The present invention concerns a closure for mounting on a reagent vessel, the closure comprising a main body comprising a hole to be mounted around the opening of a vessel, such as a reagent container, a top wall attached by its edges to the top edges of the main body and at least one incision dividing the top wall into at least two parts.
In the prior art, reagent containers are generally closed using caps and closures that have been developed in order to keep the contents of the containers uncontaminated or prevent evaporation. Many of the solutions contain piercable septums. Piercing these closures may, however, cause contamination of both dispensers and container contents, since it often is the edge of the dispenser needles that is used for the piercing, whereby the dispenser will come into contact with the closure each time it is used.
EP 0 542 295 concerns a stopper fitted on the mouth of a drug vessel body, which stopper is composed of a stopper body of an elastomeric material and has a hole passing therethrough along its center axis, and a closing body fitted in the hole of said stopper body, said closing body being in the form of a spherical member with a diameter greater than that of said hole, and said closing body being opened just before use using an unpointed end of a separate member for forcing the closing body in the hole to push in the vessel body.
EP 1 010 635 presents a pot-shaped cap comprising a lid portion and a skirt portion to be securely attached to a closed container neck of a drug container, with at least two puncture openings being provided in the lid portion of the cap, and a seal, which is made of an elastic material and covers the puncture openings, being located in the lid portion, said seal being inserted in a chamber integrally formed with the lid portion, said chamber protruding outwardly over the outside of the lid portion and said seal being disk-shaped.
JP 8313535 presents a plug body mounted on the mouth section of a container, which plug body contains a hole for passing a pipette meant to suck up a reagent from the reagent container and discharge it into a reaction container.
JP 2004157020 concerns a reagent container comprising a cap that is fitted to the opening of the container and that is made of an elastic material. The cap has a cross-like cut, which can be deformed by pressing and inserting a guide pipe into the cut from the outside.
Another type of closures essentially consists of two structures, one of which being the skirt that surrounds the opening of the vessel, keeping the closure in place, the other structure forming the lid, covering the opening of the vessel and being attached to the first structure by a spring. These types of closures have the disadvantage of requiring much free space around the vessel when being opened to allow the entire lid structure to move in the required direction.
EP 0 909 584 describes a cap for a reagent container, which is provided with a scalable lid, which lid van be pivoted laterally upward from the cap sealing position, with the container being opened, by means of an inclined bistable hinge, and which lid bears one or more catches, which can come into contact with an apparatus for opening or closing the lid.
A further type of closures contains a complex combination of elements meant to prevent evaporation, leakage of liquids and contamination.
CA 2 520 921 describes a dispensing assembly to be coupled to a vessel, the assembly containing a tip that includes a valve to allow drop-wise liquid dispensing, a vent opening, a filtration element and an antibacterial liner enabling the solution in the vessel to remain sterile.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,977 concerns a container cover consisting of a single molded disc shaped device with an elevated flat surface functioning as a platform for supporting another container thereon.
JP 2002019855 describes an adapter for preventing the liquid in a container from coming into contact with air, the adapter containing an opened upper part and a closed bottom part, the bottom further including a cut from which the liquid carp can be separately taken.
EP 1 495 747 presents a liquid drug container with a nozzle member and a nozzle cap, wherein the nozzle hole of the nozzle member is covered with a hydrophilic filter, and a top wall of the nozzle member is provided with an air hole covered with a hydrophobic filter.
The disadvantages of conventional closures include that in order to provide a solution that prevents evaporation and contamination, a very complex closure with several separate components is used. These complex solutions still do not focus on preventing contamination caused by contact between the closure and the dispenser, only between the inside of the vessel and the environment. The solutions of the prior art also fail in providing vessel closures that allow the dispensing devices to function without ever touching the vessels or the closures.