EP0769328A1 - Packaging device for a product with a load support ring of a manual pump dispensing unitary doses - Google Patents

Abstract

The product dispenser packaging comprises an external rigid container (9) with an open neck (10) and an internal deformable container (10) with an open neck (2). The internal container is housed inside the external container. A manual pump (11), which dispenses single product doses, is sealed on the internal container neck by an annular sealing joint (21). The pump body (12), which has a tubular part (20) surrounded by the sealing joint which engages in the internal container neck, is supplied with the product from the internal container. The internal container neck is fixed by a sealed annular rigid collar (4) which has on its periphery fixings which engage complementary fixings in the external container neck. On the internal periphery of the collar are second fixings which engage complementary fixings in the pump body.

Description

The invention relates to the technical field of packaging a product intended to be dispensed in unit doses using a manual pump.

A more specific subject of the invention is a device for packaging and dispensing a product, comprising a rigid external container with an open neck, a deformable internal container with an open neck, this internal container being essentially housed in the external container and intended to contain the product to be packaged and dispensed, and a manual pump, of the type without air entering the internal container, this pump being intended to distribute the product in unit doses and being mounted in a sealed manner on the neck of the internal container at using sealing means.

Packaging devices of more conventional structure are known, comprising a single container on which is fitted a manual pump dispensing the product contained in the container. Such a pump generally comprises a pusher, making it possible, by pressing the finger of the user, to move a piston in a pumping chamber, the volume of which determines the dose to be dispensed. A first closed valve isolates this chamber from the internal volume of the container, when the product is expelled from this chamber by a second open valve, under the effect of the displacement of the piston by pressing on the pusher. Then the second valve closes and isolates the chamber from the outside, when this chamber fills with the first valve opened with a dose of product from the container, and drawn into the chamber by the return of the piston to its initial position, pressing against a stopper of a pump body in which the piston slides, and under the action of elastic return means.

Thus, each time the piston returns to the initial position, under the effect of the elastic return means, and after dispensing a dose of product, a new dose of product is sucked into the pump chamber.

This suction of the product causes a depression in the container.

To avoid the entry of outside air into the container to compensate for this depression, we have proposed packaging and distribution devices of the type presented above, to which the invention relates, and comprising a deformable internal container, containing the product. to be packaged and distributed and placed in a rigid external container, as well as a pump without air intake. Each time a dose of product is expelled from the deformable container, the vacuum created contracts the latter, around which the rigid external container provides mechanical protection for the internal container. But for such a device to work, it is necessary that the deformable internal container can retract.

For this reason, it is necessary to allow outside air to enter the volume delimited between the two containers.

This air intake is generally provided by at least one passage in the bottom of the rigid container, but the air intake can also be carried out around the neck of this rigid container.

An important drawback of this type of packaging device lies in the fact that the deformable internal container, generally made of plastic, must have a small wall thickness in order to be able to easily deform, and that this results in significant permeability of its wall. , and a migration of part of the product and / or an evaporation of at least one volatile component of the product to be distributed through this flexible and thin wall of the deformable container.

This phenomenon is particularly noticeable with aqueous, alcoholic and / or products containing one or more volatile materials.

A gas given off by the conditioned product or a vapor resulting from the evaporation of a volatile phase of this product can pass through the thin wall of the deformable container and escape towards the outside through the passage reserved for the air intake .

To overcome this drawback, deformable containers have been proposed made of relatively impermeable flexible composite materials.

However, these materials have the disadvantages of being of high cost and difficult to use. In addition, they are never completely waterproof and migration and / or evaporation is always noted after a more or less significant conditioning time.

Another solution already proposed to this problem consists in providing a non-return or unidirectional valve, placed in the passage or downstream from the passage provided for the air intake.

Such a valve allows air to enter the volume between the two containers, when the suction due to the return of the pump piston to its rest position requires it, but prevents the outflow of gas and / or vapor, the presence in the volume between the two containers results from the evaporation and the passage of volatile phase (s) of the product contained in the deformable container through the thin wall of this container. Thus, the evaporation of the product and its migration to the volume between the two containers cease as soon as this volume reaches saturation.

However, the use of non-return valves requires the manufacture and assembly of at least one additional part to produce this valve, which significantly increases the cost of the device.

In addition, another significant drawback of this type of packaging device, with or without a container flexible waterproof, non-return valve and air inlet at the bottom of the rigid container or at its neck, lies in the complexity of its structure, and therefore its manufacturing cost, especially if good mechanical fixing of the pump on the two containers must be ensured without compromising the reliability and durability of the seal to be achieved between the pump and the flexible container, being able to withstand the depressions created in the flexible container during use.

The main object of the invention is to provide a device of the aforementioned type, for which there is no fear of slackening or any other failure of the means for fixing the pump to the containers, nor of concomitant or independent deterioration of the seal between the pump and the internal container, while giving the device a simple structure, of economical manufacture.

A second object of the invention is to remedy a drawback stated above, by proposing a structure for a packaging and distribution device that does not require additional parts to produce a non-return valve allowing the entry of outside air. in the volume between the two containers and opposing the exit of gas or vapor from this volume.

In order to achieve the main object of the invention, it provides a device for packaging and distributing a product, of the type presented above and which is characterized in that the pump comprises a body having a tubular part surrounded by said sealing means and engaged with sealing in the neck of the internal container, for supplying the pump with product from the internal container, and the neck of the internal container is secured with sealing to a rigid annular ring, provided, at its external periphery, with first fixing means which cooperate with complementary fixing means for the neck of the external container, for fixing the internal container and the ring on the container external, and, at its internal periphery, second fixing means, which cooperate with complementary fixing means of the pump body, for fixing the pump to the ring, said tubular part of said pump body being engaged in said ring , and said sealing means comprising at least one annular seal mounted between said ring and said tubular part of the pump body while being spaced from said second ring fixing means and said complementary fixing means of said pump body.

Thanks to the use of the intermediate ring between, on the one hand, the internal container and, on the other hand, the external container and the pump, it is not only possible to ensure excellent fixing of the assembly consisting of the ring and of the internal container in the external container, but also of the pump on the rigid external container, via the ring, and, moreover, between the pump body and the ring, an excellent seal, capable of withstanding depressions created in the inner container during use. This embodiment has the advantage of avoiding any operating interference between the means for fixing the pump to the containers and the sealing means between the pump and the internal container.

Advantageously, to allow rapid assembly, using molded parts, of simple shapes, made of plastic, of the ring-internal container assembly on the external container and of the pump on the ring, said first and second means of fixing of the ring and said complementary fixing means of the neck of the external container and of the pump body are removable fixing means by elastic snap-fastening, with external radial projections displaced axially beyond opposite radial projections, to ensure the snap ring on the outer container and pump body on the ring.

Advantageously, the ring comprises, at its periphery internal, an internal tubular part, having said second fixing means, and in which is engaged said tubular part of the pump body, which has said complementary fixing means, said annular seal being mounted between said internal tubular part of the ring and said tubular part of the pump body, so that the seal can move axially between said tubular parts without this affecting the seal it provides. The attachment of the pump to the intermediate ring thus has no influence on the seal, and vice versa.

To allow the ring to be attached to the neck of the external container after introduction of the internal container and the ring into the external container, the ring advantageously comprises, at its external periphery, an external tubular part having said first fixing means and engaged in said neck of the external container, of which said complementary fixing means are provided with projections and / or recesses having complementary forms of coupling to said first ring fixing means.

The second object of the invention, namely the admission of outside air into the volume between the containers, without non-return valve, and by opposing the exit from this volume of any gas or vapor coming from the product conditioned and having migrated through the wall of the internal container, is reached by the fact that the external container is closed bottom and at least one of said ring and said necks delimits at least partially, outside said means d sealing, at least a first air inlet passage in the volume delimited between the two containers, and the pump body has, also outside said sealing means, at least a second inlet passage d air in said volume between the containers, so that said first and second air inlet passages define in succession a duct allowing air entry outside in the volume between the containers at least when the pump is actuated, and the device further comprises means for confining any part of the product passing through the deformable wall of the internal container from the internal volume of the latter towards the volume between the containers , and tending to escape to the outside through the air inlet duct, at least when the pump is not actuated.

Thus, air can pass through these successive passages and compensate for the vacuum created between the deformable container and the rigid protective container, when the user operates the pump. On the other hand, the gas or gases and / or vapor (s) resulting from the evaporation of the product located in the deformable container and having passed through the wall of the latter cannot or will not be able to escape by borrowing these successive passages their path will be blocked by means of containment.

In a first embodiment, advantageously simple, the first air inlet passage is formed, between the external periphery of the ring and the neck of the external container, by said first ring fixing means and said fixing means complementary to the neck of the outer container, and using at least one recess in said ring and / or in said neck of the outer container. This embodiment avoids having to provide orifices in the thickness of the neck of the external container, in the thickness of the ring and / or in the neck of the internal container. In addition, if such a first passage is in permanent communication with a second passage always open towards the outside of the pump, it is obtained that the air intake duct is permanently open and the confinement means can comprise a cover. watertight, removably and tightly fixed on the device, around the pump and the necks of the containers, and the air inlet duct opens out inside the cover when the latter is fixed to the device.

In this embodiment, the confinement is therefore ensured by a cover, which such a device generally comprises, so that no additional part is necessary.

When the device is equipped with a pump of the type comprising a piston, applied against an abutment of the pump body by elastic return means, in the rest position of the pump, and separated from the abutment against the means of elastic return by manual pressing of the user on a pusher, when the pump is actuated, it is then advantageous for said air inlet passages to be in permanent communication with each other, and the confinement means include said stop , which has an annular part forming a sealed seat in contact with an annular part of the piston, and which allows air to pass from the outside of the device to said air inlet passages as soon as said annular part of the piston is removed from said annular part of the stop by manual support on said pusher.

In this variant, it is not enough to remove the removable cover, generally provided on this type of device, to admit air into the volume between the containers, but it is imperative that the pump is actuated. On the other hand, as long as it is not actuated, and even if the cover is removed, the confinement of the vapors and gases coming from the product in the internal container, and having been able to pass through the volume between the two containers, is ensured by the cooperation of the stop with the piston, in the rest position.

In an advantageous embodiment of the air inlet passage of the pump body, the stop of the pump body is integral with an internal tubular jacket of the pump body and protruding towards the inside of said internal jacket, which surrounds a cylinder of the pump body in which said piston is slidably mounted with a seal, said second air inlet passage comprising at least one channel delimited between, on the one hand, said cylinder, and, on the other hand, said internal jacket and said stop, one end of said channel opening towards the outside of said pump body, between said stop and said piston as soon as the piston is moved away from the stop by manual support on the pusher, while the other end of said channel opens permanently into an annular space delimited between the pump body and the ring, and itself in permanent communication with said first passage air inlet.

The volume located between the two containers being extended by a closed space delimited by the cooperation of the pump piston and its stop, and only the outside air can penetrate this volume between the containers, while no gas and no vapor can not come out to the outside, it is also advantageous that this volume between the containers contains at least one chemical substance or a substance capable of fixing a gas and / or a vapor contained- (e) in the outside air admitted in this volume, to avoid the diffusion of this gas or this vapor through the wall of the internal container and towards the product in the internal volume of the latter. By way of example, this chemical body can fix the oxygen in the air or the water vapor contained in the outside air, the diffusion of which towards the interior of the deformable container, through the wall of this the latter, would have the effect of degrading products sensitive to oxidation or humidity.

Whether or not the device has air inlet passages and confinement means, as presented above, it is also advantageous, to facilitate mounting of the pump on the external container, mounting of the pusher on the pump body and the operation of the pump, that the body comprises an external tubular jacket surrounding said cylinder and internal jacket and delimiting with them, on the pump body, an annular chamber for housing and supporting a portion of end of at least one helical compression spring of said return means elastic, and the other end portion of which is housed inside a first tubular skirt, integral with the pump plunger, and having its free end engaged in said annular chamber of the pump body, said external jacket being - even surrounded by a second tubular skirt, integral with the pump body, and fitted into the neck of the external container.

The realization of the pump is further facilitated, if, in addition, the tubular part of the pump body substantially extends the cylinder of said body and is integral with a bottom at one end of the cylinder which faces the internal container, said bottom being pierced with at least one filling orifice for the cylinder of product coming from the internal container, and carrying at least one inlet valve of the pump, intended to selectively block and release said filling orifice, said piston of the pump being annular and extended, beyond the other end of the cylinder of the body, by a chimney slidably mounted in said annular abutment of the body, and in which is slidably mounted, over a limited stroke, a distribution tube of said pusher, said tube being integral in translation with a tubular rod, of which it extends the central channel, and which slides with sealing in said chimney and is closed, in the annular piston, by a pump outlet valve, applied tightly against the annular piston by the action of the elastic return means, and separated from the piston by action on the plunger, to allow the product to exit between the piston and the outlet valve, from the inside of the cylinder towards the inside of the tubular rod, by at least one radial orifice of the rod.

• la figure 1 est une vue schématique en coupe axiale d'un ensemble comportant un récipient interne déformable et une bague rigide, pour un exemple de dispositif conforme à l'invention,
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe axiale représentant l'ensemble de la figure 1 monté dans un récipient externe rigide et protecteur du dispositif,
• la figure 3 est une vue en coupe analogue de la pompe manuelle de distribution en doses unitaires du produit contenu dans le récipient interne du dispositif,
• la figure 4 est une vue en coupe axiale à plus grande échelle de la pompe de la figure 3 montée sur l'ensemble de la figure 2, et
• les figures 5 à 7 sont des vues schématiques en coupe axiale du dispositif de la figure 4, respectivement en position de stockage, d'expulsion d'une dose de produit et de remplissage de la chambre de dosage de la pompe.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention emerge from the description given below, with reference to the appended drawings, which represent, by way of non-limiting examples, embodiments and implementation of the object of the invention. In these drawings:

• Figure 1 is a schematic sectional view axial of an assembly comprising a deformable internal container and a rigid ring, for an example of a device according to the invention,
• FIG. 2 is a view in axial section showing the assembly of FIG. 1 mounted in a rigid and protective external container of the device,
• FIG. 3 is a similar sectional view of the manual pump for dispensing unit doses of the product contained in the internal container of the device,
• FIG. 4 is a view in axial section on a larger scale of the pump of FIG. 3 mounted on the assembly of FIG. 2, and
• Figures 5 to 7 are schematic views in axial section of the device of Figure 4, respectively in the storage position, expelling a dose of product and filling the metering chamber of the pump.

In the various figures, similar elements have been identified by the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 1, the packaging and distribution device comprises an internal and deformable container 1, also known as a flexible bag, the essentially cylindrical body of which has a closed bottom and curved inwards has a flexible wall made of thin plastic material , and which opens towards the outside by a neck 2 tightened with respect to its body, and provided with a rim 3 flared towards the outside and of progressively increasing thickness up to its external radial periphery. By the open neck 2 and its flared rim 3, the pocket 1 is tightly secured to the external face of a rigid annular ring 4, molded in one piece from plastic material and having, between two external tubular parts 5 and internal 6, respectively at its external and internal peripheries, a radial annular collar 7 and a central cylindrical-conical part 8, with an annular rib 8c projecting axially and chamfered towards the inside of the internal tubular part 6, in its portion frustoconical 8b, and stop ribs 8d projecting axially in its cylindrical portions 8a and frustoconical 8b, for positioning the pump body as described below. For fixing to the latter, the lower end (towards the inside of the pocket 1) of the internal tubular part 6 has an annular redent 6a projecting radially inwards, while for fixing the ring 4 in an external container, as described below with reference to FIG. 2, the upper zone 5a of the external tubular part 5 projects radially outwards relative to its lower zone 5b. In addition, at least one axial groove 5c is formed in the external face of the external tubular part 5.

The sealed connection of the pocket 1 to the ring 4 is ensured for example by ultrasonic welding, or by any other welding method, of the neck 2 and the flared rim 3 around the internal tubular part 6, of the central part 8 and under the collar 7 of the ring 4, up to the lower zone 5b of the external tubular part 5 of this ring 4.

FIG. 2 represents an external and rigid protective container 9, molded in a single piece of plastic material, whose cylindrical body with closed bottom 9a opens towards the outside by a neck 10 also cylindrical, in the extension of its body. The open neck 10 of the external container 9, also known as the bottle, has, near its upper end, an annular step 10a projecting radially inwards and separated by an annular recess or recess 10b from an annular shoulder 10c projecting radial inwards and axially towards the bottom 9a of the bottle 9 relative to the redent 10a. The dimensions of the redent 10a, the hollow 10b and the shoulder 10c of the neck 10 of the bottle 9 and those of the protruding areas 5a and recessed 5b of the periphery of the ring 4 are such that the pocket 1-ring 4 assembly can be introduced into the bottle 9 and fixed in the neck 10 of the latter by elastic snap-fitting of the projection 5a of the ring 4 in the hollow 10b of the neck 10, between the redent 10a and the shoulder 10c of this neck, as shown in FIG. 2.

The device also comprises a manual pump 11, according to FIG. 3, for dispensing in unit doses a product stored in the flexible bag 1 without letting outside air enter this pocket 1, and the pump 11 comprises a body 12, which is fixed by elastic snap-fastening on the ring 4, and a pusher 13 movably mounted on the body 12 and actuated manually by the user to dispense doses of the product, the body 12 and the pusher 13 each being made of plastic. As also visible in FIG. 4, the body 12 comprises a central cylinder 14, open at its upper end and closed at its lower end by a bottom 15 pierced with supply orifices 16 around a central tubular core 17 from the bottom 15. At rest, the orifices 16 are closed by an inlet valve 18, which is an annular elastic membrane pressing against the bottom 15, on the inside of the cylinder 14, and kept applied by its central part against the core 17 by a pin 19 with an enlarged head and a body force-fitted and elastically snap-fastened, or fixed and retained in any other way, in the core 17.

Beyond the bottom 15, the cylinder 14 is extended substantially axially by a tubular part 20, surrounding the core 17 of which it is secured by radial stiffening ribs 20a, and having at its lower end an annular step 20b projecting radially towards outside, to cooperate with the redent 6a projecting towards the inside of the ring 4, so as to allow the elastic snap-fastening of the body 12 on the ring 4 by fitting the tubular part 20 of the body 12 in the internal tubular part 6 of the ring 4 and snap-fastening of the redent 20b axially beyond and below the redent 6a, towards the inside of the flexible bag 1.

The seal between the tubular part 20 of the pump body 12 and the ring 4 is ensured by an O-ring 21 mounted around the tubular part 20 and retained axially between the redent 20b and external axial ribs 20c on the bottom side 15. These external ribs 20c of the tubular part 20 ensure that the seal 21, when the pump 11 is mounted on the ring 4, remains between the tubular part 20 of the pump body 12 and the tubular part 6 of the ring 4, and can be move axially over a limited stroke between these two tubular parts, without interfering with the mechanical means for fixing the pump body 12 to the ring 4. The seal provided by the seal 21 has no influence on the attachment of the body pump 12 on the ring 4, and vice versa.

The assembly consisting of the cylinder 14, the bottom 15 with the core 17, and the tubular part 20 with the ribs 20a and 20c and the redent 20b is molded in a single internal piece of plastic.

The pump body 12 also comprises an external piece molded in one piece from plastic material and comprising an internal cylindrical jacket 22, surrounding the cylinder 14, an external cylindrical jacket 23, which surrounds the internal jacket 22 with radial spacing so as to delimit between them an annular chamber 24 closed, on the side of the tubular part 20, by an annular bottom 25 joining the two jackets 22 and 23 by their lower ends, and finally an external skirt 26, which surrounds the external jacket 23 with radial spacing and which is integral with the latter on the one hand, by an annular and radial collar 27 connecting them by their upper ends, and, on the other hand, by radial ribs 26a of stiffening.

The upper end of the inner jacket 22 is secured to a radial annular bottom 28, projecting inward at a small axial distance beyond the upper end of the cylinder 14, and the central passage of the annular bottom 28 is delimited by an axial tubular collar 29 for guiding a piston rod, as described below.

The lower end of the internal jacket 22, which is flared radially outwards and towards the bottom 25 of the chamber 24, is extended axially beyond the bottom 25 by a tubular end piece 30, provided, at its lower end, a redent 31 projecting radially inwards. This end piece 30 and this redent 31 cooperate with an outward radial projection 14a, presented by the lower end of the cylinder 14, around the bottom 15, to allow the elastic snap-fastening of the internal part, made up of the cylinder 14 , from the bottom 15, from the core 17 and from the tubular part 20, inside the external part of the pump body 12, this external part consisting of the liners 22 and 23, the bottoms 25 and 28, the skirt 26 and collars 27 and 29, as well as the end piece 30 and the redent 31. In this position of the two parts of the pump body 12 snapped into each other, there remains, as shown in Figure 4, a axial channel 32, of small radial width, between the external wall of the cylinder 14 and the internal wall of the internal jacket 22, and this channel 32 opens, at its upper end, between the upper end of the cylinder 14 and the annular bottom 28 , and, at its lower end, thanks to at least u an axial groove 14b formed in the radial projection 14a of the lower end of the cylinder 14, in an annular chamber 33 delimited, on the one hand, between the tubular part 20 of the pump body 12, above the seal 21, and the tubular part 6 and the chamfer of the annular rib 8c of the ring 4, and, on the other hand, between the nozzle 30 of the pump body 12 and the cylindrical-conical central part 8 of the ring 4, the redent 31 at the lower end of the tubular end piece 30 not being in contact with the rib 8c, due to the limitation at the entry of the pump body 12 into the ring 4 by coming into contact with the bottom 25 of the annular chamber 24 of the pump body 12 against the abutment ribs 8d of the ring 4, as shown in Figure 4.

Likewise, this annular chamber 33 communicates freely with the annular chamber 34 delimited between the outer jacket 23 and the skirt 26 and the neck 10 of the bottle 9, in which this skirt 26 is fitted elastically and axially when the pump body 12 is mounted on the ring 4, without sealing contact of the lower end part of the outer jacket 23 with the cylindrical part 8a of the ring 4.

In turn, this annular chamber 34 is in permanent communication with the volume 35 delimited between the two containers 1 and 9, by virtue of the axial passage formed by the axial groove 5c in the parts 5a and 5b of the tubular periphery 5 of the ring 4 , ensuring its elastic snap-fastening in the neck 10 of the bottle 9.

A pumping and metering chamber 36 is delimited in the cylinder 14, between its bottom 15 and the inlet valve 18, at its lower end, and, towards its upper end, an annular piston 37 slidably mounted with sealing in the cylinder 14 thanks to an O-ring seal 38 housed in a peripheral groove of the piston 37. The piston 37 is extended, towards the outside of the cylinder 14, by a chimney 39 which passes through the axial tubular collar 29 of the annular bottom 28 of the jacket internal 22 and is slidably mounted in this collar 29 without sealing. In the central passage of the annular piston 37 is housed an outlet valve 40 integral with a tubular rod 41 slidably mounted with sealing in the chimney 39 of the piston 37 by means of an O-ring seal 42 retained in a groove in its periphery, and the valve 40 carries, on its face turned towards its rod 41, an annular seal 43 facing an annular radial shoulder 37a connecting the annular piston 37 to its chimney 39. Between the seals 42 and 43 , the tubular rod 41 is pierced with radial orifices 44.

The plunger 13 of the pump 11 comprises a tube distribution 45 in two parts substantially perpendicular to each other, one of which 45a is radial at the upper end of the pusher 13, and the other 45b is axial and central, and engaged in the chimney 39 so as to being able to slide in the latter over an axial stroke limited by the abutment of the upper end 39a of this chimney 39 against the upper part of the pusher 13 and the radial part 45a of its distribution tube 45. Simultaneously, the tubular rod 41 is axially engaged inside the axial part 45b of the distribution tube 45 until it abuts by its upper end 41a against an internal radial shoulder 45c of this axial part 45b, and so that the tubular rod 41 is integral of this axial part 45b by force and elastic snap-fitting of a recess 41b projecting radially outwards on the rod 41 and housed in a circular groove of corresponding shape of the p internal aroi of the tubular axial part 45b, as visible in FIG. 4. Thus, the tubular rod 41 and the outlet valve 40 are integral with the axial displacements of the pusher 13 relative to the pump body 12, for actuating the pump 11 by support of the user on the pusher 13 towards the pump body 12 and the receptacles 1 and 9. For this purpose, the pusher 13 has an external skirt 46, which surrounds the axial and central part 45b with radial spacing as well that the chimney 39 and the tubular rod 41, and such that the lower end of the skirt 46 is fitted without sealing and can slide in the annular chamber 24 between the two tubular jackets 22 and 23 of the pump body 12. This skirt 46 , axially guided in the annular chamber 24 during the axial displacements of the plunger 13 relative to the pump body 12, surrounds, houses and protects the upper end part of a helical compression spring 47, which takes support by its upper end against internal ribs 46a of the skirt 46, while the lower end part of the spring 47 is housed in the annular chamber 24 and bears at its lower end against axial ribs 22a projecting from the lower end of the inner jacket 22 and towards the inside of the annular chamber 24.

The spring 47 recalls the pusher 13, the outlet valve 40 and the piston 37 in the rest position, in which the pusher 13 is pushed axially as far as possible in the direction which separates it from the pump body 12, and in which the valve outlet 40 is closed, because in leaktight support by its annular seal 43 against the shoulder 37a of the piston 37, the latter itself being in abutment by its annular part 37b, projecting on its face facing the annular bottom 28, against this bottom 28, which thus constitutes a seat for sealing the axial channel 32 between cylinder 14 and jacket 22, in order to cut off the entry of outside air to this channel 32. Indeed, outside air can freely enter the annular chamber 24, passing between the skirt 46 of the pusher 13 and the external jacket 23 of the pump body 12, then pass from the chamber 24 in the annular chamber 48, between the skirt 46 and the chimney 39, then between the chimney 39 and the tubular collar 29 and the annular bottom e 28 to the air inlet valve formed by the annular part 37b of the piston 37, and which is closed when this part 37b is in abutment against the bottom 28, in the initial or rest position of FIG. 4. In this figure, the external air intake circuit up to the annular part 37b of the piston 37, then from this part 37b into the volume 35 between the two containers 1 and 9 is indicated by arrows and a broken line . This air inlet circuit is closed, as explained above, when the pump 11 is at rest.

From this rest position in FIG. 4, and assuming the flexible bag 1 filled with a product to be dispensed, if the user presses the plunger 13, he first moves the plunger 13 and the tubular part central 45b of the distribution tube with the tubular rod 41 and the valve 40 relative to the pump body 12 and the piston 37. The valve 40 is no longer in leaktight contact with the piston 37 by the seal 43. The chamber 36 is thus in communication through the radial orifices 44 with the inside of the tubular rod 41, and therefore with the outside via the distribution tube 45. Then, after contact between the chimney 39 and the pusher 13, when the latter is pushed in, the pusher 13 moves with him the chimney 39 and the piston 37, which is moved in the cylinder 14 towards its bottom 15. The air initially in the chamber 36 is expelled outwards and the volume of this chamber 36 is reduced. As soon as the piston 37 is moved in the cylinder 14, its annular part 37b is moved away from the annular bottom 28, so that the outside air circuit is open, and air can pass from outside the pump to in the volume 35 between the two containers 1 and 9, by the air inlet circuit described above.

When the plunger 13 is released, the return spring 47, compressed during the insertion phase, relaxes and recalls upwards the plunger 13 and the valve 40, which is closed tight against the piston 37, which is then returned towards the high by the valve 40 pulled by the pusher 13. A vacuum is thus created in the chamber 36, while the volume 35 between the two containers 1 and 2 remains supplied with outside air, as long as the annular part 37b of the piston 37 n did not come back into abutment against the annular bottom 28. Under the effect of this depression, there is a suction which elastically flexes the membrane 18 of the inlet valve towards the interior of the chamber 36, and releases the orifices 16 and allows the entry of the product from the bag 1 inside the chamber 36, which is thus filled with a dose of product to be dispensed. The resulting depression in the flexible bag 1 is compensated for by the contraction of this bag 1 by the outside air admitted into the intermediate volume 35.

Chamber 36 having been filled with product, a new operation on the pusher 13 produces, as described above, the opening of the valve 40 and therefore the communication of the chamber 36 with the distribution tube 45, then the displacement of the piston 37 in the cylinder 14, which drives out the product contained in the pumping and metering chamber 36 to the outside because the inlet valve 18 remains closed due to the elimination in the chamber 36. Following the emptying of the chamber 36, the release of the pusher 37 causes , under the action of the return spring 47, and as described above, the closing of the outlet valve 40, the return of the piston 37 to the initial position and the opening of the inlet valve 18, for the admission of a new dose of product in room 36.

These different phases of the pump's operation are shown in Figures 5 to 7.

FIG. 5 shows the dispenser, the pump 11 of which is at rest, after at least one operation of the pusher 13, so that the chamber 36 contains a dose of product. The two valves 18 and 40 are closed, as is the air inlet circuit in the intermediate volume 35, by the annular part 37b of the piston 37 which abuts against the annular bottom 28 of the internal jacket 22.

FIG. 6 represents the dispenser, during the dispensing of a dose of product, the pusher 13 being depressed by a manual action of the user, indicated by the arrow F1 the outlet valve 40 being open and the inlet valve 18 closed, the piston 37 being pressed into the cylinder 14, so that the product from the chamber 36 is expelled by the distribution tube 45, as indicated by the arrows F2.

In FIG. 7, when the plunger 13 is released, the spring 47 pushes the latter in the direction of the arrow F3, which closes the outlet valve 40 and opens the inlet valve 18 by suction, so that product gets moving according to the arrows F4 passes from the interior of the flexible bag 1 into the chamber 36 which it fills.

Of course, the flexible bag 1 of the assembly of FIG. 2 is filled with product before the assembly of the pump of FIG. 3 on the assembly of FIG. 2 by elastic snap-fitting of the pump body 12 by its tubular part. 20 in the internal tubular part 6 of the ring 4 of this assembly. This snap-fitting is ensured by the axial passage of the redent 20b beyond the redent 6a, the seal being ensured by the seal 21 between the pump body 12 and the ring 4.

Between two uses of the device, or during the storage of the product in this device, before its use, a certain evaporation of a volatile phase of the product, or even a certain migration of part of the product, can be carried out through the thin wall of the body of the flexible bag 1. This evaporation and / or migration, due to the permeability of the thin plastic material constituting this wall, causes an accumulation of vapor and / or gas, or even product, in the volume 35 between the receptacles 1 and 9, and causes an increase in pressure there. These gases and / or vapors tend to take the opposite path to that taken by the outside air, when a depression is created in this same volume 35. This reverse path is stopped by the sealed support of the annular part 37b of the piston 37 in abutment against the annular bottom 28 of the inner jacket 32, as is always the case between two uses or before use of the device. The annular part 37b of the piston 37 and the annular bottom 28 of the internal jacket 22 thus constitute means for confining the gases and / or vapors which could accumulate in the volume 35 between the containers 1 and 9, since this volume does not is not in permanent communication with the outside of the pump 11, due to the presence of these confinement means on the air inlet path, which however allow the entry of outside air into this intermediate volume 35 from that the pump 11 is actuated, to compensate for the vacuum created in this volume 35 by the operation of the pump 11.

A packaging and distribution device is thus produced in which the permeability of the wall of the deformable container 1 no longer poses a problem, since the migration and / or evaporation of part of the product contained in this deformable container 1 is stopped. when saturation is reached in the intermediate volume 35 between the two containers 1 and 9.

If it is feared that a gas, such as oxygen, or a vapor, such as water vapor, present in the air contained in the volume 35, outside the container deformable 1, can diffuse through the thin wall of this container 1, and come to present a risk of oxidation or humidification for the product therein, a simple remedy to this problem consists in introducing into the volume 35 , during the installation of the assembly of the flexible bag 1 and the ring 4 in the rigid bottle 9, a substance or a chemical body capable of fixing or absorbing this gas or this vapor.

Alternatively, if it is not essential to provide an air circuit preventing the evaporation of the product contained in the flexible bag 1, the cylinder 14 and the internal jacket 22 may be one and the same piece, without axial channel air 32, and the volume 35 between the two containers 1 and 9 can be vented by an air inlet provided by a hole in the bottom of the container 9, or by a hole in the outer jacket 23 or in the part of the skirt 26 which is not fitted into the neck 10 of the container 9.

Claims (11)

Device for packaging and distributing a product, comprising: - a rigid external container (9) with open neck (10), a deformable internal container (1) with open neck (2), said internal container (1) being essentially housed in the external container (9) and intended to contain a product to be packaged and distributed, and - A manual pump (11), of the type without air entering the internal container (1), said pump being intended to dispense the product in unit doses, and being mounted in leaktight manner on the neck (2) of the internal container (1) using sealing means (21),
characterized in that the pump (11) comprises a body (12) having a tubular part (20) surrounded by said sealing means (21) and engaged with sealing in the neck (2) of the internal container (1), for the supply of the pump (11) with product from the internal container (1), and the neck (2) of the internal container (1) is secured with sealing to a rigid annular ring (4), provided at its external periphery , first fixing means (5a, 5b) which cooperate with complementary fixing means (10a, 10b, 10c) of the neck (10) of the external container (9), for fixing the internal container (1) and the ring (4) on the external container (9), and, at its internal periphery, second fixing means (6a), which cooperate with complementary fixing means (20b) of the pump body (12), for fixing from the pump (11) to the ring (4), said tubular part (20) of said pump body (12) being engaged in said ring (4), and said sealing means comprising at least one annular seal (21) mounted between said ring (4) and said tubular part (20) of the pump body (12) being spaced from said second fixing means (6a) of the ring (4) and of said means of additional fixing (20b) of said pump body (12). Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said first (5a, 5b) and second means (6a) for fixing the ring (4) and said complementary fixing means (10a, 10b, 10c, 20b) of the neck (10 ) of the external container (9) and of the pump body (12) are removable fixing means by elastic snap-fastening, with external radial projections (5a, 20b) displaced axially beyond internal radial projections (10a, 6a) by manhole, to ensure the hooking of the ring (4) on the external container (9) and of the pump body (12) on the ring (4). Device according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said ring (4) comprises, at its internal periphery, an internal tubular part (6) having said second fixing means (6a), and in which said said is engaged tubular part (20) of the pump body (12), which tubular part (20) has said complementary fixing means (20b), said annular seal (21) being mounted between said internal tubular part (6) of the ring (4) and said tubular part (20) of the pump body (12). Device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said ring (4) comprises, at its external periphery, an external tubular part (5) having said first fixing means (5a, 5b) and engaged in said neck (10) of the external container (9), of which said complementary fixing means are provided with projections (10a, 10c) and / or recesses (10b) having complementary forms of coupling to said first fixing means (5a, 5b ) of the ring (4), to allow the ring (4) to be hooked onto the neck (10) of the external container (9) after introduction of the internal container (1) and the ring (4) into said external container (9). Device according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the external container (9) is at the bottom closed (9a) and at least one of said ring (4) and said necks (2, 10) delimits at least partially, outside of said sealing means (2), at least one first passage air inlet (5c) in the volume (35) defined between the two containers (1, 9), and the pump body (12) (11) present, also outside of said sealing means ( 21), at least one second air inlet passage (32) in said volume (35) between the containers (1, 9), so that said first and second inlet passages (5c, 32) air define in succession a conduit allowing the entry of outside air into the volume (35) between the containers (1, 9) at least when the pump (11) is actuated, and the device further comprises containment means ( 37b, 28) of any part of the product passing through the deformable wall of the internal container (1) from the interior of the latter towards the volume (35) between the containers (1, 9), and tending to escape er outwards via the air inlet duct (5c, 34, 33, 32), at least when the pump (11) is not actuated. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that said first air inlet passage is formed between the outer periphery (5) of the ring (4) and the neck (10) of the outer container (9), by said first fixing means (5a, 5b) of the ring (4) and said complementary fixing means (10a, 10b, 10c) of the neck (10) of the external container (9), and using at least one recess (5c) formed in said ring (4) and / or in said neck (10) of the external container (9). Device according to either of Claims 5 and 6, the pump (11) of which is of the type comprising a piston (37), applied against a stop (28) of the pump body (12) (11) by the action of means elastic return (47) in the rest position of the pump (11), and moved away from the stop (28) against the elastic return means (47) by manual pressing on a plunger (13) when the pump ( 11) is actuated, characterized in that said passages (5c, 32) air intake are in permanent communication with each other, and the containment means comprise said stop (28), which has an annular part forming a seat sealed in contact with an annular part (37b) of the piston (37) , and which allows air to pass from the outside of the device to said air inlet passages (5c, 32) as soon as said annular part (37b) of the piston (37) is spaced from said annular part of the stop (28) by manual pressing on said pusher (13). Device according to claim 7, characterized in that said stop (28) of the pump body (12) is integral with an internal tubular jacket (22) of the pump body (12) and projecting towards the inside of said jacket internal (22), which surrounds a cylinder (14) of the pump body (12) in which said piston (37) is slidably mounted with sealing (38), said second air inlet passage comprising at least one channel ( 32) delimited between, on the one hand, said cylinder (14), and, on the other hand, said internal jacket (22) and said stop (28), one end of said channel (32) opening towards the outside said pump body (12), between said stop (28) and said piston (37) as soon as the piston (37) is moved away from the stop (28) by manual pressing on the pusher (13), while the other end of said channel (32) opens permanently into an annular space (33) delimited between the pump body (12) and the ring (4), and itself in permanent communication with said first air inlet passage (5c). Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the pump body (12) comprises an external tubular jacket (23), surrounding and delimiting with said cylinder (14) and internal jacket (22) on the pump body (12 ), an annular chamber (24) for housing and supporting an end part of at least one helical compression spring (47) of said elastic return means, and the other end part of which is housed inside a first tubular skirt (46), integral with the pump plunger (13), and having its free end engaged in said annular chamber (24) of the pump body (12), said external jacket (23) itself being surrounded by a second tubular skirt (26), integral of the pump body (12), and fitted into the neck (10) of the external container (9). Device according to one of claims 8 and 9, characterized in that said tubular part (20) of the pump body (12) substantially extends the cylinder (14) of said body (12) and is integral with a bottom (15) at one end of the cylinder (14) which faces the internal container (1), said bottom (15) being pierced with at least one orifice (16) for filling the cylinder (14) with product coming from the internal container (4 ), and carrying at least one valve (18) inlet of the pump (11), intended to selectively close and release said filling orifice (16), said piston (37) of the pump (11) being annular and extended , beyond the other end of the cylinder (14) of the body (12), by a chimney (39) slidably mounted in said annular stop (28) of the body (12), and in which is slidably mounted, on a limited stroke, a tube (45b) for distributing said pusher (13), said tube (45b) being integral in translation with a tubular rod (41), of which it extends the central channel, and which slides with sealing (42) in said chimney (39) and is closed, in the annular piston (37), by a valve (40) outlet of the pump (11), applied with sealing (43) against the annular piston (37) by the action of the elastic return means (47), and separated from the piston (37) by action on the pusher (13), to allow the product to exit between the piston (37 ) and the outlet valve (40), from the inside of the cylinder (14) towards the inside of the tubular rod (41), through at least one radial orifice (44) of the rod (41). Device according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the volume (35) between the containers (1, 9) contains at least one chemical substance capable of fixing a gas and / or a vapor contained in the outside air admitted into this volume (35), to prevent its diffusion through the wall of the internal container (1) and towards the internal volume of the latter .

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