Closure with membrane and rotatable protective cap

Abstract

A closure (2) for closing an opening of a container (1) for storing and removing sterile or moisture-sensitive media has a closure cap (3), which can be connected to the container in a fluid-tight manner, and a piercable, self-closing septum (20), which closes at least one removal opening (7) in the closure cap (3) in a fluid-tight manner, wherein the closure (2) has a rotatably mounted protective cap (4) with a cutout (5). The cutout (5) is arranged off-centre in the protective cap (4) and the closure cap (3) has off centre a closure region (9) which is not impinged by the at least one removal opening (7) and is larger than the cutout (5) in the protective cap (4). The closure (2) has a latching mechanism, which is suitable for arranging the protective cap (4) in relation to the closure cap (3) in such a way that the cutout (5) in the protective cap (4) is aligned either in line with the or a removal opening (7) in the closure cap (3) or at a distance from the removal opening or openings (7). The closure (2) has at least one tamper-proof means of protection.

Claims

1. A closure (2) for sealing an opening of a container (1) for the storage and removal of sterile or moisture-sensitive media having a closure cap (3) which can be connected to the container (1) in a liquid-tight manner and having a piercable, self-sealing septum (20) which seals an off-center removal opening (7) in the closure cap (3) in a liquid-tight manner, wherein the closure (2) has a rotatable mounted protective cap (4) having only one cut-out (5) for uncovering the removal opening (7), and wherein the cut-out (5) in the protective cap (4) is matched to the dimension of the removal opening (7), and wherein closure cap (3) has a plurality of off-center removal openings (7) each of which is sealed by the septum (20) and wherein the rotation of the protective cap (4) positions the cut-out (5) to match the dimensions of each of the removal openings (7) in order to uncover it, and wherein closure cap (3) additionally comprises only one area (9) which is not encompassed by the removal openings (7) and arranged between two adjacent removal openings (7), wherein the dimensions of the area (9) are sufficient to cover an assigned area of the cut-out (5), and wherein the closure cap (3) is connected to the container (1) in a detachable manner.

2. The closure of claim 1, wherein the closure (2) has a latch mechanism, which is suitable for arranging the protective cap (4) relative to the closure cap (3) so that the cut-out (5) in the protective cap (4) is aligned either flush with the removal opening (7) in the closure cap (3) or alternatively at a distance from the removal openings (7).

3. The closure of claim 1, wherein the closure (2) has a locking mechanism which prevents the protective cap (4) from being rotated against a pre-specified direction of rotation.

4. The closure of claim 1, wherein the protective cap (4) has at least one shape projecting to a side.

5. The closure of claim 1, wherein the protective cap (4) has a plurality of latch elements (14) which connect the protective cap (4) to closure cap (3).

Description

(1) An illustrative embodiment of the inventive idea is explained in greater detail below and is depicted in the drawing, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows an oblique view of a container which is sealed by means of a closure according to the invention,

(3) FIG. 2 shows an oblique view of a closure cap with a plurality of removal openings,

(4) FIG. 3 shows an enlarged plan view of a protective cap,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a sectional view along line IV-IV of the protective cap depicted in FIG. 3,

(6) FIG. 5 shows an enlarged sectional detail view V of the protective FIG. 3,

(7) FIG. 6 shows an enlarged detail view VI of the protective cap shown in FIG. 3 and

(8) FIG. 7 shows a merely partial sectional view along line VII-VII of the container depicted in FIG. 1 with the closure,

(9) FIG. 8 shows a view from below of the closure caps shown in FIG. 2.

(10) The container 1 depicted in FIG. 1 has an opening, not visible in this view, which is sealed by a closure 2. The closure 2 has a closure cap 3 and a protective cap 4 arranged in a rotatable manner on the closure cap 3. The protective cap 4 has a cut-out 5, which, in the delivery state of the completely filled container 1, is completely covered by a safety cover 6. In order to be able to remove a sterile or moisture-sensitive medium located in the container 1 for the first time, the safety cover 6 must be detached from the protective cap 4, so that the cut-out 5 located beneath this becomes accessible from the outside and facilitates removal of the medium.

(11) For this purpose, the closure cap 3 depicted singly in FIG. 2 has a plurality of removal openings 7. In the illustrative embodiment depicted in the figures, five circular removal openings 7 are arranged at a distance from one another and at a distance from an axis of rotation 8 of the closure cap 3. An area 9 which is not encompassed by the removal openings 7 and whose dimensions are greater than the dimensions of each removal opening 7 is arranged between two adjacent removal openings 7. In this area 9, the closure cap 3 basically covers the assigned area of the opening of the container 1, irrespective of the particular alignment of the protective cap 4.

(12) For illustration, FIGS. 3 and 4 show an enlarged view of the protective cap 4. The cut-out 5 of the protective cap 4 is covered to a predominant proportion by the safety cover 6, which is formed in one piece on the protective cap 4 and is connected to the protective cap 4 via narrow webs. The protective cap 4 designed in this way can be produced inexpensively and in a simple manner using standard injection-moulding processes from a suitable material, such as, for example, polyethylene (PE).

(13) The protective cap 4 has an essentially cylindrical inside surface 10 and an outside surface 11 which is divided into twelve flat surfaces 12 along a periphery of the protective cap 4. The flat surfaces 12 each have an angle of 30 to an adjacent flat surface 12. The edges 13 formed in this way enable the protective cap 4 to be gripped and rotated in a simple manner, simplifying one-handed operation.

(14) The protective cap 4 has in its centre two latch elements 14, which can be introduced into an assigned opening in the closure cap 3 and permanently connect the protective cap 4 to the closure cap 3. If the protective cap 4 should be detached from the closure cap 3, at least one of the two latch elements 14 would have to be bent or broken off for this purpose, meaning that complete detachment of the protective cap 4 from the closure cap 3 for the first time is evident at any time. This likewise represents a tamper-proof protection means. One possible design of the latch elements 14, which is realised in the illustrative embodiment, is shown further enlarged in FIG. 6.

(15) In order to simplify or specify the alignment of the protective cap 4 relative to the closure cap 3, the protective cap 4 has on the inside surface 10 a plurality of, in the illustrative embodiment shown twelve, inwardly projecting, bead-like latch elements 15. The latch elements 15 can each be assigned to a flat surface 12. The closure cap 3 has a groove 16 matched to the shape of the latch elements 15 and aligned perpendicular to the peripheral direction, into which a latch element 15 can engage in each case. The groove 16 is depicted, for example, in FIG. 2.

(16) The shape of the latch elements 15 is such that, on the one hand, rotation of the protective cap 4 is not excessively prevented, while, on the other hand, positioning of the protective cap 4 with a latch element 15 engaging into the groove 16 of the closure cap 3 is preferred. A user can accordingly, on rotation of the protective cap 4, perceive or feel the positions of the protective cap 4 specified by the latch elements 15 and thus of the cut-out 5 relative to the closure cap 3.

(17) A possible design of the latch elements 15 is illustrated in the enlarged detail view in FIG. 5.

(18) FIG. 7 shows a sectional view of the container 1, which, in its delivery state, is sealed by means of the closure 2.

(19) The closure cap 3 of the closure 2 is screwed to the container 1 by means of a screw thread 17. A septum 20 is arranged between an upper edge 18 of the container and an inside 19 of the closure cap 3. The septum 20 preferably consists of silicone which is coated, on a surface facing the interior of the container 1, with an inert material, such as, for example, PTFE.

(20) The closure cap 3 has, on the inside 19 facing the septum 20, shapes 21 arranged at a distance from an outer edge and projecting in the direction of the interior of the container. When the closure cap 3 is firmly screwed to the container 1, the inwardly projecting shapes 21 press onto the septum 20 inside the upper edge 18 of the container 1 and generate a slight deformation of the septum 20, so that the material of the septum 20 is under tension and the self-sealing properties of the material are augmented.

(21) The screw closure of the closure cap 3 to the container 1 is also provided with a tamper-proof protection means. For this purpose, a plurality of lamellar shapes 23, which are not aligned radially inwards, but instead each have an angle of about 50 thereto, are formed on an end region 22 of the closure cap 3 facing the container 1. The container 1 has a matched shape projecting at an angle, which is designed in such a way that the shapes 23 slide virtually unhindered over the shape of the container 1 when the closure cap 3 is screwed onto the container 1, whereas the shapes 23 engage with the associated shape of the container 1 when the closure cap 3 is unscrewed and have to be bent with increased application of force in order to release the closure cap 3. In this way, the closure 2 can be removed completely from the container 1 in order to uncover the container opening completely if necessary or desired in an individual case. However, opening of the container 1 in this way causes a permanent deformation of the lamellar shapes 23, which is evident at any later time, likewise providing tamper-proof protection.

(22) The closure 2 can be produced using any injection-mouldable polymer which, however, is preferably inert to aggressive solvents, but also to leaching.

(23) It is also conceivable for one direction of rotation of the protective cap 4 relative to the closure cap 3 to be prespecified. For this purpose, comparable lamellar shapes 23 may, for example, be provided on the protective cap 4 or closure cap 3 which allow only one direction of rotation of the protective cap 4 and block the opposite direction of rotation. In this way, it is possible to prevent the protective cap 4 from being rotated a number of times in different directions and the cut-out 5 from being positioned repeatedly over a removal opening 7 which has already been used for removal of the medium. By means of a measure of this type, the sterility of the medium located in the container 1 can also be substantially guaranteed over a number of removal operations.

(24) The illustrative embodiment depicted in the drawing is merely intended for illustration and allows various variants within the scope of the knowledge available to the person skilled in the art. Owing to the general validity of the inventive principle described, however, the illustrative embodiment presented as an example is not suitable for reducing the scope of protection of the present application only to this embodiment.

(25) Unless expressly indicated as a feature which is essential to the invention, it goes without saying to the person skilled in the art that the dimensions or relative size ratios shown or depicted in the drawing are merely intended to illustrate possible embodiments of the inventive principle in each case, without thus being tied to a restriction to these dimensions or size ratios.