JP2003502218A - Fluid product dispenser with flexible bag - Google Patents

Abstract

SUMMARY A set of components for assembling a dispenser for a fluid product is provided. The collapsible bag holds the fluid product. The collapsible bag is mounted on a support, which is mounted in the hollow body. By holding the finger-operable pump on the support by the holding member, a passage leading to the inside of the bag is formed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to a dispenser for dispensing fluid products, and more particularly to a dispenser assembly comprising a finger-operable pump and a flexible collapsible bag for storing fluid products.

[0002] Preferably, a flexible collapsible bag is filled with a fluid product in a vacuum and the bag is attached to a finger operable pump. The bag is arranged in an exhaust type protective housing, and the housing is filled with atmospheric air so as to surround the outside of the bag. While such designs are generally effective, improved dispenser designs are desirable for greater ease of manufacture.

In particular, an improvement incorporating a conventional finger operable pump would be beneficial. It is desirable for such improvements to facilitate filling of collapsible bags with fluid products, mounting of pumps, and assembly of other dispenser components with a minimum number of steps or special manufacturing operations. It would also be beneficial to have an improved dispenser design that does not require an excessive number of parts, does not require excessively small manufacturing or assembly tolerances, and is relatively quick and inexpensive to assemble.

Furthermore, it would be more beneficial to be able to relatively easily change the various parts of the dispenser component in order to achieve the desired outer shape from a practical or aesthetic point of view.

The dispenser according to the present invention can be easily assembled from a set of parts. It is desirable to fill the product in a vacuum. In the preferred embodiment, the dispenser component is divided into two subassemblies. After the fluid product is filled in the first subassembly in a vacuum, the second subassembly is attached to the first subassembly to complete the dispenser.

The first subassembly is formed by connecting three parts. First
The first part in the subassembly of is a collapsible bag for storing fluid products. The bag is made of a flexible material and has an open end defined by a peripheral portion of the same material. The second part of the first subassembly is the support attached to the bag. The support has a structure that engages with the bag at the open end of the bag. The engagement structure of the support is fixed so as to be sealed to the material of the bag. The support defines a passage leading to the interior of the bag. The third part in the first subassembly is the housing or hollow body. The housing or hollow body houses the bag and is attached to the support, preferably by snap fit engagement. In a preferred embodiment,
The housing or hollow body is essentially rigid over most of its length, with its bottom end generally serving as a base for upstanding the dispenser.
The base preferably includes one or more vents to allow ambient ambient air outside the bag to enter the bag interior.

The second subassembly is assembled from two main parts, more preferably 1
Includes one or two additional parts. The first component in the second subassembly is a holding member. The retaining member is attached to the support of the first subassembly, preferably by snap fit engagement. The retaining member defines (1) an opening adjacent the support passage and (2) one or more clamping surfaces around the opening. The second component in the second subassembly is a finger operable pump mounted between the support and the retaining member clamping surface. The properly mounted finger operable pump runs in the support passage and in the opening in the holding member. The pump has an inlet leading to the inside of the collapsible bag and an outlet protruding from the holding member opening. The second subassembly preferably comprises a third part. The third component is an individual gasket provided to ensure a leak-proof seal between the pump and the support portion on which the pump is held and mounted by the holding member.

Further, the second subassembly optionally includes a fourth component. What is the fourth part?
A cover or cap that is attached to the upwardly projecting outlet end of the pump and is removed by the user when it is desired to dispense a fluid product from the dispenser. Generally, the first subassembly is assembled by sealingly sealing the collapsible bag to the support and attaching the housing or hollow body to the support. Then, in a filling process using vacuum, the bag is filled with the fluid product through the support passage.

Next, the pump of the second subassembly and the holding member are attached to the first subassembly in a vacuum so that the holding member is attached to the support portion. More preferably, the gasket is placed on the pump before mounting the pump and the holding member on the support. If the dispenser comprises a cap, the cap is attached to a retaining member on the pump prior to mounting the second subassembly on the first subassembly.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a means for mounting a bag on a support in a seal-tight manner. Specifically, the dispenser device of the present invention is a dispenser for a fluid product, which is a foldable bag for storing the fluid product, which is made of a flexible material and has an open end formed by a peripheral portion of the material. Has a section,
The bag and a supporting part to be mounted on the bag, which has an engaging structure that is held at the open end of the bag and is fixed to the bag material by a sealing process. A support body that forms a path that communicates, a hollow body that holds the bag and that can be attached to the support section, and a finger-operable pump that extends in the path. And a pump having an inlet and an outlet communicating with the interior of the bag, characterized in that the structure has a plurality of parallel spaced-apart flanges,
The bag material is a dispenser device in which these flanges are heat-sealed.

Further, the connection structure is formed such that a first set of flanges spaced in parallel and a second set of flanges spaced in parallel extend in opposite directions, and the structure is substantially It is effective to have a diamond shape. It is also desirable that each set of flanges have three flanges. The bag openings are sealed at the outer edges of the flanges, thereby forming a sealed barrier at the height of each flange. The bag material is sealed on each flange, thereby forming a complete peripheral sealing bead. Since there are multiple flanges, the number of sealing barriers also increases. The extent of the sealing process extends only on the outer edge of the flange and not on a continuous flat surface, so the quality of the joint in the heat-sealing process, even if the flange is only partially melted. No problem occurs. Moreover, thanks to the diamond or eye shape, it is easy to fit the opening of the bag into the connecting structure. This is because the flexible bag often has an integrated structure by joining two sheets or by heat sealing.

In addition, the support portion engaging structure is a hollow structure that projects downward and has a cylindrical bore that defines a part of the support portion passage, and two identical structures that extend radially outward from the hollow structure. A planar wall, each said flange belonging to said first and second set of flanges extending from said hollow structure and from said two walls in a direction generally perpendicular to said two walls. , Is effective. Further, it is preferable that the flange has a width that decreases as the distance from the bore increases.

As a further feature, the walls may each have an edge extending over the flange. These end portions are in the form of small flaps provided at each end of the rhombus and are located at the height of the joint surface of the bag material. These two end portions partially melt and become thinner during the joining process of the bag onto the connecting structure, so that the bag material integrates just at the distance of the connecting structure. The possibility of leaks at this height is eliminated.

Another notable feature of the present invention is that the support is at least one.
And at least one ledge extending toward the inside, at least one of the support and the body being elastically deformable, the rib and the ledge There is a case where the relative movement is adjusted so as to realize a snap fit so as to face each other. In addition, the support portion has a plurality of the ribs, the body has a plurality of the ledge, each of the ledges, facing one of the ribs, in the form of a snap fit engagement, Is also effective. The support forms the connecting structure for the bag, but also forms a means enabling snap-fit engagement with a solid hollow body or shell. Therefore, these three elements (support, bag, and hollow body) can be pre-mounted to first form the above-described assembly. After that, the flexible bag is filled with the contents, and the pump is attached to the supporting portion to obtain a finished product dispenser.

It is also effective that the rib has an angled cam surface.
In addition, the body forms a cam-like surface overlying the shoulder. Both angled cammed surfaces thus cooperate to facilitate snap fit engagement of the support on the body.

Another aspect of the present invention is that the body forms a recess for holding the rib under the ledge. Also, as another noteworthy feature of the present invention, a holding member is attached to the supporting portion to maintain a pump between the two, and the holding member is placed in a position adjacent to the supporting portion path. An opening is formed and at least one clamping surface is formed around the opening, and one of the support portion and the holding member forms a bead and the other has a groove for holding the bead. In some cases, the support portion and / or the holding member are elastically deformable to adjust the relative movement of the bead and the groove to achieve the snap fit engagement. Thus, the retaining element is snap-fitted to the indicator while retaining the pump crumb between them. Further, the supporting portion has an annular wall that forms the path and ends at an upper end portion, and an outer surface of the annular wall forms the groove as an annular groove that is open toward the outside. It is also effective that the holding member has an annular sleeve for holding the annular wall of the supporting portion, and the bead is a bead extending inward on the sleeve.

The bag material is a thermoplastic material that can be heat-sealed, the supporting portion is formed of a thermoplastic material that can be heat-sealed, and the engaging structure of the supporting portion is It is desirable that the bag be heat-sealed.

A dispenser according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 and is designated by reference numeral 10 in FIG. The dispenser 10 is generally applied to the administration of fluid products such as liquids, creams and pastes, and can be applied to the fields of cosmetics, fragrances and pharmaceuticals. The dispenser 10 includes a container assembly with a protruding, finger-operable pump 14. The pump 14 comprises a pump chamber of a conventional type, which is actuated by pressing an external actuating button, i.e., a plunger 16, and which has a pressurizing piston for dispensing an appropriate amount of fluid product from a dosing orifice 18. An optical cover, or cap 20, is removably attached to the pump 14 (FIGS. 1 and 3).

The dispenser 10 comprises a collapsible bag 24 for storing a fluid product. The bag 24 is made of a flexible material. The flexible material is a thermoplastic material,
Preferred are polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene films and the like, which can be heat-sealed. The bag 24 is preferably machined from two webs or sheets of material that are heat-sealed at its three ends, as shown at 26 in FIG. 3, to form a generally closed bag except at the open ends. To do.

The open end of the bag 24 is sealed and fixed to the support 30 (FIG. 3). The support portion 30 includes an engagement structure 32 (FIG. 3) housed at the open end of the bag 24. The engagement structure 32 has a downwardly projecting cavity structure 36 that defines a general cylindrical bore 38 that communicates with the interior of the collapsible bag 24. As shown in FIG. 3, the engagement structure 32 also has two coplanar walls 41 and 42 that extend radially outward from the cavity structure 36. As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment,
The wall 41 has an end portion 56 having a small thickness. Similarly, the wall 42 also has a reduced thickness end 58.

Spaced in parallel, eg, three, first, navel, ridges, or flanges 46, extend outwardly from walls 41 and 42 and from cavity structure 36 in one lateral direction. extend.

As shown in FIG. 8, second flanges 52, spaced in parallel, for example three, from the walls 41 and 42 and from the cavity structure 36 in the other lateral direction. Grow outside. The flange preferably narrows as it moves farther from the bore 38. That is, it is desirable for the width of the flange to decrease as the distance from the bore 38 increases. As shown in FIG. 5, the bottom surface of the engagement structure 32 has a structure like a front elevation view of human open eyes, and the bore 38 is a pupil, and the structure around it is like a white eye part. To be

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the collapsible bag 24 is preferably heat sealed. Otherwise, it is sealed and secured along the perimeter of the flanges 46 and 52 with the engaging structure. The collapsible bag 24 is also heat sealed to the thin ends 56 and 58 of the walls 41 and 42, respectively. Therefore, the bag 24
The open end of is sealed and secured to the support engagement structure 32 at its periphery. On the other hand, communication with the inside of the bag 24 is possible through the bore 38 of the hollow structure 36. The support 30 includes a deck 60 located parallel to the tops of the flanges 46 and 52. The deck 60 extends along the central walls 41 and 42, engages the central walls 41 and 42, and further engages the thin ends 56 and 58.

A pair of ribs 62 and a pair of short ribs 64 project upward from the deck 60. Further, an annular wall 68 (FIG. 2) having an upper end portion 69 projects upward from the deck 60. The outer surface of the annular wall 68 is provided with an outwardly open annular groove 74. The annular wall 68 extends from the bore 38 of the underlying cavity structure 36 and
And a bore 70 having the same axis. By the bore 38 and the bore 70, the bag 24
A path 72 is defined through the support 30 communicating with the interior of the (FIGS. 2, 4, and 5). The path 72 is large enough to accommodate the lower end of the pump 14.

The support deck 60 has a means or structure for engaging the support 30 with an outer container or hollow body 80 that surrounds and protects the collapsible bag 24. The hollow body 80 has an opening at the top for accommodating the support deck 60,
It has a closed bottom surface that forms a substantially flat bottom surface 84 that supports in a substantially upright orientation. Bottom 8
4 preferably has one or more vent holes 86 for allowing outside air to enter inside the body around the outside of bag 24. In the upper opening of the body 80, the body 80 constitutes an internal peripheral shoulder 88 (FIG. 9). The body 80 also defines four recesses 90 adjacent to the ledge 88 and spaced from one another. The bottom of each recess 90 is formed by a shoulder 88. The upper portion of each recess 90 is formed by a ledge 94 that covers from above (FIG. 7). The upper end of the body 80 on each ledge 94 is angled or chamfered to define a cam surface 98 (FIG. 7).

The support portion 30 has four engaging members, that is, ribs 102. Each rib 1
02 is received in one of the hollow body recesses 90. Each rib 102
Are horizontally projected from the side surface of the deck 60 of the support portion. Each rib 102 is
Includes an upwardly facing shoulder 106 and an inwardly angled cam surface 112 (FIG. 7)
. Either or both of the support 30 and the body 80 are adjusted to face each other by adjusting relative movement between the deck rib 102 and the upper portion of the body ledge 94, and at least in the area of the deck rib 102 and the snap rib engagement. The area of body ledge 94 is elastic and can be curved. This action is facilitated by the body cam surface 98 which first engages the cam surface 112 of the deck rib. The support 30 and body 80 are supported so that the deck rib 102 can move through the upper inner end of the body ledge 94 when a sufficiently large opposing axial force is exerted on the support 30 and body 80. Either or both temporarily bend or distort in a radial direction. As shown in FIG. 7, the snap fit engagement is established by the deck ribs 102 engaging between the upper portion of the body ledge 94 and the body inner shoulder 88.

As described above, after the foldable bag 24 is sealingly secured to the support 30, and after the support 30 is attached to the cavity body 80, the resulting assembly is It is characterized as an assembly or first subassembly. This subassembly is provided to the fluid product manufacturer, where the collapsible bag 24 is filled with the fluid product. As a result, the additional dispenser components, including the upper subassembly or second subassembly, are mounted on top of the filled first subassembly, as shown below.

The second subassembly, or upper subassembly, mounted on the lower subassembly includes at least two components. One is the pump 14 and the other is the holding member 130 (FIG. 2). The operating button 16 is the pump 14
Can be considered as part of. The upper subassembly preferably includes additional components. Such additional components include gasket 134 (FIG. 2) and cap or cover 20 (FIGS. 2, 3). The pump 14
It is mounted in the holding member 130. At that time, when a gasket is adopted, it is mounted together with the gasket 134.

The pump 14 has a radially extending mounting flange 140 (FIGS. 2 and 3) that is located on the upper end 69 of the annular wall 68 of the support 30 or on top of it at a distance.
Preferably, the pump flange 14 ensures that the seal is leak-proof.
Gasket 134 is placed between 0 and the upper end 69 of support 30. However, the gasket may be omitted depending on the material forming the pump 14 and / or the support portion 30. The gasket 134 may also be provided as an integral part of either the pump flange 140 or the upper end 69 of the support 30.

The pump 14 is any suitable non-evacuated pump having an internal chamber (not shown) with a piston installed therein. The piston is mounted on a hollow actuation stem 146 that extends beyond the upper end of the pump body. The activation button is mounted on the stem 146. Pressing this button lowers the piston in the inner chamber. The fluid product in this chamber is thereby allowed to flow through the actuation stem 146.
And is discharged through the dosing orifice 18.

The retaining member 130 has a convex canopy 160 that provides an external configuration. 16
The bottom of the 0 has a flange 162 that projects horizontally. At four positions on the flange 162 around the canopy 160, small outwardly projecting protrusions 166 (FIGS. 1, 7) are located. Each protrusion 166 is adapted to establish a snap-fit engagement with a protrusion or bead 170 that extends radially inward at the bottom of the cap or cover 20. The cap or cover 20 and / or the lower portion of the retaining member canopy 160 is resilient and curved so that the relative movement of the cap 20 and canopy 160 is adjusted when the cap 20 is installed over the dispenser. You can. The portion of the cap and / or canopy is sufficiently curved so that the cap bead 170 lies below and adjacent to the protrusion 166 of the retaining member canopy 160. This facing relationship establishes a snap-fit engagement.

Projecting downward from the canopy 160 in the retaining member 130 is an annular sleeve 190 (FIG. 2). The sleeve 190 houses the annular wall 68 of the support 30 and also the port, hole, or passage 19 that houses the upwardly projecting portion of the pump 14.
2 is defined (Fig. 3). Annular flange 196 extends radially inward from retaining member annular sleeve 190 for engagement with the upper surface of pump flange 140. The sleeve 190 also has an inwardly extending bead 202 which is received by an annular groove 74 defined by the annular wall 68 of the support. One or both of the annular wall 68 of the support and the annular sleeve 190 of the retaining member are adjusted for relative movement between the bead 202 and the groove 74 into corresponding pairs for snap-fit engagement. , At least the area of the bead 202 and / or the groove 74 is elastic and can be curved.

In another preferred embodiment, the retaining member has snap-fit engagement means for supporting the support 30 by clamping the support 30 between the body and it in cooperation with the body 80. There is a configuration provided on the outer edge. The retaining member needs to include, for example, a snap-fit rim, and the cavity body needs to be formed with an end that includes a snap-fit groove. In this case, the holding member does not need to cooperate with the supporting portion as in the above embodiment. However, it is possible to combine both snap fit engagements.

The feature of engaging the support with the body can also be implemented without features relating to the coupling structure of the support. In other words, the method of mounting the bag on the support and the technique of holding the support on the bag are completely independent,
It can be protected separately. Generally, the pump 14 is initially placed within the retaining member 130. At that time, when a gasket is adopted, it is arranged together with the gasket 134. Also, if desired, the cap 20 may also be initially mounted on the retaining member 130 above the pump 14 with a snap-fit engagement. This upper subassembly is then ready to be mounted on the support 30 of the lower subassembly. When the two subassemblies are properly mounted together as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the pump flange 140 is clamped between the retaining member flange 196 and the upper end 69 of the annular wall 68 of the support. The gasket 134 is preferably a pump flange 140 and the upper end 6 of the annular wall 68 of the support to ensure that the seal is leaktight.
It is adopted between 9 and.

Prior to mounting the above two subassemblies, the lower subassembly is filled with fluid product. In general, this filling process is preferably performed under vacuum. The upper subassembly is then moved to the lower subassembly's support 30 to establish a snap-fit engagement between the support 30 and the retaining member 130 while the vacuum covers those parts. Move to the upper position. The set of parts provided by the present invention is relatively low cost and can be easily manufactured from thermoplastic materials. Therefore, a dispenser made from this set of parts can be considered a disposable dispenser. This set of parts can be easily assembled to provide a dispenser that is easy to use. With the exception of the removable cap 20, these parts cannot be easily disassembled. The completed dispenser protects the fluid product from oxidation and other external contaminants.

The engagement structure 32 of the support 30, which defines the parallel space flange, allows for easy molding and bag mouth sealing, ensuring a perfect seal connection.
This is because, like the ends 56 and 58, the flange ends are partially melted during the molding process. Each of the melted rib ends forms a good sealing septum. In addition, the ends 56 and 58 provide a good transition element at the level where both sheets of the bag join, although some will melt during the molding process.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an exemplary dispenser of the present invention assembled from a series of components according to one aspect of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded cross-sectional view showing some components of the dispenser.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the dispenser shown in FIG. 1 with a cap.

[Figure 4]   FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the support for plane 4-4 of FIG.

[Figure 5]   FIG. 5 shows a bottom view of the support for plane 5-5 of FIG.

[Figure 6]   FIG. 6 shows a partial cross-sectional view of plane 6-6 of FIG.

[Figure 7]   FIG. 7 shows an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of plane 7-7 of FIG.

[Figure 8]   FIG. 8 shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of plane 8-8 of FIG.

[Figure 9]   FIG. 9 shows an exploded partial perspective view of the support portion of the body and the bag.

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A dispenser for a fluid product, comprising a foldable bag (24) for storing the fluid product, the foldable bag comprising a flexible material and having an open end formed by a peripheral portion of the material. And a support portion (30) attached to the bag, which has an engaging structure (32) held at the open end of the bag and fixed to the bag material by a sealing process. A support body forming a path (72) communicating with the inside of the bag, a hollow body (80) capable of holding the bag and attached to the support section, and a pump (14) operable by a finger. ), Wherein the pump can be attached to the support portion (30) so as to extend in the path (72), and has a suction port and a discharge port that communicate with the inside of the bag, Have, for the features, the plurality of flanges the structure (32) is an open parallel spaced (4
6,52) and the bag material is heat-sealed to these flanges. 2. The connecting structure comprises a first set of flanges () spaced apart in parallel.
46) and a second set of flanges (52) spaced apart in parallel with each other and extending in the opposite direction, the structure having a substantially rhomboidal shape. Dispenser. 3. Each flange set has three flanges,   The dispenser according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The support engagement structure has a hollow structure that projects downward and has a cylindrical bore that defines a part of the support passage, and two identical structures that extend radially outward from the hollow structure. A planar wall, each said flange belonging to said first and second set of flanges extending from said hollow structure and from said two walls in a direction generally perpendicular to said two walls. The dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein. 5. The dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the flange has the width that decreases as the distance from the bore increases. 6. Dispenser according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the walls (41, 42) each have an end (56, 58) extending over the flanges (46, 52). 7. The support has at least one outwardly projecting rib (102) and the body has at least one inwardly extending ledge (94). At least one of the bodies is elastically deformable, and the relative movement of the rib and the ledge is adjusted so that the ribs and the ledge have an opposed positional relationship so as to realize a snap fit. Dispenser described in. 8. The support portion has a plurality of the ribs, the body has a plurality of the ledges, and each of the ledges faces one of the ribs in a snap-fit engagement manner. The dispenser according to claim 7, wherein: 9. The rib has an angled cam surface,   The dispenser according to claim 7 or 8. 10. Dispenser according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the body forms an angled cam surface above the ledge (98). 11. The dispenser according to claim 7, wherein the body forms a recess for holding the rib under the ledge. 12. A holding member (130) is mounted on the support to maintain a pump therebetween, the holding member being positioned adjacent the support passage (72). And at least one clamping surface around the opening, one of the support or the retaining member forming a bead (202) and the other groove for retaining the bead. (74) is formed, and the support portion and / or the holding member is elastically deformable, and adjusts relative movement of the bead and the groove to realize snap fit engagement. The dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to 11, which is characterized. 13. The support has an annular wall (68) forming the passage (72) and terminating in an upper end, the outer surface of the annular wall opening the groove outwardly. Formed as an annular groove, the holding member has an annular sleeve (190) for holding the annular wall of the support, and the bead (202) is directed inward on the sleeve. The dispenser according to claim 12, wherein the dispenser is a stretchable bead. 14. The holding member (130) is snap-fitted to the body (80), and holds the support portion (30) between the two members, according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The dispenser according to any one. 15. The holding member (130) is a holding means (196) for a pump.
) Is included, The dispenser of Claim 12 or 14 characterized by the above-mentioned. 16. The bag material is a thermoplastic material that can be heat-sealed, the support portion is formed of a thermoplastic material that can be heat-sealed, and the engagement structure of the support portion is The dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the bag is heat-sealed.