FR2780388A1 - Container for single dose of fluid or powdered product e.g. medication - Google Patents

Abstract

Container (10) has an air intake (11) with a retaining element (12) for the product and an outlet closed and preferably sealed by a ball (16) expelled by the air flow created when the product is dispensed. Container (10) has an air intake (11) with a retaining element (12) for the product and an outlet closed and preferably sealed by a ball (16) expelled by the air flow created when the product is dispensed. The retaining element is permeable to air and is in the form of a grille to retain a powdered product after a membrane (13) over the end of the air intake is removed. When the ball is dislodged it is retained centrally by ribs (41) to allow optimal flow of air and powder round it.

Description

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  The present invention relates to a powder product reservoir and its filling method. More particularly, the invention relates to a reservoir containing a single dose of pulverulent product and adapted to be used in conjunction with a dispensing device comprising an air flush, the content of said reservoir being expelled by the air flow created by

  said flushing of said device.

  Document EP-0 404 276 discloses a powder or fluid product device which comprises a product reservoir and a gas chamber, in this case air, as well as a push-piece movable relative to the reservoir. The tank has an inlet and an outlet, the inlet being closed by a membrane which separates the tank from the gas chamber. Thus, when the device is actuated, the pusher is moved into the gas chamber, which compresses the air downstream of the membrane until a piercing member integral with the pusher comes to pierce said membrane, which allows the flow of pressurized air through the product chamber from its inlet port to its outlet port, thereby taking the dose of product with it. This device has a number of drawbacks. Thus, the outlet orifice is not protected once the removable cap has been removed by the user before actuating the device. There is therefore a risk of product contamination and / or loss of this product in the event of improper handling of the device. On the other hand, this device is not rechargeable and the entire device must be

discarded after use.

  Document WO93 / 11818 discloses another type of dispensing device in which the outlet opening of the reservoir is also closed by a membrane. This type of device also has drawbacks. Indeed, during the piercing of the membrane which closes the outlet port of the tank, it sometimes happens that it does not release

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  completely the outlet port of the reservoir, so that product can remain accumulated inside the reservoir on parts of the membrane which remain at this outlet port. As a result, the entire dose of product is not distributed, which is generally not acceptable, especially in the context of medical treatment where total and precise distribution of the dose contained in the reservoir is often a condition for

the effectiveness of the treatment.

  The object of the present invention is to provide a powder reservoir for product dispensers of the type described above, which does not reproduce the above-mentioned drawbacks. More particularly, the object of the present invention is to provide a single-dose reservoir which can be adapted to a distribution device comprising an air flush, said reservoir guaranteeing perfect distribution of the

all of its content.

  The present invention also aims to provide such a reservoir which guarantees a perfect seal of the contents of the

tank until expelled.

  The present invention also aims to such a tank which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble. The present invention also aims to provide a method of filling such a tank which is the most

  simple and as economical as possible.

  The present invention therefore relates to a reservoir of powdered product comprising a metered quantity of powder intended to be expelled at one time by an air flow, comprising: - a cylindrical sleeve for receiving the dose of powder, said sleeve comprising a air inlet opening and product outlet opening,

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  a product retaining member disposed on the side of the air inlet opening, for retaining the product in the reservoir until it is expelled, a closing ball for closing the product outlet opening, said ball being intended to be expelled by the flow of air during the expulsion of the dose of product, and - a cylindrical cap fitted tightly around the cylindrical sleeve, said cap being open on the side of the product outlet and comprising ball fixing means for fixedly holding said ball before it is placed in its closed position in the sleeve), and after it is expelled

by the air flow.

  Preferably, the ball plugs the product outlet opening in a leaktight manner, and a closing membrane

  seals the air inlet opening.

  Advantageously, the product retaining member is a

air permeable grille.

  Preferably, said means for fixing the ball of the cap comprise ribs arranged on the inner wall of the cap, so that after it has been expelled from its closed position, the ball is fixedly held in the cap in a centered manner, allowing a

  optimal flow of the air / powder mixture around it.

  The present invention also relates to a method of filling such a powder reservoir, comprising the steps of: - introducing a dose of powder into the sleeve, through the product outlet opening, - fitting the cap around the sleeve, said cap comprising the closing ball fixedly held by said ball fixing means, - insert the ball into the product outlet opening

of the sleeve.

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  Other features and advantages of this

  invention will appear during the detailed description

  which will follow given by way of nonlimiting example in

look at the attached drawings.

  In the drawings: - Figure la represents a schematic sectional view of a part of the reservoir after the powder has been put in place, - Figure lb represents a view similar to Figure la, showing the parts of the reservoir in the state disassembled, - Figure lc is a view similar to Figures la and lb and shows the assembly of the tank, and - Figure ld is a view similar to Figure lc and shows the placement of the ball in the opening of

tank outlet.

  The reservoir 10 according to the invention comprises a tubular sleeve 18 receiving the powder, said sleeve 18 having an air inlet opening 11 and a product outlet opening 15. It is therefore intended to be used in a powder dispenser comprising an air flush adapted to create an air flow to expel the powder from the

tank 10.

  Preferably, the dispensing device for which the reservoir according to the invention is intended, can be produced in a reusable manner, that is to say that it can be reused several times with different pre-dosed tanks. In this case, the device can comprise from the outset several reservoirs according to the invention which are successively emptied during successive actuations of the device. In this case, it is a multidose device. The device can also be of the rechargeable single-dose type. To do this, the reservoir is removably mounted in the device, so that it can be replaced easily after each actuation of the

device.

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  As shown in the figures, the reservoir 10 of the invention further comprises a substantially cylindrical cap 19 fitted or fitted around the sleeve 18, said cap 19 being open at its two ends. The part of the cap 19 which protrudes axially from the product outlet opening 15 therefore forms part of the product expulsion channel 40. This cap 19 can be tightly mounted on the sleeve 18 in a fixed or removable manner in any suitable manner, the assembly of these two parts of the tank having to be sufficiently solid to

  resist the actuation of the dispensing device.

  The air inlet 11 of the reservoir includes a product retaining member 12 intended to hold the product in the reservoir until the device is actuated. This product retaining member 12 is preferably produced in the form of an air-permeable grid, the openings of which are smaller than the particle size of the powder. The air inlet 12 of the reservoir 10 is intended to be connected to the air flush of the distribution device, preferably in a sealed manner, so that the entire flow of pressurized air which will be created during actuation of the device will flow from the air inlet 11 through the entire tank 10 to the product outlet 15

  to expel the dose contained in the reservoir.

  The air inlet 11 can also be closed off

waterproof by a membrane 13.

  This closure membrane 13 is advantageously tearable and the device comprises means for opening (not shown) the air inlet 10 of the reservoir 10 which are adapted to open said membrane 13 before expulsion

of the powder dose.

  This sealed closure membrane 13 can act as a product retaining member 12 since it retains the powder in the reservoir. Preferably, the reservoir 10 however includes both the closure membrane 13 and the grid 12 described above. The advantage in this case is

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  that after opening of the closure membrane 13 by the opening means, there is no risk of powder flowing inside the air flush. Advantageously, said means for opening the air inlet may comprise a piercing needle which is adapted to pierce said closure membrane 13 while connecting the reservoir.

to the air flush.

  The powder outlet 15 of the reservoir 10 is closed, preferably in a sealed manner, by a closing ball 16, or more generally by a closing element 16 of spherical shape, which is adapted to be expelled from its closed position shown in FIG. 1d by said air flow which is created by the actuation of the device. Thus, when the user actuates the device, he will compress the air contained in the flush. The grid 12 being permeable to air, the compression of the air in the flush 22 will therefore be transmitted to the reservoir 10 and consequently will be applied to the closure ball 16 which closes the outlet 15. The dimensions of the closing ball 16 and its fixing at the outlet 15 of the reservoir 10 are produced so that the ball 16 is expelled from its closed position shown in FIG. 1d, when a predetermined minimum pressure is created in the reservoir 10. Thus, when this minimum pressure is reached, the ball is suddenly expelled towards the outlet channel 40 of the device and the air flow expels the entire dose contained in the reservoir 10. The precompression created by this closure ball 16 guarantees that when the latter is expelled from its closed position, the energy accumulated in the user's hand is such that the air flow is strong, that is to say adapted at finely spray the powder dose

  and if necessary, disaggregate it.

  The part of the cap 19 forming an outlet channel 40 has a diameter greater than the diameter of the closure ball 16

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  to allow the dose of product to be expelled by flowing around the ball 16. According to the invention, the cap 19 comprises means 41 for fixing the ball 16 to prevent the expulsion thereof from the device during the expulsion of the product, and to maintain it fixedly before and after its installation in its closed position. These ball fixing means are advantageously produced in the form of several ribs 41 distributed over the internal periphery of said cap 19, and adapted to wedge the ball 16 in a centered manner in the

expulsion channel 40.

  Thus, when the powder / air mixture is expelled, it

  it can flow all around the ball and thus form a

clean, straight and regular spray.

  In the case of a removable fitting of the cap 19 on the sleeve 18, the fixing of ball 16 in the cap 19 after the expulsion of the product makes it possible to eliminate the risk of loss of the ball during a possible separation of the

cap 19 and sleeve 18.

  These ball fixing means 41 also provide another advantage which will be explained later on.

  reference to the tank filling process.

  The use of a ball 16, or more generally of a spherical element, to close the powder outlet 15 of the reservoir 10 makes it possible to guarantee complete release of this product outlet during the expulsion, so that the disadvantage existing with membranes is avoided. In addition, the spherical shape guarantees a good flow of the dose of product around the closing element 16 when the latter is in the outlet channel 40. Thus, the invention makes it possible to guarantee an effective distribution of all of the dose contained in the reservoir 10, without risk of partial retention of product in the dispensing device. The present invention also relates to the method of

  filling of a tank as described above.

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  Indeed, the design of the tank of the invention makes it possible to simplify its filling and its assembly, hence

  this results in a cost reduction.

  The successive stages of the process for filling the reservoir 10 are shown in the figures. First, the precise dose of product is introduced into the sleeve 18, as represented by the arrow A in FIG. The powder is retained in the sleeve 18 by the

grid 12.

  Then, the unit formed by the cap 19 and the ball 16 wedged in the ball fixing means 41 of the cap, is fitted around the sleeve 18. This step is represented by the arrow B in FIG. 1b. Advantageously, the cap 19 and the sleeve 18 have respective stop means for defining the position.

tank assembly.

  Then, the ball 16 is inserted into the product outlet opening 15 of the sleeve 18, according to the arrow C on the

  figure lc, to close the tank.

  Advantageously, the air inlet 11 is sealed off by the membrane 13, and the ball 16 closes the outlet of the tank also in a sealed manner, so that after step C above, the contents of the tank East

totally isolated from the outside.

  The main advantages of the method according to the invention are: - the assembly of the reservoir is limited to the mounting of two parts, namely the fitting of the cap / ball unit on the sleeve. The tank assembly machine is therefore simplified; this simplification is made possible by the presence of the ball fixing means 41 in the cap 19; the insertion of the ball 16 into the sleeve 18 is facilitated by the fact that it is prepositioned near the outlet opening 15, and in a centered manner, during

of the fitting of the cap 19.

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  The implementation of the reservoir according to the invention, with the cap 19 fitted around the sleeve 18 closed by the

  ball 16, therefore provides the double advantage of simplifying the filling and assembly process of the reservoir, and of guaranteeing a total and perfect distribution of the dose of powder contained in the reservoir.

  Various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention, and the invention is not

  limited to the embodiment described in the drawings.

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Claims (5)

Claims   1.- Reservoir (10) of powdered product comprising a metered quantity of powder intended to be expelled at one time by an air flow, characterized in that it comprises: - a cylindrical sleeve (18) for receiving the dose powder, said sleeve (18) comprising an air inlet opening (11) and a product outlet opening (15), - a product retaining member (12 and / or 13) disposed on the side of the air inlet opening (11), for retaining the product in the reservoir until it is expelled, - a closing ball (16) for closing the product outlet opening (15), said ball (16 ) being intended to be expelled by the flow of air during the expulsion of the dose of product, and - a cylindrical cap (19) fitted tightly around the cylindrical sleeve (18), said cap (19) being open on the side of the product outlet (15) and comprising ball fixing means (41) for fixedly holding said bill e (16) before being placed in its closed position in the sleeve   (18), and after its expulsion by the air flow.   2.- tank according to claim 1, wherein the ball (16) closes the product outlet opening (15) in a sealed manner, and a closure membrane (13) closes   the air inlet opening sealingly.   3.- tank according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the product retaining member (12) is a permeable grid to the air.   4.- Reservoir according to any one of the claims   previous, wherein said ball fixing means il 2780388 (41) of the cap (19) have ribs (41) arranged on the inner wall of the cap, so that after its expulsion from its closed position, the ball (16) is fixedly held in the cap in a centered way, allowing optimal flow of the air / powder mixture around her.   5.- Method of filling a powder reservoir   according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized   in that it comprises the steps of: - introducing (A) a dose of powder into the sleeve (18), through the product outlet opening (15), fitting (B) the cap (19) around the sleeve (18), said cap (19) comprising the closing ball (16) fixedly held by said ball fixing means (41), - insert (C) the ball (16) in the outlet opening of product (15) of the sleeve (18).