Culture flask closure

Claim 1

In a cell-culture flask comprising a flask body with a neck comprising a wall that defines an opening to said body and a generally tubular cap including means for covering said neck opening, that improvement comprising: (a) an orientation strip attached at one end to said flask and at the opposite end to said cap, said strip along a portion of its extent being securely fastened to the tubular said wall of said cap along a substantially straight line, said strip having sufficient strength to support said cap in a protective position in which the cap overlaps and covers said neck opening and the lower portion of said cap is immediately adjacent the upper portion of said neck, said strip comprising an elongated connecting section between said cap and said flask, said connecting section being substantially in a straight line with said portion of said strip securely fastened to said cap when said cap is in said protective position, said strip having sufficient flexibility to allow manual displacement of said cap readily from said protective position to a second position in which said cap does not obstruct the introduction of a pipette into said opening, said strip having a memory to return said cap to said protective position from all operative positions other than said protective position in the absence of any force external to said cap tending to move said cap away from said protective position; and (b) a tab extending above the top of said cap in a direction generally parallel to the axis of said cap, whereby said flask may be readily charged while maintaining sterile conditions, by manually displacing said cap from said protective position to said second position facilitated by said tab, inserting a pipette into said opening, discharging the contents of said pipette into said flask, removing said pipette from said flask, and allowing said cap to return to said protective position.