Technical Field

The present invention relates to a device for transporting strips of containers for fluid products, particularly medical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic products or the like.

Background Art

Within the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, but not only, the use is known of different kinds of single-dose or multi-dose containers collected in strips.

In this respect, it must be pointed out that a strip consists of a group of containers integral with one another and joined along special connection lines with weakened sections that are easy to tear.

The containers, in point of fact, consist of a series of substantially tubular hollow bodies which, at one extremity, extend in a dispensing neck closed by a removable cap and that, at the opposite extremity, have a mouth to be definitively closed by means of sealing once the container has been filled with the fluid product.

The closing caps can be coupled with the dispensing neck in a stable way and be removed by tearing off; alternatively, between the caps and the corresponding dispensing necks interlocking means can be placed.

Normally, the containers of a strip are arranged parallel with one another and each container is connected to the adjacent container along a first connection line, defined between the hollow bodies, and along a second connection line, defined between the closing caps.

This particular conformation generates a plurality of through openings in correspondence to the dispensing necks delimited by the necks themselves and by the sections of reciprocal connection of the hollow bodies and of the closing caps.

For the transport of such strips, the use is known of special devices made up of two or more bottle-carrying rods that can be inserted in the openings defined between the containers. The extremities of the bottle-carrying rods are connected to each other by means of connection sections which enable an operator to grip the device together with all the strips inserted along the bottle-carrying rods.

The cross section of the rods of known type is standardised and has a substantially rectangular, square, oval or round shape which nonetheless determines the arising of a number of drawbacks.

In this respect, it must be underlined that some types of strips have particular anti-tampering safety means composed of a pair of tearable bridges extending from the sides of each dispensing neck and which connect with the closing caps. Upon opening a container, the corresponding closing cap is moved away from the dispensing neck and drags with it, determining their breakage, the tearable bridges, which in turn remain attached to the closing cap or the dispensing neck to represent proof of container opening and acting, therefore, as so-called "tamper-evident" means.

The tearable bridges occupy at least in part the space defined by the strip openings and, during transport, often enter into direct contact with the bottle- carrying rods, and are distorted or bent by these to the point, in some cases, of causing their breakage.

The use of the traditional bottle-carrying rods, therefore, does not appear particularly suitable for transporting containers with tearable bridges, as this could result in their being damaged.

The strips of containers with tearable bridges, in fact, inevitably end up being rejected as they do not comply with the required specifications and thus become unusable.

Above all in the medical, pharmaceutical and/or cosmetic field the use of containers in partial-integrity condition, in fact, produces in the end user the idea that the fluid products contained in them have been contaminated and, consequently, are no longer suitable for use.

The above drawback determines a considerable increase in the number of rejected products, with consequent increase in packaging and transport costs which inevitably affects the sales price of the end product.

Description of the Invention The main aim of the present invention is to provide a device for transporting strips of containers for fluid products which allows transporting large quantities of strips in conditions of integrity, reducing to the utmost the risks of damage whatever the type of strips and containers transported.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device with great versatility of use, that can be used in a practical, easy and functional way.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for transporting strips of containers for fluid products which allows overcoming the mentioned drawbacks of the state of the art within the ambit of a simple, rational, easy and effective to use as well as low cost solution.

The above objects are all achieved by the present device for transporting strips of containers for fluid products, comprising at least a support rod for supporting at least a strip of containers, each container comprising a containment body for containing a fluid product that extends in a dispenser neck closed by a closing body, the containment body and the closing body being joined to the containment body and to the closing body of at least an adjacent container to define a plurality of through openings which are defined in correspondence to the dispenser necks and in at least one of which the support rod can be fitted in a transport configuration in which it is arranged substantially horizontal and the dispenser necks are arranged substantially vertical, characterised by the fact that the cross section of said support rod comprises at least a base portion which in said transport configuration is suitable for locating said dispenser necks, and at least an appendix which extends from said base portion substantially upwards and which in said transport configuration is suitable for supporting by resting at least one of said closing bodies, the horizontal overall dimensions of the appendix being substantially less than the horizontal overall dimensions of the base portion.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more evident from the description of a preferred, but not sole, embodiment of a device for transporting strips of containers for fluid products, illustrated purely as an example but not limited to the annexed drawings in which: figure 1 is an axonometric view of the device according to the invention;

figure 2 is a side, partially exploded, view of the device according to the invention;

figure 3 is a section view on an enlarged scale of a detail of the device according to the invention.

Embodiments of the Invention

With reference to such figures, globally indicated by 1 is a device for transporting strips of containers for fluid products, particularly medical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic products or the like.

It is specified that in the present treatise the term fluid products means both liquid products and viscous products, e.g., in paste and/or gel state, as well as powdered products, in particular very fine powders with great flowability.

The fluid product is contained in a series of strips of a plurality of containers 2.

Each container 2 comprises a containment body 3 which is suitable for being filled with the fluid product and which extends in a dispensing neck 4 closed with a closing body 5.

The closing bodies 5 are connected to the containment bodies 3 along pre- fractured lines with weakened section, which allow them to be removed by tearing off.

The containment body 3 and the closing body 5 of each container 2 are joined to the containment body 3 and to the closing body 5 respectively of at least an adjacent container 2.

In particular, the containment bodies 3 have two grip wings 6 which extend from the sides of the containment bodies 3 and are joined to the grip wings 6 of the adjacent containers 2 along pre-fractured lines with weakened section.

Similarly, the closing bodies 5 have a grip flap 7 joined to the grip flaps 7 of the adjacent containers 2 along corresponding pre-fractured lines with weakened section.

Between the dispensing necks 4, the grip wings 6 and the grip flaps 7 of the containers 2 a plurality of through openings 8 is therefore defined.

Between the dispensing neck 4 and the grip flap 7 of each container 2 are arranged two connecting tearable bridges 9 which act as seal anti-tampering means.

When the container 2 is opened in fact, the closing body 5 is moved away from the containment body 3 and drags with it, deteimining their breakage, the tearable bridges 9, which remain attached to the grip flap 7 or to the dispensing neck 4 to represent evidence of opening of the container 2.

Each strip of containers 2 is for example made in a single body by plastic injection moulding.

The pre-fractured lines arranged between the grip wings 6, between the grip flaps 7 and between the dispensing necks 4 and the closing bodies 5 therefore consist of weakened-section connection sections removable by tearing off.

The device 1 comprises two support rods 10 parallel with one another and suitable for supporting the strips of containers 2.

The support rods 10 can be fitted in the through openings 8 in a transport configuration wherein the support rods 10 are arranged substantially horizontal and the dispensing necks 4 of the containers 2 are arranged substantially vertical.

Usefully, for more practical and simple exposition, when in this treatise are mentioned the device 1 and the strips of containers 2 with reference to the horizontal direction and/or the vertical direction, then the device 1 and the strips of containers 2 are to be considered arranged in transport configuration, without prejudice of course to the fact that their shapes and dimensions are independent of their position and orientation in space.

In transport configuration, the support rods 10 are substantially side by side, i.e, placed at the same height with respect to the vertical direction.

According to the invention, the support rods 10 are shaped so as to present a particular cross section 11, 12 suitably shaped.

Such cross section can be seen in detail in figure 3 and comprises a base portion 11, which in transport configuration is suitable for tallying with the dispensing necks 4 of the two containers 2 adjacent to the through opening 8, and an appendix 12, which extends substantially upwards from the base portion 11 and which in transport configuration is suitable for sustaining on it the closing bodies 5. The base portion 11 of the cross section, in detail, has a substantially rectangular shape, with rounded edges and with the lower side furrowed by two recesses 13. The recesses 13 of the cross section are defined by an equal number of longitudinal lightening grooves 14 which are obtained in correspondence to the lower surface of the support rods 10 and which extend along the entire length of the rods themselves.

The appendix 12 of the cross section has a substantially trapezoid shape, with rounded edges, and stands substantially at the centre of the base portion 11. The horizontal overall dimensions of the appendix 12 are substantially less than the horizontal overall dimensions of the base portion 11, while the vertical overall dimensions 12 are substantially greater than the vertical overall dimensions of the tearable bridges 9.

In point of fact, therefore, the conformation of the appendix 12 and of the base portion 11 is such as to define two longitudinal recesses 15 which extend along the support rods 10 and which can be engaged by the tearable bridges 9 of the containers 2, the base portion 11 and the appendix 12 being substantially sized to measure to prevent the contact of the tearable bridges 9 with the support rods 10.

Usefully, the device 1 comprises a first handle 16 for gripping the support rods 10, which is associable with an extremity of the support rods 10, and a second handle 17 for gripping the support rods 10, which is associable with the extremity opposite the previous one.

The first handle 16, in particular, is associable with the support rods 10 in a removable way, to allow its separation from the rods and fitting the strips of containers 2.

For this purpose, the first handle 16 has holes 19 that can be coupled by temporary slotting into special pins 20 obtained at the extremities of the support rods 10.

The second handle 17, on the other hand, is stably fixed, i.e. in a non-removable way, to the support rods 10.

To facilitate the manual grip of the device 1 by a user, the lower edge of the two handles 16, 17 comprises an ergonomic shaping 18. It has in point of fact been ascertained how the described invention reaches the proposed objects.

It is underlined that the particular solution of providing shaped support rods with a base portion and an appendix according to the invention allows fitting the support rods inside the through openings of the strips without the risk, during transport, of the tearable bridges of the containers breaking and coming into contact with the support rods.

It is underscored on the other hand that the transport device according to the present invention is of universal use, being able to be equally used both to transport strips with tearable bridges and to transport strips without tearable bridges.