Patent ID: 7270158

Claim:
An apparatus for needle filling and thermally resealing containers having stoppers that are needle penetrable for filling the containers with a substance, and are thermally resealable for thermally sealing a needle hole in the stopper upon withdrawal of a needle therefrom, the apparatus comprising: a container support for supporting at least one container having a resealable stopper in a substantially fixed position during at least one of needle filling and thermally resealing a needle hole in the stopper upon withdrawal of a needle therefrom; a manifold drivingly mounted over the container support and comprising a needle cartridge including a needle for penetrating the resealable stopper and introducing a substance through the needle and into the container, and a needle mount for mounting the needle cartridge on the manifold; and a thermal source for heating a needle penetrated region of the stopper and, in turn, sealing a needle hole in the stopper.