Dispensing – With lock or fastening seal – Single-use fastening seal
Reissue Patent
2001-01-18
2002-04-30
Derakshani, Philippe (Department: 3754)
Dispensing
With lock or fastening seal
Single-use fastening seal
C222S209000
Reissue Patent
active
RE037675
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dispensing bottle permitting a controlled and optionally metered dispensing of its contents while offering a comfortable grip. Moreover, the bottle may be provided with a sealing system which prevents degradation, in particular by air, of the product during its storage and/or between uses.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the pharmaceutical or cosmetic field, gels and creams are usually stored in pots provided with a simple lip and are taken up by dipping the finger directly in the pot. This practice has two drawbacks, i.e., microbial contamination introduced into the stored product, and the lack of precise metering of the product.
The use of a dropper bottle for metered dispensing of a liquid product is known. A dropper bottle usually comprises a reservoir having a squeezable bulb at one of its ends and a constricted opening at the other end. Air is expelled from the reservoir by actuating the bulb, the end having the constricted opening is immersed in a bottle containing the product to be metered, and the product enters the reservoir upon relaxation of the bulb. The product is subsequently dispensed by actuating the bulb.
Such dropper bottle systems are not suitable for the dispensing of products with a creamy consistency such as gels, or viscous products in general. Indeed, products of this consistency can only rise with difficulty through the constrictor, since air bubbles are drawn into the reservoir at the same time as the product, and a proportion of the product inevitably remains stuck on the outer wall of the dropper bottle. Moreover, with each use of the dropper bottle it must be assumed that the bottle has previously been opened, and hence that the product has been placed into contact with the oxygen of the air.
Bottles with deformable walls and a constricting end are also known, offering a metered dispensing of the contained product by simple pressure on the walls. These bottles, being manually compressed, have the drawback that they do not afford very precise dosing. Moreover, since their walls are deformable, they can only be carried in luggage with certain precautions, i.e., being protected from pressure and shocks. Although the addition of a leakproof closing system to the constrictor makes it possible to avoid accidental leakages, there still remains the risk of the walls of the bottle yielding under unduly high pressure. Furthermore, such bottles tend to become deformed in the course of time, in particular to keep the concave shape imparted by the manual pressure. The deformable plastic materials of which these bottles are made are not suitable for the packaging of luxury products for which more rigid materials are preferred. Moreover, the expensive products are dispensed in small quantities, and it is not known how to make bottles of a small size with deformable walls and offering a complete return of excess dispensed product.
For example, devices are known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,879, FR-A-733446, FR-A-1248664, FR-A-2411140, FR-A-1164796 and FR-A-771150 which comprise a reservoir cavity filled by a product to be dispensed, one end of the cavity comprising a pressure-increasing means, the other a braking system. However, none of these documents mentions any sealing device for single or semi-permanent use.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,305 there is known a sealing device for single use applied to the top of the neck of a bottle. This device consists of an aluminum foil cover and a tip which can pierce this cover foil before the first use. However, this document does not suggest in any way the use of such a device in any application other than on the neck of a bottle.
FR-A-2656240 describes a semipermanent sealing device for the filling and dispensing a product contained in a reservoir formed by a flexible pouch. This document neither describes nor suggests the application of such a device to an application other than the filling and dispensing from a reservoir.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a bottle with a rigidity allowing easy manipulation, provided with a dispensing system which permits a controlled dispensing, and optionally a precise dosing, of the product containing therein, irrespective of the viscosity of the product, while ensuring preservation of the product over time.
The above and other objects are achieved according to the invention by a bottle comprising a reservoir body containing a product and provided with at least two openings, the first (P) of these openings being provided with a pressure-increasing means, and the second opening (R) being provided with means for braking and retaining the product.
The product to be dispensed may be a paste, a cream, a gel, a liquid, loose powder, and generally any Galenic form, with the exception of a compact solid.
Preferably, the body of the bottle is chosen to have a sufficient rigidity so as not to be deformed under normal manual pressure in the usual conditions of use. For this purpose, a naturally rigid material is used as, for instance, glass or aluminum. It is also possible to use thermoplastic materials such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, or copolymers of ethylene, of propylene, and/or of styrene, these materials having sufficient thicknesses to give them the desired rigidity.
A rigid bottle can also be made by means of a more flexible material, if this bottle is small and has angular shapes. Thus the product contained in the reservoir included in the body of the bottle cannot flow out under the effect of any accidental pressure exerted on the body of the bottle.
In the absence of pressure-increasing means and braking and retaining means provided by the present invention, rigid bottles, irrespective of the reason for their rigidity, usually do not permit a proper emptying of their contents.
During the packaging of the bottle, the product is introduced into the container body. The braking and retaining means, which is chosen according to the nature of the product, prevents the product from emerging from the bottle in the absence of pressure.
According to another aspect of the invention, the bottle comprises a body forming a reservoir in which there is stored a product, a pressure-increasing means, a means for fixing the pressure-increasing means on the first opening P of the reservoir ending in a neck, and optionally a cover cap C
R
, the cover cap C
R
cooperating with the second end of the bottle where the constrictor is placed.
The invention more particularly concerns fluid products such as lotions, in particular milks and shampoos, gels, creams, foams, the dispensing of which is intended to be controlled. This invention concerns, in particular, cosmetic or therapeutic use and, as a general rule, products of a high price and where it is desirable to prevent wastage. The bottles in accordance with the invention permit a controlled dispensing, and optionally metering, of such products.
In accordance with the invention, the unit constituted by the body, by the means for fixing the neck, and by the pressure-increasing means is provided with a sealing device which ensures that the contents of the reservoir do not come into contact with air during the whole duration of storage, and possibly even between two successive uses. Moreover, the bottles in accordance with the invention prohibit any direct contact between the manipulator and the inside of the reservoir. Thus the risks of microbial contamination are extremely limited. The sealing device may be constituted by the pressure-increasing means, by the first end P of the bottle and by the fixing means, and comprises at least one sealing means for single or semipermanent use.
Such a sealing means for single use which can be used in the present invention consists, for example, of a tearable or pierceable obturating cover which, during the first use, is pierced or torn by actuation of the pressure-increasing means. This obturating cover is, for example, constituted by an aluminum foil or by a polyethylene film, or is made o
Derakshani Philippe
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
L'Oreal
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