EP1458632B1 - Fluid product dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a fluid product dispenser comprising: a reservoir (3) containing said fluid product and provided with at least an actuating wall (10) whereon pressure is exerted to decrease the volume of the reservoir; a dispensing orifice (50) communicating with the reservoir and through which the fluid product is dispensed outside the reservoir mixed with a gas to generate a two-phase spray; a removable closure element (12) to close the dispensing orifice (50) thus isolating the reservoir from outside; spring means (4) for urging the actuating wall (10) into a rest position defining the maximum volume of the reservoir (3) when the closure element (12) is removed from the dispensing orifice (50), said spring means (4) being compressed when the closure element (12) closes the dispensing outlet (50), the reservoir (3) substantially containing solely fluid product as long as the removable closure element (12) closes the dispensing orifice (50). The invention is characterized in that, so long as the closure element (12) closes the dispensing orifice (50), the reservoir (3) is divided into several compartments (31, 32; 31', 32') by at least a separating partition (13; 13'), at least one (31; 31') of the compartments containing the fluid product and at least another compartment (32; 32') containing the spring means (4), but no fluid product, such that the fluid product is not in contact with the spring means (4) before the closure element (12) is removed.

Description

• un réservoir contenant ledit produit fluide et pourvu d'au moins une paroi d'actionnement sur laquelle on exerce une pression pour diminuer le volume du réservoir,
• un orifice de distribution communiquant avec le réservoir et par lequel le produit fluide est distribué hors du réservoir en mélange avec un gaz pour créer une pulvérisation biphasique,
• un élément d'obturation amovible pour obturer l'orifice de distribution et ainsi isoler le réservoir de l'extérieur, et
• des moyens de ressort pour solliciter la paroi d'actionnement dans une position de repos définissant le volume maximal du réservoir lorsque l'élément d'obturation est retiré de l'orifice de distribution, lesdits moyens de ressort étant comprimés lorsque l'élément d'obturation obture l'orifice de sortie, le réservoir ne contenant sensiblement que du produit fluide tant que l'élément d'obturation amovible obture l'orifice de distribution.

The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser comprising:

• a reservoir containing said fluid product and provided with at least one actuating wall on which pressure is exerted to reduce the volume of the reservoir,
• a dispensing orifice communicating with the reservoir and through which the fluid is dispensed from the reservoir in a mixture with a gas to create a biphasic spray,
• a removable shutter member for sealing the dispensing orifice and thus isolating the reservoir from the outside, and
• spring means for urging the actuating wall into a rest position defining the maximum volume of the reservoir when the closure member is withdrawn from the dispensing orifice, said spring means being compressed when the element of shutter closes the outlet orifice, the tank containing substantially only fluid as the removable closure member closes the dispensing orifice.

Such a fluid dispenser is described in particular in the FR-2 791 645. The reservoir of this distributor is sealed with the aid of the removable closure member while substantially containing only product fluid and virtually or not at all air. He then presents a especially flat configuration, especially if using a spring that adopts a flat configuration when compressed to the maximum. Only when removal of the removable closure member that air is sucked into the tank through the dispensing orifice of the fact that the spring means can then relax and thus solicit the actuating wall so as to increase the volume of the tank to a maximum state. From that moment, the tank contains a small amount of fluid and a lot more important air. By pressing the actuating wall, the volume of the tank decreases and the mixture of air and fluid is then forced back under the form of a biphasic spray through the dispensing orifice.

The advantage with such a dispenser is that the fluid product inside tank is virtually or not in contact with air could deteriorate the qualities of the fluid product. However, the fluid product is in contact with the spring means which can be made of metal or material plastic. Depending on the type of fluid contained in the tank, it can there is a deterioration of its qualities as a result of its direct contact with spring means.

The present invention aims to remedy, or at least reduce the aforementioned drawback of the prior art by defining a product distributor sealed reservoir fluid containing compressed spring means in which the spring means are not in contact with the fluid product before removal of the removable shutter element.

To achieve this goal, the present invention proposes, as long as the element shut off the dispensing orifice, the reservoir is divided into several compartments by at least one partition wall, at least one of the compartments containing the fluid product and at least one other compartment containing the spring means, but no fluid, so that the fluid product is out of contact with the spring means before removal of the element shutter. Advantageously, said at least one partition wall is adapted to break in such a way as to make the compartments communicate with each other under the effect of the relaxation of the spring means after removal of the element shutter allowing the entry of air into the tank through the orifice of distribution. There is therefore no special or additional operation for break the partition wall. Moreover, they are mechanical means, namely the spring means, which operate the rupture of the partition wall. Now these mechanical means have a force or more particularly a stiffness predetermined and easily measurable. Therefore, the opening of the partition separating the different compartments does not present any random character, as would be the case if the user had to operate himself the opening of the partition wall for example by pulling or pressing at using one or more fingers. In the present invention, the user only need to pull or fold the removable shut-off element to release the dispensing orifice, which has the effect of triggering the relaxation of the means spring because air can enter the tank. Thus, it is guaranteed that the partition wall will be broken always in the same way with spring means given. A particular advantage of the present invention resides in the fact of using the trigger of the spring triggered by the withdrawal of the removable shutter element to break the partition wall separating the spring fluid and thus allow the fluid and air to spread throughout the tank.

According to one characteristic of the invention, the spring means are located in a compartment adapted to fill with air from the orifice of distribution after removal of the closure member. Indeed, to allow means of spring to relax, it is necessary that they are no longer isolated from the outside and that air can thus enter the compartment where they are situated.

According to one embodiment, the spring means are located in a compartment communicating directly with the dispensing orifice. In alternatively, the spring means are located in a separate compartment of the dispensing orifice by a selective partition impervious to the fluid and permeable to air. In this case, said selective partition can form a baffle impassable for the fluid product, but still allowing air to pass.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the compartment containing the spring means also contains a piece of porous material suitable for imbibe fluid product by capillarity. In a variant, the compartment containing the fluid product also contains a piece of porous material suitable to imbibe fluid product by capillarity.

This piece of porous material is preferably located in close proximity of the dispensing orifice as is the case in the dispenser of the art aforementioned.

When the fluid product is located in the compartment containing also the piece of porous material, the compartment containing the means of spring is separated from the fluid compartment by the selective partition.

According to a practical embodiment, the dispenser comprises two sheets welded together on their peripheries to form the reservoir, said minus a partition wall being formed by one or more lines of low resistance weld capable of breaking up by spreading the leaves, advantageously caused by the relaxation of the spring means after withdrawal of the shutter element. The welding on the peripheries of the leaves is a final weld while the weld forming the partition wall is a much weaker weld that can be shed without damaging the leaves.

The invention will now be further described with reference to attached drawings giving as non-limiting examples two embodiments of the invention.

• la figure 1 est une vue en plan par transparence à travers un distributeur de produit fluide selon un premier mode de réalisation avant utilisation, c'est à dire avec son élément d'obturation amovible obturant l'orifice de distribution,
• la figure 2 est une vue similaire à la figure 1 avec l'élément d'obturation amovible retiré,
• la figure 3 est une vue en coupe transversale à travers le distributeur de la figure 1 selon la ligne de coupe I-I,
• la figure 4 est une vue en coupe à travers le distributeur représenté sur la figure 2 selon la ligne de coupe II-II,
• la figure 5 est une vue similaire à la figure 1 d'un distributeur de produit fluide selon un second mode de réalisation de l'invention, et
• la figure 6 est une vue similaire à la figure 2 pour le second mode de réalisation de l'invention.

In the figures:

• FIG. 1 is a plan view by transparency through a fluid dispenser according to a first embodiment before use, that is to say with its removable closure element closing the dispensing orifice,
• FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with the removable closure element removed,
• FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view through the dispenser of FIG. 1 along line II.
• FIG. 4 is a sectional view through the distributor shown in FIG. 2 along section line II-II;
• FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of a fluid product dispenser according to a second embodiment of the invention, and
• Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 2 for the second embodiment of the invention.

In both embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the distributor can be made from two sheets of flexible complex film 1 and 2 which are welded together on their periphery 11, 12 so as to define between them a volume which corresponds substantially to that of a tank 3. An insert 5 can also be arranged between the two sheets 1 and 2: this insert 5 defines an orifice 50 and a housing in which a piece of porous material 6 can be accommodated so as to extend inside the tank 3. This piece 6 is intended to impregnate fluid product contained inside the tank 3. Once this piece soaked with product, just pass a flow of air to through the fiber which creates a biphasic distribution at the orifice of distribution 50 of the insert 5. In front of the dispensing orifice 50, the two sheets 1 and 2 welded together define a tear-off tongue or 12 which closes the dispensing orifice 50 so as to isolate the tank 3 from the outside.

According to the invention, the reservoir 3 contains a spring 4 which is arranged between the two sheets 1 and 2. This spring 4, as can be seen in FIG. less on a wall 10 of the distributor, which may be an actuating wall 10, so as to increase the internal volume of the reservoir 3. According to a particularly interesting feature of the invention, the spring 4 is constrained in its fully compressed state as long as the shutter element 12 closes the dispensing orifice 50 and thus isolates the reservoir 3 from the outside, as can be seen in Figure 3. In other words, the tank 3 was sealed during manufacture with the constrained spring in its compressed state maximum so that the tank is at its minimum volume. Being given that the tank 3 is perfectly isolated from the outside by the element shutter 12, the spring 4 can not relax inside the tank 3 in because of the atmospheric pressure exerted on the walls 1 and 2 of the tank. The dispenser can be stored before use in this state; he then presents a particularly reduced thickness which is defined substantially by the thickness of the spring 4 to its fully compressed state added to the thickness cumulative of the two sheets of film 1 and 2. Such a dispenser may for example be inserted in a magazine since it is particularly flat and particularly pressure resistant.

Once the shut-off element 12 is removed from the air, it can penetrate the inside of the tank 3 by the dispensing orifice 50 so that the spring 4 can relax inside the tank in order to increase its volume internal. The tank 3 is then filled with fluid and gas, in General of the air. To obtain a distribution of sprayed product, it is then sufficient to act on the wall 10 with the thumb for example against the action of the spring 4 so as to repress air through the piece 6 soaked with fluid product. The air passing through the soaked piece 6 creates a biphasic spray at level of the dispensing orifice 50. As soon as the pressure is released on the wall 1, it returns to its shape shown in FIG. the elastic action of the spring 4.

This is a distributor in accordance with document FR-2 791645.

According to the invention, the reservoir 3 is divided into several compartments by one or more partitions separating the spring 4 from the product fluid. So, there is no contact between them that could damage or deteriorate the qualities of the fluid product. As a result, one of the compartments contains the spring while the other compartment (s) contains or contain the fluid product.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4, there is only one partition 13 which divides the reservoir into two compartments 31 and 32. compartment 32 contains the spring 4 and no fluid while the compartment 31 contains fluid product.

In the embodiment of Figures 5 and 6, there are two partitions of separation 13 'which divide the reservoir into three compartments, namely a central compartment 32 'containing the spring 4 and two lateral compartments 31 'containing the fluid product.

In both embodiments, partition walls 13 and 13 ' are adapted to break so as to communicate all the compartments between them so that the fluid can spread throughout the tank. According to the invention, the rupture of the partition walls is achieved by the detent of the spring 4 after removal of the shutter element 12 thus allowing air to enter the reservoir through the dispensing orifice, as explained above. To do this, it is necessary that the compartment containing the spring 4 is in air communication with the dispensing orifice 50 so as to allow air coming from outside to enter the compartment where the spring is located so he can relax.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6, the compartment 32 containing the spring 4 communicates directly with the dispensing orifice 50 to through the piece of porous material 6. It may be noted here that the spring 4 and the piece of porous material 6 are located in the same compartment 32 '. As to fluid product, it is stored in the two lateral compartments 31 'which are separated from the dispensing orifice 50 by the partitions 13 '. We understand easily after removal of the removable closure member 12, as shown in FIG. figure 6, air, whose path is represented in dotted lines, can enter the compartment 32 'where is located the spring 4 which can then be loosen. The expansion of the spring allows the rupture of the adjacent partitions 13 'which then communicates the compartments 31 'with the central compartment 32'. The fluid product can then spread throughout the tank 3, and preference will soak the piece of porous material 6. We are left with a fluid dispenser according to that of the document of the prior art supra.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4, the compartment 32 containing the spring 4 does not communicate directly with the orifice of distribution 50, since separated by the partition 13. It is the compartment 31 containing the fluid product which is in direct communication with the orifice of It should be noted that this compartment 31 also contains the piece of porous material 6 so that the fluid product is preferably imbibe inside this piece of porous material 6 and remain stored there. For allow the air from the dispensing orifice 50 to enter inside the compartment 32 containing the spring 4, the partition 13 is a selective partition preventing the fluid contained in the compartment 31 to pass through but still allowing air to pass from the compartment 30 to compartment 32 through the selective partition 13. In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, the partition 13 is rendered selective by means of a chicane or a labyrinth 14 whose crossing is impossible in practice for the fluid product, but which nevertheless allows the air passage to gain the compartment 32. Anyway, the fluid product in compartment 31 rather tends to be stored in the piece of material porous 6 and practically not in the rest of the compartment. As a result, the fluid product is likely to pass through the baffle 14. routing the air from the outside through the dispensing orifice 50 into the compartment 32 through the baffle 14 is shown in FIG. dashed lines in FIG. 2. In response to this introduction of air, the spring 4 relaxes and destroys the selective partition 13 and optionally the chicane 14. then finds himself with a distributor according to the document of the prior art supra.

According to the invention, the partitions 13 and 13 'can be made by low resistance weld lines that join sheets 1 and 2 together locally, as shown in Figure 3. The weld should be such that the spring 4 can undo it without damaging the sheets 1 and 2. After relaxation of spring 4, there is advantageously no more trace of the weld line 13, as shown in Figure 4.

Thanks to the invention, the spring is separated from the fluid product before use and the simple tearing of the removable closure member has the effect of relax the spring which breaks the partition or walls.

Claims (10)

1. A fluid product dispenser including:

   a reservoir (3) containing said fluid product and provided with at least one activating wall (10) on which pressure is exerted to reduce the reservoir volume,

   a dispensing orifice (50) communicating with the reservoir and through which the fluid product is dispensed out of the reservoir in a mixture with a gas to create a two-phase spray,

   a detachable sealing unit (12) to seal the dispensing orifice (50) and so isolate the reservoir from the outside, and

   spring means (4) to bring the activating wall (10) into a non-operational position defining the maximum volume of the reservoir (3) when the sealing unit (12) is withdrawn from the dispensing orifice (50), said spring means (4) being compressed when the sealing unit (12) seals the outlet orifice (50), the reservoir (3) containing approximately only fluid product so long as the detachable sealing unit (12) seals the dispensing orifice (50),

      characterised in that, so long as the sealing unit (12) seals the dispensing orifice (50), the reservoir (3) is divided into several compartments (31, 32; 31', 32') by at least one partition (13; 13'), at least one (31; 31') of the compartments containing the fluid product and at least one other compartment (32; 32') containing the spring means (4), but no fluid product, with the result that the fluid product is not in contact with the spring means (4) before withdrawal of the sealing unit (12).
2. A dispenser according to claim 1, wherein said at least one partition (13; 13') is adapted to break in such a way as to bring the compartments (31, 32; 31', 32') into communication with each other under the effect of the relaxation of the spring means (4) after withdrawal of the sealing unit (12) allowing air to penetrate into the reservoir (3) through the dispensing orifice (50).
3. A dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the spring means (4) are located in a compartment (32, 32') able to be filled with air coming from the dispensing orifice (50) after withdrawal of the sealing unit (12).
4. A dispenser according to claim 3, wherein the spring means (4) are located in a compartment (32') which communicates directly with the dispensing orifice.
5. A dispenser according to claim 3, wherein the spring means (4) are located in a compartment (32) separated from the dispensing orifice (50) by a selective partition (13) impermeable to the fluid product and permeable to air.
6. A dispenser according to claim 5, wherein said selective partition (13) forms a baffle (14) which is impassable for the fluid product, but which nonetheless lets through air.
7. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the compartment (32') containing the spring means (4) also contains a porous material component (6) able to become saturated with fluid product by capillarity.
8. A dispenser according to any one of the claims 1 to 6, wherein the compartment (31) containing the fluid product also contains a porous material component (6) able to become saturated with fluid product by capillarity .
9. A dispenser according to claims 5 and 8, wherein the compartment (32) containing the spring means (4) is separated from the fluid product compartment (31) by the selective partition (13).
10. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, including two sheets of film (1, 2) welded together at their peripheries (11) so as to form the reservoir (3), said at least one partition (13; 13') being formed by one or more low resistance weld lines able to come apart by separation of the sheets, to advantage caused by the relaxation of the spring means after withdrawal of the sealing unit.

Images