EP1370477B1 - Fluid product dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a fluid product dispenser comprising: a container (1) designed to contain the fluid product, said container forming an opening (10) defining a inner wall (11), said inner wall (11) forming a shrunk opening section (13) beneath which the wall (11) is recessed at least locally outwards to form a recessed opening section (14); a dispensing member (2), such as a pump or a valve comprising a body (20); a fixing ring (3) to fix the body (20) of the dispensing member (2) in the opening (10) of the container (1), said ring (3) including receiving means (31) to receive said body (20) and a fixing skirt (32) designed to be press-fitted into said opening (10), said skirt (32) including an outer wall (320) defining a first zone (321) urged to be arranged at the shrunk opening section (13) and a second zone (322) urged to be arranged at the recessed opening section (14), when the skirt (32) is fitted right into the opening (10). The invention is characterised in that the first zone (321) has, prior to the skirt being fitted into the opening, an external diameter greater than the internal diameter of the shrunk opening section (13).

Description

The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser comprising a container, a dispensing member such as a pump or a valve and a fixing ring for fixing the dispensing member on the container. Such dispensers are frequently used in the field of perfumery, cosmetics or even pharmacy to dispense fluid products by manual support with a finger on a pusher.

The present invention is more particularly concerned with a type of container forming an opening defining an inner wall which forms a narrowed opening section below which the wall is at least locally outwardly recessed to form a lower section. hollow opening. As for the fixing ring, the latter comprises receiving means for receiving the body of the dispensing member and a fixing skirt intended to be force-fitted into said opening. The skirt comprises an outer wall defining a first zone coming to be located at the narrowed opening section and a second zone coming to be placed at the open opening section when the skirt is pushed fully into the opening of the opening. container. A dispenser comprising such a fixing ring is known from US Pat. No. 3,937,366. In this document, the inside wall of the neck of the receptacle comprises a peripheral groove in which a rib formed on the outer wall of the skirt is snapped. The portion of the skirt just above the rib has a diameter smaller than that of the rib, even when the skirt is not yet fitted into the neck of the container. It can be said that the outer profile of the skirt is perfectly complementary to the internal profile of the neck of the container. Similarly, the shape of the groove in the inner wall of the neck is exactly complementary to the shape of the rib of the skirt. Thus, there is no tight radial contact between the skirt and the inner wall of the neck, but just a snap of the rib in the groove of the neck. The seal between the skirt and the collar is thus very difficult to ensure.

It is the same for the fixing system described in document FR-2 792 295. This system uses a ring on which is mounted a pump or a valve. This ring also cooperates with the inner wall of a container neck which has a narrowed opening section below which extends a recessed opening section. The ring is also formed with a skirt intended to engage inside the neck. This skirt has an outer radial projection intended to be housed in the recessed opening section which is here in the form of a simple peripheral recess formed inside the inner wall of the neck. This is a snap system which involves engaging the outer projection of the skirt of the ring in the internal recess of the neck.

Above the outer projection, the skirt defines a smaller diameter section which is housed at the narrowed opening section formed just above the inner recess of the neck. However, it is not visible in the figures of this document that the outer diameter of the section of the skirt located at the narrowed opening section of the neck has a smaller diameter than the latter. This is also not described in the text of this document.

Moreover, in the text of this document and in the claims, it is clearly defined that the fixing member comprises snap-fastening means adapted to be housed in said recess of the inner wall of the neck; in this case, these latching means are formed by the external projection in the embodiment of FIG. 3.

The present invention seeks to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art by defining a fixing ring which performs both a solid attachment and a perfect seal.

To achieve this object, the present invention proposes that the first zone of the skirt has, before slipping of the skirt into the opening, an outer diameter greater than the inner diameter of the narrowed opening section. This is not the case in US Pat. No. 3,937,366 in which the first zone of the skirt has a diameter strictly equal to that of the neck at its opening. Advantageously, the narrowed opening section is substantially indeformable and the first zone is deformable on the narrowed opening section. By thus choosing a skirt diameter greater than that of the narrowed opening section, the skirt is deformed by creep material, so that the section narrowed opening bites into the outer wall of the skirt, thus ensuring a solid attachment and a perfect seal. Radial deformation of the first zone inwardly generates a strong radial clamping against the narrowed opening section of the opening.

According to another characteristic, the second zone has an outer diameter greater than the internal diameter of the narrowed opening section and less than the maximum internal diameter of the recessed opening section. The second zone, which has been constrained radially inwards during the passage of the narrowed opening section, can thus freely expand by radial expansion outwardly at the recessed opening section. Since the second zone is not in contact with the inner wall of the neck at the recessed opening section, this facilitates the creep of material from the first zone to the second zone due to the interference created by the narrowed opening section biting into the first zone.

According to another aspect of the invention, the skirt is moved away from the body by an intermediate space. Thus, the deformation of the skirt can in no case cause a deformation of the body of the dispenser member.

Advantageously, the ring comprises a peripheral flange which extends radially outwardly from the upper end of the skirt and which is intended to come into abutting contact with the opening of the container to limit the embedment depth. of the skirt in the opening.

Preferably, the flange serves as a thrust transfer member for fitting the skirt into the opening.

According to another aspect of the invention, the narrowed opening section is connected downwardly to the opening section recessed by a substantially frustoconical or flared transition section. Thus, the outer wall of the skirt cooperates after wrapping of the skirt in the opening with the narrowed opening section and the transition section to improve the fixing and sealing.

Alternatively or additionally, the narrowed opening section extends upwardly with a substantially frustoconical or flared leading section. Thus, the outer wall of the skirt, after wrapping of the skirt in the opening, can cooperate with the narrowed opening section and the leading section to improve fixation and sealing.

According to a practical embodiment, the outer wall of the skirt, before plugging, is cylindrical and has a constant outer diameter at the first and second zones. Advantageously, the skirt has a chamfered free bottom end to facilitate its insertion into the opening of the container.

• la figure 1 est une vue en section transversale à travers un distributeur de produit fluide selon l'invention, juste avant emmanchage de la bague dans l'ouverture de récipient,
• la figure 2 est une vue similaire à celle de la figure 1 avec la bague emmanchée dans l'ouverture du récipient, et
• la figure 3 est une vue agrandie d'un détail de la bague montrant la coopération de la jupe avec l'ouverture.

The invention will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings giving by way of non-limiting example an embodiment of the invention. In the figures:

• FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view through a fluid dispenser according to the invention, just before plugging the ring into the container opening,
• FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 with the ring fitted into the opening of the container, and
• Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a detail of the ring showing the cooperation of the skirt with the opening.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, only the upper part of a fluid dispenser according to the invention has been shown, so that the container is represented only by its neck 10. However, the dispenser The invention comprises three constituent elements, namely a container 1, a dispensing member 2 and a fixing ring 3.

The container 1 is here provided with a neck 10 which protrudes upwards from the container body whose function is to store fluid product. The neck 10 defines an opening that allows communication inside the container. However, it is possible to imagine other embodiments for the container, in which there is no protruding neck, but simply an opening in the body of the container. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, it is possible for example to imagine that the end portion of the neck 10 is located directly at the shoulder 110. We can then speak of opening without neck. The protruding neck is therefore not an indispensable element in the present invention. It is enough that there is an opening with certain characteristics. Among these characteristics, it can be seen in Figures 1 and 2 that the neck 10 comprises an inner wall 11 which is not cylindrical, but instead has a narrowed opening section 13 below which is defined a section of recessed opening 14. The narrowed opening section 13 is located near the outlet of the neck which forms at this location an upper end 12 of annular shape. Advantageously, the narrowed opening section 13 is connected to the upper end 12 by a frustoconical or flared leading section 15. On the other hand, the narrowed opening section 13 is connected to the recessed opening section 14 by a tapered or flared transition section 16. The tapered opening section 13 may be substantially cylindrical. The recessed opening section 14 may also be of substantially cylindrical section. It is conceivable that the recessed opening section 14 is in the form of a peripheral recess which extends over a certain height of the neck, which extends downwards by another section of diameter substantially equal to that of the tapered opening section 13. It is also conceivable that the recessed opening section is in the form of a plurality of recesses distributed over the inner periphery of the neck. In other words, regardless of the shape of the recessed opening section 14, it must have at least locally an internal diameter greater than that of the narrowed opening section 13. In the embodiment of FIGS., the tapered opening section 13 is cylindrical, and the recessed opening section 14 extends downwardly from the tapered opening section 13 beginning with the flared transition section 16. It can be considered that the flared transition section 16 is part of the recessed opening section 14 since its diameter is smaller than that of the tapered opening section 13. The recessed opening section 14 then extends downwards to connect to the opening section 14. It is of course conceivable that there is no transition section 16 and that the recessed opening section 14 is connected to the narrowed opening section 13 by a sharp-edged shoulder. In this case, it is not necessary to have a collar that extends over a certain height, and such a opening with a narrowed section and a recessed section can be made at the shoulder 110.

The dispensing member 2, which is here a pump or a valve, comprises a pump body 20 defining at its upper end a flange 21 which projects outwards. Below this flange, the pump body defines a body portion 201 below which is connected a second body portion 202 of smaller diameter so that between the two body portions 201 and 202 there is a transition 203 in the form of a frustoconical step, as can be seen more clearly in Figure 3. Below the second body portion 202, the body 20 defines another body portion still having a smaller diameter. We can say that the body 20 is staged four times, since it comprises four body parts of decreasing diameter starting from the collar 21. This is only a particular embodiment, and one can of course imagine a perfectly cylindrical body 20. In a conventional manner, the pump 2 comprises an actuating rod 22 which slides inside the body 20. This actuating rod 22 is surmounted by a pusher 23 defining a dispensing orifice 230. To actuate the pump 2, it is sufficient to press the push-button 23 to push the rod 22 into the body 20, which has the effect of pushing a dose of product through the rod 22 to the dispensing orifice 230. a pump or valve quite conventional.

The purpose of the fixing ring 3 is to hold the dispensing member 2 and fix it in the opening of the neck 10. The fixing ring 3 thus comprises receiving means 31 in the form of a sleeve which is engaged with friction on the first body portion 201 of larger diameter. The end of the sleeve 31 advantageously bears under the projecting flange 21. The establishment of the ring 3 on the body 20 of the pump 2 can be carried out by plugging in force. The fixing ring 3 also comprises a fastening skirt 32 intended to be inserted inside the neck 10. This skirt 32 extends substantially in the extension of the sleeve 31. It can be seen in FIG. 3 that the skirt 31 is not in contact with the body 20 at the second body part 202, but there is still a gap intermediate 34 which prevents any contact or interference of the skirt 32 on the body 20. This is possible because the body 20 is stepped, but could have obtained the same intermediate space 34 by staggering the skirt relative to the sleeve 31. The skirt has an outer wall 320 which is substantially cylindrical before plugging of the skirt 32 into the neck 10, as can be seen in FIG. 1. At its lower end, the skirt may be formed with a chamfer 323 which makes it easier to insertion of the skirt into the opening of the neck 10. However, above the chamfer 323, the outer wall 320 of the skirt is substantially cylindrical.

According to the invention, the outer diameter of the skirt 32 at its cylindrical outer wall 320 is greater than the internal diameter of the narrowed opening section 13. Thus, to set up the skirt 32 in the opening of the neck, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, it is necessary to force fit. To limit the depth of engagement of the skirt in the opening of the neck, the ring 3 comprises a peripheral flange 33 which extends radially outwardly from the upper end of the skirt 32. The final position of maximum engagement is achieved when the flange 33 bears on the upper end 12 of the neck 10 as can be seen in Figures 2 and 3. The skirt 32 then extends both at the opening section narrowed 13 and the recessed opening section 14. More specifically, the skirt 32 also extends at the leading section 15 and the transition section 16. It can roughly define two areas of the outer wall 320 of the skirt 32, namely a first zone 321 which is placed at the level of the tapered opening section 13 and a second zone 322 which is placed at the level of the recessed opening section 14. Before slinging, these zones are not differentiable, as can be see Figure 1, since the outer wall 320 of the skirt 32 is cylindrical. It can be seen in FIG. 3 that the first zone 321 is deformed radially inwards by the narrowed opening section 13, while the second zone 322 remains undistorted, since it is not in contact with the internal wall 11 of the neck at the recessed opening section 14. The skirt 32, at the first zone 321, a therefore suffered deformation by creep material. To allow this flow of material, it is necessary that the narrowed opening section 13 remains undeformed during the wrapping of the skirt 32 in the opening of the neck. In practice, this can be achieved by using materials of different hardness for the neck and the fixing ring. For example, the container 1 can be made of glass, and the fixing ring 3 of plastic. However, it is also possible to make the container 1 and the fixing ring 3 with the same material: the deformability characteristics of the skirt 32 can then be obtained by design or its wall thickness for example. Better deformation of the first zone can also be achieved by a limited height of the narrowed opening section. This can even be reduced to a kind of cord or edge that comes to bite in the first zone of the skirt.

It may be noted that the outer wall 320 of the skirt 32 also comes into contact with the driving section 15 and the transition section 16. This contributes to the attachment of the skirt in the opening by a phenomenon of harpooning in itself. serving as the narrowed opening section as an incident profile. This is not a question here of a latching, since the skirt does not comprise at the origin, that is to say before slinging, no housing intended to receive the narrowed opening section 13. It can also be noted that the sealing is significantly improved with such a skirt, since the radial clamping at the first zone 321 is very strong, and in any case much greater than a fastening by simple snapping as in US 3,937,366 of the art prior.

The outer wall 320 of the skirt 32 has been shown here perfectly cylindrical. However, one can imagine other forms for the outer wall 320 of the skirt 32, for example staggered, with the outer diameter of the second zone 322 having a diameter greater or smaller than that of the first zone 321. The spirit of the The invention resides in the fact that the skirt 32, before slipping into the neck opening, has a diameter greater than that of the narrowed opening section 13 so as to force the skirt to flow around the narrowed opening section. 13.

Claims (12)

1. A fluid dispenser comprising:

   a receptacle (1) serving to contain the fluid, said dispenser forming an opening (10) defining an inside wall (11), said inside wall (11) forming a narrow opening section (13) below which the wall (11) is recessed at least locally outwards to form a recessed opening section (14);

   a dispenser member (2), such as a pump or a valve, including a body (20); and

   a fixing ring (3) for fixing the body (20) of the dispenser member (2) in the opening (10) in the receptacle (1), said ring (3) comprising firstly body-receiving means (31) for receiving said body (20) and secondly a fixing skirt (32) serving to be engaged by force into said opening (10), said skirt (32) having an outside wall (320) defining a first zone (321) that comes into place at the narrow opening section (13), and a second zone (322) that comes into place at the recessed opening section (14), when the skirt (32) is engaged fully in the opening (10);

   said dispenser being characterized in that, before the skirt is engaged in the opening, the first zone (321) has an outside diameter that is larger than the inside diameter of the narrow opening section (13).
2. A dispenser according to claim 1, in which the narrow opening section (13) is substantially undeformable, and the first zone (321) can be deformed over the narrow opening section (13).
3. A dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, in which the second zone (322) has an outside diameter that is larger than the inside diameter of the narrow opening section (13) and that is smaller than the maximum inside diameter of the recessed opening section.
4. A dispenser according to claim 1, 2 or 3, in which the skirt (32) is spaced apart from the body (20) by an intermediate space (34).
5. A dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the ring (3) further comprises a peripheral flange (33) which extends radially outwards from the top end of the skirt (32) and which serves to come into abutment contact against the opening (10) in the receptacle (1) to limit the depth to which the skirt can be engaged in the opening.
6. A dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the flange (33) serves as a thrust-transferring member for engaging the skirt into the opening.
7. A dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the narrow opening section (13) is connected downwards to the recessed opening section (14) via a substantially frustoconical or flared transition section (16).
8. A dispenser according to claim 7, in which, after the skirt is engaged in the opening, the outside wall (320) of the skirt (32) co-operates with the narrow opening section (13) and with the transition section (16).
9. A dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the narrow opening section (13) extends upwards via a substantially frustoconical or flared leading section (15).
10. A dispenser according to claim 9, in which, after the skirt is engaged in the opening, the outside wall (320) of the skirt (32) co-operates with the narrow opening section (13) and with the leading section (15).
11. A dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which, prior to being engaged, the outside wall (320) of the skirt (32) is cylindrical and has a constant outside diameter at the first and second zones (321, 322).
12. A dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the skirt (32) has a bevelled free bottom end (323) in order to facilitate inserting it into the opening (10) in the receptacle (1).

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