EP0626321A1 - Liquid dispensing device without dip tube - Google Patents

Abstract

Liquid dispensing device, including a dispenser (1) mounted on a container (2) containing the said liquid (3), in which the liquid forms a free surface (4) in the container and the dispenser includes an inlet orifice (5) which is arranged above the said free surface (4) during normal operation of the dispenser, characterised in that the dispenser is a pump including a pump body (7) and in that the device includes a liquid retention member (6) which communicates with the inlet orifice (5) of the pump (1) and with the container (2), the said liquid retention member (6) being designed to receive a certain volume of liquid (15) when the device is agitated or inclined with respect to an upright position, with the pump (1) above the container (2) and designed to keep the said volume of liquid (15) in communication with the said inlet orifice (5) of the pump when the device is in the said upright position. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a liquid distribution device usable in an upright position, and not comprising a dip tube.

More specifically, the invention relates to a dispensing device, adapted to be held in the hand, and which comprises a pump mounted on a liquid reservoir, the pump being above the free surface of the liquid in the container during the use of the device.

In the prior art, such devices always included a dip tube which extended from the distributor to the bottom of the tank. Such a dip tube has several drawbacks. First, it prohibits certain forms of original bottles, particularly in the field of perfumery. In addition, a dip tube in a transparent container has an aesthetic disadvantage, and the great diversity of container shapes implies the obligation to manufacture tubes adapted to practically each specific shape. In addition, the variation in length of the tube linked to the bottom of the glassware prevents an industrial definition of said dip tube.

There exist in the prior art devices called "squeeze-bottles", where the liquid is expelled through an outlet conduit by deformation of the flexible wall of the container. Such a device is described in documents FR-A-1,539,702, FR-A-1,525,560 and US-A-3,382,870. These documents also disclose the use of a retention organ to define a dose. unique. However, none of these devices works with a precompression pump delivering very precisely one or more predetermined doses. Likewise, these devices are not adaptable to containers with rigid walls, such as glass perfume bottles for example.

The present invention therefore relates to a liquid distribution device, comprising a distributor mounted on a container containing said liquid,
in which the liquid forms a free surface in the reservoir and the dispenser has an inlet orifice which is disposed above said free surface during normal operation of the dispenser,
characterized in that the distributor is a pump comprising a pump body and in that the device comprises a liquid retention member, which communicates with the inlet port of the pump and with the container, said retention member liquid being adapted to receive a certain volume of liquid, when the device is agitated or inclined relative to an upright position, with the pump above the container, and adapted to retain said volume of liquid in communication with said inlet orifice of the pump when the device is in said straight position.

Thus, the volume of liquid retained by the retention member constitutes an intermediate reserve of liquid which allows one or more actuations of the device.

According to one embodiment, said retention member has the form of a cup which is arranged around and below the inlet opening of the pump when the device is in its upright position.

According to another embodiment, said retention member is fixed to the pump body, advantageously by interlocking.

Advantageously, said retention member has a bottom and a cylindrical side wall with an outside diameter slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the neck of the container, the retention member further comprising around the upper end of its side wall, several flexible tabs s flaring towards the neck of the container in a direction making an angle with the vertical, the upper ends of said flexible tabs forming a fictitious circle whose diameter is greater than said inside diameter of the neck of the container, said flexible tabs being able to fold back when put in place of said retention member through the neck of the container, then resume their flared shape to possibly abut, with their upper ends, on the wall of the container located under said neck, when the pump is mounted on the container.

In another embodiment, said retaining member is fixed to the neck of the container and has a bottom and a cylindrical side wall at the upper end of which an annular surface extends substantially horizontally towards the outside of said retaining member. retention, said annular surface resting on the upper end of the container neck, the cylindrical side wall of the retention member comprising at least one opening allowing the passage of the liquid from the reservoir into the retention member.

As a variant, said retention member comprises around the outer end of said horizontal annular surface a substantially cylindrical flange extending on either side of said annular surface, said cylindrical flange comprising in its lower part means for fixing to the neck of the container.

According to one embodiment, said fixing means comprise latching tabs which snap onto the neck of the container, said cylindrical flange then being of the snap ring type. According to another embodiment, said fixing means comprise an internal thread cooperating with an external thread of the neck of the container, said cylindrical flange therefore being of the screwable ring type.

Advantageously, said retention member is made of a material which is flexible enough to act as a seal in the neck of the container.

Preferably, the pump body has on its part located in the tank, ribs or grooves to retain by capillarity a certain amount of liquid during the tilting or the agitation of the device, this amount of liquid then flowing the along the pump body in the receiving member under the effect of gravitation when the device is returned to its upright position.

According to another embodiment of the invention, said retention member comprises a cavity adapted to retain said liquid by capillary action. Said cavity is arranged under the inlet port of the pump, and said cavity is open downwards when the device is in the upright position. Said cavity may have internal ribs to increase the contact surface between the wall of said cavity and the volume of liquid retained in the cavity.

To recharge the liquid retention member, it is necessary to return the device to the inverted position or to shake it. It is possible that a user does not systematically think of turning over or shaking the device before actuating it, in which case the actuation produces no outflow of liquid or defuses the dispenser. To avoid this drawback, the device can have an external shape such that it can only be stably installed in an inverted or inclined position.

A first application of the invention relates to the pumps mounted on the tanks of transparent material and, for example bottles of perfumes in glass or crystal. In this application, the device can be particularly advantageous, because it eliminates the usual dip tube, particularly unsightly in a transparent bottle.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear during the following detailed description of several embodiments of the invention, given by way of nonlimiting examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

• la figure 1 est une vue en coupe partielle d'un dispositif selon une première forme de réalisation de l'invention, en position droite,
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe partielle d'une variante du dispositif de la figure 1,
• la figure 3 est une vue de dessus de la coupelle du dispositif représenté sur la figure 2,
• la figure 4 est une vue en coupe d'un dispositif selon une autre forme de réalisation de l'invention,
• la figure 5 est une vue en coupe d'une variante du dispositif de la figure 4, et
• les figures 6 et 7 sont des vues schématiques de deux formes extérieures possibles du dispositif selon l'invention.

In the drawings:

• FIG. 1 is a partial section view of a device according to a first embodiment of the invention, in an upright position,
• FIG. 2 is a partial section view of a variant of the device of FIG. 1,
• FIG. 3 is a top view of the cup of the device shown in FIG. 2,
• FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a device according to another embodiment of the invention,
• FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a variant of the device of FIG. 4, and
• Figures 6 and 7 are schematic views of two possible external forms of the device according to the invention.

The device of FIG. 1 comprises a pump 1 mounted on a container 2. The container 2 is filled with a liquid 3 which has a free surface 4. The volume situated above the free surface 4 can be empty or be filled of air or another gas, at atmospheric pressure or at another pressure (for example in overpressure).

The pump 1 comprises a pump body 7 having an inlet end 7a, provided with an inlet orifice 5 which communicates with the container 2. The pump 1 also comprises a hollow actuating rod 8, slidably mounted in the pump body 7, and which controls a piston (not shown). The pump 1 may also comprise a pusher 10 (FIG. 6) which is mounted on the actuating rod 8. The pusher has an outlet orifice, which communicates with the actuating rod 8, to allow the expulsion of a dose of liquid.

In the vicinity of the inlet orifice 5 of the pump 1 is arranged a retention member 6, which is here a cup, arranged around and under the orifice 5 in the position shown in FIG. 1, and which is open to the top. This cup can for example be made of plastic or glass. Advantageously, the cup 6 has ribs 12, for example four, which make it possible to fix the cup 6 on the pump body 7, for example by fitting on the inlet end 7a (generally called tube holder) of the pump body .

In FIGS. 2 and 3, a variant of the cup in FIG. 1 is shown. According to this embodiment, the cup 6 has a bottom 16 and a substantially cylindrical side wall 17 whose outside diameter is preferably slightly less than the diameter inside of neck 2a of container 2.

Advantageously, flexible tabs 18 can be arranged around the upper end of said side wall 17 so as to flare from said cup towards the neck 2 of the reservoir at an angle with said wall. Thus, the upper ends of said flexible tabs 18 form a fictitious circle with a diameter greater than the inside diameter of the container neck. When the pump body 7 and the cup 6 are put in place through the neck 2a of the container, the flexible tabs 18 fold down to slide along the said neck and then move apart to eventually abut with their upper ends on the wall of the container located under said neck 2a. In addition to increasing the capillary effect above the cup 6 and thus ensuring total filling of this cup when the device is actuated, the flexible tabs 18 guarantee the inviolability of the device. Indeed, any attempt to remove the pump 1 from the container, for example to fill it in order to reuse it without the knowledge of the manufacturer, would cause the cup 6 to fall to the bottom of the container 2, the cup no longer being able to pass through the neck 2a of the container 2 due to the presence of the flexible tabs 18.

Figures 4 and 5 show another embodiment of the invention. The cup 6 is here fixed on the neck 2a of the container. It comprises a bottom 16 and a cylindrical side wall 17 extending over the entire height of the neck 2a of the container and comprising at least one opening 19 for letting the product from the container 2 pass into the cup 6. At the upper end of said side wall 17, an annular surface 20 extends towards the outside of the cup 6 in a substantially horizontal manner. This annular surface 20 comes to rest on the upper end of the neck 2a of the container when the device is placed in said container. The cup 6 and the pump body 7, a part of which also extends above said upper end of the neck 2a of the container, are then fixed to the neck of the container by a conventional fixing means 40 such as, for example a snap ring, as shown in Figure 4.

In a variant of this device, shown in FIG. 5, the cup / fixing means assembly is made in one piece, the cup 6 comprising around the outer end of said horizontal annular surface 20, a substantially cylindrical flange 21 s extending vertically on either side of said annular surface 20. This cylindrical flange 21 has in its lower part 22 means for fixing the device on the neck of the container. These fixing means may include latching tabs 23 which snap onto the neck of the container, as shown in FIG. 5. In this case, the cylindrical flange 21 is similar to a so-called snap ring, well known in the art. the state of the art. Alternatively, said fixing means may also include an internal thread cooperating with an external thread of the neck of the container, said cylindrical flange 21 being in this case of the screwable ring type.

Advantageously, the retention member, that is to say the cup 6 in the embodiments described above, is made of a sufficiently flexible material to seal in the neck of the container. Such a material may for example be an elastomer or a thermoplastic-elastomer (TPE), and the seal may be provided either vertically on the inside of the glass neck by means of the side wall 17, or horizontally on the the upper end of the container neck, via the horizontal annular surface 20.

Although shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 with a flat bottom, the cup 6 could also be of frustoconical shape with a bottom 16 reduced to a minimum, or of semi-spherical shape, like that shown in FIG. 1.

The device operates as follows.

Before activating the device, it is agitated, tilted or returned to the inverted position, with the pump 1 placed under the container 2. The liquid 3 is then at the near the inlet port 5 of the pump. The device is then replaced in an upright position, with the pump 1 placed above the container 2. During this inversion movement, a certain volume 15 of liquid remains inside the cup 6. The retention of liquid at the interior of the cup 6 is partially due to the fact that the reversal movement is fairly rapid. But this liquid retention is also due to capillarity, due to the contact surface of the liquid inside 6a of the cup 6. Advantageously, the inside 6a of the cup 6 can be provided with ribs to increase the surface. of contact between the liquid and the interior 6a of the cup, so as to increase the retention of liquid. Similarly as shown in Figure 4, the pump body 7 may be provided on its part located inside the container 2 with grooves or ribs 50 for retaining a certain amount of liquid during tilting or stirring of the device, this quantity of liquid then flowing along the pump body 7 in the receiving member 6 under the effect of gravity when the device is returned to its upright position. This implementation ensures a transfer of a maximum of product in the cup, especially when there is only a little product left in the container.

When the pump is actuated, all or part of the volume 15 of liquid is sucked in through the inlet port 5 of the pump, which is immersed in the volume 15 of liquid.

The volume 15 can possibly correspond to several actuations of the pump: it can for example correspond to a daily dose of the liquid product.

When the volume 15 corresponds to a single actuation of the pump, and if the device can be placed in an upright position, the device of the invention can limit uncontrolled use by children, since it must be turned over before being used .

Advantageously, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the device can have a shape such that it can only be placed in stable equilibrium in an inclined position, for example its inverted position. Thus, the device retention member necessarily retains liquid when the user takes it in an upright position to actuate it. In the example of Figure 6, the container has a conical shape, and the device further comprises a cylindrical cover 13 having a flat bottom 14, which allows to place the device in the inverted position. In the example of Figure 7, the container has an ovoid shape allowing it to be placed in the supine position.

As a variant, the pump 1 of the devices described in the figures could possibly be replaced by an aerosol valve.

Claims (14)

1.- Liquid distribution device, comprising a distributor (1) mounted on a container (2) containing said liquid (3),
in which the liquid forms a free surface (4) in the container and the dispenser has an inlet (5) which is arranged above said free surface (4) during normal operation of the dispenser,
characterized in that the distributor is a pump (1) comprising a pump body (7) and in that the device comprises a liquid retention member (6) which communicates with the inlet orifice (5) of the pump and with the container (2), said liquid retention member being adapted to receive a certain volume of liquid (15) when the device is agitated or inclined relative to an upright position, with the pump (1) at above the container (2), and adapted to retain said volume of liquid (15) in communication with said inlet orifice (5) of the pump (1) when the device is in said upright position. 2.- Device according to claim 1, wherein said retention member has the form of a cup (6) which is arranged around and below the pump (1) when the device is in its upright position. 3. Dispostif according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said retention member (6) is fixed to the pump body (7). 4.- Device according to claim 3, wherein said retention member (6) is fitted on the lower end (7a) of the pump body (7) by means of ribs (12) 5.- Device according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein said retention member (6) comprises a bottom (16) and a cylindrical side wall (17) of outside diameter slightly less than the inside diameter of the neck (2a) of the container, the retention member (6) further comprising around the upper end of its side wall (17), several flexible tabs (18) widening towards the neck of the container in a direction making an angle with the vertical , the upper ends of said flexible tabs (18) forming a fictitious circle whose diameter is greater than said inside diameter of the neck of the container, said flexible tabs (18) being able to be folded down during the positioning of said retention member (6) to inside the container neck, then resume their flared shape, when the pump (1) is mounted on the container (2). 6.- Device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said retention member (6) is fixed to the neck (2a) of the container. 7.- Device according to claim 6, wherein said retention member comprises a bottom (16) and a cylindrical side wall (17) at the upper end of which an annular surface (20) extends substantially horizontally towards the exterior of said retention member, said annular surface (20) resting on the upper end of the container neck, the cylindrical side wall (17) of the retention member (6) having at least one opening (19) allowing the passage of the liquid from the reservoir (2) in the retention member (6). 8.- Device according to claim 7, wherein said retention member (6) comprises around the outer end of said horizontal annular surface (20) a flange (21) substantially cylindrical extending on either side of said annular surface (20), said cylindrical flange (21) comprising in its lower part (22) fixing means (23) on the neck of the container. 9.- Device according to claim 8, wherein said fixing means comprise latching tabs (23) snapping onto the container neck, said cylindrical flange (21) being of the snap ring type. 10.- Device according to claim 8, wherein said fixing means comprise an internal thread cooperating with an external thread of the container neck, said cylindrical flange (21) being of the screwable ring type. 11.- Device according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein said retention member (6) is made of a sufficiently flexible material to act as a seal in the neck of the container. 12.- Device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pump body (7) has on its part located in the tank, ribs or grooves (50) for retaining a certain amount of liquid during the inclination or agitation of the device, this quantity of liquid then flowing along the pump body in the retention member (6) under the effect of gravity when the device is returned to its upright position. 13.- Device according to any one of the preceding claims, having an external shape such that it can be laid stably only in an inclined or inverted position. 14.- Device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the container (2) is made of transparent material.

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