U.S. patent application number 11/332441 was filed with the patent office on 2006-06-29 for valve nozzle for a dispenser for liquid cosmetic products.
Invention is credited to Jean-Louis Bougamont, Astrid Henquenet.
Application Number | 20060138174 11/332441 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33548154 |
Filed Date | 2006-06-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060138174 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bougamont; Jean-Louis ; et
al. |
June 29, 2006 |
Valve nozzle for a dispenser for liquid cosmetic products
Abstract
The invention relates to a valve nozzle for a dispenser for a
liquid cosmetic product, the nozzle including a reservoir and an
internal piston which is actuated by the displacement of a base.
The inventive nozzle is characterised in that it comprises a cap
which closes the reservoir and is provided with a dispensing
opening that can be closed in a sealed manner by a pin fixed to a
spacer which is arranged inside the cap in a sliding manner and is
provided with at least one line which successively ensures the
emptying of the reservoir and the discharge of the product.
According to the invention, the cap and the spacer define a space
with a wall that has at least one elastically deformable region,
enabling the pin to retract from the dispensing opening, following
the actuation of the piston, in order to ensure the discharge of
the product.
Inventors: |
Bougamont; Jean-Louis; (Eu,
FR) ; Henquenet; Astrid; (Cannessieres, FR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ST. ONGE STEWARD JOHNSTON & REENS, LLC
986 BEDFORD STREET
STAMFORD
CT
06905-5619
US
|
Family ID: |
33548154 |
Appl. No.: |
11/332441 |
Filed: |
January 13, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
PCT/EP04/07676 |
Jul 12, 2004 |
|
|
|
11332441 |
Jan 13, 2006 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
222/320 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 47/2068 20130101;
B65D 47/2081 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
222/320 |
International
Class: |
B65D 88/54 20060101
B65D088/54 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 15, 2003 |
FR |
0308640 |
Claims
1. Nozzle with a valve for dispensing a liquid cosmetic product
comprising: a reservoir; an inner piston activated by the
displacement of a base; a cover that closes off the reservoir and
has a dispensing orifice that can be blocked in a watertight
fashion by means of a spigot solidly attached to a spacer housed so
as to slide inside the cover; and at least one conduit for venting
of the reservoir and the evacuation of the product, wherein said
cover and said spacer delimiting between them an enclosure in which
the wall has at least one area that can be elastically distorted
making it possible to separate the spigot from the dispensing
orifice, following the action of the piston, so as to assure the
delivery of the product.
2. Nozzle according to claim 1, wherein said distortable area
consists of the top section of the cover, around the dispensing
orifice.
3. Nozzle according to claim 2, wherein said conduit is made
through the spacer.
4. Nozzle according to claim 1, wherein said distortable area
consists of the top wall of a gas cell, which supports said
spigot.
5. Nozzle according to claim 4, wherein said cell is solidly
attached to said spacer.
6. Nozzle according to claim 4 wherein said conduit is made in the
perimeter of said cell.
7. Nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the bottom perimeter of
said spacer is provided with an element linking it with the top
edge of the reservoir.
8. Nozzle according to claim 1, wherein said cover includes a skirt
that fits radially onto the outer side wall of the reservoirs.
9. Nozzle according to claim 1, wherein said cover includes an
inner stop that limits the upward sliding of the spacer when it is
being assembled on the reservoir.
10. Packaging method of a liquid cosmetic product in a dispenser
comprising the steps of: providing a nozzle including a reservoir
and an inner piston activated by the displacement of a base in
accordance with claim 1; after filling, fitting said cover onto the
reservoir with the inner spacer in its low position to clear the
dispensing orifice; pushing said nozzle down allowing the air it
contains to be released to the outside, through the conduit, the
enclosure and the orifice until the spacer comes to a stop
downwards against the bottom against the top edge of the
reservoirs; and stopping the cover against the spacer while the
spigot enters the dispensing orifice in a watertight fashion.
11. Method according to claim 10, wherein the nozzle is guided onto
the dispenser, making the cover slide against the side wall of the
reservoir, which thus offers a radial seat.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of International Patent
Application No. PCT/EP2004/007676 filed on Jul. 12, 2004, which
designates the United States and claims priority of French Patent
Application No. 0308640 filed on Jul. 15, 2003.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to a nozzle with a valve for a
dispenser of liquid cosmetic products.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] More specifically, the invention is applicable to dispensers
that include, essentially, a reservoir and an inner piston
activated by the displacement of a base.
[0004] These dispensers are generally provided with an end valve
that assures both the watertightness of the reservoir and the
delivery of the product.
[0005] The valve is often built into an applicator nozzle, which
can be made from a single piece with the reservoir or can be joined
onto the latter.
[0006] In both cases, during the packaging phase of the product, it
is necessary to assure the release of the air located, at the end
of the assembly process, in the space situated above the free
surface of the liquid.
[0007] This operation, which is carried out on the premises of the
product manufacturer, must be simple and easy to implement so as
not to entail an additional production cost and/or quality
flaws.
[0008] Moreover, during the product-dispensing phase, the dosage
precision depends closely on the sensitivity of the valve and on
its capacity to react in response to the excess pressure generated
by the displacements of the piston, even in the case of small
amplitudes corresponding to small doses.
[0009] As regards watertightness, it depends on the quickness and
reliability of the mobile elements of the valve when returning to
their normal position.
[0010] All these constraints are the technical problems that the
nozzle of the invention aims to resolve.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] This objective is achieved by means of a nozzle
characterised in that it includes a cover that closes off the
reservoir and has a dispensing orifice that can be blocked in a
watertight fashion by means of a spigot solidly attached to a
spacer housed so as to slide inside the cover and provided with at
least one conduit that successively assures the venting of the
reservoir and the evacuation of the product, said cover and said
spacer delimiting between them an enclosure in which the wall has
at least one area that can be elastically distorted making it
possible to separate the spigot from the dispensing orifice,
following the action of the piston, so as to assure the delivery of
the product.
[0012] According to a first alternative embodiment of the
invention, said distortable area consists of the top section of the
cover, around the dispensing orifice. Said conduit is preferably
made through the spacer.
[0013] According to another alternative embodiment, said
distortable area consists of the top wall of a gas cell, which
supports said spigot. Said cell is therefore preferably solidly
attached to said spacer.
[0014] In addition, in this case said conduit is made in the
perimeter of said cell.
[0015] According to an advantageous characteristic, the bottom
perimeter of said spacer is provided with an element linking it
with the top edge of the reservoir.
[0016] According to another characteristic, said cover includes a
skirt that that fits radially onto the outer side wall of the
reservoir.
[0017] According to yet another characteristic, said cover includes
an inner stop that limits the upward sliding of the spacer when it
is being assembled on the reservoir.
[0018] The invention also relates to a method for packaging a
liquid cosmetic product in a dispenser including a nozzle according
to the invention, characterised in that, after filling, said cover
is fitted onto the reservoir with the inner spacer in its low
position to clear the dispensing orifice, then said nozzle is
pushed down to release the air it contains towards the outside,
through the conduit, the enclosure and the orifice until the spacer
comes to a stop downwards against the top edge of the reservoir
and, then, the cover stops against the spacer, while the spigot
enters the dispensing orifice in a watertight fashion.
[0019] According to a characteristic of the method, the nozzle is
guided onto the dispenser, making the cover slide against the side
wall of the reservoir, which thus offers a radial seat.
[0020] The nozzle of the invention is particularly simple since it
only includes two pieces (cover and spacer) that can remain
attached to each other, forming a pre-assembled assembly, delivered
to the customer together with the other part of the dispenser
(reservoir, piston and base).
[0021] The packaging method of the invention is, in addition, easy
to industrialise, since the final closing step consists of simply
fitting the pre-assembled assembly onto the reservoir with
automatic release of the air it contains.
[0022] Moreover, this fitting is guided by the cooperation between
the skirt of the cover and the wall of the reservoir, which offers
a radial seat.
[0023] The invention will be better understood from reading the
following description made in reference the diagrams, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] FIGS. 1A and 1B show cross-sections of a first embodiment of
the nozzle of the invention mounted on a dispenser, respectively in
the normal phase and the dispensing phase.
[0025] FIGS. 2A and 2B show cross-sections of a second embodiment
of the nozzle of the invention mounted on the same dispenser,
respectively in the normal phase and the dispensing phase.
[0026] FIGS. 3A to 3D show diagrammatic views of the various steps
in the packaging method of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0027] The embodiments of the nozzle of the invention are shown in
the figures in association with dispensers D of liquid cosmetic
products, the structure of which is presented here in a
diagrammatic fashion.
[0028] These dispensers D include, essentially and as their main
parts, a reservoir R and an inner piston P displaced by manual
activation of a base E and, particularly in this case, by the
rotation of said base around a vertical axis, with regard to the
reservoir R and the nozzle.
[0029] The nozzle of the invention is obviously suited for being
mounted on dispensers other than those shown here, and essentially
on dispensers in which the piston is moved by axial displacement of
the valve actuator.
[0030] In FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2Aa and 2B, the product is not shown for
reasons of clarity.
[0031] The nozzle of the invention includes a cover 1 enclosing the
reservoir R and which has a dispensing orifice 10. The orifice 10
can be blocked in a watertight fashion by means of a spigot or a
needle valve 21 solidly attached to a spacer lodged so as to slide
inside the cover 1.
[0032] The spacer 2 is provided with at least one conduit 20 that
successively assures the venting of the reservoir R as shown in
FIGS. 3A to 3D and the evacuation of the product from said
reservoir, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 2B.
[0033] The cover 1 and the spacer 2 delimit between them, in the
top section of the nozzle, an enclosure 12 supplied with the
product via the conduit 20. The wall of this enclosure has at least
one elastically distortable area that makes it possible to clear
the spigot 21 from the dispensing orifice 10, by the action of the
piston P, to allow the delivery of the product.
[0034] The bottom perimeter of the spacer 2 is provided with an
element that assures the link with the top edge or neck r of the
reservoir R, while the cover 1 includes a skirt 11 that fits
tightly in a watertight fashion against the outer side wall of the
reservoir R and comes to a stop on the outside against the top edge
of the base E.
[0035] The cover 1 also includes an inner stop, for example, in the
form of a shoulder 13 intended to limit the relative, upward
sliding of the spacer 2 when mounting the nozzle on a dispenser, as
shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D.
[0036] In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B,
the distortable area of the enclosure 12 consists of the top
section of the cover 1. This area consists of the actual wall of
the cover, which is made, at least around the dispensing orifice,
from a specific material and/or with a specific thickness, granting
it sufficient flexibility for opening the orifice 10 under the
pressure of the product.
[0037] The conduit 20 in this case is made through the spacer 2
and, in the alternative embodiment shown, around the spigot 21.
[0038] The reservoir R has a neck r with a profile that complements
the profile of the peripheral flange 22 of the spacer 2, assuring
the connection with said flange by fitting.
[0039] In addition, the profile of the side face of the spacer 2
matches the inner wall of the cover 1 at the level of the shoulder
13, thus assuring that it is wedged in a high position.
[0040] In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B,
the distortable area of the enclosure 12 consists of the top wall
23a of a gas cell 24 supporting the spigot 21.
[0041] The gas used will preferably be air at atmospheric
pressure.
[0042] The cell 24 is airtight and solidly attached to the spacer
2.
[0043] An excess pressure is generated in the reservoir R and in
the enclosure 12 by the action of the piston P. Since the wall of
the cover 1 is not distortable in this case, this excess pressure
is absorbed by the thin wall of the cell 24, forming a membrane
that can bend, bringing with it the spigot 21 and thus opening the
orifice 10.
[0044] This operation is obviously only possible with the condition
that the difference between the pressure in the enclosure 12,
pressurised through the action of the piston P, and the pressure in
the inner volume of the cell 24 is positive.
[0045] In the alternative shown, the cell is housed inside the
spacer, and the bottom 23b of the cell consists of a rigid wall
that will not distort under the pressure conditions that are
expected to be established.
[0046] This bottom can be a separate part, as in the alternative
shown, or can be made from a single part with the other parts of
the cell 24.
[0047] The conduit 20 is made in the perimeter of the cell in the
form of at least one channel 20a. If several channels are foreseen,
as in the alternative shown, they will be separated by partitions
25 that extend, axially, between the side wall of the cell 24 and
the wall of the nozzle 1.
[0048] The neck r of the reservoir is made up of at least one
peripheral slot c, assuring both the passage of the product and the
connection with the spacer 2.
[0049] The mounting of the nozzle of the invention on the dispenser
D is an operation implemented during the product packaging process,
which is performed as follows:
[0050] After filling the reservoir R (FIG. 3A), the cover 1 is
positioned and fitted as shown in FIG. 3B.
[0051] In this step, the spacer 2 is in its low position; the
spigot 21 is retracted with regard to the orifice 10.
[0052] Then, the nozzle is pushed vertically downwards, which has
the effect of forcing the air it contains to be continuously and
automatically released to the outside (represented by the arrows in
FIG. 3B) through the conduit 20, the enclosure 12 and the orifice
10.
[0053] Throughout this first assembly phase, the nozzle is guided
by sliding the cover 1 on the outside of the side wall of the
reservoir R, which thus offers a radial seat, while the spacer 2 is
fixed with regard to the cover 1.
[0054] This sliding fitting continues until the spacer 2 comes to a
stop against the top edge r of the reservoir R, as shown in FIG.
3C.
[0055] After this position, the spacer 2 is immobilised on the
reservoir and only the cover 1 continues to slide vertically
downwards with regard to the spacer/reservoir assembly.
[0056] The assembly is completed when the spigot 21 is inserted in
a watertight fashion in the orifice 10 and the cover 1 stops
jointly against the top section of the spacer 2; the bottom edge of
the skirt 11 in this case comes simultaneously into contact with
the base E, as shown in the FIG. 3D.
* * * * *