GB2187660A

GB2187660A - A liquid dispensing device

Info

Publication number: GB2187660A
Application number: GB08705479A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Charles Kaeser; Jacques Olivier Gratiot
Original assignee: LOreal SA
Current assignee: LOreal SA
Priority date: 1986-03-13
Filing date: 1987-03-09
Publication date: 1987-09-16
Also published as: GB8705479D0; ES2004555A6; FR2595586A1; DE3708263A1; IT8767188A0; FR2595586B1; NL8700481A; GB2187660B; IT8753125V0; CH669539A5; IT1214383B; BE1004791A4

Abstract

The device can be used for the care and treatment of the skin and mucous membranes, and can provide a fine liquid spray which is cold or heated. The device (1) comprises: a reservoir (6) for the liquid to be dispensed; a pushbutton (31-32) for dispensing the liquid; a pump (22) for pumping the liquid, comprising on the one hand, a suction line (17-17a) connected to or formed by a tube penetrating into the said reservoir (6) and, on the other hand, an ejection duct (24a, 24b) connected to said the pushbutton; a heating element (25) with a low thermal inertia, for heating the liquid, and means (28) for controlling the heating element (25). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A liquid dispensing device The present invention relates to a device for dispensing liquid in the form of a jet or spray; it is particularlyusefulforspreading an active producton the skin and mucous membranes with a view to cleansing and/ortreatingthem, in particular treatment of a dermatological or pharmaceutical nature.

The use of "aerosol can" type storage systems enabling mineral waterto be sprayed onto the skin in the form of a fine and light mist has become very widespread in dermatology and in the everyday care of body hygiene. The mineral water contained in the container is capable of being ejected under the effect of a propellant gas. This method of spraying mineral water is particularly suitable for the treatment of skins which are dry and irritated, for instance, by the use of hard water. Moreover, spraying allows very fine water droplets to be deposited over a relatively large area of skin, for instance overthewholeface, which gives the user a pleasant sensation and has probably contributed to the commercial success of these sprays.

However, the products delivered by containers of this type are also in a cold state. Now it may be useful to have a device for dispensing such products at highertemperatures, which nevertheless remain tolerable to the skin and mucous membranes. In particular, one could envisage the application of a substance in an aqueous solution on the skin which would provide more effective in a hot state than when cold. One maysimplywish to dispensehot water, for instance in the field of hygiene care. It may also be worthwhile to dispense hot and cold substances at will, or yet again to be in a position to dispense a product whose temperature varies (for instance in orderto obtain an alternation of an effect of heat and the effect of coolness, it being possible to obtain each effect over a given time, depending on the desired result).Thus mineral water may be sprayed on the skin which mistwould becoldforone secondandthenveryhotforabouttensecondsor vice versa: one can thus obtain a skin treatment with a succession ofthermal shocks.

The present invention proposes a dispensing device which fulfils all these functions and which offers the additional advantages of having a very simple structure and of being extremely easy to manipulate.

In accordance with the present invention, the liquid substance to be dispensed may be conveyed by pumping from a detachable reservoir up to a dispensing head, controlled in a completely conventional manner by actuation of a push button, and said substance may be capable of bering heated to a desired temperature, or in accordance with a predetermined heating programme, allowing in particular an alternation of hot and cold.

Accordinglythe present invention provides a device for dispensing a liquid in the form of a jet or in theform ofveryfine droplets, comprising: a reservoirforthe liquid; a manually controllable meansfordispensing the liquid in a precipitated form; means for pumping said liquid, said pumping means being capable of starting during the actuation ofthe manually controllable dispensing means and comprising on the one hand a suction line connected to orformed by a tube dipping into the reservoir and on the other hand an ejection duct connected to said dispensing means; and a heating element disposed around said ejection ductforthe liquid, said heating element having a very low thermal inertia.

The reservoir ofthe device in accordance with the present invention is preferably detachable.

Moreover, this reservoir may internally comprise at least one device treating, with an active product, the liquid substance to be dispensed. In a useful embodiment, such treatment device consists of a containerwhich contains an active product, of a solid to pasty consistency or is combined with a base of a solid to pasty consistency, said container comprising at least one opening for bringing said active product into permanent contact with the liquid substance to be dispensed, with a view to obtaining a chemical treatment of the su bsta nce or to progressively combining with the substance according to the nature ofthe active product. This active product may in particular be chosen from sequestering agents, perfumes and disinfectants.

The dispensing means of the spraying device in accordance with the present invention consists in particular of a dispensing valve which is disposed on the ejection duct of the pumping means and whose opening is actuated by a push button associated with a dispensing head.

In afirst variant, the push button itself constitutes the dispensing head. In the second and third variants, the push button is provided with an end fitting which is rigid or flexible, and whose free end carriesthedispensing head.

In accordance with a preferred embodimentthe pumping means consists ofaself-priming pump.

It is, in particular, preferableforthe pumping means to be a gear pump.

Moreover, the heating element ofthe spraying device in accordance with the present invention is advantageously disposed around a tube of the ejection ductforthe liquid substance and has a very low thermal inertia. This heating element may consist, in particular, of a heating resistor taking the form of a coil accommodated in a sleeve surroundingthetubeoftheejectionduct.

The control elementforthe heating element may be an "all-or-nothing" switch. The control element can also be associated with an electronic device making it possibleto ensure that the liquid ejected during each dispensing action is heated according to a predetermined programme.

In a particularly preferred embodimentofthe dispensing device in accordance with the invention, the pumping means and the heating element are accommodated and supported in the body of a casing whose covercarriesthe control elementfor the heating element, as well as the dispensing means.

In order that the present invention may more readily be understood, an embodiment represented in the attached drawings will be described below in greater detail by way of a purely illustrative and non-restrictive example.

In these drawings: Figure lisa view in perspective of a dispensing device in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention; Figures2 and 3 each represent variant ofthe embodiment ofthe dispensing means ofthe device of Figure 1 ; Figure 4 is an exploded perspective of the device of Figure 1; and Figure 5is a cross-sectional view on the plane V-V of Figure 4, showing the base ofthe heating element and the cog wheels ofthe gear pump equipping the dispensing device of Figure 1.

In Figure 1,there has been shown a dispensing device 1 which creates very fine sprays of soft water on the skin. This device 1 constitutes a unit having the general shape of a relatively flat elongate right-angled parellelepiped,the user being ableto place it easily in the palm ofthe hand and to manipulate its push button which will be described below, in the same way as with a conventional aerosol container.

As may be seen in the drawings, the device 1 comprises a casing 2 constituted by a casing body 3 and a cover4. The casing body 3 is an elongate right-angled parallelepiped which, when the device 1 is on a base, is disposed vertically. The small upper side of the parallelepiped is omitted, and at the lower end itappearsasthough a lateral element intheform of a right angled parallelepiped, formed overfour sides, has been removed. The resulting opening thus constitutes a lower lateral space 5 which is intended to be occupied by a cylindrical reservoir6 described below. The device 1 thus retains a compact shape as awhole.

Moreover, on the side opposite to that having the space intended to accommodate the reservoir 6, the casing body3 has a lateral cutoutableto befilied by an element 7 having a channel-shaped transverse cross-section. This element 7 can be placed on the body 3 so as to reconstitute the parallelepiped shape of the casing, and constitutes a detachable coverfor a low voltage transformer 8 accommodated in this part of the casing body 3.

The reservoir6 has a cylindrical lateral wall 9 joined, on the one hand, to a bottom 10 and, on the other hand, via a shoulder 11 to a neck 12 carrying an external thread 13.

Atubularcontainer 14, disposed substantially coaxilalywithin the reservoir 6, has in its lateral side a plurality of openings 15 and at its upper end means 16 for fastening to a base which will be described below. This container 15 is filled with an active product, that is to say, an ion exchange resin whose function is to soften the water contained in the reservoir 6. The reservoir 6 also contains a diptube 17, whose axis is parallel to that ofthe container 14.

The casing body 3 also accommodates a base 18 in the form of a rectangular base plate 19 enabling itto be placed in the casing body 3 perpendicularto the axis ofthe reservoir 6, the base plate 19 carrying integrallytherewith on the one hand, in its median zone, a plate 20 disposed parallel with the plate 19 and on the other hand, at one of its ends, a bracket 21 comprising an arm 21a disposed perpendicularly to the plate 19 and having an arm 216 which surmounts an end region ofthe said plate 20. The arm 21b ofthe bracket 21 serves as supportforthe motor 22a for a gear pump 22 whose gears 22b, 22c occupy an appropriately shaped housing 23 in the plate 20.

Opposite the housing 23 the base plate 19 is traversed bya duct 17a in which the upper end ofthe dip tube 17 is inserted axially. The dip tube 17thus constitutes the suction tube of the pump 22. The ejection duct of the said pump 22 is constituted by two portions: firstly, a bore 24a in the plate 20 parallel to the plane ofthe plate and extending from the housing 23 towards the side remote from the bracket 21; secondly, a tube 246 issuing in a bore 24a. Thetube 24b is surrounded by 3 sleeve enclosing a heating coil,the unit generally designated 25 constitutes a heating element whose power supply cable 26 is connected to the transformer 8.This transformer is, moreover, connected to a male element, not shown, of a power point, the corresponding electric cable 27 passing through an opening in the base ofthe body 3 ofthe casing 2.

The base plate 19 comprises, on the side opposite to that carrying the plate 20, a skirt 6a internally carryingathreadcomplementarytothethread 13 of the reservoir6to enable the reservoirto be fixed in position.

The cover4 has the overall form of a step of a staircase. On the higher part of its upperface are a switch 28to control the heating element 25, and an indicator light29. The switch 28 has an index28a intended to cometo be placed opposite one or other of two marks 30a, 30h, the switch 28 operating on an all-or-nothing basis; i.e. the switch only has two operative positions.

On the other part of the cover 4 is a dispensing valve 31 whose outlet tube 31 a is intended to receive a push button 32 of a conventional type of aerosol dispenser which comprises laterally, forthis purpose, a spraying insert 32a. In the assembled position of the device, the upper end of the tube 246 is connected to the dispensing valve 31.

The push button 32 may be replaced by the button 132 of Figure 2 orbythe button 232 of Figure3.

The push button 132 (Figure 2) laterally carries a rigid tubular end fitting 133 whose free end carries the dispensing head 134 provided with its spraying inertia similarto the insert32a.The push button 132 is also of a conventional type currently used in sprays, for instance, for treating the throat with medicaments.

The push button 232 (Figure 3) laterally carries a lateral tubular end fitting 233 which is connected to the push button proper by a rigid collar 235 and which carries at its free end an elongate dispensing head 234 ending in a bent nose piece 234a. This type of push button 232 is also currently used for care of the gums and can deliver a filiform jet.

In use, once the device 1 has been connected up, the pump 22 is self primed by depressing the push button 32; this also ejects a jet or a spray ofthe liquid substance to be dispensed, this substance being cold or hotaccording to the position ofthe index28a of the switch 28 opposite the appropriate mark 30a, or 30b.

Claims

1. A device for dispensing a liquid in the form of a jet or in the form of very fine droplets, comprising: a reservoirforthe liquid; a manually controllable meansfordispensingtheliquidina precipitated form; means for pumping said liquid, said pumping means being capable of starting during the actuation ofthe manually controllable dispensing means and comprising on the one hand a suction line connected to orformed by a tube dipping into the reservoirand on the other hand an ejection duct connected to said dispensing means; and a heating element disposed around said ejection ductforthe liquid, said heating element having a very low thermal inertia.

2. Adeviceaccording to claim 1,whereinthe reservoir is a detachable reservoir.

3. A device according to either of claims 1 and 2, wherein the reservoir comprises internally at least one devicefortreating with an active productthe liquid to be dispensed.

4. Adevice according to claim 3, wherein the ora said treatment device consists of a containerforthe active product which has a solid to pasty consistency or is combined with a base having a solid to pasty consistency, said container comprising at least one opening to allowsaid active productto bein permanent contact with the liquid to be dispensed in orderto treat said liquid chemically orto combine progressively therewith, depending on the nature of said active product.

5. A device according to either of claims 3 and 4, wherein the active product is chosen from sequestering agents, perfumes and disinfectants.

6. A device according to anyone of claims 1 to 5, wherein the dispensing means is a dispensing valve on the ejection duct ofthe pump means and controlled by a push button associated with a dispensing head.

7. A device according to claim 6, wherein the push button itself constitutes the diffuser head.

8. A device according to claim 6, wherein the push button is provided with a rigid end fitting whose free end carries the diffuser head.

9. A device according to claim 6, wherein the push button is provided with a flexible end fitting whose free end carries the diffuser head.

10. Adevice according to anyone of claims 1 to 9, wherein the pumping means is a self priming pump.

11. A device according to claim 10,wherein the pumping means is a gear pump.

12. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the heating element consists of a heating resistor in the form of a coil accommodated in a sleeve surrounding the ejection duct.

13. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the control elementforthe heating element is an all-or-nothing switch.

14. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the control element for the heating element is connected to an electronic means for heating the ejected liquid according to a predetermined programme with each spraying action.

15. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the pumping means andthe heating element are accommodated and supported in the body of a casing having a cover which carries both the control elementforthe heating element and the dispensing means.

16. A device according to claims 2,11,12 and 15 taken together, wherein the casing body contains a base which includes the housing for the gears of the gear pump in which housing there issues the pump suction line connected to a dip tube disposed in the reservoir; wherein said base further includes a bore extending from said housing and constituting the first portion ofthe suction line whose following portion is a tube passing through the heating element, said bore further comprising a skirt carrying a meanscomplementarytoa means on the neck of the reservoir for detachably fixing the reservoir in position; and wherein the body ofthe casing is open in the region wherein said reservoir is disposed.

17. A device according to any one ofthe preceding claims, adapted for the care and treatment ofthe skin and mucous membranes.

18. A device for dispensing a liquid, constructed and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.