Blood collection tube having protective film

Abstract

The present invention relates to a blood collection tube for collecting, transporting, and storing blood, and to a blood collection tube which has a protective film additionally provided in a conventional blood collection tube. More specifically, the blood collection tube has the structure of a conventional blood collection tube in which: a tube having a cylindrical container shape with an open top and a closed bottom forms the main body; an opening at the top of the cylindrical tube is sealed with a rubber stopper; and the outside of the rubber stopper is covered with a cap, wherein the blood collection tube further comprises a protective film adjacently under the rubber stopper so that blood can be more stably retained within the tube.

Description

Blood collection tube with protective film

[0001] The present invention relates to a blood collection tube capable of collecting, transporting, and storing blood, and to a blood collection tube having a protective film additionally provided to a conventional blood collection tube.

[0002] Blood collected from a subject for blood tests to diagnose, treat, or determine the prognosis of various diseases is stored, transported, and processed using a specific container.

[0003] The most common container used at this time is a blood collection tube, and some blood collection tubes are manufactured with a reduced internal pressure so that blood can be easily drawn into the container.

[0004] The three common components that make up these blood collection tubes are a glass or synthetic resin tube, a synthetic resin cap, and a rubber packing to seal the tube opening. When entering the blood test pre-test stage, the rubber packing and cap that sealed the tube containing the collected blood are removed.

[0005] This is a measure to allow the sample probe of the analysis equipment to pass through the open upper center of the blood collection tube and aspirate the blood inside the tube.

[0006] An example of a typical blood collection tube as described above is published in Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-1783458.

[0007] According to the above-mentioned Korean Patent No. 10-1783458 (vacuum blood collection tube cap), all of the prior art blood collection tubes (or vacuum blood collection tubes) are composed of a blood collection tube (10) having an open top and a storage space provided inside, a packing member (30) provided on the inner surface of the main body (20) so that the top can be blocked to seal the inside of the blood collection tube (10), and a vacuum blood collection tube cap (1), which is a main body (20) for covering the packing member (30) and one side of the upper surface of the blood collection tube (10) at the same time.

[0008] To put it simply,

[0009] All conventional blood collection tubes are characterized by being composed of a blood collection tube (10), a packing member (30), and a vacuum blood collection tube cap (1).

[0010] All conventional blood collection tubes configured in this way must have the packing member (30) or the packing member (30) and the cap (1) that sealed the blood collection tube (10) removed when aligning the blood collection tube (10) with the open top facing upwards in a dedicated rack for analysis equipment. Therefore, each time the blood collection tube (10) is moved to the dedicated rack one by one after being removed, some of the blood contained inside the blood collection tube (10) may be transferred to another blood collection tube (10) with an open top, causing an accident where infection occurs, or if the rack is accidentally touched and falls over, an accident where blood leaks may occur.

[0011] In contrast to these prior arts, the present invention

[0012] (1) In addition to the components of the prior art, such as the blood collection tube, packing member, and cap, a difference in the components is provided in that a “protective film” is additionally provided at one side of the upper part of the blood collection tube and at a position close to the lower side of the rubber packing, thereby satisfying novelty.

[0013] (2) Since the upper part is sealed by the “protective film,” it provides an effect that prevents the blood in the blood collection tubes arranged on the rack from being contaminated with the blood in another blood collection tube or from falling over and leaking out, thereby satisfying the progressiveness.

[0014] In the pre-blood test stage, blood collection tubes undergo an analysis preparation process in which the lower part of the container is inserted into a dedicated rack for analysis equipment with 10 or 5 holes and the open top of the blood collection tube is aligned so that it faces upward. This process is mostly performed manually.

[0015] At this time, if the rack is tilted for various reasons, blood may spill out and blood collection must be performed again, and an infection accident due to leakage may occur.

[0016] Additionally, after testing, when moving the tube to the test tube rack, there are many cases where the finger is released before the bottom of the tube is settled on the bottom of the storage rack.

[0017] Then, when an impact is applied to the bottom of the container, there is a possibility that some of the blood inside the container will rise as droplets due to the “law of action and reaction” and bounce up, pass through the upper surface of the opened tube, and then mix inside another blood collection tube.

[0018] In this case, if the upper surface of the blood collection tube is open, there is a risk of contamination of a specific sample after blood collection, there is a risk of inaccurate results or errors in blood tests, and if the tube falls over, blood may spill out, requiring blood collection to be performed again.

[0019] The present invention has been devised to solve these problems.

[0020] A blood collection tube having a protective film according to the present invention,

[0021] Its main body is a cylindrical tube with an open top and a closed bottom.

[0022] Seal the inlet of the upper cylindrical tube with a rubber packing,

[0023] In a typical blood collection tube having a structure in which the outside of the rubber packing is covered with a cap,

[0024] It is characterized by providing an additional protective film on the lower side near the rubber packing.

[0025] When a blood collection tube equipped with a protective film according to the present invention is applied, even if the cap and rubber packing that were sealed for a blood test are removed, the protective film still remains on the upper side of the tube containing blood.

[0026] The center of the protective film can be provided with a thin film of about 0.1 mm if necessary, and the center can be cut into a star shape limited to a small area if necessary, so that when a sample probe for a blood test is lowered toward the blood inside the tube, the sample probe, which is usually a stainless steel pipe with a diameter of about 1 to 2 mm, has no difficulty in lowering through the center of the protective film, which is a fine thin film made of silicone or soft plastic.

[0027] And if there is a star-shaped cut portion in the center of the thin film, the sample probe can more easily spread the cut portion and descend as if grazing it.

[0028] On the other hand, the blood inside the tube has the advantage of not only remaining stable inside the tube due to the protective film, but also eliminating the problem of infection due to contamination or leakage.

[0029] Figure 1 is an assembly diagram of a blood collection tube according to the present invention.

[0030] Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of Figure 1.

[0031] Figure 3 is an exploded view of Figure 1.

[0032] Figure 4 is an assembly drawing showing a syringe needle attached to a blood collection tube.

[0033] Figure 5 is an example illustrating a case where the interior of the protective film is composed of a thin film.

[0034] Figure 6 is an example illustrating a case where there is a star-shaped incision in a small area in the center inside the protective film.

[0035] Figure 7 illustrates an embodiment where there are multiple incisions in a large area within the protective film.

[0036] Figure 8 is an embodiment illustrating another case in which a protective film can be formed outside.

[0037] Figure 9 is an example illustrating a case where a blood collection tube according to the present invention is aligned to a cartridge.

[0038] Hereinafter, a blood collection tube equipped with a protective film according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0039] The blood collection tube (10) has a structure in which a tube (11), a cap (12), a rubber packing (13), and a protective film (14) are combined.

[0040] The above tube (11) is a conventional cylindrical container with an opening formed at the top and a closed bottom.

[0041] The tube (11) can be made of a synthetic resin of glass or engineering plastic series, and can be made of a plastic material that has elasticity so that its shape is deformed when exposed to an external force and restored when the external force is released.

[0042] Additionally, the tube (11) can be manufactured to have a fine tapered shape with a diameter that decreases toward the bottom, making it suitable for centrifuging blood.

[0043] In addition, the tube (11) may be provided with a catch (11-1) on the inner wall at a certain distance from the uppermost opening in order to limit a certain depth while combining a rubber packing (13) therein, or may be provided with a plurality of catch projections (11-2) that can perform the role of the catch (11-1) in order to maintain a certain thickness of the tube (11).

[0044] Additionally, the outer diameter of the tube (11) may be provided with an external protrusion (11-3) to maintain the thickness of the tube (11) constant.

[0045] The above rubber packing (13) serves to seal the opening of the above tube (11) and is made of a cushioned material that is easy to change shape, such as rubber or silicone.

[0046] The lower side may have a press-in portion (13-2) having an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the opening of the tube (11), the upper side may have a head portion (13-3) larger than the outer diameter of the opening, and the uppermost surface of the head portion (13-3) may have an inlet groove (13-1) in the center.

[0047] The inner diameter of the cap (12) is made slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the head portion (13-3) of the rubber packing (13), and is in contact with a portion of the head portion (13-3) and wraps around the outer surface of the head portion (13-3).

[0048] In addition, the inner diameter of the cap (12) is provided to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the opening of the tube (11) to cover the outer surface of the tube (11). If necessary, the inner diameter of the cap (12) may be provided with a compression projection (12-2) so that the cap (12) is not easily removed while being integrally connected to the tube (11).

[0049] The cap (12) is preferably manufactured from synthetic resin, and is provided with a syringe needle injection port (12-1) in the center of the upper surface to allow the syringe needle (20-1) to easily pass through the cap (12) and the tube (11).

[0050] An example of a typical blood collection tube as described above is published in Korean Patent No. 10-1783458, and since this is a publicly known technology, it will not be described in further detail.

[0051] In addition to the above description, the present invention is characterized by additionally configuring a protective film (14).

[0052] The protective film (14) can be made of any material to embody the spirit of the present invention, but in the present invention, it is described as being made of silicone or a soft plastic material.

[0053] In addition, the protective film (14) can be manufactured in any form to embody the spirit of the present invention and can be arranged in layers as one or more.

[0054] In the present invention, the protective film (14) is illustrated and described as being manufactured in the shape shown in FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and 8, but is not limited thereto. Even if the cap and rubber packing that were sealed for a blood test are removed, the protective film still remains in the tube containing the blood, so that the blood inside the tube remains stably and the problems of contamination and leakage are resolved. In order to implement the spirit of the present invention, it can be manufactured in other shapes, and of course, it can be manufactured in other similar ways with only slight differences.

[0055] The protective film (14) according to the present invention can be provided as a thin film (14-2) having a central thickness of about 0.1 mm, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0056] In the present invention, the thickness of the center of the protective film (14) is described as 0.1 mm, but it is not limited thereto and it is natural that it may be thinner or thicker depending on the characteristics of the selected material.

[0057] The outer surface of the protective film (14) is made into a border (14-1) having a certain thickness to maintain the shape of the central thin film (14-2) and increase the durability of the entire protective film (14).

[0058] FIG. 5a of FIG. 5 is an example of a case where the frame (14-1) is made of the same material as the thin film (14-2), and FIG. 5b is an example of a case where the durability of the frame (14-1) is further increased by including metal or the like inside the frame (14-1).

[0059] However, the interior of the above frame (14-1) may contain a spring (not shown) or a C-shaped metal material (not shown) that is an elastic metal material.

[0060] In the present invention, the center of the protective film (14) is illustrated and described as a thin film (14-2), but it is not limited thereto, and the thin film (14-2) can be implemented as a cloth made of stainless steel mesh or fabric having an opening size of about 600 mesh or 1000 mesh, that is, only about 10 to 20 microns.

[0061] In order to improve the durability of the above thin film (14-2) and further stabilize the flatness, the present invention may additionally include an inclined reinforcement part (17) as shown in 6b.

[0062] Meanwhile, the protective film (14) according to the present invention may be cut into a star shape (16) limited to a small area in the center as shown in FIG. 6.

[0063] This configuration would be a desirable configuration that would allow a sample probe (not shown) with a diameter of about 1 to 2 mm, which descends toward the blood inside the tube for a blood test, to more easily pass through the protective film (14), and even after the sample probe (not shown) passes through the protective film (14), the blood inside the tube, which is the spirit of the present invention, would be able to minimize contamination or leakage due to the protective film.

[0064] In the above, the star shape (16) is illustrated and described as being cut into six parts based on the center of the thin film (14-2), but is not limited thereto.

[0065] The incisions may be one or more.

[0066] In addition, the protective film (14) according to the present invention may be implemented with a plurality of incisions (18) over a large area inside the protective film as shown in FIG. 7a, and the central portion may be configured as an empty hole (19) as shown in FIG. 7b.

[0067] An embodiment of an incision (18) having a large area as described above or an incision (18) including a hole (19) with an empty central portion would be a more suitable configuration when manually aspirating blood for blood testing.

[0068] This is because the suction tube of the sample probe (not shown), which is an automated device inserted into the inside of the tube (11) to suck blood for examination, is usually a stainless steel pipe with a diameter of about 1 to 2 mm.

[0069] When manually aspirating blood, for example, a micro pipette (not shown) including a tip is used, and the suction tube of the tip has a relatively larger diameter than the suction tube of the sample probe.

[0070] The protective films (14) described above may have an external configuration added to make the connection with the tube (11) more stable, as shown in Fig. 8.

[0071] As shown in Fig. 8a, if the outer surface of the protective film (14) of the present invention has an outer ring screw portion (60) and a female screw portion (not shown) corresponding to the outer ring screw portion (60) is provided on the inner wall at a position spaced a certain distance from the uppermost opening of the tube (11), the protective film (14) can be assembled to the tube (11) by rotating it and using the screw portion, thereby having the advantage of increased fastening force.

[0072] Also, for the same purpose, the outer surface of the protective film (14) in the present invention may have one or more pressing projections (61) on the outer surface as shown in FIG. 8b.

[0073] It is preferable that the outer diameter of the above pressing projection (61) be formed slightly larger than the inner diameter of the tube (11) formed for insertion of the above protective film (14).

[0074] In addition, the outer surface of the protective film (14) in the present invention has one or more recessed portions (62) on one side as shown in FIG. 8b, so that the work can be more easily implemented when inserting the protective film (14) into the tube (11).

[0075] In the above description, the blood collection tubes (10) are subjected to a blood collection tube alignment process in which the lower part of the container is inserted into a cartridge (30) in which insertion holes (32) are formed in the row and column directions in the stage before the blood test, and the opened upper part of the blood collection tube (10) is aligned so that it faces upward. The tubes are manually moved to the cartridge (30), and the bottom surface (40) of the tube (11) that was being picked up and moved with a finger is settled on the bottom surface (31) of the cartridge (30).

[0076] In the present invention, three elements that constitute the blood collection tube (10) as a typical case are illustrated and described as a tube (11), a cap (12), and a rubber packing (13), but the invention is not limited thereto, and the blood collection tube (10) may be used and processed without omitting the configuration of the cap (12).

[0077] In addition, in the present invention, the material of the protective film (14) is described as silicone or soft plastic material, but it is not limited thereto, and the selection of material can be additionally applied in a wide range as long as more optimal function can be exhibited.

[0078] The mode for carrying out the invention has been described together with the best mode for carrying out the invention above.

[0079] The present invention has industrial applicability because, when a blood collection tube equipped with a protective film is applied, even if the cap and rubber packing that were sealed for a blood test are removed, the protective film still remains on the upper side of the tube containing blood, and the blood inside the tube not only remains stably inside the tube due to the protective film, but also the problem of infection due to contamination or leakage is resolved.

Claims

1. In a typical blood collection tube having a structure in which the main body is a tube in the form of a cylindrical container with an open top and a closed bottom, the entrance of the cylindrical tube at the top is sealed with a rubber packing, and the outside of the rubber packing is covered with a cap, A blood collection tube having a protective film, characterized by having an additional protective film on the lower side near the rubber packing to prevent blood inside the tube from being contaminated or leaking.

2. In a typical blood collection tube, the main body is a tube in the form of a cylindrical container with an open top and a closed bottom, and the entrance of the cylindrical tube at the top is sealed with a rubber packing. A blood collection tube having a protective film, characterized by having an additional protective film on the lower side near the rubber packing to prevent blood inside the tube from being contaminated or leaking.

3. In either paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, The above protective film is, The border is formed to be thicker than the center, and the outer surface is formed to have a certain amount of thickness toward the inside. A blood collection tube having a protective film characterized in that the center is formed of a thin film of about 0.1 mm.

4. In either paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, The border of the above protective film is, A blood collection tube having a protective film characterized by further increasing the durability of the frame by including metal or the like inside.

5. In either paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, The above protective film is, A blood collection tube having a protective film characterized by a star-shaped incision limited to a small area in the central portion.

6. In paragraph 5, The above protective film is, A blood collection tube having a protective film characterized by further providing an inclined reinforcement between the border and the star shape of a small area in the central region to further increase the durability of the border and to further increase the flatness of the central region having a star shape.

7. In either paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, The above protective film is, A blood collection tube having a protective film characterized by having multiple incisions over a large area within.

8. In either paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, The above protective film is, A blood collection tube having a protective film characterized by having multiple incisions over a large area inside and a central portion consisting of an empty hole.

9. In either paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, The outer edge of the above protective film is, A blood collection tube having a protective film, characterized in that the protective film is configured to be assembled to the tube while rotating by having an outer ring screw portion.

10. In either of paragraphs 1 or 2, The border of the above protective film is, A blood collection tube having a protective film characterized by containing a spring or C-shaped metal material having elasticity inside.

11. In either of paragraphs 1 or 2, The above protective film is, A blood collection tube having a protective film characterized in that the center is made of stainless steel mesh of about 600 mesh or 1000 mesh.

12. In either paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, The above protective film, A blood collection tube having a protective film characterized by a central portion made of cloth.

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