CA2920809A1 - Cap for a receptacle and receptacle, in particular tube, in particular flexible tube for a cosmetic product, provided with said cap - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a cap for a receptacle, in particular a tube, in particular a flexible tube for a cosmetic product, said receptacle comprising a neck (3) and a solid insert (8) forming a seal that closes off one end of the neck (3) that leads into an internal volume (4) of the receptacle, said cap (1) comprising a punch (14) designed to cut and/or pierce the seal, said cap (1) being designed to be positioned on said neck (3) in a standby position in which the punch (14) is in the neck (3), leaving the seal intact, and in a use position in which the seal has been cut and/or pierced by said punch (14), said punch (14) comprising a body (30) in the form of a stem that is configured to cut and/or pierce said seal.

Description

Receptacle and receptacle stopper, especially a tube, in particular a tube flexible for a cosmetic product, provided with said stopper The present invention relates to a stopper and a receptacle, in particular tube, in particular a flexible tube for a cosmetic product, provided with said stopper.
Tubes with a cap associated with a perforating cap are known comprising a punch adapted to perforate said seal at the first use of the tube.
The operculum makes it possible to preserve the product contained in the tube in such a way hermetic during its storage prior to its first use, this who represents a very important part of the overall service life of the tube.
Many solutions have been presented to this effect. We know in particular plugs comprising a punch, adapted to cut and / or drill the cap, said plugs being configured to be positioned on a bottleneck tube, in a waiting position leaving the operculum intact, and in a position of use in which the lid has been cut and / or pierced by said punch.
The transition from one position to another takes place, for example, by removing a Ring spacing disposed on the tube to hold the plug in position Wait.
During the first use, the user removes the cap and the Ring. he can then reposition the cap which, in the absence of the ring, sinks enough in the tube for the punch to pierce the lid.
To allow better protection of the product, it has already been proposed to arrange the lids at one end of the neck opening into the volume inside the tube, that is to say at the end of the neck opposite to that opening outwards.
Such a configuration requires the production of punches presenting a longitudinal extension sufficient to reach the lid so as to cut when first used and the punch must penetrate to inside the bottleneck, including in the waiting position.

2 The distal end of the punch may then be damaged during position cap on the neck, when plugging the tube in the factory. Indeed, if the cap is poorly centered on the tube, so the punch may be damaged, by example by coming crashing against the neck, or even between the neck and a outer skirt of the cap. The punch may then no longer be able to fill her function when first using the tube.
This risk is all the more critical if, if such a defect occurs, it is particularly difficult to detect. Indeed, the deformation of the punch is not visible from the outside. Moreover, even if one could think of a calibration plugging machines to detect a couple resistant from a deformation of the punch, such a calibration is particularly complex given the level of precision that should be achieved. Of such machines are also very expensive.
The invention aims to overcome the aforementioned problems and proposes to this effect a plug for a receptacle, in particular a tube, in particular a flexible tube of product cosmetic, said receptacle comprising a neck and a solid insert forming a operculum sealing one end of the neck opening into an interior volume of receptacle, said stopper comprising a punch, adapted to cut and / or piercing the lid, said cap being adapted to be positioned on said neck, in a waiting position in which the punch is in the neck in leaving the lid intact and in a position of use in which the operculum has been cut and / or pierced by said punch, said punch comprising a body form de was configured to cut and / or pierce said lid.
By giving the end of the punch a form of fut, the punch can remain effective even if a portion of it has been damaged against the walls of neck when setting up the cap, in case of moderate decentering. In case excessive decentering, it will have sufficient strength to prevent the setting up the cap. In this way, a plug is avoided the punch of which would have been rendered inoperative.
According to different features of the invention that can be taken together or separately:
- said was substantially the shape of a cylinder, hollow, WO 2015/01455

3 PCT / EP2014 / 063783 said punch comprises a transverse partition separating it in two cavities, said partition is located in an upper half of the punch, said partition is located in a lower half of the punch, one of said cavities is intended to be turned towards the outside of the receptacle and / or the other of said cavities is formed by said was, said one has a distal end provided with cutting means, said cutting means comprise a beveled shape of said distal end, said beveled shape extends all around the perimeter of the said punch has a wall whose thickness is greater than the thickness of said cutting means, said cutting means comprise at least one cutting tooth, said cutting means comprise at least one notch of cutting, said cutting means comprise a plurality of teeth and / or cutting notches, in particular at least two or even at least three, at least four, the one or more teeth and / or the one or more cutting notches are regularly distributed all around the the cutting tooth or teeth have a height hd and the said teeth are has an external diameter De, such that the ratio hd / De is less than 1/3, even 1/5, even 1/10, said stopper comprises a distal edge configured to abut against a spacer ring in the waiting position, said punch comprises a projecting portion with respect to said edge distal, said projecting portion having a height hp, such as the ratio hd / hp is less than 1/3, even 1/5, even 1/10, - The said cutting notches or not have a height he, such that the he / De ratio is less than 1/3, even 1/5, even 1/10, the one or more cutting notches are configured so that the he / hp ratio is less than 1/3, even 1/5, or even 1/10, at least one of the teeth and / or one of the notches has a height hd or he different

4 each of the teeth and / or notches is of different height, - Said was configured to perform a partial cut of the insert to to open said neck so that the lid remains linked to the non-part cut from the insert by a material bridge, in said position of use of the cap, said plug is adapted to be screwed onto said neck, - said cap is monobloc.
The invention also relates to a receptacle, in particular a tube, in particular a tube of cosmetic product. This is, for example, a flexible tube.
Said receptacle comprises a neck and a solid insert forming a lid closing one end of the neck opening into an interior volume of the receptacle. It further comprises a plug as described above.
According to different features of the invention that can be taken together or separately:
said neck has an inner diameter Di and said external diameter De, such that the De / Di ratio is greater than 0.8 or even 0.9, said is configured to penetrate said interior volume, position of use, with a distance h greater than the distance required for achieve a deformation of the insert going beyond the capabilities of elastic deformation of said insert, said insert is a multilayer insert comprising a barrier layer coated on each of its faces with one or more layers of protection and the h penetration distance was in the receptacle is such that the ratio h / De is greater than 0.6, or even 0.7, said insert is attached to an inner wall of a body of said receptacle, said receptacle comprises a removable spacer ring disposed in resting on the body of the receptacle around the neck, in the waiting position, said spacer ring comprises a plurality of adapted ribs to center the spacer ring around the neck said neck has an internal wall comprising at least one zone inclined with respect to a longitudinal axis of the neck, said inclined zone is located on the side of one end of the neck opening outwardly of the receptacle, said inclined zone approaches the longitudinal axis from the end the neck opening towards the outside of the receptacle in the direction of

5 the end of the neck opening into an interior volume of the receptacle, said inclined zone extends over less than 1/8 of the internal height of the bottleneck, or even less than 1/10, said inclined zone forms a cone.
In the case of an application to a tube, said tube may comprise a head of tube comprising said neck, a shoulder and said insert. Said ring Removable spacing is advantageously arranged in support on the shoulder.
Other features, purposes and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description which follows, which is purely illustrative and not exhaustive, and must be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows in sectional view, in a diametrical plane, an example of a receptacle part, in this case a tube head, according to the invention, said tube head being illustrated without a cap;
FIG. 2 shows FIG. 1, an example of a cap according to the invention being in the waiting position on the tube;
- Figure 3 shows Figure 2, the plug being in position of use;
FIG. 4 is an elevational view showing an alternative embodiment of cap of Figures 2 and 3 above;
FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the part marked V in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an alternative embodiment of the cap of Figures 2 and 3 above;
FIG. 7 is an elevational view showing an alternative embodiment of cap of Figures 2 and 3 above;
- Figure 8 is another view showing the embodiment of the plug of Figure 7;
FIG. 9 is a detailed view of the portion marked IX in FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is an elevational view showing a variant of production the plug of Figures 2 and 3 above;

6 FIG. 11 is another view showing the variant embodiment of cap of Figure 10.
In all the figures, the elements in common are identified by identical numerical references.
The invention relates to a receptacle, in particular a tube, in particular a tube for cosmetic product, for example a flexible tube. This means a tube of which the body can deform, by taking again or not its initial form.
In the drawings, only a head 2 of said tube is shown, accompanied or no its plug 1. Said tube head 2 is intended to be linked to a skirt, no-illustrated, of the tube, typically by overmolding the tube head 2 on the skirt, or by example by welding or gluing by assembling the skirt on the tube head 2 previously formed, in particular by injection or compression injection, or by all other techniques.
Said receptacle comprises a neck 3, defining a longitudinal axis ZZ and opening on the one hand to the outside and on the other hand in a volume interior 4 of receptacle. The neck 3 comprises, for example, a thread 6 on its periphery external, adapted to allow to screw the cap 1 on the neck 3.
Said receptacle further comprises a solid insert 8 forming a lid sealing the end of the neck 3 turned towards the interior volume 4. In other words, said closed seal said inner volume 4. Said insert 8 is, for example, in contact, in particular in support, against an inner wall 11 of said receptacle. The insert comprises, for example, a peripheral section 10 and a central section 12, defining said cap, whose diameter corresponds to the internal diameter of the neck 3. Said insert 8 is typically disk-shaped. Alternately, her peripheral section 10 may be slightly frustoconical or include a flat area, surrounding the neck and, around said flat area, one or many slightly frustoconical zones until its periphery which will to be formed, for example, of a folded edge 13.
Said insert 8 is preferably a multilayer insert comprising a layer barrier, for example formed of EVOH or metal, in particular aluminum,

7 coated on each of its faces with one or more protective layers, in particular of polymerized materials.
Here, said neck 3 and said insert 4 are provided at said head of tube 2.
The latter may further comprise, for example a shoulder 20, issue of said neck 3. The material of the tube head 2 at least partially surrounds said folded edge 13 of the insert 8 to protect it, in particular to protect the layer metal of said insert 8.
As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, said plug 1 is here adapted to be screwed on said neck 3. More precisely, said plug 1 may comprise a thread 16 adapted to cooperate with the thread 6 of the neck 3. Said cap has a longitudinal direction corresponding to the longitudinal axis ZZ
of neck 3 when the cap 1 is screwed onto the neck 3. Said cap 1 comprises for example, a peripheral wall 15 provided internally with said tapping 16.
Said peripheral wall 15 may be provided with longitudinal grooves 18, located externally, to facilitate the handling of the plug 1.
Said stopper 1 comprises a punch 14, adapted to cut and / or pierce the cap. Said stopper 1 is configured to be positioned on said neck 3, in a waiting position, illustrated in FIG. 2, in which the punch 14 is at less partially in the neck 3, leaving the operculum intact.
Said receptacle may comprise a spacer ring 22, removable, disposed in abutment on a body of the receptacle, here on the shoulder 20 of said head of tube 2, around the neck 3, in the waiting position. It thus maintains a spacing between the cap 1 and the shoulder 20 when the cap 1 is screwed on the bottleneck 3 while waiting for the first use. The punch 14 then extends to the inside of the neck 3, at a non-zero distance from the insert 8, preserving so the operculum of any cut or perforation. Said spacing ring 22 will include a plurality of ribs adapted to allow its centering around the neck 3. Said ring 22 is preferably independent of said plug 1 so that said plug 1 can be removed from said receptacle without than said ring 22 is.

8 Said spacer ring 22 is, for example, annular. Alternatively, she may have a shape of a portion of a circle of which a free end forms a tongue prehensible by a user.
Said cap 1 is further adapted to be positioned on said neck 3, in a position of use, illustrated in FIG. 3, in which the lid has been divided and / or pierced by said punch 14. In FIG. 3, the insert 8 has been represented non-pierced to better visualize the penetration of the punch 14 through it.
During the first use, the user unscrews the cap 1 of the neck 3, then remove the spacer ring 22, and tighten the cap 1 on the neck 3 until that it comes into abutment against the neck 3 or against the shoulder 20. The punch 14 then made a cut or a perforation of the insert 8, and more precisely of her central section 12 forming the cover of the tube head 2.
According to the invention, said punch 14 comprises a shaped body 30 configured for cutting and / or piercing said lid. This was substantially the form of a hollow cylinder. By substantially the shape of a cylinder, comprises in particular, that said body may have a shape very slightly frustoconical for demoulding purposes, that is to say with an angle at Mountain peak less than 2, even 1. In other words, the punch 14 has a section substantially annular transverse, of revolution. The wall thickness of said punch 14 may be between 10 and 20% of its outer diameter De.
Said body 30 in the form of fut may extend all along said punch 14.
said punch 14 further comprises, for example, a transverse partition 34 the separating into two cavities 36, 38. One of said cavities 36 is intended to be turned towards the outside of the receptacle and / or the other 38 of said cavities is form by said was. Said other cavity 38 is thus intended to be turned towards volume interior 4 of said receptacle. Said partition 34 is located, for example, in the upper half of the cap. In other words, said partition 34 is more away from the distal end 32 of the punch 14 as its opposite end. Such a This feature reinforces the protection of the product contained in the receptacle, even after opening the lid. We have found that said cavity 38 formed by the was welcomed product that may cover his walls, in particular the underside of the partition 34. This part of the product provides

9 advantageously a filter effect, limiting the exchange of oxygen with outside.
In another variant according to the invention shown in FIG.
partition 34 can also be located in the lower half of the plug, ie said partition 34 is closer to the distal end 32 of the punch 14 than of his opposite end. Such a characteristic makes it possible to reinforce the punch 14 and make it more resistant, thus limiting the risk of damage in the where it crashed against the neck 3, for example.
Said plug 1 is formed, for example, by injection, in particular of material plastic.
Said punch 14 and said periphery wall 15 of the plug are connected by for example, by an upper wall 17 of said plug 1. Said upper wall may present a point of injection of the cap.
Said punch 14 is advantageously configured so that the cut of the lid is partial, so that the portion or portions of the operculum having have been cut remain linked to the rest of the insert 8, in position use, thus preventing any mixing of the material forming the insert 8 with a product contained in the associated receptacle.
For example, considering that a complete cut is a cut to 360 of the operculum, that is to say a circular cut made by rotation of 1, it is advantageous to make a cut leaving a sufficient link to ensure cohesion between the central section 12 having been cut, and the Peripheral section 10.
Said has a distal end 32 advantageously provided with means of cutting. This is, for example, a beveled shape that can extend mostly the perimeter of the was. In other words, the free end 32 is beveled by report to a plane normal to the ZZ axis of the neck 3, the seal formed by the insert 8 being typically disposed in such a plane normal to the ZZ axis of the neck 3. The bevel realized in this way is arranged, for example, facing the cavity 38 turned towards the interior volume 4 of the receptacle. This reduces the thickness of the was to make the free end 32 sharp, which facilitates the cutting of the cover by the punch 14.
Said wall of said punch 14 has a thickness greater than the thickness 5 of said cutting means. The punch is thus stiffer without however, alter the efficiency of the cutting means which remain of a thickness allowing to initiate the piercing of the lid and its cutting.
As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 and 7 to 11, it can be seen that said means of

10 may alternatively comprise teeth 40 and / or notches 42 cutting, for example, regularly distributed throughout the entire the end distal 32 of the punch. A plurality of teeth 40 and / or notches 42 allows to ensure a cut of the lid even if a tooth and / or notch has been damaged during factory corking, for example.
In the variant shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, said teeth 40 present, for example, a sawtooth profile. In this case, we have a dozen teeth 40 evenly distributed all around the distal end 32 of the punch.
In the variant shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, said means are four teeth 40 distributed over the entire circumference of the distal end 32 of the punch 14, angle between each of the teeth being 90.
In the variant shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, said means are two notches 42 diametrically opposed.
Said teeth 40 or said notches 42 are of limited size compared to the height of the punch 14 so that the latter essentially keeps a shape of was.
Here, by the height of the punch, is meant the height hp of the protruding part of punch, ie the part of the punch extending from a distal edge of the stopper 1 towards the distal end 32 of the punch. The distal edge of the cap 1 is the edge of the cap configured to abut against the spacer ring 22 in standby position and / or against the shoulder 20 of said tube head 2 in position of use, closed tube.

11 By way of example, the total height of the stopper 1 and the projecting portion of the punch is between 10 and 30 mm.
By way of example, said teeth 40 can be configured in such a way one hd / De ratio and / or a ratio hd / hp are less than 1/3, even 1/5, even 1/10, hd being the height of said tooth 40, the outer diameter of said was and hp the height the protruding part of the punch 14, as shown in FIGS. 5, 8 and 9 where the height hd and the height hp to be taken into account have been indicated.
Similarly, said notches 42 may be configured such that a ratio he / De and / or a ratio he / hp are less than 1/3, even 1/5, even 1/10, he being the height of the notch 42, of the outer diameter of the fut and hp the height of the part protruding punch 14, as shown in Figure 11 where the height he and the hp height to take into account have been indicated.
In an embodiment not shown, at least one of the teeth 40 and / or a notches 42 may have a different height hd or he. In a way preferential, each of the teeth and / or notches will be of different height. AT
title for example, said was can include three teeth of three different heights and distributed, preferably, evenly all the way round the end distal 32 of the punch 14 with an angle between each of the teeth of 120. A difference of height of the teeth and / or notches makes it possible to favor partial cutting of the operculum, so that the portion or portions of the operculum having been cuts remain connected to the rest of the insert 8, in the position of use, thus preventing any mixing of the material forming the insert 8 with a product contained in the associated receptacle. This avoids completely cutting a circle in the operculum.
Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 3, it can be seen that said neck has an inner diameter Di and said has been an outer diameter From, already mentioned. It was found that a particularly effective cut was obtained for De / Di ratio values greater than 0.8 or even 0.9, De and Di being measures in the same unit.

12 Said was advantageously configured to penetrate into said volume inside 4, in use position, with a distance h greater than the distance necessary to achieve a deformation of the insert 8 going beyond the capabilities of elastic deformation of said insert 8.
For an insert such as that mentioned above, the penetration distance h of was in the receptacle is, for example, such that the ratio h / De is greater than 0.6, even at 0.7, h and De being measured in the same unit.
To limit the risk of damaging the distal end 32 of the punch 14 when of positioning of the cap 1 on the neck 3 on the manufacturing line in factory, said neck 3 may have an inner wall comprising at least one zone inclined (not shown) with respect to the longitudinal axis ZZ of the neck.
said sloping area is located on the top of the neck, ie on the end side of the neck opening outwardly of the receptacle. In particular, it is getting closer of the axis ZZ from the end of the neck 3 opening outward of the receptacle direction of the end of the neck 3 opening into the interior volume 4 of the receptacle.
Said inclined zone extends over a small proportion of the inner wall of the neck 3, for example less than 1/8 of the internal height of the neck, or even less than 1/10.
The internal height of the neck 3 is measured from the end of the neck 3 opening towards the outside of the receptacle at the end of the neck 3 opening into the volume interior 4 of the receptacle.
Preferably, the inclination will form an angle less than 45 with respect to the ZZ axis, see below 30.
Thus, this inclined zone can guide the punch 14 during capping in factory, especially if the cap 1 is not correctly centered with respect to neck 3 and that its distal end 32 comes to hit the end of the neck 3. She limit, thus, the risk of damaging the distal end and / or the means of cutting.

Claims (13)

claims 1. Stopper for a receptacle, especially a tube, in particular a flexible tube cosmetic product, said receptacle comprising a neck (3) and an insert (8) solid forming a seal closing one end of the neck (3) opening into an interior volume (4) of the receptacle, said plug (1) comprising a punch (14) adapted to cut and / or pierce the lid, said plug (1) being adapted to be positioned on said neck (3), in a waiting position in which the punch (14) is in the neck (3) in leaving the lid intact and in a position of use in which the lid has been cut and / or pierced by said punch (14), said punch (14) comprising a shaped body (30) configured to cut and / or pierce said lid. 2. Stopper according to the preceding claim wherein said was present a distal end (32) provided with cutting means. 3. Stopper according to claim 2 wherein said cutting means comprise at least one tooth (40) and / or at least one notch of cutting. 4. Stopper according to claim 3 wherein said one or more teeth (40) and or the at least one cutting notch is regularly distributed over the entire around the east. 5. Stopper according to any one of claims 3 to 4 wherein the or said cutting teeth (40) have a height hd and said has an outer diameter De, such that the ratio hd / De is less than 1/3. Stopper according to any one of claims 3 to 4 in which the or said cutting teeth (40) have a height hd and said punch includes an outer portion having a height hp, such as the ratio hd / hp is less than 1/3. 7. Stopper according to any one of claims 3 to 4 wherein the or said cutting notches have a height he and said was has an outer diameter De, such that the ratio he / De is less than 1/3. The cap of any of claims 3, 4 wherein the or said cutting notches have a height he and said punch includes an outer portion having a height hp, such as the ratio he / hp is less than 1/3. Stopper according to one of the preceding claims in which said cutting means comprise a bevel shape of said distal end. 10. Stopper according to the preceding claim wherein said form in bevel stretches all the way around. 11. Stopper according to any one of the preceding claims in wherein said punch comprises a transverse partition separating it in two cavities. 12. Stopper according to the preceding claim wherein said partition is located in an upper half of the punch. 13. Receptacle, in particular tube, in particular flexible tube of product cosmetic, said receptacle comprising a neck (3) and a solid insert (8) forming a lid closing one end of the neck (3) opening into an interior volume (4) of the receptacle and a stopper (1) according to one any of the preceding claims.