Patent Publication Number: US-8973800-B2

Title: Ampoule opener

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an ampoule opener, and more particularly to an ampoule opener that can be used to open an ampoule safely and conveniently. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A conventional ampoule is made of glass and is used to store injectable medications or chemical pharmaceuticals for isolation from air contact. The conventional ampoule has a body, a neck formed on the body, and a head formed on the neck. In use, the neck of the conventional ampoule has to be pre-scored and sterilized. The user can break the neck to separate the head from the body of the conventional ampoule to withdraw the injectable medications or the chemical pharmaceuticals that are stored in the body of the conventional ampoule. As a preferred practice of the industry, the conventional ampoules are pre-scored on the neck by the manufacturer. Then, the user can snap off the neck along the scoring to separate the head from the body of the conventional ampoule. 
     The conventional ampoule is usually used to store the injectable medications and the medical staff needs to break the neck of the conventional ampoule to withdraw the medication before injection in performed. However, the broken neck of the conventional ampoule may injure the medical staff and even further cause infection. As such, the conventional ampoule is unsafe and inconvenient in use. 
     To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an ampoule opener to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an ampoule opener that can be used to open an ampoule safely and conveniently. 
     The ampoule opener in accordance with the present invention has an opening unit and a cover unit. The opening unit is a rigid frame and has two panels, two head-clamping holes and two pairs of wave-shaped flanges. The panels are respectively an upper panel and a lower panel. The head-clamping holes are elongated in length and tapered in width and are respectively formed through the panels. The pairs of wave-shaped flanges are formed between the panels and the head-clamping holes. The cover unit is flexible, is detachably mounted around the opening unit and has two covering boards, a mounting recess, two body-clamping holes and two pairs of wave-shaped edges. The body-clamping holes are elongated in length and tapered in width and are respectively formed through the mounting boards and communicate with the mounting recess. The pairs of wave-shaped edges are formed between the mounting boards and the body-clamping holes. 
     Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an ampoule opener in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the ampoule opener in  FIG. 1 , shown with an ampoule; 
         FIG. 3  is another exploded perspective view of the ampoule opener in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an enlarged perspective view in partial section of the ampoule opener in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an operational perspective view of the ampoule opener in  FIG. 1 , shown with the ampoule; 
         FIG. 6  is another operational perspective view of the ampoule opener in  FIG. 1 , shown used for recycling a needle from a syringe; and 
         FIG. 7  is further another operational perspective view of the ampoule opener in  FIG. 1 , shown opening a medication vial with a driving tab of the ampoule opener. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 4 , an ampoule opener for an ampoule  50  in accordance with the present invention has an opening unit  10  and a cover unit  20 . The ampoule  50  has a body  51 , a neck  52 , a head  53 , and a scoring mark  54 . 
     The opening unit  10  is a rectangular rigid frame and has two sidewalls, a closed rear side, an open front side, two panels  11 A,  11 B, a chamber  12 , two head-clamping holes  13 , a view window  14 , two inserting holes  15 , a driving tab  16 , two positioning blocks  17  and a hanging ring  18 . The sidewalls of the opening unit  10  are formed with the closed rear side of the opening unit  10 . 
     The panels  11 A,  11 B are respectively an upper panel  11 A and a lower panel  11 B, are formed with the sidewalls and the closed side of the opening unit  10 , and face each other. Each panel  11 A,  11 B has a length, a mounting end and a holding end. The chamber  12  is formed in the opening unit  10  between the sidewalls, the closed rear side, and the panels  11 A,  11 B of the opening unit  10  and communicates with the open front side of the opening unit  10 . 
     The head-clamping holes  13  are elongated, are respectively formed through the panels  11 A,  11 B proximal to the mounting ends of the panels  11 A,  11 B and communicate with the chamber  12 , and each head-clamping hole  13  has a length and a width. Furthermore, each head-clamping hole  13  is tapered from the mounting end to the holding end of a corresponding panel  11 A,  11 B. In addition, a ratio of the length of the head-clamping hole  13  to the length of the panel  11 A,  11 B is two-thirds. Furthermore, the opening unit  10  has two pairs of wave-shaped flanges  131  formed between the panels  11 A,  11 B and the head-clamping holes  13  to enable the head-clamping holes  13  to clamp the heads  53  of the ampoules  50  of various sizes. 
     The view window  14  is formed through one of the sidewalls of the opening unit  10  between the panels  11 A,  11 B and communicates with the chamber  12 . The inserting holes  15  are respectively formed through the panels  11 A,  11 B proximal to the holding ends of the panels  11 A,  11 B, align with each other, and communicate with the chamber  12 . The opening unit  10  further has multiple engaging protrusions  151  formed in the inserting holes  15  at intervals to engage a needle cap. In addition, the inserting hole  15  that is formed through the upper panel  11 A has a diameter larger than a diameter of the inserting hole  15  that is formed through the lower panel  11 B, such that the needle cap is inserted and positioned in a unidirectional manner. 
     Preferably, the opening unit  10  has a slot  111 , an elastic arm  112 , and an engaging element  113 . The slot  111  is C-shaped and is formed through the lower panel  11 B and between the head-clamping hole  13  and the inserting hole  15  of the lower panel  11 B. The elastic arm  112  is formed on and protrudes from the lower panel  11 B between the slot  111  and the head-clamping hole  13  of the lower panel  11 B and has a free end proximal to the inserting hole  15  of the lower panel  11 B. The engaging element  113  is formed on and protrudes from the free end of the elastic arm  112 . 
     The driving tab  16  is formed on and protrudes from the mounting end of the lower panel  11 B. The positioning blocks  17  are formed on and protrude from a bottom face of the lower panel  11 B, are each respectively formed proximal to the driving tab  16  and proximal to the inserting hole  15 , and align with each other. The hanging ring  18  is mounted on the closed rear side of the opening unit  10  between the holding ends of the panels  11 A,  11 B. 
     The cover unit  20  is made of a flexible material such as rubber or silicone, is detachably mounted around the opening unit  10  and has an open rear side, a closed front side, two sidewalls, two covering boards  21 A,  21 B, a mounting recess  22 , two body-clamping holes  23 , a view window  24 , two via holes  25 , a through hole  26  and a positioning groove  27 . The closed front side of the cover unit  20  is formed with the sidewalls of the cover unit  20 . 
     The covering boards  21 A,  21 B are respectively an upper covering board  21 A and a lower covering board  21 B, and are formed with the sidewalls and the closed front side of the cover unit  20 . The mounting recess  22  is formed in the cover unit  20  between the sidewalls, the closed front side and the covering boards  21 A,  21 B of the cover unit  20  and communicates with the open rear side of the cover unit  20 . Then, the opening unit  10  can be mounted in the mounting recess  22  of the cover unit  20  via the open rear side of the cover unit  20 . 
     The body-clamping holes  23  correspond to the head-clamping holes  13  of the opening unit  10 , are elongated and are each respectively formed through the mounting boards  21 A,  21 B from the closed front side to the open rear side of the cover unit  20  and communicate with the mounting recess  22 . The body-clamping holes  23  are tapered from the closed front side to the open rear side of the cover unit  20 , and each body-clamping hole  23  has a length and a width. The length of each one of the body-clamping holes  23  is longer than the length of a corresponding head-clamping hole  13  and the width of the body-clamping hole  23  is wider than the width of the corresponding head-clamping hole  13 . Furthermore, the cover unit  20  has two pairs of wave-shaped edges  231  formed between the mounting boards  21 A,  21 B and the body-clamping holes  23  to enable the body-clamping holes  23  to clamp the bodies  51  of the ampoules  50  of various sizes. In addition, the widths of the body-clamping holes  23  are larger than the widths of the head-clamping holes  13 . Then, when the opening unit  10  is mounted in the cover unit  20 , the head-clamping holes  13  of the opening unit  10  are located within the ranges of the body-clamping holes  23  of the cover unit  20 . Furthermore, when the opening unit  10  is mounted in the cover unit  20 , the engaging element  113  engages the body-clamping hole  23  of the lower mounting board  21 B to provide a positioning effect to the opening unit  10  and the cover unit  20 . 
     The view window  24  is formed through one of the sidewalls of the cover unit  20  and communicates with the view window  14  of the opening unit  10  when the opening unit  10  is mounted in the cover unit  20 . The via holes  25  are respectively formed through the mounting boards  21 A,  21 B, are formed proximal to the open rear side of the cover unit  20 , and align with the inserting holes  15  of the opening unit  10  when the opening unit  10  is mounted in the cover unit  20 . Preferably, the diameters of the via holes  25  are larger than the diameters of the inserting holes  15 . The cover unit  20  further has multiple engaging protrusions  251  formed in the via holes  25  at intervals to engage a needle cap. 
     The through hole  26  is formed through the closed front side of the cover unit  20  proximal to the lower mounting board  21 B. When the opening unit  10  is mounted in the cover unit  20 , the driving tab  16  extends out of the closed front side of the cover unit  20  via the through hole  26 . The positioning groove  27  is formed in the lower mounting board  21 B, and when the opening unit  10  is mounted in the cover unit  20 , the positioning groove  27  is disposed around the positioning blocks  17  of the open unit  10 . In addition, the assemblement between the positioning groove  27  and the positioning blocks  17  can be used to prevent the opening unit  10  from misaligning from the cover unit  20 . In use, the opening unit  10  can also be used individually without assembling with the cover unit  20 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2 and 5 , when a user uses the ampoule opener in accordance with the present invention to open the ampoule  50 , one hand of the user securely holds the cover unit  20 , and the body  51  of the ampoule  50  is mounted in the cover unit  20  and engages the wave-shaped edges  231  of the cover unit  20  via the body-clamping holes  23 . Then, the other hand of the user holds the opening unit  10  to mount the opening unit  10  around the head  53  and the neck  52  of the ampoule to enable the wave-shaped flanges  131  of the opening unit  10  to respectively engage the neck  52  and the head  53  of the ampoule  50  above the cover unit  20 . The user can see the scoring mark  54  on the ampoule  50  via the view window  14  and can accordingly break the neck  52  of the ampoule  50  easily by lever principle between the head-clamping holes  13  of the panels  11 A,  11 B to open the ampoule  50 . 
     The head-clamping holes  13  and the body-clamping holes  23  are elongated in length and tapered in width, and respectively have the wave-shaped flanges  131  and the wave-shaped edges  231 , such that the ampoules  50  of various sizes can be mounted and clamped in the opening unit  10  and the cover unit  20 . Then, the user can choose the wave-shaped flanges  131  and the wave-shaped edges  231  of the optimal size to engage the body  51 , the neck  52  and the head  53  of the ampoule  50 , and this can improve the convenience and practicality of the ampoule opener in use. Furthermore, when the neck  52  and the head  53  of the ampoule  50  are respectively mounted in the head-clamping holes  13  of the panels  11 A,  11 B, a gap between the head  53  and the head-clamping hole  13  of the upper panel  11 A is larger than a gap between the neck  52  and the head-clamping hole  13  of the lower panel  11 B and this can prevent the head  53  of the ampoule  50  from chipping by rigidity during the course of breaking, so as to improve the safety of using the ampoule opener in accordance with the present invention. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 4 and 6 , the inserting holes  15  of the opening unit  10  and the via holes  25  of the cover unit  20  can be used for mounting and engaging a needle cap  61  of a syringe  60 . By engaging the needle cap  61  with the engaging protrusions  151 ,  251 , when the syringe  60  is rotated relative to the ampoule opener, the needle cap  61  with the needle can be separated from the syringe  60  safely for recycling. With further reference to  FIG. 7 , the driving tab  16  of the opening unit  10  can be used to remove a cover  71  from a medication vial  70 . Then, the user can withdraw the medication from the vial  70 . 
     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.