EP2780120B1 - Dispensing head for a dispensing system dispensing a product under pressure - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a dispensing head for a system for dispensing a product under pressure, a dispensing system comprising such a head fixed to a tube for feeding the product under pressure and a bottle containing a product to be dispensed under pressure by means of such a distribution system.

In a particular application, the product is of the lotion, gel or cream type, for example for use in cosmetics or for pharmaceutical treatments.

Dispensing systems are known comprising a pump provided with a tube for supplying the pressurized product on which a push-button type distribution head is fixed to actuate the displacement of said tube over a dispensing / suction stroke of the product.

In particular, the dispensing head may comprise a body having a mounting well of said head on the feed tube and a housing in communication with said well. The housing is equipped with an insert around which is disposed a sleeve for forming a product distribution path between the mounting well and a dispensing orifice formed in a wall of said sleeve which is disposed facing a wall of said insert. Thus, by pressing on the body of the dispensing head, the pump is actuated to dispense the product through the dispensing orifice in the form of a hazelnut or a continuous stream.

Throughout the world, various directives aim to regulate, control and limit the presence of substances that are potentially dangerous for human health in particularly cosmetic products. One of them is the European REACh directive (Registration Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals). Also, an environmental trend is pushing cosmeticians to limit or even remove from their formulas preservatives that are often cause of allergies or intolerances.

Cosmetics are becoming more and more fragile. In particular, they hardly withstand mechanical or thermal stress (causing for example a phase shift), air contact (causing for example drying out, oxidation), and are easily contaminated by bacteria and fungi.

To fight against the contamination, the formulators try to reinforce the intrinsic conservative activity of their products by adding ingredients with a conservative activity like some essential oils, essences of orange, vitamin C, ... which are not declared as curators. Also, they limit the free activity of the water they are trying to keep low (AW <0.6) so that the bacteria do not grow or little. But the formulators quickly stumble on the limits of such a strategy.

On the other hand, protective distribution systems are appearing on the market. In particular, systems have been proposed whose exit channels are narrow and not very tortuous so as not to subject the product to pressures during its distribution. Airless systems have also been proposed, in which the air does not compensate for the volume of product dispensed, or the incoming air is filtered through a mesh of the order of 0.2 μm to retain bacteria and fungi.

Systems have also been proposed whose dispensing orifice is self-occulting, thus limiting the contact of the product with the air between two distributions. But this mechanical self-occultation, formed at the interface of two often imperfect geometries, can not claim the complete retention of bacteria and fungi whose size is a few tenths of a micron.

In order to solve these contamination problems, systems using materials containing antimicrobial agents, for example on an organic basis such as Trichlosan (trade name of Melcoplast) or on a silver base, have been proposed, said materials being located in a zone of contact with the product to prevent contamination of the product film contained in the dispensing orifice. The documents WO0183010 A1 , WO9710160 A1 and US2006213408 A1 , which each describe a dispensing head according to the preamble of claim 1, disclose such systems.

But these antimicrobial agents, added to the constituent materials of the distribution system, can migrate into the product, that is to say that the product is loaded in uncontrolled amount of preservatives while the formulator is prohibited. In addition, the activity of organic antimicrobial agents is greatly reduced after sterilization radio-crosslinking of the product, and also by natural aging.

The invention aims to improve the prior art by proposing in particular a distribution system antimicrobial property reliable in time and in which no antimicrobial agent is likely to migrate into the product to be dispensed.

In addition, the invention provides a distribution system with improved antimicrobial property so as to be able to distribute products whose preservative content is limited or even zero. Therefore, the combined use of a dispensing system according to the invention with a bottle containing such a type of product is particularly advantageous.

The combined use of a dispensing system according to the invention with a bottle containing a product to be dispensed is also particularly advantageous when the intrinsic preservative activity of said product is improved, for example by adding ingredients having a preservative activity, such as certain oils. essential oils, orange essences, vitamin C and / or by limiting the free activity of water (AW <0.6).

To achieve these various improvements, according to a first aspect, the invention proposes a dispensing head for a system for dispensing a product under pressure according to claim 1. According to a second aspect, the invention proposes a dispensing system of a pressurized product comprising such a dispensing head and a tube for supplying the pressurized product on which the mounting well of said head is fixed.

According to a third aspect, the invention proposes a bottle containing a product to be dispensed under pressure, said bottle comprising a neck on which such a dispensing system is associated so as to put the delivery tube in communication with the product to enable the dispensing conveying the product from said feed tube to the dispensing orifice.

• la figure 1 est une vue en coupe longitudinale d'une tête de distribution selon un mode de réalisation de l'invention ;
• les figures 2 à 4 sont des vues partielles en coupe longitudinale d'un flacon équipé d'un système de distribution selon respectivement un mode de réalisation de l'invention.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the description which follows, made with reference to the appended figures, in which:

• the figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a dispensing head according to one embodiment of the invention;
• the Figures 2 to 4 are partial views in longitudinal section of a bottle equipped with a distribution system according to one embodiment of the invention respectively.

In relation to the figures, there is described a dispensing system comprising a pump 1 actuated by a distribution head 2 of the push button type to allow the distribution of a product under pressure, for example in the form of a hazelnut or a continuous stream.

To do this, the dispensing system is mounted on a bottle 3 containing the product to be dispensed under pressure. In an exemplary application, the product is a lotion, a gel or a cream, for a cosmetic use or for pharmaceutical treatments.

The bottle 3 comprises a body 4 surmounted by a neck 5 and the dispensing system comprises a band 6 on which the pump 1 is mounted, said band being associated with the neck 5 so as to put the pump 1 in sealed communication with the packaged product in said body.

In the figures, the pump 1 is not cut but conventionally comprises a body in which are arranged means necessary for pressurizing the product to be dispensed. According to a particular embodiment, the pump 1 is of the type without air intake in compensation of the volume of product dispensed, so as not to introduce contaminant in the packaged product.

The invention is not limited to a particular pump structure 1, nor to a particular mode of mounting the pump 1 on the bottle 3. In addition, the pump 1 can be supplied with the conditioned product via a dip tube disposed in the bottle 3 or via a product supply piston which is slidably mounted in the body 4 so as to push the product into the pump 1.

The pump 1 comprises a feed tube 7 of the pressurized product, said tube being reversibly movable over a dispensing / suction stroke of the product. To actuate this movement, the dispensing head 2 is mounted on the downstream portion of the feed tube 7, said head comprising a body 8 having a mounting well 9 of said head on said feed tube.

The dispensing head 2 has a housing in communication with the mounting well 9 via a channel 10, said housing being equipped with an insert 11 around which is disposed a sleeve 12 to form a distribution path 13 of the produced between said well and a dispensing orifice 14. Thus, by fixing the mounting well 9 on the feed tube 7, the distribution of the product is carried out by pressing on the body 8 to actuate the displacement of said tube in order to convey the packaged product from the feed tube 7 to the dispensing orifice 14.

The distribution system can also be used for other types of distribution. In particular, the bottle 3 may comprise a flexible body 4, the pressurization of the product in the feed tube 7 then taking place by bringing the walls of said bottle closer together, without the use of a pump. The dispensing orifice 14 is formed in a wall 15 of the sleeve 12 which is disposed facing a wall 16 of the insert 11. The sleeve 12 and the insert 11 have surfaces which are intended to be in contact with the product, in particular the surfaces delimiting between them the distribution path 13 in which the product is immobilized between two distributions as well as the outer surface of the wall 15 of the sleeve 12 on which contaminated products are formed, in particular by spreading said product on said surface during its recovery by the finger of the user.

To limit contamination of the product by bacteria and fungi, the wall 15 of the sleeve 12 has an outer surface which comprises metallic copper which, by virtue of its microbiostatic properties, prevents the proliferation or eliminates contaminants in contact with said surfaces, and this without migration into the product of any antimicrobial agent. Thus, the decontamination of the product which, between two distributions, is located in the vicinity of the dispensing orifice 14 and prevents the penetration of bacteria and fungi into the bottle 3 via the distribution path 13. According to the invention, the outer surface of the wall 15 of the sleeve 12 comprises metallic copper to prevent contamination of soils disposed on it between two distributions, thus ensuring that the product subsequently dispensed is not contaminated by said soils. Similarly, the peripheral surface defining the dispensing orifice 14 comprises metallic copper since the product contained in said orifice between two distributions is also in contact with the air.

Advantageously, the pump 1 may also contain metallic copper, in particular at the components of said pump which are in contact with the pressurized product. Thus, by contact with metallic copper, the proliferation is prevented or even the contaminants are removed from the product contained in the pump before it is dispensed through the feed tube 7.

In particular, a pump 1 conventionally comprises a ball forming the inlet valve of the product, said ball being made of metallic copper. Similarly, the spring allowing the return of the feed tube 7 on its suction stroke can be made of metallic copper, especially when this spring is disposed in the product dosing chamber.

The maximum dimension of the dispensing orifice 14 may be less than or equal to 0.5 mm, for example by having a rectangular geometry, in order to limit the maximum distance separating the copper from the product contained in said orifice. Thus, by surface effect on a very thin film of product, it ensures the decontamination of the product contained in the dispensing orifice 14. In addition, the distribution path 13 may have a thickness that is less than or equal to 0.5 mm so that the product is rolled to a very small thickness before feeding the dispensing orifice 14.

Furthermore, the walls 16, 15 of the insert 11 and the sleeve 12 delimit between them a volume 17 intended to contain the product, said volume defining the downstream end of the distribution path 13 which is in direct communication with the orifice 14. This volume 17 is on the one hand, close to the dispensing orifice 14 and secondly, in contact with the rest of the packaged product, it may be delimited by at least one surface comprising metallic copper, in particular the inner surface of the wall 15 of the sleeve 12 may advantageously comprise metallic copper.

In addition, the volume 17 delimited between the walls 15, 16 may be less than 0.1 mm ^{3 in} order to limit the maximum distance separating the copper from the product contained in said volume. Thus, by surface effect on a very small volume of product, decontamination of the product contained in said volume is ensured.

According to one embodiment, the sleeve 12 and / or the insert 11 is made of synthetic material, for example of polyolefin type, of which at least one surface intended to be in contact with the product is metallized with a copper deposit. According to another embodiment, the sleeve 12 and / or the insert 11 is made of metallic copper. In particular, on the figure 1 , the sleeve 12 is made entirely by shaping a metal copper foil.

In these embodiments, when a portion of the sleeve 12 is visible to the user, it can be provided that the copper is visible on said portion so that said user can identify the microbiostatic properties of the dispensing system.

According to another embodiment, the sleeve 12 and / or the insert 11 is made of synthetic material, for example of the polyolefin type, which is loaded with metallic copper particles, the charge rate being sufficient for copper particles to be arranged. on the surface to be in contact with the product.

In relation to Figures 1 to 3 , the sleeve 12 is rigid and has a skirt 18 which is fitted into the housing, said skirt being closed towards the front by a radial wall 15 in which the dispensing orifice 14 is formed. In addition, the sleeve 12 is mounted around the insert 11 to form between them a annular portion of the distribution path 13, said insert having a radial wall 16 which is disposed facing axial of the dispensing orifice 14 forming a volume 17 in communication on the one hand with said annular portion and on the other hand with the dispensing orifice 14.

On the figure 3 , insert 11 is reversibly movable between a closed position ( figure 3 ) and an opening position of the dispensing orifice 14 to allow the reversible closure of said orifice between two uses. This figure represents a known embodiment of the document FR-2 948 343 in which the displacement of the insert 11 is achieved by means of a part 19 having the mounting well 9, the body 8 being slidably mounted around said part between a high position and a low position, said insert being mounted between the body 8 and the part 19 by means of a reversible displacement device of said insert.

In this embodiment, the insert 11 has a head 20 forming a bearing surface 16 which, in the closed position, is sealingly received in a seat 21 formed on the peripheral surface of the orifice 14, said head being arranged at a distance said seat in the open position. Advantageously, at least the span 16 of the head 20 or the seat 21 comprise metallic copper to ensure the decontamination of the product film retained at the interface between them when the insert 11 is in the closed position.

In relation to the figure 4 , the sleeve 12 is deformable reversibly between a closed state ( figure 4 ) and an open state of the dispensing orifice 14. In particular, the sleeve 12 is made of elastomeric material in a bearing 15 which is formed at least one lip 22 movable by applying the pressure of the product dispensed on it, said sleeve being disposed around the insert 11 which can be attached to the body 8 ( figure 4 ) or integrated with it. Furthermore, the insert 11 has an internal conduit 23 forming the distribution path 13 which opens on a radial bearing surface 16 disposed opposite the dispensing orifice 14.

In this embodiment, at least the outer surface of the wall 15 of the sleeve 12 as well as the lip 22 can be loaded with copper particles while maintaining sufficient elasticity properties for the sleeve 12, in order to ensure the decontamination of the film of product retained in said lip when said sleeve is in a closed state.

Claims (15)

1. Dispenser head (2) for a dispensing system for a pressurised product, said head comprising a body (8) having a mounting shaft (9) of said head on a pressurised product supply tube (7) and a housing in communication with said shaft, said housing being equipped with an insert (11) around which is arranged a sleeve (12) to form a product dispensing passage (13) between said shaft and a dispensing aperture (14) formed in one wall (15) of said sleeve which is arranged facing one wall (16) of said insert, said head being characterised in that the wall (15) of the sleeve (12) has an external surface intended to be in contact with the product, said external surface comprising metallic copper.
2. Dispenser head (2) according to Claim 1, characterised in that the sleeve (12) and/or the insert (11) is produced in synthetic material of which at least one surface intended to be in contact with the product is metal plated with a deposit of copper.
3. Dispenser head (2) according to Claim 1, characterised in that the sleeve (12) and/or the insert (11) is produced in metallic copper.
4. Dispenser head (2) according to Claim 1, characterised in that the sleeve (12) and/or the insert (11) is produced in synthetic material filled with particles of metallic copper.
5. Dispenser head (2) according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the dispensing aperture (14) is bounded by a peripheral surface that comprises metallic copper.
6. Dispenser head (2) according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the internal surface of the wall (15) of the sleeve (12) comprises metallic copper.
7. Dispenser head (2) according to Claim 1, characterised in that the sleeve (12) is reversibly deformable between a closed state and an open state of the dispensing aperture (14).
8. Dispenser head (2) according to Claim 1, characterised in that the dispensing aperture (14) has a maximum dimension that is less than or equal to 0.5 mm.
9. Dispenser head (2) according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the walls (16, 15) of the insert (11) and the sleeve (12) mutually bound a volume (17) intended to contain the product, said volume being less than 0.1 mm (3).
10. Dispenser head (2) according to Claim 1, characterised in that the insert (11) is reversibly displaceable between a blocking position and an open position of the dispensing aperture (14).
11. Dispensing system of a pressurised product, said system comprising a dispenser head (2) according to any one of Claims 1 to 10 and a pressurised product supply tube (7) on which the mounting shaft (9) of said head is fixed.
12. Dispensing system according to Claim 11, characterised in that it comprises a pump (1) actuated by the dispenser head (2), said pump comprising the pressurised product supply tube (7).
13. Dispensing system according to Claim 12, characterised in that the pump (1) is of type without return of air in compensation of the volume of dispensed product.
14. Container (3) containing a pressurised product to be dispensed, said container comprising a neck (5) with which a dispensing system according to any one of Claims 11 to 13 is combined so as to put the supply tube (7) in communication with the product to enable routing of the product from said supply tube to the dispensing aperture (14).
15. Container (3) according to Claim 14, characterised in that it comprises a flexible body (4).

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