EP0546898B1 - Rechargeable device for spraying a fluid - Google Patents

Abstract

Rechargeable device for spraying a fluid, which includes an actuation head (1) and a removable reservoir (100) containing the said fluid, in which the actuation head (1) includes a solenoid (13) and a core (12) sliding axially in the said solenoid between predetermined high and low positions, in which the removable reservoir (100) includes a neck (5) in which a pump (6) is engaged, in which a pusher (10) provided with a side exit nozzle (11) is fixed to a rod for actuating the pump, and the said pusher is fixed, in a removable manner, to the said core (12) by an axial fitting operation onto one end of the said core, and in which the neck (5) of the reservoir includes a removable plug (50) to which the pump (6) is fixed, the said head includes a spraying cavity (105), the device furthermore includes angular positioning members (106, 107) for positioning the said side nozzle opposite the side cavity and precise axial positioning members for positioning the pump (6) at a specified distance from the said solenoid (13), and the pump body (7) is fitted, in sealed contact, into the neck (5) of the reservoir in order to communicate with the said fluid contained in the reservoir. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a rechargeable spraying device for a fluid substance.

In particular, the invention relates to a device comprising a reservoir of fluid substance to be sprayed, a spray pump mounted on said reservoir, and an actuation head comprising automatic actuation means for actuating the pump. Document EP-A-0 401 060 discloses such a device. Because the actuator head is expensive, this device must be rechargeable, which implies that the fluid reservoir and the pump which is attached to it can be dismantled to recharge the device. It is possible to simply replace both the tank and the pump, by a full tank with another pump mounted on it, and to mount the full tank on the actuation head. However, this adds the price of a new pump to the price of each refill, while the pump mounted on the empty tank could still be used: for example, with standard size tanks (for example, 200 ml) and with a actuating head actuating the pump at 40 strokes per second, a conventional piston spray pump of the type usually actuated by hand, molded from plastic, can be used to empty at least ten tanks. Replacing the pump each time the tank is replaced therefore represents an unnecessary expense which significantly increases the cost of using the device.

The present invention therefore aims to provide a device of the type mentioned above, in which the spray pump can be reused on several successive tanks, ensuring good operating reliability, and without posing any difficulties for the user to disassembly of the pump from the empty tank and reassembly on the full tank.

In particular, when the pump is of the piston type, the dose emitted on each actuation depends on the stroke of the piston, which may be small. As the automatic means for actuating the pump comprise an actuating member which presses on the pusher of the pump to actuate the pump, and which moves between a predetermined high position and a low position, the invention also aims the pump is positioned axially with great precision in relation to the head. By way of example, in a device tested experimentally and in which the pump is actuated at 40 Hz, the stroke of the piston is approximately 2.47 mm.

The present invention therefore relates to a rechargeable device for spraying a fluid substance, comprising an actuating head and a removable reservoir containing said fluid substance,

wherein the actuation head comprises an actuator movable between a predetermined high position and a low position, said actuation head having means for moving said actuating member between its high position and its low position,
in which the removable reservoir has a neck in which a pump is engaged, said pump having a hollow pump body which defines a cylindrical pump chamber filled with said substance and in which slides a piston extended axially outward from the pump body by a hollow actuating rod through which said fluid substance leaves the pump, said pump chamber being in communication with said fluid substance contained in the reservoir,
in which a pusher provided with a lateral outlet nozzle is fixed to the actuating rod of the pump, and said actuating member presses on the pusher to actuate the pump, characterized in that the neck of the reservoir has an attached cap on which the pump is fixed, the plug is attached to the neck, the device further comprises angular positioning means for positioning said lateral nozzle angularly relative to the actuation head, and precise axial positioning means for positioning the pump at a determined distance from said means for moving the actuating member, and the pump body is fitted into sealed contact in the neck of the reservoir to establish communication with said fluid substance contained in the reservoir.

According to a first embodiment, the pump operates with air intake and has a lateral air intake orifice, the neck of the tank has a central duct, in fluid communication with a dip tube which extends into the tank, the pump body is fitted with sealing in said central duct, and the neck further comprises an air intake passage formed next to the central conduit and communicating the air intake orifice of the pump with the interior of the tank. The fact that the dip tube is fixed to the neck of the reservoir and not to the pump body, as is usual, is advantageous for at least two reasons. First of all, when the pump mounted on its cap is transported from an empty tank which initially contains a first substance, to a full tank containing a second substance different from the first, the quantity of said fluid substance which is transported with the pump is limited at most to the volume of the pump chamber, generally very small: if the dip tube was mounted on the pump, it could possibly still contain the first fluid substance during its transfer to the full tank, and this would increase the time during which the device sprays a mixture of the two substances. In addition, the fact that the neck of the reservoir communicates with the fluid substance via a dip tube and not directly, greatly limits the possibilities of fraud by partial emptying of the reservoir before its purchase by the consumer, and also in practice prevents a user from refilling his reservoir with a fluid substance without having a suitable refill, which limits the possibilities of improper use of the device.

Advantageously, the central duct is provided with a frangible membrane which closes said central duct before the fixing of the plug, then is broken by the pump body during the fixing of the plug to the neck, and / or the return passage of air is provided with a frangible plugging element which closes said air return passage before the fixing of said plug, then is broken when the plug is fixed on the neck. Thus, it is particularly difficult to empty part of the tank through the neck in order to defraud the quantity of product sold. In addition, when the central duct and the air intake passage are both closed before fitting the plug, the fluid substance contained in the reservoir is protected against any pollution and any oxidation by oxygen in the air, and the fluid substance can optionally be stored under vacuum before fixing the stopper on the neck. Optionally, said frangible element which obstructs the air intake passage may have a projecting part which interferes with the plug or with the pump body during the fixing of said plug. According to an advantageous variant, said plug is fixed to said neck by screwing, said frangible plugging element is a rod which extends axially between a base and a free end, the base of said rod being connected to the neck by a peripheral bridge of frangible material and the stopper comprises a member which extends axially towards the inside of the reservoir, in correspondence with said rod, said member interfering with the free end of the rod by laying down said rod when the stopper is screwed onto the neck, thereby at least partially breaking said peripheral bridge of frangible material.

Optionally, the neck comprises a ring which is irreversibly snapped into said neck, and said ring comprises said central duct and said air return passage. The ring can be internally threaded and the plug externally threaded, the plug then being screwed inside the ring.

• un récipient déformable pouvant être comprimé par un utilisateur,
• un embout ayant des moyens de fixation sensiblement identiques à ceux du bouchon, pour se fixer de façon amovible dans le goulot du réservoir à la place du bouchon, ledit embout se terminant par un conduit de sortie doté d'un canal de sortie qui communique avec ledit récipient déformable, et qui est adapté à se raccorder avec étanchéité au conduit central du goulot, lorsque ledit embout est fixé sur ledit goulot.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the device is combined with a refill to fill the reservoir of said device after it has been emptied by said pump, said refill comprising:

• a deformable container which can be compressed by a user,
• a nozzle having fixing means substantially identical to those of the cap, for removably fixing in the neck of the tank in place of the cap, said nozzle ending in an outlet conduit provided with an outlet channel which communicates with said deformable container, and which is adapted to sealingly connect to the central duct of the neck, when said nozzle is fixed to said neck.

Advantageously, the device has a central conduit provided with a projecting part directed towards the pump body, said refill having an outlet conduit closed by a plug which can open the outlet conduit by pressing into the outlet conduit, said outlet conduit of the refill being adapted to fit tightly on said protruding part of the central duct of the reservoir, and said cap being adapted to abut against said protruding part during this interlocking, to open the outlet duct of the refill.

According to a second embodiment of the invention, the pump operates without air intake, the reservoir is deformable, the neck has a frangible membrane which closes said neck before the fixing of the cap and which is torn by the pump body during of the fixing of the cap on the neck, and the neck comprises sealing means which cooperate with complementary sealing means displaceable with the pump body to establish a seal between the neck and the pump body at the latest when the pump body breaks said frangible membrane.

Advantageously, the neck has a central duct which extends axially between a first end and a second end, the duct has a peripheral internal relief constituting said sealing means, and said frangible membrane is disposed between said internal relief and the first end. of said central duct. Said peripheral inner relief can advantageously be fixed in the vicinity of the frangible membrane. Said peripheral inner relief may include an annular lip formed inside the duct, adapted to be applied radially in leaktight manner against the pump body. In another variant, said duct sealing means comprise a shoulder formed in the duct, between the frangible membrane and its second end, said shoulder being directed towards said second end, said shoulder being adapted to form a seal with an annular seal. , when said annular seal abuts against the shoulder, said annular seal being slidably mounted with friction and with sealing on the pump body and sliding without sealing in the duct.

According to a variant, the neck is formed in the upper part of the tank. In this variant, advantageously, the reservoir comprises at least one deformable wall, said deformable wall is adapted to move between a first position, where the reservoir defines a maximum interior volume, and a second position, where the reservoir defines an interior volume substantially zero, and it further comprises elastic means which urge said deformable wall to its second position, with sufficient force to create in the vicinity of the neck a pressure greater than the vaporization pressure of said product at room temperature, regardless of the position of said deformable wall. Said pressure may be at least equal to atmospheric pressure or at least 20 kPa greater than atmospheric pressure. The deformable wall may have a rigid bottom and a flexible side wall, said elastic means urging the rigid bottom towards the neck, and when the volume of the product contained in the reservoir decreases, the bottom of the deformable wall moves towards the neck while turning over gradually on itself said flexible side wall. The rigid bottom may be thick so as to guide the ascent of said rigid bottom onto the neck. The tank can be placed in a rigid sheath having a shape substantially complementary to the side wall of the tank. According to a variant, said neck comprises a ring which is irreversibly snapped into said neck, and said ring comprises the frangible membrane and the sealing means. Advantageously, said plug comprises air passage means for evacuating the compressed air between said plug and said neck sealing means to the atmosphere, when the plug is mounted on the neck.

Advantageously, in the two embodiments of the invention, the reservoir has a peripheral side wall which does not have symmetry of revolution, a part of said neck is located in the vicinity of the side wall, and the side nozzle of the pusher is oriented. towards said part of the neck adjacent to the side wall: the length of the side nozzle of the pump plunger is thus reduced.

Advantageously, said cap is fixed in a ring fitted into the neck of the reservoir, the neck has a frustoconical interior surface of low conicity, widened towards the outside of the reservoir, and the ring has a complementary frustoconical surface which rests on the interior frustoconical surface neck, to absorb vibrations. The reservoir is advantageously made of low density polyethylene, which gives it sufficient flexibility to absorb the vibrations due to the actuation of the pump.

Advantageously, in the two embodiments of the invention, the cap comprises a part close to the reservoir, having an external shape of revolution around the axis of the actuating member, and a second part remote from the reservoir, having an outer shape which does not have symmetry of revolution, the head has a hooking wall substantially perpendicular to the axis of the actuating member, said hooking wall has a recess having a shape substantially complementary to the shape outside of the first part of the plug, said recess is centered relative to the actuating member of the actuating head, the pusher is removably fitted onto the actuating member when the plug is pressed axially into said recess, and the cap is locked on said attachment wall by a rotational movement of the reservoir and the cap around the actuating member, the reservoir further comprises a handle close to the actuating head, disposed radially relative to the axis of the actuating member, and said actuating head comprises an orthoradial hook for hooking the handle at the end of said movement of rotation of the reservoir and of the cap.

Advantageously, in the two embodiments of the invention, the reservoir comprises means for supporting coded information, for writing on said reservoir coded information, and said electronic control and supply circuit comprises reading means for reading said coded information, said reading means being connected to control means for authorizing or not the operation of the actuating head as a function of said read information.

Advantageously, in the two embodiments of the invention, said means for angular positioning of said side nozzle comprise means for imposing on the plug a determined orientation relative to the head, and guide means for guiding the side nozzle of the pusher in a plane having a particular orientation with respect to the plug. The plug may in particular include a snap-on relief which snaps into the actuating head, thereby fixing the angular position of the plug.

Advantageously, in the two embodiments of the invention, said means for angular positioning of said side nozzle include reliefs formed in correspondence on said ring and said neck to impose on said ring an angular orientation determined with respect to the reservoir, the threads of said ring and said cap cooperating to impose on the cap an angular orientation determined with respect to said ring, said angular positioning means further comprising means for imposing on the reservoir a determined orientation with respect to the head, and guide means for guiding the lateral nozzle of the pusher in a plane having a particular orientation relative to the plug. Optionally, the ring and the plug also have complementary snap-on reliefs to impose on the plug a precise angular orientation relative to the ring.

In the two abovementioned embodiments, the invention also relates to a refill constituted by the reservoir filled with fluid substance, with or without a ring snapped into its neck.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear during the following description of several embodiments of the invention, given by way of nonlimiting examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

• la figure 1 est une vue schématique en perspective d'un dispositif selon une première forme de réalisation de l'invention,
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe d'une forme de réalisation des moyens d'actionnement du dispositif de la figure 1,
• la figure 3 est une vue en coupe d'un exemple de pompe pouvant être employée dans le dispositif de la figure 1,
• la figure 4 est une vue en coupe du réservoir du dispositif de la figure 1, avant remplissage,
• la figure 5 est une vue de détail de la figure 4,
• la figure 6 est une vue en coupe du réservoir de la figure 4 après remplissage et mise en place dans le dispositif de la figure 1,
• les figures 7 et 8 sont des vues en élévation, respectivement de côté et de face, du bouchon du réservoir de la figure 4,
• la figure 8a est une vue en coupe selon la ligne A-A de la figure 8, la pompe étant montée sur le bouchon,
• la figure 9 est une vue en coupe longitudinale d'un autre réservoir utilisable dans le dispositif de la figure 1,
• la figure 10 est une vue de dessus du réservoir de la figure 9,
• la figure 11 est une vue en coupe longitudinale partielle du réservoir des figures 9 et 10, en position d'utilisation, le fond du reservoir étant représenté dans deux positions différentes sur les moitiés droite et gauche du dessin,
• les figures 12 à 15 sont des vues en coupe longitudinale de différentes bagues pouvant être mises en place dans le goulot des réservoirs des figures 4 et 9,
• la figure 16 est une vue en coupe longitudinale d'un autre réservoir utilisable dans le dispositif de la figure 1,
• la figure 17 est une vue de côté du réservoir de la figure 16,
• la figure 18 est une vue de dessus du réservoir de la figure 16,
• la figure 19 est une vue de dessus d'une gaine adaptée à recevoir le réservoir des figures 16 à 18,
• la figure 20 est une vue en perspective d'un dispositif selon une deuxième forme de réalisation de l'invention,
• la figure 21 est une vue en coupe d'un exemple de pompe utilisable dans le dispositif de la figure 20,
• la figure 22 est une vue éclatée du dispositif de la figure 20,
• les figures 23 à 26 illustrent le changement de réservoir dans le dispositif de la figure 20,
• la figure 27 est une en coupe du dispositif de la figure 20,
• la figure 28 est une vue de détail de la figure 27,
• la figure 29 est une vue de face d'un bouchon monté dans le goulot du réservoir du dispositif de la figure 20,
• la figure 30 est une vue de côté du bouchon de la figure 29,
• la figure 31 est une vue de dessus du bouchon de la figure 29,
• la figure 32 est une vue en coupe selon la ligne XXXII-XXXII de la figure 29,
• la figure 33 est une vue en coupe d'une bague encliquetable dans le goulot du réservoir du dispositif de la figure 20,
• la figure 33a est une vue de détail de la membrane frangible de la bague de la figure 33,
• la figure 33b est une vue de dessus de la membrane de la figure 33a,
• la figure 34 est une vue en coupe selon lit ligne XXXIV-XXXIV de la figure 33b,
• la figure 35 est une vue du détail XXXV de la figure 33a,
• la figure 36 est une vue de détail de la bague de la figure 33,
• la figure 37 est une vue en coupe du goulot du réservoir du dispositif de la figure 20,
• la figure 38 est une vue de détail de la partie supérieure du réservoir du dispositif de la figure 20.

In the drawings:

• FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a device according to a first embodiment of the invention,
• FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the actuation means of the device of FIG. 1,
• FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an example of a pump that can be used in the device of FIG. 1,
• FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the reservoir of the device of FIG. 1, before filling,
• FIG. 5 is a detailed view of FIG. 4,
• FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the reservoir of FIG. 4 after filling and positioning in the device of FIG. 1,
• FIGS. 7 and 8 are views in elevation, respectively from the side and from the front, of the tank cap of FIG. 4,
• FIG. 8a is a sectional view along line AA of FIG. 8, the pump being mounted on the plug,
• FIG. 9 is a view in longitudinal section of another tank which can be used in the device of FIG. 1,
• FIG. 10 is a top view of the reservoir of FIG. 9,
• FIG. 11 is a view in partial longitudinal section of the reservoir of FIGS. 9 and 10, in the position of use, the bottom of the reservoir being represented in two different positions on the right and left halves of the drawing,
• FIGS. 12 to 15 are views in longitudinal section of different rings that can be placed in the neck of the tanks of FIGS. 4 and 9,
• FIG. 16 is a view in longitudinal section of another tank which can be used in the device of FIG. 1,
• FIG. 17 is a side view of the reservoir of FIG. 16,
• FIG. 18 is a top view of the reservoir of FIG. 16,
• FIG. 19 is a top view of a sheath adapted to receive the reservoir of FIGS. 16 to 18,
• FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a device according to a second embodiment of the invention,
• FIG. 21 is a sectional view of an example of a pump usable in the device of FIG. 20,
• FIG. 22 is an exploded view of the device in FIG. 20,
• FIGS. 23 to 26 illustrate the change of reservoir in the device of FIG. 20,
• FIG. 27 is a cross-section of the device of FIG. 20,
• FIG. 28 is a detail view of FIG. 27,
• FIG. 29 is a front view of a plug mounted in the neck of the reservoir of the device in FIG. 20,
• FIG. 30 is a side view of the plug of FIG. 29,
• FIG. 31 is a top view of the plug of FIG. 29,
• FIG. 32 is a sectional view along the line XXXII-XXXII of FIG. 29,
• FIG. 33 is a sectional view of a ring which snaps into the neck of the reservoir of the device in FIG. 20,
• FIG. 33a is a detailed view of the frangible membrane of the ring of FIG. 33,
• FIG. 33b is a top view of the membrane of FIG. 33a,
• FIG. 34 is a sectional view along the line XXXIV-XXXIV of FIG. 33b,
• FIG. 35 is a view of the detail XXXV of FIG. 33a,
• FIG. 36 is a detailed view of the ring of FIG. 33,
• FIG. 37 is a sectional view of the neck of the reservoir of the device in FIG. 20,
• FIG. 38 is a detailed view of the upper part of the reservoir of the device in FIG. 20.

The embodiments described below all relate to a device of the general type described in European patent application EP 0 401 060, in which a piston spray pump of the type usually actuated by hand, is connected to a reservoir of substance. fluid, and actuated by a core which can be made of soft iron, associated with a solenoid.

The reservoir contains a fluid or pasty substance, which can be a perfume, a pharmaceutical or cosmetic product, a lacquer, an insecticide, a paint, a cleaning product, etc. Such a device can be actuated as desired at once by stroke or rapid repetition, for example at 40 Hz, which produces a spray or pseudo-continuous distribution of the product. This gives a result similar to that which would be obtained using a propellant gas device: such a device can therefore avoid the use of propellant gases such as chloroflurocarbons, the harmful effects of which are known to environment, and hydrocarbons, dangerous for users.

First embodiment

According to a first embodiment, illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 19, the pump of the device of the invention can operate without air intake, that is to say without returning air to the reservoir on each actuation of the pump.

Referring to Figure 1, the device according to the invention can be integrated into an elongated housing 1, intended to be held vertically by hand by a user. The housing comprises at least one actuation button 2 and an outlet orifice 3 allowing the emission of the fluid substance, in sprayed form or not. The housing 1 includes an actuating head which comprises the core and its solenoid, and which can comprise cells or batteries, or which can be connected to the electrical network.

FIG. 2 schematically represents the interior of the housing 1 of FIG. 1. The device comprises a reservoir 4 containing the fluid substance, to be sprayed or else to be dispensed without spraying. The reservoir 4 comprises in the upper part a neck 5 in which a pump 6 is mounted. The pump 6, an example of which is shown in FIG. 3, comprises a pump body 7 having an inlet end 7a whether or not narrowed. The inlet end 7a has an inlet orifice 8 which communicates with the reservoir 4. The pump also comprises a hollow actuating rod 9 which allows the product to exit. A pusher 10 is mounted on the actuating rod 9 of the pump and comprises a lateral nozzle 11 allowing the expulsion of the product towards the outside of the device. The device further comprises an actuating means, which comprises a core 12 made of magnetic material such as soft iron, sliding mounted with lost movement in a solenoid 13 and linked to a rod 14 preferably non-magnetic, adapted to press on the pusher 10 when the solenoid 23 is activated. The rod 14 is preferably linked to the pusher 10 and it is axially aligned with the hollow actuating rod 9. The rod 14 is preferably detachably snapped onto the pusher 10, and the pusher 10 is fixed more securely to the rod actuation 9 than the rod 14, so that the pusher 10 comes with the pump 6 when pulling axially on said pump. The rod 14 preferably has a shape of revolution. The pump actuation mechanism is shown in more detail in Figures 27 and 28, described below for the second embodiment.

The pump 6 can be of the type described in the French patents FR 2 305 241 and FR 2 314 772 and in the corresponding American patent US 4 025 046, an example of which is shown in FIG. 3. Such a pump comprises a pump body hollow cylindrical 7 in which slides a piston 15 connected to the actuating rod 9. The pump body and the piston define a pump chamber 13 which communicates with the inlet orifice 8 by an inlet valve 17, constituted here by a skirt which is fitted on a tubular end piece 128 formed around the intake orifice. In addition, the pump chamber 16 communicates with the outside by an outlet valve 19, constituted here by a needle 18 applied elastically against a seat formed in the rod 9. The pump described briefly here, and described in detail in the patents above, is given only by way of nonlimiting example. Other pumps could be used, for example the pump described in European patent application EP 0 330 530 and the American patent US 4,936,492.

It is preferable for the skirt 17 to be fitted with sealing on the end piece 128 only after a dead stroke C1 which is advantageously 0.5 to 2 times the useful stroke C2 of the piston, during which the piston expels the substance contained in the pump chamber: thus, the core 12 accelerates on the stroke C1 before starting to pressurize the fluid substance contained in the pump chamber, which gives it sufficient kinetic energy to produce a homogeneous spray in fine particles from the start to the end of the useful stroke C2 of the piston. For example, the end piece 128 may have an axial groove 129 in the upper part, which extends over a certain distance in the direction of the inlet orifice 8.

When the rod 14 is not attached to the pusher 10, it may be possible to separate the rod 14 by a certain axial distance C1 relative to the pusher, so that the core 12 travels a certain dead travel C1 before come into contact with the pusher. In this case, the groove 129 becomes unnecessary. In all cases, it is essential that the pump body 7 be positioned axially very precisely with respect to the solenoid 13, in order to respect the strokes C1 and C2 (dead stroke and useful stroke).

FIG. 4 represents a first embodiment of the deformable reservoir 4 of the device according to the invention, before filling. The reservoir 4 has a relatively rigid upper part 20, in which the neck 5 of said reservoir is formed. The neck 5 has an external thread 5a, provided with an axial groove 5b, the usefulness of which will be seen further on, in the description of FIGS. 11 to 15. The neck 5 is crossed by a central opening 5c which extends between a upper enlargement 5d forming a shoulder directed upwards, and a lower enlargement 5f forming a shoulder directed downwards. The usefulness of these enlargements will also be seen later with reference to FIGS. 11 to 15. A rigid annular wall 21 extends radially outward from said neck 5, said wall 21 being extended downwards by a rigid lateral wall 22 which extends to a lower end 23. The wall 22 is advantageously slightly frustoconical, wider at its lower end 23 than at the level of the annular wall 21. It can also be cylindrical, of revolution or not. The wall 22 may have a constant thickness, or a thickness which decreases from the annular wall 21 to the lower end. From the lower end 23, the rigid side wall 22 is extended by a flexible, thinner side wall 24 which extends to a bottom 25 which can also be flexible. The flexible side wall 24 can itself be slightly frustoconical, and have a diameter, at the bottom 25, substantially equal to or slightly less than the inside diameter of the rigid side wall 22 at the annular wall 21. Thus, the wall 24 and the bottom 25 form a relatively flexible part 28 of the tank, suitable for entering the rigid part 20 until the internal volume of the tank 4 is reduced substantially to zero.

The reservoir 4 is generally formed from synthetic material, for example from thermoplastic or elastomeric material, or a mixture of these. The flexible part 28 can be attached to the rigid part 20. Optionally, these two parts can be formed in one piece, for example by extrusion blow molding or two component injection blow molding, where a layer of a relatively thermoplastic material rigid is superimposed on a layer of relatively flexible thermoplastic material, on the rigid part 20 of the reservoir.

A relatively thick and rigid, cylindrical or slightly frustoconical guide disc 26 is placed outside the bottom 25 when the reservoir 4 is in its folded position. The guide disc 26 may have on its lower face an abutment relief 27 which extends downwards over a certain distance.

The guide disc 26 can be kept in contact with the bottom 25 by clamping in a part 24b of the flexible side wall 24, which is turned on itself towards the upper wall 21. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the flexible side wall 24 can have on its outer face an annular rib 29 which helps to keep the guide disc 26 in place. Nevertheless, the guide disc 26 could be kept in contact with the bottom 25 by any other means, and could also be disposed on the inner face of said bottom 25, although this solution is less preferred, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The tank 4 is filled under pressure with spray or dispensing product, which has the effect of partially unfolding said tank 4, to the position shown in FIG. 6, where only the part 24b of the side wall 24 which circle the guide disc 26, is folded inwards. Thus, the flexible side wall 24 of the reservoir always forms an annular fold 30 which constitutes the lower end of the reservoir. This filling can be done by injecting the product under pressure, or by imposing a vacuum on the outside of the tank 4, or else the tank can move simply because of the weight of the product.

The reservoir 4 is then placed in a vacuum chamber where a vacuum is made, so that the reservoir 4 no longer contains air, then the neck 5 is closed using a tear-off membrane ring such than that shown in Figures 11 to 15.

Thereafter, just before using the reservoir 4, a pump is put in place in the neck 5 by tearing said tearable membrane, as explained below with reference to FIGS. 11 to 15. The pump can be mounted in a stopper. fixing 50 screwed on the neck 5. The fixing plug 50 can be molded in plastic.

As shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 8a, the fixing plug 50 comprises a hollow crown 51 provided with at least one external lateral flat 52, for example three flat 52s arranged at 120 ° from one another. The crown 51 defines an annular shoulder 53 directed towards the reservoir 4, and said shoulder 53 comprises a rounded projection 54 also directed towards the reservoir. The plug 50 can receive a pump 7, fixed by any known means, for example by means of a washer 56 of plastic material fitted by force into the crown 51, or else the plug 50 can possibly constitute itself the body of this pump. The crown 51 may include a notch 55 to allow passage to the side nozzle of the pump actuating plunger and to guide this side nozzle 11 in a vertical plane. The fixing of the plug 50 in the housing 1 can be done by insertion of the crown 51 in an orifice of complementary shape, then rotation of the crown 51 and locking by snap-fastening of the projection 54 in a complementary relief of the housing. The fixing of the plug 50 in the housing 1 results in a very precise axial positioning of the pump body along the axis of the core 12, and an angular positioning of the lateral nozzle 11 opposite the orifice 3 formed in the housing.

The angular positioning of the lateral nozzle is obtained by the latching of the projection 54 of the plug 50 and by the notch 55 of the plug. This angular positioning allows the nozzle 11 to always be opposite the outlet orifice 3 of the housing. The precise axial positioning of the pump body is achieved by precise axial positioning of the plug 50 and will be explained in more detail for the second embodiment of the invention (Figure 20 and following). The core 12 being movable between a predetermined high position and a low position, it is essential that the pump body 7 be positioned axially with precision relative to the solenoid 13, on the one hand to guarantee a determined stroke of the pump piston, therefore a constant volume of expelled fluid on each actuation, and on the other hand to guarantee a determined acceleration distance C₁ from the core before compressing the pump chamber, this acceleration distance being essential to guarantee a good homogeneity of the sprayed fluid paticles. The reservoir 4 may further include a handle which is hooked by a hook of the housing 1, as described below in the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 6, said reservoir 4 is placed in a rigid sheath 31 which forms part of the housing 1, and which comprises a bottom 32 from which extends a side wall 33 vertically upwards. The side wall 33 can be cylindrical, of revolution or not. The bottom 32 of the rigid sheath may include an orifice 35 for venting, and a spring 36 extends from said bottom 32 in the direction of the guide disc 26 of the reservoir 4. Advantageously, the spring 36 is a spring frustoconical having a lower end having a diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of the side wall 33, in the case where it is cylindrical of revolution. It is then advantageous for the abutment relief 27 of the guide disc 26 to have an external shape of cylinder of revolution, and for the spring 36 to have an upper end having a diameter substantially equal to the outside diameter of said abutment relief 27. Thus, when the reservoir 4 is placed inside the sheath 31, the abutment relief 27 is first placed inside the upper end of the spring 36, then the assembly is slid to the inside the sheath 31, the spring 36 making it easier to guide this introduction. Advantageously, the side wall 33 of the sheath 31 comprises an internal shoulder 34 directed upwards, on which the internal end 23 of the rigid side wall 22 of the reservoir 4 can abut.

où :

• F est la poussée du ressort 36,
• S est la section du réservoir 4 au niveau du fond 25,
• ρ est la masse volumique du produit fluide,
• g est l'accélérateur de la pesanteur - g = 9,81 ms-²,
• h est la hauteur du produit fluide contenu dans la réservoir, au-dessus du fond 25.

As the pump 6 is actuated and it draws product into the reservoir 4, the bottom 25 of the said reservoir 4 rises towards the rigid upper wall 31 while gradually turning the flexible side wall 24 on itself, this that is to say by rolling up the side wall 24. During this movement, the guide disc 26, due to its thickness, has the effect of keeping the bottom 25 horizontal. The guide disc 26 has a substantially smaller diameter to the diameter of the side wall 33 of the sheath 31, as well as to the diameter of the rigid wall 22 of the reservoir 4, except at the level of the annular wall 21. Thus, during the movement of raising the bottom 25, the part 24b of the side wall 24 which surrounds the disc 26 never rubs against the side wall 24 or the side wall 22. Consequently, the upward movement of the bottom 25 is in no way hampered, which minimizes any depression inside the tank 4. In addition, the res fate 36 urges the guide disc 26 upwards, and therefore creates an overpressure inside the tank 4. Thus, the absolute pressure in the tank 4, in the vicinity of its upper annular wall 21 is always greater than the vaporization pressure of the product contained in the tank or greater than the vaporization pressure of the constituents of said product. Advantageously, the pressure inside the reservoir in the vicinity of its upper annular wall 21 will always be at least equal to atmospheric pressure, and even more advantageously, at least 20 kPa (about 200 g per cm²) greater than the pressure atmospheric, whatever the position of the bottom 25 inside the tank 4. Thus, at room temperature, the products contained in the tank 4, which may contain alcohol and / or water, remain in phase liquid or pasty, and therefore do not form an air pocket in the vicinity of the intake port 8 of the pump. It will be noted that the use of the spring 26 to compress the liquid contained in the reservoir is particularly advantageous. Indeed, the absolute pressure in the reservoir 4 in the vicinity of the upper annular wall 21, is substantially equal to: $$\text{P = F / S- ρgh}$$

or :

• F is the thrust of spring 36,
• S is the section of the reservoir 4 at the bottom 25,
• ρ is the density of the fluid product,
• g is the accelerator of gravity - g = 9.81 ms-²,
• h is the height of the fluid contained in the tank, above the bottom 25.

Thus, as the product contained in the reservoir 4 is consumed, and the bottom 25 rises towards the upper annular wall 21, the thrust F of the spring 36 decreases since the compression of the spring decreases, but the height of the product fluid also decreases, so that the pressure P does not vary very quickly.

Another advantageous characteristic of the invention results from the fact that the folding of the reservoir 4, that is to say the ascent of the bottom 25 towards the annular wall 21, is easier than its unfolding, that is to say the descent of the bottom 25. This is due to the fact that it is easier to drive the flexible side wall 24 by pulling it, as is the case when the bottom 25 rises in the tank 4, rather than in the pushing, as is the case when the bottom 25 descends into the reservoir 4. Indeed, when said bottom 25 descends into the tank 24, it is created in the part of the wall 24 which is raised inside the tank 4, folds which tend to brace themselves to hinder the downward movement of the bottom 25. In this way, if the temperature of the product contained in the tank 4 increases abnormally, for example because the device has been left in the sun it the thrust of the spring 36 may no longer be sufficient to prevent the start of formation of gas pockets. This gas formation causes an increase in the pressure in the tank 4, but because the bottom 25 does not tend to descend under the effect of this pressure, the tank 4 can in this case be considered to be substantially non-deformable, so that the pressure in the reservoir 4 increases very rapidly, and becomes sufficient to prevent the continuation of the formation of gas at the temperature considered. Thus, the quantity of gas produced inside the tank 4 is very low even at a relatively high temperature, and a risk of pump priming is avoided.

Figures 9 and 10 show another tank usable in the device according to the first embodiment of the invention. The reservoir 4 of Figures 9 and 10 is formed from a fairly flexible material such as polyethylene. It has a neck 5 similar to that of FIG. 4. A relatively thick wall, therefore rigid, extends radially outward from the neck 5. The wall 60 is extended axially downwards by a cylindrical side wall 60 thin, therefore flexible. The side wall 60 is connected to a relatively thick, therefore rigid, bottom 63. The bottom 63 advantageously comprises an annular rib 64 on its outer face, the usefulness of which will be seen later. The bottom 63 has a width slightly less than the free space in the center of the side wall 61.

The reservoir 4 is molded in the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 9, that is to say with the bottom 63 not folded back inside the side wall 61. Then the bottom 63 is pushed back slightly inside of the side wall 61, as shown in solid lines in FIG. 9, so that the side wall 61 folds back on itself by forming a fold 62 in the lower part of the tank.

When viewed from above, the tank has an oval shape, but could have any other shape. The neck 5 is centered on the tank 4, but could also be offset.

The tank 4 is advantageously filled under vacuum with a desired fluid product, then the neck 5 is closed using a membrane ring as shown in Figures 12 to 15: in this way, the tank does not contain air pocket after capping.

The ring 80 shown in Figure 12 is molded from plastic material. It comprises an axial duct 82, extending between a lower end 83 and an upper end 84. The duct 82 has a cylindrical side wall 87 which extends from the upper end 84 of the duct to a lower narrowing forming a shoulder 86. In the center of the shoulder 86 is formed a cylindrical wall 88 which extends a short distance inside the duct 82, defining the lower end 83 of said conduit. At the lower end 83 of the duct is fixed a tearable membrane 85, for example by heat sealing. At the upper end of the wall 88 is formed an inner annular sealing lip 90. In addition, the side wall 87 of the conduit 82 has an upper external collar 89 forming a shoulder directed downwards, and a lower external collar 93 The collar 93 has a shoulder 93b directed upwards, and a biased surface 93a which widens from the lower end of the ring to the shoulder 93b.

The ring 80 is fixed in the neck 5 by simple pressing: the bias surface 93a allows the ring 80 to penetrate the neck 5, until the upper collar 89 of the ring abuts against the shoulder of the widening upper 5d of the neck 5. The lower collar 93 of the ring then engages in the lower widening 5f of the neck, the shoulder 93b preventing the ring 80 from coming out again.

After installation of the ring 80, the reservoir 4 is closed in leaktight manner, and can therefore be left in the open air.

When it is desired to mount a pump 6 on the tank 4, the pump 6 is generally assembled with a fixing plug 50 which is screwed onto the neck 5 of the tank. The pump body 7a has a diameter less than the diameter of the side wall 87 of the ring 80, therefore at the start of screwing the plug 50, the pump body 7 sinks without sealing in the conduit 82 of the ring. Thanks to the vertical groove 5b formed in the thread 5a of the neck 5, the air contained in the conduit 82 of the ring can escape as the pump body sinks into the conduit. As soon as the inlet end 7a enters the central cylindrical wall 88, the inner sealing lip 90 of the wall 88 is applied with sealing against a periphery of the inlet end 7a of the pump body. In the rest of the movement, the inlet end 7a of the pump body descends slightly beyond the membrane 85, and tears it apart. Only the volume of air between the lip 90 and the membrane 85 enters the tank 4: as the lip 90 is close to the membrane 82, this volume is small.

Advantageously, the volume of air which enters the reservoir 4 when the pump 6 is mounted can be minimized, or even canceled, by placing the sealing lip 90 in contact with the membrane 85, as shown in FIG. 13. On Figure 13, the conduit 82 is shown with a shape substantially complementary to the pump body 7 and its inlet end 7a: in this case, it is useful to provide an axial groove 94 inside the conduit 82, which extends from the upper end 84 of the duct to the lip 90 in order to avoid trapping air in the duct 82 when the pump body is driven into the duct. Note that it would be possible to omit the groove 94 simply by widening the conduit 82 sufficiently so that neither the pump body 7, nor its inlet end 7a does not slide with sealing in the conduit 82, outside the sealing lip 90.

The membrane 85 could be heat-sealed on the shoulder 86 and the sealing lip 90 would then be placed in contact with the membrane 85, on the side of said membrane 85 which is directed towards the lower end 83 of the conduit 82.

In general, the membrane 85 is preferably formed between the sealing lip 90 and the lower end 83 of the conduit 82, including on the sealing lip or at the lower end 83. The tearable membrane 85 can also be molded with the ring 80, as described with reference to FIGS. 31 to 35.

Figures 14 and 15 show variants of the ring 80 which require the use of an annular seal 91, 92, elastomer or other. In FIGS. 14 and 15, the side wall 87 of the ring has a diameter large enough for the pump body 7 to sink into it without sealing, and the shoulder 86 of the ring delimits an opening 95 having a diameter just enough lays so that the inlet end 7a of the pump body penetrates without sealing into the opening 95.

In FIG. 14, the seal 91 is slidably mounted with friction on the inlet end 7a of the pump body. It is in leaktight contact with said inlet end 7a, but slides without sealing in the side wall 87. It is separated from the bottom of the inlet end 7a by a distance d substantially equal to the distance e which separates the shoulder 86 and the diaphragm 85. In this way, when the inlet end 7a of the pump body comes into contact with the diaphragm 85, the seal 91 also comes into tight contact against the shoulder 86: we therefore hardly do anything not enter air into the tank. It will also be noted that at the end of the tightening of the plug 50, the shoulder 71, which separates the inlet end 7a from the rest of the pump body 7, crushes the seal 91 against the shoulder 86 while ensuring a seal excellent and durable.

In FIG. 15, the seal is slidably mounted on the widest part of the pump body 7 and not on its inlet end 7a. The volume of air which enters the reservoir 4 is therefore limited to the annular volume comprised between the inlet end 7a and the seal 92. The seal 92 here has an axial groove 96 to promote the exit of the air while the pump body is pressed into the conduit 82.

As shown in FIG. 11, the deformable reservoir 4 can be slid into a rigid sheath 70 before screwing the plug 50, and a flat seal 81 can be interposed between the plug 50 and the neck 5. The sheath 70 has an annular wall upper 71, pierced with a central opening 71a which allows passage to the neck 5. The upper wall 71 extends radially outwards, up to a side wall 72. The wall 72 extends axially downwards, to a lower end 72a. The end lower 72a is open, and can receive a bottom 73, screwed or fixed by any known means removably (for example, quarter-turn fixing). Between the bottom 74 of the sheath and the bottom 63 of the tank, a spring 36 biases the bottom 63 of the tank upwards. In the example shown, the spring 36 is forcibly fitted onto a central relief 74 of the bottom 73, and is centered on the bottom 63 of the reservoir by the annular rib 64, but the spring 36 could have a different shape and mounting. The spring 36 could possibly be replaced by another equivalent elastic means.

As the product is consumed, the bottom 63 rises in the side wall 61 by folding the latter over itself, as already explained with reference to FIG. 6. The spring 36 maintains sufficient pressure in the reservoir 4 to prevent part of the product from vaporizing by creating a gas pocket which could defuse the pump.

As the tank does not contain any air or gas pocket, the pump 6 remains primed until the tank 4 is completely emptied. When the bottom 63 of the tank comes into contact with the upper wall 60, the pump creates in the tank an intense depression which presses the upturned part of the reservoir against the non-uplifted part, so that almost 100% of the product initially contained in the reservoir is sucked up, all the more so since the ring 80 substantially eliminates any dead volume in neck 5.

The reservoir may have another shape and deform differently from what has been described previously. When the tank 4 is cylindrical, the neck 5 is advantageously eccentric, so as to be closer to the side wall of the housing 1. Thus, the side nozzle 11 of the pusher may be shorter to reach the vicinity of the outlet orifice 3, which is particularly favorable for avoiding vibrations.

Note that the plug 50 could be screwed not on the neck 5, but inside the ring 80, as in the second embodiment described above (Figures 20 to 41).

For example, as shown in FIGS. 16 to 18, the reservoir 4 can have a flattened shape in a plane containing the neck 5. The reservoir 4 in FIGS. 16 to 18 can for example be made of polyethylene, and has an upper wall 60 which extends radially outwards from the neck 5, and which can be quite rigid due to its thickness. The reservoir 4 further comprises a flexible side wall 61, which extends axially up to a flexible bottom 97 itself, which can be rounded in side view (fig. 17). The reservoir 4 is placed in a rigid sheath 65 which comprises elastic means for urging the side wall 61 so as to flatten it. In the example shown in Figure 19, the sheath comprises two half-shells 66, 67 connected by a hinge, which can be closed on the tank by snap-fastening. One of the half-shells 66 has a bottom 68, while the other half-shell 67 has means 69 for latching the neck 5. In addition, each half-shell has a flat plate 98 connected to the half-shell. shell by elastic means, here plastic strips 99 folded in bellows and molded with the plate 98 and the corresponding half-shell. The flat plates 98 are placed vertically below the neck 5, which is non-deformable, so that said neck 5 does not interfere with the flattening of the reservoir by the plates 98, under the effect of the strips 99.

In all cases, the elastic means which urge the tank cause regular deformation of said tank, while keeping the deformable walls of the tank taut: this prevents these walls from being crumpled under the effect of a vacuum created by the pump, and therefore the tank can be emptied completely.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the reservoir 4 could be rigid provided that it is partially filled with nitrogen or another inert gas under pressure, in which case, the central duct of the ring 80 must extend until bottom of the reservoir 4 by a dip tube as in the second embodiment described below.

Second embodiment

In a second embodiment shown in Figures 20 to 41, the device according to the invention comprises a pump which can be similar to that of Figure 3, but which operates with air intake, that is to say by returning air to the tank on each actuation. In this embodiment, the reservoir therefore does not deform as and when the fluid substance it contains is consumed.

Figure 20 shows an overview of the device according to the second embodiment of the invention, which is similar, in many aspects, to the device of the first embodiment. In FIGS. 20 to 38, the same references will be used as for FIGS. 1 to 19, to designate identical or similar elements. The device of Figure 20 comprises an actuating head 1 below which is fixed a reservoir 100 of fluid substance. The actuating head 1 comprises a control button 103, and an outlet orifice 105 which allows the outlet of the sprayed fluid substance. The actuating head 1 also advantageously comprises a selector 136 which makes it possible for example to choose between a complete stop a piecemeal operation, and a repetitive operation at a rapid rate giving a pseudo-continuous spraying. The actuating head 1 may also include a light indicator 137, for example to indicate the wear of the batteries. Figure 22 shows an exploded view of the device of FIG. 20. The reservoir 100 can be molded from plastic, and has a cylindrical side wall 100a, which extends axially between a bottom 100b and an upper wall 100c in which an eccentric neck 5 is formed. The tank 100 further comprises in the upper part a handle 106, arranged radially with respect to the axis of the neck 5, and which extends axially upwards from the upper wall 100c. In the neck 5 is snapped a ring 114, provided with a central conduit 108 in which is mounted a dip tube 109, which extends to the bottom of the tank 100. A plug 50, similar to the plug 50 already described, is mounted in the ring 114, and a pump 6 is fixed in the plug 50, the pump 6 being provided with a pusher 10 with a side nozzle 11 for the outlet of the sprayed substance. The actuation head 1 comprises an actuation block 138 which includes an electronic power and control circuit 101, a solenoid 12 connected to the circuit 101 and containing a core 13 (not shown) for actuating the pusher 10, and accumulators 102.

The device is shown in more detail in FIGS. 27 and 28. The pump 6 is fixed in the plug 50, for example by snap-fastening, the plug 50 is screwed inside the ring 114, which is itself snapped into the neck 5 of the tank. The central duct 108 of the ring 114 has an internal ring 126, fitted with a seal in said duct, and the dip tube 109 is fitted in the ring 126. Optionally, the dip tube 109 could be fitted directly with seal in the central duct 108 of the ring 114. The pump 6 comprises a pump body 7 having an inlet end 7a, which is fitted with sealing in the central duct 108 of the ring 114 when the plug 50 is screwed onto the ring 114. Advantageously, said inlet end 7a has a point 7b adapted to pierce a frangible membrane (not shown) which closes the conduit 108. The ring 114 further comprises an air intake orifice 110, which allows the pump 6 to return from the in the tank 10 on each actuation.

The actuation head 1 comprises an external rigid shell 104 in which the actuation block 138 is fixed. The electronic circuit 101 comprises a microprocessor 139, which controls the operation of the device. The circuit 101 further comprises the signaling means 137, which may be constituted by a light-emitting diode, possibly double, and the selector 136. The accumulators 102 are connected to the electronic circuit 101, and the actuation head 1 comprises a socket 140 to connect a transformer for recharging the accumulators 102. The electronic circuit 101 is also connected to the control button 103, which triggers the operation of the device. The circuit of the device 101 is connected to the solenoid 13, and supplies electrical energy said solenoid 13 each time the pump 6 must be actuated. A soft iron core 12 slides axially inside the solenoid 13, and said core 12 comprises a rod 14, preferably made of non-magnetic material which extends towards the pusher 10, and the end of which is detachably snapped onto said pusher 10. The rod 14 has a shape of revolution around its axis to allow rotation of the pusher 10 relative to the rod 14 after the snap-fastening. It should be noted that the rod 14 could also not be linked to the pusher 10, but this solution is not preferred, since it can generate vibrations or variations in the sprayed flow rate. The rod 14 advantageously comprises an annular groove in which is fixed a part 141 preferably made of damping material. The rod 14 passes through a wall 142 integral with the solenoid 13 and the actuation head 1, and the core 12 is axially displaceable with lost movement between a low position determined by the stop of the core 12 against the wall 142, and a high position determined by the stop of the part 141 against the wall 142. When the reservoir 100 is fixed on the actuating head 1, the plug 50 is snapped into a wall 143 perpendicular to the axis of the rod 14 and secured to the head actuation 1, and the axial position of said plug 50 relative to the solenoid 13 is fixed precisely by an upper stop of said stopper 50 against a wall 144 secured to the actuation head 1, and the lower stop of said stopper 50 against said wall 143 in which the plug is snapped. Thus, the pump 6 is positioned axially very precisely with respect to the solenoid 13, so that the push rod 9 of said pump is moved according to a predetermined stroke on each actuation, so that the predetermined strokes C1 and C2 are respected very precisely on each actuation, as described above with reference to FIG. 3.

To fix the reservoir 100 on the actuation head 1, the plug 50 is first engaged axially in a recess 143a of said wall 143 which has an internal shape substantially corresponding to the external shape of the plug 50, and being snapped in. the pusher 10 on the end of the rod 14 of the core 12. The rod 14 and the push rod 9 of the pump are then aligned. Then performs a rotary movement of the pusher 10 relative to the head 1, so as to cause the locking of the plug 50 on said wall 143 due to the external shape of the plug 50, which does not have symmetry of revolution. In addition, the actuating head 1 comprises a hook 107 arranged orthoradially with respect to the common axis of the core 12 and of the pump 6, so that the hook 107 engages in the handle 106 while maintaining said handle 106 Advantageously, as shown in FIG. 38, the reservoir 100 may include coded indications relating for example to the content of the reservoir 100. These indications may for example be in the form of clear or reflective spots 145 disposed at the top of the handle 106, so that said spots 145 are directed towards the actuating head 1 when the reservoir 100 is mounted on said head 1. The actuating head 1 comprises a reading device 146, disposed at above the handle 106, said device 146 being connected to the electronic circuit 101. The device 146 may comprise, for each spot to be detected, an assembly constituted by a light-emitting diode associated with a lens for sending a light beam towards said spot, and a phototransistor for detecting the reflection of said light beam by said spot 145. For each reflective spot to be detected, it is possible to use, for example, an opto-electronic component sold by SIEMENS under the references SFH 900-2 and SFH 900-5, which comprises an LED, a lens and a phototransistor. It goes without saying that other reading devices or other means of coding information on the reservoir could be used. The coded information is transmitted to the microprocessor 139, which can for example prevent the operation of the actuation head 1 for certain products, or when the expiration date of the product contained in the tank 100 is exceeded, etc.

FIGS. 23 to 26 represent the different stages of the replacement of an empty reservoir 100 on an actuation head 1. First of all, as shown in FIG. 23, the empty reservoir 100 is dismantled from the actuation head, by rotation of the reservoir 100 relative to the actuation head in the direction of the arrow 147, then the reservoir 100 is separated axially from the actuation head 1, in the direction of the arrows 148. The fixing of the pusher 10 on the rod actuation 9 of the pump is more solid than the snap of the pusher on the rod 14, so the pusher 10 comes with the pump 6 and the reservoir 100. We unscrew the plug 50 on which the pump is fixed, as shown in Figure 24, then screw the cap 50, on a full tank 100, as shown in Figure 25. Finally, as shown in Figure 26, we axially fit the new tank 100 with its cap 50 in the actuation head 1, according to arrow 149, then the reservoir 100 is locked on the actuation head 1 by rotation of the reservoir 100 according to arrow 150.

The neck 5 of the tank 100 is shown in more detail in FIG. 37. The neck 5 has an upper part 151 which is relatively thick, and an intermediate part 152 which is relatively thin, which connects it to the rest of the tank 100. The neck 5 has a duct interior 153 which extends axially between the interior of the reservoir 100 and an upper end 154 of the neck 5. The duct 153 is delimited by an interior surface 159 of the neck. The surface 159 is slightly frustoconical with an increasing diameter towards the upper end 154 of the neck, for reasons which will be seen later. In addition, the surface 159 ends in a chamfer 156 in the vicinity of the end. upper 154 of the neck. Finally, the enlarged part 152 of the neck has external snap-in housings 155 distributed at its periphery, for snap-fastening of the ring 114. Advantageously, the housings 155 are distributed irregularly at the periphery of the neck, so as to impose on the ring 114 a particular angular orientation with respect to the tank 100. Advantageously, the tank 100 can be molded from a fairly flexible material such as low density polyethylene; the vibrations which are transmitted to the pump body 7 and to the plug are then damped by the reservoir, and in particular by the side wall 100a.

The ring 114 which is snapped inside the neck 5, is shown in more detail in FIGS. 33 to 36. The ring 114 can be molded in plastic material, and has a side wall 160 having a shape substantially complementary to the inner duct. 153, slightly tapered. The frustoconical shape ensures an excellent seal between the ring 114 and the neck 5, and in addition participates in the damping of the vibrations caused by the actuation of the pump. The side wall 160 has an internal thread 166. The wall 160 extends axially between a bottom 161 and an open upper end 160a, extended radially outwards by a radial crown 168, itself extended axially towards the bottom 161 of the bage 114 by an annular side wall 167. When the ring 114 is fitted into the neck 5, the wall 167 covers said neck 5. In addition, the wall 167 has internal detent notches 167a which snap into the housings 155 from the bottleneck. The crown 168 has passages 168a above each notch 167a. The passages 168a allow the notches 167a to be molded, and also serve as vents when the ring 114 is mounted on the neck 5.

The bottom 161 of the ring 114 comprises the conduit 108, which delimits a central orifice 162 and has a projecting part 108d inside the side wall 160. The central conduit 108 comprises towards the interior of the tank 100 a part 108a of widened inside diameter, extended by a chamfer 108b towards the inside of the tank 100, to allow the attachment of the dip tube 109 and the inner ring 126 mentioned above. As shown in FIG. 33, the central orifice 162 comprises an inner peripheral sealing lip 162a, which forms a seal against the pump body 7.

The chamfer 108b has an inner annular shoulder 108c, which allows the latching of the inner ring 126. The inner ring 126 has a peripheral side wall which fits into the conduit 108 and in which the dip tube 109 is fitted. The ring inner 126 further comprises, in the upper part, a frangible membrane 112, which closes the conduit 108 and which is broken by the tip 7b of the pump body, when the plug 50 is placed on the ring 114, after tight fitting of the pump body in the peripheral rib 162a. The membrane 112 can be molded in one piece with the inner ring 126 made of plastic, or it can be glued or heat-sealed on the inner ring 126.

To facilitate the rupture of the membrane 112, said membrane 112 has radial grooves 164, each radial groove 164 extending over the full radius of the membrane 112. As shown in FIG. 33, the membrane 112 may also comprise a part central 165 of small thickness.

In addition, the bottom 161 of the ring 114 has an air intake orifice 110, disposed on the side of the central duct 108. As shown in FIG. 36, the duct 110 is closed by a rod 113 molded with the ring 114 , which extends axially upwards from a base 113a to a free end 113b, and which is connected to the bottom 161 by a peripheral bridge of frangible material 163, said bridge being able to have on one side a thicker and not frangible 164, which forms a hinge as will be explained below.

The device further comprises a plug 50, shown in FIGS. 29 to 32, which has a shape similar to the plug 50 of the first embodiment of the invention. The fixing plug 50 comprises a hollow crown 51 provided with at least one external lateral flat 52, for example three flat 52 disposed at 120 ° from each other. The crown 51 defines an annular shoulder 53 directed towards the reservoir 100, and said shoulder 53 comprises at least one rounded projection 54 also directed towards the reservoir, for example three projections 54 at 120 ° from one another. The crown 51 may include a notch 55 to allow passage to the side nozzle of the pump actuating plunger and to guide this side nozzle 11 in a vertical plane. The fixing of the plug 50 in the head 1 can be done by insertion of the crown 51 in the orifice 143a, of complementary shape, then rotation of the crown 51 and locking by snap-fastening of the projection 54 in a complementary relief of the wall 143 As shown in FIG. 32, the plug 50 comprises a central duct 170, in which the pump body 7 is snapped in. The duct 170 has an upper enlargement 171, provided with an internal snap rib 172 for snapping the pump , and the conduit 170 further comprises an axial groove 173 which extends over the entire height of said conduit 170 and which communicates with the enlarged part 171 of said conduit 170.

In the example shown in FIG. 21, the pump body 7 has an outer annular flange 134 at the top, and the piston 15 is held inside the pump body 7 by a ferrule 130, which has a side wall. cylindrical 131 fixed inside the pump body, and an external annular flange 132 superimposed on the flange 134 of the pump body. When the pump 6 is mounted in the plug 50, the flanges 132 and 133 are snapped under the rib 172 of said plug. The ferrule 130 has an axial external groove 111, which extends over the entire height of the side wall 131 outside of said side wall, and which extends under the flange 132, up to the radially external end of said flange 132. The groove 111 opens into a lower chamfer 132a of the flange 132, said chamfer 132a communicating with an axial groove 135 of the flange 133 of the pump body, and said flange 133 itself comprises a lower chamfer 134 which communicates with the axial groove 173 of the plug 50 when the pump body is fitted into the inner duct 170 of said plug 50.

The inner conduit 170 of the plug 50 is delimited by a cylindrical side wall 174 provided with an external thread 169, and which has a lower end 175 extended towards the bottom 161 of the ring 114 by a wall 176 forming a quarter of a cylinder. When the plug 50 is screwed into the ring 114 after assembly of the pump 6, the wall 176 interferes with the rod 113 which closes the air intake orifice 110, and layers said rod by breaking the bridge of frangible material 163 which connected said rod 113 to the bottom 161 of the ring 114. If said bridge 161 has a thicker part 164, the rod 113 can remain attached to the bottom 161 by the thicker part 164, which forms a hinge. It would also be possible to open the orifice 110 by pushing the rod 113 into the orifice 110, by means of the plug 50 or the pump body 7: this would however require having an orifice 110 wider than the rod 113 , the rod 113 being always connected to the bottom 161 by a bridge of frangible material. When the plug 50 is put in place on the ring 114, the inlet end 7a of the pump body 7 firstly fits tightly into the sealing lip 162a of the central orifice 162 of the ring 114. Then, the inlet end 7a of the pump body breaks the membrane 112, and thus is put into communication with the dip tube 109. The threads 166 and 169, respectively of the ring and of the plug 50, are oriented angularly so that the notch 55 of the plug 50 which guides the lateral nozzle 11 of the plunger vertically, is directed radially towards the cylindrical lateral wall of the tank on the side where said cylindrical lateral wall is closest to the neck 5. In addition, the crown 51 of the stopper forms at its junction with the side wall 174, an enlargement 201 which covers the radial crown 168 of the ring 114. The enlargement 201 comprises projections 200 directed towards said crown 168, and arranged in correspondence with ec above passages 168a. When the plug 50 is screwed onto the ring 114, the projections 200 engage non-irreversibly in the passages 168a, which makes it possible to very precisely define the angular position of the plug 50 relative to the ring 114 and to the tank 100 due to the fact that the passages 168a are distributed in an irregular manner over the crown 168.

It will be noted that the ring 114 and the plug 50 could be used with a pump without air intake and a deformable reservoir provided that the wall 174 of the plug 50 is removed.

Claims (40)

1. A rechargeable device for spraying a fluid, the device comprising an actuator head (1) and a removable tank (4, 100) containing said fluid;
      in which the actuator head (1) includes an actuator member (12) that is movable between a predetermined high position and a predetermined low position, said actuator head having means (13) for displacing said actuator member (12) between its high position and its low position;
      in which the removable tank (4, 100) includes a neck (5) in which a pump (6) is engaged, said pump having a hollow pump body (7) which defines a cylindrical pump chamber (16) filled with said fluid and in which a piston (15) slides, the piston being extended axially towards the outside of the pump body by a hollow actuator rod (9) through which said fluid leaves the pump, said pump chamber (16) being in communication with said fluid contained in the tank (4, 100);
      in which a pushbutton (10) fitted with a lateral outlet nozzle (11) is fixed to the actuator rod (9) of the pump, and said actuator member (12) presses against said pushbutton (10) to actuate the pump;
      characterized in that the neck (5) of the tank includes an added plug (50) on which the pump (6) is fixed, the plug being added to the neck (5), the device further including angular positioning means (54) for positioning said lateral nozzle angularly relative to the actuator head, and accurate axial positioning means for positioning the pump (6) at a determined distance from said means (13) for displacing the actuator member, and the pump body (7) is engaged with sealing contact in the neck (5) of the tank to establish said communication with said fluid contained in the tank.
2. A device according to claim 1, in which the pump (6) operates with intake of air, and includes a lateral air intake orifice, the neck (5) of the tank including a central duct (108) which is in communication with the fluid by means of a dip tube (109) that extends into the tank (100), the pump body (7) being sealingly engaged in said central duct (108), and the neck (5) also includes an air intake passage (110) formed beside the central duct (108) and causing the air intake orifice of the pump to communicate with the inside of the tank (100).
3. A device according to claim 2, in which the central duct (108) is provided with a frangible membrane (112) which closes said central duct prior to the plug (50) being installed, and which is then broken by the pump body (7) when the plug is installed on the neck.
4. A device according to claim 2 or claim 3, in which the air intake passage is provided with a frangible closure element (113) which closes said air intake passage prior to said plug being installed, and which is broken while the plug is being installed on the neck.
5. A device according to claim 4, in which said frangible closure element (113) has a projecting portion that interferes with the plug (50) while said plug is being installed.
6. A device according to claim 4, in which said frangible closure element (113) has a projecting portion which interferes with the pump body (7) while the plug is being installed.
7. A device according to claim 5, in which said plug (50) is fixed on said neck by being screwed thereon, said frangible closure element is a rod that extends axially between a base (113a) and a free end (113b), the base of said rod being connected to the neck by a peripheral bridge of frangible material (163), and the plug includes a member (176) which extends axially towards the inside of the tank, to correspond with said rod, said member (176) interfering with the free end (113b) of the rod by causing said rod to lie down when the plug is screwed onto the neck, thus at least partially breaking said peripheral bridge of frangible material (163).
8. A device according to any one of claims 2 to 7, in which the neck (5) includes a ring (114) that is snap-fastened in non-reversible manner in said neck (5), and said ring includes said central duct and said air intake passage.
9. A device according to claim 8, in which the ring (114) is internally tapped, the plug (50) has an outside thread, and the plug is screwed into the ring.
10. A device according to any one of claims 2 to 9, with a refill for filing the tank (100) of said device after it has been emptied by said pump, the refill comprising:
       a deformable receptacle (118) capable of being compressed by a user; and
       an endpiece (119) having fixing means that are substantially identical to those of the plug (50) to enable it to be removably fixed in the neck (5) of the tank instead of the plug (50), said endpiece terminating in an outlet duct (122) provided with an outlet channel (120) that communicates with said deformable receptacle, and which is adapted to engage the central duct (108) of the neck in sealed manner when said endpiece is fixed on said neck.
11. A device according to any one of claims 2 to 9, with a refill having a central duct (108) provided with a projecting portion (108d) directed towards the pump body (7), said refill having an outlet duct (122) closed by a plug (123) capable of opening the outlet duct by being engaged in the outlet duct (122), said outlet duct (122) of the refill being adapted to be engaged in sealed manner in said projection portion (108d) of the central duct of the tank, and said plug (123) being adapted to come into abutment against said projecting portion (108d) during such engagement so as to open the outlet duct (122) of the refill.
12. A device according to claim 1, in which the pump (6) operates without air intake, the tank (4) is deformable, the neck (5) includes a frangible membrane (85) which closes said neck (5) before the plug (50) is fixed thereto and which is torn by the pump body (7) while the plug (50) is being fixed to the neck, and the neck (5) includes sealing means (90, 86) which co-operate with complementary sealing means displaceable with the pump body (7) to establish sealing between the neck and the pump body no later when the pump body breaks said frangible membrane.
13. A device according to claim 12, in which the neck (5) includes a central duct (82) which extends axially between a first end (83) and a second end (84), the duct (82) including peripheral internal relief (90, 86) constituting said sealing means, and said frangible membrane (85) is disposed between said inside relief and the first end (83) of said central duct.
14. A device according to claim 13, in which said peripheral inside relief (86, 90) is formed in the vicinity of the frangible membrane (85).
15. A device according to claim 13 or claim 14, in which said sealing means of the duct include an annular lip (90) formed on the inside of said duct and adapted to bear radially in sealing manner against the pump body (7).
16. A device according to claim 13 or claim 14, in which said sealing means of the duct include a shoulder (86) formed in the duct (82) between the frangible membrane (85) and the second end (84) thereof, said shoulder (86) facing towards said second end (84), said shoulder (86) being adapted to provide sealing in association with an annular gasket (91, 92) when said annular gasket (91, 92) comes into abutment against the shoulder (86), said annular gasket (91, 92) being slidably mounted with friction and with sealing engagement on the pump body and sliding without lateral sealing relative to the duct (82).
17. A device according to any one of claims 12 to 16, in which the neck (5) is formed at the top of the tank (4).
18. A device according to claim 17, in which the tank (4) includes at least one deformable wall (28, 61, 97), said deformable wall being adapted to move between a first position in which the tank (4) defines a maximum inside volume and a second position in which the tank (4) defines substantially zero inside volume, and it further includes resilient means (36) which urge said deformable wall (28, 61, 97) towards its second position with sufficient force to establish pressure in the vicinity of the neck (5) greater than the vaporization pressure of said fluid at ambient temperature, regardless of the position of said deformable wall (28, 61).
19. A device according to claim 18, in which said pressure is at least equal to atmospheric pressure.
20. A device according to claim 18, in which said pressure is at least 20 kPa greater than atmospheric pressure.
21. A device according to any one of claims 18 to 20, in which the deformable wall includes a rigid bottom (26, 63) and a flexible side wall (24, 61), said resilient means (36) urging the rigid bottom (26, 63) towards the neck (5), and when the volume of fluid contained in the tank (4) diminishes, the bottom (26, 63) of the deformable wall moves towards the neck (5), progressively folding said flexible side wall (24, 61) over onto itself.
22. A device according to claim 21, in which the rigid bottom (26) is thick so as to guide its displacement towards the neck (5).
23. A device according to claim 21 or 22, in which the tank is placed in a rigid case (31, 70) that is substantially complementary in shape to the side wall (24, 61) of said tank (4).
24. A device according to any one of claims 12 to 23, in which said neck (5) includes a ring (80) snap-fastened in non-reversible manner in said neck, and said ring includes the frangible membrane (85) and the sealing means (86, 90).
25. A device according to any one of claims 12 to 24, in which said plug (50) includes air-passing means (94,96) for allowing the air compressed between said plug and said sealing means (86, 90) of the neck to escape to the atmosphere when the plug is installed on the neck.
26. A device according to any preceding claim, in which the tank (4, 100) includes a peripheral side wall (100a) that is not circularly symmetrical relative to said neck (5), a portion (5a) of said neck lying in the vicinity of the side wall, and the lateral nozzle (11) of the pushbutton points towards said portion (5a) of the neck.
27. A device according to any preceding claim, in which said plug (50) is fixed in a ring (114) engaged in the neck (5) of the tank (100), the neck (5) has an inside surface (159) that is slightly flared, becoming larger towards the outside of the tank (100), and the ring (114) has a complementary tapering surface that rests against the flared inside surface of the neck (5) to damp vibration.
28. A device according to any preceding claim, in which said tank is made of low density polyethylene in order to damp vibration.
29. A device according to any preceding claim, in which the plug (50) includes a first portion close to the tank and having an outside shape which is circularly symmetrical about the axis of the actuator member (12), and a second portion (51) at a distance from the tank and having an outside shape which is not circularly symmetrical, the head including a latching wall (143) substantially perpendicular to the axis of the actuator member, said latching wall having a recess (143a) of a shape that is substantially complementary to the outside shape of the first portion of the plug, said recess being centered relative to the actuator member of the actuator head, the pushbutton (10) is engaged in removable manner on the actuator member when the plug is axially engaged in said recess, and the plug is locked on said latching wall by rotating the tank and the plug about the axis of the actuator member, the tank further including a loop (106) close to the actuator head (1) and extending radially relative to the axis of the actuator member, and said actuator head (1) including a hook (107) extending orthogonally to a radius so as to hook onto the loop at the end of said rotary movement of the tank and of the plug.
30. A device according to any preceding claim, in which the tank (100) includes means (145) for carrying coded information, so as to enable coded information to be written on said tank, and said electronic circuit (101) for control and power supply purposes includes reader means (146) for reading said coded information, said reader means (146) being connected to control means (139) for enabling or disabling operation of the actuator head as a function of said information as read.
31. A device according to any preceding claim, in which said angular positioning means for said lateral nozzle (111) include means (54) for imposing a given orientation on the plug (50) relative to the head (1), and guide means (55) for guiding the lateral nozzle of the pushbutton in a plane having a particular orientation relative to the plug.
32. A device according to claim 31, in which the means (54) for imparting a particular orientation to the plug relative to the head include snap-fastening relief (54) formed on the plug and complementary relief formed in the head.
33. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 30, in which said angular positioning means for said lateral nozzle (111) comprise relief (155, 167a) formed in complementary manner on said ring (114) and said neck (5) to cause said ring to take up a determined angular orientation relative to the tank, the threads on said ring and on said plug (50) co-operating to give the plug a determined angular orientation relative to said ring, said angular positioning means further including means (106, 107) for constraining the tank to take up a determined orientation relative to the head (1), and guide means (55) for guiding the lateral nozzle of the pushbutton in a plane that has a particular orientation relative to the plug.
34. A device according to claim 33, in which the ring (114) and the plug (50) further include complementary snap-fastening relief (168a, 200) for making the plug (50) take up an accurate angular orientation relative to the ring (114).
35. A device according to any one of claims 2 to 9, with a refill including the tank (100) fitted with its own dip tube (109).
36. A device according to claim 8, with a refill including the tank (4) with the ring (114) mounted in its neck (5).
37. A device according to any one of claims 12 to 25, with a refill including the tank (4).
38. A device according to claim 24, with a refill including the tank (4) and the ring (80) mounted in the neck (5) of said tank.
39. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that said angular positioning means (54) are formed in said plug (50).
40. A device according to claim 39, characterized in that said angular positioning means (54) include a vertical notch (55), formed in the wall of said plug.

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