the vessel closed surface, increases when moving off-set from the container axis. 43. The container of claim 42, characterized in any characteristic of claims 1 to 39. 44. A method for manufacture of a container containing liquid, the container comprising a) a front wall having or surrounding a cavity corresponding to the form of an open vessel, b) an opening in the front wall adapted for ejection of the liquid from the container, said opening defining a container axis, c) optionally a sealing over the opening adapted for temporary use, and d) a rear wall closing and sealing the open part of the front wall vessel to confine a space for the liquid in the container, the rear wall running at least partially perpendicular to the container axis and being displaceable or deformable for movement towards the opening to pressurize the container liquid, characterized in the steps of, forming a front wall with a cavity in the form of a vessel with an opening connecting the vessel with the front wall front surface, introducing liquid into the vessel cavity, and attaching and adhering a flat or single-curved rear wall film to the vessel cavity open part to enclose the liquid in the container. 45. The method of claim 44, characterized in the step of forming the front wall with cavity and opening by injection molding. 46. The method of claim 44, characterized in the step of adhering the rear wall film by welding. 47. The method of claim 46, characte