EP1020135B1 - Dispenser comprising an automatically supplied applicator - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an assembly for conditioning and the application of a product, especially a cosmetic product. The invention is everything particularly suitable for products in the form of a liquid, a gel or of a cream. By way of example, the conditioning and application of skincare products, in particular skin or hair, makeup removers or hair coloring products.

In the field of cosmetics in particular, certain products, in particular in the form of a milk, a cream or a gel are distributed under pressure by means of a pump. Because of their instability in the presence of air, they can be packaged in pump systems of the type without air intake, that is to say vacuum-packed in tanks whose volume decreases with use. Typically, a pocket with shrinkable walls, a tube with deformable walls, or a bottle in which is disposed a follower piston. The pump may be of the piston, membrane or valve type.
In the state of the art, document CH-406 544 describes a device for dispensing a liquid product.
To apply the product, the user takes the pumped product on one or more of his fingers, and applies it by massaging the surface to be treated. Alternatively, the product is applied by means of an applicator, in particular in the form of an open cell foam.

In the case of a reusable applicator many times, especially at the During the life of the product, it may be desirable for the product to be uses, is stored away from the air so that its properties mechanical, including flexibility, or absorption are not impaired. In additionally, in the case of an applicator that is not cleaned after each use, the contact of the product remaining on the applicator with the ambient air, or with any other element of the environment in which it is conserved, risks contaminating the applicator and alter the product he is wearing. In any case, transport such an applicator, especially in the hand bag of the user, is not without to pose problems.

Finally, for some applicators, whose shape is appropriate to the profile of the surface to be treated, especially the profile of the lips or the corner of the eye, it can be desirable that the product be deposited always in the same way on the applicator, and in the same quantities, so as to realize an application which is reproducible from one time to the next.

Also, is it an object of the invention to provide a set of packaging and application of the type mentioned previously and solving in whole or in part the problems discussed above.

It is in particular an object of the invention to provide such a set which allows the applicator to be kept in good sealing conditions compared to the external environment.

It is also another object of the invention to provide such a set comprising an application member whose transport and handling is facilitated.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a set whose loading the applicator product is reproducible.

Still other objects will appear in the following detailed description.

According to the invention, these objects are achieved by making a set of packaging and application of a product, in particular a cosmetic product, comprising: a reservoir containing said product and surmounted by an element of pressure distribution, in particular of a pump, comprising an element activation for, in response to an actuation command to deliver a dose said product through at least one outlet port, a hood being disposed of detachably on said tank, and carrying an application member in form a porous element capable of absorbing said product, said applicator member being, in the mounted position of the hood on the tank, contained in a sealed manner to inside the hood, and having at least one portion disposed in the vicinity of said said outlet port (s), so that in this position mounted on the hood on the reservoir, the actuation of the pressure distribution element causes the release of a dose of said product and impregnation of at least a part of the organ application by said product.

The applicator member is contained in a sealed manner inside the cover which means in the sense of the present invention that, in the hood mounted position on the reservoir, the application member is contained in a sealed manner within a volume defined at least in part by the hood, the occupying application member all or part of that volume.

Thus, the application member, between two applications, is conserved waterproof away from the outside environment. The hood, of which said organ application is integral, allows easy handling of the application member, and the application of the product in good conditions, without defiling the fingers. In mounted position of the hood, the application member is arranged so predetermined with respect to (or to) outlet (s). So, in this position, when actuating the pressure distribution element, the organ application is always in the same way, ie to the same places, and in identical quantities. The application that is made is thus perfectly reproducible.

Actuation of the pressurized dispensing element can be done in position waterproof mounting of the applicator cover on the reservoir, or in the mounted position, partially sealed applicator cover on the tank. Indeed, before to operate the pump, it is possible to slightly unscrew the applicator cover in order to create a slight air leak, able to avoid any overpressure at inside the volume containing the application member. Similarly, although according to the invention, the actuation of the pump is, before each new use, realized in the mounted position of the applicator cover on the tank, it is clear that such actuation can be caused also, in the unmounted position of the hood applicator on the tank. This allows in particular, in use, to Refill the applicator product without having to screw the hood on the tank.

The pressure distribution element is a pump of the type "airless", ie without air intake, the tank volume decreasing by one value corresponding to the volume of the dispensed dose. Such a pump is particularly suitable for the distribution of products whose properties could be altered in contact with air. In addition, it does not require the use of dip tube.

In the case of a pump without air intake, the reservoir may be constituted including a flexible pocket with retractable walls, a flexible tube, a deformable membrane bottle, in particular elastically deformable, or a follower piston bottle. Thus, when distributing a dose of product, the container volume decreases by an amount equal to the volume of the dispensed dose, so that the product occupies, throughout the life of the whole, substantially all the available volume of the tank.

As an example of a device of the elastically deformable membrane type, it It is possible to cite a structure of the type described in the application for patent EP-A-0 743 263 in the name of the applicant, and according to which a elastic membrane forms the bottom of a rigid container on which are mounted a pump and a push button. The membrane is fixed by its periphery to the wall rigid container, and is initially flat in shape, or slightly concave or convex towards the product. Over the years, the membrane is able to elastically deform at an axial height of 15 to 20 mm, for example, to fit the shape of the inside of the container. Such a design, by its shape, allows to give more surface to the applicator, allowing thus the realization of an applicator for larger surfaces of the body, especially for the bust or the thighs.

The pump may consist in particular of a membrane valve pump or piston. Such pumps are well known and, therefore, do not require no additional detailed description.

The applicator member may consist of an open cell foam or semi-open or sintered. With such materials, the return of the product to the surface to be treated is either by capillarity or surface tension effect at contact with the skin, either by expulsion of the product, from the pores of the applicator, response to a slight deformation (by pressure) of it on the surface to be treated. The application member may be made of several different materials, in particular a stack of foams having different hardnesses, a part of the foams can be open-celled, the rest being closed.

By way of example, the applicator member consists of a polyether foam, Polyester, Polyurethane, NBR (Natural Butadiene Rubber), SBR (Synthetic Butadiene Rubber) PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) or sintered polyethylene of bronze, glass, silicone, or nylon.

Actuation of the pressurized dispensing element can be performed by a pressure exerted on the hood when it is in the mounted position on the tank.

Alternatively, the actuation of the pressure distribution element is achieved by a pressure exerted on a rigid or semi-rigid bottom. Said background rigid can be formed either from the bottom of the tank or from the bottom of a rigid enclosure or semi-rigid containing said reservoir. In the first case, the tank can be a rigid or semi-rigid bottle in which a follower piston is slidably mounted. In the second case, the reservoir may be a pocket with flexible walls, especially based on a complex of paper and / or aluminum, and / or plastic, said pocket being disposed in a rigid semi-rigid outer enclosure, especially polypropylene or polyethylene.

It is possible to provide means, in particular race limiters actuating the pump, so as to be able selectively to vary the volume of the dispensed dose.

The hood can be removably mounted on the tank, in particular by breakdown or screwing, the latter solution offering better results in terms of sealing inside the compartment delimited by the hood above of the tank. The seal may be reinforced by the presence of a seal or a sealing lip.

According to a specific embodiment, said assembly according to the invention comprises a member, mounted on the reservoir, and having a surface of the shape of which is adapted to the shape of the application member, so that that, in the mounted position of the cover, said application member rests at least part on said receiving surface, said outlet orifice (s) crossing said surface. This surface, with which the applicator is, at least partially, brought into intimate contact, allows, in hood mounted position on the reservoir, to form a surface along which the product will be able, the case where appropriate, back up by capillarity, thus ensuring a better loading of the applicator on a larger surface, extending well beyond the neighborhood immediate or openings. The applicator can occupy all the defined volume between the receiving surface and the hood, or only part of it, the latter configuration to reduce, where appropriate, problems related to swabbing. The rise of the product along the receiving surface, so to impregnate a larger portion of the applicator may be favored by the presence of grooves or other reliefs capable of forming channels routing of the product.

Advantageously, said receiving surface forms a shaped cap globally hemispheric.

This application also seeks the use of a set of packaging and application according to the invention for packaging and the application of a cosmetic product, in particular in the form of a liquid of a gel or a cream.

• la figure 1 illustre un premier mode de réalisation d'un ensemble de conditionnement et d'application selon l'invention;
• les figures 2A-2C illustrent l'utilisation de l'ensemble tel que représenté à la figure 1;
• la figure 3 représente un second mode de réalisation d'un ensemble de conditionnement et d'application selon l'invention; et
• la figure 4 illustre un troisième mode de réalisation d'un ensemble selon l'invention.

The invention consists, apart from the arrangements described above, in a certain number of other arrangements which will be explained below, with reference to nonlimiting exemplary embodiments, described with reference to the appended figures, among which:

• FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of a packaging and application assembly according to the invention;
• Figures 2A-2C illustrate the use of the assembly as shown in Figure 1;
• FIG. 3 represents a second embodiment of a packaging and application assembly according to the invention; and
• FIG. 4 illustrates a third embodiment of an assembly according to the invention.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, to which it is now made reference, the packaging and application set comprises a body rigid interior 2 in the form of a cylindrical element made of polypropylene. The section of the cylindrical element may be circular, ovoid, elliptical, or any other desired shape. One end of the inner body 2 is closed by a rigid bottom 3. The end of the rigid body 2, opposite the bottom 3 is open, and comprises on its inner surface a groove 4, adapted to allow mounting by breakdown of an intermediate piece 5. The intermediate piece 5 has a side skirt 6 the outer surface of which has in the vicinity of its upper edge a bead 7, adapted to cooperate by snapping with the groove 4 of the inner body 2. The lateral skirt 6 extends, at its end opposite its free edge, at an angle right with a transverse flange 8, itself connected to an axial chimney 9 of cylindrical section. Inside the axial chimney 9, is mounted, particularly by force, by breakdown, or by screwing, an airless pump 10 surmounted by an emerging rod 11 sealing. Thus, the element of pressure distribution 10 is integral with the structure carrying or forming the product tank.

On the outer surface of the side skirt 6 of the intermediate piece 5, is mounted, especially by gluing, snapping, or welding, the open end of a flexible-walled pouch 12, made of an aluminum-based complex, and in which is arranged the product P. The maintenance of the pocket 12 in this position is further reinforced by the presence of the rigid inner body 2, which contributes, in combination with the side skirt 6 of the intermediate part 5, to sandwich said open end of the bag 12.

The rigid bottom 3 has an orifice 13 adapted to allow air intake to inside the rigid body 2, so as to compensate for the decrease in the volume of the pocket 12 over uses. Alternatively, the air intake is carried out at means of a valve disposed in the bottom of the rigid body 2.

The assembly is surmounted by a band 14, mounted on the pump rod 11, and a cylindrical portion 15 forms a skirt of which one end 16 is open. Said open end 16 is in the vicinity of the rigid bottom 3 of the body which, in the rest position of the pump 10, emerges (with respect to the end 16) of a height corresponding at least to the actuating stroke of the pump 10. The cylindrical portion 15 has an inside diameter slightly greater than the outer diameter of the inner body 2, so as to be able to slide freely on the latter when the pump 10 is actuated. opposite to the open end 16, the band 14 comprises a portion 17, one of which surface 18 delimits a hemispherical cap. Said surface 18 is pierced in its center of an orifice 19 communicating the pump rod 11 with the surface 18. In its portion adjacent to the surface 18, the orifice 19 is of section slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the pump rod so that this, when actuating the pump, abuts against the portion of smaller section of the orifice 19. The cylindrical portion 15 of the hoop 14 allows to make a grip for screwing and unscrewing the applicator cover 23.

The surface 18 terminates, opposite the orifice 19, by a free edge 20 whose outer surface is provided with a thread 21, adapted to cooperate with a thread corresponding 22 of a hood 23. An inner skirt 24 of the cover 23 serves for the fixing an application member 25, in the form of a block of foam compressible to open cells. Fixing the application member 25 to the skirt 24 can be provided in particular by gluing or welding. The application body 25, forms on the outside of the fastening skirt 24, substantially a ball whose configuration is such that in the mounted position shown in FIG. 25 is in intimate contact with the surface 18 of the hoop, as well as with the outlet orifice 19 passing through said surface 18, even in compression against said surface 18. The surface 18 may be smooth or comprise reliefs, in particular radial grooves, capable of allowing the delivery of the product in places further away from the outlet 19.

To use such an assembly, the user, in the closed position of the hood 23, actuates the pump 10 by exerting a pressure on the bottom 3 while maintaining the cylindrical portion 15 of the hoop 14. This actuating position is illustrated in Figure 2A. In doing so, the pump rod 11 is thrust into abutment against the portion of smaller section of the orifice 19 of the band 14, which causes the depression of the pump rod 11 and the delivery of a dose of product P in the bag 12. The product comes out of the bag 12 via the stem of 11, and opens on the surface 18 of the hoop 14 via the orifice 19 where it is placed in contact with the application member 25. The product is pumped, in particular in partly by capillarity, by the applicator member 25 or by pressure.

In FIG. 2B, the user unscrews the hood 23 so as to extract the organ 25. Possibly, it is possible to provide that in the screwed position of the cover 23, the foam block forming the application member 25 is slightly compressed. Thus, at the opening, the foam block decompresses, contributing thus to pump a part of the product which would not have been absorbed in position 23. This oversizing of the application member makes it possible to In addition, in use, to be able to deliver at least a portion of the organ in contact with the receiving surface 18, which surface is previously or simultaneously, supplied with product, and to recharge the applicator produces without having to screw the applicator cover sealed on the tank, the actuation of the pump being caused by depression of the band 14 with respect to the bottom 3.

In FIG. 2C, the user applies the applicator member 25 to the surface to be treated. in order to cause the transfer of the product from the applicator member to the skin. For this purpose, it can exert a slight pressure on the application member so as to, in response to the deformation of the resulting application member, expel the product from the pores of the applicator member 25, and transfer it to the surface to be treated. The application member 25 may, before being repositioned on the tank, be passed under the tap to be cleaned.

The embodiment described in Figure 3 differs from the embodiment of the Figure 1 in that the product is contained directly inside the rigid body or semi-rigid 2 whose internal volume is separated in two by a follower piston 26, sliding axially in a sealed manner inside the rigid body. The product P is located in the upper part of the volume, while the part lower, located between the follower piston and the bottom 3 is pressure through the air intake port 13. Operation of this device is similar to that described with reference to Figure 1, the actuation of the pump occurring in response to pressure exerted on the bottom 3 of the inner body 2, while still holding the band 14. As the product is distributed, the piston rises inside the inner body 2.

According to a not shown variant of FIG. 3, it is possible to provide that the mounting piece 5 extends, opposite the skirt 6 by a skirt in which is directly arranged the product to be dispensed. The bottom of the skirt is closed by a follower piston. The hoop 14 forming the receiving surface 18 is mounted on the pump rod 11 and has an outer skirt which, when the actuation of the pump, slides inside the skirt 6. The hood applicator 23 is screwed onto the free edge of the ferrule 14. The actuation of the pump is by depression of the applicator cover 23 relative to the room of assembly 5.

The embodiment of FIG. 4 differs from the embodiment of FIG. in that the actuation of the pump 10 is effected by a pressure exerted on the cover 23, which pressure causes the depression of the hoop, until the receiving surface 18 comes into abutment on the upper end of the stem of 11. At this moment, it is pressed, which allows the exit of the product on the surface 18 via the orifice 19. The product is then transferred to the organ application 25, by capillarity and / or by pumping. The application of the product is done in the same way as that of the previous embodiments. A hole 27 is provided in the application member so as to allow the passage of a finger of the user. This characteristic thus makes it possible to favor gripping of the application member 25 and its manipulation during the application. In this mode embodiment, the product P is contained in a rigid body 2 identical to that described with reference to the previous embodiment. In this mode of realization, the quasi-cylindrical portion 15 of the hoop 14 extends over a weak axial portion of the body 12.

Claims (15)

1. Unit (1) for packaging and applying a product (P), particularly a cosmetic product, comprising: a reservoir (12, 2) containing the said product and surmounted by a pressurized dispensing element (10) comprising an actuating member (11) for delivering a dose of the said product (P) through at least one outlet orifice (19) in response to an actuating command, a cap (23) being placed removably over the said reservoir (12, 2) and bearing an applicator member (25) in the form of a porous element capable of absorbing the said product, at least one portion of the applicator member being arranged in the vicinity of the said outlet orifice(s) (19) so that, when the cap (23) is mounted on the reservoir (12, 2), actuation of the pressurized dispensing element (10) causes a dose of the said product to be let out and causes the said product to at least partially impregnate the applicator member (25), characterized in that the said applicator member (25) is fixed to the cap and, when the cap (23) is mounted on the reservoir (12, 2), is contained in leaktight manner inside the cap (23), and in that the pressurized dispensing element (10) consists of a pump of the type with no air intake.
2. Packaging and application unit according to Claim 1, characterized in that the volume of the reservoir (12, 2) decreases by an amount which corresponds to the volume of the dose dispensed upon actuation of the dispensing element.
3. Packaging and application unit according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the reservoir (12, 2) consists in particular of a flexible bag (12), of a flexible tube, of a bottle with a deformable diaphragm, particularly an elastically deformable diaphragm, or of a bottle (2) with a follower piston (26).
4. Packaging and application unit according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the pressurized dispensing element (10) consists particularly of a pump with shutter, diaphragm or piston.
5. Packaging and application unit according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the applicator member (25) consists of at least one block of an open-cell or semi-open-cell foam or of a frit.
6. Packaging and application unit according to Claim 5, characterized in that the applicator member (25) consists of a polyether, polyester, polyurethane, NBR (natural butadiene rubber), SBR (synthetic butadiene rubber) or PVC (polyvinyl chloride) foam or consists of a bronze, polyethylene, glass, silicone or nylon frit.
7. Packaging and application unit according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that actuation of the pressurized dispensing element (10) is achieved by pressure exerted on the cap (23) when this cap is mounted on the reservoir (12, 2).
8. Packaging and application unit according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that actuation of the pressurized dispensing element (10) is achieved by pressure exerted on a rigid or semi-rigid base (3).
9. Packaging and application unit according to Claim 8, characterized in that the said rigid or semi-rigid base (3) is formed by the base of the reservoir (2) or by the base of a rigid or semi-rigid container (2) containing the said reservoir (12).
10. Packaging and application unit according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cap (23) is mounted removably on the reservoir (12, 2), particularly by snap-fastening or screw-fastening.
11. Packaging and application unit according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a member (14), mounted on the reservoir (12, 2) and exhibiting a receiving surface (18), the shape of which is adapted to the shape of the applicator member (25) so that, when the cap (23) is mounted, the said applicator member (25) rests at least partially on the said receiving surface (18), the said outlet orifice(s) (19) opening to the said surface (18).
12. Packaging and application unit according to Claim 11, characterized in that the receiving surface (18) forms reliefs capable of defining ducts allowing the product to run along the said surface (18).
13. Packaging and application unit according to Claim 11 or 12, characterized in that, when the cap (23) is mounted, the applicator member (25) occupies just part of the volume formed between the receiving surface (18) and the cap (23).
14. Packaging unit according to any one of Claims 11 to 13, characterized in that the said receiving surface (18) forms a cup of hemispherical overall shape.
15. Use of a packaging and application unit (1) according to any one of Claims 1 to 14 for packaging and applying a cosmetic product, particularly in the form of a liquid, a gel or a cream.

Images