U.S. patent application number 09/986781 was filed with the patent office on 2002-07-04 for valve joint and the process of its manufacture.
This patent application is currently assigned to VALOIS S.A.. Invention is credited to Leone, Patrice.
Application Number | 20020086951 09/986781 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 8856348 |
Filed Date | 2002-07-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020086951 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Leone, Patrice |
July 4, 2002 |
Valve joint and the process of its manufacture
Abstract
A valve joint of a dispensing valve of a fluid product
dispensing device, said joint being intended to come into contact
with a fluid product comprising an aerosol propellant of the
HFC-134a or HFC-227 type, with or without alcohol, characterized in
that said joint comprises a surface subjected to a surface
treatment, said surface treatment being adapted to lower the
friction coefficient of the joint so as to reduce the risks of the
valve blocking and/or to create a barrier on the joint surface so
as to reduce the level of extractables from said joint.
Inventors: |
Leone, Patrice; (Acouigny,
FR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SUGHRUE MION, PLLC
2100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington
DC
20037-3213
US
|
Assignee: |
VALOIS S.A.
|
Family ID: |
8856348 |
Appl. No.: |
09/986781 |
Filed: |
November 9, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
525/319 ;
525/331.7; 525/356 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B29L 2031/7506 20130101;
B65D 83/75 20130101; B29L 2031/265 20130101; B29K 2021/00 20130101;
C08J 7/126 20130101; B29C 2035/0877 20130101; B29C 59/16 20130101;
C08J 2321/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
525/319 ;
525/331.7; 525/356 |
International
Class: |
C08F 210/16; C08F
255/00; C08F 210/18; C08F 008/22; C08C 019/14 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 10, 2000 |
FR |
00 14530 |
Claims
1. A process for manufacturing a valve joint of a dispensing valve
of a fluid product dispensing device, said joint being intended to
come into contact with a fluid product comprising an aerosol
propellant of the HFC-134a or HFC-227 type, with or without
alcohol, characterised in that said process includes a joint
surface treatment, said surface treatment reducing the friction
coefficient of the joint so as to reduce the risks of the valve
blocking and/or said surface treatment creating a barrier on the
joint surface so as to reduce the level of extractables from said
joint.
2. A process according to claim 1, wherein said joint includes one
or more of the following materials: nitrile, neoprene, butyl,
halobutyl, EPDM (ethylene propylene diene), SBR (styrene
butadiene), HNBR (hydrogenated nitrile).
3. A process according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said surface
treatment is of the chemical type.
4. A process according to claim 3, wherein said surface treatment
includes grafting halogens on the joint surface.
5. A process according to claim 4, wherein the halogens include
chlorine and/or fluorine.
6. A process according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein said
surface treatment includes oxidising the joint surface in a
chlorinated medium.
7. A process according to claim 6, wherein said surface treatment
includes immersing the joint in a solution containing water
hydrochloric acid and bleach.
8. A process according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said surface
treatment is of the physical type.
9. A process according to claim 8, wherein said surface treatment
includes modifying the joint surface by means of electron
beams.
10. A process according to claim 9, wherein said surface treatment
includes subjecting the joint to an irradiation treatment, the
power of which may vary from about 150 KeV to about 10 Mev.
11. A valve joint of a dispensing valve of a fluid product
dispensing device, said joint being intended to come into contact
with a fluid product comprising an aerosol propellant of the
HFC-134a or HFC-227 type, with or without alcohol, characterised in
that said joint includes a surface subjected to a surface
treatment, said surface treatment being adapted to reduce the
friction coefficient of the joint so as to reduce the risks of the
valve blocking and/or to create a barrier on the joint surface so
as to reduce the level of extractables from said joint.
12. A joint according to claim 11, wherein said joint includes one
or more of the following materials: nitrile, neoprene, butyl,
halobutyl, EPDM, SBR, HNBR.
13. A joint according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the joint
surface is modified by grafting atoms of chlorine and/or
fluorine.
14. A joint according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the joint
surface is irradiated by electron beams, the power of which may
vary from about 150 KeV to about 10 MeV.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a valve joint and the
process of its manufacture.
[0002] Many fluid product dispensing devices comprise valves,
particularly measuring valves, to dispense the product contained in
the device, by means of an aerosol propellant. For ecological
reasons, conventional aerosol propellants of the CFC type used in
the past have been steadily replaced by aerosol propellants, which
are less harmful to the environment, such as particularly the gases
HFC 134a or HFC-227. The use of these aerosol propellants however
brings with it a certain number of problems. On the one hand they
place increased stress on the joints, which can bring about more
significant swelling, liable to lead to a problem of blocking of
the valve which slides within the joints, a problem generally
denoted by the expression "sticking". On the other hand the joint
may be led to release compounds known by the term extractables.
These extractables are compounds, extracted from the joints by the
propellant, which contaminate or pollute the fluid product to be
dispensed.
[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a joint
and a manufacturing process of said joint which does not have the
above-mentioned drawbacks.
[0004] Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a
joint and a process for its manufacture which is simple and
inexpensive to carry out.
[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a joint,
which can be used with HFC-134a or HFC-227 gases, in respect of
which the release of extractables is reduced.
[0006] Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a
joint, which can be used with HFC-134a or HFC-227 gases, which
reduce valve blocking problems.
[0007] The object of the present invention is therefore a process
for manufacturing a valve joint of a dispensing valve of a fluid
product dispensing device, said joint being intended to come into
contact with a fluid product comprising an aerosol propellant of
the HFC-134a or HFC-227 type, with or without alcohol,
characterised in that said process includes a joint surface
treatment, said surface treatment reducing the friction coefficient
of the joint so as to reduce the risks of the valve blocking and/or
said surface treatment creating a barrier on the joint surface so
as to reduce the level of extractables from said joint.
[0008] To advantage, said joint includes one or more of the
following materials: nitrile, neoprene, butyl, halobutyl, EPDM
(ethylene propylene diene), SBR (styrene butadiene), HNBR
(hydrogenated nitrile).
[0009] According to a first embodiment of the invention, said
surface treatment is of the chemical type.
[0010] To advantage, said surface treatment includes grafting
halogens on the joint surface.
[0011] To advantage, the halogens include chlorine and/or
fluorine.
[0012] To advantage, said surface treatment includes oxidising the
joint surface in a chlorinated medium.
[0013] To advantage, said surface treatment includes immersing the
joint in a solution containing water, hydrochloric acid and
bleach.
[0014] According to a second embodiment of the invention, said
surface treatment is of the physical type.
[0015] To advantage, said surface treatment includes modifying the
joint surface by means of electron beams.
[0016] To advantage, said surface treatment includes subjecting the
joint to an irradiation treatment, the power of which may vary from
about 150 KeV to about 10 MeV.
[0017] Another object of the present invention is a valve joint of
a dispensing valve of a fluid product dispensing device, said joint
being intended to come into contact with a fluid product comprising
an aerosol propellant of the HFC-134a or HFC-227 type, with or
without alcohol, characterised in that said joint comprises a
surface subjected to a surface treatment, said surface treatment
being adapted to lower the friction coefficient of the joint so as
to reduce the risks of the valve blocking and/or to create a
barrier on the joint surface so as to reduce the level of
extractables from said joint.
[0018] To advantage, said joint includes one or more of the
following materials: nitrile, neoprene, butyl, halobutyl, EPDM,
SBR, HNBR.
[0019] According to a first embodiment variant, the joint surface
is modified by grafting atoms of chlorine and/or fluorine.
[0020] According to a second embodiment variant, the joint surface
is irradiated by electron beams, the power of which may vary from
about 150 KeV to about 10 MeV.
[0021] Other characteristics and advantages of the present
invention will emerge more clearly during the following detailed
description of two embodiments or the invention, given as
non-restrictive examples.
[0022] Thus, the object of the invention is a valve joint,
particularly a measuring valve joint, for a fluid product
dispensing device. This joint may be a static joint or a dynamic
joint, in other words a joint in which the valve slides. This joint
is intended to be in contact with the fluid product which comprises
an aerosol propellant of the HFC-134a or HFC-227 type, with or
without alcohol, and the invention provides for the application of
a surface treatment to said joint in order on the one hand to
reduce the risks of the valve blocking and on the other hand to
reduce the level of extractables from the joint.
[0023] To reduce the risks of the valve blocking, the surface
treatment provides for a lowering of the friction coefficient of
the joint, and to reduce the level of extractables from the joint,
the surface treatment creates a barrier on the joint surface. These
effects may be obtained separately or, preferably, together with
the same surface treatment.
[0024] The joints of the invention, which may be subjected to the
surface treatment, may particularly be constituted by one or more
of the following materials: nitrile, neoprene, butyl, halobutyl,
EPDM (ethylene propylene diene), SBR (styrene butadiene), HNBR
(hydrogenated nitrile). Any combination of these materials may also
be used. Clearly, other materials may also be used to make the
joints to which the present invention applies.
[0025] According to a first embodiment variant, the surface
treatment of the joint is of the chemical type. In particular, this
surface treatment may include grafting halogens, such as atoms of
chlorine and/or fluorine on the joint surface. A means of achieving
this is to oxidise the joint surface in a chlorinated medium, for
example by immersing the joint in a solution containing water,
hydrochloric acid and bleach.
[0026] According to a second variant of the invention, the surface
treatment may be of the physical type. In particular this surface
treatment may include modifying the joint surface by means of
electron beams, subjecting the joint to an irradiation treatment,
the power of this irradiation being able to vary between about 150
KeV to about 10 MeV, depending on the required performance, such as
depth of treatment, speed of treatment, etc.
[0027] The table given below shows the effect of the surface
treatment on the friction coefficients.
[0028] The friction coefficients were measured according to the NFT
54-112 standard. This consists in sliding a rubber material over a
given plastic medium. The force required to initiate movement and
then to maintain it is then recorded. Two coefficients are deduced
from this:
[0029] - the static friction coefficient, which characterises slide
initiation (Ks),
[0030] - the dynamic friction coefficient, which characterises
continuous slide (Kd).
1 Friction coefficient Ks Kd Untreated nitrile 1.34 * Treated
nitrile 0.32 0.31 Untreated neoprene 1.12 0.61 Treated neoprene
0.41 0.30 * measurement impossible because of too much friction
[0031] The table above shows well the very significant effect of
the surface treatment of the invention on the friction coefficient,
which therefore significantly reduces the risks of sticking, in
other words the blocking of the valve.
[0032] Although the invention has been described with reference to
two particular embodiments of it, it is understood that various
modifications may be made to it, by the man skilled in the art,
without departing from the framework of the present invention, as
set out in the appended claims.
* * * * *