EP0328793B1

EP0328793B1 - Machine for the production of packages of powder cosmetic products and package thus obtained

Info

Publication number: EP0328793B1
Application number: EP19880202497
Authority: EP
Inventors: Dario Ferrari
Original assignee: Intercos Italiana SpA
Current assignee: Intercos Italiana SpA
Priority date: 1988-01-22
Filing date: 1988-11-09
Publication date: 1993-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 2008-11-09
Also published as: DE3880822T2; DE3880822D1; ES2040327T3; EP0328793A1

Description

The present invention is concerned with a machine for the production of packages of powder cosmetic products.
Current packages of powder cosmetic products include a rigid case equipped with one or more shaped cavities to receive the respective cosmetic powders previously introduced and pressed in small boxes or bases made of metal or plastic, for example as disclosed in US-A-1 757 370.
These packages have a drawback in that the packaging operation has to be carried out in two steps, first the introduction and pressing of the powders in their respective small boxes and secondly the transfer of the small boxes full of powder to the respective cavities or hollow spaces of the case.
This implies a manufacturing process which is comparatively long and laborious and the necessity of storing a certain quantity of small cases before and after their filling. Moreover the final aesthetic presentation is not ideal because the edges of the small boxes are inevitably visible between the walls of the case's cavities and the pressed powders. Lastly the use of small metal boxes, far more widespread than the plastic ones, constitutes a limitation of the variety of figures which can be obtained with the cosmetic products.
In view of this state of the art, the object of the present invention is to realize a machine to allow the production of powder cosmetic product packages without the above drawbacks.
According to the invention said object has been achieved with a machine as defined in the claim.
In this way the manufacturing process is faster, since the step wherein the transfer of the filled boxes from the filling machine to the case is saved. Any storage need is eliminated and the cost of the package itself is lower thanks to the absence of the small box and its corresponding processing. The final aesthetic appearance is much better and the variety of the figures which can be accomplished is substantially increased.
An embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, as a non-limiting example, in the enclosed drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a top plan of a portion of a multi-cavity case, ready to receive cosmetic powders according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 shows the same case in a cross-section along the line II-II of Fig. 1, positioned in a filling and pressing machine according to the present invention;
Fig.s 3 to 7 show a succession of operating steps of the machine of Fig. 2;
Fig. 8 shows a top plan of the package of cosmetic products at the end of the filling and pressing step carried out by the machine of Fig. 2.

Fig. 1 shows a portion of the part of the base 1 of a rigid case, whose lid has been removed for greater clarity of the drawing.
Said part of the base is equipped with a plurality of shaped cavities 2 for receiving the respective cosmetic powders and with a further elongated cavity 3 to receive a small brush to be used in taking out the powders.
In Fig. 2 the above part of the base of the case is shown inserted into a filling and pressing machine 4 according to the invention, which includes in general a mobile frame 5, means for feeding the cosmetic powders 6 and slidable pressing pistons 7.
The mobile frame 5 has a peripheral outline which coincides substantially with that of the group of cavities 2 of the case 1 and is divided into as many parallel vertical compartments 8 as there are cavities as above, each compartment 8 having the same section and arrangement of a corresponding cavity 2 so that it can be placed over it as if it were an upward continuation of it. To this end the lower extremities of the surrounding and dividing walls 9 of the different compartments have shapes 10 which can be combined with the upper extremities of the corresponding surrounding and dividing walls 11 of the cavities 2 of the case.
Each compartment 8 of the mobile frame 5 is associated with a corresponding means 6 for supplying cosmetic powder consisting of a hopper 12 and a screw feeder 13 passing through an opening 14 of the corresponding wall 9 of the frame 5. The opening 14 has a height such that it permits the vertical movement of the frame 5 without it being necessary to withdraw the screw feeder 13.
Inside each compartment 8 of the mobile frame 5 there is a respective pressing piston 7 housed in a slidable way, whose cross-section is identical with that of the respective compartment 8 and therefore with the underlying cavity 2 of the case 1. The various pressing pistons 7 have their respective stems 15 which are integral with one another (as are the pistons 7) by means of a common plate 16 equipped with an appropriate operating means 17.
The machine also comprises a further pressing piston 18 (Fig. 6), which is equipped with a pressing face 19 with a shape that is complementary to that of the cavity group 2 of the case 1 and is in particular equipped with grooves 20 for receiving the upper extremity of the case's dividing walls 9.
In Fig. 1 the machine according to the invention is shown in its position at rest, with the frame 5 raised with respect to the case 1, which is still empty.
As shown in Fig. 3, the first operating step consists in lowering the frame 5 so that its walls 9 are up against the cases's underlying walls 11.
By operating the screw feeders 13 predetermined amounts (either the same or different from one another) of cosmetic powders 21 are fed to the various compartments 8 of the mobile frame 5 and from here to the respective cavities 2 of the case (Fig. 4).
At this point the pressing pistons 7 are lowered to effect a partial pressing of the powders in the different cavities 2, so that the powders themselves are sufficiently compacted to continue the process (Fig. 5).
In the subsequent step the frame 5 is removed and the pressing piston 18 (Fig. 6) is positioned above the case 1, to be lowered (or the case may be raised) so that the powders which have been previously introduced and partially pressed in the cavity 2 (Fig. 7) may now be fully compacted, in a uniform way.
When the process is terminated the case 1 is as illustrated in Fig. 8, that is with the cosmetic powders 21 well pressed in the cavities 2, which act as direct containers for the powders themselves.
Finally a small brush 22 for taking out the powders is introduced into cavity 3.
Note that the shape of the case 1 and the number and shape of the cavities are purely indicative. With the process as described and with a machine equipped with frame 5 and with appropriately shaped pressing pistons 7 it is actually possible to prepare packages of any other shape, given the principle that the powders are directly introduced and pressed into the case's different cavities.

Claims

Machine for the production of a powder cosmetic product package comprising a case (1) equipped with a plurality of shaped cavities (2), characterized in that it includes a mobile frame (5) with tubular compartments (8), which frame can be superimposed over said case (1) so that each compartment (8) coincides with a respective cavity (2) of the case (1), respective means (6) for the controlled feeding of cosmetic powders associated with said compartments (8) and individual pressing pistons (7) housed in a slidable way in said compartments (8) for partially pressing the powders (21) fed in said compartments (8) and in the underlying cavities (2) of the case, there being moreover a further pressing piston (18) which is equipped with a pressing face (19) shaped in a complementary manner to the assembly comprising said cavities (2) of the case and which can be superimposed and pressed onto the case itself (1) subsequently to said frame (5) for the final pressing of all the powders previously introduced and partially pressed in said cavities (2) of the case.