Closure attachment

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a container for storing and, if necessary, incubating a sample and removing the sample or a sample component, comprising a closure for closing an opening of the container and a closure attachment for the closure, wherein the closure has a septum closing the opening and the closure attachment can be attached to a neck-like projection surrounding the opening of the container.

[0002] Such a container with a closure attachment is known from EP 2 160 337 B1. This publication relates to a closure for sealing an opening of a container for storing and dispensing sterile or moisture-sensitive media, comprising a closure cap that can be connected to the container in a liquid-tight manner and a pierceable, self-sealing septum that seals an off-center dispensing opening in the closure cap in a liquid-tight manner. The closure has a rotatably mounted protective cap with a recess for releasing the dispensing opening, the recess in the protective cap being adapted to the dimensions of the dispensing opening. The closure attachment is designed as a rotatably mounted closure cap.This cap features several off-center dispensing openings, each sealed by a septum. A recess, adapted to the dimensions of each opening, can be positioned over the septum by rotating the cap to release it. This design is intended to reliably protect the medium inside the container from environmental influences while simultaneously allowing for quick and easy, repeated dispensing without compromising the septum's functionality. To dispense the medium, the septum is pierced with a cannula, and the required amount of medium is extracted.The septum is expediently made of a material that – like the container material – is inert to the medium to be stored in the container and at the same time can be easily pierced in order to automatically reseal itself in a liquid-tight manner after the medium has been removed.

[0003] Other devices for extracting fluid from a container are known from US 2003 / 209455 A1 and EP2 465 558 A1.

[0004] However, there are also applications where the primary concern is not protecting the septum from repeated punctures at the same point, but rather preventing contamination of the medium in the container by the cannula inserted through the septum, or, more importantly, preventing the cannula itself from becoming contaminated by the medium in the container and subsequently contaminating other media in different containers or equipment, particularly in automated processes (e.g., with autosamplers). One such application is the analysis of blood samples or the gaseous headspace above the blood sample in such sample containers. Therefore, it would be desirable to enable sterile sampling from such a container without contaminating the sampling cannula.

[0005] The object of the invention is to create a means by which a sample or a sample component can be taken from a container closed with a septum without contaminating the sampling cannula.

[0006] This problem is solved according to the invention in a container of the type described above by the closure attachment comprising a sleeve-shaped adapter that can be attached to the closure, the adapter having a central cannula, one end of which is designed to pierce the septum and the other end of which has a connecting piece, a tubular reservoir with connecting pieces at both ends, a syringe filter with connecting pieces at both ends and an injection port with a connecting piece at one end and a septum at the other end, wherein the adapter, the reservoir, the syringe filter and the injection port are successively tightly connected to each other via the connecting pieces.

[0007] The closure attachment essentially consists of four individual, commercially available components. The adapter provides the connection to the container, e.g., a blood culture bottle, and, by penetrating the septum of the container's closure with the adapter's cannula, accesses the interior of the container, e.g., the headspace above a blood culture, which is to be analyzed as part of the sample. In the event of a pressure difference between the container and the atmosphere, or if there are any fluid droplets below the septum, fluid can enter the closure attachment when the septum is penetrated. To prevent the fluid from contaminating the syringe filter, which can be a conventional syringe filter and serves as the sterile filter for the closure attachment, a reservoir is positioned between the adapter and the syringe filter. For example, to prevent the fluid from contaminating the syringe filter, a reservoir is located between the adapter and the syringe filter.To sample the headspace using an autosampler syringe, an injection port with a septum is provided. This port can be easily penetrated by the needle of an autosampler syringe or similar device, allowing, for example, the extraction of a gaseous sample from the container and its subsequent transfer to the injector of a measuring system. This design provides a sterile sealing cap, preventing contamination of the sample syringe or needle by microorganisms, viruses, fungi, or similar pathogens. This effectively prevents the transfer of these germs into the measuring system and other containers, such as blood culture bottles or injectors of measuring systems.

[0008] A particularly advantageous feature is that the connecting pieces are designed as plug-in and / or twist connectors. This simplifies the assembly and disassembly of the locking device.

[0009] The connecting pieces are advantageously designed as Luer-Lock connectors, which ensure an easy-to-handle, tight connection.

[0010] In a further advantageous embodiment, a valve is integrated into both the reservoir and the adapter. The reservoir valve opens upon connection with the syringe filter, and the adapter valve opens upon connection with the reservoir. This prevents sample leakage and contact between the container's interior and the environment during assembly, thus ensuring sterility even during installation. The valve is only opened when the components above are attached or screwed on. From a practical standpoint, the adapter and reservoir can therefore be attached sequentially without any risk of liquid or solid sample or sample component escaping the container. Subsequently, the syringe filter and injection port can be pre-assembled or connected to the reservoir one after the other.

[0011] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. This shows in Fig. 1 a schematic exploded view of a container with a closure attachment.

[0012] A container for storing and, if necessary, incubating a sample and for taking the sample or a sample component, e.g., a blood culture bottle, is generally designated by 1. This container 1 has a neck-like extension 2 at its top with an opening which is closed by a closure 3 attached to the neck-like extension 2. This closure 3 has a septum 4 that closes the opening and is pierceable and self-sealing in a known manner.

[0013] To enable the sterile removal of a sample or a sample component, e.g., the headspace above the sample, from the container 1 through the septum 4 of the closure 3, a closure attachment 5 is provided. This closure attachment 5 essentially consists of four individual elements to be connected to one another: a sleeve-shaped adapter 6 that can be attached to the closure 3 or the port 2 of the container 1, a tubular reservoir 7, a syringe filter 8, and an injection port 9. These elements are preferably made of a suitable plastic.

[0014] The adapter 6 has a central cannula 10, one end of which has a tip 11 for piercing the septum 4 of the closure 3 of the container 1, and the other end of which has a connector 12. The adapter 6 is designed to be tightly connected to the closure 3 or the port 2 of the container 1 by means of a form-fit and / or force-fit connection. Its shape is thus adapted to the shape of the respective container 1. The tubular reservoir 7 has connectors 13, 14 at both ends. The syringe filter 8 also has connectors 15, 16 at both ends. The injection port 9 has a connector 17 at one end and is closed at the other, outer end with a pierceable, self-sealing septum 18. This septum 18 can be integrated into another connector 19, which is an integral part of the injection port 9.

[0015] The adapter 6, the reservoir 7, the syringe filter 8 serving as a sterile filter, and the injection port 9 are to be connected sequentially via the connecting pieces 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. In this embodiment, connecting pieces 13, 15, and 17 are designed as "male" and connecting pieces 12, 14, and 16 as "female," so that the corresponding connecting pieces can be plugged, screwed, or rotated into one another.

[0016] Preferably, the connecting pieces 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 are designed as Luer-Lock connectors, and if present, also the connecting piece 19.

[0017] Each reservoir 7 and adapter 6 can have an integrated valve, which is not shown. The valves are designed such that the valve of reservoir 6 opens when connected to the syringe filter 8, and the valve of adapter 6 opens when connected to reservoir 7.

[0018] The closure attachment 5 can first be fully assembled by connecting all elements (adapter 6, reservoir 7, syringe filter 8 and injection port 9) and then attached to the closure 3 of the container 1 using the adapter 6.

[0019] If the aforementioned valves are present, the adapter 6 and the reservoir 7 can first be attached to the container 1 one after the other without the fluid medium being able to escape from the container 1. Subsequently, the syringe filter 8 and the injection port 9 can then be pre-assembled or connected to the reservoir 7 one after the other.

[0020] The adapter 6 provides the connection to the container 1, e.g., a blood culture bottle. For this purpose, the sleeve-shaped section of the adapter can have multiple spring tabs 20 distributed around its circumference to allow for elastic and tight attachment to the closure 3. The adapter 6, through the penetration of the septum 4 of the closure 3 of the container 1 with the tip 11 of the cannula 10, establishes access to the interior of the container 1, e.g., to the headspace above a blood culture to be analyzed. In the event of a pressure difference between the container 1 and the atmosphere, or if there are any fluid droplets below the septum 4, fluid can enter the closure 5 when the septum 4 is penetrated. To prevent the fluid from wetting the syringe filter 8, the reservoir 7 is positioned between the adapter 6 and the syringe filter 8.To sample the headspace using an autosampler syringe, injection port 9 with septum 18 is provided, which can be easily penetrated by the cannula of the autosampler syringe or similar device to, for example, extract a gaseous sample from container 1 and then transfer it to the injector of a measuring system. This design provides a sterile closure 5 that prevents the sample syringe or cannula (e.g., autosampler syringe) from being contaminated by microorganisms or similar substances. This effectively prevents the transfer of these microorganisms into a measuring system and other containers 1, such as other blood culture bottles.

[0021] Of course, the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments. Further embodiments are possible without departing from the basic concept. The connecting pieces 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 can also be designed differently and arranged in reverse, starting with a "male" connecting element 12 on the adapter 6. Reference symbol list :

[0022] 1 Container 2 Neck-like attachment 3 Closure 4 Septum 5 Closure cap 6 Sleeve-shaped adapter 7 Tubular reservoir 8 Syringe filter 9 Injection port 10 Cannula 11 Tip 12 Connector 13 Connector 14 Connector 15 Connector 16 Connector 17 Connector 18 Septum 19 Connector 20 Spring tabs

Claims

1. Container for storing and, where applicable, incubating a sample and for removing the sample or a sample constituent, comprising a closure (3) for closing an opening of the container (1) and a closure attachment (5) for the closure (3), wherein the closure (3) has a septum (4) closing the opening and the closure attachment (5) can be mounted onto a neck-like extension (2) surrounding the opening of the container (1), characterized in that the closure attachment (5) comprises a sleeve-shaped adapter (6) which can be mounted onto the closure (3), which has a central cannula (10), one end of which is designed for piercing the septum (4) and the other end of which has a connector (12), a tubular reservoir (7) with connectors (13, 14) at both ends, a syringe filter (8) with connectors (15, 16) at both ends, and an injection port (9) with a connector (17) at one end and a septum (18) at the other end, wherein the adapter (6), the reservoir (7), the syringe filter (8), and the injection port (9) are connected to one another in a sealed manner in sequence via the connectors (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17).

2. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the connectors (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) are designed as plug-in and / or screw connectors.

3. Container according to claim 2, characterized in that the connectors (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) are designed as Luer lock connectors.

4. Container according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a valve is integrated into each of the reservoir (7) and the adapter (6), wherein the valve of the reservoir (7) opens by connection to the syringe filter (8) and the valve of the adapter (6) opens by connection to the reservoir (7).

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