JP2008188939A - Monomer-filled syringe manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

When a plunger jig is connected to a plunger rod, even if the plunger jig moves, a good monomer injection process can be performed without impairing the deaeration state of the monomer filled in the syringe. An object is to provide a method for producing a monomer-filled syringe.
[Solution]
The syringe 10 with the nozzle 12 sealed with the nozzle cap 16 is filled with the liquid monomer M from the end opposite to the nozzle 12. Next, in a state where the inside of the syringe 10 filled with the monomer M is decompressed, the plunger jig 30 and the plunger jig 30 connected to the plunger rod are separated from the inside of the syringe 10 to separate the plunger jig. The gasket 20 arranged so as to surround the periphery of the tool 30 is pushed in from the end opposite to the nozzle 12.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a monomer-filled syringe filled with a liquid monomer used for manufacturing contact lenses and the like.

  Conventionally, a liquid polymerizable monomer is filled into a syringe, and the charged monomer is discharged from the syringe into a mold cavity and then polymerized in the cavity to produce a target contact lens or the like. ing. In this manufacturing method, a polymerizable monomer can be used in a small amount, and when manufacturing a small variety of products, there is no cost for switching work (for example, washing of a used syringe), which is advantageous in terms of cost. It is.

  When filling this liquid monomer into a syringe, seal the nozzle at the tip of the syringe with a nozzle cap, then fill the syringe with the monomer, and then depressurize the monomer in the syringe. By pushing a plunger jig connected to the plunger, it functions as a plug. This plunger jig is required to have a high sealing property so that the charged monomer can be maintained in a reduced pressure state in order to keep the deaeration state well. If the degassed state is broken, air (particularly oxygen) is not preferable because the radical polymerizability of the monomer is inhibited in the syringe. Moreover, there is a possibility that moisture or the like may be mixed into the syringe.

  When the monomer filled in the syringe as described above is injected into the cavity of the mold, the nozzle cap is operated by connecting a plunger rod from the outside to the plunger jig and operating the plunger rod. Is injected into the cavity from the removed nozzle.

Patent Document 1 discloses a liquid resin filling device and a filling method for injecting a liquid resin into an injection nozzle in a vacuum state.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-2190

  However, conventionally, when the plunger rod is connected, the plunger jig moves, and the sealing performance between the plunger jig and the syringe may be broken. In this case, when the sealing property is broken, there is a possibility that the radical polymerization property is inhibited before the monomer in the syringe is injected into the cavity of the molding die and a good injection process cannot be performed. Moreover, there is a possibility that moisture or the like may be mixed in the syringe.

In addition, although patent document 1 is disclosed about filling with liquid resin in a syringe, the structure for hold | maintaining the deaeration state of liquid resin with which the syringe was filled is not described.
The object of the present invention is to perform a good monomer injection process without damaging the deaeration state of the monomer filled in the syringe even when the plunger jig moves when the plunger jig and the plunger rod are connected. It aims at providing the manufacturing method of the monomer filling syringe which can be performed.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a syringe having a nozzle at the tip sealed with a nozzle cap is filled with a liquid monomer from the end opposite to the nozzle, and the monomer In a state where the inside of the syringe filled with is decompressed, the plunger jig connected to the plunger rod and the plunger jig are separated from the inside of the syringe so as to surround the periphery of the plunger jig The gist of the present invention is a method for producing a monomer-filled syringe, wherein the formed gasket is pushed from the end opposite to the nozzle.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the monomer-filled syringe manufactured by the above manufacturing method, the gasket that is pushed in maintains good airtightness with respect to the inner peripheral surface of the syringe. When the plunger rod and the plunger jig are connected, the gasket is separated even if the plunger jig moves, so that the gasket does not move and the sealing performance of the gasket with respect to the syringe is not lost. . That is, the plunger rod and the plunger jig can be connected in a state where the sealing property of the gasket is maintained.

  The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in claim 1, the plunger jig has a connecting means for connecting with a plunger rod. According to invention of Claim 2, a plunger jig | tool can be connected with a plunger rod by the said connection means.

  The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that in claim 2, the connecting means is a male screw or a female screw. According to invention of Claim 3, a plunger jig | tool can be connected with a plunger rod with an external thread or an internal thread.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the plunger jig is disposed so as to be rotatable relative to the gasket. According to the invention of claim 4, when the plunger jig is disposed so as to be rotatable relative to the gasket, the plunger rod is engaged with the male screw or the female screw of the plunger jig. The jig can be freely rotated without being constrained by the gasket, so that the sealing performance of the gasket is not lost.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the nozzle cap has a screw cap structure. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the monomer can be reliably charged without being released by pressure from the inside of the syringe, and can be reliably removed by impact from the outside, etc. No separate protection is required.

  As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the plunger jig is connected to the plunger rod, the deaeration state of the monomer filled in the syringe is impaired even if the plunger jig moves. The manufacturing method of the monomer filling syringe which can perform the injection | pouring process of a favorable monomer without providing can be provided.

According to invention of Claim 2, the manufacturing method of the monomer filling syringe which can connect a plunger jig | tool with a plunger rod by the said connection means can be provided.
According to invention of Claim 3, the manufacturing method of the monomer filling syringe which can connect a plunger jig | tool with a plunger rod with an external thread or an internal thread can be provided.

According to invention of Claim 4, there exists an effect which can obtain easily the monomer filling syringe which has the effect of Claim 3.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the monomer can be reliably charged without being released by pressure from the inside of the syringe, and can be reliably removed by impact from the outside, etc. The effect that protection is not required separately can be realized.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a completed state of the monomer-filled syringe syringe manufactured according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the syringe 10 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and the inside of the syringe 10 is partitioned into two upper and lower chambers A and B by a synthetic resin gasket 20. The lower chamber A is filled with a polymerizable monomer M, and the upper chamber B is an air chamber. As shown in FIG. 2, the lower part of the chamber A is formed in an inverted truncated cone shape on the lower side. The syringe 10 is made of a synthetic resin having a UV light shielding property that shields UV (ultraviolet rays). In the present embodiment, the syringe 10 is made of polypropylene, but the material is not limited. In addition, since the syringe 10 is filled with a polymerizable monomer, it is preferable to have UV light shielding properties. However, only the portion corresponding to the chamber A filled with the monomer M described later may have UV light shielding properties. Good. The monomer M is, for example, a polymerizable monomer for forming a contact lens or an intraocular lens with a synthetic resin. This monomer M is an unstable monomer that starts polymerization by radical polymerization with ultraviolet light or heat.

  The gasket 20 is made of a synthetic resin softer than the synthetic resin of the syringe 10 (for example, PTFE) and is formed into a thin-walled cylindrical shape with a bottom extending downward, and an inverted frustoconical portion at the bottom of the chamber A It is formed in the shape of an inverted cone so that it can be inserted into the. Since the gasket 20 is formed of a synthetic resin that is a soft material, the gasket 20 has flexibility and can maintain airtightness (that is, sealability) with respect to the inner surface of the syringe 10. The material of the gasket 20 is not limited to PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). Seal portions 22 and 24 whose outer diameters are longer than the outer diameter of the central portion in the vertical direction are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the gasket 20 so that the upper and lower portions in FIG. 2 are in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the syringe 10. ing. The gasket 20 made of synthetic resin can be maintained in a state where the chamber A is decompressed by the seal portions 22 and 24.

  In the gasket 20, the plunger jig 30 is accommodated so as to be surrounded by the gasket 20. In this embodiment, the plunger jig 30 is made of a metal such as stainless steel and is formed in a cylindrical shape. The outer diameter of the plunger jig 30 is slightly shorter than the inner diameter of the gasket 20 and is arranged so as to be rotatable relative to the gasket 20, that is, rotatable about its own axis. The material of the plunger jig 30 is not limited to metal, and may be made of synthetic resin, wood, ceramics, glass or the like, but is rigid because it needs to be connected to a plunger rod (not shown). Therefore, a material harder than the material of the gasket 20 is preferable. A male screw 32 as a connecting means protrudes from the center of one end face (upper end face in FIG. 2) of the plunger jig 30. The male screw 32 can be screwed into a female screw hole (not shown) provided on an end face of a plunger rod (not shown).

  A ring-shaped fitting hole 14 is recessed in the distal end surface (lower end surface in FIG. 2) of the syringe 10 so as to surround the periphery of the nozzle port 13 of the nozzle 12. An internal thread is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the fitting hole 14. The nozzle cap 16 is detachably engaged with the female screw of the fitting hole 14 to close the nozzle port 13 of the nozzle 12 so that the filled monomer M is not leaked to the outside. Thus, the nozzle cap 16 has a screw cap structure. The male screw of the nozzle cap 16 screwed into the female screw of the fitting hole 14 is constituted by a single or triple thread.

  In the syringe 10, a flange 18 projects from an end portion (upper end portion in FIG. 2) opposite to the nozzle 12. As shown in FIG. 2, a bottomed cylindrical head cap 40 is detachably and closely fitted into the opening 10a at the end opposite to the nozzle 12. The head cap 40 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin made of the same material as that of the syringe 10, and the upper flange 42 is engaged with the flange 18 of the syringe 10 and positioned.

  When using the syringe 10 filled with the monomer M, the head cap 40 is removed, and in this state, a plunger rod (not shown) is screwed into the male screw 32 and connected to the plunger jig 30. With the nozzle cap 16 removed, the plunger jig 30 is pressed through the plunger rod. By this pressing, the gasket 20 is moved downward via the plunger jig 30, whereby the monomer M is discharged from the nozzle 12.

(Production method)
Next, the manufacturing method of the syringe which filled the syringe 10 with the monomer M is demonstrated with reference to Fig.3 (a)-(e).

  First, as shown in FIG. 3A, a nozzle cap 16, a gasket 20, a plunger jig 30, a head cap 40, and an empty syringe 10 having no monomer M are prepared. In addition, C shown by Fig.3 (a)-(e) is a holding part of the holding | gripping apparatus (not shown) provided in the conveying apparatus 110 (refer FIG. 1) of the monomer filling system mentioned later.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, the nozzle cap 16 is screwed into the fitting hole 14 of the nozzle 12 to close the nozzle port 13 of the nozzle 12 (see FIG. 2).
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3C, the liquid polymerizable monomer M is filled into the syringe 10 through the opening 10a. Thereafter, after the inside of the syringe 10 is depressurized to dissolve the dissolved air (especially oxygen), or while degassing, as shown in FIG. 3D, the gasket containing the plunger jig 30 is accommodated. 20 is pushed into the syringe 10 so that the entire lower surface of the gasket 20 is immersed in the liquid surface of the monomer M so that there is no space between the liquid surface and the gasket 20.

  Thereafter, the opening 10 a of the syringe 10 is closed with a head cap 40 as shown in FIG. As described above, the syringe 10 in which the monomer M is filled in the syringe 10 can be obtained.

The system for filling the syringe 10 with the monomer M can be performed by, for example, the monomer filling system shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a monomer filling system.
The monomer filling system includes a syringe supply unit 100, in which each syringe 10 supplied from the syringe supply unit 100 is held by the holding unit C of the holding device of the transport device 110 (see FIG. 3A), and the nozzle It is conveyed to the cap mounting part 130. In the nozzle cap mounting portion 130, the nozzle cap 16 supplied from the nozzle cap supply portion 120 is fitted into the syringe 10 in a state where the syringe 10 is held by the grip portion C so as not to rotate around its own axis. The nozzle 14 of the nozzle 12 is closed by screwing with the hole 14 (see FIG. 3B).

  Next, the transport device 110 transports the syringe 10 from the nozzle cap mounting unit 130 to the monomer filling unit 140. The monomer filling unit 140 fills the conveyed syringe 10 with the monomer M through the opening 10a (see FIG. 3C).

  Thereafter, the transport device 110 transports the syringe 10 to the plunger jig and the gasket stopper portion 160. In the plunger jig / gasket plugging unit 160, the plunger jig 30 is supplied from the plunger jig / gasket supply unit 150 in a state of being housed and assembled in the gasket 20, that is, supplied as an assembly. The appendage is pushed into the syringe 10 as shown in FIG.

When the assembly of the plunger jig 30 and the gasket 20 is pushed into the syringe 10, the inside of the syringe 10 is deaerated.
As a method of degassing and pushing, there is a method of pushing the assembly in a state where the syringe 10 itself is placed in a vacuum chamber. As another method, the upper end of the opening 10a is closed (not shown) with the plunger jig and gasket stopper 160 in the state where the assembly is disposed in the space above the upper surface of the monomer M of the syringe 10. In this state, the space area is sucked and depressurized. Then, the plunger jig and the gasket stopper 160 actuate a push rod (not shown) penetrating the closing member while maintaining an airtight state, thereby pushing the assembly.

After this assembly is pushed into the syringe 10 as shown in FIG. 3D, the closing of the closing member (not shown) is released and the pushing rod is removed.
Thereafter, the transport device 110 transports the syringe 10 to the head cap stopper unit 180. In the head cap plug unit 180, the head cap 40 supplied from the head cap supply unit 170 is plugged into the opening 10a of the syringe 10 (see FIG. 3E). The syringe 10 is transported to the discharge unit 190 by the transport device 110 with the head cap 40 being plugged.

Now, the embodiment configured as described above has the following characteristics.
(1) In this embodiment, the liquid monomer M is filled from the end opposite to the nozzle 12 into the syringe 10 in which the nozzle 12 is sealed with the nozzle cap 16. Next, in a state where the inside of the syringe 10 filled with the monomer M is decompressed, the inside of the syringe 10 is separated from the plunger jig 30 and the plunger jig 30 connected to a plunger rod (not shown). The gasket 20 arranged so as to surround the periphery of the plunger jig 30 is pushed from the end opposite to the nozzle 12.

  As a result, when the plunger rod (not shown) and the plunger jig 30 are connected, even if the plunger jig 30 moves, the gasket 20 does not move because the gasket 20 is separated separately. The sealing performance for the syringe 10 is not lost. That is, there is an effect that a plunger rod (not shown) and the plunger jig 30 can be connected in a state where the sealing property of the gasket 20 is maintained.

  (2) In this embodiment, the plunger jig 30 has a male screw 32 as a connecting means for connecting to a plunger rod (not shown). As a result, the male jig 32 allows the plunger jig 30 to be connected to a plunger rod (not shown).

  (3) In the present embodiment, the plunger jig 30 is disposed so as to be rotatable relative to the gasket 20. As a result, since the plunger jig 30 is disposed so as to be rotatable relative to the gasket 20, when the plunger rod (not shown) is screwed into the male screw 32 of the plunger jig 30, the plunger jig 30 is The gasket 20 can be freely rotated without being constrained by the gasket 20, so that the sealing performance of the gasket 20 is not lost.

  (4) Moreover, in this embodiment, since the gasket 20 is made of a synthetic resin made of a soft material, the gasket 20 has flexibility. For this reason, airtightness is favorably maintained with respect to the inner peripheral surface of the syringe 10.

  (5) Moreover, in this embodiment, since the nozzle cap 16 has a screw cap structure, it does not come off by the pressure from the inside of the syringe 10 and can perform a reliable filling operation of the monomer M. There is an effect that the protection of the syringe tip is not required separately when the syringe 10 is transported without being detached due to an impact or the like.

  (6) In this embodiment, since the plunger jig 30 is made of metal, it can be more reliably connected to a plunger rod (not shown), so that precise discharge is possible when the monomer M in the syringe 10 is used. It becomes.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be configured as follows.
In the above embodiment, the bottom portion of the gasket 20 is formed in an inverted conical shape, but the shape is not limited, and if the entire chamber A of the syringe 10 has an inner peripheral surface of the same diameter, for example, a flat plate You may form in a shape, or you may form so that it may have a concave surface in a bottom face.

  In the above embodiment, the material of the gasket 20 is made of a synthetic resin, but is not limited to a synthetic resin, and may be a synthetic rubber or a material that can ensure a sealing property.

  In the above-described embodiment, the syringe 10 has the UV light shielding property. However, the syringe 10 itself does not have the UV light shielding property, but corresponds to the entire syringe or the chamber A filled with at least the monomer M. Only a portion (for example, the inner surface or the outer surface of the syringe corresponding to the chamber A) may be formed with a UV light shielding coating agent. Alternatively, the entire syringe or only the portion corresponding to the chamber A filled with at least the monomer M may be covered with a cover having UV light shielding properties. In this way, it is not necessary to give the syringe 10 itself UV shielding properties.

  In the above embodiment, the gasket 20 is provided with the two seal portions 22 and 24. However, the number is not limited, and it goes without saying that the number of seal portions may be one or three or more. is there.

O An O-ring may be disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the gasket 20 instead of the seal portion of the gasket 20.
In the above embodiment, the male jig 32 as the connecting means is provided on the plunger jig 30. Instead of the male screw 32, a female thread is formed on one end face (upper end face in FIG. 2) of the plunger jig 30. Also good.

  In the above embodiment, the male jig 32 as the connecting means is provided in the plunger jig 30, but the plunger jig 30 may be made of, for example, an iron magnetic material instead of omitting the male screw 32. Then, an electromagnet may be provided at the tip of the plunger rod (not shown), and the plunger rod and the plunger jig 30 may be connected or separated depending on whether or not the magnetic force of the electromagnet is generated.

  In the above embodiment, the plunger jig 30 has a cylindrical shape. However, the shape of the plunger jig 30 is not limited, and may be any shape that can rotate relative to the gasket 20. .

Schematic of monomer filling system. The whole sectional view of a monomer filling syringe. (A)-(e) is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of a monomer filling syringe.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Syringe, 10a ... Opening part, 12 ... Nozzle, 16 ... Nozzle cap,
20 ... gasket, 22, 24 ... seal part, 30 ... plunger jig,
32 ... Male screw (connection means), 40 ... Head cap, A, B ... Chamber, M ... Monomer.

Claims (5)

For the syringe with the nozzle at the tip sealed with a nozzle cap, the liquid monomer is filled from the end opposite to the nozzle,
In a state where the inside of the syringe filled with the monomer is decompressed, the plunger jig connected to the plunger rod and the plunger jig are separated from the inside of the syringe so as to surround the periphery of the plunger jig. A method for producing a monomer-filled syringe, wherein a gasket disposed on the nozzle is pushed in from an end opposite to the nozzle.   The method for producing a monomer-filled syringe according to claim 1, wherein the plunger jig has a coupling means for coupling with a plunger rod.   The method for producing a monomer-filled syringe according to claim 2, wherein the connecting means is a male screw or a female screw.   The method for producing a monomer-filled syringe according to claim 3, wherein the plunger jig is disposed so as to be rotatable relative to the gasket.   The method for producing a monomer-filled syringe according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the nozzle cap has a screw cap structure.

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