Dual compartment, disposable, mixing and dispensing container

• US 4,657,534 A
• Filed: 11/04/1985
• Issued: 04/14/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/1985
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Alcon Laboratories Incorporated (Alcon Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Alcon Laboratories Incorporated (Alcon Incorporated)
• Inventors: Brown, Frank E., Beck, Robert E., Jobe, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosenbaum, C. Fred
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vinyard, Sherri E.
• Application Number:
  US06/794,360
• Time in Patent Office: 526 Days
• Field of Search: 604/87-90, 604/184, 604/231, 604/410
• US Class Current: 604/90
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 25/082 the partition being in the form of a plug or the like which is removed by increasing or decreasing the pressure within the container B65D81/3211 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 81/3222 with additional means facilitating admixture

Abstract

A package for materials that are to be mixed just prior to use comprises a squeezable container into which is inserted a barrel containing a plunger. One substance to be mixed is placed within the container. The second substance is placed within a compartment formed within the barrel between a pair of pistons having flexible sealing rings. Telescoping of the plunger rod into the barrel causes the upper piston to advance into the compartment. The advancing upper piston exerts hydraulic pressure causing the lower sealing piston to detach from the barrel allowing internal mixing of the substances into a mixed fluid. By squeezing the container side wall, mixed fluid may be dispensed from a forward end of the plunger rod communicating with the container interior through a series of passageways.

Claims

1. A dual compartment dispensing container for storage of separate substances with internal mixing of same to form a single mixed fluid dispensable from the container at time of use, comprising:

(a) a container side wall forming an interior volumetric region for storage of one of said substances;

(b) a barrel assembly received within said container and formed with a compartment for storage of another substance therein, said barrel assembly including separating means for maintaining said stored substances separate from each other prior to mixing, said barrel assembly further including an inlet port and a piston for isolating said inlet port from said compartment, said barrel assembly defining a mixing region between the container side wall and an outer periphery of the barrel through which mixed fluid travels before entering said inlet port; and

(c) a plunger rod containing a series of passageways therein and disposed within said barrel in coaxial alignment with said compartment, and including said piston advancing into the compartment upon depressing the plunger rod from an extended position into a telescoped position, the advancing piston exerting hydraulic pressure acting upon the separating means to allow mixing of said substances;

said mixed fluid being dispensed from the container through a forward end of the plunger rod located outside the container and in communication with mixed fluid through said series of passageways in the plunger rod and said inlet port formed in the barrel, wherein said series of passageways includes a longitudinal passage formed in the plunger rod and open at one end thereof to the forward end and terminating at an opposite end thereof within the body of said rod, a cross passage interconnecting the longitudinal passage, said cross passage communicating with the container interior through said inlet port when the plunger rod is in the telescoped position, said inlet port being spaced from an end of said barrel assembly located outside the container by a distance sufficient to locate said inlet port in an upper portion of the volumetric region.

2. The container of claim 1, wherein said container side wall is formed of a flexible material being squeezable to dispense mixed fluid from the container.

3. The container of claim 1, wherein said piston includes plural flexible sealing rings, sealing off said passages from the inlet port when the plunger rod is in the extended position.

4. The container of claim 1, wherein said separating means comprises a second piston having flexible sealing rings disposed within the lower end of the barrel to define with the first piston opposite ends of said compartment.

5. The container of claim 1, wherein said barrel includes a cylindrical tube having an outer diameter about equal to the internal diameter of a neck portion of the container through which said barrel is inserted into the container, said barrel having a smooth exterior side wall contacting a corresponding smooth interior side wall of the neck in sealing engagement.

6. The container of claim 5, wherein an upper end of said barrel is formed with an annular retaining flange engageable with the container mouth to limit the extent to which the barrel enters the container.

7. The container of claim 6, including a plurality of inlet ports spaced from the retaining flange a distance sufficient to locate said ports in the uppermost portion of the volumetric region.

8. The container of claim 7, further including a closure cap threaded to the container neck to clamp said flange to the container mouth.

9. The container of claim 8, wherein said plunger rod is formed with an annular stop flange engageable with the closure cap to limit the depth to which the plunger rod telescopes into the barrel.

10. The container of claim 1, further including a needle assembly through which mixed fluid is dispensed from the container, said forward end of the plunger rod having a luer lock mechanism for fixing the needle assembly to the rod.

11. The container of claim 1, wherein said forward end of the plunger rod is formed with a luer lock mechanism to which a needle assembly is fitted to dispense mixed product from the container upon squeezing of the container side wall.

12. The container of claim 11, wherein said forward end of the plunger rod includes an attachment stem fitting with the needle assembly and a cylindrical wall having an inner surface formed with said luer lock mechanism.