ES2398771T3 - Container for fluid products, especially pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food or similar products - Google Patents

Abstract

Container (1) for fluid products, especially pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food products or the like, comprising at least one hollow body (2) to contain at least one liquid product, at least one neck (4) extending from said body (2) and having at least one re-closing dispensing mouth (5, 6) for dispensing said product and closing means (8) with a handle (9) that integrally supports at least one sealing element (10 , 11) to close said dispensing mouth (5, 6), which can be opened and closed again, said closure means (8) comprises at least one annular collar (12) that is associated with said handle (9 ) along at least one pre-established break zone (13) and which is associated with said neck (4), wherein said handle (9), said shutter elements (10, 11) and said collar (12) are made in a single piece, characterized in that said container (1) it comprises at least one division (16) defined within said body (2) and convenient for subdividing the internal volume of said body (2) into at least two compartments (17, 18) suitable for containing at least two of said fluid products , said neck (4) has at least two of said dispensing mouths (5, 6) that are respectively closed by at least two of said sealing elements 15 (10,11) and wherein said body (2) and said division (16) are made in one piece and are initially separated from the closing means (8).

Description

Container for fluid products, especially pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food or similar.

Technical scope

The present invention relates to a container for fluid products, especially suitable for containing products used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, medical or dental fields, in addition to food products or the like.

State of the Art

The use of containers made of polymer as raw material is known for the packaging of one or more doses of fluid products, any type of paste, gel or liquids; Depending on the number of doses, known containers may be single use or may be closed again and be pluridosis.

Usually, they are composed of a container body that contains a predetermined dose of the product, with a remarkably tubular and elongated shape, which has an end provided with a neck, in whose upper part a product dispensing mouth is defined.

The opposite end of the container body has a convenient opening to introduce the product, which is closed, for example, by welding, then being filled. The closing means, removably associable with the container in the neck, allow closing the dispensing mouth.

The container body and the closing means can be independently manufactured separately, using forming methods such as injection molding and subsequently assembled together or, alternatively, they can be made in one piece and then separated before being used by an user.

The container body also has a pair of convenient fins to make it easier for a user to grasp the container and extend diametrically opposite to each other from the outer side surface of the container body itself

Known containers can be produced in singular units or associated with each other in series (strips); In the latter case, the fins of the bodies of two successive containers are temporarily associated with each other in predefined break lines.

Different types of containers are known with special reference to the closing means and their shape according to the different ways of use and manufacture.

A first type of known package foresees, for example, the use of a lid that has a fixed part to the neck, during the molding phase and along the pre-break zones, to close the dispensing mouth.

The lid also comprises a convenient cavity to accommodate the neck of the container, with a sealing element to close the dispensing mouth and initially turned outwards, in the opposite direction with respect to the part initially fixed to the neck.

The container is opened for the first time by removing the lid of the dispensing mouth in the areas of breakage and, after the product has been used, the container is closed again by turning the lid upside down and fixing the neck in the cavity, with the placement of the sealing element inside the dispensing mouth.

The particular shape of the lid, however, results in the possible exposure of the cavity and the sealing element to external contaminating agents before the first use of the container and therefore does not guarantee the integrity of the product during subsequent uses.

In order to restrict the possibility of product contamination, a second type of resealable container is known, made in a single body, which includes closure means with a sealing element of the type of a perforator or the like, placed sealed within the dispensing mouth and breakable or deformable connecting elements, without interruption, of the closing means to the container body.

Such deformable or breakable elements are suitable to indicate to the user the possible presence of product contamination due to any accidental alteration and / or opening of the product, thus achieving a safe sealing function.

A third type of package is also known thanks to WO01 / 96186, in which the closure and the body of the container are made in separate pieces, then assembled together.

The closing means of said containers generally comprise a handle with a sealing element of the type of a perforator or the like, which can be mounted sealed inside the dispensing mouth and an annular collar coaxially fixed, by means of interlocking, welding or gluing, in the neck of the container body.

The handle is removably associable on the outer surface of the neck by means of the appropriate breakable area, composed, for example, of tear-off lines, breakable bridges, of reduced cross-sections, etc.

The handle, collar and pin are therefore made in one piece, separately from the body of the container and the collar is subsequently fixed to the neck by interlocking, welding or gluing, with the dispensing mouth closed by means of the perforator.

However, these known containers are subject to additional updates.

In this regard, the fact that for some particular applications, the products contained in the containers must be mixed before being used is underlined.

To do this, two different packages have to be opened and the contents of each of them poured into an available container to receive them before the mixture, thus obtained, is used.

The double opening and pouring operation obviously represents an additional operational disadvantage of little practicality and requires execution times that are not negligible, without taking into account that in these cases, it is necessary to have two or more separate containers, with the consequent increase in dimensions totals

Other types of known containers come from US6,799,699 and US 5,244,120.

Object of the invention

The main object of the present invention is to provide a container for fluid products, especially pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, foodstuffs or the like, which can be used in a practical, easy, functional and rapid manner, at the same time, it has especially compact overall dimensions and reduced

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a container for fluid products, especially pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and foodstuffs or the like that allows to overcome the disadvantages of the current technique in the field of a simple, rational, easy, efficient solution for use and low cost.

The objects described above have been achieved for the present container for fluid products, especially pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food products or the like, according to Claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the description of a preferred, but not unique, embodiment of a container for fluid products, especially pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food or the like, only illustrated as an example not Limiting in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an axonometric view of a container strip according to the invention; Figure 2 is an exploded view of a container according to the invention before assembly; Figure 3 is an axonometric view of the container from another angle, according to the invention; Figure 4 is an axonometric view of the container according to the invention after the opening of the mouths

dispensing before use; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view along flat section V-V of Figure 4.

Embodiments of the Invention

Referring especially to these figures, a container for fluid products, especially pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food products or the like is shown in general 1.

In this regard, it should be specified that in this document by the term fluid products not only refers to liquid products but also to viscous products, for example, paste or gel state and powdery products, especially very fine powders with great fluency.

The container 1 comprises a hollow body 2 that is intended to contain at least one fluid product.

The body 2 has a substantially tubular and elongated shape on the outer surface in which a pair of clamping fins 3 removable associably with the clamping fins 3 of one or more adjacent containers 1 are defined, to form a strip S of containers 1 (Figure 1).

A neck 4 is extended from one end of the body 2, which at least has a dispensing mouth 5, so that the fluid product can escape.

The neck 4 essentially cylindrical, with a smaller diameter than the rest of the body 2 and is coaxially aligned with respect to it.

At the tip of the body 2 opposite the neck 4 an opening 7 is defined for the introduction of the fluid product; the closure of the opening 7 (e.g., by welding the lips of the opening itself) is performed once the product has been introduced.

The closing of the dispensing mouths 5, 6, on the contrary, is carried out by means of specific closing means 8 that have a handle 9 that integrally supports at least one sealing element 10, 11 that can be fixed in the dispensing mouths 5, 6 .

The handle 9 has a substantially plate shape and has side edges that in the strip design (Figure 1) are associable with the handles 9 of one or more adjacent containers 1.

The closure means 8, furthermore, include a ring-shaped collar 12, which is associated with the handle 9 along a series of predetermined areas of rupture 13.

The preset rupture areas 13 are composed, for example, of a pair of tear-off bridges connecting the handle 9 with the outer surface of the collar 12 and which are arranged in diametrically opposite positions of the collar 12.

The collar 12 can be placed around the neck 4 and associable with it.

In the particular embodiment of the invention shown in the figures, for example, interlocking means 14, 15 are placed between the neck 4 and the collar 12, which are composed of a protuberance 14 defined on the inner face of the collar 12 and a series of protuberant teeth 15 located on the outer surface of the neck 4 and which can be coupled with the protuberance 14.

Alternative embodiments of the present invention are possible, however, when the collar 12 is integrally made with the neck 4 by welding, for example, of the ultrasonic type or by gluing.

Within the body 2 a division 16 available to subdivide the internal volume of the body 2 is defined in two or more compartments 17, 18, intended to contain an equal number of fluid products other than one another.

In the specific embodiment of the invention shown in the illustrations, the division 16 subdivides the body 2 exactly into a first compartment 17 and into another second compartment 18 and, to allow the two fluid products contained therein, the neck 4 has a first dispensing mouth 5 and a second dispensing mouth 6, different from each other, for the closure of which, therefore, two sealing elements 10, 11 associated with the handle 9 are provided.

However, alternatives cannot be ruled out Embodiments of the present invention in which two or more divisions 16 are present to define three or more compartments 17, 18 to contain three or more fluid products; Obviously, in this case, the neck 4 has three or more dispensing mouths 5, 6 that can be closed again with an equal number of sealing elements 10, 11.

More in detail, the sealing elements 10, 11 are defined by respective custom-inserted perforators within the dispensing mouths 5, 6 and practically parallel to each other and with the longitudinal direction of the body 2.

In addition, it is specified that the sealing elements 10, 11, the handle 9 and the collar 12 are made in a single body, for example, by forming methods such as injection molding, using polymeric materials of the polyethylene or polypropylene type.

In the same way, the body 2 and the division 16 are also made in a single monolithic body, which can be obtained by the same forming methods as the closing means 8 within a separate mold.

In addition, the body 2 and the division 16 are initially separated from the closing means 8, as shown in Figure 2 and the container 1 is subsequently assembled by locking the collar 12 into the neck 4 while at the same time placing the perforators 10, 11 in the dispensing mouths 5, 6.

Advantageously, division 16 extends along the entire length of body 2, from neck 4 to opening 7.

By division 16, the tubular walls of the body 2 are subdivided into a first substantially curved wall 19, which together with division 16 delimits the first compartment 17 and into a second substantially curved wall 20, which together with division 16 delimits the second compartment 18; The first and second walls 19,20 are clearly shown in Figure 3.

In addition, division 16 is, at least in part, bent over itself.

More in detail, by dividing the body 2 along a transverse plane, the division 16 is substantially corrugated in shape and its length extension is substantially equal to the length of the walls, 19, 20 of the body 2.

This particular design of division 16 allows that when the body 2 is squeezed, the walls, 19, 20 and the division 16 can be stretched locally along a direction transverse to the body 2 and the walls 19, 20 can be placed in contact substantially coinciding with division 16.

This, in particular, is very useful during the closing phase of the opening 7 (Figures 4 and 5), by allowing the lips 10 of the opening 7 to be pressed in the division 16 without forming bubbles that negatively affect the welding and puts Danger seal and preservation of fluid products inside container 1.

However, alternative embodiments of the present invention cannot be excluded, in which division 16 is substantially plate-shaped and parallel to the longitudinal direction of body 2.

It has been demonstrated in practice how the described invention achieves the intended objects.

In this regard, the fact that, similar to traditional vials, the container according to the invention can be opened without any problem and, if necessary, closed again, is underlined.

In addition, it should be added that the particular solution of providing a division within the body of the container, allows to obtain a container that is capable of containing two or more fluid products that can be dispensed at the same time in a practical, easy and functional way by means of simple and immediate tighten the

20 container body.

Claims (15)

one.

Container (1) for fluid products, especially pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food products or the like, comprising at least one hollow body (2) to contain at least one liquid product, at least one neck (4) extending from said body (2) and that it has at least one recerrable dispensing mouth (5, 6) for dispensing said product and closing means (8) with a handle (9) that integrally supports at least one sealing element (10,11 ) to close said dispensing mouth (5, 6), which can be opened and closed again, said closure means (8) comprises at least one annular collar (12) that is associated with said handle (9) a along at least one pre-established break zone (13) and which is associated with said neck (4), wherein said handle (9), said shutter elements (10, 11) and said collar (12 ) are made in a single piece, characterized in that said container (1) c It comprises at least one division (16) defined within said body (2) and convenient for subdividing the internal volume of said body (2) into at least two compartments (17, 18) suitable for containing at least two of said fluid products , said neck (4) has at least two of said dispensing mouths (5, 6) that are closable respectively by at least two of said sealing elements (10,11) and wherein said body (2) and The mentioned division (16) are made in one piece and are initially separated from the closing means (8).

2.

  Container (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that said division (16) substantially extends over the entire length of said body (2).

3.

Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the length of the cross section of said division (16) is substantially equal to the length of the cross section of the walls of said body (2), the tightening of said body (2), it is convenient to put said walls in contact substantially coinciding with said division (16).

Four.

Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding Claims, characterized in that said division (16) is folded on itself, at least partially.

5.

Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said division (16) has a substantially corrugated shape.

6.

Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said division (16) is substantially plate-shaped.

7.

Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said container

(1) comprises interlocking coupling means (14, 15) for coupling said collar (12) with said neck (4).

8.

Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said coupling means (14,15) include at least one protuberance (14) located at least one between said collar (12) and said neck (4 ) and at least one protruding tooth (15) located in the other between said collar (12) and said neck (4) and which can be coupled with said protuberance (14).

9.

Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said collar (12) is associable with said neck (4) by welding.

10.

 Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said collar (12) is associable with said neck (4) by gluing.

eleven.

 Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said pre-established areas of breakage (13) include at least one tear-off bridge connecting said handle

(9) to the outer surface of said collar (12).

12.

 Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding Claims, characterized in that said sealing elements (10, 11) are defined by a respective perforator inserted in said supply mouths (5, 6) and practically parallel to each other.

13.

 Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that, said perforators (10,11) are located almost parallel to the longitudinal direction of said body (2).

14.

 Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said handle (9) is associable with the handle (9) of an adjacent container (1) forming a strip (S) of said containers (1).

fifteen.

 Container (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said body (2) comprises at least one grip fin (3) associable in a removable manner with the grip fin

(3) of an adjacent container (1) to form a strip (S) of said containers (1).