Coating implements with material supply – Including rupturable means or sealed-cartridge receiver
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-06
2001-11-13
Walczak, David J. (Department: 3751)
Coating implements with material supply
Including rupturable means or sealed-cartridge receiver
C401S205000, C401S263000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06315480
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a device for delivering one or more doses of a fluid product, such as a liquid, creamy, gelatinous or gaseous product, as well as to a device for the application of an adhesive temporary tattoo using the aforementioned delivery device. The delivery device of the invention applies especially to the delivery of a pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, hygiene, perfumery and household-cleaning product.
In the field of perfumery and cosmetics, it is common practice to distribute free samples to the public which contain a small dose of products, in order to promote the product and to satisfy the public's craze for this type of sample. These product samples are generally packaged in small bottles or sachets which are provided with a removable stopper, with a spray device, with a tearable tab or with a breaking line for delivering the product. These delivery means have a relatively high manufacturing cost given that they are used only once, they are difficult to handle and, furthermore, run the risk of injuring the user.
A known device of this kind comprises a plastic package or a blister pack defining one or more cavities containing a generally liquid product, the package or the blister pack having a tab intended to be broken by bending, in order to gain access to the cavity.
Another known device comprises a first moulded plastic film defining a cavity for housing the product therein and a second film closing off the said cavity, it being possible to remove or tear the said second film in order to gain access to the cavity.
Blister packs of this type are also used for packaging medicines in the form of tablets or capsules, as well as for packaging soft contact lenses.
Also known, in the food field, are tearable plastic sachets intended to contain a dose of tomato sauce or salad dressing.
In the hotel industry, such sachets are also used to provide customers with independent doses of shampoo or liquid soap.
It will also be noted that such a device can be used for containing deodorizing doses for diffusing a perfumed gaseous product contained in a sachet or bottle into the ambient air. It will be noted that the device of the invention may be inserted into a magazine.
Document FR-A-2,632,936 describes a device for delivering a liquid or semi-liquid cosmetic product, this device consisting of a relatively thin film of plastic which defines a small sealed volume in which a product dose is packaged, this dose being able to be released by crushing the said volume by pressing it with one's fingers. However, this plastic film of generally spherical shape bursts in one's fingers when it is being crushed, making its use unpleasant for the user who will have his or her fingers impregnated with product.
The object of the invention is to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks and to provide a device for delivering one or more doses of a fluid product, which is simple to use, inexpensive to manufacture, effective in operation, compact and lighter in weight and which minimizes product wastage during delivery.
For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a device for delivering one or more doses of a fluid product, each dose being contained in a sealed reserve which is defined by an envelope at least partially made of a deformable flexible material, so that a crushing pressure exerted on the reserve causes the envelope to burst in order to release the product contained in the reserve, characterized in that the envelope is provided locally with at least one region of weakness forming a pre-aperture, so as to cause the envelope to burst instantly at the pre-aperture, the flow of product thus being channelled by the pre-aperture in a predetermined orientation. By virtue of the invention, the product is no longer delivered directly in contact with one's fingers, thereby avoiding one's fingers getting dirty and eliminating the risk of injury. Furthermore, since the flow of product is directed in a selected orientation, it is possible to optimize the use of the product to be delivered, without unnecessary product wastage. Since the product is delivered simply by pressing on the device, its use will be facilitated and speeded up.
Advantageously, the envelope comprises two films made of a plastic or the like, which are hermetically bonded to each other, for example by adhesive bonding or heat sealing, in a peripheral region in order to define, between the two films, the reserve containing the product.
In a first embodiment, the pre-aperture consists of a prescoring of the envelope, preferably in the general form of a cross. In another embodiment, the pre-aperture consists of a region of smaller thickness, preferably by local deformation of the envelope.
In yet another embodiment, the peripheral bonding region comprises locally a weakened heat-sealing region forming the aforementioned pre-aperture, while the rest of the peripheral bonding region is a definitive heat-sealing weld. Advantageously, the weakened heat-sealing region is defined between a peripheral portion in the form of a tab of one of the films and a corresponding portion of the other film, the said portions being superposed and extending some considerable distance away from the peripheral edge of the reserve.
In a first variant, the aforementioned tab projects into the reserve and is heat sealed in a detachable manner to a corresponding portion of the other film, which has an orifice for delivering the product to the outside when the tab becomes detached under the effect of the pressure of crushing the reserve.
In another variant, the tab projects outside the reserve and is heat sealed in a detachable manner to a corresponding portion of the other film, apart from two lateral edges of the tab which are heat sealed in a definitive manner to the other film in order to define at least one prechannel for opening the reserve.
In a first embodiment, the distal end edge of the tab is welded in a detachable manner in order to define at least one prechannel which can be opened at the end in order to expel the product. In this case, the tab may be extended beyond the corresponding portion of the other film, so as to be able to fold over and fasten in a detachable manner the projecting portion of the tab to the other film, in order to isolate the passage for expelling the product, before its use, from external contaminants.
In another embodiment, the distal end edge of the tab is heat sealed in a definitive manner to the other film, in order to define at least one closed prechannel, and at least one orifice is made through the tab and/or the corresponding portion of the other film in order to expel the product when the weakened heat-sealing weld becomes detached under the effect of the pressure exerted on the reserve.
According to another characteristic, each expulsion orifice may include a projecting end-piece in order to define a nozzle for spraying the product.
According to yet another characteristic, each orifice may be covered with a protective film, which can be moved aside under the effect of the pressure of the product leaving via the orifice, so as to isolate the orifice from external contaminants before use.
Advantageously, the expulsion orifice may consist of a plurality of micro-orifices, arranged for example in the form of a star, in order to spray the product when it is expelled.
According to yet another characteristic, the tab includes at least one intermediate line of definitive welding to the other film between its definitively heat-sealed lateral edges, the said intermediate line of welding being approximately parallel to the said lateral edges in order to define a plurality of prechannels for delivering the product.
In one particular embodiment of the device, the reserve is in the general form of a hollow bubble containing the product to be delivered.
In another embodiment, the two films forming the reserve are more or less plane and are superposed, at least one of them including an outwardly domed region, obtained for example by a moulding, in order to define with the other film
Bochenek Valerie Frederique
Cathala Francois Henri
Lacombe-Gervaz Valerie Christine
Martel Stephane Christopher
Michael & Best & Friedrich LLP
Walczak David J.
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