Patent Application
20050194266
The present invention relates to a gas bottle on which means of controlling the inlet and outlet of gas are fixed, particularly a valve unit or a pressure reducing valve assembly, possibly equipped with a flow meter, preferably inserted in a protective cowling also mounted on the bottle, said bottle and said protective cowling and/or the means of controlling the inlet and outlet of gas being covered by one or more peripheral external protective casings consisting of one or more thicknesses, which may or may not be preassembled, guaranteeing the gas bottle thus equipped a high level of external cleanliness and hygiene.
Currently, bottles containing gas for medical use, laboratory gas and industrial gas are externally painted and generally marketed as is, that is to say with no external protection or overlapping.
Given the immaterial nature of the contents, namely colorless gases inside the bottle, the image of the product is conveyed only by its container.
Now, given that the bottle is subjected during its life cycle to numerous handlings and transport operations, both at the premises of the manufacturer and at those of the user, the external appearance of the bottle quickly suffers degradation giving this recyclable packaging an appearance of mediocre quality, which gives a devalued image of the product, particularly when the bottle contains a medical gas, such as a gaseous drug.
In addition, the wear resulting from use and recycling of a gas bottle over a somewhat lengthy period leads to a surface finish which, particularly while the bottle is in storage, encourages the retention of dust, dirt and various microorganisms and may pose health risks. Thus, the presence of germs on the sides of gas bottles used in a hospital environment may encourage the contraction of nosocomial diseases.
The problem which is therefore posed is that of being able to improve the external appearance, cleanliness and image of gas bottles, particularly when the bottle contains medical gas, laboratory gas used for analysis purposes, high-purity industrial gas for the electronics industry or gas that can be used for the manufacture of foodstuffs.
Certain solutions to this problem have already been proposed but none is entirely satisfactory.
For example, it is known practice to use a protective net made of plastic which is slipped directly over the cylindrical barrel of the bottle so as to protect it locally from impact. However, it has been found, in practice, that the net tends to deform if not changed regularly and therefore no longer performs its protective function. In addition, the net does not protect certain parts of the bottle, such as the protective cowling with which the bottle is equipped.
Furthermore, it has also been proposed for a thermoformed film to be arranged around the cylindrical barrel of the bottle. Although such a thermoformed film affords the bottle good protection, it does not give a sufficient guarantee in terms of hygiene, particularly since, on the one hand, this type of film is generally interrupted under the protective cowling and, on the other hand, below the barrel of the bottle, that is to say under its base, which leaves the bottom of the bottle and the means of controlling the outlet of gas therefrom unprotected. Furthermore, its placement, performed by hand, is industrially restrictive because it represents a lengthy operation.
Also known is for the bottle to be placed in a rigid cardboard casing which affords said bottle protection essentially during transport because, once the bottle has been delivered to the site at which it is to be used, the cardboard packaging is removed and discarded because it is often damaged or dirty. In other words, once the bottle has reached its place of use, it becomes devoid of any protection and, upon return having been emptied, it will once again suffer damage during transport.
Furthermore, it has also been proposed for the bottle at its place of use, particularly in at-risk areas such as operating theater complexes as far as bottles for medical use are concerned, to be placed in a fabric bag or a rigid metal container enveloping the barrel of the bottle. However, here again, the solution is not ideal because certain parts of the bottle are unprotected or are protected not very efficiently, particularly the protective cowling and the members it contains, such as a valve unit or a pressure reducing valve assembly.
Such solutions have been described in particular in the following documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,152, FR-A-2703434, FR-A-1512098, U.S. Pat. No. 3,787,993, EP-A-581665 or WO-A-98/16776.
Reference may also be made to documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,760, U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,872, U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,923, JP-A-07269790 and FR-A-2706140 which describe various technical solutions that can be applied to the transporting and/or protecting of compressed-gas bottles.
From there, the object of the invention is to solve the above problem by providing a solution which is more effective in terms of protection and the guaranteeing of hygiene than those taught in the prior art, so as to guarantee the gas bottles a high level of external cleanliness and hygiene.
The solution of the invention consists in a gas bottle comprising a bottle body of cylindrical overall shape comprising means of controlling the outlet of the gas and a protective cowling arranged around the means of controlling the outlet of the gas, characterized in that:
In another aspect, the invention relates also to a gas bottle comprising a bottle body of cylindrical overall shape comprising means of controlling the outlet of gas, characterized in that:
In the context of the invention:
As the case may be, the gas bottle of the invention may have one or more of the following features:
As the case may be, the packaging of the invention may have one or more of the following features:
The solution of the invention, namely the fact of protecting not only the body of the gas bottle but also its upper part (cowling and/or means of controlling the outlet of gas) has the following advantages:
The invention will now be better understood by virtue of a detailed description of some embodiments which are illustrated in the appended figures.
The present invention relies on the fitting, around the cylindrical body 1 of the bottle and the protective cowling 2, of protective casings 11, 21, 30, each of which consist of one or more thicknesses which may or may not be preassembled.
One 21 of these casings, preferably rigid, protects the protective cowling 2 and the means 3 of controlling the outlet of gas, that is to say the operating members 3 of the bottle (valve, pressure reducer, outlets, etc.). This rigid part 21 may also protect part of the body 1 of the bottle, that is to say may extend along the body 1 of the bottle.
The bottles to which the invention relates are of varying sizes (typically with a capacity of up to about 50 liters of water) but preferably of small size, because small bottles (with a capacity of about 5 liters of water) are more likely to be carried around and handled by various operators and therefore to be subjected to various somewhat contaminating environments.
In the case of gas bottles for medical use, such a protective system falls within the context of pharmaceutical qualification of the product contained in the bottle.
Using one or more protective casings 11, 21, 30, 40 according to the present invention affords a solution to the following problems:
More specifically, according to the invention, the bottle is protected by a first protective casing 11 arranged around the body 1 of the bottle, a second protective casing 21 arranged around the protective cowling 2 and possibly a third casing 30 encompassing said first casing 11 and second casing 21, for example while the bottle is being transported or handled.
The first protective casing 11 constitutes an external thickness covering the body 1 of the bottle of a length equal to or approximately equal to the total height of the bottle that is to be protected and of a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the bottle and the constituent material of which is either a polymer, preferably PET (polyethylene) and transparent, or a rigid cardboard casing, possibly varnished or plasticized, as detailed below.
Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 13 to 16, this first protective casing 11 surrounding the body 1 of the bottle preferably comprises a rigid and flat bottom 12 which, on the one hand, makes said first casing 11 easier to fit around the bottle and, on the other hand, stabilizes the bottle when it is placed in a vertical position. In addition, the presence of a bottom 12 secured to the first casing 11 makes it possible to enhance the hygiene of the bottle by preventing dust or other dirt from infiltrating between the body 1 of the bottle and said protective casing.
As detailed in
However, in some cases, the presence of a flat bottom 12 is not necessary and it is possible either to add nothing further or to add just one or more annular rings 12′ which hug the base of the first casing 11, near the bottom of the bottle.
The second protective casing 21 constitutes a thickness guaranteeing the members or means 3 of controlling the outlet of gases contained in the bottle, for example a valve or a gas pressure-reducing valve assembly, a high level of hygiene. When said members or means of controlling the outlet of gases are protected by a protective cowling 2, then this second protective casing 21 covers all or part of the external surface of said protective cowling 2, or may also even cover part of the body of the bottle. The second protective casing 21 may have a cardboard rigid part, for example made of plasticized or varnished cardboard. Notches or precuts 23, 24, blanked off before entry into service, are provided on this rigid second protective casing 21 to allow the operator to access the operating members 3 of the bottle (valve, pressure reducer, outlets). This disposable or non-disposable thickness 21 may bear special-purpose graphics 25, the quality of which is renewed on each conditioning operation.
Furthermore, a third thickness 30, the constituent material of which may be a polymer, preferably PET, varnished cardboard or plasticized cardboard, protects the bottle partially or in full while it is being transported from the conditioning and packaging center to its place of use (hospital, care center or mobile emergency medical service, for example) or alternatively to a storage site prior to use. The other protective casings 11 and 21 may nonetheless be used without this last thickness 30. This third disposable or non-disposable thickness 30 may also bear specific graphics the quality of which is renewed on each conditioning operation. As this thickness 30 is supposed to afford the bottle full protection during transport and storage, it has therefore to be sufficiently strong. It could, if need be, be used alone if the level of hygiene expected by the user is not high. This thickness is provided with a lateral handle which allows the bottle to be carried horizontally with ease.
Finally, a fourth thickness 40, added to the bottle after the gas which is contained in said bottle has been used, makes it possible very visibly to embody the state of use of the bottle (empty/return to the manufacturer) from information that is visible from afar, thus avoiding any unintentional handling of a bottle which has already been used. As a preference, such a fourth thickness 40 covers at least part of the second protective casing 21 when the bottle is empty, as far as the site at which this bottle is refilled. Advantageously, this fourth thickness 40 is of a vivid color (for example orange or red) or has special markings which indicate the condition of the bottle clearly to the user at a simple glance.
In general, the number of protective thicknesses is directly linked to the desired level of hygiene and to the life cycle of the bottle between two successive conditioning operations.
The protective casings make it possible to maintain the level of external cleanliness and hygiene of the bottle over time. They are therefore associated with an overall usage protocol which involves several phases, namely:
During the reconditioning of the bottles, the bottle casings are preferably systematically exchanged for new clean casings.
As a preference, in the case of small bottles, means allowing the bottle to be carried with a lateral handle 35, 36 (or several of these) situated on the outermost protective casing 30 are provided and this allows quick and easy removal after each operation of conditioning at the premises of the manufacturer.
As an option, in order to improve the level of hygiene, it is possible, when conditioning the gas, either for the packaging to be impregnated with a disinfectant product or for the packaging and the bottle (body and control members) to be treated with a disinfecting and/or cleaning solution.
The invention is particularly well suited to use within a hospital or care establishment, or an on-site intervention unit, particularly a mobile unit of the emergency medical services type.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0004931 | Apr 2000 | FR | national |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10257845 | Jun 2003 | US |
| Child | 11036459 | Jan 2005 | US |
