U.S. patent number 3,756,386 [Application Number 05/092,008] was granted by the patent office on 1973-09-04 for multi-chamber container.
Invention is credited to Volker Marckardt.
United States Patent |
3,756,386 |
Marckardt |
September 4, 1973 |
MULTI-CHAMBER CONTAINER
Abstract
A multi-chamber container for separately accommodating reacting
materials which, when mixed, are ready for use as dental
preparations. The container has an open-ended thin walled body
which is covered by a tear foil and which forms in conjunction with
a marginal extension of the main container body, one or more
secondary chambers, from which liquid or paste mixtures can be
pressed into the main chamber by destroying a separating diaphragm
or seam.
Inventors: |
Marckardt; Volker (3550
Marburg, DT) |
Family
ID: |
6606729 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/092,008 |
Filed: |
November 23, 1970 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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|
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Nov 29, 1969 [DT] |
|
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G 69 46 391.8 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
206/219;
206/63.5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61C
5/66 (20170201) |
Current International
Class: |
A61C
5/06 (20060101); A61C 5/00 (20060101); B65d
025/08 (); B65d 081/32 () |
Field of
Search: |
;206/47A,56AB,56AA,63.5
;229/56 ;215/6 ;128/272 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Dixson, Jr.; William T.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A multi-chamber container separately accommodating two or more
substances which react with each other, for use in the preparation
of ready-to-use dental material, the container comprising: a
substantially stiff container body having an upwardly extending
depression constituting the primary chamber containing one said
substance, and a generally horizontally disposed flange completely
surrounding and extending outwardly from the border or edge of said
primary chamber; a strippable flexible foil overlying said chamber
and overlying and adhering to the bottom surface of said flange and
completely to said border thereof, a depression in said flexible
foil constituting a secondary chamber having a significantly
smaller volume than said primary chamber and containing a second
substance, said secondary chamber being defined by a spacing
between a predetermined surface of said flange located at least in
part substantially immediately adjacent to said border of said
primary chamber and said flexible foil.
2. A multi-chamber container according to claim 1 wherein said
secondary chamber is located contiguous to but lengthwise offset
from said main chamber.
3. A multi-chamber container according to claim 1, in which said
body and said primary chamber are elongated in an axial
direction.
4. A multi-chamber container according to claim 3, wherein said
predetermined surface area of said flange is located at one axial
end of said body.
5. A multi-chamber container according to claim 4, wherein said
flanged axial end establishing said predetermined surface area is
folded about 90.degree. to the plane of the opening of said primary
chamber.
6. A multi-chamber container according to claim 1, in which said
flexible foil is composed of an acid-resisting inner foil and a
reinforcing cover foil.
7. A multi-chamber container according to claim 1, wherein the
adherence of said flexible foil to said flange in the region
between said secondary and primary chamber is rupturable, for
emptying the substance of the secondary chamber into that of the
primary chamber.
Description
The present invention relates to a multi-chamber container for
separately accommodating materials that react with each other, such
as constituent parts of a ready-to-use dental preparation. The
individual chambers are separated from each other by readily
destructible diaphragms or diaphragm seams for mixing the reacting
materials.
In the prior art, French Pat. No. 1,144,883 already discloses a
multi-chamber container having a destructible diaphragm. The
configuration of the conventional container, however, is such that
it cannot adequately provide a quantitatively constant mixture nor
is the same suitable for mechanical mixing.
The German Pat. No. 1,276,866 and its patent of addition German
Pat. No. 1,287,251, disclose a multi-chamber container for similar
applications in which, for the purpose of puncturing or destroying
the diaphragm, two chambers of the container are arranged to move
telescopically. One of the chambers is provided in the form of a
foil cushion. A container of this kind consists of at least two
complex structural components and a diaphragm or foil cushion.
Practical experience has shown, however, that the only designs
ensuring adequate time-saving are those also provided with a cover
for removing the finished mixture. In practice, therefore, the
device must contain another part. The individual parts for a
finished container of this kind must be produced separately and the
container chambers must be filled separately and, if necessary,
sealed. Moreover, each individual container must be assembled after
the filling operation. The complexity of this type of container
therefore requires a considerable amount of mechanical work to
produce the parts, to fill the mixture components into the
chambers, and to assembly the container.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to
provide a container which can be manufactured and filled with the
reacting dental materials more efficiently and, preferably, by
means of a single machine.
An aspect of the present invention resides in the provision of a
multi-chamber container which separately accommodates two or more
substances which react with each other and which are adapted for
use in the preparation of ready-to-use dental materials. The
container comprises a substantially stiff container body having an
upwardly extending depression constituting the primary chamber
containing one said substance, and a generally horizontally
disposed flange completely surrounding and extending outwardly from
the border or edge of said primary chamber. A strippable flexible
foil overlies the primary chamber and overlies and adheres to the
bottom surface of the flange and completely to the border of the
primary chamber. A depression in the flexible foil constitutes the
secondary chamber which has a significantly smaller volume than the
primary chamber and contains a second substance of the ready-to-use
dental materials. The secondary chamber is defined by the spacing
between a predetermined surface of the flange located at least in
part substantially immediately adjacent to the border of the
primary chamber and the flexible foil.
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with
other and further objects thereof, reference is had to the
following description taken in connection with the accompanying
drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended
claims.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is an elevational view in cross section of a container in
accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 and 3 are bottom and top views, respectively, of the
container;
FIG. 4 is an end view of the container, partly in cross section;
and
FIGS. 5 to 7 are views similar to FIG. 1 but illustrate
modifications thereof.
In accordance with the present invention, the container is provided
with a tear foil, which forms one wall of the main chamber of the
container, and forms in conjunction with another wall, or with a
folded portion of another wall of the main chamber, one or more
secondary chambers, from which a liquid or paste mixture material
may be pressed into the main chamber by destroying a separating
diaphragm, or by separating a preferably welded seam.
With the modern plastic-foil-packaging techniques in use today, a
container of this can be made completely out of foils of various
kinds. The main body of the container can be made of a foil
relatively rigid in its finished state, and capable of transferring
the vibrations from a mechanical mixing apparatus substantially
undiminished to the mixture.
The tear-foil, which may consist of several layers or, preferably,
of a metal reinforced layer, either forms the secondary chambers
directly with the wall of the main chamber of the container, or
forms the secondary chambers as foil cushions. After the main
chamber of the container has been filled, the whole foil is glued
or welded to the edges of the open main chamber.
These operations, which result in a filled, ready-to-use container,
require as initial materials merely the different foils and the
different content materials and can therefore be put together, on
an assembly line, by a single metering and packaging machine. This
represents a considerable saving in material, transportation and
manufacturing costs.
In order to puncture or destroy the separating diaphragm or the
separating diaphragm seam, and for pressing the various filler
materials from the respective secondary chambers into the
corresponding main chambers, a certain surface pressure must be
applied to the secondary chambers.
This may be accomplished immediately prior to use in a very wide
variety of ways: by means of plastic pincers, or by placing the
appropriate foil side of the container on a solid base and by
pressing it, with a solid object, e.g., the package box, against
the folded portion of the container wall under which the secondary
chamber is located.
However, since the containers according to the present invention
are intended for use with mechanical vibratory or shaker equipment,
for mixing purposes, it is most convenient and most expeditious to
fasten the container to the mixer in such a manner that the
necessary clamping simultaneously applies the required surface
pressure at the correct locations.
Referring now to the drawings there is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 a
container having a thin walled shape retaining body 1 with a
configuration establishing a main chamber 2. A secondary chamber 3
is formed partly by a marginal extension 12 of the main body 1 and
a multi-layer tear foil 4 is adhesively secured on the projection
12. Slightly remote from the outer edge of the extension 12 the
foil 4 is raised to establish in spaced relation to extension 12
the chamber 3 and lowered again to enclose the secondary chamber 3
proximate to the edge of main chamber 2. At the intersection
between chambers 2 and 3 there is provided a readily rupturable,
preferably welded or glued, narrow seam 8. The secondary chamber 3
is located opposite to but lengthwise offset from the main chamber
2 and the chambers are thus physically separated to prevent
exchange of material therebetween. The foil 4 further extends
across the opening of chamber 2 to cover and seal the same and
again is adhesively joined with a marginal portion 14. Surface
pressure applied to the multi-layer tear foil 4, which comprises an
acid-resistant inner foil 5 and a cover foil 6 which may be
reinforced with metal, causes the content of the secondary chamber
3 to press against the seam 8 and to burst at its weakest location,
see 9, into the main chamber 2 of the container. After the mixing
process has been completed, the entire foil layer 4 may be
separated from the main body 1 of the container, starting from a
location 1o remote from the secondary chamber, to open and expose
part, or all, of the main chamber 2 so that the finished mixture
can be removed rapidly and completely.
In FIG. 5 there are shown two modifications of the container
described above each of them including one secondary chamber for
the container. The marginal extension 16, 18 of a main chamber are
adapted to mate with the foil forming the secondary chambers, and
are pre-coated with an acid-resistant layer of foil which can be
sealed, or with a self-adhesive material 11. One secondary chamber
3 is located adjacent to the elongated extension 18 and is filled
separately. The tear foil 4 which forms the secondary chamber 3 can
be sealed or glued to the main body 1 of the container, there
forming the weakest location 9. The halves not shown contain a spot
for tearing the foil layer, either with or without an additional
and optional secondary chamber. These devices are used in the same
way as the container shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 6, there are shown two container designs in which only one
separating diaphragm must be punctured or destroyed. The designs
permit greater tolerances for welding or gluing. The separating
diaphragm 5 is caused to burst by the application of surface
pressure at the opening 7 in the main body 1 of the container, and
the content of the secondary chamber 3 is pressed into the main
chamber 2. The tear foil layer 4, with its secondary chamber 3, in
the form of a foil cushion, may be filled separately and may be
applied to the main body 1 of the container by gluing, or welding.
These devices are used in the same way as the example of execution
in FIG. 1. The halves not shown are similar to those in FIG. 2.
Finally, FIG. 7 illustrates, again, an embodiment having a readily
repturable diaphragm. A combined welding and gluing process may be
used. The secondary chamber 22 is first filled as a foil cushion
and is then welded as a whole to the main body 1 of the container.
After the main chamber 2 has been filled, a stable cover foil 6 may
be used to cover the still-open portion of the container.
In this modification, the extension 14' is folded 90.degree. to
facilitate the attachment of the container to the mixer in a manner
which may be advantageous under certain circumstances.
While there have been described what are at present considered to
be the preferred embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious
to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications
may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is
aimed, therefore, in the appended claims to cover all such changes
and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the
invention.
* * * * *