EP2069076B1 - Device for dispensing a fluid product - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser pump generally intended to be associated with a fluid reservoir to form together a fluid dispenser. It is a dispensing member whose actuation is usually performed manually using a finger of the user. The fluid product is distributed in the form of a jet of fine sprayed droplets, a continuous net or a dab of fluid, particularly in the case of viscous product, such as cosmetic creams. Such a fluid dispenser member may in particular be used in the fields of perfumery, cosmetics or even pharmacy to dispense more or less viscous products.

The present invention is more particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with a type of pump which is commonly referred to as a "push pump". Such a designation is explained by the fact that the dispensing member comprises a pusher forming not only a dispensing orifice but also defining a portion of a fluid product chamber in which fluid is selectively pressurized. In some pumps, an inner surface of the pusher, of generally cylindrical general shape, serves as a sealing slider for an outlet valve piston which moves in sealing contact in this barrel to thereby selectively unmask the dispensing orifice. These pistons are generally of the differential type, moving in response to a pressure variation of the fluid product inside the chamber. Thus, in such a pusher pump, there is a valve piston and a main piston, movable in sealing contact in respective drums. The two pistons may be made in one piece and the assembly may be referred to simply as a "piston" comprising a main piston lip and an outlet valve lip.

In the prior art, the documents are already known WO 97/23304 , US 4,050,613 and WO 2005/063405 which all describe push pumps operating on the principle defined above. Indeed, they all describe pumps comprising a pusher, a body fixedly mounted by a ring on the opening of a container and a differential piston which integrates the functions of main piston and valve piston by forming a main piston lip and one or two valve lips of exit. This differential piston slides inside the pusher in response to a pressure variation. The body, the pusher and the differential piston together form a chamber. As pressure increases in this chamber, the differential piston moves relative to the pusher. On the other hand, the inlet valve of the chamber is formed by a ball, a valve with deformable flap or by the differential piston itself.

The problem encountered in this type of pump is the priming of the pump, that is to say the first filling of the chamber with fluid from the reservoir. The aforementioned prior art documents do not deal with this problem. Unlike conventional dispensers in which the pump allows to reject the air initially contained in the chamber inside the tank, this is very often not possible with push pumps, because they are mounted on tanks of very small capacity . Therefore, it is not possible to reject the air initially contained in the chamber to the tank, because the tank is completely filled with fluid. The release of air into a small capacity tank could cause pump malfunctions due to the pressurization of the fluid stored in the tank. Therefore, this solution of the prior art can not be applied with small capacity tanks, such as those on which push pumps are generally mounted. More generally, the present invention aims to prime a fluid dispenser device in a simple manner, without additional step, and at a lower cost. The solution of rejecting air into the tank is excluded.

To achieve this object, the present invention provides a fluid product dispensing device intended to be associated with a fluid reservoir, said device comprising a chamber provided with an inlet valve, an outlet valve and a valve. a piston adapted to vary the volume of the chamber, a fluid dispensing orifice, and an axially displaceable pusher back and forth between a rest position and a depressed position, characterized in that the pusher comprises an elastically deformable wall and therefore displaceable relative to the rest of the pusher, the piston being at least momentarily in contact with this deformable wall for be biased in displacement relative to the rest of the pusher when the wall is deformed, so as to open the outlet valve. According to an advantageous embodiment, the piston is a differential piston able to move with the pressure variations of the fluid product in the chamber, the piston being momentarily out of contact with the deformable wall of the pusher. Advantageously, the piston is in contact with the pusher when the pressure in the chamber is below a predetermined threshold by a return spring which urges the piston towards the pusher. Advantageously, the pusher forms part of the chamber. Advantageously, the outlet valve comprises a movable valve member and a valve seat, the movable member being integral in displacement of the piston. Advantageously, the pusher forms the valve seat output, so that the movement of the piston by deformation of the wall opens the outlet valve. The outlet valve is thus formed between the piston and the pusher, and in normal operation, the piston moves in the pusher in response to an increase in pressure of the fluid in the chamber. However, when there is no fluid in the chamber as is the case before its first filling, the piston does not move in the pusher, because it only compresses air. The pressure in the chamber does not reach the threshold necessary to move the piston in the pusher. Thus, in the documents of the prior art, the actuation of the pusher has the effect of compressing the air stored in the chamber before its first filling with fluid. The outlet valve can not open because the piston does not move in the pusher. With the present invention, it is possible to move the piston relative to the portion of the pusher defining the outlet valve seat. This is feasible since the pusher comprises this elastically deformable wall which moves the piston relative to the remaining portion of the pusher defining the outlet valve seat. The present invention is here implemented in a push pump, but it can be implemented in any pump or more generally any fluid dispensing device in which the piston must move relative to the pusher to open the outlet valve.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the outlet valve seat comprises a valve sliding shaft, the dispensing orifice being formed by the pusher at said barrel. Advantageously, the device further comprises a body intended to be mounted on an opening of a reservoir, the body forming a piston sliding shaft, said piston comprising a piston lip in leaktight sliding contact in the piston rod, a valve lip in sliding contact in the valve barrel and an abutment surface in contact with the deformable wall.

According to another aspect of the invention, the pusher comprises a support plate on which a user can exert a pressure with the aid of a finger and a peripheral skirt forming the dispensing orifice, the deformable wall being formed at the plateau level, advantageously by a reduction in wall thickness of the plate. Advantageously, the skirt abuts the body in the depressed position, the deformable wall then deforming to move the piston and thus open the outlet valve. Advantageously, the piston is in contact with the wall in the depressed position. Advantageously, the deformable wall has a resistance to deformation which is greater than the force exerted by the spring and greater than or equal to the maximum pressure prevailing in the chamber. Advantageously, the wall deforms after the pusher has reached its depressed position.

Thus, the deformable wall of the pusher is not deformed during normal operation of the pump after priming. The deformable wall is only used for priming by pressing hard on the pusher. Then, the forces used by the pump during its normal operation are not sufficient to cause the wall to deform. Of course, if the user very strongly presses the pusher in the depressed position, the wall of the pusher will deform. However, under normal conditions of use, the wall remains static. The deformation of the piston wall can be performed automatically just after the filling and clogging of the dispenser, or by the user during the first use of the dispenser. The deformable wall can also serve as first-use security indicating to the user that the dispensing device has never been used before.

The invention will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings giving by way of non-limiting example an embodiment of the invention.

• la figure 1 est une vue en section transversale verticale à travers un dispositif de distribution de produit fluide selon une forme de réalisation de l'invention en position de repos, et
• la figure 2 est une vue similaire à celle de la figure 1 en position enfoncée pour réaliser l'amorçage.

In the figures:

• the figure 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view through a fluid dispenser device according to one embodiment of the invention in the rest position, and
• the figure 2 is a view similar to that of the figure 1 in the depressed position to perform priming.

The dispensing device of the figures is a pump which is shown associated with a container R comprising a neck C on which the dispensing device of the invention is fixed.

The pump comprises five components, namely a body 1, a pusher 2, a piston 3, a spring 4 and a movable member 5 of the inlet valve. The pump may further comprise a plunger tube 6. The body, the plunger, the piston, the movable member 5 and the plunger tube 6 are preferably made by molding plastics material. The pump comprises a pump chamber 10.

The body 1 comprises a fixing ring 11 which cooperates with the neck C for fixing the pump on the container R. The ring 11 is engaged with the outside of the neck. On the other hand, the body forms a self-sealing lip 12 in sealing engagement with the inner wall of the neck. The body 1 also forms a guide sleeve 14. The body also forms a main piston shaft 17 which internally defines a sealed sliding surface, whose function will be given below. The body also forms an inlet sleeve 16 which forms an inlet valve seat 15. The plunger tube 6 is connected to the sleeve 16 which is crossed by an inlet conduit 18. The inlet sleeve 16 concentrically extends below the main drum 17.

The body 1 has an axial symmetry of revolution about an axis X which extends longitudinally at the axial center of the inlet duct 18.

This is a particular design for a particular body of a dispensing device according to one embodiment of the invention. Of course, the body may have other characteristics than those just described, without departing from the scope of the invention.

The pusher 2 forms a dispensing head for the pump. The pusher 2 comprises a support plate 21 and a peripheral skirt 22 which extends downwards from the outer periphery of the support plate. Thus, the pusher 2 has a general shape of inverted bucket whose support plate forms the bottom and the skirt the cylindrical side wall. However, the skirt is not necessarily cylindrical. It may have frustoconical or rounded sections.

The support plate 21 comprises a bearing zone 211 on which one can press with one or more finger (s). According to the invention, the plate comprises an elastically deformable wall 212 which is located at the bearing zone 211. It can be said that the bearing zone includes the deformable wall. The deformable wall 212 is here produced by a reduction in the wall thickness of the plate 21. The wall 212 can also be made of a plastic material that is more flexible than the rest of the pusher, for example by a bi-injection or overmoulding process. . The wall 212 is located axially centered with respect to the axis X. Thus, the wall 212 is movable by deformation with respect to the rest of the pusher.

The skirt 22 comprises an upper distribution wall 23 and a lower guide wall 24. The distribution wall 23 is connected at its upper end to the outer periphery of the support plate 21. The distribution wall 23 comprises an outer surface 231. and an inner surface 232. This inner surface 232 is preferably circular cylindrical and defines an outlet valve slide shaft as will be seen hereinafter. On the other hand, the distribution wall 23 is formed with a through dispensing orifice 25 which extends from the inner surface to the outer surface. The dispensing orifice 25 may open at the level of the external surface in a diffusion cup 251.

According to an advantageous characteristic of the invention, the internal wall 232 of the distribution wall 23 is formed with a swirling system which makes it possible to drive the fluid product in rotation in the form of a swirling of which the eye is centered on the dispensing orifice.

The guide wall 24 comprises a stopper bead 241 on its inner surface designed to cooperate with the guide bushing 14. The abutment bead 241 1 makes it possible to secure the pusher to the body, which can thus only move axially on a stroke determined maximum.

The piston 3 comprises, in this embodiment, a main piston in the form of a lip 36 engaged in leaktight sliding in the barrel 17 and a valve piston formed by two lips 32 and 33 in leaktight sliding contact in the barrel formed by the inner surface 232 of the distribution wall 23. The piston 3 is advantageously made in one piece. The piston 3 is a differential piston which moves in response to pressure variations in the chamber. The upper lip 32 is in contact with the inner surface 232 above the dispensing orifice 25, while the lower lip 33 comes into contact with the inner surface 232 below the orifice 25. the rest position in which the piston 3 is biased against the support plate 21 by the spring 4, which bears on the one hand on the body and on the other hand under an annular flange 31 formed by the piston 3. D Moreover, the two lips 32 and 33 are formed on the outer periphery of the flange 31. In its center, the flange forms a stop stud 34 defining a surface 341 intended to come into contact with the deformable wall 212 of the pusher. It can be considered that the differential piston valve is formed by the flange 31 forming the two lips 32 and 33. On the other hand, the piston 3 forms a rod 35 at the lower end of which is formed the piston lip 36 that acts as main piston. The lip is engaged in tight sliding in the barrel 17 of the body. The rod is traversed axially by a connecting channel 37 which connects the piston lip 36 to the flange 31. The end upper stem is formed by the stud 34 and its lower end by the lip 36.

The body 1, the pusher 2 and the piston 3 together form a pump chamber 10 which extends continuously in the main drum 17, through the connecting channel 37, between the plate 21 and the flange 31. In the rest position shown on the figure 1 the spring 4 pushes the piston 3 in abutment against the deformable wall. The inlet flap is closed. The two lips 32 and 33 of the differential piston are in contact with the barrel formed by the inner surface 232 of the distribution wall 23.

By exerting a force on the bearing zone 211, the pusher moves axially relative to the body 1. Since the piston is in abutment against the wall 212, it is pushed by the pusher. At first, the movement of the pusher has the effect of pressing the inlet valve. Thus, the pump chamber 10 is isolated from the reservoir R. From this moment, the product in the pump chamber 10 will be pressurized. Since the fluid product is incompressible, the total useful volume of the pump chamber must remain constant. But as the main piston 36 sinks into the drum 17 thus decreasing the volume of the lower part of the chamber, a new volume must be created. This is possible because the differential piston moves away from the support plate 21. This has the effect of sliding the lips 32 and 33 inside the dispensing wall 23. The lips thus move up to the upper lip 32 arrives at the dispensing orifice. At this time, the fluid under pressure in the pump chamber finds an outlet passage through the dispensing orifice. The passage thus remains open as long as the pressure inside the chamber can overcome the force of the spring 4. As soon as the pressure decreases below a certain threshold inside the chamber, the spring 4 pushes back the piston towards the rest position shown on the figure 1 . The dispensing orifice is then again isolated from the pump chamber. This corresponds to a normal cycle of operation of the pump once it has been primed, that is to say with its chamber filled with fluid.

On the other hand, when the chamber 10 is empty of fluid product and only filled with air, which is the case before its first use after manufacture and assembly, this operating cycle is not possible since the pressure at the inside the chamber does not reach the threshold sufficient and necessary to move the piston inside the pusher. Indeed, air is a compressible medium unlike liquids that are incompressible. It is thus possible to actuate the pusher without the chamber being emptied of its air. This is the case of the devices of the prior art, but this disadvantage is remedied according to the present invention by the presence of the elastically deformable wall 212 of the pusher. Indeed, by referring to the figure 2 , we can see the pump in the fully depressed position with its spring 4 compressed to the maximum. Chamber 10 is at its minimum volume. The skirt of the pusher abuts on the fixing ring 11 of the body. Then pressing strongly on the deformable wall 212 of the pusher 2, it deforms by curving inwardly. The force is represented on the figure 2 By the arrow F. Since the abutment stud is in contact with the wall 212, the piston 3 is moved axially downwards. In other words, the piston 3 moves relative to the rest of the pusher because it is biased by the deformable wall 212 which is displaced relative to the rest of the pusher. This has the effect of sliding the lips 32 and 33 inside the barrel formed by the pusher. By sufficiently deforming the wall 212, the upper lip 32 will slightly disengage the dispensing orifice 25 and thus create a leakage passage for pressurized air inside the chamber. This is represented on the figure 2 and the air leak is represented by the dotted arrow A. It is not necessary for the lip 32 to completely unmask the orifice 25: it is sufficient that a slight gap exists to allow the air under pressure to venting out through the orifice 25. Thus, the chamber 10 empties the air initially trapped inside. As soon as the support force F decreases, the deformable wall 212 returns to its undeformed state, which closes again the passage between the lip 32 and the orifice 25. The chamber is thus again isolated from the outside and a depression will be created as the spring 4 expands to return the piston and the pusher to the rest position of the figure 1 . The Depression generated will lift the movable member 5 of the inlet valve and the fluid from the reservoir can then go through the plunger tube 6 and reach the interior of the chamber 10 which will fill with fluid for the first time.

It can also be noted that the support plate 21 forms a thrust ring 26 against which the flange 31 of the piston 3 rests in the rest position. This ring 26 makes it possible to take back part of the bearing force generated by the spring 4 and which is exerted at the level of the stud 34 against the wall 212. In the depressed starting position shown on FIG. figure 2 , the ring 26 is detached from the flange 31.

Advantageously, the deformable wall 212 has a resistance to deformation which is greater than the force exerted by the spring 4 and greater than or equal to the pressure prevailing inside the chamber 10. Indeed, it is preferable that the wall 212 does not deform under normal operating conditions of the pump. In other words, once the pump is primed, the user is normally no longer made to deform the wall 212 when pressing the pusher to dispense the fluid. It suffices for that to realize the wall 212 with a sufficient wall thickness. Of course, if the user very strongly presses the wall 212 in the depressed position, it will deform, but this deformation will not affect the operation of the pump, since the pump chamber 10 will already have been emptied of its contents. By releasing this resting force, the wall 212 will first return to its undistorted position, and only after the spring 4 will begin to relax.

Thus, thanks to the deformable wall of the pusher, it is possible to open the outlet valve and create a leakage passage for the air initially trapped in the pump chamber.

Claims (13)

1. A liquid dispenser device for being associated with a liquid reservoir (R), said device comprising:

   • a chamber (10) provided with an inlet valve (5, 15), an outlet valve (32, 232), and a piston (3) that is suitable for varying the volume of the chamber;

   • a liquid dispenser orifice (25); and

   • a pusher (2) that is axially displaceable down and up between a rest position and a depressed position;

   the dispenser device being characterized in that the pusher (2) includes an elastically-deformable wall (212) that is thus displaceable relative to the remainder of the pusher, the piston (3) being in contact, at least momentarily, with the deformable wall (212), so as to be urged in displacement relative to the remainder of the pusher while the wall is being deformed, in such a manner as to open the outlet valve.
2. A dispenser device according to claim 1, in which the piston (3) is a differential piston that is suitable for being displaced by the variations in the pressure of the liquid in the chamber, the piston being momentarily out of contact with the deformable wall of the pusher.
3. A dispenser device according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which, when the pressure in the chamber (10) is less than a predetermined threshold, the piston (3) is in contact with the pusher (2) by means of a return spring that urges the piston towards the pusher.
4. A dispenser device according to any preceding claim, in which the pusher (2) defines a portion of the chamber (10).
5. A dispenser device according to any preceding claim, in which the outlet valve comprises a movable valve member (32) and a valve seat (232), the valve member being secured in displacement with the piston (3).
6. A dispenser device according to claim 5, in which the pusher (2) forms the valve seat (232) of the outlet valve in such a manner that the displacement of the piston (3) by deformation of the wall (212) opens the outlet valve.
7. A dispenser device according to claim 6, in which the valve seat of the outlet valve comprises a valve slide-cylinder (232), the dispenser orifice (25) being defined by the pusher (2) at said cylinder.
8. A dispenser device according to claim 7, further comprising a body (1) for being mounted on an opening (C) of a reservoir (R), the body (1) forming a cylinder (17) for slidably receiving said piston (3) that includes a piston lip (36) in leaktight sliding contact in the piston-receiving cylinder (17), a valve lip (32) in sliding contact in the valve cylinder (232), and an abutment surface (341) in contact with the deformable wall (212).
9. A dispenser device according to any preceding claim, in which the pusher (2) comprises a bearing plate (21) on which a user can exert pressure by means of a finger, and a peripheral skirt (22) forming the dispenser orifice (25), the deformable wall (212) being formed in the plate (21), advantageously by reducing the wall thickness of the plate.
10. A dispenser device according to claim 9, in which the skirt (22) comes into abutment against the body (1) in the depressed position, the deformable wall (212) thus deforming so as to displace the piston (3) and thus open the outlet valve.
11. A dispenser device according to any preceding claim, in which the piston (3) is in contact with the wall (212) in the depressed position.
12. A dispenser device according to claim 3, in which the deformable wall (212) presents resistance to deformation that is greater than the force exerted by the spring, and greater than or equal to the maximum pressure existing in the chamber.
13. A dispenser device according to any preceding claim, in which the wall deforms after the pusher has reached its depressed position.

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