WO2000044505A1

WO2000044505A1 - Fluid product dispenser with flexible bag

Info

Publication number: WO2000044505A1
Application number: PCT/FR1999/000180
Authority: WO
Inventors: Firmin Garcia; Laurent Decottignies
Original assignee: Airlessystems
Priority date: 1999-01-29
Filing date: 1999-01-29
Publication date: 2000-08-03
Also published as: JP2003502218A; JP4169932B2; ES2325342T3; DE69940855D1; EP1154864B1; EP1154864A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a fluid product dispenser comprising: a deformable flexible bag (24) containing said fluid product and including a flexible material with an open end defined by a peripheral part of said material; a support (30) fixed to said bag, said support having a connecting structure (32) received in said open end of the bag and sealingly fixed to said bag material, said support defining a passage (72) communicating with said bag inside; a hollow body (80) capable of receiving said bag, and of being fixed to said support; a manual pump (14) capable of being mounted on said support (30) to extend inside said passage (72), said pump having an inlet for communicating with said bag inside and an outlet. The invention is characterised in that said connecting structure (32) of said support (30) comprises a plurality of spaced parallel flanges (46, 52) whereon the bag material is heat sealed.

Description

Fluid product dispenser with flexible pocket.

The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser and more particularly to a set of components which can be assembled to form a dispenser of the type comprising a manual pump and a flexible deformable pocket containing the fluid. The flexible bag is preferably filled under vacuum and fixed to the manual pump. The flexible pocket is arranged in a protective shell which advantageously allows ambient air to enter the space defined between the flexible pocket and the shell. While such a bag can generally function satisfactorily, it would be desirable to provide an improved design for such a dispenser so that it can be more easily manufactured.

In particular, it would be advantageous to provide an improved design which could incorporate a conventional manual pump. Such an improved design would facilitate attachment of the flexible bag, filling with the fluid, attachment of the pump, and assembly of other components with a minimum number of manufacturing steps or special manufacturing operations.

In addition, it would be beneficial to produce such an improved dispenser which includes only a limited number of components, which can be assembled relatively quickly at low cost and without the need for particularly low manufacturing and assembly tolerances.

It would also be advantageous if the various parts of the components of the dispenser could be changed relatively easily so as to provide various external configurations which may be desired for utility or aesthetic purposes.

According to the invention, a dispenser can be easily assembled from a set of components. The filling with the product is preferably carried out under vacuum. In the preferred embodiment, this is facilitated by arranging the components into two sub-assemblies. A first sub-assembly can be filled with the fluid product under vacuum, and then the second sub-assembly can be mounted on the first sub-assembly to form the complete dispenser. Three components can be connected together to form the first sub-assembly. One of the components is a deformable pocket which contains the fluid product. The pocket includes a flexible material having an open end defined by a peripheral portion of the material. The second component of the first sub-assembly is a support which is fixed to the pocket. The support has a connection structure received in the open end of the pocket. The support connection structure is tightly attached to the bag material. The support defines a passage communicating with the outside of the pocket. The third component of the first sub-assembly is a hollow body or shell which receives the pocket and is fixed to the support preferably by snap-fastening. In the preferred embodiment, the shell is substantially rigid over most of its height and has a bottom which can serve as a base for positioning the dispenser in a substantially vertical position. The base preferably includes one or more vent holes to allow ambient air to enter the shell around the pocket.

The second sub-assembly is assembled from two main components and preferably comprises one or two additional components. The first component is a holding element which can be fixed to the support of the first sub-assembly preferably by snap-fastening. The holding member defines an opening which may be located adjacent to the passage of the support, and at least one fixing surface around the opening. A second component of the second sub-assembly is a manual pump which can be mounted between the support and the fixing surface of the holding element. When the pump is correctly mounted, it extends inside the passage of the support and inside the opening of the holding element. The pump has an opening for communicating with the interior of the deformable pocket, and the pump has an outlet which projects beyond the holding member. The second sub-assembly preferably comprises a third component which is a separate seal designed to provide a seal between the pump and the support on which the pump is mounted and retained by the holding element.

In addition, the second sub-assembly can optionally comprise a fourth component in the form of a hood or cap which is adapted to be mounted on the outlet end of the pump and which is adapted to be removed by the user when the user wishes to use the dispenser.

Typically, the first sub-assembly is assembled by sealingly fixing the deformable pocket to the support and by fixing the shell to the support. Then, the flexible bag can be filled with fluid during a vacuum filling process through the passage of the support.

Then, the second sub-assembly constituted by the pump and the holding element can be mounted on the first sub-assembly so that the holding element is fixed on the support. This is also accomplished under vacuum, and preferably the aforementioned seal is disposed on the pump before mounting the pump and the holding member on the support.

If the distributor includes a cover, then the cover can be initially fixed to the support element above the pump before mounting the second sub-assembly on the first sub-assembly.

According to the invention, means are provided for sealingly fixing the deformable pocket to the support. In particular, the fluid dispenser comprises: a flexible deformable pocket containing said fluid product and comprising a flexible material having an open end defined by a peripheral part of said material, a support fixed to said pocket, said support having a connection structure received in said open end of the pocket and tightly fixed to said pocket material, said support defining a passage communicating with the interior of said pocket, a hollow body which can receive said pocket and which can be fixed to said support, a manual pump which can be mounted on said support to extend inside said passage, said pump having an inlet for communicating with the interior of said pocket and an outlet, said connection structure of said support comprising a plurality of parallel flanges spaced apart on which the material of the pocket is heat sealed.

Advantageously, the connection structure comprises a first set of spaced parallel flanges and a second set of spaced parallel flanges extending in an opposite manner, giving the connection structure a substantially diamond-shaped geometry. Preferably, each set of flanges comprises three flanges. The opening of the pocket is therefore welded to the outer edges of the flanges so as to form a sealing barrier at each flange. In fact, the material of the flexible pocket is welded to each flange so as to form a complete peripheral weld bead. The multiplication of flanges increases the number of sealing barriers accordingly. Because the welding is carried out only on the outer edges of the flanges, and not on a continuous flat surface, the flanges undergo a softening or partial melting which ensures a perfect quality of the heat-sealed joint. In addition, the diamond or eye shape allows easy adaptation of the opening of the pocket on the connection structure since the flexible pocket often consists of two strips of material welded together. Advantageously, said connection structure comprises a hollow structure projecting downwards and which has a cylindrical bore defining a part of said passage, two coplanar walls extending radially outward from said hollow structure, and - each of said flanges said first and second sets of flanges extend from said hollow structure and from said walls in a direction generally perpendicular to said walls. Preferably, the width of said flanges decreases away from said bore. According to another characteristic, the walls each comprise an end portion extending beyond the flanges. These two end parts which are in the form of tongues at the two diamond-shaped ends at which the material of the flexible bag meets. These two end portions, when welding the pocket on the connection structure, will partially melt and become thinner so that the opening of the pocket at the level where it leaves the connection structure can be perfectly contiguous. This avoids any risk of leakage at this level.

According to another advantageous characteristic of the invention, said support comprises at least one rib projecting outwards, said body comprising at least one shoulder extending inwards, and at least one of said support and said body being able to flex in a resilient manner to adapt to the relative movement of said rib and said shoulder to engage by establishing a snap. Advantageously, said support comprises a plurality of ribs and said body comprises a plurality of shoulders, and each of said ribs engages with one of said ribs. The support in addition to forming the connection structure for the pocket defines means allowing it to snap onto the rigid shell. Thus, these three elements, support, pocket and shell, can be previously mounted so as to form the first aforementioned sub-assembly. It only remains to fill the flexible bag and to mount the pump on the support to obtain a complete distributor.

Advantageously, said rib has an inclined cam surface. Furthermore, said body defines an inclined cam surface above said shoulder. The two inclined cam surfaces can thus cooperate to facilitate the latching of the support on the shell.

According to one aspect of the invention, said body defines a recess above said shoulder to receive said rib.

According to another advantageous characteristic of the invention, a holding element is fixed to said support to hold the pump between them, said holding element defining an opening which can be located adjacent to said passage and at least one fixing surface around said opening, said support or said retaining element defining a bead, the other defining a groove for receiving said bead, said support and / or said retaining element being able to flex resiliently to adapt to the relative movement of said bead and from said groove for engaging in a snap fit. The holding element is thus snapped onto the support while keeping the pump wedged between them. Advantageously, said support comprises an annular wall which defines said passage and which ends in an upper end, said annular wall having an outer surface defining said groove in the form of an annular groove open towards the outside, said retaining element comprises an annular sleeve for receiving said annular wall of said support, and said cord is a cord extending outwardly over said sleeve.

Preferably, said pouch material is a heat-sealable thermoplastic material, said support being molded from a heat-sealable thermoplastic material, and said connection structure of said support being heat-sealed to said pocket.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which give by way of nonlimiting example an embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a complete dispenser assembled from the components according to an embodiment of the invention, - FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view exploded view of certain components of the dispenser, Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the dispenser shown in Figure 1 with the cover in place, Figure 4 is a top plan view of the support taken along the cutting line 4-4 of Figure 2, Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the support, Figure 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Figure 3, Figure 7 is a enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Figure 3, Figure 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along section line 8-8 of Figure 3, and Figure 9 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view shell and pocket support.

A dispenser according to the invention is shown in FIG. 1 and designated as a whole by the reference numeral 10. The dispenser is suitable for dispensing a fluid product, typically a liquid, a cream or paste or the like. It can therefore find an adaptation in the fields of cosmetics, perfumery and pharmacy.

The distributor 10 comprises a housing on which is mounted a manual pump 14. The pump 14 can be of a conventional type having a pump chamber in which is disposed a piston which can be actuated by pressing on a pusher 16 to dispense a quantity of fluid at the dispensing orifice 18. An optional cap 20 can be removably mounted on the pump 14 (cf. FIGS. 1 and 3).

The dispenser 10 comprises a flexible deformable pocket 24 which contains the fluid product. The pocket 24 is made from a flexible material. The material can be a thermoplastic material, preferably heat-sealable such as a polyvinyl chloride film, polypropylene or the like. The bag 24 can be made from two sheets of such material which are heat-sealed on three edges, as at 26 in Figure 3 to define a bag having a mostly closed part with an open end.

The open end of the pocket 24 is tightly fixed to a support 30 (fig. 3). the support 30 comprises a connection structure 32 (fig. 3) which is received in the open end of the pocket 24. The connection structure 30 comprises a hollow structure 36 which projects downwards and which defines a generally cylindrical bore 38 which communicates with the interior of the deformable pocket 24.

As shown in FIG. 3, the connection structure 32 comprises two coplanar walls 41 and 42 which extend radially outwards from the hollow structure 36. As shown in FIG. 5, in the preferred embodiment, the wall 41 comprises a distal end portion of reduced thickness 56. Similarly, the wall 42 has a distal end portion of reduced thickness 58.

A first set of spaced parallel ribs or flanges 46, for example three in number, extends laterally outward on one side from the walls 41 and 42 and from the hollow structure 36.

As shown in FIG. 8, a second set of spaced parallel flanges 52, for example three in number, extends laterally in the opposite direction from the other side of the walls 41 and 42 and from the hollow structure 36, so that the connection structure 32 has a configuration substantially in the form of a diamond or an eye.

Preferably, the flanges become narrower as they move away from the bore 38. that is to say that the width of the flanges decreases as the distance from the bore 38 increases. As shown in Figure 5, the connection structure 32 has a configuration which is somewhat similar to that of an open human eye in which the bore 38 acts as a pupil and the surrounding structure acts as the white of the eye. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the deformable pocket 24 is preferably heat sealed or fixed in another sealed manner to the elongated peripheral edges of the flanges of the connection structure 46 and 52. In addition, the deformable pocket 24 is heat sealed to the distal end portions of reduced thickness 56 and 58 of the walls 41 and 42 respectively. Thus, the open end of the pocket 24 is tightly fixed around its periphery to the connection structure 32 of the support, but remains in communication with the interior of the flexible pocket 24 through the bore 35 in the structure. hollow 36. The support 30 comprises a plate 60 disposed above and parallel to the flanges 46 and 42. The plate 60 extends along central walls 41 and 42 while being connected to it as well as to the thinned end portions 56 and 58. A pair of stiffening ribs 62 and a pair of shorter stiffening ribs 64 protrude upward from the tray 60. An annular wall 68 which has an upper end 69 (Fig. 2) also protrudes toward the top from the plate 60. The outside of the surface of the annular wall 68 defines an annular groove 74 open towards the outside.

The annular wall 68 defines a bore 70 which extends coaxially from the bore 38 in the lower hollow structure 38. The bore 38 and the bore 70 together define a passage 72 (FIGS. 2, 4 and 5) through the support 30 communicates with the interior of the pocket 24. The passage 72 is wide enough to receive the lower end of the pump 14.

The support plate 60 comprises means or structure for connecting the support 30 to a hollow body or shell 80 which surrounds and protects the deformable pocket 24. The hollow body 80 has an upper end open to receive the support plate 60 and has a closed bottom end defining a generally flat base 84 capable of holding the dispenser in a vertical position. The base 84 preferably comprises one or more vent holes 86 to allow ambient air to penetrate inside the space defined between the shell or the flexible bag 24.

At the open upper end of the shell 80, the latter defines an inner peripheral shoulder (FIG. 9). Hull 80 defines four spaced recesses 90 adjacent to the shoulder 88. The bottom of each recess 90 is defined by the shoulder 90. The top of each recess 90 is defined by an overhanging shoulder 94 (FIG. 7). The upper edge of the shell 80 above each shoulder 94 is inclined or chan braked to define a cam surface 98 (fig. 7).

The support 30 comprises four connection elements or ribs 102 intended to be received individually in one of the recesses 90 of the shell. Each rib 102 projects laterally from the side of the support plate 60. Each rib 102 includes an upwardly facing shoulder 106 and an inwardly inclined cam surface 112 (Fig. 7).

The support 30 or the shell 80, or both, are capable of deforming resiliently, at least in the region of the cover ribs 102 and / or in the region of the shoulders 94 of the shell, so as to adapt relative movements of the cover ribs 102 and shell shoulders 94 to come into mutual engagement so as to establish a snap. This is facilitated by the cam surfaces 98 of the shell which initially engage the cam surfaces 112 of the shelf ribs. When sufficiently large opposing axial forces are applied to the support 30 and to the shell 80, there is a temporary deformation of one or both components in the radial direction so that the plate ribs 102 can move beyond the ends internal of the upper shoulders 94 of the hull. The ribs 102 are housed between the upper shoulders 94 and the internal shoulder 88 as shown in Figure 7 to establish the snap. After the deformable pocket 24 is tightly fixed to the support 30 and after the support 30 is fixed to the hollow body or shell 80 as described above, the resulting assembly can be qualified as a lower subassembly or first sub- assembly which can be supplied to a manufacturer of a fluid product for filling the deformable pocket 24 with a fluid product. Then, the additional components of the dispenser, comprising an upper sub-assembly or second sub-assembly as described below, are installed on the first filled sub-assembly.

The second sub-assembly or upper sub-assembly to be mounted on the lower sub-assembly comprises at least two components. One of the components of the upper sub-assembly is the pump 14, and the other component is a holding element 130 (fig. 2). The plunger 16 can be considered as a part of the pump 14. Additional components are preferably also included in the upper sub-assembly, such as a seal 134 (fig. 2) and the cap 20 (fig. 2 and 3 ). The pump 14 is initially mounted inside the holding element 130, with the seal 134 if the seal is used.

The pump 14 has a mounting flange 140 extending radially (FIGS. 2 and 3) to be positioned on or above the upper end 69 of the annular wall 68 of the support 30. Preferably, in order to ensure a perfect seal, the seal 134 is disposed between the pump flange 140 and the upper exuérnité 69 of the support 30. However, depending on the materials used for the pump 14 and / or the support 30, the seal 134 can be omitted. As a variant, the seal 134 can be an integral part of the pump flange 140 or of the upper end 69 of the support 30. The pump 14 can be a pump without any air intake and comprises an internal chamber (not visible) in which is arranged a piston (not visible). The piston is mounted on a hollow actuating rod 146 which extends beyond the upper end of the pump body 14. the pusher 16 is mounted on the rod 146. By pressing on the pusher, the piston is lowered into the internal chamber, so that the fluid in the chamber is discharged through the hollow actuating rod 146 and through the dispensing orifice 18.

The holding element 130 comprises a convex cover 160 conferring a pleasant external configuration. The lower end of the cover 160 has a flange 162 which projects laterally. At four points around the cover 160, above the flange 162, there are small protrusions 166 which project outward (fig. 1 and 7). Each of the protrusions 166 is adapted to establish a snap-fastening with a protuberance or cord 170 extending radially inwards at the bottom of the cap 20. The cap 20 and / or the lower part of the cap 160 of the holding element are deformable resiliently so as to adapt to the relative displacements between the cap 20 and the cover 160 when the cap 20 is installed on the dispenser. The cap and / or the cap can be deformed enough to allow the cord of the cap 170 to be positioned below the protrusions 166 of the cap 160. This establishes a snap-fastening. An annular sleeve 190 projects downward from the cover 160 in the holding member 130 (Fig. 2). The sleeve 190 defines a bore or passage or opening 192 which adapts to the annular wall 68 of the support 30 and to the part of the pump 14 which projects upwards (FIG. 3). An annular flange 196 extends radially inward from the annular sleeve 190 of the holding member to engage the upper surface of the flange 140 of the pump (Fig. 6). The sleeve 190 also comprises a cord 202 which extends inwards which is adapted to be received in the annular groove 74 defined in the annular wall 68 of the support. The annular support wall 68 or the sleeve of the retaining element 90, or both, are resiliently deformable at least in the region of the cord 202 and / or of the groove 74, so as to adapt to movements relative of the cord 202 and of the groove 74 to come into snap-fit engagement. In a preferred variant, the holding element may comprise latching means on its external periphery capable of cooperating with the body 80 so as to maintain the support 30 by wedging between them. It suffices for this that the holding element is for example provided with a latching rim and that the shell is formed with an edge provided with a latching groove. In this case, the retaining element no longer needs to cooperate by snap-fastening with the support, as is the case in the above embodiment, in which the cord 202 is snapped into the groove 74 However, the combination of the two snaps is possible. It should be noted that the characteristics making it possible to fix the support to the body can be implemented independently of the characteristics relating to the connection structure of the support. In other words, the technique for attaching the pocket to the support and the technique for holding the support on the shell are independent. Typically, the pump 14 is initially disposed in the retaining element 130. If desired, the cap 20 can also be initially mounted by snap-fastening on the retaining element 130 above the pump 14. This upper sub-assembly is then ready to be mounted on the support 30 of the lower sub-assembly. When the two sub-assemblies are correctly assembled as shown in Figures 3 and 6, the flange pump 140 is wedged between the flange 196 of the retaining element and the upper end 69 of the annular wall 68 of the support. The seal 134 is preferably disposed between the pump flange 140 and the upper end 69 of the support wall to ensure a perfect seal. Before assembling the two sub-assemblies, the lower sub-assembly is filled with a fluid product. Preferably, the filling operation is carried out under vacuum. Then, still under vacuum, the upper sub-assembly is placed in position on the support 30 of the lower sub-assembly so as to establish a snap-fit between the support 30 and the retaining element 130. All of the components according to invention can be easily made from relatively low cost thermoplastic materials. Thus, the dispensers produced from this set of this component can be disposable dispensers.

All of the components can be easily assembled to make a dispenser which can be easily used. Except for the removable cover 20, the components are not easily separable, and the complete distributor protects the fluid product from any oxidation or external contamination.

As for the connection structure 32 of the support 30, which defines a set of spaced parallel flanges, it allows easy welding of the opening of the deformable pocket while ensuring perfect sealing, because the edges of the flanges and the end portions 58 and 56 partially melt during the welding step. Each rib edge thus melted forms a perfect sealing barrier. In addition, the end portions 56 and 58 which partially melt during welding provide a perfect transition element at the level where the two sheets of material of the pocket meet.

Claims

Claims:

1.- Fluid product dispenser comprising: a flexible deformable pocket (24) containing said fluid product and comprising a flexible material having an open end defined by a peripheral part of said material, - a support (30) fixed to said pocket, said support having a connection structure (32) received in said open end of the pocket and tightly fixed to said pocket material, said support defining a passage (72) communicating with the interior of said pocket, a hollow body (80) which can receive said pocket and which can be fixed to said support, a manual pump (14) which can be mounted on said support (30) to extend inside said passage (72), said pump having an inlet for communicating with the interior of said pocket and an outlet, characterized in that said connection structure (32) of said support (30) comprises a plurality of spaced parallel flanges (46, 52) on which the ma pocket material is heat sealed.

2. A dispenser according to claim 1, in which the connection structure (32) comprises a first set of spaced parallel flanges (46) and a second set of spaced parallel flanges (52) extending in an opposite manner giving the structure connection (32) a substantially diamond-shaped geometry.

3. A dispenser according to claim 2, wherein each set of flanges comprises three flanges.

4. Dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, in which said connection structure (32) comprises a hollow structure

(36) projecting downward and which has a cylindrical bore (38) defining a part of said passage (72), two coplanar walls (41, 42) extending radially outward from said hollow structure (36 ), and - each of said flanges (46, 52) of said first and second sets of flanges extends from said hollow structure and from said walls in a direction generally perpendicular to said walls.

5. A dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the width of said flanges decreases away from said bore.

6. A dispenser according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the walls (41, 4) each comprise an end portion (56, 58) extending beyond the flanges (46, 52).

7. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said support (30) comprises at least one rib projecting outward (102), said body (80) comprising at least one shoulder extending towards the interior (94), and at least one of said support and said body being adapted to flex resiliently to adapt to the relative movement of said rib and said shoulder to engage by establishing a snap.

8. A dispenser according to claim 7, wherein said support comprises a plurality of ribs and said body comprises a plurality of shoulders, and each of said ribs engages with one of said ribs.

9. A dispenser according to claim 7 or 8, wherein said rib has an inclined cam surface (112).

10. A dispenser according to claim 8 or 9, wherein said coips defines an inclined cam surface above said shoulder (98).

I - A dispenser according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein said coips defines a recess (90) above said shoulder to receive said rib.

12. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, in which a holding element (130) is fixed to said support to hold the pump between them, said holding element defining an opening situated in alignment with said passage (72) and at least one fixing surface around said opening, said support or said retaining element defining a bead (202), the other defining a groove (74) for receiving said bead, said support and / or said retaining element being suitable to flex resiliently to adapt to the relative movement of said cord and said groove to engage in a snap fit.

13. A dispenser according to claim 12, wherein said support comprises an annular wall (68) which defines said passage (72) and which terminates in an upper end, said annular wall having a surface outer defining said groove in the form of an annular groove open towards the outside, said holding member comprises an annular sleeve (190) for receiving said annular wall of said support, and said cord (202) is a cord extending towards the outside on said sleeve.

14. A dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to 6, in which a holding element (130) is snapped onto said body (80) while holding the support (30) between them.

15.- A dispenser according to one of claims 12 or 14, wherein the holding element (130) comprises receiving means (196) for the pump (14).

16. Dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, in which said material of the bag is a heat-sealable thermoplastic material, said support being molded from a heat-sealable thermoplastic material, and said connection structure of said support being heat-sealed to said poached.