Covering cap and measuring device

Abstract

A covering cap, in particular for placing on a skin analyzer, contains an end wall bounded by a circumferential edge, and a circumferential wall adjoining the circumferential edge of the end wall. At least one part of the covering cap has a thickness that is less than a thickness of the circumferential wall in a portion of the circumferential wall that lies in the region or end of the circumferential wall remote from the end wall. The end wall is of a gas-permeable configuration.

1 . A covering cap, in particular for placing on a skin analyzer, the cap, comprising:
 an end wall bounded by a circumferential edge as well as a jacket wall connected to said circumferential edge of said end wall, said end wall being constructed for being gas-permeable, said end wall having an end wall thickness;   said jacket wall, in a vicinity of said end wall, having a first thickening section connected to said circumferential edge, a first jacket wall thickness d 1  of said first thickening section being greater than said end wall thickness, said jacket wall having an intermediate section connected to said first thickening section, said intermediate section having a second jacket wall thickness being less than said first jacket wall thickness, said jacket wall having a second thickening section connected to said intermediate section and extending up to a distal end of said jacket wall remote from said end wall, and said second thickening section having a third jacket wall thickness being greater than said second jacket wall thickness; and   catch recesses and/or catch projections at said distal end, said catch recesses and/or catch projections for detachable mounting on a measurement device.   
     
     
         2 . The covering cap according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the following is true:
 said end wall thickness in at least one place is in a range of less than 100 μm, preferably between 0.1 μm and 20 μm, in particular between 5 μm and 10 μm, said end wall thickness has a constant thickness over a course thereof;   said jacket wall, in an area of said circumferential edge of said end wall, protrudes outwards to said end wall at an angle α of between 20° and 95°, in particular between 60° and 80°, said jacket wall, expands, in particular conically;   individual ones of said catch recesses and/or catch projections each have a same standard distance to said end wall and/or are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction of said jacket wall, and/or a total number of catch recesses and/or catch projections is two or four;   said catch recesses and/or catch projections protrude at an angle of β 1 , β 2  5° to 40° and/or at most 2 mm, in particular at most 0.3 mm from said jacket wall or penetrate into said jacket wall;   said end wall being constructed for being permeable to radiation, vapor, moisture, particles, and/or light and/or said end wall having a number of vapor permeable or gas permeable micro-holes;   said second jacket wall thickness from said end wall to said distal end, at least over a subsection of said jacket wall, increases continuously; or   said end wall is circular with a diameter of 1 mm to 50 mm, or said end wall is square or rectangular with side edges of said end wall having a length of between 2 mm and 40 mm.   
     
     
         3 . The covering cap according to  claim 1  further comprising a base wall, continuing said jacket wall in one piece at said distal end, said base wall running parallel or at an angle of at most 10° to said end wall from said jacket wall outwards, in particular, with increasing distance to said end wall, said base wall being in a shape of a circular ring and having an outer radius between 2 mm and 50 mm and/or an inner radius between 1 mm and 45 mm and/or has a circular ring width of 0.5 mm to 35 mm. 
     
     
         4 . The covering cap according to  claim 1  wherein:
 said front wall and said jacket wall are formed as one of coordinated parts or as a single piece unit, at least one of said front wall and said jacket wall formed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of a thermoplastic, a plastically deformed polymer, a deformable polymer, polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polycarbonate (PC), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), ECOTERM S 900 T1, and PETG/Copolyester 67639;
 said front wall and said jacket wall further containing at least one further material selected from the group consisting of additives, stabilisers, colorants, fillers and reinforcing materials; 
 
 said front wall is opaque or absorbent to visible wavelengths. 
 
     
     
         5 . The covering cap according to  claim 1 , wherein a thickness of said jacket wall, in an axial or radial direction, has a continuous, kink- and edge-free course across said jacket wall, and/or said jacket wall, with exception of an area of said catch projections and/or catch recesses, is constructed to be rotationally symmetrical, and/or that thicknesses of said first thickening section, said intermediate section, and said second thickening section are in the following ratio to each other:
 2<:d 2 <5 and/or 2<d 3 :d 2 <5 and/or 0.8<d 1 :d 3 <1.25   
       where d 1  is said first jacket wall thickness, d 2  is said second jacket wall thickness, and d 3  is said third jacket wall thickness and/or that said first jacket wall thickness, said second jacket wall thickness, and said third jacket wall thickness are defined as follows: 
       150 μm<d 1 <250 μm and/or 50 μm<d 2 <100 μm and/or 150 μm<d 3 <250 μm, and/or 
       that a height of said first thickness section, a height of said intermediate section as well as a height of said second thickness section are in the following ratio:
 2<:h 2 <0.6 and/or 0.8<h 3 :h 2 <1.25 and/or 0.2<h 1 :h 3 <0.6, 
 
       where h 1  is a height of said first thickness section, h 2  is a height of said intermediate section, and h 3  is a height h 3  of said second thickness section, and/or
 that said jacket wall has a height of 2 mm to 80 mm and/or 
 that a ratio between the height and a maximum dimension, the diameter or the diagonals, of said end wall is between 0.01 and 55. 
 
     
     
         6 . A measuring device, in particular for skin analysis, comprises:
 a covering cap according to  claim 1 ;   a housing and a sensor arranged therein, said housing having a conically tapering housing part with a front end wall, on which a number of catch recesses and/or catch projections are arranged for catching with said catch recesses and/or catch projections of said covering cap so that in a latched state said end wall abuts against said front end wall;   an ejection element arranged in an end of said conically tapering housing part remote from said front end wall and being further away from said front end wall than said catch recesses and/or catch projections, said ejection element being constructed for pushing said latched covering cap through pressurization of said covering cap in a direction of said front end wall and/or said ejection element being mounted in a movable manner on said housing in a direction of said front end wall;   a lever extension connected to or branching off from said ejection element or a lever extension branches off from said ejection element, said lever extension being connected in a middle area thereof pivoted with said housing, so that a two-armed lever results, on one end of which said ejection element is arranged, said lever extension being hinged on said housing and during a pivoting motion pushing said ejection element in a direction of said front end wall;   said ejection element being circular ring cylinder-shaped and surrounding said conically tapering housing part.   
     
     
         7 . The measuring device according to  claim 6 , further comprising an actuator, said lever extension pushes said ejection element towards said front end wall during a pivoting motion by applying force to said actuator. 
     
     
         8 . The measuring device according to  claim 7 , wherein said ejection element is disposed on an end of said two-armed lever and said actuator is disposed on a second end of said two-armed lever, said ejection element and/or said lever extension is subjected to force or pretension by a spring element that pushes or pulls said ejection element away from said front end wall. 
     
     
         9 . The measuring device according to  claim 6 , wherein individual ones of said catch recesses and/or catch projections in each case have a same standard distance to said end wall and/or are evenly distributed in a circumferential direction of said jacket wall, and/or a total number of said catch recesses and/or catch projections is two or four, and/or said catch recesses and/or catch projections protrude from said jacket wall at an angle of 10° to 30° and/or at most 1 mm, in particular at most 0.5 mm and/or two catch recesses and/or catch projections are provided, which have a same distance to a point, in an area, on which said lever extension connects to said ejection element or branches off therefrom. 
     
     
         10 . A method for manufacturing a covering cap, according to  claim 1 , comprising:
 a) using a plastic film, consisting of PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol) as raw material for a thermo-forming process, the plastic film having a thickness between 0.04 mm and 0.5 mm;   b) pressing a stamp with a number of separately movable substamps that abut one another onto the plastic film, moving the substamps normal to a plane of the plastic film, pressing the plastic film into a counter-mold with pressure of the substamps and deforming the plastic film into a cap shape;   c) spacing the individual substamps of the stamp apart from one another during or after step b), where each of the substamps is moved radially outwards from a position of the stamp for forming an end wall in the plastic film, in particular with a thickness of less than 100 μm, preferably between 3 μm and 20 μm, in particular between 5 μm and 10 μm.   
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , further comprising subsequent to step c) removing the substamps from the cap shape that has been formed and inserting a further stamp with a level end face and an expanding stamp body into a volume of the plastic film formed by the substamps, bringing plastic film into a cap shape between the further stamp and a second counter-mold; and
 advancing the plastic film, the further stamp or the second counter-mold forward after the heating of the plastic film to a temperature between 50° C. and 90° C.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising setting a thickness of the jacket wall branching off from the end wall by setting a feed velocity and/or setting a temperature of the substamps, the further stamp and/or the plastic film and/or a temperature of the first or second counter-mold;
 reducing a wall thickness in an edge region of the recess formed by the further stamp by making an increase of the temperatures mentioned as well as an increase of the feed velocity, or increasing the wall thickness in the edge region of the recess by a reduction of the temperatures and by making a reduction of the feed velocity.   
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising setting the temperature of at least one of the further stamp or of the plastic film and the feed velocity of the further stamp such that that during a first feed time period of the further stamp a section of the jacket wall is formed with a preset thickness of 50 μm to 100 μm, and
 during a second feed time period of the further stamp following the first feed time period, a section of the jacket wall is formed with a preset thickness of 150 μm and 250 μm, which is thicker than the thickness of the jacket wall created in the first feed time period, the wall thickness set during the first feed time period of the further stamp is set to a value corresponding to between double and five times the wall thickness of the jacket area, which was formed during the shaping of the end wall by the introduction of the substamps. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 10 , further comprising forming the plastic film consists of thermoplastically or plastically deformed or deformable synthetic material, preferably of one of the following materials or a mixture thereof:
 PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol);   PP (polypropylene);   PE (polyethylene);   PC (polycarbonate);   PVC (polyvinyl chloride);   PS (polystyrene);   ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene);   HDPE (high density polyethylene);   LDPE (low density polyethylene);   PET (polyethylene terephthalate);   PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate);   ECOERM S 900 T1; or   PETG/copolyester 67639;   
       the plastic film additionally having one or several of the following components: additives, stabilizers, colorants, filler materials, or reinforcing materials; 
       the plastic film having a colorant and the end wall being configured for being opaque or absorbent to certain wavelengths. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 10 , further comprising:
 at least one of the following steps:   rotating the substamps spirally outward along an outward expanding curve around a central axis during a radial movement away from the center in step c); or   after the partial or complete formation of the jacket wall, driving back the substamps or the further stamp and subjecting the formed volume to heated compressed air and subsequently the further stamp being introduced into the formed volume for implementing a next forming step of applying compressed air for forming the catch recesses in an inner jacket of the jacket wall; or   after the formation of the jacket wall, separating remaining plastic film connected to the jacket wall from the jacket wall along a preset cutting line, the cutting line being selected such that a subsection of the remaining plastic film connecting to the jacket wall lies inside the cutting line and defines a base wall; or   heating the plastic film after formation thereof for a preset time period of at least 3 seconds, to a preset temperature between 30° C. to 120° C., in particular to a temperature between 50° C. and 90° C.; or   heating the substamps and/or the further stamp and/or the counter-forms used before the processing of the plastic film to a temperature between 30° C. to 120° C., in particular to a temperature between 50° C. and 90° C. and during the processing are maintained at such a temperature, and/or forming micro-holes or nano-holes in the end wall with a laser or a heated micro-needle or nano-needle or by etching.