Patent Publication Number: US-2023149264-A1

Title: Multi-vial connector

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119, 120, 121, or 365(c), and is a National Stage entry from International Application No. PCT/KR2021/003907 filed on Mar. 30, 2021, which claims priority to the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0046560 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Apr. 17, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a multi-vial connector connected to a plurality of vials to simultaneously extract liquid medications from the vials. 
     2. Background Art 
     In general, intravenous injection refers to direct administration of a drug prescribed by a doctor into a vein of a patient, and the drug injected directly into a blood vessel may pass through a heart and rapidly reach necessary tissues of a body so that an effect and a response of the administered drug may appear rapidly. 
     The intravenous injection is mainly performed when the prescribed drug is a liquid medication that may not be injected subcutaneously or intramuscularly, when an amount of a liquid medication is too excessive even though the prescribed drug may be injected, or when a rapid effect of the drug is expected. 
     For such intravenous injection, a nurse has to first prepare an injectable solution in which an infusion and a liquid medication are mixed by injecting a prescribed liquid medication into an infusion container in which the infusion is stored. 
     In other words, the nurse may extract a prescribed amount of the liquid medication from a vial in which the liquid medication is stored by using a syringe to fill the syringe with the liquid medication, and insert an injection needle of the syringe into the infusion container to inject the liquid medication filled in the syringe into the infusion container, so that the stored infusion and the liquid medication injected through the syringe may be mixed with each other in the infusion container, and thus the injectable solution to be administered may be prepared. 
     In this case, the vial refers to a medication bottle or a storage container in which the liquid medication is stored in a sterile state. In general, the vial may have a structure in which an inlet on an upper end of the vial is closed with a rubber cap after the liquid medication is stored in the vial and subject to an aseptic treatment, and may have a shape that may be safely stored and transported. 
     In the past, the vial was mainly used in a large capacity of about 100 ml. However, after a predetermined amount of a liquid medication is extracted through a syringe, all the remaining liquid medication had to be discarded for hygiene reasons, so that a large amount of the liquid medication may be disposed of in a case of the large-capacity vial so as to excessively waste the liquid medication. Accordingly, recently, a small-capacity vial of about 20 ml have been mainly used. 
     However, when the small-capacity vial is used, while the waste of the liquid medication may be minimized, since an amount of a liquid medication in one vial is too small, in order to extract a prescribed amount of the liquid medication, an injection needle of a syringe has to be inserted into multiple vials one by one to extract liquid medications over multiple times. Accordingly, a process of extracting the liquid medication from the multiple vials may be cumbersome and time-consuming, and since a process of inserting or extracting the injection needle into or from the vial is repeatedly performed, a risk that the nurse may be pierced by the injection needle or the liquid medication may be exposed may be increased. 
     SUMMARY 
     To solve the problems of the related art as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-vial connector in which a liquid medication may be extracted from a vial without a concern that piercing by an injection needle may occur or the liquid medication may be contaminated, and in particular, the multi-vial connector may be connected to a plurality of vials to simultaneously extract liquid medications from the vials so that rapidity and convenience as well as safety may be improved. 
     To achieve the objects described above, according to the present invention, 
     there is provided a multi-vial connector including: a main body having an upper side coupled to a liquid medication extraction device; a plurality of sub-bodies arranged around the main body; a spike formed on the sub-body and inserted into a vial; and a liquid medication flow channel extending from the spike to the main body via the sub-body. 
     In this case, three sub-bodies may be provided, and arranged at an interval of 120 degrees radially around the main body so as to be connected to the main body. 
     In addition, the liquid medication flow channel may include: a liquid medication inlet formed in the spike; a liquid medication outlet formed on an inner upper side of the main body; a sub-liquid medication flow channel extending along an inside of the sub-body while communicating with the liquid medication inlet; and a main liquid medication flow channel extending upward from an inside of the main body while being connected to the sub-liquid medication flow channel to communicate with the liquid medication outlet. 
     In addition, the multi-vial connector may further include a ventilation flow channel extending from the spike to the main body via the sub-body independently of the liquid medication flow channel. 
     In addition, the ventilation flow channel may include: a first ventilation hole formed in the spike; a second ventilation hole formed on an inner lower side of the main body; a sub-ventilation flow channel extending along an inside of the sub-body while communicating with the first ventilation hole; and a main ventilation flow channel extending downward from an inside of the main body while being connected to the sub-ventilation flow channel to communicate with the second ventilation hole. 
     In addition, the multi-vial connector may further include a head cap provided in the sub-body and detachably coupled to a head part of the vial. 
     In addition, the head cap may include: a cap body having a cylindrical shape and having an open lower portion; a mounting end formed on an upper end of the cap body so as to be coupled to the sub-body; a plurality of incision slits formed by cutting a side surface of the cap body at regular intervals; an inclined surface formed on an inner lower side of the cap body; and a latching sill formed on an upper end of the inclined surface. 
     According to the multi-vial connector of the present invention, 
     the multi-vial connector may be connected to the vial through the insertion of the spike while being coupled to a syringe, so that the liquid medication can be safely extracted from the vial without a concern that piercing by an injection needle may occur or the liquid medication may be contaminated. 
     In particular, the multi-vial connector may be connected to a plurality of vials to simultaneously extract liquid medications from the vials, so that an operation can be performed more rapidly and conveniently. 
     In addition, a pressure inside the vial may be constantly maintained by the ventilation flow channel during the extraction of the liquid medication, so that the liquid medication can be extracted more easily without effort. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a view three-dimensionally illustrating an overall configuration of the present invention. 
         FIG.  2    is a view three-dimensionally illustrating the overall configuration of the present invention from a bottom side. 
         FIG.  3    is a view illustrating a configuration in which a head cap is removed from  FIG.  2   . 
         FIG.  4    is a view illustrating a head cap according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  5    is a sectional view illustrating a liquid medication flow channel and a ventilation flow channel according to the present invention. 
         FIG.  6    is a view illustrating a use state of the present invention. 
         FIG.  7    is a view illustrating an operation relation of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     In the present disclosure, terms indicating directions such as front, rear, left, right, upper, and lower have been used only to describe directions shown and observed in the drawings, so that the terms may vary when the directions shown and observed in the drawing are changed. 
       FIGS.  1  to  7    illustrate a configuration and an operation of a multi-vial connector according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to the drawings, according to the present invention, a multi-vial connector  10  (hereinafter abbreviated as “connector”) may include a main body  100 , a sub-body  200 , a spike  300 , a liquid medication flow channel  400 , a ventilation flow channel  500 , and a head cap  600 . 
     The main body  100  refers to a part coupled to a liquid medication extraction device  20 , and the main body  100  may be formed on an upper side thereof with a coupling screw  110  for detachable coupling with the liquid medication extraction device  20 . 
     In this case, the liquid medication extraction device  20  to which the main body  100  is coupled refers to a device capable of extracting a liquid medication from a vial  30  by a pressure difference, is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a syringe. 
     The main body  100  may have a cylindrical shape extending vertically by a predetermined length, but is not limited thereto. 
     The sub-body  200  refers to a part connected to the main body  100 . 
     The sub-body  200  may extend by a predetermined length in a direction that is different from a longitudinal direction of the main body  100 . As illustrated in the drawings, the sub-body  200  may extend in a horizontal direction that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (i.e., a vertical direction) of the main body  100 , but is not limited thereto, and may extend so as to be inclined downward or upward at a predetermined angle. 
     Meanwhile, the sub-body  200  may have a leg part  210  at a point extended by a predetermined length, and the leg part  210  may be bent in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the main body  100 , that is, downward from the sub-body  200 , which extends by the predetermined length from the main body  100 , so as to extend by a predetermined length. 
     The leg part  210  may include a coupling screw  211  for detachable coupling with a head cap  600  that will be described below. 
     The sub-body  200  may have a cylindrical shape similarly to the main body  100 , but is not limited thereto. 
     A plurality of sub-bodies  200 , which are at least two sub-bodies  200 , may be provided, and the sub-bodies  200  may be arranged at an interval of a predetermined degree radially around the main body  100  so as to be connected to the main body  100 . 
     For example, as illustrated in the drawings, three sub-bodies  200  may be provided. In this case, the three sub-bodies  200  may be arranged at an interval of 120° radially around the main body  100  so as to be connected to the main body  100 . 
     Meanwhile, two or four sub-bodies  200  may be provided. In this case, the two sub-bodies  200  may be arranged at an interval of 180°, and the four sub-bodies  200  may be arranged at an interval of 90°. 
     The spike  300  refers to a part inserted into and connected to the vial  30 . 
     Therefore, the spike  300  may have a predetermined length in which a tip has a pointed shape as an outer diameter is gradually reduced, so that the spike  300  may be inserted into the vial  30  by penetrating through a rubber cap provided in a head part of the vial  30 . 
     The spike  300  may be formed on each of the sub-bodies  200 . 
     The spike  300  may extend in the same direction as a longitudinal direction of the sub-body  200 . 
     However, the spike  300  may preferably extend in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the main body  100 , that is, downward so that the liquid medication extraction device  20  and the vial  30  coupled to the connector  10  may be connected to each other in the same direction. Therefore, the spike  300  may extend downward from a lower end of the leg part  210  of the sub-body  200 . 
     The liquid medication flow channel  400  may perform a function of a flow channel through which the liquid medication extracted from the vial  30  may move to the liquid medication extraction device  20 . 
     The liquid medication flow channel  400  may be formed as a path extending from the spike  300  to an inside of the main body  100  via an inside of the sub-body  200 . 
     In detail, as illustrated in  FIG.  5   , the liquid medication flow channel  400  may include: a liquid medication inlet  410  formed in the spike  300 ; a liquid medication outlet  420  formed on an inner upper side of the main body  100 ; a sub-liquid medication flow channel  430  extending along an inside of the sub-body  200  while communicating with the liquid medication inlet  410 ; and a main liquid medication flow channel  440  extending upward from an inside of the main body  100  while being connected to the sub-liquid medication flow channel  430  to communicate with the liquid medication outlet  420 . 
     In this case, a plurality of sub-liquid medication flow channels  430  may be provided to correspond to a number of the sub-bodies  200 , so that a plurality of main liquid medication flow channels  440  may be provided to correspond to the sub-liquid medication flow channels  430  so as to be connected in one-to-one correspondence with the sub-liquid medication flow channels  430 . However, a single main liquid medication flow channel  440  may be provided so as to be simultaneously connected to the sub-liquid medication flow channels  430 . 
     The ventilation flow channel  500  may perform a function of a flow channel for circulating external air into the vial  30 . 
     When the spike  300  is inserted into the vial  300 , an inside of the vial  300  may be ventilated with an outside through the ventilation flow channel  500 , so that a pressure inside the vial  300  may be constantly maintained at an atmospheric pressure regardless of a change in an amount of the liquid medication, and thus the liquid medication may be easily extracted. 
     The ventilation flow channel  500  may be formed independently of the liquid medication flow channel  400 , and may be formed as a path extending from the spike  300  to the inside of the main body  100  via the inside of the sub-body  200 . 
     In detail, as illustrated in  FIG.  5   , the ventilation flow channel  500  may include: a first ventilation hole  510  formed in the spike  300 ; a second ventilation hole  520  formed on an inner lower side of the main body  100 ; a sub-ventilation flow channel  530  extending along an inside of the sub-body  200  while communicating with the first ventilation hole  510 ; and a main ventilation flow channel  540  extending downward from an inside of the main body  100  while being connected to the sub-ventilation flow channel  530  to communicate with the second ventilation hole  520 . 
     In this case, a plurality of sub-ventilation flow channels  530  may be provided to correspond to the number of the sub-bodies  200 , so that a plurality of main ventilation flow channels  540  may be provided so as to be connected in one-to-one correspondence with the sub-ventilation flow channels  530 , or a single main ventilation flow channel  540  may be provided so as to be simultaneously connected to the sub-ventilation flow channels  530 . 
     In addition, although not shown in the drawings, a filter member capable of filtering contaminants in the air may be further installed in the second ventilation hole  520  communicating with the outside. 
     The head cap  600  refers to a part coupled to the head part of the vial  30  to fix the connector  10  according to the present invention to the vial  30  when the spike  300  is inserted into the vial  30  to extract the liquid medication. 
     The head cap  600  may be provided on each of the sub-bodies  200 , and particularly, the head cap  600  may be mounted on the leg part  210  of the sub-body  200 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG.  4   , the head cap  600  may include: a cap body  610  having a cylindrical shape and having an open lower portion; and a mounting end  620  protruding from an upper end of the cap body  610  so as to be fastened to the coupling screw  211  of the leg part  210 . 
     The cap body  610  may be formed on a side surface thereof with a plurality of incision slits  630  at regular intervals, and formed on an inner lower side thereof with an inclined surface  640 , and a latching sill  650  may be formed on an upper end of the inclined surface  640 . 
     When the spike  300  is inserted into the rubber cap of the vial  30  to extract the liquid medication, the head cap  600  may be fitted around the head part of the vial  30  as the cap body  610  is elastically spread by the inclined surface  640  and the incision slits  630 , and may be elastically restored to allow the latching sill  650  to be latched and supported at a lower end of the head part, so that the connector  10  according to the present invention may be fixed to the vial  30 . 
     Since the vial  30  is fixed to the connector  10  by the head cap  600  as described above, the vial  30  may be prevented from being arbitrarily separated during the extraction of the liquid medication, so that the liquid medication may be safely extracted. 
     The above-described operation of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to  FIGS.  6  and  7   , while one example in which the connector  10  includes three sub-bodies  200  will be described for convenience of description. 
     The connector  10  according to the present invention may be used when a predetermined amount of a liquid medication is extracted from the vial  30  by using the liquid medication extraction device  20  according to a prescription of a doctor, and particularly, the connector  10  according to the present invention may be used when a relatively large amount of the liquid medication is extracted from a plurality of small-capacity vials  30 . 
     While the syringe, which is the liquid medication extraction device  20 , and three vials  30  in which a predetermined amount of the liquid medication is stored are prepared, first, the syringe  20  may be coupled to an upper end of a main body  10 . 
     In this case, the syringe  20  may be firmly coupled by using the coupling screw  110  formed on an upper side of the main body  10 . 
     Thereafter, while the spikes  300  formed on the three sub-bodies  200  are sequentially inserted into the three vials  30 , the head cap  600  may be fitted around the head part of the vial  30 . 
     Then, while the spike  300  penetrates through the rubber cap to enter the inside of the vial  30 , the head cap  600  may be elastically spread and restored so as to be coupled to the head part of the vial  30 , so that the three sub-bodies  200  may be connected and fixed to the three vials  30 , respectively. 
     As described above, when the main body  100  is coupled to the syringe  20 , and the three sub-bodies  200  are coupled to the three vials  30 , respectively, preparation for extracting the liquid medication may be completed, and  FIG.  6    illustrates a state in which the preparation for extracting the liquid medication is completed as described above. 
     Thereafter, when a push rod of the syringe  20  is pulled so as to be moved rearward, as a negative pressure is generated inside the syringe  20 , the liquid medication M may be simultaneously extracted from the three vials  30 , and as illustrated in  FIG.  7   , the liquid medication M extracted from the three vials  30  as described above may move along the liquid medication flow channel  400  so as to be filled in the syringe  20 . 
     In this case, since the air A is circulated into the vial  30  by the ventilation flow channel  500 , the pressure inside the vial  30  may be constantly maintained at the atmospheric pressure regardless of the change in the amount of the liquid medication, so that the liquid medication M may be easily extracted. 
     In other words, since the inside of the vial  30  is sealed, the negative pressure may be generated to correspond to an amount of the liquid medication extracted and escaped from the vial  30 , so that it may be difficult to continuously extract the liquid medication. However, according to the present invention, the pressure inside the vial  30  may be constantly maintained by the ventilation flow channel  500 , so that the liquid medication may be easily extracted. 
     As described above, according to the connector  10  of the present invention, the spike  300  may be inserted into the vial  30  to extract the liquid medication without using an injection needle, and the pressure inside the vial  30  may be constantly maintained during the extraction of the liquid medication, so that the liquid medication may be safely and easily extracted. 
     In particular, liquid medications may be simultaneously extracted from a plurality of vials  30  instead of sequentially extracting the liquid medications from the vials  30 , so that cumbersomeness and inconvenience of an extraction operation may be minimized, and an operation time may be greatly shortened. 
     Although the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to contents set forth in the embodiment and the drawings described above, an equivalent configuration modified or changed by a person having ordinary skill in the art can be made without departing from the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.