EP1068850A2

EP1068850A2 - Single-dose bottle for drinkable liquids, particularly for pharmaceutical products

Info

Publication number: EP1068850A2
Application number: EP00114117A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Antonio Fontana
Original assignee: Lameplast SRL
Current assignee: Lameplast SRL
Priority date: 1999-07-14
Filing date: 2000-07-10
Publication date: 2001-01-17
Also published as: AR028842A1; MXPA00006981A; EP1068850A3; BR0002798A; ITMO990032U1; ITMO990032V0; IT248511Y1; ID26543A

Abstract

A single-dose bottle for drinkable liquids, particularly for pharmaceutical products, is constituted by a body (2) which contains the dose of the liquid to be drunk and has, at one end, a neck (3) which has a dispensing opening (4) and a closure (5) for closing the opening (4) whose profile is complementary to the profile of the neck (3) and is connected thereto along a predetermined fracture line (6), the profiles of the neck (3), of the closure (5) and of the fracture line (6) being adapted to form an anatomically contoured shape of the opening (4) for direct resting thereon of the user's lips after the closure (5) has been removed.

Description

The present invention relates to a single-dose bottle for drinkable liquids, particularly for pharmaceutical products.
Conventional single-dose bottles are designed to contain pharmaceutical products such as eye washes, ophthalmic ointments, syrups and solutions in general in an amount corresponding to a single dose of application.
These containers are made of more or less flexible plastics and are constituted by a body provided with a neck having a dispensing outlet closed in its upper region by a closure removable at the time of use along a predefined fracture line.
In the case of liquid products which are drinkable or in any case can be administered orally, these single-dose containers are not devoid of drawbacks, including the fact that the neck and the closure are shaped so as to make it impossible to perform rapid and effective dispensing; that accordingly it is necessary to compress and/or deform the container body to facilitate the outflow of the liquids; and that in some cases it is necessary to use a cup or a spoon into which the contained liquid is poured and then ingested by the user.
Moreover, the step for pouring into a spoon or cup can cause leakage and waste of the liquid to be drunk, which especially in the case of pharmaceutical products, is almost always very expensive and dosed in very precise amounts such as to achieve the intended effects.
The aim of the present invention is to eliminate the above-noted drawbacks of conventional single-dose containers, by providing a single-dose bottle for liquids, particularly for pharmaceutical products, which allows to minimize waste, eliminate the use of extra spoons and/or cups, and to drink directly from the bottle the liquid contained therein rapidly and effectively and without necessarily having to compress and/or deform the container body.
Within the scope of this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a structure which is simple, relatively easy to provide in practice, safe in use, effective in operation, and relatively low in cost.
These and other objects are achieved by the present single-dose bottle for drinkable liquids, particularly for pharmaceutical products, characterized in that it comprises a body which contains the dose of the liquid to be drunk and has, at one end, a neck which has a dispensing opening and a closure for closing said opening whose profile is complementary to the profile of the neck and is connected thereto along a predetermined fracture line, the profiles of the neck, of the closure and of the fracture line being adapted to form an anatomically contoured shape of said opening for direct resting thereon of the user's lips after the closure has been removed.
Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a single-dose bottle for drinkable liquids, particularly for pharmaceutical products, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a single-dose bottle for drinkable liquids, particularly for pharmaceutical products, according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a front view of the bottle of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a side view of the bottle of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a first schematic exploded view of the bottle according to the invention;
Figure 5 is a second schematic exploded view of the bottle according to the invention.
With reference to the above figures, 1 generally designates a single-dose bottle for drinkable liquids, particularly for pharmaceutical products.
The bottle 1 is constituted by a body 2 which contains the dose of the liquid to be drunk and ends, at one end, with a neck 3 which has a dispensing opening 4, and by a closure 5 for closing the opening 4 which is connected to the neck 3 along a predetermined fracture line 6.
The profiles of the neck 3 and of the closure 5 are mutually complementary and form, together with the profile of the fracture line 6, an anatomically-contoured shape of the opening 4 for directly resting the lips of the user thereon after the closure 5 has been removed.
Advantageously, the profiles of the neck 3 and of the portion 7 of the closure 5 that faces the opening 4 are substantially shaped like the mouthpiece of a flute.
The opening 4 is arranged obliquely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body 2 and is substantially oval.
The opening 4 is concave, while the portion 7 of the closure 5 is convex, for the mutual coupling of the parts; however, alternative embodiments are also possible.
Conveniently, the bottles 1 can be packaged individually or as sets, which are not shown, since they are of a conventional type, and are constituted by a plurality of bottles laterally provided with connecting tabs which are joined one another along predefined fracture lines.
In order to facilitate the removal of the closure 5, it is possible to provide a tab, a band or the like, which can be provided proximate to the fracture line 6 and acts as grip means for a tearing movement which is adapted to separate the closure from the neck 3 of the body 2.
The bottle 1 according to the invention is made of heat-sealable plastic material and monolithically, for example by injection molding.
At the end of the molding process, the end 8 of the body 2 that lies opposite the neck 3 is open, as shown in the various figures, so as to allow subsequent filling of the body with the corresponding liquid, and can be heat-sealed after filling.
In practice it has been observed that the above-described bottle achieves the intended aim and object, i.e. it allows the user to drink the contained dose of liquid directly from the dispensing opening, rapidly and effectively and without wasting any product and without using extra spoons or cups, but simply by utilizing the anatomically-contoured shape of the opening.
The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept.
All the details may further be replaced with other technically equivalent ones.
In practice, the materials employed, as well as the shapes and the dimensions, may be any according to requirements without thereby abandoning the scope of the protection of the appended claims.
The disclosures in Italian Utility Model Application No. MO99U000032 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

A single-dose bottle for drinkable liquids, particularly for pharmaceutical products, characterized in that it comprises a body (2) which contains the dose of the liquid to be drunk and has, at one end, a neck (3) which has a dispensing opening (4) and a closure (5) for closing said opening (4) whose profile is complementary to the profile of the neck (3) and is connected thereto along a predetermined fracture line (6), the profiles of the neck (3), of the closure (5) and of the fracture line (6) being adapted to form an anatomically contoured shape of said opening (4) for direct resting thereon of the user's lips after the closure (5) has been removed.
The bottle according to claim 1, characterized in that the profile of said neck (3) is substantially similar to that of a flute mouthpiece.
The bottle according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said opening (4) is arranged obliquely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body (2).
The bottle according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said opening (4) is substantially oval.
The bottle according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said opening (4) is concave.
The bottle according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the portion of said closure (5) that is directed towards the dispensing opening (4) has a profile which is substantially shaped like a flute mouthpiece.
The bottle according to claim 6, characterized in that said portion of the closure (5) is convex.
The bottle according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is formed monolithically of heat-sealable plastic material.