Fluid sprinkling – spraying – and diffusing – Including supply holder for material – Resilient holder wall
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-24
2004-01-20
Huson, Gregory L. (Department: 3751)
Fluid sprinkling, spraying, and diffusing
Including supply holder for material
Resilient holder wall
C239S328000, C239S329000, C239S323000, C222S092000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06679439
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for dispensing a product, for example, a fluid product, in the form of a spray. In one example, the device could be configured to dispense a miniature spray of one or more cosmetic products and/or care products, for example, a product comprising at least one substance for imparting a scent.
2. Description of the Related Art
Examples of some dispensers are generally described in the following patent applications: FR-A-2 778 639, EP-A-0 761 314, FR-A-2 443 980; and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,897,005, and 3,412,907. These devices generally suffer from at least one principal drawback, such as, for example, cost of manufacture, difficulty to use, or inability to generate a quality spray.
For example, for dispensers that contain samples of products that are generally not intended for sale, it is sometimes desired to keep the cost of manufacture as low as possible. In such dispensers, it may be important for the devices to include parts which can be produced easily by mass production and which can be assembled in a simple manner. Furthermore, it is sometimes desired for dispensers to be capable of generating a spray possessing good quality and consistent characteristics. It may also be desirable for dispensers to generate a relatively gentle spray for a certain duration, so that the spray may possess characteristics similar to the spray of an aerosol-type spray.
One solution for producing dispensers at a lower cost might include producing a reservoir in the form of a dosing bottle, for example, a dosing bottle of the type sometimes used for dispensing some physiological serums, eye ointments, and/or makeup removing products. Such a dosing bottle may be formed in a single piece, for example, with a spray orifice which may be opened by pulling off an endpiece (e.g., by twisting the endpiece off about the axis of the spray orifice). Such a dispenser may be filled via an open bottom in the reservoir. The open bottom may then be sealed, for example, by welding, in a manner similar to welding the end of a tube.
Such a solution may, however, suffer from two major drawbacks. A first drawback may arise from the fact that upon opening, the spray orifice resulting from pulling-off the endpiece (e.g., by twisting) may have an imprecise shape and size. This may result in the spray characteristic varying greatly from one device to another when compressible walls of the reservoir are pressed to initiate spraying. In some instances, the cross-section of the orifice may be such that it is not possible to generate a spray. In such instances, the product may be able to flow out of the dispensing orifice only in the form of droplets of a greater or lesser size, or in the form of a continuous stream, rather than in the form of a spray.
A second drawback may be found, for example, in the welding operation. For example, in a dispenser containing a highly volatile product such as a scent, there is a risk that the product will evaporate when subjected to the heat associated with a welding process. The product may even deteriorate or ignite.
In addition, in some known devices, the quality of the spray may depend on the rate at which the compressible walls of the reservoir are pressed. In such devices, if the walls are pressed slowly, the spray may be of poor quality. FR 2 778 639 describes a spray device including a wall having a predetermined threshold of resistance to deformation that makes it possible to obtain a good quality spray. Nevertheless, in this particular device, there is no provision for producing a spray duration which is capable of being altered.
One subject of the invention relates to a dispenser, for example, a spray device, which may fully or partly obviate one or more drawbacks associated with the related art. Another subject of the invention relates a device which may be easy to mass-produce in a cost-effective manner. Another subject of the invention concerns a device for dispensing which may render it possible to generate a spray of satisfactory quality which may be consistently reproducible from one device to another. A further subject of the invention pertains to a device that may be capable of generating spray for a certain duration, and that may be capable of obtaining a relatively gentle spray. These subjects are optional and exemplary. Other subjects might also be possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the following description, certain aspects and embodiments will become evident. It should be understood that the invention, in its broadest sense, could be practiced without having one or more feature of these aspects and embodiments. It should also be understood that these aspects and embodiments are merely exemplary.
In one aspect, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention includes a device for dispensing a fluid product. The device includes a reservoir configured to contain a fluid product. The reservoir may include at least one actuating wall having a predetermined threshold resistance to deformation, and a spray orifice associated with the reservoir. The actuating wall may be configured to deform in response to pressure exerted on the actuating wall so as to cause the product to be sprayed out from the orifice. Moreover, the actuating wall may be configured so that when pressure exerted on the actuating wall is less than a threshold pressure P
s
sufficient to overcome the predetermined threshold resistance to deformation of the actuating wall, substantially no portion of the product is sprayed from the spray orifice. The device may be configured so that, at least upon a first use of the device, continuous exerting of the threshold pressure P
s
on the actuating wall causes spraying of the product from the spray orifice for a spray duration that is capable of being altered. For example, the device may be configured so that exerting of at least the threshold pressure P
s
on the actuating wall may cause the actuating wall to deform suddenly, thereby creating an overpressure condition within the reservoir.
As used herein, a wall having a “threshold resistance to deformation” means a wall configured in such a way that its deformation does not depend linearly on the pressure exerted on it in order to deform it, but entails the passing of a threshold. Thus, pressure exerted by a user on the actuating wall before the threshold pressure P
s
(i.e., the pressure necessary and sufficient to overcome the predetermined threshold resistance to deformation of the actuating wall) is reached, may cause some deformation of the wall which does not allow the product to be sprayed but which does allow energy to be built up so that when the pressure exerted by the user on the wall reaches the threshold pressure P
s
, the wall deforms suddenly. The volume inside the reservoir is then reduced in such a way that an overpressure is suddenly created inside the reservoir. This overpressure allows the product to be expelled from the spray orifice in the form of a spray. In at least some embodiments, that spray may be a good quality spray.
As used herein, the term “spray” means to eject and/or disperse a substance (e.g., a liquid) in the form of a mass or cloud of droplets, or in a discontinuous stream of droplets, such as, for example, in an atomizing fashion where the substance is in the form of a fine mist of tiny particles and/or droplets. In one example, the “spray” could be in a form similar to that of perfume dispensed in small particles dispersed in the air. In another example, the “spray” could be in a form similar to that sometimes associated with aerosol dispensers.
The range of times for which the duration of spraying is to be altered may determine certain aspects of the configuration of the device, for example, the cross-section of the spray orifice and its maximum throughput (e.g., its throughput as a function of the viscosity of the product and of the overpressure that may be generated inside the reservoir in response to the pressure exerted on the actuating wall). In determining these par
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP
Flynn Amanda
Huson Gregory L.
L'Oreal (S.A.)
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