EP1293190B1 - Transfertset comprising a bottle, a cartridge and a device for two-way transfer of a liquid between the bottle and the cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

The liquid transfer apparatus consists of a housing with a connector (30) for fitting it to a flask, a tube holder (80) and a mobile component (20), and a spacer (22) acting as a stop for a moving perforable piston inside the tube. The apparatus incorporates a hollow needle (24) that is fixed axially relative to the housing, while the spacer can be moved between a first position in which the piston is held at a distance from the needle, and a second position in which the needle passes through the piston.

Description

• un corps comportant des moyens d'accrochage du flacon ;
• une aiguille creuse présentant une première extrémité pour la perforation du piston de la carpule et une seconde extrémité adaptée pour la perforation du bouchon du flacon ;
• un équipage mobile déplaçable par rapport au corps suivant la direction de l'axe de l'aiguille, lequel équipage mobile comporte des moyens de solidarisation axiale du réservoir de la carpule suivant la direction de l'axe de l'aiguille ; et
• une entretoise interposée entre le corps et le piston perforable de la carpule, laquelle entretoise forme une butée d'arrêt du piston perforable par rapport au corps.

The present invention relates to a bidirectional transfer device for a liquid between a bottle provided with a pierceable stopper and a cartridge comprising a cylindrical reservoir in which a perforable piston, of the type comprising

• a body comprising means for fastening the bottle;
• a hollow needle having a first end for perforation of the cartridge piston and a second end adapted for perforation of the vial stopper;
• a movable element displaceable relative to the body in the direction of the axis of the needle, which movable element comprises means for axially securing the tank of the cartridge in the direction of the axis of the needle; and
• a spacer interposed between the body and the pierceable piston of the cartridge, which spacer forms a stopper of the pierceable piston relative to the body.

Such a bidirectional transfer device is described in particular in the patent application FR-2,790,948.

In this document, the needle ensuring the communication between the cartridge and the bottle is carried by a pierceable shuttle initially free to slide axially relative to the body.

The sequence of operation of this device is relatively complex.

The object of the invention is to propose a transfer device whose operating sequence is simplified.

For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a bidirectional transfer device, of the aforementioned type, characterized in that the hollow needle is integral with the body and is axially fixed relative to the body.

• ladite entretoise est déplaçable par rapport au corps entre une position initiale dans laquelle elle maintient le piston perforable à l'écart de la première extrémité de l'aiguille et une position finale dans laquelle l'aiguille est engagée au travers du piston perforable,
• l'équipage mobile et le corps comportent des moyens de limitation du déplacement de l'équipage mobile par rapport au corps suivant le sens d'extraction du piston perforable hors du réservoir cylindrique,
• l'équipage mobile et le corps comportent des moyens de guidage en translation et d'immobilisation en rotation de l'un par rapport à l'autre.

According to particular embodiments, the transfer device comprises one or more of the following characteristics:

• said spacer is movable relative to the body between an initial position in which it holds the pierceable piston away from the first end of the needle and a final position in which the needle is engaged through the pierceable piston,
• the moving element and the body comprise means for limiting the displacement of the moving element relative to the body in the direction of extraction of the pierceable piston from the cylindrical reservoir,
• the moving assembly and the body comprise means for guiding in translation and immobilizing in rotation with respect to one another.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective du dispositif de transfert selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue en perspective éclatée du dispositif de transfert de la figure 1 associé à un flacon et à une carpule ;
• la figure 3 est une vue en coupe longitudinale du dispositif de transfert représenté sans flacon ni carpule ; et
• les figures 4, 5, 6 et 7 sont des vues en coupe longitudinale du dispositif de transfert associé à un flacon et à une carpule, représenté à des stades successifs d'utilisation.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and with reference to the drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of the transfer device according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the transfer device of Figure 1 associated with a vial and a carpule;
• Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the transfer device shown without bottle or cartridge; and
• Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 are longitudinal sectional views of the transfer device associated with a bottle and a carpule, shown at successive stages of use.

The transfer device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is generally cylindrical in shape of the X-X axis. It is adapted to ensure the bidirectional transfer of a fluid between a cartridge 12, visible in Figures 2 and 4, and a bottle 14, visible in these figures.

The device 10 essentially comprises a body 16 having, at a lower end, means 18 for attaching the bottle, a mobile support member 20 for supporting the body of the cartridge, this equipment being adapted to slide relative to the body 16 and a spacer 22 forming a pusher adapted to bear on the piston of the cartridge 12.

The device further comprises a hollow needle 24 integral with the body 16. In Figure 2, the latter is shown away from the body 16 to be visible.

As known per se and as illustrated in FIG. 4, the cartridge 12 is intended to perform an injection after having been extracted from the transfer device and equipped with an injection needle and an actuating pusher. It comprises a cylindrical tank 25 having, at the front, a narrowed neck closed by a pierceable lid 26. The lid 26 is adapted to be perforated by an injection needle mounted on the cartridge for injection. The carpule further comprises a perforable piston 27 sliding axially inside the reservoir 25. Initially, the cartridge contains a solvent.

The bottle 14 comprises a glass body having a neck closed by a perforable lid 28. The neck has a peripheral rim defining a shoulder 29. Initially, the bottle 14 contains a lyophilizate to be dissolved in the solvent contained in the carpule.

As illustrated in the figures, the body 16 generally has a tubular shape. It has, at its lower end, a cap 30 defining a housing 31 for receiving the bottle 14. The housing 31 is defined by a cylindrical wall 32 closed by a bowl 34 for receiving the neck of the bottle 14. The bowl 34 is delimited laterally by a cylindrical wall 36 of smaller diameter than the cylindrical wall 32. It is closed by a transverse wall 37 forming a bottom. The bowl is connected to the cylindrical wall 32 by a frustoconical section 38.

On the inner surface of the cylindrical wall 32 are provided projections 40 to ensure axial retention of the bottle by resilient engagement of the projections behind the neck of the bottle.

The bottom 37 of the bowl is traversed axially by the transfer needle 24. This needle is retained by a collar 42 projecting out of the housing 30. The collar 42 provides an axial connection of the body 16 and the needle 24.

The needle 24 has a first end 24A projecting inside the housing 30. This end is adapted to perforate the lid 28 closing the bottle 14.

The needle 24 extends on the other side of the bottom 37 over most of the length of the body 16. It has on this side of the bottom 37 a 24B perforation end of the piston of the cartridge.

Moreover, the body 16 has a tubular trunk 50 extending the cylindrical wall 32 of the cap. The tubular trunk 50 surrounds the side wall 36. Between the cylindrical wall 36 and the lower end of the tubular trunk 50 is defined an annular space 52.

The tubular trunk 50 has longitudinal lumens and windows ensuring the elastic interlocking of protrusions provided on the movable retaining member 20 of the carpule and on the spacer 22.

The spacer 22 has, at a lower end, a base 60 in the form of a bell adapted to engage around the bowl 34. At its other free end, it has a profile 62 for hooking and bearing on the piston of the carpule.

More specifically, the spacer 22 has a cylindrical wall 64 axially surrounding the needle 24. The outer diameter of the cylindrical wall 64 is smaller than the inner diameter of the tank of the carpule, to allow the spacer to enter the carpule .

The base 60 is integral with the end of the cylindrical wall 64. This base has a peripheral skirt 66 adapted to be received in the annular space 52. This skirt is connected to the cylindrical wall 64 by a ring 68.

At its free end, the skirt 66 externally has two diametrically opposed snap protrusions 70. These projections are adapted to be received, as shown in Figure 3, in two windows 72 formed in the tubular trunk 50 of the body. These windows 72 are arranged away from the cap 30.

Two identical windows 74 are formed in the vicinity of the cap 29 and are adapted to receive the latching projections 70 after displacement of the spacer 22 along the needle 24 towards the bottle 14.

At the other end of the cylindrical wall 64, the attachment and support profile 62 of the pierceable piston of the carpule comprises a threaded end 75 extending axially in the extension of the cylindrical wall 64. This threaded end has a outer diameter reduced and has an external thread adapted to cooperate with a thread formed in a threaded recess of the pierceable piston 27 of the cartridge.

A shoulder 76 is provided at the end of the cylindrical wall 64 to ensure the connection of this wall 64 to the tip 75. This shoulder also allows the support of the piston of the cartridge.

The end piece 75 is extended inside the cylindrical body by a collar 77. The endpiece 75 and the collar 77 internally define a passage 78 for guiding the needle 24 and in particular its end section completed by the perforation end 24B. The dimensions of the needle 24 and the various components of the spacer 22 are such that, when the spacer 22 is in its initial position, with the latching projections 70 received in the windows 72 (FIGS. 3 and 4), the perforation end 24B of the needle is disposed inside the passage 78.

The mobile unit 20 for supporting and moving the reservoir of the carpule comprises a carpule holder 80 and a cap 82 screwed onto the carpule support. Between these is delimited a housing 84 of axial immobilization of the reservoir 25 of the carpule.

The carpule support 80 has a tubular section 86 whose inside diameter corresponds to the outside diameter of the tank 25 of the carpule. This tubular section has on its outer surface a thread adapted to cooperate with a complementary thread formed at the end of the cap 82. The latter has a cylindrical side wall 88 in which is partially received the tubular portion 86 of the carpule support. This side wall 88 is closed by a transverse wall 90 forming a bearing surface for the hand.

At its end opposite to the cap 82, the cylindrical section has a ring 91 forming a shoulder for the support of the rear end of the tank. The ring 91 is extended by a peripheral lip 92 surrounding the cylindrical wall 64 of the spacer to ensure axial guidance of the moving element 20 with respect to the spacer 22.

In addition, the support 80 has an outer skirt 94 surrounding the tubular section 86 between the threading for the connection of the cap 82 and the end of the section 86 equipped with the lip 92. This skirt 94 externally has a first pair of protrusions. snapping 98 diametrically opposed and adapted to be initially received in two windows 100 formed near the upper end of the tubular portion of the body. In addition, another pair of diametrically opposed projections 104 are provided externally to the free end of the skirt 94. These are received in diametrically opposite longitudinal slots 106 extending substantially along the length of the tubular trunk 50 from the body.

The operation of the transfer device will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7.

The device is initially in the storage state shown in FIG. 3. In this state, no vial or cartridge is placed in the device.

The carpule 12 is first put in place in the moving assembly 20, as illustrated in FIG. 4. For this purpose, the cap 82 is unscrewed from the carpule holder 80. The carpule is then introduced with its rear end engaged in the space delimited by the cylindrical section 86. The pierceable piston 27 is screwed onto the endpiece 75 of the spacer. In this position, the rear end of the cartridge bears against the ring 91 of the cartridge holder 80. The cap 82 is then screwed onto the cartridge holder 80. This screwing is performed until the transverse wall 90 of the cap bears on the front end of the cartridge, so that the reservoir 25 of the carpule is secured axially relative to the moving assembly 20.

The bottle 14 is then engaged in the housing 30, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The bottle 14 is retained in the housing 30 by the elastic engagement projections 40 applied against the shoulder 29.

When placing the neck in the cap 20, the perforable seal 28 is perforated by the transfer needle 24 from its end 24A.

In this position, a pressure force is then applied to the cap 90 to bring it closer to the body 50. Under the action of this pressure, the projections 70 initially immobilizing the spacer 22 in its initial position emerge from the windows 72, thus allowing displacement of the spacer 22 and the pierceable piston secured thereto in the direction of the bottle 14 along the needle 24. This movement is carried out until the latching projections 70 are received in the windows 74.

Simultaneously, the moving assembly 20 is caused to move along the body. In particular, the detent projections 98 emerge from the windows 100, thus allowing the mobile assembly 20 to slide inside the tubular trunk 50 of the body.

During this movement, the piston 27 of the cartridge is perforated by the end 24B of the needle, so that, after the displacement of the spacer 22, and as shown in Figure 5, the bottle 14 and the carpule 12 are communicated through the needle 24.

During further displacement, the perforated piston of the cartridge is held in abutment on the spacer 22 and is thus immobilized relative to the body. The body of the carpule being displaced by the sliding of the moving element 20, a relative displacement between the piston and the cartridge body occurs, the piston gradually sinking into the body. The liquid contained in the carpule is then ejected through the needle 24 into the bottle 14.

The projections 104 received in the longitudinal slots 106 provide a guide in translation and immobilization in rotation of the moving element relative to the body. When sliding, the detent projections 98 are also received in the slots 106.

Displacement occurs until the piston 27 reaches the front end of the cartridge, as shown in FIG.

In this position, the device is slightly shaken to ensure dissolution of the lyophilisate in the solvent initially contained in the carpule.

To cause a new transfer of the mixture contained in the bottle 14, the device is completely returned. Thus, the bottle 14 is above the carpule. In particular, the end 24A of the needle is in the lower part of the vial allowing suction extraction of most of the contained mixture. The suction is ensured by the moving equipment 20 which is brought away from the bottle 14. For this purpose, the body 16 is held in one hand while the cap 90 is pulled in the direction of the needle. During this movement, the piston 27 traversed by the needle 24 is held immobilized relative to the body by the engagement of the latching projections 70 in the windows 74. On the contrary, the mobile assembly 20 which is secured to the cylindrical reservoir 25 moves inside the body in the direction of the needle 24, so that the piston moves relative to the cylindrical reservoir, thereby creating a depression in the carpule, which causes the recall of the mixture contained in the bottle 14.

The displacement of the moving element 20 is interrupted when the detent tongues 98 reach the upper end of the longitudinal slots 106. The presence of the projections 98 and stop stops formed by the ends of the slots 106 makes it possible to avoid that the moving element 20 is too far from the body, thus avoiding any risk of accidental disengagement of the piston 27 from the tank 25.

The cap 82 is finally disassembled and the carpule is extracted from the moving equipment. This cartridge is then used to make an injection after it has been equipped with an injection needle and a push rod screwed into the pierceable piston.

Claims (4)

1. Transfer kit made up of a vial (14) fitted with a perforable cap (28), a carpule (12) made up of a cylindrical reservoir (25) in which a perforable piston (27) slides and a device for two-way transfer of a liquid between the vial (14) and the carpule (12), where the device is made up of:

   - a body (16) which has means (18) for attachment of the vial (14);

   - a hollow needle (24) which possesses a first end (24B) for perforating the piston (27) of the carpule and a second end (24A) designed to perforate the cap (28) of the vial;

   - a moving element (20) which can be moved relative to the body (16) along the direction of the axis of the needle (24), where this moving element (20) includes means for axially fixing the reservoir (25) of the carpule in the direction of the needle axis (24) ; and

   - a spacer (22) placed between the body (16) and the perforable piston (27) of the carpule, where the spacer (22) forms an end-stop for the perforable piston (27) in relation to the body (16),

   characterised by the fact that the hollow needle (24) forms part of the body (16) and is fixed in an axial direction in relation to the body (16).
2. Transfer kit as described in claim 1, characterised by the fact that the aforementioned spacer (22) can move in relation to the body (16) between an initial position in which it holds the perforable piston (27) away from the first end (24B) of the needle and a final position in which the needle (24) is engaged through the perforable piston (27).
3. Transfer kit as described in claim 1 or 2, characterised by the fact that the moving element (20) and the body (16) includes means (98, 106) for limiting the movement of the moving element (20) in relation to the body (16) along the direction of extraction of the perforable piston (27) from the cylindrical reservoir (25).
4. Transfer kit as described in any of the preceding claims whatsoever, characterised by the fact that the mobile element (20) and the body the body (16) include means (104, 106) for guiding the translation movement and for immobilisation of the rotation of the one in relation to the other.

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