WO2010089789A1

WO2010089789A1 - Adapter for vials containing physiological solutions and similar

Info

Publication number: WO2010089789A1
Application number: PCT/IT2010/000026
Authority: WO
Inventors: Riccardo Abate
Original assignee: Flaem Nuova SpA
Current assignee: Flaem Nuova SpA
Priority date: 2009-02-04
Filing date: 2010-01-29
Publication date: 2010-08-12
Anticipated expiration: 2011-08-04
Also published as: PL2393465T3; CO6361954A2; ITBS20090005U1; BRPI1005430A2; BRPI1005430B8; BRPI1005430B1; EA019171B1; PT2393465T; ES2581454T3; EP2393465A1; EP2393465B1; MY181412A; CN102307553A; EA201101163A1; CN102307553B

Abstract

The invention concerns an adapter for vials containing physiological solutions for pediatric use, in particular but not only for washing the nasal cavity, where each vial comprises a body made of a flexible material, that terminates in a nozzle at the top and which can be gripped and squeezed manually to cause the washing solution to exit from said nozzle, characterised by a cap element (13), that fits and closes a top zone of the vial body and which ends with a head (14) which overlaps the nozzle of the vial and which has a hole at the top (15) for the exit of the fluid to be delivered contained in the vial.

Description

"ADAPTER FOR VIALS CONTAINING PHYSIOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS

AND SIMILAR"

_{* * * *}

This invention concerns an adapter for compressible type vials to favour the exit of their contents when needed.

Monodose vials containing, for example, a physiological solution for washing the nasal cavity, in particular for pediatric use, are well known and available on the market. These vials have a flexible body that ends with a nozzle at the top to be inserted in the nostrils and which can be gripped and squeezed by hand to facilitate the flow of the washing solution from the nozzle. Some vials, then, can be provided with longitudinal ribs at least on opposite parts tending however to stiffen the body. The manipulation of said vials and their use however does not always appear to be easy as regards to the adaptation of the end nozzle to the nozzles and to the grip and squeezing of the body for the flow of its content.

One of the objectives therefore of this invention is to propose an adapter which can be applied to each vial containing physiological solutions for washing nasal cavities in order to grip it better, both when it is inserted in the nostrils and when it is extracted, and to simplyfy the squeezing action of the fingers so as to be able to control and dose the flow of the fluid that exits.

Another objective of the invention is to provide an adapter for above type of vials configured so that it is possible to see the content of the vial and its change in level when being used.

These objectives are reached, according to the invention, with an adapter of a flexible material made up on the form of a cap element, which adapts to and encloses a top zone of the vial body and which terminates in a head that covers nozzle of the vial and has a hole in the top to allow the fluid to be delivered to flow out from the vial.

Furthermore, the cap element has on a level with its head at least a lateral vent groove to avoid the formation of overpressure if and when the head is inserted into a cavity to be washed, plus a pair of wings as a grip and to squeeze the vial by hand.

Greater details of the invention will however become more evident in the continuation of the description made in reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 show respectively separate examples of a vial and an adapter;

Fig. 3 shows the adapter in Fig.2 applied to the vial;

Fig. 4 shows another example of an adapter and a vial;

Fig. 5 shows the manual way of attaching the adapter to the vial; and Fig. 6 shows the way of using and squeezing the vial with an adapter.

The vial comprises a body 11 , made of a flexible material, terminates at the top with a nozzle 12 and the adapter, in each of the two versions shown, is formed of a cap element 13 dimensioned to fit and attach itself to the body 11 of the vial and to partially cover it in a zone of its top part.

The cap 13 ends in a head 14, ergonomic, that overlaps and encloses the nozzle 12 of the body 11 and which has a hole in the top

15 to allow the fluid contained in the vial to flow out. From the opposite sides, the adapter cap 13 has two wings or extensions 16 that extend towards the bottom of the vial and which preferably have surface juts

17. The two wings delimit between them two recesses 18 on opposite sides, open towards the bottom, which leave most of the height of the vials starting from the bottom, exposed so as to be able to see its content.

The head 14 of the adapter cap can be olive shaped as in Figs. 2 and 3 or conical as in Fig. 4 to facilitate the introduction into the nostrils of a child if the solution in the vial is for washing the nasal cavities. In either case, on at least one side of the head 14 is preferably provided a vent grove 19 designed to avoid the creation of overpressure in the nostrils of the patient when the head is introduced during the washing process.

The vial 11 can have latteral ribbing 20 as shown in Fig. 1 , in which case inside the adaper cap 13 will be provided some guide grooves 21 to receive and fit into said ribbings-Fig. 4. In practice, the wings or extensions 16 provide a secure grip for the fingers so as to facilitate both the coupling between vial and adapter cap-Fig. 5- and the insertion and the extraction of the cap head in the cavity to be treated and, better still, they assist the gradual squeezing of the vial to dose the flow of the washing fluid when needed-Fig. 6.

Claims

"ADAPTER FOR VIALS CONTAINING PHYSIOLOGICAL SOLUTIONSAND SIMILAR" * * * * CLAIMS

1. An adapter for vials containing physiological solutions for pediatric use, in particular but not only for washing the nasal cavity, where each vial comprises a body made of a flexible material, that terminates in a nozzle at the top and which can be gripped and squeezed manually to cause the washing solution to exit from said nozzle, characterised by a cap element (13), that fits and closes a top zone of the vial body and which ends with an ergonomic head (14) which overlaps the nozzle of the vial and has a hole at the top (15) for the exit of the fluid to be delivered contained in the vial.

2. The adapter according to claim 1 , characterised in that said ergonomic top head (14) of the cap element (13) is provided with at least a lateral vent groove (19).

3. The adapter according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the cap element (13) has at least two pairs of gripper wings or extensions (16) that extend towards the bottom of the vial and delimit between them two recesses (18) on opposite sides, open downwards and which leave a most part of the length from the bottom upwards of the vial exposed.

4. The adapter according to claim 3, characterised in that said gripper wings or extension (16) are provided with a raised surface (17).

5. The adapter according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that the top head (14) of the cap element (13) has an olive shape or the like to access the nostrils in an erogmatic way.

6. The adapter according to any of the claims from 1 to 4, characterised in that the top head (14) of the cap element (13) is conical in shape to fit into the nostrils in an erogmatic way.

7. The adapter according to any of the previous claims, where the vial has longitudinal ribs (20), characterised in that the cap element (13) has internal guide grooves (21 ) to couple with said ribs.