Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DISPENSER WITH PERIPHERAL DELIVERY MODE
The present invention relates to a dispenser having
a peripheral delivery mode, which dispenser is designed
to be mounted on a container for liquids having high
viscosity, such as gels, creams, pastes, etc.
Dispensers already exist in which a pump is mounted
on the neck of a container so as to deliver the liquid
via an axial passageway formed, in particular, by a spray
tube.
Documents US 3 502 035, FR 2 517 990, and
US 5 282 552 discloses dispensers for dispensing liquids,
which dispensers are of the type comprising a bowl whose
top edge is fixed to a collar for securing it to the neck
of a container, the bottom of said bowl being provided
with an inlet orifice equipped with a valve, and whose
top is closed off by a piston that is urged back into its
high position by a spring and that co-operates with the
inside wall of the bowl to define a metering chamber.
However, such dispensers are not suitable for
certain types of packaging, for which a final delivery
mode that is peripheral or at the least lateral rather
than axial is desired.
An object of the invention is to solve this
technical problem satisfactorily.
The invention achieves this object by means of a
dispenser characterized in that the wall of said chamber
includes an annular zone, all or part of which is
elastically deformable so as to act, under the effect of
the pressure generated inside the chamber to release a
passageway via which the liquid can be removed, which
passageway opens out peripherally to the outside by
passing around the inside edge of the collar which is
frustoconical and slopes towards the center.
According to an advantageous characteristic, the
inside face of said collar is provided with a groove
which is defined on its radially-outermost side by a ring
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and in which the top edge of the neck is engaged and
locked.
In a particular embodiment, the inside edge of said
collar forms a high abutment for the piston, thereby
retaining it in the bowl.
According to yet another characteristic, the outside
face of the piston is provided with a central stud
forming a pusher.
Preferably, the bowl is provided with ribs extending
along the bottom portion of its inside side wall over a
height that is sufficient to enable air to escape on
priming, by the piston being forced to deform.
The inside face of the piston is provided with a
central sleeve firstly guiding the spring coaxially, and
secondly acting as an end-of-stroke abutment by abutting
against the bottom of the bowl.
In addition, the dispenser of the invention is
optionally provided with a vent in the form of a cutout
in the top edge of the bowl.
In a first variant embodiment, said elastically-
deformable annular zone is provided around the periphery
of the piston by being constituted by a flexible lip
whose free end abuts in leaktight manner against the
inside side wall of the bowl when in the closed position.
In which case, where the outside face of the piston
meets said lip, said outside face is provided with
stiffener elements.
In a second variant, said elastically-deformable
annular zone is situated on the side wall of the neck by
being constituted by peripheral thinned portions suitable
for being deformed elastically by the rigid edge of the
piston.
In which case, the rigid edge of the piston has a
side flank provided with a projection serving to corne
into deforming abutment against the deformable side wall
of the bowl.
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In another variant, said elastically-deformable zone
is situated on the side wall of the bowl, and is
constituted by a peripheral portion made of a flexible
elastomer material that is optionally different from the
rigid material constituting the other portions of the
bowl.
In yet another variant, said elastically-deformable
annular zone is constituted by a flexible lip firstly
carried by the bottom end of a central cylinder secured
to the piston and projecting into the metering chamber,
and secondly co-operating with a peripheral scraper
element fixed to the inside face of the piston.
In this case, starting from the lip, the passageway
via which the liquid is removed is constituted firstly by
~15 the enclosure defined around the central cylinder by said
scraper element and by said lip, and is constituted
secondly by a set of vertical ducts provided around the
periphery of said cylinder and communicating at their
bottom ends with said enclosure and at their top ends
with a set of transverse ducts opening out to the
outside.
Also in this case, said lip slopes relative to the
axis of the dispenser, and abuts against the radially-
innermost edge of the scraper element when in the closed
position.
The dispenser of the present invention is more
particularly designed for viscous liquids for which it
offers a delivery mode that is original and pleasing to
the eye.
This dispenser has a structure that is simple, and
it is therefore easy to make and to assemble.
It can be adapted very easily, depending on the
embodiments, to suit both systems of the "atmospheric"
type and also systems of the "airless" type.
The invention will be better understood on reading
the following description accompanied by the drawings, in
which:
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Figures la and lb are section views of a first
embodiment of the dispenser of the invention, shown
respectively in the closed position and in the open
position;
Figures 2a and 2b are section views of a second
embodiment of the dispenser of the invention, shown
respectively in the closed position and in the open
position; and
Figures 3a and 3b are section views of a third
embodiment of the dispenser of the invention, shown
respectively in the closed position and in the open
position.
The dispenser shown in section in Figures la and lb
is designed to be mounted on a container (not shown) for
containing viscous liquids.
The dispenser includes a bowl 1 whose bottom is
provided with an inlet orifice 10 extended downwards, in
this example, by a dip tube l0a which is designed to
project into the container.
The inlet orifice 10 is equipped with a valve 11
formed, in this example by a hall lla resting on a
seat llb.
The bowl 1 is closed off at its top by a piston 2
urged back into the high position by a spring 3 and co-
operating with the inside wall of the bowl 1 to define a
metering chamber 12.
In the invention, provision is made for all or part
of an annular zone of the wall of the chamber 12 to be
elastically deformable so as to act, under the effect of
the piston 2, to release a liquid-removal passageway that
opens out peripherally to the outside.
In the embodiment shown in Figures la and lb, the
deformable annular zone is provided around the periphery
of the piston 2 by being constituted by a flexible lip 21
which, in the closed position, has its free end 21a in
leaktight abutment against the inside side wall lb of the
bowl 1 (see Figure la) .
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In the free state, the peripheral lip 21 slopes
upwards at an angle a in the vicinity of 45° relative to
the plane of the central portion 23 of the piston 2, the
spring 3 abutting against the inside face of said central
5 portion.
Where the central plane portion 23 meets the
peripheral lip 21, the outside face 2b of the piston 2 is
provided with stiffener elements 24.
The top edge la of the bowl 1 is fixed to a collar 4
for securing the bowl to the neck of the container (not
shown) .
For this purpose, the inside face of the collar 4 is
provided with a groove 40 defined on the radially
outermost side by a ring 41 in which the top edge la of
the bowl 1 is engaged and locked.
The collar 4 is preferably frustoconical while
sloping towards the center of the dispenser, and its
inside edge 4a forms a high abutment for the piston 2,
thereby retaining it in the bowl 1.
In the embodiment shown in Figures la and lb, the
groove 40 is defined on the radially-innermost side by an
annular bead 42 carried by the inside edge 4a of the
collar 4, and abutting against the outside face 2b of the
piston 2 when in the closed position.
The outside face 2b of the piston 2 is provided with
a central stud 5 forming a pusher that the user depresses
manually to deliver the liquid. The stud is made in one
piece with the piston 2, or in the form of a separate
piece that is then stuck on or welded on.
When the piston 2 is pushed into the bowl 1 by its
outside face 2b being depressed, the pressure is
transmitted inside the metering chamber 12 to the liquid
that occupies said chamber. Since the liquid is
incompressible, the flexible lip 21 is deformed
preferentially by pivoting upwards, thereby releasing a
passageway P via which the liquid can be removed between
the free end 21a of the lip 21 and the facing inside side
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wall la of the bocal 1 (see Figure lb). After passing
through the passageway P, the liquid is directed towards
the outside by flowing through the groove 40 and then
peripherally around the inside edge 4a of the collar 4.
The collar 4 thus forms a dish inside which a small
amount of liquid is disposed. When depressing ceases,
the lip 21 then returns elastically to its initial
sealing position, while the piston 2 rires again under
the action of the spring 3, thereby opening the valve 11.
A metered dose of liguid is thus sucked up from the
container via the inlet orifice 10 and fills the
chamber 12. The dispenser is then ready to be used
again.
In the embodiment shown in Figures la and lb, the
bottom portion of the bocal 1 is constituted by a flat
bottom ld that is provided with the inlet orifice 10 and
that is connected to the ride wall lb via a frustoconical
flank lc.
The bocal 1 is provided with ribs 13 extending along
the bottom portion of its inside side wall la and over a
height sufficient to enable the air to escape on priming
by forcing the piston 2 to deform.
The inside face 2a of the piston 2 is provided with
a central sleeve 22 that firstly guides the spring
coaxially with the axis X of the dispenser, and secondly
acts as an end-of-stroke abutment by abutting against the
bottom ld of the bocal.
The height of the sleeve 22 is thus determined by
taking account of the positions and of the height of the
ribs 13.
When the piston 2 moues down inside the chamber 12,
the ball lla of the valve 11 is received inside the
sleeve 22.
The embodiment of the dispenser shown in Figures la
and lb is provided with a vent 14 in the form of a cutout
14a in the top edge la of the bocal 1. This cutout 14a
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causes the metering chamber 12 to communicate with the
outside during the opening stage.
Figures 2a and 2b show a second embodiment of the
dispenser of the invention.
In this embodiment, the elastically-deformable
annular zone of the wall of the chamber 12 is situated on
the side wall lb of the bowl 1 by being constituted by
peripheral thinned portions 15 suitable for being
elastically deformed by the rigid edge 20 of the
piston 2.
For this purpose, the rigid edge 20 has a side flank
provided with an annular projection 20a serving to corne
into deforming abutment against the inside side wall of
the bowl 1.
The peripheral thinned portions 15 are, in this
example, in the form of cavities or of fluting formed by
recessing the outside face of the side wall lb. At the
thinned portions 15, the side wall lb is deformed
outwards under pressure from the liquid, thereby
releasing a passageway P between the projection 20a on
the piston 2 and the inside face of the thinned
portion 15.
In the embodiment shown in Figures 2a and 2b, the
sleeve 22 is replaced with a socket 25 defining a central
cavity provided in the body of the piston 2.
The bottom face 2a of the piston then cornes directly
into abutment in the bottom ld of the bowl 1, against a
crenelated or annular protuberance 16.
In this example, the radially-innermost edge 4a of
the collar 4 cornes into direct contact against the
outside face 2b of the piston 2 in the high position.
In a variant (not shown), the elastically-deformable
annular zone is still situated on the side wall lb of the
bowl, but it is constituted by a peripheral portion made
of a flexible elastomer material that is optionally
different from the rigid material constituted by the
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bowl. This configuration may be achieved, for example,
by means of a two-component injection-molding method.
In the embodiment shown in Figures 3a and 3b, the
elastically-deformable annular zone of the wall of the
chamber 12 is constituted by a flexible lip 26 carried by
the bottom end of a central cylinder 28 secured to the
piston 2 and projecting into said chamber.
The lip 26 co-operates with a peripheral scraper
element 6 fixed to the inside face 2a of the piston 2.
Starting from the chamber 12, and from the lip 26,
the passageway P via which the liquid is removed is
constituted firstly by the enclosure 12a defined around
the cylinder 28 by the scraper element 6 and by the
lip 26, and constituted secondly by a set of vertical
ducts 27 provided around the periphery of the
cylinder 28.
At their bottom ends, the ducts 27 communicate with
the enclosure 12a, and at their top ends, they
communicate with a set of transverse ducts 29 opening out
to the outside around the periphery of the central
stud 5.
The lip 26 slopes relative to the axis X of the
dispenser and, when the enclosure 12a is in the closed
position, said lip bears against the radially-innermost
edge 6a of the scraper element 6. The pressure generated
in the chamber 12 by the piston 2 moving downwards causes
the lip 26 to bend upwards, thereby opening the
enclosure 12a.
In this embodiment, sealing is provided continuously
between the side edge 20 of the piston 2 and the side
wall lb of the bowl 1.
