Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D83/00—Containers or packages with special means for dispensing contents
  • B65D83/14—Containers or packages with special means for dispensing contents for delivery of liquid or semi-liquid contents by internal gaseous pressure, i.e. aerosol containers comprising propellant for a product delivered by a propellant
  • B65D83/44—Valves specially adapted therefor; Regulating devices
  • B65D83/48—Lift valves, e.g. operated by push action
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
  • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
  • B05B11/00—Single-unit hand-held apparatus in which flow of contents is produced by the muscular force of the operator at the moment of use
  • B05B11/01—Single-unit hand-held apparatus in which flow of contents is produced by the muscular force of the operator at the moment of use characterised by the means producing the flow
  • B05B11/10—Pump arrangements for transferring the contents from the container to a pump chamber by a sucking effect and forcing the contents out through the dispensing nozzle
  • B05B11/1042—Components or details
  • B05B11/1073—Springs
  • B05B11/1077—Springs characterised by a particular shape or material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
  • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
  • B05B11/00—Single-unit hand-held apparatus in which flow of contents is produced by the muscular force of the operator at the moment of use
  • B05B11/01—Single-unit hand-held apparatus in which flow of contents is produced by the muscular force of the operator at the moment of use characterised by the means producing the flow
  • B05B11/10—Pump arrangements for transferring the contents from the container to a pump chamber by a sucking effect and forcing the contents out through the dispensing nozzle
  • B05B11/1001—Piston pumps
  • B05B11/1016—Piston pumps the outlet valve having a valve seat located downstream a movable valve element controlled by a pressure actuated controlling element
  • B05B11/1018—Piston pumps the outlet valve having a valve seat located downstream a movable valve element controlled by a pressure actuated controlling element and the controlling element cooperating with means for opening or closing the inlet valve

Definitions

• the present invention relates fluid product dispensing member and a fluid product dispensing device comprising such a dispensing member.
• Fluid dispensing members are well known, in particular for selectively dispensing fluid products, such as liquids or powders, especially in the field of pharmacy, perfumery and cosmetics. These fluid dispensing members may be for example pumps, valves or air flushes. They are generally associated with a reservoir containing the fluid product to form a fluid dispensing device.
• a fluid product dispensing member comprises a body and dispensing means which are moved in said body manually by the user between a rest position and a dispensing position, said displacement permitting the dispensing of the fluid product.
• An elastic member such as a spring, is generally used to urge said dispensing means to their rest position, so that the user must exert a force to effect the displacement towards the dispensing position, and when releasing this effort, said elastic member automatically returns the dispensing means in their rest position.
• metal spiral springs are used as return springs. This can present a number of disadvantages.
• the metallic material can interact with the fluid product, especially when it is a pharmaceutical product, which can have a detrimental effect on said fluid product to be dispensed.
• the elastic properties of the spiral springs are not always optimal, which requires having springs of a size large enough to ensure safe and reliable operation of the dispensing member. In some applications, it may be desirable to reduce the dimensions of said elastic member.
• the spiral springs which consist of a plurality of turns in series behind one another, do not exhibit an optimum resistance to stress creep.
• a metal spring is generally formed by deformation of a strip or continuous coil, so that the end portions of the springs are never perfectly flat with an axial distribution of the elastic deformation stress which is not homogeneous.
• a malfunction on one of the series turns can generate a strong loss of performance of the spiral spring, which can also be a disadvantage especially in devices for dispensing a large number of doses and therefore intended to be operated a large number of times. number of times.
• Documents EP-1 477 234 and EP-1 565 270 describe plastic springs comprising deformable rings interconnected by rigid axial material bridges.
• the present invention aims to provide a fluid dispenser member and a fluid dispenser device comprising such a member, which do not reproduce the aforementioned drawbacks.
• the present invention aims to provide a fluid dispenser member that decreases or eliminates the risk of harmful interaction between the fluid and the constituent parts of said dispensing member.
• Another object of the present invention is to provide such a fluid dispenser member which makes it possible to achieve optimum elasticity properties with a minimum space requirement.
• the present invention also aims to provide such a fluid dispenser member which has improved properties of stress creep resistance.
• the present invention also aims to provide such a fluid dispenser member that allows a wide range of load control and deformation depending on the type of device in which it is used.
• the present invention also aims to provide such a fluid dispenser member which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, and safe and reliable use.
• the present invention therefore relates to a fluid dispenser member comprising a body and dispensing means manually actuated movable in said body between a rest position and a dispensing position, said dispensing means being resiliently biased towards their position.
• resting member by an elastic member said elastic member having a plurality of elastic cells arranged in parallel about a longitudinal axis of said elastic member, forming a level of elasticity, and said elastic member comprises a plurality of levels of elasticity superimposed on the along said longitudinal axis, a level of elasticity having a multiple corrugated upper corrugated ring and a lower undulated corrugated ring, disposed relative to each other such that said upper and lower corrugated rings are in contact with each other; in several points of contact distributed around dedi t longitudinal axis, an elastic cell being defined between two adjacent contact points of said elasticity level, said elastic member being made, in particular by injection, of synthetic material, such as polyoxymethylene (POM).
• POM polyoxymethylene
• the upper corrugated ring of a level of elasticity forms the lower corrugated ring of the elasticity level disposed directly above, and the lower corrugated ring of said elasticity level forms the upper corrugated ring of the level. of elasticity arranged directly below.
• the contact points of a level of elasticity are offset relative to the contact points of the elasticity levels directly above and directly below, a point of contact of the elasticity level being disposed in the middle of the elasticity level. two points of contact of the level of elasticity directly above and in the middle of two points of contact of the level of elasticity directly below.
• the upper and lower axial edges of said elastic member are formed by flat rings.
• said synthetic material is loaded with reinforcing materials and / or creep resistance, such as glass fibers and / or carbon nanotubes.
• said fluid product is a liquid or powdery medicine.
• said dispensing member is a pump or a valve, said dispensing means being the pump piston or the valve valve, and said resilient member forming the return spring of said pump or valve.
• said dispensing member is a flush of compressed air, said dispensing means being the plunger of the air flush, and said resilient member forming the return spring of said flush.
• the present invention also relates to a fluid dispenser device, comprising a reservoir containing said fluid product, and comprising a dispensing member as described above.
• FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a portion of a fluid dispenser member according to a first embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing another variant embodiment of a fluid dispenser member according to the present invention
• Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of detail of an elastic member according to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention.
• the fluid dispenser member 10 is a pump comprising a pump body 1 1 in which slides a piston 20 forming dispensing means manually actuated.
• This piston 20 when moved in said body 1 1 to its dispensing position, will expel a dose of fluid through a dispensing orifice 12 of the pump, the latter being generally connected to a dispensing head (no shown) which comprises the spray orifice through which the fluid product will be permanently distributed to the user.
• the piston 20 is urged by a resilient member 100 towards its rest position and when the user manually actuates the pump, he pushes the piston 20 inside the pump body 1 1 by compressing the elastic member 100.
• the pump shown in Figure 1 is a pump of a particular type, and it is understood that the present invention is not limited to this particular pump, but that any type of pump may be concerned. It should also be noted that a valve could also be used as a fluid dispenser member according to the present invention. In this case, it is not a piston but a valve valve that moves against the force of the elastic member within a suitable valve body.
• Figure 2 shows another alternative embodiment of a fluid dispenser member 10 according to the present invention.
• the fluid dispenser member 10 is an air flush, comprising a body 1 1 in which a piston 20 moves for compress air and thus create a flush of compressed air.
• This compressed air will dispense a dose of fluid, usually powder, disposed downstream of said flush.
• the air piston 20 When the user presses on the air piston 20, he will compress the elastic member 100 and the air contained inside the air flushing body 1 1, until this compressed air is distributed, for example from a given compression threshold or from a mechanical opening of a suitable orifice 12.
• the user releases his actuating force on the air discharge piston 20, it is automatically returned to its rest position by the resilient member 100 compressed.
• the user can then change the fluid cartridge, or the like, of the fluid dispensing device with which the flush is associated, to dispense the next dose.
• Figure 2 shows only a particular embodiment, and the present invention is obviously not limited by this variant as shown.
• the elastic member 100 has a particular structure very different from a spiral spring usually used in this type of device.
• FIG. 3 represents a schematic perspective view of an advantageous embodiment of the elastic member 100.
• This comprises a plurality of elastic cells C which are arranged in parallel around the longitudinal axis X of the elastic member. 100.
• This plurality of elastic cells C in parallel forms a level of elasticity N.
• the elastic member 100 comprises a plurality of levels of elasticity, in this case the N-2, N-1 levels. , N, N + 1, N + 2 and N + 3 in Figure 3.
• a different number of levels of elasticity can be used. These levels of elasticity are superimposed on each other along said longitudinal axis X.
• the level of elasticity N comprises an upper corrugated ring 1 10 with multiple corrugations and a lower corrugated ring 120 also with multiple corrugations.
• These upper and lower corrugated rings 1 10, 120 are arranged such that they touch each other at several points of contact P which are distributed around said axis X.
• a hollow of the upper corrugated ring will come into contact with a top of the lower corrugated ring to form a contact point P.
• it will be formed a elastic cell C, and thus a plurality of elastic cells C are distributed around the periphery of said level of elasticity N.
• each level of elasticity comprises the same number of elastic cells C and contact points P.
• the contact points of the elasticity level N are offset with respect to the contact points of the levels of elasticity.
• the points of contact of a level of elasticity form the vertices of the elastic cells of the levels of elasticity directly above and below, and vice versa.
• the upper and lower axial edges of the elastic member 100 are formed by completely flat rings 130, 140.
• the first levels of elasticity from the top and the bottom of the elastic member 100 are not complete elasticity levels since their elastic cells C are not formed by two corrugated rings but only by a corrugated ring associated with a flat ring.
• the elastic member 100 comprises six complete levels of elasticity, plus the two partial levels defined by the upper and lower axial edges 130 and 140.
• This multilevel multi-cell structure in parallel is particularly advantageous.
• it makes it possible to produce elastic members with small dimensions. Indeed, compared to a spring Conventional spiral, the same compression force can be obtained by the elastic member of the present invention for about a footprint corresponding to 50% of the axial space.
• the elastic member of the present invention is therefore particularly suitable for small deformation strokes, for example up to about 20 mm deformation, which are characteristic of pumps or valves used in the pharmaceutical industry.
• the elastic member 100 of the present invention has improved characteristics of stress creep resistance, because it consists of several series of cells arranged in parallel, in contrast to the spiral springs which consist of cells or turns arranged only serial.
• the elastic deformation is distributed substantially homogeneously or uniformly over the whole of each cell, which promotes the service life and the constancy of performance of the spring over time, eliminating the highly stressed local areas with each actuation.
• This is further reinforced by the perfectly flat upper and lower rings, which distribute the axial deformation force uniformly over all the cells of the spring.
• the present invention therefore applies particularly to fluid dispensing devices of the pharmaceutical field, and in particular for dispensing liquid or powder-form drugs by means of pumps, valves, powder inhalers, single dose, etc.
• the elastic member 100 is made of synthetic material, in particular by injection or molding. This avoids in particular the risk of harmful interaction between the elastic member and the fluid to be dispensed.
• the elastic member 100 may be made of polyoxymethylene (POM). Other materials are also possible.
• the synthetic material can be loaded with one or a plurality of materials that enhance elasticity and / or creep resistance, such as glass fibers or carbon nanotubes.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Containers And Packaging Bodies Having A Special Means To Remove Contents (AREA)
• Feeding, Discharge, Calcimining, Fusing, And Gas-Generation Devices (AREA)
• Springs (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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ID=42937217

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

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Family Cites Families (17)

• 2010
  • 2010-02-24 FR FR1051312A patent/FR2956649B1/fr active Active
• 2011
  • 2011-02-22 CN CN2011800108735A patent/CN102858467A/zh active Pending
  • 2011-02-22 JP JP2012554397A patent/JP2013520308A/ja active Pending
  • 2011-02-22 US US13/580,915 patent/US20120325861A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2011-02-22 EP EP11712613.6A patent/EP2539078B1/de active Active
  • 2011-02-22 WO PCT/FR2011/050360 patent/WO2011104470A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2011-02-22 BR BR112012021381A patent/BR112012021381A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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