Plastic Injection Molded Ampoule with Stable Base
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ampoules produced by the blow-fill-seal process lack a stable base for standing and often experience reverse pumping due to restoring forces, leading to potential liquid retraction when removing contents.
Innovation Solution
The ampoule body is produced via plastic injection molding with a separate connection part, allowing for thin walls, collapsibility, and a base element for stability, along with a break-off piece and membrane for controlled liquid access, reducing reverse pumping and enhancing storage and handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the blow-fill-seal process is used to produce ampoules, then sterile storage of medical liquid is ensured, but the ampoules lack a stable base surface and exhibit reverse pumping action
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the production method from blow-fill-seal to injection molding, which fundamentally alters the wall thickness and structural parameters of the ampoule body. This parameter change enables the ampoule to have a stable base surface and reduced restoring forces, thereby eliminating reverse pumping action while maintaining sterile storage capabilities through proper molding design and sealing structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The ampoule is divided into separate components: the ampoule body produced by injection molding and the connection part that can be separately attached. This segmentation allows the ampoule body to be optimized for stability and anti-reverse pumping properties, while the connection part provides sterile sealing and liquid access functionality, resolving the contradiction between operational ease and sterile storage.
2Ease of operation
If the ampoule body has thin walls for collapsibility, then reverse pumping action is reduced, but manufacturing precision becomes more difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical blow-fill-seal forming process with injection molding technology. This substitution enables precise control of thin wall thickness through molded cavity design, allowing consistent production of thin-walled ampoules with uniform dimensions and proper crystalline structure, thereby achieving both collapsibility and manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
By changing the production process parameters from blow-fill-seal to injection molding, the patent achieves precise control over wall thickness, molecular orientation, and crystalline structure. This parameter change allows the production of thin-walled ampoules that are both collapsible and manufactured with high precision, eliminating reverse pumping while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
3Productivity
If the ampoule is produced as a single integrated part, then production efficiency increases, but the connection part cannot be optimized separately for sterile access
Solution Approach 1:
The ampoule is segmented into the ampoule body and connection part as separate components. The ampoule body is produced by injection molding for efficient production, while the connection part can be separately optimized for sterile access requirements and attached through reliable joining methods. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by allowing each component to be optimized for its specific function while maintaining overall production efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection part is pre-designed and pre-attached to the ampoule body during the molding process or through subsequent joining operations. This preliminary action ensures that the sterile access interface is properly configured before final assembly, allowing the connection part to be optimized for sterile access while maintaining production efficiency through integrated or pre-assembled manufacturing.
Data Source
AI summary
An ampoule for a medical liquid, comprising an ampoule body for receiving a medical liquid and a connection part for connecting a removal device to the ampoule. The ampoule body is produced as a plastic injection-molded part by means of a plastic injection molding process. In this manner an ampoule is provided which allows a simple and inexpensive production of the ampoule and can ensure a sterile storage of medical liquids.