FR2736331A1 - Fluid container with fluid level indicator - has oval shaped casing whose bottom closed end has vent and open end receives pump with activating and distribution rod fitted with push button and nozzle, level indicator comprising protuberance on casing - Google Patents

Abstract

The container (1) has an external oval shaped casing (4) in the form of a cradle. The casing is closed at one end by a bottom having a vent (21). The other end of the casing is open (41). A pump carrier (91), in which is mounted a pump (9), is forced into the oval opening. The pump has a suction orifice (91) and an activating and distribution rod (95). A portion of the pump carrier is held in the casing and a second portion (94) passing beyond the casing has a protection lid (6). The pump rod is fitted with a push bottom (3) having a distribution nozzle (8) connected to the pump by an angled distribution pipe (81). A fluid level indicator comprises a protuberance (5) which is fixed to the casing between the bottom and distributor. When the container rests on the protuberance it is caused to tip. Tipping towards the bottom indicates a high filling level and tipping towards the distributor indicates a low filling level.

Description

The present invention relates to a container in particular of plastic material containing a fluid product (flowing under its own weight). More particularly, the container according to the invention comprises means for indicating the degree of filling with product, during its use.

Generally, the container of the invention is in the form of a bottle or tube. The fluid product can be a cosmetic, pharmaceutical, household product or a product used in a workshop, such as a care cream, a fluid foundation, body milk, a cleaning product, an adhesive, etc.

These products currently on the market are often packaged in plastic containers, and in particular in opaque plastic, so that the product contained in this container is not visible from the outside; therefore, its filling level can only be checked by the consumer with difficulty.

This drawback is especially felt by the latter for containers of small capacity, such as plastic tubes, filled with face cream or toothpaste. Indeed, these plastic tubes return to their initial shape, after the distribution of a dose of product, and do not make it possible to indicate, by their state of crushing, the filling rate, as is the case, for example , for an aluminum tube of toothpaste or crushable cream. In addition, due to the small capacity of such a tube, the evaluation, by the consumer, of the filling rate by the weight of the tube is highly random by simple handling.

In addition, aluminum tubes are used less and less because of their high price, the complexity of their filling, their incompatibility with the product and their fragility.

Of course, it is possible to use containers made of transparent plastic material to reveal the content. However, the containers made of transparent plastic material currently used do not provide sufficient flexibility during their compression for the distribution of the product. In addition, these transparent materials are not always compatible with the container. Furthermore, these transparent containers often have an economically unacceptable cost price. In addition, the information printed on these transparent containers intended for the consumer is not very legible, so that the use of this type of container is unattractive.

Also, the invention relates to a product container making it possible to remedy all of these drawbacks.

In particular, the present invention aims to make available to the consumer the new industrial product, which constitutes a container made of an opaque material, and in particular plastic, provided with a means indicating its level of filling.

The invention relates to a plastic container intended to contain a fluid product, comprises a closed external envelope, provided with a bottom, a member for distributing the product and means for indicating the rate of filling with product. It is characterized in that the indication means are located on the envelope between the bottom and the dispensing member and are capable of causing the container to tip over, when the latter rests on these means, toppling over to the side of the container. bottom then indicating a high filling rate, while a tilting on the side of the dispensing member indicates a low filling rate.

By container is meant any container in the form of a bottle or tube, of circular, oval, polygonal or flattened section. The bottom of this container can therefore be flat, rounded or pointed, as in the case of a tube.

Advantageously, the material constituting this container is a flexible or semi-rigid thermoplastic material, such as low density polyethylene. It is preferably non-transparent, that is to say, opaque. It can also be made of opaque glass, or even of metal.

The filling indication means act by gravimetry: they tilt the container towards one or the other of its ends according to the quantity of product present in the container.

According to a first possibility, the indication means, located on one of the external lateral walls of the container, consist of a protuberance secured to the envelope. Advantageously, this protuberance has the shape of a bead of semi-circular section or the shape of a bar of rectangular, trapezoidal or triangular section, oriented perpendicular to an axis, in particular of symmetry, of the container.

According to a second possibility, these indication means consist of a protuberance secured to a protective cover covering the dispensing member of the container in the rest position.

According to another interesting aspect of the invention, the indication means can be arranged movable in translation in a direction from the bottom of the container to the dispensing member. In this case, indexing means can be provided, associated with the position of the indicating means, these indexing means indicating the filling rate of the container, for example, filling half or a quarter of the initial volume.

The indication means can be pivoted from a first position to a second position. Thus, it is possible to indicate two different filling states, depending on the tilting position of the indication means, the first position indicating, for example, a low filling rate, and the second position indicating a high filling rate.

For the filling indication to work correctly, the product to be dispensed must be liquid (flowing under its own weight). Advantageously, it has a viscosity in the range from about 1 to 6 103 Pa s.

Thanks to this indication of filling, the consumer can assess the moment when the acquisition of a new container is necessary.

The invention consists, apart from the arrangements set out above, of a certain number of other arrangements which will be more explicitly discussed below, with reference to examples of embodiments described with reference to the appended drawings, which are not in no way limiting.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container provided, according to the invention, a device for indicating the filling rate.

Figure 2 is an axial section of the container of Figure 1, the container being substantially full.

Figure 3 is an axial section of the container of Figure 1, the container being substantially empty.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a container provided, according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, with a sliding indicator device for indicating different filling rates.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a container provided, according to another alternative embodiment of the invention, with a tilting indicator device to indicate two different filling rates.

FIG. 5a is an enlarged longitudinal section showing the tilting filling indicator of FIG. 5.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a container provided, according to yet another alternative embodiment of the invention, a container fitted with a protective cover comprising a filling indicator device.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, one can see a container designated as a whole by the reference 1. This container has a body 4, of substantially oval section and having a longitudinal axis A, in particular in the form of a cradle. This body 4 is closed at a first of its ends by a bottom 2. The body 4 is made of an opaque, relatively rigid material, for example polypropylene. The bottom 2 is provided with a vent hole 21, the role of which will be explained below. A second end of the body 4 is open, forming an oval opening 41. In this opening 41 is force-fitted a pump-carrying element 91, in which is mounted a pump 9 without air intake, provided with an orifice suction 93 and an actuation and distribution rod 95.

Thus, a portion 92 of the element 91 is held in the body 4, a second portion 94 protruding outward from the body 4, this portion 94 being intended to receive a protective cover 6. The pump 9 passes through the element 91, so that the orifice 93 is located inside the body 4, and the rod 95 extends outwards.

On, the pump rod is fitted a distribution head 3 or push button, provided with a distribution nozzle 8 connected to the pump rod 95 by an angled distribution channel 81. The pump carrier element 91, its side facing the bottom 2, is provided with a peripheral recess 97, of smaller section than the portion 92, on which is fixed the free edge of a flexible pocket 7, for example by gluing or welding. The bag 7 is filled with a product P, of substantially liquid consistency, the viscosity of which is in the range from 1 Pa s to 6 103 Pa s.

According to the invention, the body 4 has an elongated protuberance 5, of orientation perpendicular to the axis A. Its section is semi-circular, according to the embodiment shown, but it can have a triangular shape.

The use of this container is described below. To dispense a dose of product
P, the user presses the push button 3 one or more times, in order to expel product through the dispensing orifice 8. As this dispensing progresses, the pocket 7 retracts, as visible on the Figure 3. To prevent this reduction in the volume of the pocket from creating an underpressure inside the body 4, that is to say in the space formed between the external wall of the pocket and the internal wall body 4, the vent hole 21 must be provided.

To check the filling rate of product P, the user places the container on a flat surface, the container resting on the protuberance 5. If the container is substantially full, as shown in FIG. 2, under the effect of gravity , it switches to the bottom side 2. If, on the other hand, this container is substantially empty, as shown in FIG. 3, it switches to the side of the dispensing head 3. In this way the user knows, if he must whether or not to obtain a new container.

Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the container according to the invention, according to which the container 101 has a protrusion 105, movable in translation along the axis A of the container. More specifically, the protuberance 105 is located on a rectangular tab 110, slidably embedded in a rectangular housing 115 formed in the wall of the body 4. In this housing, the tab 110 is capable of sliding between two extreme positions, marked, for example 1/4, 3/4. When the tab 110 is placed on the extreme side facing the bottom, that is to say in the 3/4 position, and the container is tilted on the side of the cover 6, the container has a filling rate important, that is to say it is 3/4 full. On the other hand, when the tab is placed in the extreme position facing the dispensing head, and the tilting takes place on the bottom side, the container has a low filling rate, here% empty (or 1/4 full). In addition, the mark 1/2 has been symbolized.

Figure 5 shows a container 201, similar to that of Figure 4, except that a tab 210 is pivotally mounted in a housing 215 arranged on the body 204 of the container. The tab 210 pivots around two pins 216 which can occupy two positions marked by 3/4 and 1/4, indicating, as before, the filling rate of the container, by which the tilting of the container occurs.

FIG. 5a is a section along the line Va-Va of FIG. 5, showing, in more detail, the arrangement in the housing 215 of the pivoting tab 210 comprising the protrusion 205.

FIG. 6 shows a container 301 comprising a body 304 capped with a protective cover 306. The cover is provided with an elongated tab 301 attached to the free edge 312 of the cover, extending towards the center of the container body and substantially parallel to this one. The free end of the tab 312 is shaped into a protrusion 305 in the form of a bar of semi-circular section, on which the container is placed, in order to indicate its filling rate. The operation of the container 301 is similar to that of FIGS. 1 to 3.

Of course, the invention also applies to containers without a flexible internal pocket but comprising an air return pump.

Claims (7)

1 - Container (1, 101, 201, 301) intended to contain a fluid product, comprising a closed external envelope (4, 104, 204, 304), provided with a bottom (2, 102, 202, 302), a device for distributing (3, 103, 203, 303) the product and means for indicating (M) the filling rate with product, characterized in that the means for indicating (M) are located on the casing (4 , 104, 204, 304) between the bottom (2, 102, 202, 302) and the dispensing member (3, 103, 203, 303) and are capable of causing the container to tilt, when the latter rests on these means (M), a tilting on the side of the bottom (2, 102, 202, 302) indicating a high filling rate, while a tilting on the side of the dispensing member (3, 103, 203, 303) indicates a low filling rate. 2 - container (1, 101, 201) according to claim 1, characterized in that the indication means (M) consist of a protuberance (5, 105, 205) integral with the casing 4, 104, 204). 3 - container (301) according to claim 1, characterized in that the indication means (M) consist of a protuberance (305) secured to a protective cover (306) capable of covering the container (301) on the side of the distribution body. 4 - container (101) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the indication means (M, 105) are movable in translation in a direction from the bottom (102) of the container (101) towards l 'distribution member (103). 5 - container (101) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises indexing means (110) associated with the position of the indication means (M, 105), the means of indexing indicating the filling rate of the container. 6 - container (201) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises indication means (M, 205) capable of tilting from one position to another. 7 - container (1, 101, 201, 301) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the container is made of opaque plastic material.