Packaging for medical containers

Abstract

Packaging for medical containers, including a tub having a peripheral wall, a sealing cover sealable on an opening of the tub and a sealing envelope able to protect the sealing cover. The sealing envelope includes: a lower sealing part, having a frame able to be sealed to the peripheral wall of the tub, and a bonding surface that extends outwards from the frame, and an upper sealing part sealed on the bonding surface to enclose the opening of the tub and the sealing cover.

Claims

1. A packaging for medical containers, comprising: a tub configured to receive a plurality of medical containers therein, the tub having a peripheral wall and a flange extending from the peripheral wall; a sealing cover sealable on an opening of the tub, the sealing cover made from a permeable material that is permeable to a sterilization medium; and a sealing envelope for protecting the sealing cover against perforation, wherein the sealing envelope comprises: a lower sealing part, comprising: a frame defining an aperture therethrough and having an outer peripheral portion, the aperture adapted to receive at least a portion of the tub, the frame adapted to be sealed to a lower surface of the flange of the tub extending from the peripheral wall of the tub, and a bonding surface that extends outwards from the frame, the outer peripheral portion of the frame extending parallel to an outer periphery of the sealing cover, and an upper sealing part adapted to be sealed on the bonding surface and to cover the opening of the tub and the sealing cover, wherein the lower sealing part and the upper sealing part are at least partially separate from one another prior to sealing the upper sealing part to the bonding surface; and wherein the upper sealing part comprises a window made of the permeable material, wherein the window is permeable to the sterilization medium, and wherein the lower sealing part is a flat sheet.

2. The packaging of claim 1, wherein the lower sealing part includes an inner peripheral portion forming the frame, the outer peripheral portion of the frame forming the bonding surface, the bonding surface extending beyond an outer edge of the flange when the lower sealing part is sealed to the lower surface.

3. The packaging of claim 1, wherein the upper sealing part is another flat sheet.

4. The packaging of claim 3, wherein the lower and upper sealing parts are formed from a single piece of flat material and are connected to one another through a folding edge.

5. The packaging of claim 1, wherein the lower sealing part and the upper sealing part are a thermoformed material, and wherein the lower sealing part and the upper sealing part are configured to be bonded to one another via heat sealing.

6. The packaging of claim 1, wherein the lower sealing part and/or the upper sealing part are made of a heat sealable material, or are coated with a heat-sealable material, so that the lower sealing part is able to be heat sealed to the flange.

7. The packaging of claim 1, wherein the lower sealing part and the upper sealing part are mutually bonded with an adhesive.

8. The packaging of claim 1, wherein the permeable material of the sealing cover and the window comprises high-density polyethylene fibers.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an upper sealing part of a sealing envelope included in the packaging according to a first embodiment;

(2) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a lower sealing part of a sealing envelope also included in the packaging according to this first embodiment;

(3) FIG. 3A is a side view of a tub with the upper and lower sealing parts before bonding these upper and lower parts to this tub;

(4) FIG. 3B is a side cross-section view of the tub of FIG. 3A taken along line 4-4;

(5) FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3A, said lower sealing part being bonded to the tub;

(6) FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, said upper sealing part being bonded to the tub and to the lower sealing part;

(7) FIG. 6 is an enlarged, partial, side cross-section view of said upper and lower sealing parts according to a second embodiment, including a tub before the bonding of the upper and lower sealing parts to this tub;

(8) FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 after the bonding of the upper and lower sealing parts to the tub; and

(9) FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the sealing envelope similar to FIGS. 1 and 2, according to a third embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(10) FIGS. 3A-5 show a packaging 1 for medical containers such as, for example, syringes or cartridges, comprising a grouping tray or nest (not shown), hereinafter “nest”, a packaging tub 2, hereinafter “tub”, a sealing cover 3 and a sealing envelope 4 formed by an upper sealing part 4a and a lower sealing part 4b.

(11) The nest comprises openings coaxially surrounded by chimneys for receiving the cylindrical bodies of the containers, until the flanges thereof abut the upper ends of the chimneys. Such a nest is well known and does not form part of the invention, so it is not particularly described here. Reference can be made to the documents N.sup.o WO 03/089028 or WO 02/40065, for example, in the name of the applicant, which show such nests.

(12) As described on FIG. 3A, the tub 2 is a container having a body 5 able to contain the nest and the medical containers, which has an inner shoulder 5a for receiving the nest. The tub 2 has an upper peripheral wall 2a delineating an upper opening 6 and including a peripheral outer flange 7 levelled with this upper opening 6, for the sealing of the sealing cover 3. The tub 2 is integrally formed by a single part of moulded plastic material.

(13) The sealing cover 3 is formed by a sheet of suitable heat sealable material, in particular by a sheet of high-density polyethylene fibers sold under the trademark_Tyvek®, and is sealed on the upper peripheral wall 2a or on the outer flange 7 of the tub 2 by heat welding.

(14) In reference to FIGS. 1 and 3A, the upper sealing part 4a of the sealing envelope 4 is formed by a sheet of a material suited to protect the cover 3 against perforation and includes a window 8 made of a material permeable to a sterilization medium but not to the ambient contamination (this feature is well known in itself). This upper sealing part 4a has dimensions such that it is able to extend beyond the periphery of the outer edge of the flange 7 and to form, beyond the latter, a peripheral bonding surface designed to be bonded to the lower sealing part 4b by heat welding.

(15) The upper sealing part 4a of the sealing envelope can be made of a flat or a thermoformed sheet of a more or less rigid material (e.g. PET, HPDE, etc.).

(16) In reference to FIGS. 2 and 3A, the lower sealing part 4b is formed by a sheet of a material suited to protect the cover 3 against perforation.

(17) For example, the lower sealing part 4b can be made of a flat or a thermoformed sheet of a material such as Tyvek®, HPDE, etc.

(18) The desired stiffness of the upper and lower sealing parts can be adjusted by selecting an appropriate thickness for the sheet from which they are formed.

(19) Said sealing part 4b comprises a frame 4b′ delineating a central square or rectangular opening 9 and a bonding surface 4b″ extending outwards, i.e. beyond the outer periphery of the frame 4b′, for example, in a direction that could be substantially parallel to that the direction of the peripheral flange 7 and of the sealing cover 3. The central opening 9 allows the lower sealing part 4b to be inserted around the body 5 of the tub 2 until reaching the inferior surface of the flange 7, and the frame 4b′ is adapted to be sealed to this inferior surface of the flange 7.

(20) In use, the nest is placed in the tub 2 and the tub is sealed by the sealing cover 3 (shown in FIG. 3B). The lower sealing part 4b is then inserted around the body 5 and the frame 4b′ thereof is bonded to the lower surface 7a (shown in FIG. 3A) of the flange 7 (FIG. 4); the separate upper sealing part 4a is then sealingly bonded to the bonding surface 4b″ of the lower sealing part 4b (FIG. 5).

(21) Thereafter, series of packagings 1 are stacked in boxes for transportation.

(22) According to the second embodiment shown on FIGS. 6 and 7, the upper peripheral wall 2a of the tub 2 has no peripheral outer flange, and the sealing cover 3 is bonded to the upper edge of this peripheral wall 2a.

(23) The upper sealing part 4a is similar to the one of the embodiment shown on FIGS. 3A-5; it is formed of a sheet of a material suited to protect the sealing cover from perforation.

(24) In this embodiment, the lower sealing part 4b exhibits a non-planar shape, wherein the frame 4b′ is substantially parallel to the peripheral wall of the tub so as to surround the peripheral wall 2a of the tub 2 and to be sealed thereto (by bonding, stamping, gluing, welding). Further, the bonding surface 4b″ is substantially perpendicular to the frame 4b′ and substantially parallel to the sealing cover 3 and adapted to be sealed on the upper sealing part 4a.

(25) According to the third embodiment shown on FIG. 8, said upper sealing part 4a is connected to said lower sealing part 4b along a folding line or edge 10. The upper sealing part 4a is thus movable with respect to the lower sealing part 4b between an unfolded position, in which it does not prevent from sealing the lower sealing part 4b on the tub 2, and a folded position in which it is folded over said lower sealing part 4b and is able to be sealed to this lower sealing part 4b.

(26) As it has become clear from the foregoing, the invention provides a packaging for containers, in particular for syringes or cartridges, having, with respect to the packaging of the prior art, the determining advantages of:

(27) having no risk of perforation during transportation, thanks to the two upper and lower sealing parts 4a, 4b bonded one on the other;

(28) being compact and saving space in the box, and

(29) providing rigid edges to the sealing envelope 4 thus avoiding an additional step of manually tensioning an opening edge at the time of opening the packaging.

(30) The invention has been described above with reference to embodiments given by way of an example. Of course, it is not limited to these embodiments and extends to all other embodiments covered by the appended claims.