JP7634330B2 - Medication container - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a medication container .

For patients who are unable to take in nutrition through the mouth due to swallowing disorders, tube feeding methods such as nasogastric tube, gastrostomy, and enterostomy are used. In such tube feeding methods, nutrients are placed in a bottle or bag (hereafter referred to as a "medication container") and injected into the stomach or intestines via a tube. A nozzle is provided at the discharge section of the medication container, and a tube is connected to the nozzle.

In such a medication container, the discharge part of the medication container is sealed while the hot water and nutrients are mixed and dissolved or suspended inside the medication container, and the discharge part is opened when the nutrients are to be injected into the patient.

Patent document 1 describes a catheter connection structure in which a partition is provided on the nozzle of a container, and in the process of screwing a catheter with a connecting needle at its tip into the nozzle, the connecting needle breaks the partition. In cited document 1, the broken partition piece becomes free inside the container, and there is a risk that the partition piece will block the discharge hole.

Patent Document 2 also describes a medication container that includes a container and a discharge section consisting of a nozzle, and further includes a blocking section that blocks the boundary between the container and the discharge section, and that can store medicine and liquid in the container, disintegrate and suspend the medicine, apply force to the container to open the blocking section, and allow the mixture of medicine and liquid in the container to flow out into a tube through the nozzle of the discharge section. In Patent Document 2, when applying force to the container to open the blocking section, it is necessary to fold the medication container in half and grip it to apply pressure to the mixture in the container, making it difficult for female nurses and caregivers in particular to open the blocking section.

JP 2002-210023 A Patent No. 5873483 specification

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a medication container which is easy to open and the discharge hole will not become blocked when opened.

As a means for solving the above problems, the medication container of the present invention comprises:
(1) A nozzle is attached to the inlet and the discharge portion, and the nozzle is
A nozzle body provided integrally with the discharge portion;
an inner portion extending from the nozzle body into the medication container;
a flexible connecting portion that connects the nozzle body and the inner portion,
A discharge hole is formed through the nozzle body and leads to the inner portion,
a notch is formed on the outer periphery of the inner portion;
When the inner part is pressed from the outside of the medication container to be folded, the inner part is separated from the nozzle body, and the discharge hole is configured to communicate with the inside of the medication container;
A first bottom edge is provided that is inclined from the discharge portion toward the edge on one side,
A horizontal second bottom edge and an inclined third bottom edge are provided continuously from the discharge portion toward the edge on the other side,
The connecting portion of the nozzle is located on the side where the first bottom edge is provided .

In the above-mentioned method, the inner part of the nozzle is separated from the nozzle body by simply folding the inner part from the outside of the medication container, and the discharge hole communicates with the inside of the medication container. In addition, since a flexible connecting part is provided that connects the nozzle body and the inner part, when the inner part of the nozzle is folded from the outside of the medication container to open it, the inner part does not become loose inside the medication container.

(2) Since a notch is formed on the outer periphery of the inner portion, the inner portion can be easily folded.

(3) It is preferable that the discharge hole of the nozzle body extends beyond the notch into the inner portion.
This makes the area between the bottom of the notch and the discharge hole thinner, allowing the inner portion to be easily folded with a slight external force, and ensuring that an entrance is formed in the discharge hole after folding.

(4) It is preferable that the connecting portion has a curved or bent portion.
This ensures that when the inner portion is separated, it moves to a position away from the entrance of the discharge hole in the nozzle body, and therefore the inner portion does not block the entrance of the discharge hole in the nozzle body.

(5) It is preferable that the inner portion is formed with a protruding portion that protrudes toward two opposing sheets that form the inner wall of the medication container.
This allows the user to easily fold the inner portion even when the inside of the medication container cannot be seen, since the user can feel the position of the protruding portion by touch.

(6) The nozzle body has a base and a connector portion extending outward from the base,
the connector portion is a female connector having a male thread formed on an outer circumferential surface,
A male connector can be attached to the female connector, the male connector comprising a cylindrical portion to be inserted into the female connector and an outer cylindrical portion having a female thread that screws onto the male thread;
It is preferable that a backing plate having an outer shape larger than that of the base is provided between the connector portion and the base.
With this, when the male connector is screwed into the female connector, the tip of the male connector abuts against the backing plate, preventing the male connector from being screwed in too far.

(7) In the present invention, a narrow bottom portion is formed on the side of the bottom of the medication container where the first bottom edge is located, and a wide bottom portion is formed on the side where the second bottom edge and the third bottom edge are located. Since solid matter such as medicines accumulates in the wide bottom portion, the medicines, etc. can be crushed from the outside of the wide bottom portion.

(8 ) Since the connecting part is located in the narrow bottom portion with the first bottom edge, the wide bottom portion with the second and third bottom edges is wider, so that the inner part will not be broken by touching the connecting part while crushing medicines, etc. with the wide bottom portion.

(9) It is preferable that a hanging hole is formed in an upper edge portion opposite to an intersection of the second bottom edge and the third bottom edge.
As a result, when the medication container is hung with the hanging hole facing up, the wide bottom portion with the second and third bottom edges is lower than the narrow bottom portion with the first bottom edge, and solid matter such as medicines accumulates in the wide bottom portion, where they can be crushed from the outside of the wide bottom portion.

According to the present invention, simply by folding the inner part of the nozzle from the outside of the medication container, the inner part is separated from the nozzle body and the discharge hole communicates with the inside of the medication container, making it easy to open.
In addition, since it is provided with a flexible connecting portion that connects the nozzle body and the inner portion, when the inner portion of the nozzle is folded from the outside of the medication container to open it, the inner portion does not become free inside the medication container, and the discharge hole is not blocked by the inner portion separated from the nozzle body.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of a medication container to which the medication container nozzle of the present invention is attached. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1 . FIG. 1A is a front view, FIG. 1B is a left side view, FIG. 1C is a right side view, FIG. 1D is a top view, and FIG. Cross-sectional view of line V-V in Figure 4. FIG. 2 is a side view of a dosing container showing the state in which the medicine is suspended. FIG. 2 is a front view of a medication container showing the state in which the medicine is suspended. FIG. 13 is a side view showing the state in which the inner part of the nozzle is folded.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings.

Figure 1 shows a medication container 1 to which a nozzle for a medication container (hereinafter simply referred to as "nozzle") 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached. The medication container 1 is made of a soft synthetic resin such as polyethylene that is colorless and transparent, semi-transparent, or colored and transparent. The medication container 1 is made by overlapping two rectangular sheets 2a and 2b, bonding the left edge 3a and the right edge 3b to each other, sandwiching a nozzle 10 in the discharge section 5 in the center of the bottom edge 4, and bonding the bottom edge 4 to form a storage section 6 for storing medicines and liquids inside. The upper edges 7 of the sheets 2a and 2b are also bonded to each other, and an inlet section 8 is provided below the upper edge 7 of the sheet 2a. The inside of the inlet section 8 is provided with a well-known zipper tape 9 consisting of two grooves and a protrusion, as shown in Figure 2, which allows the storage section 6 to be opened and closed.

The bottom of the storage section 6 is asymmetrical with respect to the central discharge section 5, and the right side is wider than the left side in FIG. 1. That is, the bottom edge 4 of the storage section 6 has a first inclined bottom edge 4a that extends obliquely upward from the discharge section 5 toward the left edge 3a, a horizontal second edge 4b that extends horizontally from the discharge section 5 toward the right edge 3b, and a third inclined edge 4c that is continuous with the second edge 4b and extends obliquely upward toward the right edge 3b. The first bottom edge 4a on the left side of the discharge section 10 forms a narrow bottom 6a, and the second bottom edge 4b and the third bottom edge 4c on the right side of the discharge section 10 form a wide bottom 6b that is larger in area than the narrow bottom 6a. A hanging hole 7a is formed in the upper edge 7 that faces the intersection of the second bottom edge 4b and the third bottom edge 4c.

Figure 3 shows a nozzle 10, which is composed of a nozzle body 11, an inner part 12, and a connecting part 13 that connects the nozzle body 11 and the inner part 12. The nozzle 10 is integrally formed from a synthetic resin such as high density polyethylene (HDPE).

As shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle body 11 is integrally formed with a base 14 that is attached to the discharge portion 5 of the medication container 1, a female connector 15 that protrudes outward from the medication container 1, and a backing plate 16.

The base 14 of the nozzle body 11 has a diamond-shaped cross section, with opposing obtuse corners formed as arcs. As shown in FIG. 5, the base 14 is formed with a discharge hole 17 that extends to the inner part 12. Three protrusions 18 are formed on the outer surface of the base 14, extending in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of the discharge hole 17, which can increase the adhesive strength when the base 14 is sandwiched and bonded between the two sheets 2a, 2b of the discharge part 5 of the medication container 1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the female connector 15 of the nozzle body 11 has a cylindrical shape that communicates with the discharge hole 17 of the base 14, and has a male thread 15a formed on the outer circumferential surface. As shown in FIG. 5, the male connector 20 of the tube (hereinafter simply referred to as the "tube") 19 connected to a nasogastric tube, or a gastrostomy or enterostomy catheter is screwed into the female connector 15. The male connector 20 consists of a cylindrical portion 20a that is inserted into the female connector 15, and an outer tube portion 20c that is formed with a female thread 20b that screws into the male thread 15a of the female connector 15. The female connector 15 and the male connector 20 have dimensions specified in ISO 80369-3.

The backing plate 16 of the nozzle body 11 is provided between the female connector 15 and the base 14. As shown in FIG. 4, the outer shape of the backing plate 16 is an oval shape that is larger than the outer shape of the base 14. As shown in FIG. 5, when the male connector 20 is screwed into the female connector 15, the tip of the male connector 20 abuts against the backing plate 16, preventing the male connector 20 from being screwed in too far.

The inner part 12 is formed integrally with the shaft part 21 and the operating part 22.

The shaft 21 of the inner part 12 has a smaller diameter than the base 14 and is continuous with the base 14. At the lower end of the shaft 21, a hole 21a is formed that communicates with the discharge hole 17 of the base 14 and has the same diameter as the discharge hole 17 of the base 21. A notch 21b with a V-shaped cross section is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the shaft 21, and the bottom of the notch 21b is close to the hole 21a of the shaft 21 and is formed thin. The hole 21a of the shaft 21 extends upward beyond the notch 1b.

The operating section 22 of the inner section 12 has an H-shaped cross section and is composed of a web section 22a parallel to the sheets 2a and 2b and two flange sections 22b perpendicular to the sheets 2a and 2b. A protrusion 22c that protrudes toward the sheets 2a and 2b is formed on the upper part of the two flange sections 22b.

The connecting portion 13 is provided to extend in a key shape between the upper end surface of the base 14 of the nozzle body 11 and the side surface of the operating portion 22 of the inner portion 12. The connecting portion 13 has a rectangular cross section with a width A when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the sheets 2a and 2b and a thickness B when viewed from a direction parallel to the sheets 2a and 2b, where the thickness B is smaller than the width A and the connecting portion 13 is flexible. When viewed from a direction perpendicular to the sheets 2a and 2b, the connecting portion 13 is connected to the side of the operating portion 22 and consists of a horizontal portion 13a extending horizontally from the side, a first vertical portion 13b extending downward from the end of the horizontal portion 13a, an inclined portion 13c extending obliquely from the bottom end of the first vertical portion 13b toward the shaft portion 21, and a second vertical portion 13d extending from the bottom end of the inclined portion 13c toward the base portion 14 of the nozzle body 11 and connected to the base portion 14, and has three bent portions 13e, 13f, and 13g.

Next, we will explain the function of the nozzle 10 in particular when administering medication using the simple suspension method using a medication container 1 equipped with the nozzle 10 configured as described above.

After making sure that the shaft 21 of the inner part 12 of the nozzle 10 of the medication container 1 is not broken, open the zipper tape 9 of the medication container 1, widen the entrance 8, and pour in the medicine such as capsules or tablets required for the patient's medication, as well as room temperature water or hot water at 55°C, and close the zipper tape 9. In this state, leave the medication container 1 for a specified period of time to disintegrate and suspend the medicine. If necessary, the medication container 1 can be shaken or an external force applied from the outside to disintegrate the medicine.

Since the discharge hole 17 of the nozzle 10 is closed, the suspension of medicine and hot water in the storage section 6 of the medicine container 1 does not leak to the outside. During suspension, the medicine container 1 may be hung by hanging the hanging hole 7a of the upper edge 7 of the medicine container 1 on the hook 24 of the stand 23 with the nozzle 10 facing down, as shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 7, the hanging hole 7a is on the diagonal line of the intersection of the second bottom edge 4b and the third bottom edge 4c, so that when hung on the stand 23, as shown in FIG. 7, the wide bottom 6b of the medicine container 1 is lower than the narrow bottom 6a, and the medicine container 1 is tilted. As a result, the medicine accumulates in the wide bottom 6b, so that the medicine can be crushed from the outside of the wide bottom 6b. When suspended in water at room temperature, it may be heated to near human body temperature.

The connecting part 13 of the nozzle 10 is located at the narrow bottom part 6a where the first bottom edge 4a is provided, so that the wide bottom part 6b where the second bottom edge 4b and the third bottom edge 4c are provided is wider than the narrow bottom part 6a, and there is no risk of accidentally touching the connecting part 13 and breaking the inner part 12 while crushing medicines or the like with the wide bottom part 6b.

When the suspension of medicine and hot water in the medication container 1 reaches a temperature close to body temperature, as shown in Figure 6, the male connector 20 of the tube 19 is connected to the female connector 15 of the nozzle 10 of the medication container 1. Next, as shown in Figure 8, the area between the protruding portion 22c of the inner portion 12 of the nozzle 10 and the backing plate 16 of the nozzle body 11 is pinched and pressed with fingers from the outside of the medication container 1 to break the shaft portion 21 of the inner portion 12.

Here, a notch 21b is formed on the outer periphery of the inner portion 12, which allows the inner portion 12 to be easily folded.

In addition, the discharge hole 17 of the nozzle body 11 extends beyond the notch 21b into the inner part 12 to form a hole 21a in the shaft part 14 of the inner part 12, so that the area between the bottom of the notch 21b and the discharge hole 17 is thin, allowing the shaft part 14 of the inner part 12 to be easily broken with a slight external force, and an entrance is reliably formed in the discharge hole 17 after it is broken.

In addition, a protrusion 22c is formed on the operating portion 22 of the inner portion 12 of the nozzle 10, protruding toward the sheets 2a and 2b of the medication container 1. Even if the inside of the medication container 1 is obscured by the suspension, the position of the protrusion 22c can be found by touch, so that the shaft portion 21 of the inner portion 12 can be easily folded.

When the inner part 12 of the nozzle 10 breaks at the position of the notch 21b between the shaft 21 and the base 14, it separates from the nozzle body 11. This causes the discharge hole 17 of the nozzle body 11 to communicate with the inner storage part 6 of the medication container 1, forming a flow path from the inside of the medication container 1 through the discharge hole 17 of the nozzle body 11, and the suspension in the storage part 6 of the medication container 1 is administered to the patient's stomach or intestines through this flow path via the tube 19.

The inner part 12 separated from the nozzle body 11 is connected to the base 14 of the nozzle body 11 by the connecting part 13, so it does not become loose inside the medication container 1. Furthermore, when the inner part 12 separates from the nozzle body 11, the connecting part 13 is released from the restrained state in which both ends are fixed to the inner part 12 and the nozzle body 11, and displaces to a free state. As a result, the inner part 12 moves to a position away from the entrance of the discharge hole 17 of the nozzle body 11, so that the shaft part 21 of the inner part 12 does not block the entrance of the discharge hole 17 of the nozzle body 11.

When the administration of the suspension is nearing completion, the tilted medication container 1 can be returned to an upright position, allowing all of the suspension remaining in the wide bottom portion 6b of the medication container 1 to be administered. When the administration of the suspension is complete, the male connector 20 of the tube 19 can be removed and the medication container 1 can be discarded. Note that the medication container 1 can also be discarded without leaking any remaining liquid by appropriately attaching a cap to the female connector 15 of the nozzle body 11.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims. For example, in the above embodiment, the connecting portion 13 is provided with the bent portions 13e, 13f, and 13f, but these or the entire connecting portion 13 may be curved in an arc shape.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1: medication container 2a, 2b: sheets 3a, 3b: left and right edges 4: bottom edge 4a: first bottom edge 4b: second bottom edge 4c: third bottom edge 5: discharge section 6: storage section 6a: narrow bottom section 6b: wide bottom section 7: upper edge section 7a: hanging hole 8: inlet section 10: nozzle 11: nozzle body 12: inner section 13: connecting section 14: shaft section 15: female connector 16: backing plate 17: discharge hole 20: male connector 21: shaft section 21a: hole 21b: notch 22: operation section 22c: protrusion

Claims (6)

The nozzle has an inlet and a discharge portion, the nozzle being attached to the discharge portion, the nozzle being
A nozzle body provided integrally with the discharge portion;
an inner portion extending from the nozzle body into the medication container;
a flexible connecting portion that connects the nozzle body and the inner portion,
A discharge hole is formed through the nozzle body and leads to the inner portion,
a notch is formed on the outer periphery of the inner portion;
When the inner part is pressed from the outside of the medication container to be folded, the inner part is separated from the nozzle body, and the discharge hole is configured to communicate with the inside of the medication container;
A first bottom edge is provided that is inclined from the discharge portion toward the edge on one side,
A horizontal second bottom edge and an inclined third bottom edge are provided continuously from the discharge portion toward the edge on the other side ,
A medication container, characterized in that the connecting portion of the nozzle is located on the side where the first bottom edge is provided . 2. The medication container according to claim 1 , wherein a hanging hole is formed in an upper edge portion opposite to an intersection portion of the second bottom edge and the third bottom edge. 3. The dosage container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the discharge hole of the nozzle body extends beyond the notch into the inner portion. 4. The medication container according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion has a curved portion or a bent portion. 5. The medication container according to claim 1, wherein the inner portion is formed with protruding portions that protrude toward two opposing sheets that form the inner wall of the medication container. The nozzle body has a base and a connector portion extending outwardly from the base,
the connector portion is a female connector having a male thread formed on an outer circumferential surface,
A male connector can be attached to the female connector, the male connector comprising a cylindrical portion to be inserted into the female connector and an outer cylindrical portion having a female thread that screws onto the male thread;
6. The medication container according to claim 1, further comprising a backing plate between the connector portion and the base, the backing plate being larger than the outer shape of the base.

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