EP0618876A1

EP0618876A1 - Refill unit and housing for liquid, pasty or powdered substances

Info

Publication number: EP0618876A1
Application number: EP93924665A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Simone Morel
Original assignee: Societe de Conseils et dEtudes des Emballages SCEE
Current assignee: Societe de Conseils et dEtudes des Emballages SCEE
Priority date: 1992-11-02
Filing date: 1993-11-02
Publication date: 1994-10-12
Also published as: FR2697508B1; WO1994010062A1; FR2697508A1

Abstract

L'invention concerne un boîtier à recharge formant flacon pour produits liquides, pâteux ou poudreux, comportant un boîtier (2) muni à une extrémité d'un fond (4) ouvert par lequel peut être introduit un récipient (1) qui contient ledit produit qui est pourvu d'une bague de fixation (3) à filetage extérieur pour sa fixation par vissage au voisinage de l'autre extrémité, dite supérieure, du boîtier. Le boîtier à recharge selon l'invention est notamment remarquable en ce que le boîtier (2) comporte à son extrémité supérieure un écrou (5) monté libre en rotation, accessible de l'extérieur, et destiné à venir en prise avec le filetage de la bague de fixation (3) du récipient (1) de telle sorte que l'on peut fixer ou retirer ce dernier du boîtier en agissant sur ledit écrou dans le sens respectivement du vissage ou du dévissage.The invention relates to a refill box forming a bottle for liquid, pasty or powdery products, comprising a box (2) provided at one end with an open bottom (4) through which a container (1) containing said product can be inserted. which is provided with a fixing ring (3) with external thread for its fixing by screwing in the vicinity of the other end, called the upper end, of the casing. The refill case according to the invention is particularly remarkable in that the case (2) comprises at its upper end a nut (5) mounted free in rotation, accessible from the outside, and intended to come into engagement with the thread of the fixing ring (3) of the container (1) so that the latter can be fixed or removed from the housing by acting on said nut in the direction of screwing or unscrewing respectively.

Description

CASE AND RECHARGE UNIT FOR LIQUID, PASTY OR POWDERY PRODUCTS

The invention relates to a refill container forming a bottle for liquid or pasty or even powdery products, in particular for cleaning and cosmetic products.

Liquid, pasty or powdery maintenance products, for cleaning for example, or cosmetics, are generally packaged in plastic bottles of large capacity. This type of packaging is not very ecological because it is bulky and of a material generally difficult or impossible to recycle. In addition, it is relatively expensive.

There are also so-called "refill" packaging in the form of sachets or bottles with unscrewable caps. However, these refills require delicate handling which consists in cutting off one end of the sachet or opening the bottle to fill a rigid container for use, failing which the direct use of the refill would be difficult with serious risks of splashing. This is why the inventor has imagined a device in which a refill container is fixed in a rigid, aesthetic and economical use case without it being necessary beforehand to transfer the product, or even in certain cases, to '' open the refill container. Also known, in particular from documents FR-E-56657 and CH-A-264155, is a device comprising a housing provided at one end with an open bottom through which a container which contains the product can be introduced and which is provided with 'a fixing ring with external thread for its fixing by screwing in the vicinity of the other end, called the upper end, of the housing.

However, in these known devices, it is in particular always necessary to open the refill container in order to position it in the housing. In addition, due to the screwing of the container into the housing, these are necessarily cylindrical. Also also, the screwing of the container into the housing is delicate and it is often necessary to provide special means in the bottom of the reci¬ pient-refill to ensure said screwing. This is in particular why the inventor proposes a refill box forming a bottle, of the aforementioned type but which is, inter alia, remarkable in that the box comprises at its upper end a nut mounted free in rotation, accessible from the outside, and intended - Born to come into engagement with the thread of the reci¬ pient fixing ring so that one can fix or remove the latter from the housing by acting on said nut in the direction of screwing or unscrewing respectively.

Advantageously, the casing is provided at its upper part with an annular housing intended to receive freely in rotation, but fixed in translation, at least part of the nut or a part integral with the latter.

According to one embodiment, the nut of the casing is arranged completely in its housing so that it does not protrude from said casing, the latter having cutouts at the level of said nut for its rotation maneuver.

In this case, for example, the nut has a cylindrical portion with an internal thread intended to cooperate with the container fixing ring while it has a flexible, conical and striated outer skirt, intended to come into the annular housing and also serve as an actuating means in rotation.

According to another embodiment, the nut of the box has a base intended to come into the annular housing while the major part of the nut projects out of said box. Whether the nut is thus inside or outside, it is possible, for example, for the container fixing ring to be extended by a plugging and product evacuation ring, which ring has a diameter less than that of the fixing ring for passing through and protruding from the nut during assembly, being further arranged to receive a means for closing the container so as to stop it both before assembly and after and possibly during.

In this case, the plugging and evacuation ring can also have an external thread for closing by means of a screw cap. However, said ring can of course also be obtu¬ rated by any other means, such as, for example, a service capsule clipped or screwed. To allow better emptying of the container, it can be constituted by a flexible and deformable material, while the housing has at least one uncorked cutout forming a pous¬ evening capable of acting by pressure on said container. However, according to yet another embodiment for liquid products, whether the nut of the housing is exterior or interior, it can be secured to a pump plug which projects out of said housing while the container fixing ring is initially used for fixing a screw cap so that said container is fixed with the nut after unscrewing and removing said cap, the pump cap making it possible to spray the product contained in the container.

Preferably, the shapes respectively outside of the container and inside of the box correspond so that said container fits tightly in the box.

It is understood that the container and the housing can have any shape. In the simple case where the housing and / or the container have a circular cross section, anti-rotation means may be provided in the form of notches and of conjugate ribs arranged respectively on the container and in the housing or vice versa.

The invention will be clearly understood and other particularities will appear on reading the description which follows and which refers to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation in half view in section and half outside view of a refill container for a first embodiment,

FIG. 2 is an elevation in half sectional view and half external view of a box intended to receive the container of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 2,

- Figure 4 is an elevation in half sectional view and half exterior view of the housing of Figures 2 and 3 equipped with container of Figure 1,

FIGS. 5 to 8 correspond respectively to FIGS. 1 to 4 for another embodiment,

Figures 9 and 10 correspond to Figure 4 or Figure 8 but according to two other embodiments which result from a combination of the embodiments mentioned above.

To simplify, the elements which are identical or have the same function in the drawings, from one embodiment to another, bear the same references or, for small variants, accentuated references.

In the drawings, we can see a refill container 1, l '(Figures 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10) and a housing 2, 2', 2 ", 2 '" (Figures 2, 3, 4 , 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) intended to receive said container 1, l '. The refill container 1, 1 ′ containing the product has here the shape of a flask with a shoulder and the boxes of course have similar interior shapes. The container 1, l 'is provided with an externally threaded fixing ring 3.

The housing 2 to 2 '' ', in rigid or semi-rigid material, is provided at one of its ends with an open bottom 4 and has at its other end also open, a nut 5, 5' mounted free in rotation in a housing 6, 6 'in the form of an annular groove.

According to a first embodiment, the nut 5, said inté¬ laughing, is fully mounted in the housing 6 of the housing 2, 2 "', as shown in Figures 2, 4 and 10 and it is in this case provided with a cylindrical part 7 with internal thread and a flexible and frustoconical outer skirt 8 intended to come into the housing 6 of suitable shape and therefore also frustoconical, the skirt 8 being able to rotate freely in said housing.

To easily drive the nut 5 in rotation, it suffices to grasp the skirt 8 provided for this purpose externally with ridges, as shown in the drawings (Figures 2, 4 and 10), access to said nut being possible thanks to cutouts of the housing, such as the cutout 9 visible in FIG. 3, another cutout preferably being diametrically symmetrical.

According to another embodiment, the smaller housing 6 ′ receives a base 10 of the nut 5 ′, which, said to be external, then protrudes from the housing 2 ′, 2 ″ (FIGS. 6, 8 and 9) of such so that said nut 5 ′, also provided with external ridges, is easily anipulable.

In FIGS. 1, 4 and 9, it can be seen that the container 1 is provided with a second ring 11 externally threaded which extends the fixing ring 3 and whose diameter is slightly smaller, the ring 11 forming an orifice evacuation and being provided to receive a screw cap 12.

On the contrary, the container of FIGS. 5, 8 and 10 has only its single fixing ring 3 forming the evacuation orifice and onto which the plug 12 is initially screwed (FIG. 5). The nut 5 inside or 5 'outside can also be solidai¬ re with a pump stopper 13 for spraying, conventionally provided with a suction cannula 14, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 for an outside nut 5 'and Figure 10 for an inner nut 5. Finally, Figures 2, 4 and 9 show that the housing 2, 2 "could be provided with a pusher 15 formed by a cutout 16 of its wall.

It is understood that the drawings represent two types of rechar¬ ge 1, the with respectively two threaded rings 3 and 11, or a single ring 3, and four types of housing 2, 2 ', 2 ", 2" "which are distinguished as follows:

- housing 2 with single inner nut 5 (Figures 2, 3, 4),

- 2 "box with single external nut 5 '(Figure 9),

- 2 'spray housing with external nut 5' and pump plug 13 (Figures 6, 7, 8),

- 2 '' 'spray housing with internal nut 5 and pump plug 13 (Figure 10).

It will also be noted that the refill container 1 (FIG. 1), advantageously made of flexible and deformable material, is intended to be mounted in a housing 2 or a 2 "box, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, and that the container- recharge (Figure 5) can be mounted in a 2 'or 2' 'box (Figures 8 and 10).

To obtain the container 1 assemblies in the boxes 2 or 2 ", it suffices to introduce said container 1 through the bottom 4 of said housing and to pass the nut 5, 5 '(inside or outside) through the ring 11 of the container with its cap 12 before fixing the en¬ seems by screwing the nut 5, 5 'on the ring 3, the threads being obviously combined. In these embodiments (Figures 4 and 9), we chose the dimensions of the ring 11 and "αe its cap 12 so that it is advantageously possible to make the assembly without having to open the container 1.

The use is then simple since it suffices to remove the plug 12 and if necessary, for better emptying, to act on the pous¬ evening 15 which will press the flexible container 1.

For the refill container 'to be assembled in the boxes 2' and 2 ' ¹ ', the cap 12 is first unscrewed, the container is introduced as before the container, the cannula 14 being introduced into the said container , and the assembly is fixed by screwing the nut 5, 5 'on the single ring 3 to obtain the embodiments as already said, of Figures 8 and 10. The actuation of the pump will then allow spraying of the product contained in container 1 '.

As shown in Figure 3, the container and its housing (here the housing 2) can be of any shape with polygonal section for example, but it is of course possible to provide circular sections, as shown in Figure 7 about more particularly of the housing 2 '.

More specifically in this case, it is possible to provide notches 17 on the container 1a (FIG. 5) and ribs 18 in the housing (FIG. 6) or vice versa, to form anti-rotation means when the nut is screwed.

To replace the container 1, once empty, it is easy to understand the reverse unscrewing operations which it suffices to do.

Finally, it can also be seen in FIGS. 4, 8, 9 and 10 that the external dimensions of the containers 1, l 'and the internal dimensions of the boxes 2, 2', 2 ", 2" "are very similar so as to ensure a fairly narrow fit and good shoulder of the container in its housing.

Claims

1) Refill case forming a bottle for liquid, pasty or powdery products, comprising a case (2,2 ', 2 ", 2' '') provided at one end with an open bottom (4) through which a container (1,1 ') which contains said product and which is provided with a fixing ring (3) with external thread for its fixing by screwing in the vicinity of the other end, called the upper end, of the housing, characterized in that the housing (2 to 2 "') has at its upper end a nut (5.5') mounted free to rotate, accessible from the outside, and intended to engage with the thread of the fixing ring ( 3) of the container (1,1 ') so that the latter can be fixed or removed from the housing by acting on said nut in the direction of screwing or unscrewing respectively. 2) Refill housing according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing (2 to 2 '' ') is provided at its upper part with an annular housing (6,6') intended to receive freely in rotation, but fixed in translation, at least part of the nut (5.5 ′) or a part integral with the latter. 3) Refill box according to claim 2, characterized in that the nut (5) of the box (2,2 "') is completely arranged in its housing (6) so that it does not protrude from said box ¬ tier (2,2 '' '), the latter having cutouts (9) at the level of said nut for its rotational maneuver. 4 Refill box according to claim 3, characterized in that the nut (5) has a cylindrical part (8) with an internal thread intended to cooperate with the fixing ring (3) of the container (1,1 ') while it has an outer skirt (7) flexible, conical and ridged, intended to come in the annular housing (6) and also serve as a means of actuation in rotation.

5) Refill housing according to claim 2, characterized in that the nut (5 ') of the housing (2', 2 ") has a base (10) intended to come into the housing (6 ') annular while that most of the nut (5 ') protrudes from said housing (2', 2 "). 6) Refill box according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the fixing ring (3) of the container (1) is extended by a plugging and evacuation ring (11) of the product, which ring has a diameter less than that of the fixing ring (3) to pass through and protrude from the nut (5 ') during assembly, being further arranged to receive a closure means (12 ) of the container (1) so as to seal it both before assembly and after and possibly during.

7) Refill box according to claim 6, characterized in that the plugging and evacuation ring (11) also includes an external thread for closing by means of a screw cap.

(12). 8) Refill box according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the container (1) consists of a flexible and deformable material, while the box (2.2 ") has at least one cutout (16 ) not opened forming a pusher (15) capable of acting by pressure on said container (1). 9) Refill housing for liquid products according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the nut (5, 5 ') of the housing (2', 2 "') is integral with a pump plug (13) which projects out of said housing (2', 2" ') while the fixing ring (3) of the container ( 1 ') is initially used for fixing a screw cap (12) so that said container (1') is fixed with the nut after unscrewing and removing said cap, the pump cap (13) making it possible to spray the product contained in the container.

10) Refillable housing according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the respectively external shape of the container (1,1 ') and internal shape of the housing (2 to 2 "') correspond so that said container fits tightly in the case.

11) Refill box according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the box (2 to 2 '") and / or the container (1,1') have a circular cross section and that anti- rotation are provided in the form of notches (17) and ribs (18) conjugate arranged respectively on the container and in the housing or vice versa.