Patent Application
20080093364
Significant advantages are achieved with the present invention and thus the disadvantages of the prior art may be reduced.
The advantages reached using the present invention include achieving a simple closure structure that minimizes contamination, prevents evaporation and is easily mounted on various vessels. Further, the closure is reusable.
Other details and advantages of the invention will be explained further in the following detailed description.
A preferred closure of the present invention contains the following parts (
The closure 1 can be threaded or unthreaded and is preferably manufactured from an elastomer. The closure 1 comprises a main body 2 forming a skirt around the neck of the vessel, onto which the closure 1 is mounted, to the top edge of which skirt a top wall 3 is attached, which forms the lid section of the closure 1. Because of at least one incision 4 that is cut into the top wall 3, the wall 3 is shaped as flaps 5. Below a distal flange 6, attached to the top edge of the main body 2, the main body 2 has a hinge area 7 surrounding the neck of the vessel, which area preferably forms a groove that functions as a hinge when pressing the flange 6 at the top edge downwards.
The main body 2 of the closure 1 essentially has the shape of a cylinder or a prism with 3-10 faces, preferably 3-5 faces. The shape is chosen in accordance with the shape of the neck of the reagent vessel that the closure 1 is to be mounted on.
The top wall 3 may either be a planar surface positioned at an essentially 90° angle to the main body 2 or it may have the shape of a cone or of a pyramid with 3-10 faces, preferably 3-5 faces.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the tip of the conical or pyramidal top wall 3 extends in towards the opening of the vessel, making the angle between the main body 2 and the top wall about 60-90°, preferably about 75°.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tip of the conical or pyramidal top wall 3 extends away from the opening of the vessel, making the angle between the main body 2 and the top wall 3 about 90-130°, preferably about 120°.
The shape of the top wall 3, with the tip protruding upwards, has the advantage of causing contaminants to slide down towards the distal edge of the top wall 3 instead of towards the center, which is the area where the closure 1 opens up.
The entire closure 1 of the present invention with the tip protruding upwards preferably has a distance from the bottom edge of the main body 2 to the outer surface of the tip of the top wall 3 of 15-25 mm, more preferably 17-19 mm. The distance from the bottom edge of the main body 2 to the inner surface of the tip of the top wall is preferably about 1 mm less than the distance to the outer surface of the tip.
The distance from the bottom edge of the main body 2 to the distal edge of the top wall 3, measured to the outer surface of the distal edge, is preferably about 11-20 mm, more preferably about 13-14.5 mm, whereas the same distance, measured to the inner surface of the distal edge, is about 0.5-1.5 mm less.
The at least one incision 4 dividing the top wall 3 into at least two parts may either extend across the top wall 3 from one edge of it to another. Alternatively, the at least one incision 4 can extend across the top wall 3 from one edge of the flange 6 to another. In the case of only one incision 4, the incision preferably crosses the center of the top wall 3, dividing the top wall 3 and optionally the flange 6 into two crescent-shaped parts.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, there are at least three radial incisions 4 intersecting at the center of the top wall 3 to form at least three pie-shaped flaps 5. Preferably the amount of flaps is 3-12, more preferably 4-10 and most preferably 6-8. A smaller amount of incisions 4 or flaps 5 will reduce the diameter of the opening of the closure 1 in the opened position. Increasing the amount of incisions to three or more will again increase the diameter of the opening, thereby giving a larger free space at the opening of the vessel. The incisions can either cut both the top wall 3 and the flange 6 into pie-shaped flaps 5 or leave the flange 6 intact.
The flange 6 is preferably shaped as a continuous annular flange 6 structure that extends all the way around the top wall 3. When the flange 6 is pressed down, the flaps 5 on the top wall 3 of the closure 1 are turned upwards, whereby the closure 1 is opened, forming a hole in the center of the closure 1. Thus, as mentioned above, the closure 1 is preferably opened outwards, i.e. away from the opening of the vessel, which has the further advantage of not reducing the inner diameter of the opening of the vessel. Further, the flange 6 of the closure 1 functions as a spring that brings the flaps 5 down to their original position, i.e. closes the closure 1, when the pressure is removed from the flange 6.
The main body 2 of the closure has an outer diameter of 17-25 mm, preferably 20-21 mm, and an inner diameter of 15-17.5 mm, preferably 16-17 mm, with the diameters of the bottom part preferably about 1-2 mm longer than those of the top part, making the closure 1 more easy to mount on vessels.
The hinge area 7 on the top edge of the main body 2 preferably has an outer diameter of 15-21 mm, more preferably about 17-17.5 mm, and an inner diameter of 14-20 mm, more preferably about 15.5-16.5 mm. The thickness of the closure 1 material at the main body 2 section is 1.5-3 mm, preferably about 2 mm, and the thickness at the thinnest section of the hinge area 7 groove is 0.35-1.5 mm.
The distance from the bottom edge of the main body 2 to the thinnest section of the hinge area 7 of the main body 2 is preferably about 9-18 mm, more preferably about 10.5-12.0 mm, whereas the distance from the bottom edge of the main body 2 to the bottom edge of the hinge area 7 preferably is about 7-16 mm, more preferably about 8.5-10 mm.
Without a specific hinge area 7 that is thinner than the rest of the material of the main body 2, the process of pressing down the flange 6, and thus opening the closure 1, would require a greater force than in the case of the present invention, since a greater thickness of this hinge would give the flange 6 a more restricted flexibility. Further, the hinge area 7 causes the material to bend at a specific area, i.e. at the joint between the main body 2 and the flange 6. Without the hinge area 7, pressing down the flange 6 could cause the whole closure 1 structure, or at least the upper half of the main body 2 structure, to bend or cave in.
The diameter of the top wall 3 is essentially the same as the inner diameter of the hinge area 7 of the main body 2, whereas the thickness of the material forming the top wall 3 is 25 about 0.5-3 mm, preferably about 0.7-1 mm.
The flange 6 of the closure 1 preferably has an outer diameter of 22-28 mm, more preferably 24-25 mm, whereas the inner diameter of the flange 6 is the same as the diameter of the top wall 3, since the flange 6 and the top wall 3 are connected through that point. The 30 thickness of the material forming the flange 6 is preferably 0.7-5 mm, more preferably 1.5-3 mm.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the flange 6 and the main body 2 are positioned at an essentially 90° angle to each other.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the flange 6 slopes slightly downwards, preferably 1-20°, more preferably 2-10°.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the flange 6 slopes slightly upwards from the center, preferably 10-30°, more preferably about 20°.
An advantage of the last mentioned preferred embodiment over the other ones, is that the process of pressing down the flange 6, thus opening the closure 1, will provide a larger hole and a straighter and simpler path of motion, whereas an advantage of the second mentioned embodiment over the preferred one is that contaminants dripping or falling onto the top wall 3 will slide down over the edge of the flange 6 of the closure 1 instead of being caught in the v-shaped pit between the downwards sloping flap 5 of the top wall 3 and the upwards sloping flange 6.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the hinge area 7 is manufactured from an elastomer, thereby providing the required flexibility of a hinge, whereas the other parts of the closure 1 may all independently be manufactured from either the same elastomer or a less elastic polymeric material.
According to a preferred aspect of this embodiment, both the hinge area 7 and the rest of the main body 2 of the closure 1 are manufactured from an elastomer, the main body 2 thereby providing the elasticity required to make the closure 1 easily fit vessels of different sizes and remain steadily mounted on them even without threading of the main body 2, whereas the other parts of the closure 1 may all independently be manufactured from either the same elastomer or a less elastic polymeric material.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the entire closure 1, including the flange 6, is preferably manufactured from the same material, i.e. an elastomer, preferably a silicone.
The term “elastomer” refers to an amorphous cross-linked elastic polymer existing above its glass transition temperature (Tg) making it soft and deformable. It has high tensile strength and high modulus when fully stretched. On the release of stress it will retract rapidly to recover its original dimensions.
Elastomers are unlike conventional thermoplastics in that they can be repeatedly softened and hardened by heating and cooling without substantial change in properties. Primarily elastomers are used to manufacture seals, adhesives and other molded flexible parts.
Examples of elastomers that can be used to manufacture the closure of the present invention include natural rubber, various synthetic rubbers and silicones as well as other elastic polymers or copolymers.
The closure 1 of the present invention is not intended to completely prevent evaporation of the reagent in the reagent vessel. A complete prevention of evaporation would cause a pressure difference between the inside of the vessel and the ambient air. This could cause some of the reagent to spurt out of the vessel when opening the closure 1. However, the closure 1 of the present invention minimizes evaporation sufficiently to prevent a reduction of the volume of the reagent while also preventing a pressure difference from forming between the inside of the vessel and the ambient air.
According to the present invention, the closure 1 is opened using a process, wherein a ring-shaped actuator 8, manufactured from any rigid material, is pressed downwards against the flange 6 that extends outwards from the top edge of the top wall 3 of the closure 1 (
Once the actuator 8 has been used to press down the flange 6, thereby pressing the flaps 5 of the top wall 3 upwards and opening the closure 1, the contents of the reagent vessel can be reached through the actuator ring 8 and through the opening at the center of the closure 1 using, for example, a dispensing device.
After the dispensing, the actuator 8 is released, whereby the flange 6 and the flaps 5 of the top wall 3 automatically return to their original positions due to the elasticity of at least the material of the hinge that the hinge area 7 of the main body 2 forms.
The separate embodiments of the present invention provide a closure for reagent vessels that
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20060933 | Oct 2006 | FI | national |
