WO2009108119A1

WO2009108119A1 - Tampon dispenser

Info

Publication number: WO2009108119A1
Application number: PCT/SE2009/050222
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pegah Mokhtari Fard
Original assignee: Pegah Mokhtari Fard
Priority date: 2008-02-27
Filing date: 2009-02-27
Publication date: 2009-09-03
Also published as: SE0800455L; SE532233C2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a tampon dispenser (2) adapted to fit in a handbag and with an internal space having room for at least two tampons (20). The tampon dispenser (2) comprises a first opening having a size that facilitates the loading of the at least two tampons and which opening is closable by means of a lid (6). A feeding device, which is operable from the outside, is provided inside the tampon dispenser (2) for feeding tampons (20), one at a time, through a second opening (10), which has a size that substantially corresponds to the diameter of or is somewhat larger than the tampon.

Description

TITLE: TAMPON DISPENSER

The present invention relates to a tampon dispenser, particularly a dispenser for individual use.

During a woman's menstruation period it is important that personal accessories, such as tampons, are easy to bring along when the woman leaves the home. Due to the size of a tampon box it is common that the woman only brings a few loose tampons with her in the pocket or in a handbag when she leaves home. This way of storing the tampons is not always preferable, since the tampon might get damaged or dirty. There are also women that find it embarrassing if a loose tampon falls out of the pocket or handbag. Thus, there is a need for storing tampons hygienically and in a non- bulky way.

Within the field of storing hygiene articles, such as tampons, there are many different suggestions of containers that can be used therefore. There are two main categories within this field; on the one hand there are stationary containers whose main purpose is to be used at public places, and on the other hand there are individual containers for use by persons that are away from home. The requirements of an individual container regarding size and design are high, since they easily should fit in the space of a pocket or a handbag.

There are many examples of stationary containers. The main feature of these stationary containers is that they are intended to be mounted on a wall or the like and that they have a large space for housing a large quantity of hygiene articles. They also usually exhibit some mechanism for feeding the hygiene articles one by one to the user. Examples of such stationary tampon containers are disclosed in US patent no. 4,308,974 and 4,142,649, EP 659 658 and DE 195 13 641.

The present invention is primarily directed towards individual tampon containers or dispensers. Also individual tampon containers are known in the art. One example is GB 2 267 895, which discloses a container that has space for two tampons or alternatively two tampons provided with an applicator. In the first case, the container comprises two molded halves, which can be put together to a closed container by threading one half onto a flange provided on the other half. In the second case, the two halves and an intermediate piece also provided with a corresponding flange are used. The three pieces may be assembled to a closed container by threading respective piece onto the corresponding flange.

The German utility model DE 20 2005 007 449 discloses a container with several different compartments. A first compartment is designed to receive several tampons and a second fluid proof compartment is designed to receive used tampons. As preferred embodiments more compartments are described for receiving other articles, such as plastic bags etc.

One disadvantage with the above described individual tampon containers is that one has to open the container in order to take out a tampon. This might be difficult to do if one wishes to be discreet, and there is also a possibility that the tampon falls out of the container when it is opened, which at times may be embarrassing. Thus, there is a need for an individual tampon container or dispenser, with which one easily and discreetly can take out a tampon without the risk of having tampons falling out of the container.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to achieve a tampon dispenser, which is compact and which secures that a tampon easily may be removed there from without any risk that additional tampons fall out of the container.

This problem is solve by a tampon dispenser, which comprises a feeding arrangement provided inside the dispenser that is controllable from the outside of the dispenser for feeding tampons one at a time through an opening in the dispenser, which has a size that substantially corresponds with or is somewhat larger than the diameter of the tampon.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the feeding arrangement of the dispenser is connected to a return spring for returning the feeding arrangement to a starting position after a tampon has been dispensed. The present invention will now be described closer with reference to different embodiments thereof, which are disclosed in the drawing. The drawings show:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tampon dispenser,

Figure 2 is a partial cross section through the lid end of the tampon dispenser showing one embodiment of the feeding mechanism,

Figure 3 shows one embodiment of the discharge mechanism of the tampon dispenser,

Figure 4 shows a detail view of another embodiment of the discharge mechanism, and

Figure 5 is another cross section of the tampon dispenser showing yet another embodiment of the discharge mechanism.

Figure 1 shows a tampon dispenser 2 in a perspective view. In the tampon dispenser 2 there is space enough for at least two tampons. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is place for five tampons. The tampons may be inserted in the tampon dispenser 2 through a first opening, which is formed when the lid 6 is opened. As is evident from figure 1 , a locking mechanism 8 is provided on the Hd 6 preventing the lid 6 from falling off. To open the Hd 6 the locking mechanism 8 is turned to its open position, in which position the Hd 6 may be removed and the tampons may be inserted through the first opening into the inside of the tampon dispenser 2. It should be noted that the locking mechanism 8 may be designed in a numerous of different ways, which is evident for a person skilled in the art. One solution could be to provide the tampon dispenser with a flange onto which the lid could be snapped on. As an alternative the long side of the tampon dispenser could be designed as a snap-on Hd or it could be fastened with hinges or a combination thereof.

Figure 1 also shows a second opening 10, through which the tampons are individually feed out by operating the discharge mechanism 12, which will be described in closer detail below. Figure 2 shows a cross section of the half of the tampon dispenser 2 that comprises the lid 6. A feeding mechanism is provided in the lid 6. In the shown embodiment the feeding mechanism comprises a pressure spring 16, one end of which is connected to the lid 6 and the other end of which is connected to a plate 18. The plate 18 is adapted Io push a tampon 20, in a direction to the left in figure 2, with aid of the force from the pressure spring 16. The force and the size of the pressure spring 16 is adapted to the size of the tampon dispenser 2, i.e. to the number of tampons that may be contained in the dispenser. The force of the pressure spring 16 has to be large enough to be able to push the last tampon 20 that is remaining in the tampon dispenser 2 to abut against an intermediate wall or a stop, which will be described closer below. It should be noted that a person skilled in the art may design the feeding mechanism in a number of different ways. The important thing being that the feeding mechanism is capable of feeding the tampons 20 to abut against the intermediate wall or stop.

For example, in another embodiment the pressure spring 16 is substituted by one or more pulling springs. In such a case the lid is provided at the opposite dispensing end of the tampon dispenser 2 and the pulling spring or springs are extended when the tampon dispenser is loaded with tampons. In this case the tampons are not pushed but pulled to abut against the intermediate wall or stop

Figure 3 shows a cross section of the half of the tampon dispenser 2 that comprises the discharge mechanism 12. As is evident by figure 3, the discharge mechanism 12 extends outside the tampon container itself and runs in a guide slot 22 on the short side of the tampon dispenser 2 (see figure 1). The part extending outside the tampon container, in this embodiment having the form of a operating lever 24, is designed in such a way that it is easy to operate with one hand for pushing out a new tampon through the second opening 10. The operating lever 24 transforms on the inside of the tampon dispenser 2 to a flexible plate 26, which is provided in such a way that it runs past a guidance 28. The flexible plate 26 ends with a platform 30, which is designed to exert pressure on one of the ends of a tampon. In a resting position, the platform 30 is on the same level as the inner floor 32 of the tampon dispenser 2. Furthermore, the platform 30 is provided with a guide pin 34, which runs in a guide slot 36, which is provided in an intermediate wall or a stop 38 of the tampon dispenser 2. The function of the discharge mechanism 12 will now be described closer with reference both to figure 3 and figure 4. For the discharge mechanism 12 that is depicted in figure 3 and figure 4 it is possible to push the operating lever 24 along the entire short side of the tampon dispenser 2, i.e. the guide slot 22 extends substantially along the entire length of the short side. In the embodiment that is depicted in figure 1, the guide slot 22 only extends about half the distance of the short side. The difference between the two embodiments is that when the tampon 20 is to be pushed out through the second opening 10 the whole tampon 20 will be pushed through the second opening 10 in the first case and in the second case, only about half the tampon 20 will be pushed through the opening 10, after which the user has to withdraw the tampon manually by hand the last part. It should be noted that a person skilled in the art realizes that the guide slot 22 may be designed in a number of different ways and should therefore not be limited to the embodiments shown herein.

When a tampon 20 is to be feed out of the tampon dispenser 2, the user will take hold of the operating lever 24 and push it downwards, for the embodiments shown in the drawings. This means that a tampon 20 that is resting on the platform 30, via the flexible plate 26, will be pushed in a direction upwards out through the second opening 10. In a preferred embodiment a guide pin 34 is provided on the platform 30 and runs in the guide slot 36. In yet another preferred embodiment the guide slot 36 is a through hole in the intermediate wall 38 and the guide pin 34 is supported in the guide slot 36 by holding means 40 (see figure 4) provided on the opposite side of the intermediate wail 38 in relation to the platform 30. In a preferred embodiment, a rivet head provided on the end of the guide pin 34 constitutes the holding means 40. The diameter of the rivet head 40 is of course bigger than the width of the guide slot. In another embodiment the guide pin 34 has a threaded end and a nut or the like constitutes the holding means.

The flexible plate 26 is designed in such a way that it easily and without any larger resistance runs along the guidance 28 and in the guide slot 36. The flexible plate 26 is preferably made of plastic, but could also be manufactured in metal or some other material that exhibits flexible properties. In context of the present invention, it should be noted that the word flexible plate also comprises different types thin pivoted plates. The important thing being that the discharge mechanism 12 has one end connected to some type of operating lever 24 and that the other end has means 30 for pushing a tampon out of the tampon dispenser 2. With guidance of the present description it is obvious for a person skilled in the art to design the discharge mechanism 12 in a number of different ways and with a number of different guiding means for the flexible plate 26.

As mentioned above the platform 30 is in level with the inner floor 32 of the tampon dispenser 2. The reason for having the inner floor 32 in the tampon dispenser 2, as shown in the different embodiments, is that the platform has to be on the same level in order for the feeding mechanism to be able to easily feed the platform 30 with new tampons. In an alternative embodiment, the outside form of the tampon container, except for the part where the discharge mechanism is provided, is somewhat raised (see figure 5).

Figure 5 shows yet another embodiment of the discharge mechanism 12, in which a pulling spring 42 is provided for automatically returning the discharge mechanism 12 to a resting position immediately after a tampon 20 has been discharged, The pulling spring 42 is in one end connected to the flexible plate 26 and with the other end to the outer casing of the tampon dispenser 2. When the operating lever 24 is pushed downwards for discharging a tampon 20, the pulling spring 42 will be extended and will return the flexible plate 26 to the resting position shown in figure 5, as soon as the operating lever is released. By using this pulling spring 42, the user does not need to think about returning the operating lever 24 to the starting position. Thus, the tampon dispenser is immediately ready to discharge the next tampon 20.

It should be understood that there are a great variety of embodiments within the scope of the present invention and that the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A tampon dispenser (2) adapted to fit in a handbag and with an internal space having room for at least two tampons (20), wherein the tampon dispenser (2) has a first opening having a size that facilitates the loading of the at least two tampons and which opening is closable by means of a lid (6), characterized by that a feeding mechanism comprising a spring (16), one end of which is fixed to the lid (6) and the other end of which is connected to a plate (18) and a discharge mechanism (12) are provided inside the tampon dispenser (2) for feeding tampons (20), one at a time, through a second opening (10), which has a size that substantially corresponds to the diameter of or is somewhat larger than the tampon.

2. A tampon dispenser (2) according to claim 1, characterized by that the spring is a pressure spring (16).

3. A tampon dispenser (2) according to claim 1, characterized by that the spring is a pulling spring.

4. A tampon dispenser (2) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized by that the discharge mechanism (12) comprises a flexible and pushable plate (26), which is operable from the outside of the tampon dispenser (2) by means of a operating lever (24) provided in one end of the flexible plate (26).

5. Λ tampon dispenser according to claim 4, characterized by that the discharge mechanism (12) further comprises a platform (30) which is provided on the opposite end, in relation to the operating lever (24), of the flexible plate (26) and which is adapted to be in contact with a short end of the tampon (20) for pushing the tampon outside the tampon dispenser (2).

6. A tampon dispenser (2) according to claim 5, characterized by that a guide pin (34) is provided on the platform (3), which runs in a guide slot (36) provided in the stop or in the intermediate wall (38).

7. A tampon dispenser according to claim 6, characterized by that holding means (40) are provide on the end of the guide pin (34) that is inserted in the guide slot (36).

8. A tampon dispenser according to any of claims 4 to 7, characterized by that a return spring (42) is provided, one end of which is fixed to the flexible plate (26) and the other end of which is fixed to the outer casing of the tampon dispenser (2).