EP0337867B1 - Rechargeable dispenser with a moving piston - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a product dispenser, in particular of a compact, solid or pasty product, said product being pushed step by step into a reservoir by a piston subjected to a translation controlled by the user. Such a device can be used, for example, for the distribution of cosmetic products, in particular a lipstick or a compacted powder.

To date, there are already distributors of the type indicated above on the market. In these distributors, the piston which pushes the product to be dispensed in the direction of the dispensing orifice is controlled by a very complicated assembly: the piston is mounted at the end of a threaded rod, which cooperates with a fixed nut integral with the reservoir which contains the product; the threaded rod is movable in rotation by means of a mechanism which transforms the action of the user on the push button of the dispenser into a rotation of low angular amplitude; the rotation of the threaded rod, which cooperates with the aforementioned fixed nut, results in a translation of said rod relative to the reservoir of an amplitude the smaller the lower the rotation of the rod, on the one hand, and that the thread pitch of the rod is smaller, on the other hand. There is thus obtained, for each action on the push-button of the distributor, a translation of the piston of a few hundredths of a millimeter, which is entirely satisfactory for the distribution of the product. A dispenser of this type, which can be used for a liquid product, is described in particular in French patent 2,555,471.

However, the mechanism, which is interposed between the push button and the piston, is very expensive because, on the one hand, of the number of parts which constitute it, on the other hand, of the complexity of the molding of the parts and, finally, the difficulty of mounting said mechanism. However, the operation of such a mechanism is irreversible because when the piston arrives in the vicinity of the dispensing orifice of the reservoir, it is not possible to reverse said piston to reload the reservoir because the only possibility of return rear would be a reverse screwing of the threaded rod in its nut, which is, of course, not possible at the level of the user. It follows that the mechanism of such a dispenser must be considered as disposable, since it cannot be reused when the tank is empty, and the price of such a mechanism considerably increases the cost price of the dispenser filled with the product to be dispensed. In the case of dispensing cosmetic products, since the overall volume of the dispenser must be reduced to allow the user to transport it easily, for example in a handbag, the reservoir is necessarily of reduced capacity and, by Consequently, the high price of the mechanism increases the price of a low-capacity packaging, which is particularly unfavorable from a commercial point of view.

The object of the invention is to provide a dispenser of the type defined above in which the reservoir is interchangeable; in other words, it is proposed to reuse the expensive part of the packaging with refills, which makes it possible to amortize the high price of the mechanism on the distribution of a larger quantity of product. It has already been planned to have a distributor made up of two sub-assemblies, one of the sub-assemblies comprising the control mechanism of the threaded threaded rod, the other sub-assembly comprising the reservoir of product to be dispensed, reservoir in which penetrates a pusher piston controlled by the threaded rod, the second subset being removably secured to the first subset. Such a dispenser is described in US Pat. No. 3,358,699 serving as a basis for the preamble of claim 1. which relates to a dispenser of a product contained in a cylindrical tank of any section, in which said product is disposed between the orifice of distribution and a piston movable in translation in the reservoir, the piston being mounted at the end of a threaded rod which cooperates with a fixed nut carried by a support integral with the reservoir, the threaded rod being movable in rotation in order to obtain the translation of the piston and product distribution, the nut support comprising a means of attachment to the reservoir allowing said reservoir to be removed from said support, and the nut, which cooperates with the threaded rod, being split along at least one plane diametral over the entire height of its threaded bore, the nut sectors being held together by a flexible zone, which secures the nut s ur support. This arrangement, effectively, allows disengagement of the threaded rod, which cooperates with the fixed nut of the mechanism, so that this threaded rod can, while it has been placed in a fully protruding position for the complete distribution of the dose contained in a first reservoir, be re-inserted into the mechanism in the position which corresponds to the start of the distribution of the product contained in a reservoir full. The split nut, which cooperates with the threaded rod, allows it, in the threaded zone where it cooperates with said threaded rod, to open when the half-nuts constituted by the slot are not forced one towards the other. The nut is immobilized relative to the sub-assembly comprising the reservoir of product to be dispensed, while the other sub-assembly rotates the threaded rod when it is itself subjected to rotation, the threaded sectors of the nut being held in contact with the threads of the rod by a sleeve integral with the sub-assembly comprising the product reservoir and a grip ring; such a distributor has the disadvantage of mobilizing both hands to advance the piston, since, to do this, it is necessary to rotate the first sub-assembly relative to the second; in addition, here too, the number of parts is large and the device relatively complicated.

The present invention relates to a dispenser which does not have these drawbacks.

To constitute the second sub-assembly, the reservoir is integral with a sleeve, which covers the nut and which has a conical bearing ensuring the tightening of the two half-nuts towards each other when the second sub-assembly is secured to the first: in this position, the threaded rod meshes with the thread of the nut. On the contrary, when the second sub-assembly is released from the first sub-assembly, the two half-nuts are not pushed towards each other and, in this case, any axial thrust carried out on the piston causes a depression of the threaded rod between the two half-nuts which move slightly apart to allow its passage, the threads of the rod rubbing on the threads of the half-nuts. We therefore see that thus, when after a complete distribution of the product contained in a tank, we proceed to the establishment of a new tank, the piston abuts on the rear limit face of the product to be dispensed contained in the new tank, when this new tank is placed on the mechanism; under the action of this stop, the piston moves back towards the mechanism when the reservoir is moved in the direction of said mechanism for its installation; this retraction of the piston takes place until it is put in the initial position and, at this time, the conical bearing of the reservoir ensures the tightening towards one another of the two half-nuts, which puts the threaded rod in engagement with the 'nut and allows the start of a new distribution cycle of the product contained in the new tank in place. When the product to be dispensed is a compact, solid or pasty product, the rear limit face on which the piston rests when installing a new reservoir is constituted by the product filling limit plane and the orifice distribution may be arbitrary; if the product to be dispensed is liquid, the dispensing orifice is of small section or constituted by a porous element, such as a point, and the rear limiting face may be a tear-off cover or displaceable by the piston. It should be noted that the dispensing orifice can also be constituted by a flocked endpiece or a nozzle in the form of a brush, brush, foam or flocked applicator. In addition, as previously indicated, when the product to be dispensed is liquid, the piston may itself constitute the cover defining the rear limit face of the product loaded in the reservoir. When the piston is used to constitute the rear limit face of the product in the tank, whether this product is liquid or compact, it can be placed in the tank by either end according to the constitution of the dispensing orifice; in certain cases, a bead constituting a stroke limitation can be provided behind the piston.

It should be noted that the same mechanism can be used not only to successively distribute the content of several tanks filled with the same product to be distributed, but also to distribute different products contained in different tanks, for example, lipstick , compacted powder or others.

The present invention therefore has for its object the new industrial product that constitutes a distributor of a product contained in a cylindrical reservoir of any section, in which said product is disposed between the dispensing orifice and a piston displaceable in translation in the tank, the piston being mounted at the end of a threaded rod which cooperates with a fixed nut carried by a support integral with the reservoir, the threaded rod being displaceable in rotation, in order to obtain the translation of the piston and the distribution of the product, the support of the nut comprising a means of attachment to the reservoir allowing the said reservoir to be removed from said support, the nut which cooperates with the threaded rod being split along at least one diametrical plane over the entire height of its threaded bore, the nut sectors being held together by a flexible zone which secures the nut on the support, characterized in that the support carries a mechanism for moving the threaded rod step by step, this movement being caused by action on a displaceable operating member carried by the support, and that the reservoir has a frustoconical bearing, which is applied to a corresponding frustoconical bearing of the nut and / or the support, when the removable tank is secured to the support to ensure the pinching of the nut sectors around the threaded rod driven by the mechanism.

In a preferred embodiment, the operating member of the mechanism is a push button arranged at the part of the dispenser which is opposite the dispensing orifice; the nut is split along a single diametrical plane and is fixed to one end of the support by snap-fastening.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the reservoir and the support have a cylindrical shape of circular cross section; in this case, the means for securing the reservoir to the support can be a screwing means; the reservoir can then be made up of two cylindrical parts of different internal diameters, connected together by the frustoconical bearing which ensures the pinching of the nut sectors, the part of smaller diameter containing the product to be dispensed and the other constituting a sheath which encloses the support, said sleeve carrying, at its free end, a thread which cooperates with a thread carried by the end of the support where the operating member is arranged. The second sub-assembly of the distributor is therefore designated by the global term "reservoir"; this "reservoir" consists of a part tank, where the product is located, and a sleeve, which is formed of the frustoconical part and of the aforementioned sheath.

According to an interesting embodiment, the nut is engaged in one end of the support and is fixed therein by means of latching lugs, one end of the nut remaining outside the support and forming the frustoconical bearing, which cooperates with that of the tank; the nut has two latching tabs, the middle lines of which are in the diametrical plane along which the nut is split.

To facilitate the separation of the nut sectors at the moment when the threaded rod is reintroduced inside the mechanism, when a new reservoir is put in place, it is sought to reduce the rigidity of the flexible zone of the nut, which is located between the fixing of the nut on the support and the threaded part. To do this, it can be provided that the nut slot at the level of its thread opens out, on either side of the nut, into a peripheral slot, which extends over less than 180 ° to allow a side wall zone forming the flexible zone of the nut and connecting the threaded part with the means for fixing the nut to the support.

When the nut is engaged in one end of the support, it is preferable to also reduce the rigidity of the end of the support which surrounds the nut, so that the side wall of the support is not itself an obstacle to the spacing of the nut sectors.

According to one embodiment, the nut is split along a single diametral plane, this nut being engaged in one end of the support and being fixed therein by means of two latching tabs, the mean lines of which are in the diametrical plane along the nut is split, one end of the nut remaining outside the support and forming the frustoconical bearing which cooperates with that of the reservoir, the latching tabs of the nut carrying the male parts of the latching, and the support carrying recesses constituting the female parts of the latching, an axial slot and a peripheral slot opening into each female part, the peripheral slot extending symmetrically on either side of said female part over less than 90 ° .

• a) un entraîneur solidaire du bouton-poussoir, guidé en translation dans le support par des rainures et crénelé en V à sa bordure opposée au bouton-poussoir, ledit entraîneur étant poussé par un ressort de rappel contre une butée du support;
• b) un barillet à ailettes périphériques, radiales et parallèles à l'axe dudit barillet, ce barillet étant traversé selon son axe par la tige filetée du mécanisme, ladite tige portant au moins un méplat et traversant le barillet par un alésage de même section, de sorte que toute rotation du barillet entraîne une rotation de la tige, les ailettes du barillet ayant des extrémités obliques par rapport à l'axe du barillet, en vis-à-vis des créneaux de l'entraîneur, le ressort de rappel qui agit sur l'entraîneur étant disposé entre le barillet et l'extrémité du support qui est opposée au bouton-poussoir;
• c) en saillie sur la paroi interne du support, un relief en dents de scie, qui coopère avec les extrémités obliques des ailettes en constituant pour elles une butée, les créneaux de l'entraîneur ayant le même pas angulaire que les dents de scie mais les sommets desdits créneaux étant angulairement décalés par rapport aux sommets des dents de scie.

Although the dispenser according to the invention can be used with any mechanism making it possible to obtain a stepwise rotation of the threaded rod, the invention can advantageously be used with a known mechanism which inside the support, includes:

• a) a trainer integral with the push button, guided in translation in the support by grooves and crenellated in V at its edge opposite the push button, said trainer being pushed by a return spring against a stop of the support;
• b) a barrel with peripheral fins, radial and parallel to the axis of said barrel, this barrel being traversed along its axis by the threaded rod of the mechanism, said rod carrying at least one flat part and passing through the barrel by a bore of the same section, so that any rotation of the barrel causes rotation of the rod, the fins of the barrel having ends oblique to the axis of the barrel, facing the slots of the driver, the return spring which acts on the driver being disposed between the barrel and the end of the support which is opposite to the push button;
• c) projecting on the internal wall of the support, a sawtooth relief, which cooperates with the oblique ends of the fins by constituting for them a stop, the slots of the coach having the same angular pitch as the saw teeth but the tops of said slots being angularly offset with respect to the tops of the saw teeth.

In addition to the various advantages which have been mentioned previously, the dispenser according to the invention allows an improvement in terms of its implementation by the user. In fact, in the distributors of the state of the art, the reservoir is generally not filled to the brim to avoid overflowing at the time of filling, taking into account the filling tolerances; however, when the mechanism is put in place, the piston is at the low end of its stroke; it follows that, to initiate the distribution, it is necessary to operate the mechanism a large number of times to cause the product to be dispensed, by translation of the piston, to come out of the dispensing orifice. In an existing commercial embodiment comprising a push button and ensuring the distribution of a lipstick, it is necessary, for example, to press the push button twenty times to initiate the exit of the lipstick. In the device according to the invention, this drawback can be avoided for any installation of a product refill as soon as the dispensing orifice generates a significant pressure drop: in fact, it suffices when one causes the insertion of the threaded rod between the nut sectors, ensuring sufficient friction so that, during this insertion, the piston is pushed towards the dispensing orifice until the product is flush with the orifice dispensing, the subsequent outlet of the product being prevented by the high pressure drop in the dispensing orifice itself. We therefore see that when the refill is placed on the mechanism, the device is then ready for use without the need for a priming stroke.

To better understand the object of the invention, we will now describe, by way of purely illustrative and non-limiting example, a embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing.

• la figure 1 représente, schématiquement en coupe, un distributeur selon l'invention dans la position qui correspond au début de la distribution du produit chargé dans le réservoir ;
• la figure 2 représente le distributeur de la figure 1 dans la position qui correspond à la fin de la distribution du produit contenu dans le réservoir ;
• la figure 3 représente la mise en place d'un nouveau réservoir plein sur le mécanisme du distributeur dans la position qu'il a atteint à la figure 2 ;
• la figure 4 représente, en perspective, l'écrou fendu du mécanisme du distributeur des figures 1 à 3 ;
• la figure 5 représente, en perspective, le support du mécanisme et de l'écrou, l'écrou étant mis en place en tête du support, la tige filetée ayant été enlevée pour une meilleure lecture du dessin et le réservoir n'étant pas fixé sur le support de mécanisme ;
• la figure 6 représente, en perspective éclatée, les différentes pièces constitutives du mécanisme ;
• la figure 7 représente une coupe de la tige filetée selon VII-VII de la figure 6 ;
• la figure 8 représente, en détail et en perspective, la loupe A de la figure 6 ;
• la figure 9 représente la loupe B de la figure 6 ;
• les figures 10 à 13 représentent des schémas cinématiques illustrant le fonctionnement du mécanisme ;
• les figures 14 à 17 représentent les coupes portant les numéros de référence correspondants sur les figures 10 à 13 respectivement.

On this drawing :

• Figure 1 shows, schematically in section, a dispenser according to the invention in the position which corresponds to the start of the distribution of the product loaded in the tank;
• FIG. 2 represents the dispenser of FIG. 1 in the position which corresponds to the end of the dispensing of the product contained in the reservoir;
• Figure 3 shows the establishment of a new full tank on the dispenser mechanism in the position it has reached in Figure 2;
• 4 shows, in perspective, the split nut of the dispenser mechanism of Figures 1 to 3;
• Figure 5 shows, in perspective, the support of the mechanism and the nut, the nut being placed at the head of the support, the threaded rod having been removed for a better reading of the drawing and the reservoir not being fixed on the mechanism support;
• FIG. 6 represents, in exploded perspective, the various constituent parts of the mechanism;
• Figure 7 shows a section of the threaded rod along VII-VII of Figure 6;
• Figure 8 shows, in detail and in perspective, the magnifying glass A of Figure 6;
• FIG. 9 represents the magnifying glass B of FIG. 6;
• Figures 10 to 13 show kinematic diagrams illustrating the operation of the mechanism;
• Figures 14 to 17 show the sections with the corresponding reference numbers in Figures 10 to 13 respectively.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, we see that the dispenser according to the invention consists of two sub-assemblies: the first sub-assembly is a reservoir designated by 1; the second sub-assembly is designated by 2 and includes a mechanism.

The reservoir 1 has a generally cylindrical shape; it consists of two cylindrical parts, of circular sections and of different internal diameters, 1 a and 1 b connected to each other by a frustoconical part 1 c . Part 1 a contains product 3 to be distributed: it may be, for example, a lipstick. Part 1 b is a sheath which encloses the sub-assembly 2. The frusto-conical portion 1 c is, internally, a frustoconical bearing surface which cooperates with a corresponding frustoconical surface 2c of the sub-assembly 2.

The sub-assembly 2 comprises, on the side of the product 3 to be dispensed, a piston 4, which is mounted at the end of a threaded rod 5, the section of which comprises two diametrically opposite flats 5 a . The end of the rod 5 forms a circular plate 5 b , having the diameter of the rod 5. The plate 5 b is separated from the threaded part of the rod 5 by a groove 5 c , by means of which the piston 4 is fixed at the end of the rod 5 by snap-fastening (Figures 6 and 7). At the base of the subassembly 2 is disposed a skirt 6, internally threaded, said skirt surrounding the base of a cylindrical tube 7, which constitutes the support of the dispenser mechanism. The free end of the cylindrical part 1b is externally threaded so as to be able to cooperate with the internal thread carried by the skirt 6, which makes it possible to fix the reservoir 1 on the subassembly 2.

At the base of subset 2 is a push button 8, the depression of which allows, by a mechanism which will be described later, to obtain a rotation of an angular pitch of the threaded rod 5. At the head of the support 7 is a nut 9, which is shown in detail in FIG. 4, and with which the threaded rod 5 cooperates. When the user presses the push button 8, it causes a rotation of the threaded rod 5 in the nut 9, which results in a displacement of the threaded rod relative to the reservoir 1; the piston 4 therefore moves from the base to the open end 1 d of the reservoir 1, which makes it possible to expel the product 3 out of the reservoir where it is conditioned, this distribution taking place step by step, each step being of very small amplitude due to the reduction which makes it possible to obtain the mechanism of the sub-assembly 2 between the translation of the push button 8 and that of the piston 4.

The nut 9 of the dispenser which has just been described has a completely particular structure shown in detail in FIG. 4. It is split along a diametrical plane, the slot 10 thus produced extending over the entire height of the threaded bore 11 of the nut. This threaded part is limited on one side by a plate 12, the edge of which constitutes the frustoconical surface 2 c and it is connected, on the other side, to two fixing lugs 13 by a flexible zone 14. The flexible zone 14 is a cylindrical wall of small width and thinness, which is delimited on either side by two peripheral slots 15 each extending over a little less than 180 °, symmetrically with respect to a diametrical plane perpendicular to that of the slot 10. The middle lines of the legs 13 lie in the plane of the slot 10; the tabs 13 each have, near their free end, a boss 16 intended to snap into a housing of corresponding shape 17 made in the wall of the support 7.

The support 7 has the form of a cylindrical tube of circular section; its end opposite to the push button 8 receives the nut 9 so that the plate 12 comes to apply as a protruding cover on the end of the support 7. The end of the support 7, which encloses the nut 9, is slotted along two generators at the right of the housings 17, which gives rise to two axial slots 18. In addition, there is provided, on each side of each housing 17, a peripheral slot 19 extending over less than 90̸ °. The presence of the slots 18 and 19 in the wall of the support 7 where the nut 9 is inserted allows easy separation of the two parts of this cylindrical wall separated by the slot 18: in this way, the wall of the support 7 does not prevent the spacing of the two nut sectors or half-nuts separated by the slot 10̸. In other words, the wall of the support 7 has been made deformable thanks to the slots 19 in the same way as the area 14 had been made flexible thanks to the slots 15. It follows that, under the effect of a stress even weak, the two half-nuts separated by the slot 10 f can deviate. A slight clearance has been provided between the support 7 and the cylindrical part 1b to allow this spacing.

When the first sub-assembly 2 has been used for the complete emptying of a reservoir 1, as shown in FIG. 2, the reservoir 1 is unscrewed to separate it from the skirt 6 and it is replaced by a new full reservoir, as represented in FIG. 3. The rod 5 is completely extended from the support 7 and when the support 7 is engaged in the cylindrical part 1b , the piston 4 comes to bear against the rear face of the product 3 packaged in the tank . If you force to further engage the support 7 in the cylindrical part 1b , the thread of the rod 5 causes the separation of the two half-nuts separated by the slot 10̸, since nothing tightens one towards the other these two half-nuts and that these can deviate under the action of the axial thrust which is transformed into a separation force by the support of the threads of the rod 5 on the threads of the threaded bore 11. The rod 5 therefore slides with friction in the nut 9 until it returns to the position qu 'it occupied in Figure 1, that is to say in the position where it is completely retracted inside the support 7, the piston 4 being substantially supported on the plate 12 of the nut 9. When one arrives in this position, the frustoconical bearing 1 c comes to rest on the frustoconical bearing 2 c of the plate 12, which causes the locking in position of the two half-nuts, which can no longer move apart. The threads of the bore 11 therefore return to engage with those of the threaded rod 5, which allows, if one causes, by the mechanism contained in the support 7, a rotation of the threaded rod 5, to cause a translation of the latter relative to the reservoir and therefore distribution of the product 3.

It is therefore seen that, thanks to the device which has been described, it is possible to reuse the first sub-assembly 2 for the distribution of the product contained in several reservoirs which will be successively adjusted to the same sub-assembly 2. In this way, the distributor in question becomes interesting and commercially exploitable since the high price of sub-assembly 2 can be amortized over the distribution of the product contained in several tanks.

In FIGS. 6 to 17, the mechanism contained in the support 7 has been described schematically, a mechanism which is of known type (see in particular French patent 2,555,471) and which allows, for each depression of the push button 8, causing a displacement of a few hundredths of a millimeter of the piston 4.

In Figure 6, we see that the support 7 has internally an annular stop 20, which cooperates by its lower edge with the upper edge 21 of the push button 8, and by its upper edge with the lower flange 22 of a driver 23 forced into the push button 8 to be secured. The driver 23 comprises, above the flange 22, a cylindrical zone whose upper edge 24 is crenellated in a V; the border 24 carries eight vertices of V. As will be explained below, the driver 23 is subjected to the action of a return spring 25, which tends to project the push button 8 outwards and , therefore, to press the flange 22 on the annular stop 20. When the user presses the push-button, the push-button 8 is depressed until the edge 21 comes into abutment on the underside of the annular stop 20. The distance between the flange 22 and the edge 21 therefore gives the stroke limit of the push button 8.

The right of the driver 23 is a barrel 27 which comprises in projecting relationship at its periphery, four fins 26 directed radially and parallel to the axis of the barrel 27. The lower end 26a of the fins 26 is tapered as it is clearly visible in Figure 9, the obliquity of the ends 26 a with respect to the common axis of the barrel 27 and the driver 23 being the same as that of the edges of V of the edge 24. at the upper part of the barrel 27 is a plate 28, on which the spring 25 of the mechanism is supported, the other end of said spring 25 being supported on the edge bottom of the nut 9, that is to say on the face of the nut 9 which is opposite to the plate 12. The ends 26 has fins 26 are therefore pushed in the direction of the edge 24.

On the internal face of its side wall, the support 7 comprises, above the annular stop 20̸, a sawtooth relief. The saw teeth have oblique edges 30̸ whose obliquity relative to the axis of the support 7, is equal to that of the edges of the V of the edge 24; they are 8 in number; the vertices 31 of each sawtooth are connected to the annular stop 20 by edges parallel to the generatrices of the support 7 and each sawtooth is divided into two parts of equal widths: a part 29 a forming a slight relief relative to the wall of the support 7 and a part 29 b forming a greater relief.

If we call P the angular pitch of a sawtooth, we see that the crenellated border 24 carries slots separated by the same angular pitch but the vertices 24 c of the V-shaped slots of the border 24 are offset by P / 4 with respect to the apex 31. The width of the fins 26 is equal to P / 2.

Externally, the part of the driver 23, which is above the flange 22, carries grooves 24 d having a width of P / 2, two grooves being separated from each other by a groove 24 b having a width of P / 2, the grooves being arranged in line with the vertices 24 c of the crenellated edge 24, symmetrically with respect to the generatrix passing through each of these vertices.

Figures 10̸ to 13 show the kinematic diagrams of the operation of this mechanism. In FIG. 10̸, it can be seen that the crenellated edge 24 is pushed upwards according to the arrow F by the push button 8 to arrive at the dotted position 24 a . The fins 26 are supported on the low points of the saw teeth. When the crenellated edge arrives in position 24 a , it begins to lift the fin 26 according to arrow F0 and this lifting continues until the lower edge of the fin 26 arrives at the edge 31. As soon as this level has been exceeded, the spring 25 by pushing on the fin 26 causes its rotation in the direction of the arrow F1 (FIG. 11) and the fin 26, which was initially, relative to the edge 24, in the position shown in dashed lines in Figure 11, turns to come into the position shown in solid lines where its lower edge is at the bottom of the V-shaped slot, which was closest to its initial position. If the pressure on the push-button 8 is then released, the fin 26 bearing on the crenellated edge 24 descends according to arrow F2 (FIG. 12) and the fin 26 again comes to rest on an oblique face 30̸ of the sawtooth border; as the displacement along arrow F2 of the crenellated edge 24, the fin 26 begins to move in rotation in the direction of arrow F3; when the crenellated edge 24 passes entirely below the sawtooth profile, by a movement along arrow F5 (see FIG. 13), the fin 26 moves suddenly according to arrow F4 until its lower edge is at the low point of a sawtooth.

We therefore see that the movement of the fin 26 occurred in three stages: on the one hand, a first sudden rotation of P / 4 at the moment when the crenellated profile 24 passes over the sawtooth profile 30̸ (Figure 11); on the other hand, a gradual rotation of P / 2 as the descent of the crenellated profile 24 (Figure 12); and, finally, a sudden rotation of P / 4 when the crenellated profile 24 passes below the sawtooth profile 30̸ (FIG. 13). For a pushing operation on the pusher 8, a barrel rotation is therefore obtained equal to an angular pitch P. Since the threaded rod 5 passes through the barrel 27 through an orifice whose cross section is equal to that of said threaded rod, any rotation of the barrel 27 causes, due to the presence of the flats 5 a on the threaded rod 5, a rotation of equal value of the threaded rod. In other words, the threaded rod 5 rotates by one step P each time the push-button is pressed, that is to say by an eighth of a turn. Since the thread pitch of the rod 5 can be approximately half a millimeter, it can be seen that each action on the push button causes the rod to move approximately 0.06 millimeter.

Figures 14 to 17 show the corresponding reference sections in Figures 10 to 13 respectively, the positions of the fin 26 in front of the cutting plane having been shown in phantom.

Claims (11)

1. A dispenser of a product (3) contained in a cylindrical container (1) of any cross-section, wherein the said product (3) is disposed between the dispensing opening (1d) and a piston (4) that is displaceable in translation in the container (1), the piston (4) being mounted at the end of a threaded stem (5) which cooperates with a fixed nut (9) carried by a support (7) joined to the container (1), the threaded stem (5) being displaceable in rotation so as to obtain the translation of the piston (4) and the dispensing of the product (3), the support (7) for the nut (9) comprising a means (6) for joining it to the container (1) allowing the said container (1) to be detached from the said support (7), the nut (9) which cooperates with the threaded stem (5) being slit along at least one diametral plane over the whole height of its threaded bore (11), the nut segments being kept together by a flexible zone (14) which ensures the fixing of the nut (9) to the support (7), characterized in that the support (7) carries a mechanism for the stepwise rotational displacement of the threaded stem (5), this movement being produced by action on a displaceable handling element (8) carried by the support (7), and that the container (1) includes a frustoconical bearing surface (1c) which comes to be applied to a corresponding bearing surface (2c) of the nut (9) and/or of the support (7) when the container (1) is joined to the support (7) to ensure that the nut segments are squeezed round the threaded stem (5) which is driven by the mechanism.
2. A dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that the element for handling the mechanism is a push button (8) disposed on the portion of the dispenser that is on the opposite side to the dispensing opening (1d).
3. A dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the nut (9) is slit along a single diametral plane and is fixed to one end of the support (7) by catch engagement.
4. A dispenser according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the container (1) and the support (7) have a cylindrical shape with a circular cross-section.
5. A dispenser according to claim 4, characterized in that the means for joining the container (1) to the support (7) is a screwing means.
6. A dispenser according to the set of claims 3 and 5, characterized in that the container (1) is constituted by two cylindrical portions (1a, 1b) with different internal diameters joined to each other by the frustoconical portion (1c) which ensures the squeezing of the nut segments, the portion (1a) with the smaller diameter containing the product (3) to be dispensed and the other (1b) forming a sleeve which surrounds the support (7), the said sleeve carrying at its free end a thread that cooperates with a thread carried by the end of the support (7) where the handling element (8) is disposed.
7. A dispenser according to the set of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the nut (9) is engaged in one end of the support (7) and is secured in the latter by means of catch engagement tabs (13), one end of the nut (9) remaining outside the support and forming the frustoconical bearing surface (2c) which cooperates with that (1c) of the container (1).
8. A dispenser according to claim 7, characterized in that the nut (9) comprises two catch engagement tabs (13) whose median lines lie in the diametral plane along which the nut (9) is slit.
9. A dispenser according to claim 3, characterized in that at the level of its thread, the slot (10) opens out on either side of the nut (9) into a peripheral slot (15) which extends over at least 180° to leave in existence a lateral wall zone forming the flexible zone (14) of the nut (9) and joining the threaded portion with the means for fixing the nut (9) to the support (7).
10. A dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that the nut (9) is slit along a single diametral plane, this nut (9) being engaged in one end of the support (7) and being secured in the latter by means of two catch engagement tabs (13) whose median lines lie in the diametral plane along which the nut is slit, one end of the nut (9) remaining outside the support (7) and forming the frustoconical bearing surface (2c) which cooperates with that (1c) of the container (1),
       and that the catch engagement tabs (13) of the nut (9) carry the male parts (16) of the catch engagement, and the support (7) carries the cutouts (17) constituting the female parts of the catch engagement, an axial slot (18) and a peripheral slot (19) opening out into each female part (17), the peripheral slot (19) extending symmetrically on either side of the said female part over at least 90°.
11. A dispenser according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that inside the support (7), the mechanism includes :

    a) a driver (23) rigidly connected to the push button (8), guided in translation in the support (7) by grooves and having V-shaped crenellations on its edge (24) on the opposite side to the push button (8), the said driver (23) being pushed by a restoring spring (25) against a stop (20) of the support (7) ;

    b) a small barrel (27) with peripheral flanges (26) which are radial and parallel to the axis of the said barrel, this barrel (27) being traversed along its axis by the threaded stem (5) of the mechanism, the said stem carrying at least one half-flat traversing the barrel (27) through a bore with the same cross-section as its own, so that any rotation of the barrel (27) entails a rotation of the stem (5), the flanges (26) of the barrel (27) having ends (26a) that slant relative to the axis of the barrel (27) opposite the crenellations of the driver (23), the restoring spring (25) which acts on the driver (23) being disposed between the barrel (27) and the end of the support (7) which is on the opposite side to the push button (8).

    c) projecting over the internal wall of the support (7), a sawtooth-shaped profile (30) which cooperates with the slanting ends (26a) of the flanges (26) by constituting a stop for them, the crenellations of the driver (23) having the same angular pitch as the sawteeth, but the tips of the said crenellations being angularly offset relative to the tips (31) of the sawteeth (30).

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