U.S. patent application number 12/440278 was filed with the patent office on 2009-12-24 for axially directed dispenser of a semisolid or pasty product.
This patent application is currently assigned to LIR FRANCE. Invention is credited to Sylvain Theroude.
Application Number | 20090317168 12/440278 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37898572 |
Filed Date | 2009-12-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090317168 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Theroude; Sylvain |
December 24, 2009 |
AXIALLY DIRECTED DISPENSER OF A SEMISOLID OR PASTY PRODUCT
Abstract
Dispenser (1) intended for the packaging of a pasty product (6),
comprising a basically tubular body (2) possessing a side wall (3)
ending in an upstream opening (4) and a downstream opening (5) for
receiving a removable cover member (8), a means for the axial
propulsion of said product comprising an axial screw (14) working
in conjunction with a piston (24) supporting said product, and a
wheel (15) mounted axially and leak-tightly in the upstream
opening, and said axial screw and said wheel being made in one
piece; which dispenser is characterized in that the wheel comprises
a first wall (16) and a concentric second wall (17), both connected
to a base wall (18), said first wall being geometrically
approximately a continuation of the side wall, and the second wall
being of a smaller diameter.
Inventors: |
Theroude; Sylvain; (Provins,
FR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CANTOR COLBURN, LLP
20 Church Street, 22nd Floor
Hartford
CT
06103
US
|
Assignee: |
LIR FRANCE
PROVINS
FR
|
Family ID: |
37898572 |
Appl. No.: |
12/440278 |
Filed: |
September 3, 2007 |
PCT Filed: |
September 3, 2007 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/FR2007/001422 |
371 Date: |
March 6, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
401/68 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45D 40/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
401/68 |
International
Class: |
A45D 40/04 20060101
A45D040/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 7, 2006 |
FR |
06.07822 |
Claims
1. An axially directed dispenser intended for packaging a
semi-solid or pasty product, typically a cosmetic product such as a
deodorant, comprising: a substantially tubular body having a side
wall ending, on the one hand, in an upstream opening and, on the
other hand, in a downstream opening capable of accepting a
removable cover member, a means of axially propelling said product
comprising a threaded axial screw collaborating with a piston that
serves to support said product, and a wheel fixed axially in a
sealed manner into the upstream opening of the body, said axial
screw and said wheel being produced as a single piece, wherein the
wheel comprises a first wall and a second wall that are concentric
and secured to an end wall supporting said screw, said first wall
being positioned substantially in the continuation of the side wall
of the body, and the second wall being of smaller diameter.
2. The dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upstream
opening of the body and the wheel are equipped with complementary
fastening means allowing them to clip together.
3. The dispenser as claimed in claim 2, wherein the body is
extended axially, at its upstream opening by an interior skirt
capable of clipping onto the second wall of the wheel.
4. The dispenser as claimed in claim 3, wherein the interior skirt
of the body is substantially conical and has at least one internal
shoulder, and the second wall of the wheel has at least one boss,
formed on the external face, capable of retaining said internal
shoulder.
5. The dispenser as claimed in claim 4, wherein the second wall of
the wheel has three bosses evenly distributed about the
circumference.
6. The dispenser as claimed in claim 4, wherein the boss is
circular.
7. The dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second wall
has, on the opposite side to the end wall, a free end in the form
of a lip that is curved outward to provide sealing between the body
and the wheel.
8. The dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body is
equipped with a plurality of internal axial ribs.
9. The dispenser as claimed in claim 8, wherein the piston is
produced in the form of a substantially diskoid plate the diameter
of which is less than that of the body.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to an axially directed
dispenser intended for packaging a semi-solid or pasty product,
which product does not flow at ambient temperature, typically a
cosmetic product such as a deodorant, also known by the name of
"stick".
BRIEF DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART
[0002] Known dispensers of this type generally comprise a tubular
body containing a means of axially propelling the solid or
semi-solid stick-form cosmetic product. The body has two openings,
upstream and downstream, a cover member being provided to close off
the upstream opening. The propulsion means comprises two assemblies
able to move relative to one another, the first assembly consisting
of a piston tailored to the shape of the body and provided with a
nut-forming central part, said piston being capable of axial but
not of rotational movement and intended to support the cosmetic
product, and the other assembly comprising a base axially fastened
to the body but free to rotate, this fastening generally being by
clipping together or snap fastening, a threaded axial screw secured
to the base bearing and collaborating with said nut-forming part of
the piston and a wheel for turning the axial screw, which may
possibly form all or part of a bottom, allowing the user to move
the cosmetic product axially toward the downstream opening of the
body as the product gradually becomes used up.
[0003] In the known way, the piston and the base generally have
openings to allow the dispenser to be filled via its upstream
opening, the wheel then serving to close off the upstream opening
of the base.
[0004] Traditionally, the dispenser is formed by assembling,
particularly by clipping or snap fastening, the means of axial
propulsion into the body, the other elements of the dispenser also
generally being assembled in this way, reversibly as far as the
cover member is concerned and irreversibly as far as the wheel that
turns the axial screw is concerned.
[0005] Furthermore, there may be an insert between the cover member
and the body so as to shape the product if the latter is filled via
the upstream opening, and/or to provide sealing between these two
items.
[0006] However, although these dispensers perform relatively well
from a technical point of view, they do call upon too high a number
of separate parts, there being at least five of these, namely the
tubular body, the cover member, the base integral with the threaded
axial screw, the piston and the wheel.
[0007] There has been proposed, in French Patent FR 2 861 373, for
a dispenser to be produced that has no more than four separate
parts to be assembled. To do that, the base, the threaded screw and
the wheel are produced in the form of a one-piece entity. This
reduction in the number of parts then leads to a very significant
reduction in the cost of manufacture and of assembly but, given the
special design of this dispenser, the wheel no longer has any
bottom, and this is detrimental in esthetic terms. The problem is
that a conventional dispenser usually has a substantially flat
bottom that elegantly closes off said dispenser and serves to
support it when it is standing vertically.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The invention overcomes the various disadvantages by
providing an axially directed dispenser intended for packaging a
semi-solid or pasty product, typically a cosmetic product such as a
deodorant, comprising a substantially tubular body having a side
wall ending, on the one hand, in an upstream opening and, on the
other hand, in a downstream opening capable of accepting a
removable cover member, a means of axially propelling said product
comprising a threaded axial screw collaborating with a piston that
serves to support said product, and a wheel fixed axially in a
sealed manner into the upstream opening of the body, said axial
screw and said wheel being produced as a single piece,
characterized in that the wheel comprises a first wall and a second
wall that are concentric and secured to an end wall, said first
wall being positioned substantially in the continuation of the side
wall of the body, and the second wall being of smaller
diameter.
[0009] Thus a dispenser according to the invention comprises a
one-piece axial screw/wheel assembly able, on the one hand, to
reduce the total number of parts and, on the other hand, to give
the dispenser the standard external appearance.
[0010] According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the
upstream opening of the body and the wheel are equipped with
complementary fastening means allowing them to clip together.
[0011] Advantageously, the body is extended axially, at its
upstream opening by an interior skirt capable of clipping onto the
second wall of the wheel.
[0012] Advantageously too, the interior skirt of the body is
substantially conical and has at least one internal shoulder, and
the second wall of the wheel has at least one boss, formed on the
external face, capable of retaining said internal shoulder. As a
preference, the second wall of the wheel has three bosses evenly
distributed about the circumference. As an alternative, it should
be noted that the boss may be circular over at least part of the
periphery of the external face of the second wall.
[0013] As a preference, the second wall has, on the opposite side
to the end wall, a free end in the form of a lip that is curved
outward to provide sealing between the body and the wheel. This
configuration is therefore more logical than the configuration
covered by patent application FR-2 861 373 whereby sealing between
the body and the wheel was afforded upstream of the clip-fastening
of said wheel to the body.
[0014] Again as a preference, the body is equipped with a plurality
of internal axial ribs. The piston may then be produced in the form
of a substantially diskoid plate the diameter of which is less than
that of the body because translational guidance of the product
along the body is obtained solely by said axial ribs about which
the product has solidified. One important advantage then lies in
the fact that this saving on material makes it possible to reduce
both the mass of the dispenser and the cost of manufacturing
it.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The invention will be better understood with the aid of the
detailed description set out hereinbelow with reference to the
attached drawing in which:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a view in longitudinal section of a dispenser
according to the invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a view in longitudinal section of the one-piece
axial screw/wheel assembly used in the dispenser depicted in FIG.
1;
[0018] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view in longitudinal section of the
wheel of the assembly depicted in FIG. 2;
[0019] FIGS. 4 to 6 are sectional views of the dispenser depicted
in FIG. 1 during the filling and assembly operations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] An axially directed dispenser 1 according to the invention,
as depicted more especially in FIG. 1, is made from a substantially
tubular plastic body 2 that has a side wall 3 ending in an upstream
opening 4 and a downstream opening 5. This dispenser 1 is intended
for packaging a semi-solid or pasty product 6, for example a
cosmetic product such as a deodorant.
[0021] The side wall 3 has a smaller thickness at the downstream
opening 5 and is provided with an external screw thread 7 for the
screw-fastening of a removable cover member that acts as a cap 8.
In the conventional way, an insert 9 is positioned between the
downstream opening 5 and the cap 8.
[0022] At the upstream opening 4 the side wall 3 subdivides into a
short arm 10 extending said side wall 3, and into an interior skirt
11 that is substantially conical in the upstream direction and has
a circular internal shoulder 12 near its upstream end 13.
[0023] A one-piece plastic assembly consisting of a threaded axial
screw 14 and a wheel 15 is fitted into the upstream opening 4 of
the body 2.
[0024] More specifically, the wheel 15 comprises a first wall 16
and a second wall 17 which are concentric and secured to an end
wall 18, said first wall 16 being substantially positioned in the
continuation of the side wall 3 of the body 2, and the second wall
17 being of a smaller diameter. The axial screw 14 is positioned at
the center of the end wall 18 and extends downstream therefrom in a
direction parallel to the axis of the dispenser 1.
[0025] The second wall 17 is provided with three bosses 19 on its
external face evenly distributed about the entire circumference.
These bosses are able to collaborate with the internal shoulder 12
of the interior skirt 11 so as to allow clip fastening.
[0026] Furthermore, the second wall 17 has, on the opposite side to
the end wall 18, a free end in the form of a lip 20 curved outward
to come into contact with the internal face of the interior skirt
11 so as to provide sealing between the body 2 and the wheel 15
downstream of the clip fastening.
[0027] In the upstream-to-downstream direction, the axial screw 14
can be broken down into, firstly, a base-forming section 21 and,
secondly, a threaded section 22 around which a nut-forming piston
24 is positioned. More specifically, this piston 24 is produced in
the form of a substantially diskoid plate of a diameter smaller
than that of the body 2.
[0028] Finally, the internal face of the side wall 3 is equipped
with a plurality of axial ribs 25.
[0029] As depicted in FIGS. 4 to 6, the operations of filling and
assembling the dispenser 1 are advantageously performed as
follows.
[0030] First of all, the insert 9 and the cap 8 are attached in
succession to the body 2 then the body is inverted and stood on
said cap 8. As indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4, a product 6 that
has been heated such that it becomes semi-liquid, is then
introduced into the body 2 via its upstream opening 4.
[0031] The axial screw 14/wheel 15 one-piece assembly is then
introduced into the body 2 via its upstream opening 4, as shown in
FIG. 5. Prior to this insertion, the piston 24 will have been
screwed onto the threaded section 22 of the axial screw 14 until it
butts against the base-forming section 21. The threaded section 22
and the piston 24 can then penetrate the product 6 which will not
yet have solidified.
[0032] The insertion of the axial screw/wheel 15 assembly forces
the internal shoulder 12 of the interior skirt 11 to move
elastically outward at the three bosses 19 exhibited by the second
wall 17. Once these bosses 19 have been overcome, the internal
shoulder 12 regains its state of rest, ultimately leading to a
clip-fastened attachment between the body 2 and the wheel 15.
[0033] Once assembly has been achieved, as depicted in FIG. 6, the
free end of the first wall 16 and the upstream end 13 of the
interior skirt 11 lie respectively in abutment against the arm 10
of the body 2 and the end wall 18 of the wheel 15.
[0034] Once the product 6 has cooled and become semi-solid it can
then be made to effect an axial translational movement simply by
turning the wheel 15 after having removed the cap 8 and the insert
9. What happens is that the axial ribs 25 created in the internal
face of the side wall 3 act as axial guides preventing the product
6, and the piston 24 which has become integral with said product 6,
from being made to turn.
[0035] Furthermore, in the conventional way, it should be noted
that the insert 9 allows the product 6 to be given an appropriate
shape.
[0036] Although the invention has been described in conjunction
with specific embodiments, it is quite obvious that it is not in
any way restricted thereto and that it comprises all technical
equivalents of the means described together with combinations
thereof where these fall within the scope of the invention.
* * * * *