Apparatus for filling devices that are penetrable for filling the devices with a substance, and resealable for sealing the resulting hole. A device support supports at least one such device in a substantially fixed position relative to the support during filling and/or resealing. A manifold drivingly mounted over the device support can include (1) a cartridge including a filling needle for penetrating a resealable stopper and introducing a substance therethrough into the device, a mount for mounting the cartridge on the manifold, and a removable cover releasably coupled to the mount for covering the filling needle during transportation, installation and/or removal of the cartridge from the manifold. The manifold can include a thermal source for heating a penetrated region of the stopper and, sealing the hole.

An automatic filling system is for filling a filling material into a filling container. The automatic filling system includes abase, a transport unit having multiple transport seats disposed along a looped transport route, an input unit for transferring the filling container to one of the transport seats, an inverting unit for inverting the filling container, a fill unit for filling the filling material into the filling container, a stopper placement unit for placement of a stopper, a cap placement unit for placement of a cap, a locking unit for locking the cap, a detecting unit for weight measurement, a defect removing unit, and an output unit for transferring the filling container out of the transport unit.

The present invention involves a system and method for monitoring and controlling the aseptic dispensing of a pharmaceutical fluid into containers. The system employs a pharmaceutical fluid dispensing head to dispense droplets of the pharmaceutical fluid along a droplet path into the container and a droplet monitoring system to monitor the droplets produced and dispensed. The volume of at least one droplet is determined based on images of the droplet falling along the droplet path. The volume of pharmaceutical fluid dispensed is determined from the volume of the droplets. The pharmaceutical fluid dispensing head and the droplet monitoring system may be mutually integrated and may be used in systems using different mechanisms for moving containers, including rotary stage systems and robotic arms.

A method of packaging a two component composition into a dual vial (100), wherein the dual vial (100) comprises a single continuous piece of material arranged to provide both a first vial (110) and a second vial (120), the method comprising providing a second component of the composition into a volume, of the second vial (120), surrounding the first vial (110), providing a first component of the composition into a first vial (110), wherein the first vial (110) is nested within a second vial (120), and closing the first vial (110) and the second vial (120).

A method and a device for handling test tubes in a laboratory automation system are presented. During the handling, an open end of the test tube is covered by a residue-free removable, flat cover element forced against the open end of the test tube.

A method for filling and sealing containers such as bottles, cartridges, syringes and the like, wherein the containers are accommodated individually within respective seats of a first nest which in turn is contained in a first transport tub. The method includes the step of supplying the containers; extracting at least one individual container at a time from the first nest and transferring it to a filling station in order to fill the at least one container with a substance; transferring the at least one filled container to a crimp capping station, passing through a separating partition; crimp capping the at least one container at the crimp capping station; and inserting the at least one crimp capped-container in a respective seat of a second nest.

In a method for closing a plurality of medical cartridges (5) a closure nest for supporting a plurality of closures is used, comprising a planar supporting plate having a plurality of receptacles having a plurality of tubular receptacles (61) and retaining structures for reliably accommodating the closures (200). In the method the plurality of medical cartridges (5) is supported in a corresponding cartridge nest. The closure nest is disposed above the cartridge nest so that the receptacles of the closure nest are precisely aligned with the receptacles of the cartridge nest. The closures (200) are then pushed downward out of the receptacles of the closure nest and into the cartridges (5), while the cartridges are supported by the cartridge nest. The closure nest can be directly fed on existing filling and stoppering machine set-ups for processing sealed prefillable syringe barrels, basically without the necessity of changing the set-up.

A supporting structure for supporting a plurality of sealed medical cartridges is disclosed, comprising a planar supporting plate having a plurality of receptacles for accommodating the sealed cartridges. Retaining protrusions are formed at the bottom ends of the receptacles protruding inward, which are mated with the shoulder portions of the sealed cartridges in such a manner that the shoulder portions of the sealed cartridges are supported on the retaining protrusions of the receptacles and that the upper ends of the sealed cartridges protrude from the upper ends of the receptacles at an upper side of the planar supporting plate, when the sealed cartridges are accommodated upside-down in the receptacles. The inventive nest will be suitable for any nested liquid filling machine without much changes in filling table and general settings.

In one general aspect, a method for filling multiple containers with a pharmaceutical product is disclosed, which comprises decontaminating sealed nested materials in a transfer chamber, removing from the sealed nested materials one or both of a container nest holding the multiple containers and a closure nest holding multiple closures, transferring from the transfer chamber to a controlled environment enclosure the removed nest, aseptically filling the containers with the pharmaceutical product, and closing the containers with the multiple closures. The nests are configured to allow multiple closures and containers to be simultaneously aligned concentrically, and closed simultaneously. Spring-loaded retaining structures on the closure nest allow it to releasably retain multiple closures above the corresponding multiple containers. In some embodiments the spring-loaded features are monolithically integrated with the closure nest. The product may be lyophilized in partially sealed containers while the sealing closures are releasably retained by the closure nest.

Disposable containers for storing contents, such as food products. The containers include a cover material disposed about a periphery or an outer surface of the container in a folded configuration and deployed, when pulled out by a user, in an amount and shape sufficient to cover at least the opened periphery of the container.