EP1309409A1

EP1309409A1 - Fixing member for dispenser

Info

Publication number: EP1309409A1
Application number: EP01928008A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Dany Ray; Gilles Jourdin
Original assignee: Valois SAS
Current assignee: Aptar France SAS
Priority date: 2000-05-31
Filing date: 2001-04-19
Publication date: 2003-05-14
Anticipated expiration: 2021-04-19
Also published as: CN1447720A; EP1309409B1; CN1188223C; DE60143578D1; BR0111307A; JP2004501033A; WO2001091912A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a fluid product dispenser comprising a dispensing member, a container (1) with a neck (10) and a fixing member (2) for fixing the fluid product dispensing member on the container neck, said fixing member comprising a skirt (20) defining an inner wall. The invention is characterised in that said inner wall is formed with at least two longitudinal ribs (23) extending over the height of the skirt, said ribs (23) co-operating by plastic deformation with an outer part (11) of the neck (10).

Description

FIXING MEMBER FOR A DISTRIBUTOR

The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser comprising a dispensing member such as a pump or a valve, a container forming a neck and a fixing member for fixing the dispensing member on the neck of the container. The present invention also relates to such a fixing member. The fixing member comprises a skirt defining an internal wall intended to cooperate with the neck of the container.

Such dispensers using such a fixing member are commonly used in the field of perfumery, cosmetics, or even perfumery for dispensing fluid products.

Several types of fixing members are known in the prior art which are commonly referred to as the fixing ring. Such rings generally define a skirt which extends downwards, and which is intended to cooperate with a reinforced part formed by the neck of the container. This reinforced or thickened part often designated by the term of "carnette" protrudes outwards and forms a lower shoulder. The skirt of the ring comprises a continuous cord or snap-on heads intended to come into engagement under the shoulder formed by the carnette. The skirt can be continuous, or even split over its height to form legs at the ends of which the latching heads are formed. When the skirt is split and forms legs and latching heads, there is generally provided a covering hoop which covers and covers the skirt so as to block the latching heads under the shoulder of the booklet. In the case where the skirt is continuous and forms a continuous internal latching cord, the covering band is not necessary and in this case fulfills only an aesthetic function. In both cases, whether the skirt is continuous or split, the cord or the latching heads cooperate with the shoulder of the camette. The skirt has no interaction with the cylindrical outer surface of the bag for the purpose of fixing.

Such a skirt, split or not, is however easily subject to deformations due to the fact that the cord or the heads must be put in place by force under the shoulder of the book. In the case of latching tabs fitted with heads, this plastic deformation of the skirt takes place under the effect of the covering hoop during its mounting. In the case of a continuous skirt fitted with a continuous internal latching cord, it sometimes happens that the deformation of the skirt is visible from the outside.

The object of the present invention is to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art by defining a fixing member whose skirt does not undergo any deformation on the outside, and which can moreover achieve effective fixing without the use of the covering band to block it on the neck of the container. To do this, the present invention proposes that said internal wall is formed with at least two longitudinal ribs extending over the height of the skirt, said ribs cooperating by plastic deformation with an external part of the neck.

Unlike the cord or the latching head which are located under the shoulder of the bag, and which therefore only cooperates with this shoulder, the ribs of the present invention extend over the height of the bag, and advantageously still below the bag so that the contact of the skirt with the collar is made over a large part of the height of the skirt.

According to one embodiment, the ribs define an internal diameter smaller than the external diameter of the neck before mounting of the fixing member on the neck, so that the ribs are plastically deformed on an outer surface of the neck after mounting. Since the ribs extend longitudinally and are spaced from one another, they can be relatively easily plastically deformed on the neck collar without damaging or deforming the outer wall of the skirt. According to another embodiment, the reinforced part or bag is formed with at least one retention relief in which the ribs penetrate by plastic deformation.

Advantageously, said at least one relief extends over the periphery of the reinforced part. The relief may for example be in the form of one or more circular grooves formed in the substantially cylindrical outer surface of the Carnette. One can of course imagine any form of external profile of the scope of the carnette making it possible to improve the attachment of the ribs by plastic deformation. By profile, it is therefore necessary to understand any surface condition of the external surface of the carnette making it possible to improve the retention of the fixing member. As a variant, said at least one profile extends over the height of the reinforced part, advantageously in the form of a vertical groove, said profile having a width less than the width of a rib so as to maintain the rib by deformation plastic in said profile. In this case, the profile is no longer peripheral, but vertical across the neck flap. Advantageously, the profile has a decreasing width from the upper end of the neck. The profile is preferably wider than the rib at the upper end of the neck and necessarily narrower than the rib at its lower end. This allows on the one hand to facilitate the introduction of the rib into the groove, and on the other hand, to retain the rib in the groove by a harpooning effect. According to another characteristic of the invention, the skirt comprises longitudinal internal recesses located radially behind the ribs and formed in the thickness of the skirt, so that the ribs can be deformed radially outward in their respective recesses without deforming the outer wall of the skirt. The internal recesses allow a deformation of the internal ribs without influencing the external wall of the skirt. This allows you to pre-mount a hoop on the skirt. The hoop can advantageously be in contact with the external wall of the skirt over its entire periphery, including at the level of the internal recesses. Of course, by internal recesses is meant recesses which do not open onto the external wall of the skirt which can therefore remain perfectly circular cylindrical. Preferably, the recesses are open or open at the lower end of the skirt and are therefore in the form of blind holes extending axially in the thickness of the wall of the skirt from its lower end. And to allow good deformation by elasticity of the ribs, it is advantageous that the recesses are wider than the ribs. One can also imagine a split skirt forming legs inside which the ribs are formed. In this case, the fixing member comprises a trim band which at least partially covers the skirt. Since the ribs are deformable without deforming the external wall of the skirt, the covering band can be shown on the fixing member before it is mounted on the neck of the container. Thus, the fixing member and the hoop can be mounted as a unitary assembly on the neck of the container.

The present invention also relates to a fixing member whose internal wall of the skirt defines longitudinal ribs adapted to come into engagement by plastic deformation with the external part of the neck.

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings which give by way of nonlimiting example of several embodiments of the present invention.

In the drawings:

- Figure la is a partial sectional view of a fixing member of the present invention along the section line la- la of Figure lb; - Figure lb is a vertical cross-sectional view through the fixing member of Figure la mounted on a container neck;

- Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view through a fixing member and a container neck according to a second embodiment;

- Figure 3a is a horizontal sectional view along the line 3a-3a of Figure 2;

- Figure 3b is a side sectional view along the section line 3b-3b of Figure 2;

FIG. 4 is a view in horizontal cross section through a fixing member according to a third embodiment of the invention mounted on a container neck, and

- Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view along line 5-5 of Figure 4.

We will first refer to Figures la and lb to explain a first embodiment. The fixing member comprises a ring 2, for example made of molded plastic, which forms a receiving housing 21 intended to receive by force snap-fastening a dispensing member (not shown) such as a valve or a pump. In general, the valve or the pump forms on its body a reinforced flange adapted to snap into the housing 21. The actuating rod of the valve or of the pump passes through an opening 24 made in the ring. The receiving housing 21 is connected on its outer periphery to a plate 22 intended to come into bearing contact on a seal 4 interposed between the plate 22 and the upper end of the neck of the container. The plate 22 is connected on its outer periphery to a skirt 20 which has an essentially cylindrical external shape. The skirt 20 extends downwards from the plate 22 but can also extend upwards as shown in FIG. 1b. The skirt 20, in its part extending downwards, cooperates with a neck 10 of a container 1 which advantageously forms a thickened or reinforced part 11 which projects outwards and which is commonly referred to as a carnette . The camette extends to the upper end of the neck 10 where a sealing ring 14 is formed on which the flexible seal 4 is deformed. The camette extends down a certain distance and then forms a shoulder to connect the cylindrical part of reduced diameter of the neck.

According to the invention, the skirt 20 has an internal wall formed with several ribs 23 which extend vertically over part or over the entire height of the skirt 20. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 a and 1 b, these ribs 23 are eight in number distributed regularly over the internal periphery of the internal wall of the skirt 20. The ribs 23 advantageously extend over a height greater than that of the carnette 11. One can also imagine shapes of embodiment where ribs extend over a height substantially equal to or slightly less than that of the camette. According to the invention, the ribs 23 define a fictitious cylinder passing through the ends of the ribs: this fictitious cylinder has a diameter less than the external diameter of the bag 11 so that the ribs 23, once the skirt 20 is mounted on the neck 10 of the container 1, are plastically deformed against the substantially cylindrical outer surface of the camette 11. In order to improve the retention of the ribs on the carnette, these can advantageously extend up to below the shoulder of the camette. way to fit this shoulder, which contributes to hanging the skirt on the collar. It is also possible to form the outer surface of the camette 11 with a profile making it possible to improve the attachment of the ribs. In Figure 1, the outer surface of the sump 11 is formed with a profile which is in the form of an annular groove 12 which extends over all or part of the periphery of the carnette. It is also possible to provide several profiles of this type. Thus, the ribs can penetrate by plastic creep inside these profiles and thus improve the attachment of the skirt 20 on the neck 10. When the carnette 11 is provided with such profiles or grooves, the ribs do not need to extend to below the shoulder of the camette. In other words, an attachment of the ring on the neck can be achieved without the skirt cooperating with the shoulder of the bag, unlike the aforementioned prior art. A profiled outer reach of the bag is sufficient to effectively maintain the ribs of the skirt on the collar. Since the ribs are arranged separately and only constitute point reinforcements in the direction of introduction of the ring on the neck, these can deform without deforming the skirt 20 on its outer wall.

It should be noted that the attachment of the skirt 20 to the neck is carried out without the need for a covering band 3, as shown in FIG. 1b, which is used in the fastening members of the prior art to lock the latching heads under the shoulder of the camette. Here, the covering band 3 has only an aesthetic function and can be pre-assembled on the ring 2 before it is mounted on the neck of the container. This is in fact possible because the plastic deformation of the ribs does not cause deformation of the skirt 20 at its external wall. It is therefore possible in certain applications to do without the covering band 3.

Reference will now be made to FIGS. 2, 3a and 3b to explain a second embodiment according to the invention. In this embodiment, the ring 20 is also formed with ribs 23 which extend vertically over part of the height of the skirt. As in the previous embodiment, these ribs 23 cooperate with the bag 11 of the neck 10 of the container. According to the invention, several vertical grooves can be made in the camette 11. These profiles or grooves can extend from top to bottom of the carnette, so that the carnette is interrupted at this location, but the bleeding can also be spread only on one part of the height of the sock from its upper end, leaving the lower end of the sash intact. In the embodiment used to illustrate the present invention, the groove 15 extends right through the carnette. In FIG. 3a, it can be seen that the camette 11 is formed with two grooves of this type. Of course, one can provide more than two grooves of this type, for example distributed regularly over the periphery of the neck. According to the invention, the ribs 23 formed on the skirt 20, which are also two in number, are adapted to be inserted inside the grooves 15 of the carnette. Advantageously, the grooves or profiles 15 of the carnette have a width less than the width of the ribs 23 so that the ribs 23 deform plastically against the edges of the grooves 15. Preferably, the width of the grooves 15 decreases from from the upper end of the neck, so that at the upper end of the neck, the width of the grooves is greater than the width of the ribs, and that at the lower end of the grooves, the width is less than the width ribs 23. Thus, the ribs 23 can be forcibly inserted into the grooves 15. As can be seen in FIG. 3b, it is advantageous that the oblique edges of the grooves 15 form a harpooning profile 16, for example located at the 'lower end of the grooves 15. One can also imagine forms of grooves with one or more harpoon profiles formed (s) on the edges of the grooves other than their lower end. While the ribs are deformed radially in the embodiment of Figures la and lb, here, the ribs are deformed tangentially by the edges of the grooves 15. With such vertical grooves 15, the attachment of the skirt 30 is both blocked vertically but also in rotation. Indeed, it is impossible to remove the neck fixing member due to the presence of the harpooning profiles 16 formed by the carnette 11. This thus ensures a solid and irreversible function of the ring on the neck.

It should be noted that the covering hoop 3 can also be pre-assembled before mounting the ring on the neck, since the deformation of the ribs does not cause any deformation of the external wall of the skirt 20.

The third embodiment shown in Figures 4 and 5 is a variant of the first embodiment of Figures la and lb. The skirt 20 is here formed with longitudinal internal recesses 26 which extend over the height of the skirt. These recesses 26 are internal since they do not open either on the internal wall 202 or on the external wall 201. They extend from the lower end 203 of the skirt 20 upwards and are therefore presented under the form of blind holes opening onto the lower end 203 of the skirt and extending upward axially in the thickness of the wall of the skirt without interfering with the internal wall and the external wall of the skirt. These recesses can for example be produced using a pin which penetrates into the mold from the lower end of the skirt.

As can be seen in FIG. 5, the recesses 26 are separated from the external wall 201 by wall segments 28 and from the internal wall 202 by other wall segments 27 on which the longitudinal internal ribs 23 are formed. Consequently, a recess 26 is always associated with a rib 23, and the rib is located radially in front of the recess. In other words, the recesses 26 are located just behind the ribs 23 if one starts from the center of the fixing member, so that the ribs can deform radially outwards in the recesses, in particular during mounting them on the container neck. During this deformation of the ribs 23, only the wall segments 27 are deformed while the wall segments 28 do not undergo any deformation. Therefore, the external wall 201 of the skirt 20 does not undergo deformation during mounting of the ring on a container neck. It is thus possible to mount a hoop 3 on the ring before mounting the ring on the container neck. The hoop 3, which has a substantially cylindrical body 30 with an external wall 32 and an internal wall 33 can come into contact with the external wall 201 of the skirt over its entire periphery as can be seen in FIG. 5. The member fixing can be mounted on a neck with the hoop 3 mounted on the ring 2 as shown in Figure 4. Advantageously, the recesses are wider than the ribs.

The ribs 23 can for example be deformed radially inwards in the recesses 26 at the wall 13 of the neck 10, coming to conform to the profile of the lower shoulder of the thickening 11. It should be noted that with these longitudinal ribs 23 which advantageously extend over the entire height of the skirt, it is possible to make a fixing on a neck whose thickened part 11 can vary in height. This was not the case with the devices of the prior art using teeth or snap cords intended to be housed under this shoulder.

In these embodiments, longitudinal or vertical ribs formed on the internal wall of the skirt are used: these ribs are plastically deformable, for example by creep, on the substantially cylindrical external wall of the neck which is advantageously provided with profiles of hanging. The collar is not necessarily provided with a camette. The deformation of the ribs can be radial or even tangential.

Claims

Claims:

1.- Fluid product dispenser comprising a dispensing member, a container (1) with a neck (10) and a fixing member (2) for fixing the fluid dispensing member on the neck of the container, said member fixing comprising a skirt (20) defining an internal wall, characterized in that said internal wall is formed with at least two longitudinal ribs (23) extending over the height of the skirt, said ribs (10) cooperating by pastic deformation with an external part (11) of the neck (10).

2. A fluid dispenser according to claim 1, in which the ribs (23) define an internal diameter smaller than the external diameter of the neck before mounting the fixing member on the neck, so that the ribs are plastically deformed on an external reach of the neck after assembly.

3. A fluid dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the neck (10) forms a reinforced part (11) of larger diameter which projects outwards, the ribs cooperating with said reinforced part.

4. A fluid dispenser according to claim 3, wherein the ribs extend to below said reinforced portion.

5. A fluid dispenser according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the reinforced part is formed with at least one retention profile (12, 15) in which the ribs penetrate by plastic deformation.

6. A fluid dispenser according to claim 5, wherein said at least one profile (12) extends over the periphery of the reinforced part.

7. A fluid dispenser according to claim 5, wherein said at least one profile (15) extends over the height of the reinforced part, advantageously in the form of a vertical groove, said profile having a width less than the width of a rib so as to maintain the rib by plastic deformation in said profile.

8. A fluid dispenser according to claim 7, wherein the profile has a decreasing width from the upper end of the neck.

9. A fluid dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to

6, in which the skirt (20) comprises longitudinal internal recesses (26) located radially behind the ribs (23) and formed in the thickness of the skirt, so that the ribs can be deformed radially outward in their respective recesses without deforming the external wall (201) of the skirt.

10. A fluid dispenser according to claim 9, wherein the longitudinal recesses (26) do not open on the outer wall (201) of the skirt (20).

11. A fluid dispenser according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the recesses (26) are wider than the ribs (23).

12. A fluid dispenser according to claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the recesses (26) are open at the lower end (203) of the skirt (20) and are therefore in the form of holes blinds extending axially in the thickness of the wall of the skirt from its lower end (203).

13. A fluid dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the fixing member comprises a covering band (3) in contact with the skirt.

14.- fastener according to any one of the preceding claims.