Medical Container and a Drug Delivery Device Comprising Said Medical Container

Abstract

This medical container includes a tubular barrel defining a reservoir for a medical product and a longitudinal distal tip defining a fluid path in communication with the reservoir in order to allow the medical product to be expelled from the medical container. The distal tip and the barrel are made of glass and the distal tip is provided with a thread, the thread being configured to connect the distal tip to a connecting element having a complementarily shaped internal thread.

Claims

1. A medical container comprising a tubular barrel defining a reservoir for a medical product and a longitudinal distal tip defining a fluid path in communication with said reservoir in order to allow said medical product to be expelled from the medical container, wherein the distal tip and the barrel are made of glass and wherein the distal tip is provided with a thread, said thread being configured to connect said distal tip to a connecting element having a complementary shaped internal thread, wherein the medical container comprises a distal shoulder connecting the barrel the distal tip, and wherein the distance between said shoulder and a proximal end of the thread is between 1-5 mm.

2. The medical container according to claim 1 wherein the external major diameter of the distal tip is between 2-12 mm.

3. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the medical container comprises a distal end face, and wherein the distance between said distal end face and a distal end of the thread is comprised between 7-9 mm.

4. The medical container according to claim 1 wherein the distal tip comprises a male connecting portion configured to fit into a complementary female connecting portion of an additional element, and the thread is proximally located relative to this male connecting portion.

5. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the male connecting portion has a frustoconical shape.

6. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the distal tip comprises a cylindrical portion and the thread is located over said cylindrical portion of the distal tip.

7. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the thread of the distal tip is a male external thread.

8. The medical container according to preceding claim 1, wherein the pitch thread of the thread is between 0.5-1.5 mm.

9. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the thread axially extends over a total length between 1-5 mm.

10. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the thread has a triangular or trapezoid shape.

11. A drug delivery device comprising a medical container according to claim 1 and a connecting element that is mounted onto the distal tip of the medical container, said connecting element having a first internal thread engaged with the thread of said distal tip.

12. The drug delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting element is an adaptor further comprising a second internal thread configured to engage a thread of an additional element that is intended to be fitted onto a connecting portion of the distal tip, said second internal thread having a pitch thread that is greater than that of the thread of the distal tip.

13. The drug delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the thread of the distal tip is one of a right-handed or left-handed thread, whereas the second internal thread of the adaptor is the other one of a right-handed or left-handed thread.

14. The drug delivery device according to claim 11, wherein the thread of the distal tip and the second internal thread of the adaptor are both cither right-handed or left-handed threads.

15. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the distance between said shoulder and a proximal end of the thread is between 2-4 mm.

16. The medical container according to claim 1 wherein the external major diameter of the distal tip is between 3-5 mm.

17. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the medical container comprises a distal end face, and wherein the distance between said distal end face and a distal end of the thread is about 8 mm.

18. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the pitch thread of the thread is about 0.7 mm.

19. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the thread axially extends over a total length between 1-4 mm.

20. The medical container according to claim 1, wherein the thread has a triangular shape.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] The disclosure and the advantages arising therefrom will clearly emerge from the detailed description that is given below with reference to the appended drawings as follows:

[0035] FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a medical container according to an embodiment of the disclosure,

[0036] FIG. 2 is a partial cross section view of a medical container according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] With reference to FIG. 1 is shown a medical container 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The medical container 1 comprises a tubular barrel 2 defining a reservoir 20, as shown on FIG. 2, for a medical product and a longitudinal distal tip 4 provided at a distal end of the tubular barrel 2. The distal tip 4 defines a fluid path 40 in communication with the reservoir 20 of the tubular barrel 2 in order to allow the medical product to be expelled from the medical container 1. The medical container 1 may comprise a distal shoulder 6 at a distal end of the tubular barrel 2, the distal tip 4 distally protruding from the distal shoulder 6. The tubular barrel 2 and the distal tip 4 are both made out of glass.

[0038] The distal tip 4 comprises a thread 8 which is also made out of glass. The thread 8 is configured to connect the distal tip 4 of the medical container 1 to a connecting element, such as an adaptor 10 illustrated on FIG. 2, having a complementarily shaped internal thread 100. The glass distal tip 4 thus has an integrated glass thread 8, thereby allowing a reliable connection between the adaptor 10 and the distal tip 4 of the medical container 1.

[0039] The thread 8 may be integrally formed together with the distal tip 4, for example in a single operation. They may also form a single piece with the barrel 2, the barrel 2 being preferably formed first.

[0040] The thread 8 is advantageously a male external thread that protrudes from a lateral external surface 42 of the distal tip, rather than being formed by recesses provided inside the external lateral surface 42. This substantially limits risks of breakage of the distal tip 4.

[0041] The thread 8 is preferably a helical thread. It may be right-handed or left-handed. Preferably, the thread 8 has a triangular or trapezoid shape, preferably a triangular shape as illustrated on FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0042] The distal tip 4 has a major external diameter D that is lower than that of the tubular barrel 2. The external major diameter of the distal tip 4 may be comprised between 2-12 mm, preferably between 2-6 mm, even more preferably between 3-5 mm. For example said external major diameter of the distal tip may be 4.4 mm.

[0043] As visible on FIGS. 1 and 2, the distal tip 4 comprises a male connecting portion 44 configured to fit into a complementary female connecting portion of an additional element (not shown), such as a connector. The thread 8 may be located on said male connecting portion 44; however, as shown the FIGS. 1 and 2, the thread 8 is preferably proximally located relative to this male connecting portion 44.

[0044] The male connecting portion 44 may be cylindrical, or frustoconical as shown on FIGS. 1 and 2 where the distal tip 4 is distally tapered.

[0045] Besides, the distal tip 4 may further comprise a cylindrical portion 46 that is arranged proximally relative to the male connecting portion 44, more precisely between the distal shoulder 6 and the male connecting portion 44, the thread 8 being preferably located over said cylindrical portion 46.

[0046] The thread 8 of the distal tip 4 is advantageously located closer to the distal shoulder 6 than to a distal end face 48 of the distal tip 4. For example, the distance d1 between said distal shoulder 6 and a proximal end 80 of the thread 8 is comprised between 1-5 mm, preferably between 2-4 mm. Moreover, the distance d2 between said distal end face 48 and a distal end 82 of the thread 8 is advantageously comprised between 7-9 mm, and is preferably about 8 mm. The thread 8 may axially extend over a total length L, which is the distance between its proximal end 80 and its distal end 82, comprised between 1-5 mm, preferably between 1-4 mm.

[0047] Preferably, the pitch thread of the thread 8 is comprised between 0.5-1.5 mm, is preferably about 0.7 mm. The pitch thread may have a constant value.

[0048] It should also be noted that the height of the thread 8 is comprised between 0.3 and 0.7 mm, and is preferably 0.5 mm. The height of the thread 8 is the distance between the thread crest and the thread root. This height is advantageously constant. As a result, when the thread 8 is located on a cylindrical portion of the distal tip 4, the thread 8 may thus have a constant diameter. When the thread 8 is located on a frustoconical portion of the distal tip 4, the thread 8 may thus have instead a varying diameter, said diameter distally decreasing as the diameter of said frustoconical portion decreases.

[0049] The number of revolutions defined by the thread 8 may be comprised between 1-10, preferably 1-5, even more preferably 1-3. For example, the number of revolutions defined by the thread 8 is 2. It should be noted that the number of revolutions defined by the thread 8 is preferably greater than 1 (not equal to).

[0050] With reference to FIG. 2, the disclosure also relates to a drug delivery device 3 comprising the medical container 1 as above-described, this medical container 1 thus having the glass distal tip 4 provided with the thread 8, and a connecting element, such as the adaptor 10, that is mounted onto the distal tip 4 of the medical container 1, wherein the connecting element has a first internal thread 100 engaged with the thread 8 of the distal tip 4. The medical container 1 may be a syringe and the drug delivery device 3 may be an injection device.

[0051] The connecting element, which may be the adaptor 10, is preferably made of a plastic material, more precisely of any rigid polymer adapted to medical use, such as high density polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyoxymethylene (POM), polystyrene (PS), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyamide (PA), and combinations thereof. Preferably, the adaptor 10 is made of polycarbonate (PC).

[0052] As shown on FIG. 2, the adaptor 10 further comprises a second internal thread 102 that is configured to engage a thread of an additional element (not shown) such as a connector, which is intended to be fitted onto the connecting portion 44 of the distal tip 4. The second internal thread 102 may have a pitch thread that is greater than that of the thread 8 of the distal tip 4.

[0053] It is contemplated that the thread 8 of the distal tip 4 may be one of a right-handed or left-handed thread, whereas the second internal thread 102 of the adaptor 10 is the other one of a right-handed or left-handed thread. Alternatively, the thread 8 of the distal tip 4 and the second internal thread 102 of the adaptor 10 may be both right-handed or left-handed threads.

[0054] With reference to FIG. 2, the adaptor 10 may include a stopper 104 to ensure proper attachment of the adaptor 10. The stopper 104 may be in the form of an inner radial rim defining a proximal shoulder. The thread 8 of the distal tip abuts against the stopper 104 when the adaptor 10 is properly attached. The stopper 104 also prevents the adaptor 10 from abutting against the distal shoulder 6 of the barrel 2. As a result, the proximal end of the adaptor 10 stays remote from the distal shoulder 6.

[0055] It is contemplated that the first internal thread 100 and the second internal thread 102 of the adaptor 10 are separated by a distal shoulder 106. The first internal thread 100 is proximal to said distal shoulder 106, while the second internal thread 102 is distal to said distal shoulder 106. As a result, the first and second internal threads 100, 102 of the adaptor 10 are axially offset in a longitudinal direction of the medical container 1. Besides, the second internal thread 102 of the adaptor 10 and the outer surface of the connecting portion 44 directly face each other, without any sleeve of the adaptor extending between them.

[0056] The manufacturing method of the medical container 1 may comprise the step of forming the thread 8 and the distal tip 4, and more particularly forming the thread 8 and the connecting portion 44 of the distal tip 4, in a single operation, for example by pressing the distal tip 4 between two forming wheels, such as two rotating forming wheels, said forming wheels being shaped so as to simultaneously form the thread 8 and the distal tip 4 including the connecting portion 44. The forming wheels may have an outer surface provided with recesses configured to form the thread 8. This step may occur after forming the barrel 2.