U.S. patent application number 16/052433 was filed with the patent office on 2019-02-07 for straw for the preservation of a predetermined dose of liquid-based substance.
The applicant listed for this patent is IMV TECHNOLOGIES. Invention is credited to Jean-Charles GORGES, Eric SCHMITT.
Application Number | 20190038388 16/052433 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 60020120 |
Filed Date | 2019-02-07 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20190038388 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SCHMITT; Eric ; et
al. |
February 7, 2019 |
Straw for the preservation of a predetermined dose of liquid-based
substance
Abstract
The straw comprises a tube (11) and a gas-permeable liquid-tight
stopper (12), which stopper is disposed in the tube in the
neighborhood of one end (16), which tube and which stopper are
configured for the stopper to be able to slide in the tube towards
the other end (17), said tube being transparent or translucent,
said stopper comprising an identifier component (13) configured to
emit, when it is illuminated with ultraviolet light, light of which
the spectrum comprises at least one peak having a crest of
predetermined wavelength in visible light, whereas when it is
illuminated by visible light said identifier component does not
emit said light of which the spectrum comprises said peak.
Inventors: |
SCHMITT; Eric;
(VILLAINES-LA-JUHEL, FR) ; GORGES; Jean-Charles;
(CHENAY, FR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
IMV TECHNOLOGIES |
SAINT OUEN SUR ITON |
|
FR |
|
|
Family ID: |
60020120 |
Appl. No.: |
16/052433 |
Filed: |
August 1, 2018 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01N 21/78 20130101;
A01N 1/0268 20130101; A61D 19/024 20130101; A61B 10/0058
20130101 |
International
Class: |
A61D 19/02 20060101
A61D019/02; A61B 10/00 20060101 A61B010/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 1, 2017 |
FR |
1757373 |
Claims
1. A straw for the preservation of a predetermined dose of
liquid-based substance, comprising a tube and a gas-permeable
liquid-tight stopper, which stopper is disposed in the tube in the
neighborhood of one end, which tube and which stopper are
configured for the stopper to be able to slide in the tube towards
the other end, said tube being transparent or translucent, wherein
said stopper comprises an identifier component configured to emit,
when it is illuminated with ultraviolet light, light of which the
spectrum comprises at least one peak having a crest of
predetermined wavelength in visible light, whereas when it is
illuminated by visible light said identifier component does not
emit said light of which the spectrum comprises said peak.
2. A straw according to claim 1, wherein said stopper is formed by
two plugs made from a braided fibrous substance enclosing a sealing
agent formed by a powder, with at least one of the two plugs
forming said indicator component.
3. A straw according to claim 2, wherein said at least one plug
forming said indicator component is a braid of which the threads
are coated with an optical agent emitting, when it is illuminated
with ultraviolet light, said light of which the spectrum comprises
said peak, whereas when said optical agent is illuminated with
visible light, it does not emit said light of which the spectrum
comprises said peak.
4. A straw according to claim 2, wherein said at least one plug
forming said indicator component is that which forms the end of the
stopper oriented towards the end of the tube closest to the
stopper.
5. A straw according to claim 1, wherein said indicator component
comprises an optical brightening agent emitting, when it is
illuminated with ultraviolet light, light having a bluish hue,
whereas when said optical agent is illuminated with visible light,
it does not emit said light having a bluish hue.
6. A straw according to claim 5, wherein said optical brightening
agent is formed by derivatives of pyrene and azole.
7. A straw according to claim 3, wherein said at least one plug
forming said indicator component is that which forms the end of the
stopper oriented towards the end of the tube closest to the
stopper.
8. A straw according to claim 2, wherein said indicator component
comprises an optical brightening agent emitting, when it is
illuminated with ultraviolet light, light having a bluish hue,
whereas when said optical agent is illuminated with visible light,
it does not emit said light having a bluish hue.
9. A straw according to claim 3, wherein said indicator component
comprises an optical brightening agent emitting, when it is
illuminated with ultraviolet light, light having a bluish hue,
whereas when said optical agent is illuminated with visible light,
it does not emit said light having a bluish hue.
10. A straw according to claim 4, wherein said indicator component
comprises an optical brightening agent emitting, when it is
illuminated with ultraviolet light, light having a bluish hue,
whereas when said optical agent is illuminated with visible light,
it does not emit said light having a bluish hue.
11. A straw according to claim 7, wherein said indicator component
comprises an optical brightening agent emitting, when it is
illuminated with ultraviolet light, light having a bluish hue,
whereas when said optical agent is illuminated with visible light,
it does not emit said light having a bluish hue.
12. A straw according to claim 8, wherein said optical brightening
agent is formed by derivatives of pyrene and azole.
13. A straw according to claim 9, wherein said optical brightening
agent is formed by derivatives of pyrene and azole.
14. A straw according to claim 10, wherein said optical brightening
agent is formed by derivatives of pyrene and azole.
15. A straw according to claim 11, wherein said optical brightening
agent is formed by derivatives of pyrene and azole.
Description
[0001] The invention generally relates to the preservation of a
predetermined dose of liquid-based substance, in particular pure or
diluted animal semen; and more particularly to the straws for
performing such preservation.
[0002] It is known that such a straw comprises a tube and a stopper
disposed in the tube. The stopper is usually of the three-part type
originally described in French patent 995.878, corresponding to
British patent 669,265, i.e. formed by two plugs made from a
fibrous substance enclosing a powder which, on contact with a
liquid, transforms into an impermeable paste or gel adhering to the
wall of the tube so that the stopper is liquid-tight.
[0003] Similar but improved stoppers are described by the French
patent applications 2 824 255 and 2 824 256.
[0004] Stoppers of another type are also known, for example a
stopper made from a single-piece cylinder of hydrophobic
microporous material described by European patent application 0 873
726 or a stopper made from a single-piece cylinder of sintered
self-sealing microporous material as described by PCT application
WO 2010/070533.
[0005] In the initial state, the stopper is disposed in the
neighborhood of one of the ends of the tube and it is provided that
in the filled state, the dose of liquid substance which must be
preserved in the straw is disposed between the stopper and the
other end of the tube (the end furthest from the stopper). The tube
and the stopper are configured for the stopper to be able to slide
in the tube towards the end that is initially furthest from the
stopper.
[0006] To fill the straw, the end closest to the stopper is placed
in communication with a vacuum source while the furthest end of the
tube is placed in communication with a vessel containing the
substance to be introduced into the straw.
[0007] The air initially contained between the stopper and the
furthest end of the tube is sucked through the stopper while the
substance moves forward into the tube until it meets the
stopper.
[0008] If necessary, after filling, the straw is welded close to
one or both of its ends and is stored cold.
[0009] To empty the straw, if necessary after cutting the welded
end portions and thawing, there is inserted into the tube by the
end closest to the stopper a rod which comes to bear against the
stopper. Using this rod, the stopper is made to slide in the manner
of a piston towards the end furthest from the stopper, which causes
the expulsion of the dose of substance which had been introduced
into the straw.
[0010] From French patent application 3 004 332 there is known such
a straw which is capable of being discriminated from other straws
due to the fact that the stopper comprises a magnetic component
configured such that a magnet, placed next to the tube opposite the
stopper, then moved over a horizontal surface, is then followed by
the straw.
[0011] From French patent application 3 011 731, to which
corresponds U.S. patent application 2016/0228101 there is also
known such a straw capable of being discriminated from other straws
due to the fact that it comprises an indicator component configured
to emit, at least when the straw is in the filled state, light of
which the spectrum comprises at least one peak having a crest of
predetermined wavelength.
[0012] The invention also aims to provide a straw capable of being
discriminated from other straws in a particularly simple,
convenient and economical manner.
[0013] To that end the invention provides a straw for the
preservation of a predetermined dose of liquid-based substance,
comprising a tube and a gas-permeable liquid-tight stopper, which
stopper is disposed in the tube in the neighborhood of one end,
which tube and which stopper are configured for the stopper to be
able to slide in the tube towards the other end, said tube being
transparent or translucent, characterized in that said stopper
comprises an identifier component configured to emit, when it is
illuminated with ultraviolet light, light of which the spectrum
comprises at least one peak having a crest of predetermined
wavelength in visible light, whereas when it is illuminated by
visible light said identifier component does not emit said light of
which the spectrum comprises said peak.
[0014] Thus, in normal use, in which the illumination is in visible
light not comprising ultraviolet, or in any event only a tiny
fraction of ultraviolet, nothing distinguishes the straw according
to the invention from a conventional straw.
[0015] It will be noted that it is simple and economical to
configure the stopper of a straw in order for it to comprise the
aforementioned identifier component, in particular by implementing
the advantageous features disclosed below, and that a simple
ultraviolet lamp suffices to recognize whether a straw that is
present is an ordinary straw or a straw provided to be
discriminated, a simple observer being able to see the light then
emitted by the indicator component of the stopper since the tube is
transparent or translucent and the wavelength of the peak is in
visible light
[0016] According to advantageous features: [0017] said stopper is
formed by two plugs made from a braided fibrous substance enclosing
a sealing agent formed by a powder, with at least one of the two
plugs forming said indicator component; [0018] said at least one
plug forming said indicator component is a braid of which the
threads are coated with an optical agent emitting, when it is
illuminated with ultraviolet light, said light of which the
spectrum comprises said peak, whereas when said optical agent is
illuminated with visible light, it does not emit said light of
which the spectrum comprises said peak; [0019] said at least one
plug forming said indicator component is that which forms the end
of the stopper oriented towards the end of the tube closest to the
stopper; [0020] said indicator component comprises an optical
brightening agent emitting, when it is illuminated with ultraviolet
light, light having a bluish hue, whereas when said optical agent
is illuminated with visible light, it does not emit said light
having a bluish hue; and/or [0021] said optical brightening agent
is formed by derivatives of pyrene and azole.
[0022] The disclosure of the invention will now be continued with
the description of embodiments given below, for the purposes of
illustration and non-limitatively, with reference to the attached
drawings in which:
[0023] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view in longitudinal cross-section
of a straw according to the invention, in the empty state and in
visible light;
[0024] FIG. 2 is a similar view to FIG. 1, but with the zone of the
straw in which the stopper is located illuminated by an ultraviolet
lamp; and
[0025] FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating the spectrum of the light
emitted by an optical brightening agent comprised by the stopper of
the straw when it is illuminated with ultraviolet light.
[0026] The straw 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a tube 11 and a
stopper 12.
[0027] The tube 11 is conventionally made from extruded plastic
material, here transparent, with an inside diameter for example of
1.6 or 2.5 mm and a length of the order of 133 mm.
[0028] The stopper 12 is of the three-part type, i.e. formed by two
plugs 13 and 14 made from a fibrous substance enclosing a sealing
agent 20 formed by a powder 15 which, on contact with a liquid, is
capable of transforming into an impermeable paste or gel adhering
to the wall of the tube 11 so that the stopper 12 is
liquid-tight.
[0029] In the initial state, shown in FIG. 1, the stopper 12 is
disposed in the neighborhood of the end 16 of the tube 11 and it is
provided that in the filled state, the dose of liquid-based
substance which must be preserved in the straw 10 is disposed
between the stopper 12 and the end 17 of the tube 11 that is the
furthest from the stopper 12.
[0030] In order to fill the straw 10, the end 16 is placed in
communication with a vacuum source while the end 17 is placed in
communication with a vessel containing the substance to be
introduced into the straw.
[0031] The air initially contained between the stopper 12 and the
end 17 is sucked through the stopper 12 while the substance moves
forward in the tube 11 until it encounters the stopper 12, by the
end 18 thereof that faces towards the end 17 of the tube 11, that
is to say the end of the stopper 12 that can be seen on the right
in FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0032] The straw 10 is then in the filled state.
[0033] If necessary, after filling, the straw is welded in the
neighborhood of one or both of its ends 16 and 17 and is placed in
cold storage.
[0034] To empty the straw 10, if necessary after cutting the welded
end portions and thawing, there is inserted into the tube 11 a rod
which comes to bear on the end 19 of the stopper 12 (which end is
situated on the opposite side to the end 18).
[0035] Using this rod, the stopper 12 is made to slide in the
manner of a piston towards the end 17 or the end which corresponds
after cutting the welded portion, which causes the expulsion of the
dose of substance 21 which had been introduced into the straw.
[0036] To enable the straw 10 to be discriminated from other
straws, the plug 13 comprises an optical agent 21.
[0037] It is known that an optical agent is formed by molecules
that are not visible in visible light but visible when they are
illuminated by ultraviolet light.
[0038] These are thus fluorescent molecules, the excitation
wavelength (received light) being different from the emission
wavelength (emitted light).
[0039] The optical agent 21 here is an optical brightening agent
which absorbs the ultraviolet radiation of wavelength comprised
between 300 and 400 nm to re-emit that energy by a visible
radiation of wavelength comprised between 400 and 500 nm (bluish
hue).
[0040] Here, the optical brightening agent 21 is formed by
derivatives of pyrene and azole.
[0041] Here, the plug 13 is a braid of which the threads have been
clad with optical brightening agent 21 by coating in an aqueous
medium.
[0042] FIG. 2 shows the straw 10 in course of being illuminated
with a torch 25 of which the bulb is an ultraviolet LED. For
reasons of convenience, the torch 25 is represented here
miniaturized relative to the straw 10 whereas in reality, the
dimensions of the torch should be greater than the dimensions of
the straw.
[0043] As the tube 11 is of transparent plastic material, the UV
light emitted by the torch 25 illuminates the stopper 12, and thus
the plug 13, such that the optical brightening agent 21 contained
in the plug 13 emits light having a bluish hue.
[0044] On the contrary, when a conventional straw is illuminated by
the ultraviolet light emitted by the torch 25, its stopper 12,
which does not comprise any optical brightening agent, does not
emit light having a blueish hue and thus maintains the same
appearance or substantially the same appearance.
[0045] It is thus possible to recognize whether or not the straw 10
has been provided to be discriminated.
[0046] It will be noted that a simple ultraviolet lamp, which is a
commercially-available item, suffices to recognize whether a straw
that is present is an ordinary straw or a straw provided to be
discriminated, a simple observer being able to see the light then
emitted by the plug 13 since the tube 11 is transparent and the
wavelength of the peak 22 is in visible light.
[0047] The recognition of the straw 10 may be carried out both in
the initial state of the straw 10 (empty) and in the state filled
with the dose of liquid substance to be kept.
[0048] Here, the plug which serves as an indicator component (plug
13) is that which forms the end 19 oriented towards the end 16 of
the tube 11 which is the closest to the stopper 12 in the initial
state of the straw 10, that is to say the plug the furthest from
the liquid-based substance which the straw in the filled state
contains.
[0049] The contacts of the substance with the plug 13 serving as
indicator component are thus limited, but in any case, it has been
verified by the applicant that the optical brightening agent used
here (formed from derivatives of pyrene and azole) is not toxic for
spermatozoa.
[0050] FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating the spectrum of the light
emitted by an optical brightening agent contained by the plug 13 of
the stopper 12, when that optical brightening agent is illuminated
with ultraviolet light.
[0051] In the graph of FIG. 3, the wavelengths in nm are along the
abscissa axis and the relative intensity of the emission is along
the ordinate axis.
[0052] It can be seen that the optical brightener emits light of
which the spectrum comprises a peak 22 here having a crest 23 the
wavelength of which is of the order of 420 nm, which corresponds to
the aforementioned bluish hue; and that the peak is relatively
narrow, which it typical of light from fluorescence.
[0053] The light emitted by the plug 13 has a broader spectrum but
also comprises the peak 22 having the crest 23.
[0054] In this spectrum, the apex of the peak 22 located in the
neighborhood of the crest 23 is clearly distinguished from the rest
of the spectrum and can thus be identified relatively easily by an
observer and moreover by an automatic device, for example by
spectrometry (FT/IR or FX) or by chromatography (HPLC) for the
checking of the chemical signature of the surface of the plug
13.
[0055] Here, the ultraviolet lamp 25 is a torch of the LED bulb has
a power of 1 W and emits at the wavelength of 395 nm. As a variant,
another type of ultraviolet lamp is used, for example a neon
ultraviolet lamp emitting at the wavelength of 365 nm.
[0056] Here the plug 13 (and also the plug 14) is white in visible
light and, as indicated above, the material of the tube 11 is
transparent. As a variant, the plug 13 (and moreover the plug 14)
is colored in visible light and/or the tube 11 is translucent.
[0057] In variants not illustrated, the identifier component of the
stopper 12 is different from the plug 13, for example the plug 14
and/or the powder 15 or even both the plug 13, the plug 14 and the
powder 15. In order for the powder 15 to be able to form an
identifier component, optical brightening agent powder is added to
the alginate powder which conventionally forms the powder 15.
[0058] In variants not illustrated, the stopper 12 is replaced by a
stopper of different type, for example a stopper made from a single
piece cylinder as described in European patent application 0 873
726 or in PCT application WO 2010/070533.
[0059] As a variant, the optical agent is of a type other than the
aforementioned optical brightening agent, for example
distyrylbiphenyl (DSBP) or derivatives of diaminostilbene (DAS)
such as Tinopal CBS (BASF)
--C.sub.20H.sub.20Na.sub.2O.sub.8S.sub.2.
[0060] It is to be noted that by choosing different mixtures, it is
possible to have available a range of straws each having an
identifier component configured to emit light of which the spectrum
comprises a unique combination of peaks of light each having a
predetermined location.
[0061] Numerous other variants are possible according to
circumstances, and in this connection it is to be noted that the
invention is not limited to the examples described and shown.
* * * * *