EP3051033A1

EP3051033A1 - Device for applying a sanitizing product, particularly for sanitary fixtures and the like

Info

Publication number: EP3051033A1
Application number: EP16152928.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gianpaolo Baiguerra
Original assignee: Bolton Manitoba SpA
Current assignee: Bolton Manitoba SpA
Priority date: 2015-01-28
Filing date: 2016-01-27
Publication date: 2016-08-03
Anticipated expiration: 2036-01-27
Also published as: PL3051033T3; CY1123562T1; EP3051033B1; ES2831074T3; HRP20201825T1; HUE052492T2; RS61097B1; SI3051033T1

Abstract

A device (1) for applying a sanitizing product, particularly for sanitary fixtures and the like, comprising a blister pack (20) which defines a cavity (2) adapted to accommodate a sanitizing product (3); the blister pack (20) comprises engagement means (4) adapted to allow the insertion of a user's fingers and to allow the bending of the blister pack (20) by abutting against abutment means (8), in order to expel the sanitizing product (3), the bending of the blister pack (20), before the engagement means (4) abut against the abutment means (8), making it possible to partially expose the sanitizing product from the cavity (2).

Description

The present invention relates to a device for applying a sanitizing product, particularly for sanitary fixtures and the like. More specifically, the invention relates to a device for the application of a sanitizing tablet or pellet provided with adhesive characteristics which are such as to enable it to remain attached to the inner wall of a sanitary fixture or the like.
As is known, in order to sanitize sanitary fixtures and the like, adhesive sanitizing pellets or tablets are used which can be applied inside the sanitary fixture so as to be flowed over by the flow of water flushing the sanitary fixture, so as to progressively release the detergent product of which they are constituted.
If the sanitizing tablets need to be applied inside the sanitary fixture, devices for their application are known, which make it possible to avoid touching the tablet or capsule with the hands and apply it inside the sanitary fixture.
WO2014072677 discloses a device for the application of a sanitizing tablet to a sanitary fixture or the like, which comprises a blister pack that defines a base portion provided with a cavity adapted to contain a sanitizing product (tablet or capsule), and which comprises one or more bendable arms pivoted to the base portion.
In an initial configuration, the arms extend outwardly and are usually co-planar with the base portion, and in a second, subsequent, operational configuration, the arms are folded rearwardly with respect to the base portion and to the cavity for accommodating the sanitizing product, so that at least one portion of the arms extends behind the opening of the cavity.
The folding lines make it possible to bend the arms and therefore they act as hinge points.
Given that the blister pack is provided with folding lines that define the above mentioned hinge points, there is a drawback due to the fact that in the initial step of the upwardly folding movement of the arms it is not possible to exert an initial thrust to make the capsule or tablet come out from the blister pack, nor is there a retaining mechanism that can prevent the capsule from falling out of the cavity within which it is accommodated.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a device for applying a sanitizing product, particularly for sanitary fixtures and the like, which makes it possible, already in the initial step in which the user grips the device, to exert a pushing action in order to at least make the tablet or capsule protrude from the blister pack.
Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a device for applying a sanitizing product which, when the device is gripped, prevents the sanitizing product from falling out of its cavity in which it is accommodated, before the device is applied against the wall of a sanitary fixture or the like, even though the user is exerting an initial pushing action.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for applying a sanitizing product, particularly for sanitary fixtures and the like, which has a highly ergonomic shape structure, so as to facilitate use of the device for the user.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for applying a sanitizing product which is highly reliable, easily and practically implemented and low cost.
This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a device for applying a sanitizing product, particularly for sanitary fixtures and the like, comprising a blister pack which defines a cavity adapted to accommodate a sanitizing product, characterized in that said blister pack comprises engagement means adapted to allow the insertion of a user's fingers and to allow the bending of said blister pack by abutting against abutment means, in order to expel said sanitizing product, the bending of said blister pack, before said engagement means abut against said abutment means, making it possible to partially expose said sanitizing product from said cavity.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the device according to the present invention, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a partially transparent perspective view of the application device according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a perspective view from below of the application device according to the invention, with a portion of the covering partially removed;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the method of using the application device according to the present invention.

With reference to the figures, the application device according to the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, comprises a blister pack 20 which in turn comprises a substantially central cavity 2 which is adapted to contain a sanitizing product 3 inside it and defines a protrusion on the other side of the blister pack from the cavity.
The blister pack 20 further comprises engagement means 4, arranged laterally to the central protrusion 2 which defines the cavity adapted to accommodate the sanitizing product 3, such engagement means 4 being constituted by cavities defined on the same side of the blister pack 20 on which the accommodation cavity of the sanitizing product is facing.
Such cavities also define, on the other side of the blister pack 20, a pair of lateral protrusions 4a which are arranged preferably in axial alignment with the central protrusion 2a.
The cavities 4 are adapted to accommodate internally the user's fingers, as better shown in Figure 3.
In detail, the lateral protrusions 4a are defined in a lateral portion of the blister pack 20 with respect to the cavity 2 for accommodating the sanitizing product 3.
The cavity 2 for accommodating the sanitizing product 3 is partially covered by a protective film 5, which is applied on the face of the blister pack 20 in which the cavity 2 is defined.
The film 5 jut out slightly into the cavity 2, with wings 10, so as to prevent the sanitizing product 3 from falling out of the cavity 2 when the user grips the device by inserting his/her fingers into engagement means or cavities 4.
The sanitizing product 3 is then protected by an additional, adhesive, film 7, which is arranged to totally cover the cavity 2, so as to enable the conservation of the sanitizing product 3 in a blister pack 20 which is therefore completely closed.
Conveniently, the cavity 2, and in particular the outer surface of the cavity 2, i.e. the surface of the protrusion 2a, is provided with a central ridge 6 or folding line, which favors an initial pushing action once the user has gripped the device and is bending it as in Figure 3.
Advantageously, the cavity 2 is further provided, again on the outer surface of the cavity (the surface of the central protrusion 2a), with abutment means which are constituted by at least one and preferably a pair of further protrusions 8, arranged laterally to the central ridge 6 which defines a folding line.
The pair of protrusions 8 of the central protrusion 2a are adapted to engage, when the user grips the device 1 by inserting the fingers into the cavities 4, with the protrusions 4a defined by the cavities 4.
Substantially, operation of the device according to the invention is as follows.
The operator first removes the adhesive film 7 so as to expose the sanitizing product 3, although this is kept inside the cavity 2 by the wings 10 of the protective film 5.
At this point the user, by inserting his/her fingers into the cavities 4 defined at the sides of the central cavity 2 for accommodating the sanitizing product 3, exerts a first bending action of the blister pack 2, without the aid of any folding line since the blister pack is completely free from the aforementioned folding lines at the portion of the blister pack adjacent to the central cavity 2 for accommodating the sanitizing product 3.
The partial initial folding rearwardly, i.e. toward the back of the cavity 2 (therefore on the side of the central protrusion 2a and of the lateral protrusions 4a), begins to exert a first pushing action owing to the fact that the folding line 6 defined at the central cavity 2 ensures that such cavity is affected by the pushing action against the sanitizing product 3. The push against the sanitizing product 3 is exerted by the ridge or folding line 6 which presses downwardly, against the sanitizing product 3, once the user starts to bend the blister pack rearwardly.
This initial pushing action does not allow the sanitizing product 3 to exit from the central cavity 2, partly because the product 3 is kept in the cavity 2 by the wings 10, and it only allows the product 3 to slightly protrude from the cavity 2, in this manner enabling the user to make it adhere to the sanitary fixture.
At this point the user can therefore make the sanitizing product 3, which is now exposed, adhere to the inner wall 12 of the sanitary fixture or the like, by further bending the blister pack 20 rearwardly, with the effect that the protrusions 8 will interact with the protrusion 4a so that they exert a pushing action on the protrusion 4a and consequently an expulsion action of the sanitizing product 3, which afterwards remains, by way of its adhesive properties, attached to the inner wall 12 of the sanitary fixture.
The device described above therefore makes it possible to expel the sanitizing product 3, while avoiding touching the inner wall of the sanitary fixture with the hands, and at the same time also avoiding the presence of folding lines on the flat part of the blister pack proper, which would impede the pushing action against the sanitizing product 3 at the initial step in which the user grips the blister pack 2 and exerts a first bending action of the lateral portions of the blister pack upwardly and toward the rear part of the cavity 2.
The presence of the protrusions 8 on the surface of the central protrusion 2a makes it possible to exert an effective pushing action by pressing with the fingers inside the cavities 4 defined by the protrusions 4a which are arranged laterally to the central protrusion 2a, so that the user can easily make the sanitizing product 3 protrude from the corresponding accommodation cavity 2.
In practice it has been found that the device according to the present invention fully achieves the set aim and objects, in that it makes it possible to easily apply a sanitizing product on the surface or inner wall of a sanitary fixture or the like, without touching the wall of the sanitary fixture with the hands, and by exerting a pushing action already in the initial step in which the user grips the device and folds upwardly, and therefore toward the rear, the blister pack 20 by inserting the fingers in the cavities 4.
The device, thus conceived, is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.
In practice the materials employed, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.
The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. MI2015A000109 (102015902324062) from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

A device (1) for applying a sanitizing product, particularly for sanitary fixtures and the like, comprising a blister pack (20) which defines a cavity (2) adapted to accommodate a sanitizing product (3), characterized in that said blister pack (20) comprises engagement means (4) adapted to allow the insertion of a user's fingers and to allow the bending of said blister pack (20) by abutting against abutment means (8), in order to expel said sanitizing product (3), the bending of said blister pack (20), before said engagement means (4) abut against said abutment means (8), making it possible to partially expose said sanitizing product from said cavity (2).
The device according to claim 1, characterized in that said cavity (2) adapted to accommodate said sanitizing product is partially blocked by a film (5) adapted to define retaining wings (10) for said sanitizing product (3) in order to prevent it from falling out of said cavity (2).
The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said engagement means (4) comprise a pair of cavities (4) adapted to define protrusions (4a) in said blister pack (20).
The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said cavity (2) defines a protrusion (2a) provided on its outer surface with a folding line (6), so as to allow a pushing action to be exerted already in the initial step in which the user grips the device and exerts a bending action on said device.
The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said abutment means (8) are defined on the outer surface of said protrusion (2a), said abutment means being adapted to come into contact with said pair of protrusions (4a) defined by said cavities (4), in order to exert a pressing action on said sanitizing product (3) in order to expel it from said cavity (2).
The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said cavity (2) for accommodating said sanitizing product (3) is completely blocked by an additional adhesive film (7).
The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said engagement means (4) are arranged in axial alignment with said cavity (2) for accommodating said sanitizing product.
The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said engagement means (4) are arranged laterally to said cavity (2) for accommodating said sanitizing product (3) and are shaped to accommodate the user's fingers.