GB2275676A

GB2275676A - Lockable reusable container for distributing liquid pasty or loose solid products

Info

Publication number: GB2275676A
Application number: GB9403843A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Angelo Lombino
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-03-01
Filing date: 1994-02-28
Publication date: 1994-09-07
Also published as: FR2702199B1; FR2702199A1; JPH06345117A; GB9403843D0; ITTO940124A0; DE4405623A1; NL9400316A; ITTO940124A1

Description

2275676 "Method f or distributing liquid, pasty or loose solid products,

as well as recoverable and reusable package allowing the implementation of this method" The present invention relates to a method allow5 ing a supplier to distribute, to users, liquid, pasty or loose solid products, especially industrial chemical products packaged in metallic or nonbiodegradable synthetic packages, each essentially consisting of a packaging body closed by a lid or a stopper.

A number of industries use single-use disposable packages of varied types (carboys, containers. etc.) for the transport and distribution of a number of products. By way of example, mention may be made of the distribution and transport of basic chemical products, chemical preparations intended for the surface treatment industry. for the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, photographic, petrochemical industry, for agriculture, f or hospitals etc. Certain dangerous products intended, not for industry, but for the general public, may also be included in this category.

Such products are. as a general rule, packaged in metallic or synthetic (PVC, polyethylene, polypropylene, etc.) packages, which have the feature of being nonbio degradable, even over long periods of time.

Now, after use, these packages are conventionally simply disposed of, which constitutes a considerable pollution factor.

Over the last f ew years, the increasing con sideration given by the Authorities to problems linked with the environment has led specialists to search for means making it possible to solve this problem. This research, which consisted in attempting to destroy or recycle empty packages after use. has, however, hitherto remained fruitless. 35 In fact, the incineration of synthetic materials such as PVC causes the formation of large quantities of gaseous hydrochloric acid which is itself an atmospheric pollutant and has a detrimental effect on flora.

Furthermore, the recovery of plastics with a view to their recycling, although technically possible, does not give the same guarantees as regards the quality of the packaging obtained by remelting.

To this must be added the f act that, by their nature, the residues of chemical products contained in the packages, after use, may themselves contribute a significant source of pollution if rinsing before in cineration is not provided for.

With the aim of solving the abovementioned problems, it has already been considered, according to document US-A-4,,949,.878 to follow a fundamentally differ ent path from that hitherto followed, consisting in replacing the conventional single-use packages by pack- ages which are broadly similar but are recoverable and reusable.

This American patent describes, for this purpose, a method for distributing pumpable liquid products, by which the packages belonging to a given supplier are fitted with a valve functioning only in the direction of suction by pumping means, so as to allow a user to withdraw the contents from a package without actually having access to the inside of it; an indicator allows the supplier to guarantee this integrity of the internal part of the package.

Such a method has the drawback of being employable only for distributing pumpable liquid products and not for distributing any kind of products, which may be liquid, but also pasty or loose solid products. Furthermore, implementation of the method described in this document requires particularly sophisticated packages,, which are prohibitively expensive for distributing inexpensive products; for this reason, it can be envisaged only for expensive andlor extremely dangerous products.

The object of the invention is to overcome these drawbacks by providing a method which, by virtue of the simplicity of the packages allowing its implementation, can be adapted to the distribution of any kinds of products.

According to the invention, this method is characterized in that each of the packages is provided, on the one hand, with indelible means f or identifying its contents and an associated user and, on the other hand, with locking means interacting with the lid or the stopper in order to guarantee its integrity by preventing its opening by any person other than the supplier or the associated user, each package is filled at a filling station situated at the supplier's premises, it is transported to an emptying station situated at the associated user's premises and it is opened and emptied of its contents before being relocked, and it is redespatched empty to the filling station so as to allow the supplier to directly carry out refilling with the same product, without intermediate rinsing.

The method according to the invention is essentially distinctive by the personalization of the packages as a function not only of the liquid, pasty or loose solid product which they are to contain, but also by a given supplier/user pairing who both have control of the locking means and are therefore both equally responsible, ensuring correct implementation of the method, safeguarding of the contents of the package and preservation of the physicochemical qualities of the product itself during the various fillings and emptyings carried out without intermediate rinsing.

In this manner. no pollutant which might impair the industrial production or the use for which the product is intended can be introduced into it, either accidentally or intentionally. The invention also relates to a recoverable and reusable package belonging to a supplier, allowing the implementation of the abovementioned method. 35 By virtue of its tamperproof and personalized character,, such a package has the advantage of being directly reusable by the supplier, without intermediate rinsing, which contributes to its significance from the ecological point of view, and above all guarantees the viability of the system which, considering the modest cost price of the packages compared to their contents, does not demand excessive constraints on the supplier.

In order to guarantee redespatching of the empty packages by the user, it may advantageously be envisaged to associate a deposit system with them, of the type broadly similar to those already known in numerous fields of the art.

According to the invention, the identification means consist, as a general rule, of indications etched on the body of the container.

Except for some users who purchase only a single product from a given supplier or who purchase only a limited number of products which can be clearly differen- tiated by the associated type of container, it is prefer- able to etch on the package both the identity of the user and that of the product, in order to avoid any risk of confusion which might impair the purity of the product or even be dangerous during refilling.

The locking means may, for their part,, be of any kind, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention, on condition that they are capable of guaran teeing that only the normal user can actually use the contents of the package.

According to the invention, it may be envisaged to provide the packaging body or the stopper with a lead seal (on sending and on return) or with a lock associated with keys available to the supplier and to the user, or alternatively a closure system with pneumatic or electro- magnetic actuating cylinder.

Figures 1 and 2 represent, by way of example, a packae 1 provided with a lock closure system interacting with a key 2.

According to Figure 1. the lock 3 is integral with the stopper 4 and is fitted with a bolt 6 interacting. on the one hand, with a button 5 and, on the other hand, with an orifice (not shown) not communicating with the inside of the package, provided for this purpose on the body of the package 1.

According to Figure 2, the lock 7 is integral with the packaging body and is fitted with a rod 8 which can be moved in translation and is capable of interacting with an aperture 9 provided for this purpose on the stopper 10 and not communicating with the inside of the package.

Clearly, the bolt 6, just as the rod 8, may be actuated using the key 2.

Another possibility for locking the packages consists in employing a system which can be actuated by infrared radiation or with radiofrequency, or alternatively a system of the barcode or CCD sensor type.

It may furthermore prove desirable to employ a system making it possible only to identify the user associated with the package and the product contained, but also to record other data such as, by way of example, date and time of opening of the package, name of the operator, date of manufacture of the product,, expiry date. product code. analysis of the product. certificate of conformity, date of entry of the package into use. number of uses of the package, level of contamination reached as a function of the number of uses, etc.

For this purpose, it is suitable to associate the opening and closure members of the packages with a computerized central system interacting with reading and control members, especially electronic or magnetic reading and control members, by way of example, of the chip card or magnetic stripe card,, or memory card or alternatively floppy disk drive type, etc.

Considering their abovementioned configuration and their mode of use, the packages according to the invention can be used for several years,, so as greatly to decrease the risks of pollution to which they give rise.

For example, if, over a lifetime of six years, the package is used 60 times before incineration, and in the case where 60 expendable packages constitute 100% pollution, over 60 uses of one and the same package, 1.6% pollution remains for the period of six years, as is shown by the curves corresponding to Figures 3 and 4 6 which respectively represent the value of the level of pollution as a function of the number of uses of the packages and the variations in percentage of the level of pollution, also as a function of the number of uses of 5 the packages.

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Claims

C L A I M S

1. Method allowing a supplier to distribute, to users, liquid, pasty or loose solid products, especially industrial chemical products packaged in metallic or nonbiodegradable synthetic packages, each essentially consisting of a packaging body closed by a lid or a stopper, which method is characterized in that each of the packages is provided, on the one hand, with indelible means for identifying its contents and an associated user and, on the other hand, locking means interacting with the lid or the stopper in order to guarantee its integrity by preventing its opening by any person other than the supplier or the associated user, each container is filled at the filling station situated at the supplier's premises, it is transported to an emptying station si-tuated at the associated user's premises and it is opened and emptied of its contents before being relocked, and it is redespatched empty to the filling station so as to allow the supplier to directly carry out refilling with the same product, without intermediate rinsing.

2. Recoverable and reusable package, belonging to a supplier, allowing the implementation of the method according to Claim 1, characterized in that it is provided, on the one hand, with indelible means for identifying its contents and an associated user and, on the other hand, with locking means allowing its integrity to be guaranteed.

3. Package according to Claim 2, characterized in that the identification means consist of indications etched on the body of the container.

4. Package according to either one of Claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the locking means consist of a lock associated with keys available to the supplier and to the user.

5. Package according to either one of Claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the locking means consist of a locking system which can be actuated by infrared radiation, or with radiofrequency or alternatively a system of the barcode or CCD sensor type.

6. Package according to either one of Claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the locking means are associated with a computerized central system associated with reading and control members, especially electronic or 5 magnetic reading and control members.

7. A package substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. A method for distributing liquid, pasty or loose solid products substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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