WO1999061335A1

WO1999061335A1 - Assembly of a bottle-neck with closing cap arranged thereon

Info

Publication number: WO1999061335A1
Application number: PCT/NL1999/000324
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wilhelmus Maria Jozef De Kwant; Johannes Antonius Maria Van Cromvoirt
Original assignee: N.V. Nutricia
Priority date: 1998-05-28
Filing date: 1999-05-25
Publication date: 1999-12-02
Also published as: AU4172899A; NL1009278C2

Abstract

An assembly of a liquid container provided with a pouring or filling neck, a cap provided with an apron part enclosing the neck and a stopper body of pierceable material arranged between cap and neck edge, which assembly is suitable for a heat treatment in order to obtain a sterile product with hermetic closure of the bottle and for hermetic connection to a liquid dispensing system, wherein the cap is embodied in the wall part thereof lying against the stopper body with a break-off portion formed integrally with the cap for hermetic sealing of the stopper body and release thereof, and wherein the apron of the cap and the neck of the container are provided with a co-acting screw thread for releasable connection of the cap onto the neck, so that a universally applicable assembly is obtained.

Description

ASSEMBLY OF A BOTTLE-NECK WITH CLOSING CAP ARRANGED THEREON

The invention relates to an assembly of a liquid container provided with a pouring or filling neck, a cap provided with an apron part enclosing the neck and a stopper body of pierceable material arranged between cap and neck edge, which assembly is suitable for a heat treatment in order to obtain a sterile product with hermetic closure of the bottle and for hermetic connection to a liquid dispensing system, wherein the cap is embodied in the wall part thereof lying against the stopper body with a break-off portion formed integrally with the cap for hermetic sealing of the stopper body and release thereof.

Such an assembly is known from EP-A-0 749 129.

It is known to use bottles with sterile contents for medicinal purposes, for instance liquid feed for patients. For this purpose the bottle contents must be supplied to the patient via a liquid feed system. It is of great importance herein that the product in the bottle remain sterile, also during connection to the liquid dispensing system, so that the danger of microbiological infection remains as small as possible. It is known herein to make use of hollow needles which are inserted into the stopper body in order to obtain the connection between the content of the bottle and the liquid dispensing system. One of the closures known heretofore is embodied in metal, wherein a recess is left clear so as to make the stopper body (septum) accessible for the insertion needle. The drawback hereof is that the surface of the stopper body is difficult to keep sterile up to the moment of use because of the space present between the metal cap and the septum. In addition, the stopper body is difficult to remove, which is necessary if the bottle has to be made suitable for a different dispensing system, for instance pouring.

Dispensing systems are further known wherein use is made of a so-called "snap-on" closure. A snap-on closure forms a connection between the bottle and the liquid dispensing system and comprises on the inside thereof a collar edge which engages in an annular channel in the upper part of the neck of the bottle. The bottle can be provided for closing thereof with a crown cap or a metal screw cap which is removed from the bottle before placing of the snap-on closure. Connecting systems are moreover available which can be used as snap-on and are also suitable for swivel connections bottles with larger neck diameters. It is known of these so-called universal connecting systems that they are difficult to arrange as snap-on on the neck of a bottle with screw thread for metal screw tops because the distance between screw thread and the top of the bottle is too small, whereby the flange of the universal connecting system must first be pushed over the screw thread before the collar edge snaps into the annular channel. The drawback of such systems is that they must first be connected and the bottle can only then be turned over and suspended from a stand. The invention has for its object to provide an assembly for closing a bottle, wherein the above stated drawbacks do not occur and wherein the different, above described methods of use are integrated such that a universally usable cap is provided which is also re-closable. The assembly according to the invention is distinguished in that the apron of the cap and the neck of the container are provided with a co-acting screw thread for releasable connection of the cap onto the neck. A universally applicable assembly is hereby obtained which is suitable for dispensing enteral nutrients in three different ways, i.e. via a hollow needle to be inserted through the stopper body, via a snap-on closure and via unscrewing of the cap and pouring out of the liquid.

According to the invention the break-off portion is provided with an integral finger-grip which facilitates breaking off of said portion.

This finger-grip is preferably embodied as a flat strip protruding on either side of the break-off portion and provided with folding pressing lips close to the ends thereof, so that nursing staff can remove the break-off portion from the closing cap with merely a simple rotation. The folding pressing lips further give the correct indication of the direction in which rotation must take place.

According to the invention the stopper body is preferably received permanently in the closing cap by arranging a flange thereof close-fittingly in a chamber of the closing cap. The closing cap and the septum are hereby provided as one unit, which is advantageous during transport, arranging on the neck of the bottle and removing of the whole from the bottle.

In the preferred embodiment an integrally formed breaking ring is provided which shows that the cap has been opened.

It is noted that the cap is preferably embodied in plastic.

Above mentioned and other features of the invention will be further elucidated in the figure description of an embodiment hereinbelow. In the drawing: fig. la and lb show a perspective top view of an assembly of a closing cap with a bottle-neck according to the invention in two positions of the finger-grip, fig. 2 is an upright section through the bottle-neck and the closing cap of fig. 1, fig. 3 is a view corresponding with fig. 1, with however the finger-grip removed, fig. 4 shows an upright section corresponding with fig. 2 with removed finger-grip part and use of the closing cap on a liquid dispensing system with insertion needle, fig. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of a liquid dispensing system with so-called snap-on closure, on the bottle-neck according to the invention, and fig. 6 shows a partly broken-away view of another embodiment of an assembly according to the invention.

The same components or elements are designated in the figures with the same reference numerals. On a bottle 1 provided with a bottle-neck 2 is placed a screw cap 3 , shown here in the form of a plastic product. The cap is embodied with an upper wall 4 and an apron part 5 which is arranged close-fittingly round neck 2 of bottle 1. Arranged in the cap is a stopper body 6 which is provided with a body 7 placed in the neck and a flange part 8 lying on the upper edge of the neck.

Upper wall 4 of the closing cap is embodied with a breaking part 9 on which a finger-grip 10 is arranged. Finger-grip 10 is strip-like, see fig. 1, and is mounted integrally in the middle on break-off part 9 of the cap and extends radially outward on either side. Pressing lips 11 are arranged integrally thereon close to the ends. It is noted that both the apron and the neck of the bottle are each embodied with a screw thread 12 lying some distance below the upper edge of neck 2, wherein the neck is embodied close to the upper edge with an annular channel 13. A breaking ring 15 is arranged on the bottom edge of apron 3. Arranged in the upper part of the closing cap is a chamber 14 in which flange 8 of stopper body 6 is received in close-fitting manner.

There now follows a description of the use of the closing cap.

The closing cap must first be provided with the stopper body 6, for which purpose flange 8 is placed in chamber 14. The closing cap is then rotated clockwise so far onto the neck of the bottle that breaking ring 15 is situated under bearing edge 16. The bottle with contents and closing cap can then be subjected to a heat treatment to obtain a sterile product and sterile connecting surface on the stopper body.

At the place of use the nursing staff will have to open the screw cap, which, depending on the liquid dispensing system, takes place by first breaking the part 9 off the top part of the closing cap. To this end the lips 11 will first be moved upward with the fingers as according to fig. lb and strip 10 will then be rotated in clockwise direction as according to arrow P2. It may be noted here that this prevents the closing cap being loosened from screw thread 12 of neck 2. Once part 9 has been broken off, a part of stopper body 6 is left clear in opening O in fig. 3, whereafter a needle N of a liquid dispensing system can be inserted through the thin part of stopper body 6. These operations can be performed irrespective of whether the neck of the bottle is pointing upward or downward. When the bottle is turned over liquid will flow via the hollow needle into the dispensing system. In the other case the screw cap can be removed entirely by rotating it counter-clockwise, whereby ring 15 is broken loose, whereafter the whole closing cap with stopper body can be removed. The neck is therefore left clear, see fig. 5, whereafter a connecting cap 20 of a completely different liquid dispensing system, wherein use is made of a so-called snap-on closure, can be connected to the neck. Annular channel 13 in the upper part of the neck, into which channel engages a collar edge 17 of the snap-on closure, serves for correct fastening of the snap-on closure onto the bottle. The neck of the bottle is lengthened relative to known bottles such that between annular channel 13 and screw thread 12 a cylindrical part 24 is present against which lies cylindrical part 21 of connecting cap 20. As a result, this per se known connecting system no longer has to be pushed over the screw thread during placing in order to achieve a good fixing, whereby less force need be used and an easier arrangement of the snap-on closure is provided. A cylindrical droplet chamber 22 of transparent material having a liquid hose 23 thereon are coupled to connecting cap 20. These are components known from the prior art. The bottle can also be used for free pouring into other liquid containers and it will be apparent that the flange can also be closed with its own cap or any other random closing cap.

Fig. 6 shows in partly broken-away view another embodiment of an assembly of a closing cap 3 with a bottle-neck 2 according to the invention. Arranged herein on the underside of finger-grip 10 are protruding portions 18 which support on the upper wall 4 of screw cap 3. Forces on the upper side of the cap occurring for instance during transport of the bottles can be absorbed well by these protruding portions 18. One or more apertures 19 can also be arranged in apron part 5 of the cap to ventilate the space between bottle-neck 2 and cap 3. Moisture which has accumulated in this space during the sterilization process can be removed via this/these aperture (s) . Finally, screw thread 12 can take an interrupted form for this same purpose.

As already stated above, the closing cap is manufactured as plastic moulding, preferably of polypropylene, wherein the finger-grip and breaking ring 15 are moulded as integral part thereof. With the use of plastic the breaking part 9 can be broken out of screw cap 3 more readily and a greater dimensional accuracy can be achieved. Despite the fact that the closing cap is manufactured from plastic, a sturdy connection is nevertheless ensured during the heat treatment because on the one hand the screw thread is adapted thereto and on the other the stopper body 6 is well supported by both breaking part 9 and screw cap 3 to be able to withstand deformations resulting from internal overpressure. For this purpose the screw thread preferably has a depth of thread of more than 1.2 mm and a buttress profile. Such a screw thread is described for instance in the European application EP 0 718 205 Al. This special form of the screw thread is necessary to withstand the high internal pressure in the bottle during the used sterilization process.

The invention is not limited to the above described embodiments. It is thus possible to manufacture stopper body 6 integrally with screw cap 3, for instance by means of a moulding process with two different materials.

Claims

1. Assembly of a liquid container provided with a pouring or filling neck, a cap provided with an apron part enclosing the neck and a stopper body of pierceable material arranged between cap and neck edge, which assembly is suitable for a heat treatment in order to obtain a sterile product with hermetic closure of the bottle and for hermetic connection to a liquid dispensing system, wherein the cap is embodied in the wall part thereof lying against the stopper body with a break-off portion formed integrally with the cap for hermetic sealing of the stopper body and release thereof, characterized in that the apron of the cap and the neck of the container are provided with a co-acting screw thread for releasable connection of the cap onto the neck.

2. Assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the break-off portion is provided with an integral finger-grip.

3. Assembly as claimed in claim 2 , characterized in that the finger-grip is embodied as a flat strip protruding on either side of the break-off portion and provided with folding pressing lips close to the ends thereof .

4. Assembly as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the stopper body has a body which protrudes into the neck of the bottle and which is provided with a protruding flange lying on the neck edge, characterized in that the peripheral edge of the flange is received close-fittingly in a chamber of the cap.

5. Assembly as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that a breaking ring is formed integrally on the bottom edge of the apron.

6. Assembly as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the neck of the bottle is embodied with an annular channel close to the edge thereof, wherein a cylindrical part is arranged between the screw thread and the channel.

7. Assembly as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the apron is provided on the outer surface thereof with friction-increasing means such as ribs.

8. Cap with stopper body suitable for an assembly as claimed in any of the foregoing claims.

9. Cap as claimed in claim 8 , characterized in that it is embodied with breaking ring and finger-grip as plastic injection moulded product.

10. Bottle provided with a neck suitable for an assembly as claimed in any of the foregoing claims.