EP0298847B1 - Container for the packaging and distribution of a product under hygienic conditions - Google Patents

Abstract

Products having a viscous or pasty consistency, or those dispensed as foams from a container (1) provided with a pushbutton (13) the actuation of which causes the ejection of a dose of product, are never, in practice, completely evacuated from the ejection conduit (14) made in a movable portion (9) bearing the pushbutton (13) and adapted to the outlet of the container (1). Hence they often threaten to escape from this conduit (14) and soil the container (1). To overcome this disadvantage, the invention proposes that the conduit (14) discharge into a chamber (40) defined by a fixed portion (10) attached to the container (1) and with the movable portion (9) comprising a dispensing cap (8); the chamber (40) opens to the outside via an opening (38), and the movable portion (9) includes a needle (27) capable of closing this opening (38) in the position of repose of the pushbutton (13) and of freeing it upon actuation of the pushbutton.

Description

The present invention relates to containers used for packaging and dispensing products in the form of a paste or gel, in particular self-foaming, these containers being provided with a push button, the operation of which causes the ejection of a dose of product to be dispensed through an ejection channel formed in a movable part which is adapted on the outlet end of the container and of which said push-button is integral. In most cases, this channel ends in an applicator tip of said mobile part, in order to facilitate for the user the installation of the dispensed product.

Among the containers of this type, there are pressurized containers of the "aerosol can" type, in which case the aforementioned movable part is constituted by a sleeve carrying the push button and crossed by the aforementioned ejection channel, intended to communicate with outside the channel delimited by the outlet tube of the distribution valve.

The products which can thus be dispensed from containers of the aforementioned type are in particular cosmetic products, hygiene products and cleaning products. In the field of body and hair care, there may be mentioned, for example, the packaging in pressurized cans of foaming shaving creams, self-foaming shaving gels, hair dyes, reducers for cold permanent hair, shampoos, depilatories, make-up removal foams, in particular in self-foaming form.

In these containers, the ejected product travels through the aforementioned channel until it effectively exits from said container. However, once the user releases the pressure on the push button, in practically all in the case of dispensing products having the aforementioned consistency, the ejection channel does not have time to empty, so that there remains product therein, in an amount which is all the greater as the applicator tip is more elongated.

However, the aforementioned products are of such a nature that after the push-button has returned to its rest position, they tend to come out slowly from the reservoir formed by the ejection channel (by expansion, in the case of foam, or by flow, in the case of pasty or viscous products), which causes soiling on the push-button or, in general, on the dispensing head of the container.

It has been proposed to remedy this drawback (see for example document US-A-3,361,301 which corresponds to the preamble of claim 1) by ensuring the closure of the final outlet opening of the product outside the container when the push button is in its rest position, this opening being released only when the push button is operated. In this way, the reservoir formed at the head of the container is completely closed in the rest position of the push button, from which it follows that the desired cleanliness and hygiene conditions are met. The aforementioned opening is formed in a fixed part integral with the container, and it can be closed by means carried by the mobile part where the ejection channel is made. In known devices, the ejection channel opens, in a sealed manner, into a chamber delimited by a fixed part attached to the container which constitutes, with the mobile part, a dispensing head, this chamber opens to the outside by the opening closed in the rest position, by means carried by the movable part. This movable part can end in an ejection tube closed at its free end by a wall comprising a plurality of lights distributed regularly at the periphery and all supplied by the ejection channel.

However, the applicators used until now do not allow a precise application in a determined place of a self-foaming gel. These self-foaming gels are gels which contain the gas necessary for their foaming. The gas is, for example, isobutane or isopentane. These self-foaming gels are used more particularly for the treatment of the scalp and, in this case, a precise application line by line is often necessary. To obtain a precise application, the nozzle must be long and tapered and the volume of the chamber into which the channel opens is too large for a firm consistency foam to be obtained.

The present application relates to a device making it possible to obtain a self-foaming foam of suitable consistency.

The present invention relates to a container for the packaging of a product and its distribution by the actuation of a push button in order to cause the ejection of said product by an ejection channel formed in a movable part of which said button -pusher is integral, wherein said ejection channel opens into a chamber delimited by a fixed part attached to the container and constituting, with said movable part a dispensing head, said chamber opening to the outside through an opening, the mobile part comprising a means capable of closing said opening in the rest position of said push-button and of releasing it during actuation of the latter, in which the mobile part of the dispensing head ends in a tube ejection, which delimits the outlet end of the ejection channel and the axis of which is parallel to the operating direction of the push button, said ejection tube being closed, at its end free moth, by a closure wall slidably mounted in a guide of the fixed part, the sealing means of the opening in the fixed part, being constituted by a protuberance carried by the closure wall of said ejection tube and in which the closure wall of the ejection tube comprises a plurality of openings regularly distributed at the periphery of said wall, and all supplied by the ejection channel, characterized in that the ejection channel comprises passages, each of which opens at right of a light, these passages supplied in parallel by the inlet end of the ejection channel and being separated from each other by a soul.

The closure wall and the core which separates the passages constitute, according to a first variant, an element molded separately and force-fitted into the ejection tube until the wall bears against the free edge of the ejection tube. .

According to a second variant, the closure wall and the core which separates the passages come from molding with the rest of the movable part, the axes of the outlet tube of the container valve and of the tube being coincident.

According to the invention, the core separating the different passages makes it possible to reduce the volume of formation of the foam, this reduction in volume making it possible to obtain a more consistent foam.

The present invention also relates to the application of the container to the packaging of self-foaming gels.

The dimensions of the opening of the fixed part and those of the protuberance of the movable part intended to close off said opening in the rest position of the push button are preferably chosen so that said protuberance is completely contained in the space inside the product outlet chamber when the push-button is brought to the end of its travel in the position where product distribution is ensured.

In addition, it is advantageously possible to ensure that the fixed part of the dispensing head constitutes a protective cover for the mobile part, said cover having an opening which allows free access to the push button by the user, and s' tapering towards the end of the container to keep the role of applicator tip of the ejection tube.

In an advantageous embodiment, the container is a pressurized container of the "aerosol can" type, the movable part consisting of a sleeve carrying the push button and crossed by an ejection channel connecting the channel delimited by the tube from the dispensing valve to the product outlet chamber.

To better understand the object of the present invention, we will now describe, by way of purely illustrative and non-limiting examples, two embodiments shown in the accompanying drawing.

• la figure 1 est une vue en coupe axiale de la partie supérieure d'un récipient pressurisé selon l'inven­tion, équipé de sa tête de distribution, l'ensemble se trouvant en position de repos;
• la figure 2 est une vue analogue à la figure 1, montrant l'ensemble en position d'utilisation, alors que le bouton-poussoir est enfoncé;
• la figure 3 est une vue de dessus de l'extré­mité supérieure de la partie mobile de la tête de distri­bution;
• la figure 4 est une vue en perspective de l'élément allongé emmanché à force dans le tube d'éjection de la partie mobile de la tête de distribution des figures 1 à 3;
• la figure 5 est une vue analogue à la figure 1 d'un récipient pressurisé conforme à une variante de réali­sation de la présente invention; et
• la figure 6 est une vue de dessous de la partie mobile de la tête de distribution du récipient de la figure 5.

On this drawing:

• Figure 1 is an axial sectional view of the upper part of a pressurized container according to the invention, equipped with its dispensing head, the assembly being in the rest position;
• Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing the assembly in the use position, while the push button is pressed;
• Figure 3 is a top view of the upper end of the movable part of the dispensing head;
• Figure 4 is a perspective view of the elongated member force fitted into the ejection tube of the movable part of the dispensing head of Figures 1 to 3;
• Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 1 of a pressurized container according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention; and
• FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the movable part of the dispensing head of the container of FIG. 5.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, we see that we have designated by 1, as a whole, a pressurized container of the type "aerosol can", in which is packaged, for example, a foaming shaving cream, which is intended to be dispensed in the form of a foam as soon as it leaves the container 1. The latter comprises a body 2 having a cylindrical side wall 3, the upper edge 4 of which ends with an O-ring crimping bead 5, by which is fixed, in a conventional manner, a valve holder cup 6. In the central area of the valve holder cup 6 is arranged a valve provided with an outlet tube 7 emerging in the axis of the body 2. If the outlet tube 7 of the valve is pushed in, the contents of the container 1 are brought into the open air, which is projected out of the container, under the effect of the propellant present in the container, with simultaneous production of foam as a result of the presence in the liquid phase, of a foaming product and of the partial dissolution of the propellant gas in said liquid phase inside the container 1.

On the body 2, a dispensing head 8 is fitted which consists of a movable part 9 and a fixed part 10.

The movable part 9 is constituted by a sleeve 11, which provides the connection with the outlet tube 7 and which is extended by a cylindrical tube 12, acting as an applicator tip, given its relatively large length relative to the height of the sleeve 11. The sleeve 11 carries, at the base of the tube 12, a lateral push button 13, making it possible to control the opening of the valve.

The movable part 9 is crossed by an ejection channel 14 intended to extend the channel delimited by the tube 7. The channel 14 comprises, in the sleeve 11, an inlet branch 15, relatively short, opening into the underside of said sleeve 11, and an outlet branch 16, arranged parallel to the branch 15 in the axis of the tube 12, the two branches 15 and 16 communicating with each other in the area 17, due to the intersection of the two axis cylinders offset parallels constituting the branches 15 and 16.

The base of the sleeve 11 consists of a frustoconical wall 18 along the axis of which the tube 7 is positioned. The upper edge of the tube 7 is housed in an annular shoulder 20 formed at the base of the branch 15 of the channel 14.

The branch 16 is extended by the conduit defined by the tube 12. The latter is closed, at its free end, by a closure wall 23, which is perpendicular to the axis of the tube 12. The wall 23 is independent of the tube 12; it has the shape of a disc of diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of the tube 12. A rod-shaped element 28, molded with the wall 23 and thus constituting with it the elongated element shown in Figure 4, is connects axially to one of the two faces of the wall 23. The element 28, of cylindrical overall shape, with a diameter equal to or slightly less than the internal diameter of the tube 12, has four longitudinal grooves 19 regularly distributed around its periphery, these grooves 19 opening into the wall 23 to form four slots 24. Each slot 24 is therefore delimited, on the one hand, by an external border 25, formed in line with the end of the wall of the tube 12 and, on the other part, by an internal border 26, which is formed by the end of the associated groove 19 and whose concavity is opposite to that of the border 25 and has a smaller radius of curvature.

The element 28 is assembled on the rest of the movable part by forced insertion into the tube 12 until the wall 23 rests on the free edge of the said tube 12. In this position, the element 28 s' extends in channel 14 and in branch 16, up to the level of communication 17 between branches 15 and 16.

Thus, in the branch 16 of the channel 14, four parallel passages are defined, each of which opens at the right of a light 24, the four passages being supplied in parallel by their base and by the outlet tube 7 of the valve.

Furthermore, the closure wall 23 externally carries a central protuberance 27 in the form of a conical needle.

In addition, the side wall of the tube 12 carries, in the vicinity of the closure wall 23, a sealing ring 29, molded with the tube 12.

The push-button 13 constitutes, as indicated above, a lateral extension of the sleeve 11, at the base of the tube 12. The push-button 13 is a hollow element delimited, firstly, by an upper wall 30 , ribbed to facilitate the support of the user's finger, when he exerts pressure on this wall 30 to distribute the foam, secondly, by two side walls 31, substantially radial, connecting to the cylindrical side wall of the sleeve 11 and, thirdly, by a frustoconical external side wall 32, being located substantially in line with the bead 5.

The fixed part 10 of the dispensing head 8 is constituted by a cover which covers the movable part 9 in place on the body of the container 1. The part 10 comprises an annular base 34 and a side wall 35 connected to a bottom 36. L base 34 is constituted by a cylindrical rod, the lower free edge of which carries an internal attachment bead 37, which, in the mounting position of head 8, snaps onto crimping bead 5.

The side wall 35 has a tapered shape until it joins the bottom 35. This tapered shape makes it possible to retain, for the end zone of the container 1, the role of applicator tip, useful in the envisaged application. In addition, the side wall 35 has an opening, through which the push button 13 protrudes, the curved outwardly concave shape that the side wall 35 takes in this region does not interfere with the operation of said push button 13 .

The bottom 36 consists of a disc with a diameter slightly greater than that of the end wall 23 of the ejection tube 13; it comes, in the mounting position of the head 8, to be placed above said wall 23, parallel to the latter, while being centered on the axis of the tube 12. In addition, said bottom 36 has a central opening 38 , of circular shape, whose diameter is less than that of the base of the needle 27. The height of the cover 10 is chosen so that in the rest position of the movable part 9, the needle 27 closes the opening 38 of the bottom 36 .

Furthermore, the wall 35 is thickened in the vicinity of the bottom 36, so that, in this zone, the internal wall of the cover 10 is a cylindrical wall, of axis perpendicular to the bottom 36 and centered on said bottom 36, the diameter of this cylinder being slightly greater than that of the tube 12. This zone thus constitutes a guide 39 for the tube 12, during the operation of the push button 13.

Is conditioned in the usual way, in the container 1, a foaming preparation, comprising, in combination with the active materials to be dispensed, a propellant. Then, the dispensing head 8 is formed by presenting the tube 12 of the movable part 9, previously equipped with its element 28, in the cylindrical guide 39 of the fixed part 10, with relative orientation of the two parts 9 and 10 so that the push button 13 protrudes out of part 10. The dispensing head 8 is then presented above the body 2, along the axis, and it is lowered until the bead 37 clicks on the crimp bead 5 This position is the rest position shown in FIG. 1, where the needle 27 closes the opening 38.

When the user wishes to dispense a dose of the product contained in the container 1, he presses the push-button 13, along the arrow F (FIG. 2), which causes the tube 7 to sink by pressing the sleeve 11 and l ejection of the dose released in the form of foam into the channel of the tube 7, then in the channel 14 and, -finally, through the openings 24, in the chamber 40 delimited by the wall 23, the bead 29, the side wall of the guide 39 and the bottom 36. This chamber 40 s 'opens to the outside through the opening 38 through which the dose of product is then ejected. In this position, the needle 27 is completely contained in the interior space of the chamber 40.

When the user releases the pressure on the push button 13, the internal spring equipping the valve causes the push button 13 to go back up, which causes the translation 12 of the tube 12 which slides in its cylindrical guide 39, up to total closure of the opening 38 by the needle 27. In this way, the fraction of product remaining in the channel 14, which is a foam liable to swell, no longer has any possibility of leaving the container 1, from where it results that the latter remains in its initial state of cleanliness.

Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawing show an alternative embodiment of the container according to the invention, which essentially differs from the first by the configuration of the movable part of the dispensing head. The elements which are found identically in the two embodiments shown, are designated, in the alternative embodiment, by reference numbers greater than 100 than those used for the first embodiment described.

The axis of the tube 112 is, in this embodiment, coincident with the axis of the outlet tube 107 of the valve fitted to the container 101. Under these conditions, the movable part 109 can come from molding in one piece.

The branch 116 of the ejection channel 114 formed in the tube 112 comprises, as before, four grooves 119 separated by a core 158. The core 158 is integral with the closure wall 123, which defines the end of the tube 112 opposite the sleeve 111; it is also integral with the cylindrical wall which defines the tube 112. The wall 123 has four orifices 124 in the extension of the grooves 119; it is molded in one piece with the tube 112. The branch 115 of the ejection channel 114 is a cylindrical recess formed at the base of the core 158; this cylindrical recess has an intersection with the walls which define the grooves 119, to provide communication zones 117 between the branches 115 and 116 of the ejection channel 114. The base of the sleeve 111 is identical to that of the sleeve 11 and receives the outlet tube 107 from the container valve 101. The movable part 109 comprises a push button 113 identical to that of the embodiment in FIG. 1. The fixed part 110 is identical to the fixed part 10: an opening 138 therefore cooperates with a conical needle 127 carried by the wall 123.

The movable part 109 is molded in one piece by using a cylindrical pin in the mold to define the base of the sleeve 111 and the branch 115 of the ejection channel and four pins to define the grooves 119 and the orifices 124, these four pins coming to bear on the first by their end opposite to that of the orifice 124, in order to define the communication zones 117.

The operation and the advantages of this variant are the same as those defined by the first embodiment.

Claims (4)

1. A container for the packaging of a product and its dis­pensing by actuating a push button (13, 113) with a view to producing the ejection of the said product via an ejection duct (14, 114) cut in a movable part (9, 109) wherewith the said push button (13, 113) is integral, wherein the said ejection duct (14, 114) issues in a chamber delimited by a fixed part (10, 110) attached to the container (1, 101) and constituting, together with the said movable part (9, 109), a dispensing head (8, 108), the said chamber opening out towards the outside via an opening (38, 138), the movable part (9, 109) comprising a means (27, 127) capable of obturating the said opening (38, 138) in the rest position of the said push button (13, 113) and of releasing it when the latter is actu­ated, wherein the movable part (9, 109) of the dispensing head is terminated by an ejection tube (12, 112) which delimits the outlet end of the ejection duct (14, 114) and whose axis is parallel to the direction in which the push button (13, 113) is manipulated, the said ejection tube (12, 112) being closed at its free end by an obturating wall (23, 123) slidably mounted in a guideway of the fixed part (10, 110); the means (27, 127) for obturating the opening (38, 138) cut in the fixed part (10, 110) being constituted by a protuberance carried in the wall (23, 123) obturating the said ejection tube (12, 112), and wherein the wall (23, 123) obturating the ejection tube (12, 112) comprises a plurality of slots (24, 124) regularly distributed at the periphery of the said wall (23, 123), and all fed by the ejection duct (14, 114), characterized in that the ejection duct (14, 114) comprises passageways (19, 119) whereof each issues opposite a slot (24, 124), these passageways being fed in parallel via the inlet end of the ejection duct (14, 114) and being separated from each other by a core.

2. A container according to Claim 1, characterized in that the obturating wall (23) and the core separating the passage­ways (19) constitute an element (28) moulded separately and force-fitted in the ejection tube (12) until it comes to bear on the wall (23) on the free edge of the ejection tube (12).

3. A container according to Claim 1, characterized in that the obturating wall (123) and the core (158) separating the passageways (119) are moulded with the rest of the movable part (110), the axes of the outlet tube (107) of the valve of the container (101) and of the ejection tube (112) being identical.

4. Application of the container according to one of Claims 1 to 3, to the packaging of self-foaming foams.

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