Special receptacle or package – For mixing – Tear strip or piercer
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-21
2003-12-02
Luong, Shian (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
For mixing
Tear strip or piercer
C206S568000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06655524
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a packaging apparatus and, in particular, an assembly for separately packaging and extemporaneously mixing at least two products. The two products may be mixed to form a composition, for example, a cosmetic composition, as used, for example, in the area of hair dyeing.
Home hair dyeing systems typically use two types of dye formula: creams packaged in an aluminum tube and gels packaged in a rigid bottle. Home hair dyeing systems may also utilize an oxidizing agent contained in a somewhat rigid bottle, often referred to as a “squeezy bottle.” Alternatively, the oxidizing agent may be included in a system intended for automatically mixing the composition.
A great demand presently exists for the relatively rigid squeezy bottle to be replaced by a tube with more flexible walls into which the dye may be introduced at the time that the dye composition is to be used. Solutions have been proposed which are aimed at allowing a first tube, for example, a tube made of aluminum, containing a dye in the form of a cream, to be coupled to a second tube, for example, a tube made of thermoplastic, containing the oxidizing agent. Inverting one tube onto the other does not pose any problem when the tube to be inverted contains a product in the form of a cream. Once the two tubes have been coupled, all that is necessary is for pressure to be exerted on the walls of the tube containing the dye so as to drive its contents into the “receiving” tube containing the oxidizing agent. An air vent may be provided to compensate for the increase in volume of the product inside the receiving tube.
These proposed solutions pose may problems. First, between the instant that the tube containing the dye is opened and the instant that it is coupled in a sealed manner to the receiving tube, a certain space of time elapses during which the somewhat unpleasant smell of the dye (generally ammonia-based) spreads into the atmosphere. Furthermore, during this space of time, the dye is in contact with the air. This contact with the air gives rise, through oxidation, to degradation of the dye. Such degradation differs in intensity depending on the time required to manipulate the dye into the tube containing the oxidizing agent. Furthermore, when the dye and the oxidizing agent are in liquid form, it is difficult, if not impossible, to invert one of the tubes onto the other without spilling liquid through the joint between the two containers.
In the field of medicinal products, a relatively complicated system has been proposed for mixing a pharmaceutically active ingredient, particularly in solid form, with a solvent or diluent contained in a separate container. In this system, a first container containing the active ingredient is closed by a ball which is expelled into the first container when the second container containing the solvent is engaged with the first container via a coupling member provided on the second container so as to allow the two products to be mixed. Such a system is described in European Patent Publication No. 0 529 595.
One of the objectives of the system proposed in the '595 publication aims to avoid the stoppering device, in this instance the ball, dropping into the container from which the mixture will be taken. As a result, in order to homogenize the mixture, the device is turned head down so that the solvent is transferred into the first container, where it can be mixed homogeneously with the active ingredient. Once the mixture has been homogenized, the device is turned the other way up so as to allow the mixture produced to be transferred into the second container from which it can be dispensed.
This proposed device is complex in its production and in its use. The coupling member mounted on the second container prevents access to the mixture in the second container via the opening through which the two products were brought into contact with one another. Therefore, an auxiliary opening at the other end of the second container has to be provided. The mechanism that expels the ball is not particularly reliable. In addition, the mechanism that expels the ball takes up a substantial amount of space in the respective openings of each of the containers, which makes transferring liquid from one of the containers to the other difficult, particularly in the case of liquids of relatively high viscosity.
Another configuration is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,696. In this disclosed configuration, the coupling means and the removable stopper are configured in such a way that when the first container is engaged with the second container, the removable stopper is not ejected. Thus, the profiles of the plug and/or the container in which mixing takes place are chosen accordingly. It is only in response to a movement in the opposite direction, that is, a movement aimed at disengaging the first and second containers from one another, that the removable stopper is ejected. Depending on the exact design, the movements involved are sometimes complicated, and successful opening could be somewhat unpredictable.
According to one optional aspect of the invention, an assembly for mixing at least two products comprises a first container and a second container. The first container contains a first product and delimits a first opening. A removable stopper is associated with the first opening. The second container contains a second product and delimits a second opening. The first coupling member and the removable stopper are configured such that the first coupling member engages the removable stopper during establishment of a connection between the first container and the second container and the removable stopper passes into the second container so as to expose the first opening and allow the first product and the second product to be brought into contact with one another. For example, the first coupling member could engage the stopper when the first container engages the second container and during establishment of a connection between the first container and the second container (e.g., the stopper engagement could take place shortly after initial engagement of the containers). The products could, for example, be brought into contact by passing the first product and/or the second product through the first and second openings.
According to another optional aspect of the invention, a product packaging system comprises a first container containing a first product and delimiting a first opening and a second container containing a second product and delimiting a second opening. A removable stopper may be associated with the first opening. The second container may comprise one or more camming members projecting from a surface of the second container. One or each camming member may be configured to engage the stopper and to expose the first opening and allow the first product and the second product to be brought into contact with one another. For example, this stopper removal could take place as the first container is connected to the second container.
According to still another optional aspect of the invention, a method of forming a mixture of at least two products comprises providing a system comprising a first product packaged in a first container, a removable stopper provided in a first opening of the first container, and a second product in a second container, wherein the second container comprises a second opening. The first container is connected to the second container. The method further comprises removing the stopper from the opening while the first container is being connected to the second container, passing the stopper into the second container, and mixing the first product and the second product.
According to yet another optional aspect of the invention, a method of preparing and applying a cosmetic composition is provided. The method comprises providing an assembly or system, mixing the first product and the second product together to prepare a cosmetic composition, dispensing cosmetic composition from the assembly, and applying the cosmetic composition to at least one of s
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP
L'Oreal (S.A.)
Luong Shian
LandOfFree
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