1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a closure for body fluid collection, transport or storage containers and, more particularly, relates to a ball and socket closure to be used to resealably close a container being used in a laboratory or other clinical environment.
2. Background Description
After a doctor, phiebotomist or nurse has used an evacuated blood collection tube or other primary tube to draw a primary sample of body fluid from a patient in a hospital or doctor""s office, the primary sample will typically be xe2x80x9cpoured offxe2x80x9d or pipetted into a secondary tube so that the sample can be simultaneously tested in two or more different areas of a clinical chemistry laboratory. For example, the sample may undergo routine chemistry, hormone, immunoassay, or special chemistry testing. In addition, the sample is sometimes xe2x80x9cpoured off or pipettedxe2x80x9d into a secondary tube for overnight storage, to transport the sample from one laboratory to another, or to remove the plasma or serum sample from a separator gel or red blood cells used in the primary tube. When the secondary tube is not being used or is being transported, it is very important to close the open end of the secondary tube with a closure to prevent contamination, evaporation or loss of the sample.
Current closures for secondary tubes include plastic caps that snap over or into the secondary tube or cork or rubber stoppers, wherein the stopper is solid and includes a plug portion that fits in the open end of the tube and an enlarged head portion used to remove the closure from the tube using a two-handed method. Such closures provide means for sealing the open end of the tube, but are difficult to remove with two hands and impossible to remove using only one hand. This presents a problem, since the closure must be removed from the tube and discarded prior to placing the tube in a chemical analyzer due to the inability of most sample probes to penetrate any solid closure material. In view of the above, it is desirable to have a closure that can be easily removed from the tube or a closure that can remain on the tube and be easily opened and closed many times for manual sample access and/or during dire sampling by a chemical analyzer.
The present invention overcomes the problems identified in the background material by providing a closure for primary or secondary fluid collection, transport or storage containers or tubes for body fluids that can easily be opened and closed multiple times.
A preferred embodiment of a closure according to the present invention includes a bail and socket closure to be used to resealably close a specimen container or s tube used in a laboratory or other clinical environment. In one embodiment, the ball and socket closure is snap-fitted into a tube. The ball has a tab extending therefrom that is pushed by a user approximately 90 degrees to rotate the ball within the socket to a position wherein a passageway through the ball aligns with the opening of the tube and provides access through the closure to the inside of the tube. When the tab is pushed 90 degrees in the opposite direction the ball rotates to close the passageway and seal the open end of the tube for storage to avoid evaporation and for possible access or retest at a later date.
An object of the ball and socket closure of the present invention is to provide dirt access to the tube such that a transfer pipette or an analyzer sample probe can access the fluid contents of the tube without the probe contacting the inner surface of the tube or the closure itself. This structure prevents contact or contamination of the probe while maintaining a one handed closure operation. The tab on the ball provides for an easy opening and closing operation with one hand during use which is also a major ergonomic and workflow improvement over existing closures and tubes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a closure having an outer diameter that is no larger than the outer diameter of a current primary specimen collection container with closure (i.e., the VACUTAINER(copyright) SST(copyright) Brand Tube sold by Becton Dickinson and Company) so that the entire closure and tube assembly can be loaded into conventional analyzer racks, carousels or holders without removing the closure from the tube. Since the closure does not need to be removed from the tube, risk of loss or accidental contamination is minimized.
In addition, the ability to use only one closure through multiple samplings rather than replacement of stoppers multiple times reduces cost for the user.
In addition, the closure of the present invention is dimensioned to develop a liquid seal that prevents any liquid from leaking out of the tube through or past the ball and socket closure when it is in the closed position.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.