CA2757035A1 - Pocket vial packaging and dispensing device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a pocket vial device for packaging and dispensing fluid products. The device comprises a flexible pouch placed in a rigid vial (9) and associated with a pump or a valve for expelling the product contained in the pouch, the pouch including a cylindrical wall made of at least one sheet (1) wound into a cylinder having one of its side edges tightly attached to a solid flange (8) defining the bottom of the flange, while the other is tightly attached to an annular flange (7) defining a fixation ring to the vial, the two longitudinal edges (3, 5) of the sheet (1) being tightly attached to each other and the end of the inner edge being masked by a flexible cover strip (6). The invention can be used for reducing the risk of contamination of the product contained in the pouch.

Description

PACKAGING AND DISPENSING DEVICE
TYPE FLACON-POCHE

The present invention relates to a device for distribution and distribution of fluid products, and more particularly a flexible pouch for a device for distribution and distribution of fluid, liquid or pasty, of the pocket-bottle type, that is to say comprising a flexible pouch placed in a rigid container and associated with a pump or a valve, to keep the fluid in the soft pocket away from the air in good conditions, and to ensure its distribution out of the pocket in actuating the pump or valve.
The packaging and distribution devices of Flask-type fluids are well known. These devices generally comprise a rigid-shell container in which is placed a retractable flexible pocket, which retracts as the product is extracted.
The expulsion of the product out of the pocket can be obtained at means of an "airless" pump or without air intake, or under the pressure of a propellant gas acting in the flask, on the wall of the pocket. In the case of the expulsion of the product of the bag by means of a pump without air intake, a vent is provided, usually in the bottom or in the neck of the bottle, to allow outside air to enter the space between the bottle and the bag each time the pump and thus allow the pocket to retract, now a sufficient pressure on its walls.
An example of embodiment according to this technique is described in patent FR 2,723,356 relating to a device having a flexible plastic bag, such as polyethylene or polypropylene, placed in a rigid container whose neck has an air inlet.
Another example of a pocket bottle is described in the Patent FR 2,827,844 relating to a device comprising a waterproof flexible pouch placed in a rigid bottle, associated with P1 R-7 awn

2 a pump or a valve, in which the pocket comprises a cylindrical wall constituted by a metallic sheet or plastic material wound on the edges of two flanges of which one forms the bottom of the pocket and the other a ring of attachment to the bottle and pump or to the valve.
The application WO 97/20757 describes a manufacturing process a plastic tubular pocket intended for aerosol, the opening of which is welded to a ring while the other end is folded and sealed to form the bottom from the pocket.
The products contained in the pockets are often sensitive to oxidation under the action of oxygen from the air and can degrade if air gets into the pocket.
because of a lack of tightness. The leaks are meet most often at the junction of the pocket and pump. They can also result from certain porosity of the materials used for the realization from the pocket. In addition, the pocket wall of the devices known can form folds by retracting, and these folds risk of tearing pass air that then reaches the inside of the pocket, and consequently compromises the preservation of the integrity of the product which is contained therein. Finally, the folds formed by the wall of the pocket during its retraction generate volumes of product retention and thus limit the effectiveness of the distribution of it.
A technique to limit the risk of tearing pocket is described in patent FR 2,770,834, which provides to include in the pocket, made of flexible material such as plastic or aluminum foil, a free float preventing too much retraction of the pocket and thus limiting the risk of tearing. However, this technique disadvantage of forming large retention volumes.
Pouch bottles are commonly manufactured by extrusion or injection of plastics. The bottle can be made by stamping in the case of a wall

3 metal such as aluminum, or by injection or blow molding in the case of a wall of material plastic, while the flexible pouch is usually manufactured by injection blow molding or extrusion blow molding polyethylene or polypropylene in a suitable mold.
The pockets can also be made of sheets of aluminum or plastic-type multilayer materials /
aluminum have good sealing qualities of their wall, as in the patent FR 2,827,844 supra. Pockets of this type are made in the form of superimposed sheets, welded by their edge, adapting on a collar or a ring rigid. The manufacture of such pockets is relatively simple, but it has the disadvantage that the junction of the two opposite edges of the sheet to form the cylinder has an extra thickness. In addition, this overthickness reveals the thickness of the layer forming the leaf, and the risk of migration of traces of compounds contained in the layer towards the introduced product in the pocket is not negligible in this area not protected, especially in the case of a multilayer film a metal layer. US Patent 5,248,063 describes a pocket laminate formed from a multilayer sheet whose The song is covered with a plastic film to prevent mining of the leaf. A technique for applying a ribbon on the contiguous edges of a rolled sheet following a cylinder is described in US Patents 3,066,063 and DE 1729018.
Various techniques are known for welding one to the other the two edges of a leaf as in the patents FR 2,511,974 and CA 1.003,350, but it is often difficult to obtain and maintain a good sealing of welds edges of the metal sheets, for example aluminum, because of the deformations and tensions to which they are submitted in use. If welding is reinforced and forms a fold to ensure watertightness, it WO 2010/12530

4 PCT / FR2010 / 050804 results in a rib that impairs the good retraction of the pocket and the return of the products it contains.
There is therefore a need for devices of the bottle-type pocket, presenting good security by reducing as much as the risk of contamination between the constituent material killing the wall of the bag and the product it contains.
There is also a need for bottle-type devices pocket, simple and inexpensive to manufacture, including a pocket that can easily adapt to the quantities of products that it is desired to introduce and to the volume of the bottle, without volume excessive death between bag and bottle, without loss of seal and easily recyclable, while providing a good resistance mechanical strength.
The present invention specifically relates to a product packaging and dispensing device fluid of the pocket-bottle type having a good safety vis-the risks of contamination of the products contained in the pocket.
The subject of the invention is also a manufacturing process Pouch-bottle cation that can use simple materials or complex depending on the intended use, easily recy-using minimum quantities of material for the bottle and for the pouch and with excellent resistance mechanical resistance, more particularly an excellent resistance shock resistance.
The packaging and distribution device of fluid product according to the present invention is of the type having a sealed flexible pouch placed in a bottle rigid, associated with a pump or a valve, the pocket comprising a cylindrical wall constituted by at least one sheet rolled along a cylinder one of whose side edges is sealingly attached to a full flange forming the bottom of the pocket, and the other is attached to a flange tightly ring forming a ring for fixing the bottle, and it is distinguishes in particular that the two longitudinal edges of the sheet are tightly attached to one another and the edge of the inner edge is masked by a flexible band of recovery.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the band cover is attached to each of the two longitudinal edges

5 leaves of the leaf, on both sides of their junction on the inner wall of the sheet.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the cover tape surrounds the edge of the inner edge of the leaf and folds between the two edges. It is then welded at the same time as the edges of the leaf during training cylindrical tube. The width of the lap band varies according to the dimensions of the pocket, but it is generally between 2 and 10 mm, and preferably between 4 and 6 mm.
As mentioned above, the sheet used to form the wall of the pocket can be made of various materials simple or complex, depending on the intended use. His thickness can vary from 20} gym to about 250} gym and is from preferably between 50} gym and 150} gym to ensure the better operating conditions, particularly easy retraction of the bag into the bottle as you go that it empties itself, so as to provide an excellent rate of restitution, greater than 90%. These values may vary in function of the materials used.
The sheet, monolayer or multilayer, is fixed by its edges at the periphery of each flange, and closed next a generator of the cylinder.
According to one embodiment, the cylindrical pocket comprises a multilayer complex associating several films metal, or a foil coated with a film plastic on at least one of its faces. This complex multilayer is wound on two flanges that can be by example metal or plastic. A particular form Advantageously advantageous embodiment comprises a sheet of aluminum interposed between at least two plastic films.
Plastic films of multilayer complexes can be

6 chosen from a polyethylene, a polypropylene, a polyamide, etc.
The multilayer sheet is fixed by its edges to the periphery of each flange, and closed according to a generator of the cylinder.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the multilayer sheet is a complex plastic material /
polymer barrier / plastic material, and for example a film EVOH interposed between two films of polyethylene or polypropylene. EVOH is an ethylene-alcohol polymer vinyl offering good barrier characteristics to gas, in particular oxygen and water vapor.
The complex can also have four layers, either polyethylene / polyamide / aluminum / polyethylene terephthalate ethylene, or polyethylene / polyethylene terephthalate lene / aluminum / polyethylene. This last structure multilayer has the advantage of facilitating the attachment edge on edge after winding the sheet, by gluing or by welding, since the inner part of an edge of the sheet comes to apply on the outer part of the other side, which is in the same subject.
Such a multilayer composite coating proves particularly especially useful when a rigorous seal is indispensable, or where the nature of the product contained in the pocket requires it.
According to a variant, it is possible to use a sheet of aluminum wound on two flanges of metal or material plastic, two opposite edges of the sheet being welded one on the other following a generatrix of the cylinder.
In all cases, a cover strip is placed on the inner side of the sheet forming a tube, on the joining of the two edges, as indicated above. The band recovery is preferably made of a material identical to that constituting the inner layer of the sheet.
For example, it is advantageous to use a sheet

7 comprising at least one layer of polyethylene as a layer internal, and a cover strip of the same polyethylene.
This ensures continuity of the material forming the inner layer of the pocket in contact with the product introduced to it. The fluid product is therefore in contact limited to a single subject. In addition, once welded, the covering strip has substantially the same thickness as the inner layer of the leaf.
According to another variant, a sheet of flexible cardboard or a polymer / paper / polymer complex, preferably polyethylene / paper / polyethylene. This type of material riau has the advantage of being much more easily recyclable PE / PET / aluminum / PE multilayers used in the technical area.
As indicated above, the metal foil, or the multilayer sheet, is attached to the periphery of each of the two flanges, preferably by gluing or welding, according to the nature of the material used for the flanges.
The method of the invention consists first of all in cut the sheet to the desired size, solder the two opposite edges of the leaf, from the inside to the outside to form an open tubular pocket that is then attached by its openings on the flanges, then the pocket is introduced into the rigid bottle where it is held by the annular flange forming a ring. Then the band of cover is cut and then welded onto the sheet, side inside. The leaf is then rolled up on itself, in keeping the lap strip on the inside, and taking care that it covers the contact area between the extremities. The welding is then performed, and we obtain a welded tube, with continuity of the inner zone.
Fixing the edges to one another and then to the flaccid, can be done by conventional techniques of welding, for example ultrasonic welding, pulse welding, friction, or thermal. The technique is preferably used thermal welding more suitable for the materials used for

8 form the wall of the pocket. Fixing can also be done by gluing but only if the products that the pocket is intended to contain are not likely to cause any adverse effect possible contamination by glue components.
The leaf initially has a flattened shape, requiring use appropriate tools to shape it and then introduce the product. Filling operations of the pocket used in the invention do not require first empty the pocket before proceeding to a partial filling, and then operate in a final step under neutral gas, unlike most known pockets of the technique.
One of the advantages of the process of the invention is that it allows to obtain pockets of relatively large volumes (more than 150 ml for example) perfectly cylindrical shape because of the welding mode.
The method according to the present invention has in particular for advantage of making it possible to manufacture pockets whose volume is easily adapted to that of the bottle and to the quantity of product that must be introduced into the pocket. this is particularly advantageous on the industrial level since the classical techniques, because of their cost, involve limit the range of bottles to a few models of dimensions predetermined, and for example, rigid bottles with a volume of 30, 60 or 90 ml and by therefore a pouch with a content of 65 ml, For example, it can only be introduced in a 90 ml bottle, resulting in a significant dead volume between the pocket and the bottle. According to the technique of the invention, the volume of the pocket that can be easily adapted to that of the bottle while playing simply on the height and diameter of the cylinders pouch and bottle, volumes can be reduced dead.
This provides an additional advantage in the case of relatively volatile products, such as alcohols, in the pocket, which can partially cross the wall,

9 depending on the materials used: the reduced dead volume is fast saturated which then limits the product losses.
In addition, vertical shock tests by free fall ("drop test"), performed on the basis of ASTM D 6344-4, showed a significant improvement in resistance to shocks while the presence of the lap band introduces a dissymmetry that may be detrimental to tance. In addition, the zone of weakness is located on the weld from both sides to each other and this fragility is all larger than the weld is longer. We know indeed that the thickness has little influence on the resistance, unlike the length of the weld.
The tests also showed that the impact resistance is greatly improved when the assembly of the edges of the sheet forming the pocket is made so that the inner surface of an edge is in contact with the surface external of the other edge by comparison with a pocket carried out following classical methods where the edges are folded towards the outside of the cylinder, the internal surfaces edges being in contact with each other.
The test consists of dropping pocket bottles oriented vertically over a height varying from 0.6 m to 4 m.
Each pocket consists of a multilayer sheet fixed by gluing on two flanges as indicated above.
The layers, from the outer layer to the inner layer, are polyethylene / polyethylene terephthalate / aluminum /
polyethylene. The thickness of the polyethylene layers is 50} gym and that of the aluminum and terephthalate layers of polyethylene is 12} gym. Pockets according to the invention have a polythene band 100} thick gym.
The pockets, cylindrical in shape and with a capacity of 100 ml, are filled with water. They are set up in a rigid polyethylene bottle, the assembly of the pocket bottle being made through the upper annular ring of the pocket, as shown in Figure 4, and a standard pump is snapped onto the neck of the pocket. The weight of each pocket bottle thus mounted is about 150 g.
The fall is guided by means of a vertical tube of diameter slightly greater than that of the bottles for 5 orient their orientation and ensure the regularity of shock on a hard surface. The orientation of the pocket vials is such that the bottom of the bottle hits the ground first.
The tests are made on 3 sets of 20 vials.
All the vials have the same size (height of

10 vial: 137 mm, diameter: 42 mm). The first series includes Standard pockets with folded edges outward welded internal against internal face. 2nd series includes pockets with welded edges one on the other, internal face to face external. The 5th series includes the pockets following this invention.
The first test is done by dropping the bottle from a height of 0.60 m. Flasks resistant to the first test are then subjected to a second test at 1.2 m. Those who resist are then subjected to a third test at 2.0 m, then at 3.3 m and finally at 4.0 m if they resisted the tests precedents.
Each vial is tested three times at each height.
The results of the measurements are shown below.
Height (m) 0, 6 1,2 2, 0 3,3 4, 0 Series 1 0 17 20 - -Series 2 0 0 0 0 6 Series 3 0 0 0 0 0 The table shows the number of failures. So, all Bottle-vials withstood the first test (no failure). In the 1st series (standard pocket) none of the 20 vials withstood the 2.0 m drop. The flask-pockets of the 2nd series withstood 3.3 m but 6/20 did not resist 4.0 m.
By cons, all the bottle-flasks of the 5th series (invention) withstood 4.0 m.

11 There is therefore an improvement in the resistance to shocks despite the presence of an additional weld.
A burst strength measurement test showed that the pockets according to the invention have a better resistance that the pockets made according to the techniques classics. Thus the resistance to the bursting of a pocket multilayer sheet identical to that used in the test above is 3.1 bars (3.110 Pa) while that of standard pocket with folded edge outward and welded internal against internal surface is only 1.9 bars (1.9 105 Pa) under the same conditions.
These results are obtained without loss of tion, that is to say that the covering strip does not have negative effect on the refund rate.
An exemplary embodiment of a pocket-bottle conforming to the The present invention is described below with reference to attached drawings that represent:
Figure 1: a perspective view of a rolled sheet to form a tubular pocket according to a known technique.
Figure 2: a perspective view of a following sheet the technique of the present invention, with a strip of covering on the inside of the tube.
Figure 3: a perspective view of a variant of the invention where the cover strip is on both sides from the inside edge of the leaf.
Figure 4: an exploded view of a pocket bottle whose bottle contains the complete pouch with the tube of the Figure 2 with the two flanges.
Figure 1 shows a sheet (1) consisting of a aluminum foil (2) covered on each of its two faces by a layer of polyethylene. So the sheet comprises an outer polyethylene film (3) and a film of internal polyethylene (4).
Once the sheet (1) is rolled up, both ends overlap at the level of the zone (5), the inner side close edge coming to be placed on the external face close to the other

12 edge. The width of the overlapping area of both edges of the sheet is about 5 mm. Both edges are attached to each other by The width of the sheet is variable and corresponds to the pocket height, once the tube formed and set up on the flanges.
Figure 2 clearly shows the polyethylene tape (6) placed on the inner face of the sheet (1). This band (6), about 6 mm wide, overlaps the overlap both edges over the entire width of the sheet (1) and mask the apparent singing of the inner edge. The identity of the material constituting the covering strip (6) and the layer internal on the one hand, and the outer layer of the other on the other hand, facilitates the attachment by welding of the two edges, one on the other, and the thickest lap band often between 50 and 150 microns, on the junction of edges. Thermal welding is preferably carried out.
Moreover, the same material, in this example the poly-ethylene, is used on the entire internal surface of the sheet which is then in contact with the product in the pocket. So there is no break in the quality of the material forming the inner face of the pocket. The layer of polyethylene cover allows to hide the song of the inner edge of the sheet and to avoid any contact of aluminum with the product introduced into the pocket, and its thin, of the order of 50 to 150} gym, and preferably About 1 gym, only negligible extra thickness.
Figure 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention where the covering strip (6) surrounds the song the inner edge of the sheet (1).
This variant facilitates welding operations in function of the tooling used since the cover (6) is first fixed and welded to one of the edges of the multilayer sheet (1), then the sheet is wound into cylinder and the welding of both edges and the band of recovery is then achieved.

13 Figures 2 and 3 show the respective positions of the sheet (1) and the strip (6) before the operation of welding.
Figure 4 shows the assembly of the sheet (1), wound in a cylinder closed by the strip of overlap (6), with the flanges (7, 8) and the insertion of the whole in the rigid bottle (9). The annular flange (7) constitutes a ring for fixing to the bottle (9) while the flask full cup (8) is the bottom of the pocket.
A pump (not shown) carrying a pusher for its actuation, is mounted in a sealed manner on the neck of the pocket, according to the technique of FR 2,827,844.
An air circuit (not shown) is provided, following a usual technique, in the pump or in the annular flange forming a fixing ring to allow the passage of air from the outside to the space between the pocket and the bottle. of the means are provided for the air circuit to be open only when the flask is used, for example by a known shutter system opening only in case of pressing the actuating pusher of the pump so to let in only one volume of air equivalent to the volume of fluid expelled from the pocket. For example, the means of closure the air circuit may consist of flaps, which remain closed until the pump is actuated.
According to a variant (not shown) this air circuit can be replaced by a simple vent in the bottom of the bottle. Yes necessary, this vent may be equipped with a flap and a filtered.
As shown in Figure 4, it is easy to play on the width and height of the sheet to fit the pocket at volume of the vial and limit the dead volume between the two.

Claims (8)

1. Device for packaging and distributing fluid product of the pouch-flask type comprising a pocket flexible placed in a rigid bottle, combined with a pump or a valve for the expulsion of the product contained in the bag, the pocket comprising a cylindrical wall constituted by at least one sheet rolled up in a cylinder, one of the side edges is sealed to a solid flange forming the bottom of the pocket, and the other is attached so tight to an annular flange forming a fixing ring to the bottle, characterized in that the two longitudinal edges of the sheet are attached to each other in a sealed manner and the edge of the inner edge is masked by a flexible strip of recovery. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover strip is attached to each of the two longitudinal edges of the sheet, on either side of their junction on the inner wall. 3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover strip envelops the edge of the edge internal of the sheet and folds between the two edges. 4. Device according to any one of the claims above, characterized in that the sheet constituting the wall is monolayer or multilayer. 5. Device for packaging and dispensing fluid product according to claim 4, characterized in that the multi-layer sheet includes an aluminum foil sandwiched between at least two plastic films selected from a polyethylene, a polypropylene, a polyamide. 6. Device for packaging and dispensing fluid product according to claim 4, characterized in that the multilayer sheet is a polyethylene/paper-complex /polyethylene 7. Device for packaging and dispensing fluid product according to any one of the claims above, characterized in that the covering strip is in a material identical to the internal layer of the sheet. 8. Device for packaging and dispensing fluid product according to Claim 7, characterized in that the sheet comprises at least one layer of polyethylene such as inner layer, and the cover strip is in one even polyethylene.