EP2408570A1

EP2408570A1 - Device for dispensing a liquid-to-pasty product using a metering pump having a low dead volume

Info

Publication number: EP2408570A1
Application number: EP10708268A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gwénaël DOULIN; Pascal Hennemann
Original assignee: Promens SA
Current assignee: Promens SA
Priority date: 2009-03-18
Filing date: 2010-02-02
Publication date: 2012-01-25
Also published as: WO2010106256A1; RU2011142040A; US20120024904A1; JP2012520804A; FR2943324B1; FR2943324A1; RU2500484C2

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (1) for dispensing a liquid-to-pasty product (2) to be placed at the open end (3) of a rigid container (4) and consisting of a manual metering pump (5) for dispensing a predetermined amount of the product (2) to be dispensed, including: a base member (6) to be placed on the container (4), a push button (8) provided with a dispensing spout (9) capable of acting, when pumped, against an intermediate bellows (11) comprising opening/closing means provided at the upper end of said bellows (11), characterised in that the push button (8) is combined with a cylindrical chamber (8A) directed towards the inside of the bellows (11) and extending inside the bellows (11) so as to form a dead volume with a predetermined value inside same and to accordingly reduce the available air volume, thereby improving the compression rate when pumped.

Description

DEVICE FOR DISPENSING A PASTY LIQUID PRODUCT BY A LOW VOLUME DOSING PUMP

The present invention relates to a dispensing device for a liquid to pasty product intended to be put in place at the open end of a rigid container, and constituted by a manual dosing pump for dispensing a predetermined quantity of product. to deliver.

Such pumps are particularly intended for the distribution of any liquid to pasty products, whether for example food, cosmetics, hygiene products, health, beauty or solar products.

But from the moment that pumps were positioned in markets with lower added value, such as food or cosmetics, hygiene, health and beauty, the complexity and the price of pumps have been a drag.

Most of these new products using these pumps are disposable products with reduced service life. In addition, their requirements in terms of dose accuracy and repeatability are reduced.

This problem of simplification appears recently with the democratization of products, initially high-end, to adapt to large-scale distribution.

Thus has already been sought the realization of a pump dispensing system with few parts, at least as little as possible, so as to make it economical.

A device to achieve this goal has been described in the French patent application No. 07/02965 filed by the applicant, which furthermore solved a problem of safety in the distribution of the product, the latter can no longer be used. to do accidentally.

The results obtained, even if they are satisfactory, can still be improved at the level of priming the pump.

In fact, the main disadvantage of this pump is its large dead volume associated with a low compression ratio. Indeed, tests have shown that only 37% of its dosing chamber is compressed when pressed on the push button. In the priming phase, the air contained in the metering chamber and the plunger tube must be evacuated by compressing the air in the metering chamber and forcing it to pass through a high valve.

With such a low rate of air compression in the metering chamber, the air hardly reaches the pressure necessary to pass through a valve top of the device and the operation is not effective. This results in too long a boot due to the need to have several successive presses on the push button.

This is explained by the fact that the volume of air, which corresponds to the volume of the bellows, generates the priming phase of the pump when the air is compressed during the actuation of the push button.

As a reminder, booting is performed as follows:

Press the push button to compress the air inside the bellows, and this air will escape through the top valve to a stabilizing pressure.

When releasing the bellows, the push button rises and creates a vacuum in the metering chamber corresponding to the volume of air escaped.

This depression causes suction of the product via the bottom valve of the same device.

This operation is currently repeated too many times given the large volume of air to be actuated relative to the useful volume (dose) of the product delivered, several times higher than this dose.

For example, for a bellows chamber volume equal to 4.07 ml, a compression of 37% of this volume is obtained, making it possible to deliver a dose of 1.5 ml. In this case, the initial compression of the air is 600 mbar, and the generated depression is 370 mbar.

All this results in a dead volume equal to 4.07 ml-1.5 ml ≈ 2.5 ml, thus 63% of the initial volume not effective during priming.

This causes a significant loss of efficiency, resulting in a large number of pumping: twelve strokes boot.

Thus, according to a first phase of the inventive step, it was established that it was necessary to reduce the dead volume in the bellows.

For this purpose, and according to the invention, a dead volume reducer called a solid volume, occupying a determined volume inside the bellows, is placed inside the bellows, solidarily with the push button, leaving a useful air volume corresponding at least to the volume of a dose of product.

It thus gains efficiency in the priming phase to evacuate the air. The amount of air that passes through the top valve is greater, and therefore is sucked a larger volume of product to replace the air evacuated by the top valve, and thus have a faster boot. The object of the present invention is to achieve this objective and concerns for this purpose a device for dispensing a liquid to pasty product intended to be put in place at the open end of a rigid container and constituted by a manual pump of assay for dispensing a predetermined amount of product to be dispensed, comprising: a base member to be placed on the container at its lower end by hooking or adhesion means such as clipping or screwing, a push button provided with a dispensing spout telescopically mounted on the upper part of the base element and capable of acting in pumping with respect to the latter, against a return member consisting of an elastically deformable bellows providing the sealed connection between an inner chamber of the base member, open towards the container to allow the passage of the product through an opening, and a on the other hand, at its upper end, an internal chamber of the push button into which a hole of the dispensing spout opens, associated with opening-closing means, made at the upper end of said bellows, characterized in that the push button is associated with a cylindrical chamber, directed towards the inside of the bellows, with which a peripheral wall delimiting said chamber cooperates sealingly, the latter being hermetically closed at its lower inner end and extending inside the bellows, to form a solid volume of predetermined value inside it and reduce its unnecessary dead air volume accordingly, thus improving the compression ratio during pumping and the efficiency of the pump.

Thanks to the invention, the results obtained, compared to the preceding ones, are the following, for the same bellows with a dead volume reducer disposed inside it:

For a new chamber volume of the bellows reduced to 2, 56 ml, a new compression of 62% of this volume, to deliver an identical dose of 1, 5 ml.

In this case, the initial compression of the air is now 1350 mbar and the generated depression is 570 mbar. Depending on the desired effect, twelve strokes of priming, according to the prior art, six strokes of initiation, or half less.

In addition, the invention allows the use of higher viscosity product because the pressure and suction are also higher.

The features that will be apparent from the following description, which will have to be considered in isolation or in all their possible technical combinations, will be described in the following description.

This description given as a non-limiting example, will better understand how the invention can be made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 represents a view in longitudinal section of a dispensing pump according to the invention, arranged on a container of a product to be dispensed, the push button being in position

"Before use".

Figure 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a dispensing pump of Figure 1, in a first priming phase of the pump, that is to say pushing on the push button.

FIG. 3 represents a longitudinal sectional view of a dispensing pump according to FIG. 2, in a second priming phase of the pump, that is to say up the push button, having the effect of raising the liquid in the chamber constituted by the bellows.

Figure 4 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a dispensing pump according to Figures 1 and 3, during a distribution of the product, pushing the button again downwardly.

The device 1 generally designated in the figures is intended for dispensing a liquid pasty product 2, placed at the open end 3 of a rigid container 4, and is constituted by a manual dosing pump 5, allowing the delivery of a predetermined quantity of product 2 to be dispensed.

In known manner, the device 1 comprises: a base element 6 intended to be put in place by means of hooking or adhesion such that clipping or screwing on the container 4 by its lower end 7, a push button 8 provided with a dispensing nozzle 9 telescopically mounted on the upper part 10 of the base member 6 and capable of acting in pumping with respect to this last, against a return member constituted by a bellows 11 elastically deformable ensuring the sealed connection between an inner chamber 12 of the base member 6, open towards the container 4 to allow the passage of the produced 2 through an opening 13, and secondly, at its upper end, an internal chamber 14 of the push button 8 in which opens a hole 15 of the dispensing nozzle 9, associated with opening-closing means , made at the upper end of said bellows 11.

These means consist of: a first internal peripheral flange 16 made at the upper end of the bellows 11, housed in an internal annular groove 14 of the push button 8 forming a chamber, and resting on one of its internal walls 17 that it elastically encloses according to a predetermined force, so as to seal or to be deformed radially under a certain pressure of the product 2 during its pumping, and thus allow its transfer into the throat annular 14, said first flange 16 being associated with a second flange 18 of the bellows 11, concentric with the first 16, housed in the same groove 14 of the push button 8, but bearing on the outer wall 19 thereof in which groove 14 opens the orifice 15 of the dispensing nozzle 9, said second collar 18 being of a height such as not to close said orifice 15, the opening or closing of the latter being effected by means of a locking tongue (not shown), issuing from the flange 18, of at least height and width, such as to close the orifice 15 by plating, or to release it during an action in rotation, in one direction or in the the other, on said push button 8, with respect to the base member 6, and consequently the bellows 11, and its tongue, remaining fixed.

According to the invention, the push button 8 is associated with a cylindrical chamber 8A, directed towards the inside of the bellows 11, with which, in a sealed manner, a peripheral wall 17 delimits said chamber 8A, the latter being hermetically closed to its lower inner end and extending inside the bellows 11, to form a solid volume of predetermined value inside thereof and reduce its unnecessary volume of unnecessary air, thus improving the compression ratio when pumping and efficiency of the pump. According to a preferred embodiment, the chamber 8A constituting the solid volume inside the bellows 11 is made in two elements, one of which is constituted by an internal extension 8B of the push button 8, open at its lower end "b And the other is constituted by a generally cylindrical insert 8C, closed at its lower end portion "a" and open at its upper end portion "c", the latter being attached to the open bottom part "b Of the first element 8B to constitute the solid volume 8A.

This is indeed a dead volume reducer according to the effect sought by the invention.

According to a particular embodiment, the insert 8C has an upper part "d" whose external shape and dimension correspond, with the assembly clearance, to the shape and the internal dimension of the lower part "e" of the extension 8B push button 8 on which the insert 8C is attached.

The effective connection between the insert 8C and the extension 8B of the push button 8, in their respective end zones, is effected by gluing, press fitting or else by ultrasonic welding.

In fact, the dimensions of the chamber 8A are calculated according to the volume reduction of the bellows 11 to obtain, and consequently, the desired compression ratio. For that, we play prefer ially on the dimensions of the insert 8A which is in fact a removable element.

As can be understood, the bellows 11 and 1 'insert 8C, both of generally cylindrical shape, delimit between them a concentric volume 20 in the form of a ring, and the product 2 passes through this ring.

As can be seen in the figures, the upper end portion "c" of the insert 8C is delimited, on its outer wall, by a peripheral shoulder 21 on which abuts the end edge "b" of the lower part of extension 8B.

Advantageously, the various parts of the system are made of plastics.

Advantageously, the bellows is made of a plastic material, preferably elastically deformable.

Advantageously, the constituent material of the bellows has a high elasticity and is at the same time able to provide, between the two housing elements, the restoring forces necessary for pumping. Thus, the choice was directed to a plastic material sufficiently flexible to ensure a good seal at the collars, sufficiently nervous to ensure a return to the initial position and ensure a depression, and sufficiently resistant to creep to maintain the initial tightening and maintain a compressive stroke repeatability and therefore dose.

Preferably, the bellows is made of low-density injectable polyethylene.

Also, could be used SANTOPRENE (Polypropylene modified Ethylene-Propylene Diene Rubber), or HYTREL (Thermoplastic Elastomer Ether-Ester, DRYFLEX (Styrene Thermoplastic Styrene-Ethylene-Butadiene-Styrene) materials that did not exist there are twenty of years, as well as towards certain references of polyethylenes made or modified to guarantee a nervousness and an acceptable resistance to creep.

These names are trade names, the chemical names are in parentheses.

These are the characteristics set out above.

As clearly visible in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the operation of the device is as follows:

During a first use, a push is exerted on the push button 8 in the direction Fl, that is to say downwards, having the effect of hunting, through the spout 15, the air which is in the bellows 11. By releasing the pressure Fl on the push button 8, it goes back naturally in the direction F2, in causing the product 2 upwards, partially filling the internal volume of the bellows 11.

When a new thrust in the direction F3, that is to say downwards, exerted on the push button 8, there will be exerted pressure no longer on the air in the bellows 11, which has already was evacuated, but of the product 2 which will be driven by the concentric space 20 created between the insert 8A and said bellows 11, for a faster evacuation of the product by the spout 15 of the push button 8, and this with a number pulses on the latter also reduced, for a better efficiency of the distribution of the product.

More specifically, the evacuation of the product is done by transiting in a concentric volume 20 in the form of a ring formed by the outer wall of the cylindrical chamber 8A and the bellows 11.

Claims

1. Device (1) for dispensing a liquid pasty product (2) intended to be put in place at the open end (3) of a rigid container (4) and constituted by a manual dosing pump (5). ) for delivering a predetermined quantity of product (2) to be dispensed, comprising: a base member (6) to be placed on the container (4) at its lower end (7) by means of hung or adhesion such as clipping or screwing, a push button (8) provided with a dispensing spout (9) telescopically mounted to the upper part (10) of the base member (6) and capable of acting in pumping with respect to the latter, against a return member consisting of a bellows (11) and deformable ensuring the sealed connection between an internal chamber (12) of the one hand base member (6), open to the container (4) to allow passage of the product (2) through an opening (13), and on the other hand, at its upper end, an internal chamber (14) of the pushbutton (8) into which a hole (15) of the dispensing spout (9) opens, associated with opening-closing means, made to the upper end of said bellows (11), characterized in that the push button (8) is associated with a cylindrical chamber (8A), directed towards the inside of the bellows (11), with which, in a sealed manner, a peripheral wall (17) delimiting said chamber (8A) cooperates , the latter being hermetically closed at its lower inner end and extending inside the bellows (11), to constitute a solid volume of predetermined value inside thereof and to reduce its volume accordingly. dead air, thus improving the compression ratio during pumping and the efficiency of the pump.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the chamber (8A) constituting the solid volume inside the bellows (11) is made of two elements, one of which is constituted by an internal extension (8B) of pushbutton (8), open at its lower end (b), and the other is constituted by a generally cylindrical insert (8C), closed at its lower end portion (a) and open at its upper end portion (c), the latter being attached to the open bottom part (b) of the first element (8B) to constitute the solid volume

(8A).

3. The device is claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the insert (8C) has an upper part (d) whose external shape and dimension correspond, to the mounting clearance, to the shape and the internal dimension of the lower part (e) of the extension (8B) of the push button (8) to which the insert (8C) is attached.

4. The device is claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the upper end portion (c) of the insert (8C) is delimited on its outer wall by a peripheral shoulder (21). on which abuts the end edge (b) of the lower part of the extension (8B).

5. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the evacuation of the product is done by transiting in a concentric volume (20) in the form of a ring formed by the outer wall of the cylindrical chamber (8A) and the bellows (11).