WO2003053808A1

WO2003053808A1 - Fluid product dispenser

Info

Publication number: WO2003053808A1
Application number: PCT/FR2002/004405
Authority: WO
Inventors: Firmin Garcia; Alex Milian
Original assignee: Valois Sas
Priority date: 2001-12-20
Filing date: 2002-12-17
Publication date: 2003-07-03
Also published as: DE60204173D1; FR2833929B1; CN1615249A; JP2005512906A; EP1467930B1; FR2833929A1; EP1467930A1; BR0215252A

Abstract

The invention concerns a fluid product dispenser comprising: a fluid product reservoir (10) including an actuating wall (11) which is pressed to decrease the reservoir volume; a dispensing orifice (15) through which the fluid product is dispensed by pressure on the actuating wall; and an outer shell (21; 22; 23; 24, 3, 4) enclosing the reservoir while allowing the dispensing orifice (12) to be exposed, said outer shell including a surface (4) through which the actuating wall (11) can be actuated, said outer shell including two lateral surfaces (211; 221; 231; 241), a bottom surface (210; 220; 230; 240), a front surface (4) and a rear surface (3; 224; 234), the lateral surfaces and the bottom surface being formed by a single-piece outer shell (21; 22; 23; 24) defining an inner housing (212; 222; 232; 242) designed to receive the reservoir. The invention is characterized in that the front surface (4) is mounted directly and fixed on the outer shell body thus enclosing the inner housing with the reservoir therein.

Description

Fluid dispenser

The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser comprising a fluid reservoir comprising an actuating wall on which is pressed to reduce the volume of the reservoir, a dispensing orifice through which the fluid is dispensed by pressing on the wall d actuation, and a covering surrounding the reservoir, leaving the possibility of having the dispensing orifice uncovered, said covering comprising a face through which the actuating wall can be actuated. Such a dispenser is described in particular in document FR-2 784 361. The dispenser described therein comprises a dispensing assembly forming the reservoir and the dispensing orifice and a covering which at least partially envelops the dispensing assembly. The covering is produced from one or more flexible foldable sheets with which the dispensing assembly is wrapped, so to speak. The disadvantage with this covering obtained by cutting and folding sheets lies in the fact that the final aesthetic appearance gives the impression of a sort of paper or cardboard box which is not always compatible with the product to be distributed in particular. when it comes to luxury perfume.

The object of the present invention is to remedy this aforementioned drawback of the prior art by defining a dispenser covering of another type capable of imparting a superior aesthetic effect. One of the aims is to improve the aesthetics of the covering, in particular at the junctions of the constituent faces of the covering.

Document WO 97/46465 describes a dispenser comprising a flexible pocket and a covering at least partially surrounding the flexible pocket. The covering forms a hull formed by two hull parts articulated so as to be able to pivot one hull part on the other by trapping the flexible bag between them. The covering is produced in a single piece by injection molding. An object of the present invention is to provide a different covering which offers modular design, so that the appearance of the covering can easily be modified without profoundly modifying the covering in its structure. To achieve this object, the present invention provides a fluid dispenser comprising a fluid reservoir comprising an actuating wall on which is pressed to decrease the volume of the reservoir, a dispensing orifice through which the fluid is dispensed by support on the actuating wall, and a covering surrounding the reservoir, leaving the possibility of having the dispensing orifice uncovered, said covering comprising a face through which the actuating wall can be actuated, said covering comprising two faces lateral, a bottom face, a front face and a rear face, the lateral faces and the bottom face being formed by a one-piece covering body defining an internal housing intended to receive the tank, characterized in that the front face is attached and fixed to the casing thus closing the internal housing with the tank inside. Thus, most of the covering is formed by the one-piece covering body on which it suffices to attach or fix the front face and / or the rear face, so as to close the internal housing with the reservoir, or more generally the distribution assembly trapped inside. Indeed, it is possible that the one-piece covering body also forms one of the rear or front faces, so that all that remains is to attach the other face to close the internal housing on the tank. Thus, the front face and / or the rear face can advantageously be in the form of a simple cut flat plate. It is thus possible to modify the aesthetics of the dressing without modifying the body. Depending on the aesthetic effect that one wants to obtain, various techniques for manufacturing the one-piece body are possible. Among other things, the one-piece body can be made of injected-molded plastic material, by cutting a plastic profile, from an expanded or foamed material or by thermoforming plastic material. Depending on the manufacturing technique used, the rear face or the front face can be produced with the one-piece body. According to another characteristic of the invention, the dispensing orifice is formed by an end piece mounted on the reservoir, said end piece advantageously being provided with a cap. Advantageously, the reservoir forms a neck in tight engagement with a neck portion of the covering. According to another aspect of the invention, the front face forms a window through which the actuating wall is accessible to push it in.

Advantageously, the internal housing formed by the one-piece body defines an internal space in which the reservoir is inscribed.

The invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings giving by way of nonlimiting examples four embodiments of the invention.

In the figures:

- Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a fluid dispenser according to a first embodiment of the invention, - Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 for a second embodiment of the present invention ,

- Figure 3 is a view similar to the previous figures of a fluid dispenser according to a third embodiment of the invention, and - Figure 4 is a view similar to the previous figures for a fourth embodiment according to the invention.

In the four embodiments which will now be described, the covering may contain a reservoir 10 and a dispensing orifice 15 which may be formed by an identical dispensing assembly 1. By dispensing assembly 1 will be designated all the constituent elements, which combined, allow the storage and distribution of the fluid product. The other components of the dispenser are for example formed by the covering.

In the embodiments shown in the drawings, the single dispensing assembly 1 is in the form of a container or reservoir 10 defining a storage volume as well as a neck 12 which makes it possible to communicate the interior of the reservoir 10 with the outside. In addition, the tank 10 comprises at least one deformable actuating wall 11 which makes it possible to vary the internal volume of the reservoir by pressing on said actuating wall. Advantageously, the actuating wall is elastically deformable so that it returns after each actuation to its original or rest position in which the reservoir defines its maximum internal volume. According to the invention, the dispensing assembly 1 also comprises a dispensing tip 13 mounted on the neck 12 of the reservoir 10. This tip 13 forms the dispensing orifice 15 as well as a fixing appendage 14 whose function will be given below. The reservoir 10 of this distribution assembly 1 contains a small quantity of fluid product as well as gas, for example air. The use is therefore very simple, since it suffices to push the actuating wall 11 of the reservoir 10 to discharge fluid and air through the dispensing orifice 15, which produces a two-phase jet sprayed. The distribution assembly 1 is here formed from a reservoir on which a nozzle has been mounted, but one can very well imagine other forms of distribution assembly, such as that of document FR-2 784 361 supra, in which the dispensing assembly is formed from a profiled shell advantageously thermoformed with which an opercular film is associated. The particular shape of the distribution assembly 1 is not critical for the present invention, since it applies more particularly to the covering which comes to surround this distribution assembly.

In the four embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 4, the covering comprises a one-piece covering body which defines at least the bottom face and the two lateral faces of the covering. The bottom face and side face together form an internal receiving housing in which the reservoir of the distribution assembly can be accommodated. Therein lies the spirit of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the one-piece covering body 21 forms a bottom face 210 and two lateral faces 211 which further extend to form a neck portion 213. An internal housing 212 is thus formed in which the tank 10 can be accommodated with its neck 12 in tight grip in the neck portion 213. The covering further comprises a rear face 3 and a front face 4 which are attached and fixed on either side of the one-piece body 21. The distribution assembly 11, or more particularly its reservoir 10 is thus trapped inside the housing 212 closed by the rear 3 and front faces 4. Advantageously, the front face 4 comprises a window 41 through which the actuating wall 11 is accessible so that it can be pushed in using a finger.

The one-piece body 21 can for example be made of plastic by an injection molding process or by a spinning process then cutting into slices. Indeed, it can be noted that the one-piece body 21 is in the form of a slice of equal thickness which can easily be obtained by cutting out a plastic profile. As for the front and rear faces, they can be produced from a plate which it suffices to cut with a desired aesthetic profile. In the present example, the front and rear faces have the shape of a conventional perfume bottle.

It is also possible to provide the dispensing assembly 1 with a cap which is also part of the covering of the dispensing. This cap can for example be produced with the same technique as the covering of the reservoir 10. In fact, it is possible to produce a cap body 251 on which one has just attached and fixed two sides of the rear and front faces 35 and 45. The cap thus produced is adapted to come into tight contact on the appendage 14 of the nozzle 13 so as to mask the dispensing orifice 15.

In the second embodiment of FIG. 2, a one-piece covering body 22 also forms a bottom face 220 and two lateral faces 221, as well as a neck portion 223. In addition, the covering body 22 forms here also the rear face 224 of the covering. Consequently, this covering body 22 is in the form of a box forming an internal housing 222 in which the reservoir 10 of the distribution assembly 1 can be housed, still with its neck 12 engaged in the part of neck 223. In order to close the internal housing 222 of the one-piece body 22, a front face 4 is attached and fixed, which may be in the same form as that of the first embodiment of the FIG. 1, that is to say with a window 41 allowing access to the actuating wall 11.

This one-piece covering body 22 can for example be produced by an injection molding technique. The same applies to the cap, which consists of a single-piece body 252 with which a front face 45 is associated.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the one-piece covering body 23 also forms a bottom face 230, two lateral faces 231 as well as a neck portion 233. The one-piece body 23 also forms the rear face 234. By Consequently, this one-piece body 23 also forms a sort of box defining an internal housing 232 in which the reservoir 10 of the distribution assembly 1 can be housed. In addition, this one-piece body 23 also forms a peripheral rim 235 which projects outwards. Such a one-piece body 23 can easily be produced by a thermoforming technique. A front face 4, similar to that of the previous embodiments, can be attached and fixed easily to the rim 235 of the one-piece body 23 so as to close the housing 232 and keep the tank 10 trapped inside. Optionally, a rear decoration plate 3 ′ can be attached to the rear face 234 of the one-piece body 23.

The cap can be produced with the same thermoforming technique, particularly as regards the cap body 253, which can then be associated with a front face 45 and optionally with a decorative rear face 35.

In the last embodiment of FIG. 4, the one-piece covering body 24 also forms the bottom face 240, the two lateral faces 241 as well as a neck portion 243. An internal receiving housing 242 is also provided for the reservoir 10 of the dispensing assembly 1. In this embodiment, the one-piece body 24 can be made from an expanded or foamed material which has been cut or molded to the desired shape. The rear face 3 and the front face 4 can be attached and fixed in the same manner as in the first embodiment of FIG. 1. The same is true for the formation of the cap. In all the embodiments, it is advantageous that the reservoir is preferably entirely inscribed in the internal housing formed by the one-piece body, so that front and / or rear faces can be provided perfectly or substantially flat. However, profiled front and / or rear faces are not excluded.

Thanks to the invention, it is possible to produce a completely aesthetic covering from a one-piece covering body with which one or two face (s) are associated to close the internal housing thus trapping the dispensing assembly.

Claims

claims

1.- Fluid product distributor comprising:

- a fluid reservoir (10) comprising an actuating wall (11) on which is pressed to reduce the volume of the reservoir, - a dispensing orifice (15) through which the fluid is dispensed by pressing on the wall actuation, and

- a covering (21; 22; 23; 24, 3, 4) surrounding the reservoir, leaving the possibility of having the dispensing orifice (12) uncovered, said covering comprising a face (4) through which the wall d actuation (11) can be actuated, said covering comprising two lateral faces (211; 221; 231; 241), a bottom face (210; 220; 230; 240), a front face (4) and a rear face ( 3; 224; 234), the lateral faces and the bottom face being formed by a one-piece covering body (21; 22; 23; 24) defining an internal housing (212; 222; 232; 242) intended to receive the tank, characterized in that the front face (4) is attached and fixed to the covering body, thus closing the internal housing with the tank inside.

2. A dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the rear face (3) is attached and fixed to the covering body (21; 24), thus closing the internal housing with the tank inside.

3. A dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the front face (4) and the rear face (3) are in the form of cut plates.

4. A dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the covering body (22; 23) also forms the rear face (224; 234).

5. A dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the front face (4) is in the form of a cut plate.

6. A dispenser according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the body (21; 22) is made of injected-molded plastic.

7. A dispenser according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the body (21) is made by cutting a plastic profile.

8. A dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the body (24) is made from an expanded or foamed material.

9. A dispenser according to claim 3, wherein the body (23) is made by thermoforming plastic.

10. Dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the reservoir forms a neck (12) in tight engagement with a neck part (213; 223; 233; 243) of the covering.

11. Dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the end piece (13) forms an appendage (14) in tight engagement with the covering.

12. Dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the front face (4) forms a window (41) through which the actuating wall (11) is accessible to push it in.

13. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the internal housing formed by the one-piece body defines an internal space in which the reservoir is registered.

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