Dispensing – With discharge assistant – Container with follower
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-24
2003-12-02
Mar, Michael (Department: 3754)
Dispensing
With discharge assistant
Container with follower
C222S390000, C222S386000, C222S405000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06655557
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a dispensing device for packaging and dispensing products, for example, of viscous consistency, such as a cream, a paste, an ointment, a balm or a gel. The invention may be used in the packaging and dispensing of products for cosmetic, dermatological or medical use, such as care creams.
In the sphere of cosmetics and skin care, a pot, or shallow container, has been, and continues to be, widely used. Included amongst the cosmetic products that are packaged in such pots are creams, such as thinning creams, or such as those used for skin care. A dispensing device, such as the pot is suited to the packaging of these products in that it allows easy access to the product it contains, particularly when the product needs to be picked up directly on the fingers. Furthermore, because of the wide opening which characterizes it, it is possible to empty it completely, something that is desirable, for example, in the case of products that are sold to the consumer at a relatively high cost per unit weight.
One of the problems that arises for such a method of packaging and dispensing relates to the protection of its contents, for example, from ambient that could deteriorate the product. Another problem relates to the “contamination” of the product caused by picking up the product with the fingers. To solve the latter problem, it has been proposed for the product to be picked up on a spatula. This method of picking-up does not, however, play any part in protecting the contents from external contamination or from contact with the air. It is also known practice for the product to be protected by means of a disc that covers the free surface of the product, wherein such a disc has at least one opening arranged in a plane parallel to the plane of the disc, and the opening(s) are more or less at right angles to the axis of the pot. A device such as this is known, in particular, from FR-A-2 602 753 or from FR-A-1 384 417. In general the product is dispensed by pushing the disc down inside the pot, either simply by sliding or by turning, via a screw thread formed on the interior wall of the pot, wherein the screw thread is capable of collaborating with a corresponding screw thread formed by the periphery of the disc. As a result of the raised pressure exerted inside the pot, the product creeps and is delivered through an opening of the disc. This creep movement, however, may be detrimental to the product, particularly to its cosmetic or dermatological qualities. This is because by pressurizing the product in this way its viscosity may be modified to the point that its characteristics of application, for example, the smoothness, freshness and penetration into the skin, or its behavior are modified. Furthermore, experience teaches that metering out the amount of product picked up is not exactly precise, because of the inherent inertia in such a dispensing system. Finally, depending on the viscosity of the product, the force to be exerted to cause the product to creep may be prohibitive in terms of use.
British Patent No. 0006332 teaches the use of a dispensing element that, on the one hand, acts as a lid, and on the other hand, has an opening delimited by a lip cut in the disc formed by the dispensing element and bent towards the bottom of the pot. Thus, in combination with the disc, the lip delimits a first “opening”, the upper edge of which is in the plane of the disc, and the lower edge of which coincides with the free edge of the bent back lip. By turning the disc inside the pot, the product is forced to travel via this first opening, up along the folded back lip and to be delivered directly onto the surface of the disc via a second opening, a first edge of which coincides with the upper edge of the first opening, and of which a second edge, opposite the first, coincides with the axis of folding of the lip. The second opening is thus in the plane of the disc, that is to say in the plane of the upper edge of the first opening. The disc is turned by means of two handles arranged diametrically opposite each other on the upper surface of the disc.
A similar configuration is described in GB-A-0 385 182.
A major disadvantage with the configuration described in these above-mentioned documents stems from the fact that the product is delivered directly onto the surface of the disc and then has to be picked up, particularly with a finger, once the disc has been turned through a sufficient angle to deliver the necessary amount of product. Experience teaches that it is difficult to pick up all of the product lying on the surface of the disc. The latter therefore remains sullied. A result such as this is completely incompatible with hygiene and cleanliness requirements associated with the packaging and handling of products, such as, for example, cosmetic products.
Problems of the same kind arise with the configurations described in GB-A-0 524 811 and GB-A-0 157 699. Furthermore, as the disc is simply placed on the free surface of the product, the product has to have sufficient consistency. If it does not, there is a risk that the disc will sink inadvertently into the pot in response to the pressure inevitably exerted when turning the disc. There is then the risk of product being delivered onto the upper surface of the disc, not only through the opening formed by the bent back lip, but also, all around the disc. Furthermore, because of such a configuration, accurate metering out of the amount dispensed is extremely difficult to achieve.
Hence, one of the optional aspects of the present invention is to provide a dispensing device equipped with a dispensing element that fully or partially solves one or more of the problems mentioned with reference to conventional devices.
In particular, one optional aspect of the present invention is to provide a dispensing device that, in an easy-to-use and hygienic manner, allows the picking-up of almost all of the product that has been forced to pass onto the top of the dispensing element.
Another optional aspect of the present invention is to provide a dispenser that makes it possible, in a single action and simultaneously, to deliver the product and to allow it to be picked up by an applicator member, such as a finger.
Yet another optional aspect of the invention is to provide a dispensing device for packaging and dispensing a product, such as, for example, a cosmetic product, and which affords the product protection against external “contamination” or the ambient air, without appreciably affecting its characteristics, like its rheological characteristics.
Yet another optional aspect of the invention is to provide a dispensing device that allows precise metering out of the product that is to be dispensed.
Yet another optional aspect of the invention is to provide a system that is economical to produce, simple to use, and reliable.
Even further optional aspects will become apparent in the light of the description, which follows.
One aspect of the invention includes a dispensing device for a product of viscous consistency, such as, for example, a cream or a gel. The dispensing device includes a container, such as a pot, having an axis X, a first end enclosed by a bottom and a second end having an opening. Arranged on the product is a dispensing element forming a passage comprising at least one inlet orifice extending in a plane not perpendicular to the axis X, and an outlet orifice formed at least partly some distance from the inlet orifice, wherein said outlet orifice extends at least partially above an upper edge of the inlet orifice, and wherein turning the dispensing element on the product causes the product to be delivered through the outlet orifice.
The outlet orifice may extend at an angular distance from the inlet orifice. Such an angular distance may be on the order of 25° to 90°, for example about 45°.
By raising the outlet orifice with respect to the inlet orifice, it may be possible to deliver the product some distance from the surface of the dispensing element. This could make it easier to pick up the product directly without the pr
Albisetti Nicolas
Rousselet Guilhem
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
L'Oreal
Mar Michael
Nicolas F
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