Patent Application
20240182215
The present disclosure relates to a closure assembly for filling a container, such as a pharmaceutical container, under isolated conditions.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.
Various containers, such as pharmaceutical containers, must be filled under isolated conditions. While existing filling devices and filling methods are suitable for their intended use, they are subject to improvement. The present disclosure includes an assembly for filling a container under isolated conditions having the advantages set forth herein, as well as numerous additional advantages as one skilled in the art will appreciate.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
The present disclosure includes a closure assembly for filling a container under isolated conditions. The closure assembly has a collar with internal threads for coupling with a finish of the container. A disc includes first coupling members for removably coupling with the collar. A liner is secured to the disc. The liner is seated on the finish of the container when the collar is coupled to the finish.
The present disclosure further includes a closure assembly for filling a container under isolated conditions. The closure assembly has a collar with internal threads for coupling with a finish of the container, an internal flange, and upper flanges spaced apart about the collar. A disc includes tabs configured to cooperate with the upper flanges to removably couple the disc to the collar. A liner is secured to the disc. The liner is sealable to a top sealing surface of the container. When the disc is coupled to the collar and the collar is coupled to the finish, the internal flange is seated on the finish of the container and the liner is seated on the finish inboard of the internal flange.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The container 10 generally includes a base 12. The base 12 may be any suitable base, such as a rigid or flexible base. Extending from the base 12 is a body 14. The body 14 defines an internal volume of the container 10 where the product is stored. Extending from the body 14 is a shoulder 16, which extends to a finish 18 of the container 10. As illustrated in
The temporary closure assembly 110 generally includes a collar 112, a disc 150, and a liner 170. The collar 112 includes internal threads 114, which are configured to cooperate with, and couple to, the external threads 20 of the finish 18. At or near an upper surface 116 of the collar 112 are a plurality of flanges 120. Any suitable number of the flanges 120 may be included, such as three flanges 120 as illustrated. The flanges 120 are evenly spaced apart about the collar 112. The flanges 120 may also be configured as threads.
With additional reference to
With reference to
With renewed reference to
At the outer surface 152 of the disc 150 are second coupling members. The second coupling members may be blind holes 160, or any other coupling member suitable to cooperate with a machine tool 210 (
Use of the temporary isolated filling closure assembly 110 for filling the container 10 in an isolated manner will now be described with reference to
After the container 10 is filled, the tool 210 returns the disc 150 into cooperation with the collar 112 and rotates the disc 150 so that the tabs 156 are beneath the flanges 120, as illustrated in
The disc 150 may be preassembled with the liner 170 adhered thereto prior to making the assembly 110 available to fillers. The container 10 may be provided to fillers with the closure assembly 110 coupled to the finish 18, or the closure assembly 110 may be provided to fillers independent of the container 10. The collar 112 may be reused for additional isolated filling, but not the disc 150 because the backing 172 and paper layer 178 of the liner 170 will remain secured to the disc 150.
The present disclosure thus advantageously provides for the temporary closure assembly 110 for filling the container 10 under isolated conditions, which may be particularly advantageous in pharmaceutical applications where many bottles are filled in close proximity to one another, thereby preventing any possible cross-contamination. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure provides numerous additional advantages and unexpected results as well.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2021/027592 | 4/16/2021 | WO |
