Patent Grant
10926942
The present invention relates to continuous dispensing devices and configurations therefor, and more particularly but not exclusively, to continuous dispensing devices that are propellant free.
The present disclosure is related to International Patent Application No. PCT/IL2016/051106 and to U.S. Pat. No. 9,409,698, both to the present assignees, the contents of which are both incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Aerosol spray canisters and like pressurized dispensing devices deliver materials under pressure. Single compartment canisters combine a propellant, i.e. pressurized gas (mainly LPG), mixed with the material being delivered and dispense both via the canister's valve. Dual compartment canisters separate the propellant from the material being delivered, where the propellant surrounds an inner bag containing the material and connected to the valve. The propellant applies pressure on the inner bag which transfers this pressure to the material thereby enabling it to extract through the released valve.
There are two standard valve configurations—a stand-alone aerosol valve used for single compartment dispensing, and a Bag On Valve (BOV) configuration where an inner bag of the dispensing device is attached to the aerosol valve; this configuration being in use for dual compartment dispensing. The outer wall of the canister is typically metal to withstand the pressure of the propellant.
A propellant-free technology, for example that of the same Applicants and substantially as described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,409,698 and PCT application WO2014111939, provides for an elastic sleeve to surround a single compartment. As the elastic sleeve provides the pressure and there is no propellant, the design does not necessitate that the outer wall of the canister be able to withstand pressure.
Nevertheless the mechanical integrity of the canister needs to be preserved. Thus the canister must be resistant in particular to vertical mechanical pressure of filling process, dropping or stacking and may be required to allow a user to press from above to use the canister while say the canister is supported from below, without causing the canister to collapse. Furthermore, crimping, used to attach the valve holder to the canister body requires metal and is difficult to apply on non-metal canisters, as these are liable to break under attempts at crimping processes. Likewise, clinching cannot be implemented on soft material packaging, as the package is liable to tear under the latter process.
A known process was developed by Power Container (USA), comprising a plastic cover that secures a valve to a plastic container by snapping. However the valve used is not a standard aerosol valve, and thus the solution provided is not generically applicable. Reference is made in this regard to Power Container Patent Applications EP 2188191 and US20120097706.
Embodiments of the present invention provide dispensing device valve configurations and modifications for a propellant-free aerosol canister. As there is no propellant, the outer packaging need not be metal. The present embodiments discuss packaging types and materials, fixing of the valve to the packaging material, fixing of the internal dispenser sub-assembly within the packaging and mechanical strengthening to allow the resulting package to withstand vertical pressure.
Embodiments include an attachment of the mounting cup, whether metallic or plastic, to a non-metal canister, and may provide a continuous column from the valve to the base of the canister.
According to an aspect of the present embodiments there is provided a propellant free continuous dispensing device comprising:
an inner bag containing fluid or viscous materials under pressure;
a valve attached to the inner bag to controllably release the fluid, the valve mounted in a mounting cup;
a package enclosing the inner bag, the package having a first end and a base end opposite the first end;
a flange closing the package at the first end, the flange being sized for the mounting cup to fit within the flange.
In an embodiment, the flange and the mounting cup are provided with complementary shapes respectively, the complementary shapes allowing location of the mounting cap into the flange.
In an embodiment, the flange comprises two flange ends and a rim of the mounting cup is closed within the ends.
In an embodiment, the mounting cup comprises a rim and a peripheral indentation underneath the rim for crimping of the flange.
An embodiment may comprise a rigid column extending from the valve along a length of the pressurized container and extending towards the base end of the package, thereby to provide mechanical rigidity over a vertical dimension of the device.
In an embodiment, the base end of the package comprises at least one locator for locating the rigid column.
In an embodiment, the rigid column comprises a column extension for reaching or connecting the base end of the package.
In an embodiment, the flange is non-metallic.
In an embodiment, the package is non-metallic.
In an embodiment, the package is injection moulded.
In an embodiment, the package is blow moulded.
In an embodiment, the package comprises plastic or glass.
In an embodiment, the package is folded from a sheet.
In an embodiment, the sheet comprises a biodegradable material.
In an embodiment, the sheet comprises cardboard.
In an embodiment, the cardboard is laminated with a layer, the layer being one member of the group comprising plastics, polyethylene polypropylene, and polyamide.
In an embodiment, the inner bag is pressurized by an elastic sleeve.
In an embodiment, the valve is operated by pressing into the package against a restoring force.
In an embodiment the valve is a tilting valve operated by tilting to one side against a restoring force.
In an embodiment, the valve is operated by rotation against a restoring force.
In an embodiment, the rotation is carried out for continuous or dosed dispensing.
In an embodiment, the complementary shapes comprise at least one groove and at least one corresponding protrusion.
In an embodiment, the at least one groove and the at least one corresponding protrusion are continuous around different ones of an outer circumferential contour of the cup and an inner circumferential contour of the flange.
In an embodiment, the complimentary shapes comprising at least one lug and at least one locating hole.
In an embodiment, the complementary shapes comprise corresponding spiral threads.
In an embodiment, at least one of the flange and the cup is springy to allow snap-together fitting of the cup into the flange.
According to a second aspect there is provided a propellant free continuous dispensing device comprising:
an inner bag containing fluid or viscous materials under pressure;
a valve attached to the inner bag to controllably release the fluid, the valve mounted in a mounting cup;
a package enclosing the inner bag, the package having a first end and a base end opposite the first end; and
a rigid column extending from the first end, through the pressurized container to the base end.
In an embodiment, the rigid column comprises a first part extending from the valve along a length of the inner bag and a second part affixed to the first part extending from the first part to the base end.
According to a third aspect of the present embodiments there is provided a propellant free continuous dispensing device comprising:
an inner bag containing fluid or viscous materials under pressure;
a valve attached to the inner bag to controllably release the fluid, the valve mounted in a mounting cup, the valve being mounted to rotate against a restoring force to open and carry out the controlled release.
According to a fourth aspect of the present embodiments there is provided a propellant free continuous dispensing device comprising:
An inner bag containing fluid under pressure;
a valve attached to the inner bag to controllably release the fluid, the valve mounted in a mounting cup, the valve mounted to be opened by tilting a lever sideways against a restoring force.
According to a fifth aspect of the present embodiments there is provided a propellant free continuous dispensing device comprising:
An inner bag containing fluid under pressure;
a valve attached to the pressurized container to controllably release the fluid, the valve mounted in a mounting cup, the valve being held within packaging, and wherein the packaging comprises a box obtained by folding a sheet.
According to a sixth aspect of the present embodiments there is provided a method of manufacturing a propellant free continuous dispensing device comprising:
providing an inner bag;
surrounding the inner bag with an elastic sleeve;
attaching a control release valve mounted in a mounting cup to the inner bag;
enclosing the inner bag in a package, the package having a first end and a base end opposite the first end, and the first end including a flange structure; and
fitting the mounting cap within the flange by locating together complementary shapes on the mounting cap and the flange.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and/or scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the invention, exemplary methods and/or materials are described below. In case of conflict, the patent specification, including definitions, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and are not intended to be necessarily limiting.
Some embodiments of the invention are herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings and photographs. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of embodiments of the invention. In this regard, the description taken with the drawings makes apparent to those skilled in the art how embodiments of the invention may be practiced.
In the drawings:
The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to continuous dispensing valve configurations and dispensing canisters, and more particularly but not exclusively to valve fixing configurations and canisters for propellant free aerosols.
The present embodiments may provide an attachment configuration for an continuous dispensing valve that offers an alternative locking process to the crimping or clinching that is used today and is based on surrounding canister parts which are made of metal. Snapping, gluing and screwing are additional ways of attaching parts but are not used today with aerosol valves because they are not fluid tight. While crimping and clinching were designed to seal the valve to the canister, with propellant-free technology there is no propellant that needs to be confined and thus these connection methods are redundant. Only locking (not sealing) for safety purposes is required as described herein. However, mechanical integrity and the ability to stack may still be required.
The present embodiments may provide a locking mechanism for aerosol valves, to attach the standard valve mounting cup to a container material which need not be metallic. Furthermore, a column is provided through the inner bag, pressurized by surrounding elastic sleeve, and the column may be extended to the floor of the container, to give strength to the container in the vertical direction to make up for lack of mechanical strength in the walls of the container. The present embodiments thus provide a modified aerosol valve and construction which may be used with non-metallic containers. Herein the term ‘packaging’ is used to refer to the outer surrounding of the pressurized inner bag sub-assembly, and the sub-assembly inside the packaging is referred to as a continuous dispensing device, even though the packaging is not necessarily metallic.
A propellant free continuous dispensing device comprises an inner bag containing fluid under pressure, a valve attached to the pressurized inner bag and elastic sleeve, to controllably release fluid, a package enclosing the pressurized inner bag and elastic sleeve which may be made of a polymeric component, and in one embodiment, a flange closes the package at one end, the flange being sized for the mounting cup that holds the valve to fit within the flange, and wherein the flange and the mounting cup are provided with complementary shapes to allow for location of the mounting cap into the flange. Complementary shapes may include lugs and holes that correspond on opposite surfaces, or corresponding threads allowing for the cup to be screwed into the flange, or projections and grooves designed for a snap fit, or simply corresponding mating surfaces that allow for glue.
In the known art, a standard continuous dispensing valve is mounted to metal dispensing canisters by mechanical attachment of the valve's metal housing (i.e. the mounting cup) to the canister.
Two processes used today for securing and sealing the valve to the canister in order to avoid leakage of gas and prevent other safety risks are known as crimping and clinching. An exemplary crimping process is provided in
A propellant-free technology, for example that of the same Applicants and substantially as described in PCT applications WO2012117401 and WO2014111939, does not necessitate that canisters are made of metal, since an elastic sleeve is used to provide pressure to the inner bag, and therefore canisters made of many other materials, e.g., cardboard or plastic may be used, as will be discussed hereinbelow.
However, since crimping is difficult to apply on non-metal canisters, as these are liable to break under this process, and clinching cannot be implemented on soft material packaging, as the package is liable to tear under the latter process, there is a need to develop an alternative attachment of the mounting cup, irrespective of whether the cup itself is metal or plastic, to a non-metal canister.
The present invention in one embodiment consists of a standard aerosol valve which is modified for a new attachment mechanism by providing complementary shapes on the container top and the mounting cup so that they can be snapped, screwed or otherwise brought into a fixed position. One embodiment involves adding a peripheral protrusion to the lower part of the mounting cup and a corresponding inclusion or groove on the canister wall. The protrusion may be continuous or intermittent, or may comprise one or more locating lugs and corresponding reception holes. The male part of the complementary shape may be on the mounting cup and the female part on the canister wall or vice versa.
Before explaining various embodiments of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components and/or methods set forth in the following description and/or illustrated in the drawings and/or the Examples. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways.
Reference is now made to
As mentioned, in an alternative embodiment, the mounting cup may have an indentation and the flange may have a protrusion.
The flange may be made of plastic. The flange may alternatively be made of a soft metal such as tin-plate, aluminum, or such like. The flange is for example of a type such as currently used to secure the cap in cardboard packaging, where a cap is connected to the cardboard, or a flange attached to plastic packages by heat welding or other means. In a collapsible tube, plastic bottle, laminated pouch, etc., a cap/closure that is screwed, snapped or heat welded or glued to the package may be used. The flange may be an integral part of the package or may be an addition to the package.
By snapping the mounting cup into the plastic flange, the protrusion 22 on the valve cup 20 enters the indentation 24 in the flange 26 and is locked therein, say via a snap fit. Locking may be irreversible, or substantially irreversible so that the valve cannot be separated from the package by the end user, for purposes of safety or integrity.
The mounting cup and flange may be attached alternatively by snapping and screwing or snapping and gluing the mounting cup into the plastic flange.
The aerosol valve may be for example a standard 1″, a 20 mm or any other aerosol valve. The mounting cup may for example be made of tin-plate, aluminum, plastic or other materials.
The plastic flange may be made of HDPE, LDPE, PP or other standard materials as currently in use in packaging. The flange dimensions are designed in order to suit the aerosol valve and the container package.
The container package may be made of cardboard—non-coated cardboard or coated cardboard (such as used by Tetra Pak (Sweden), Evergreen Packaging (USA), and so on) having a box shape, rectangular, round, etc. Plastic containers may be made of HDPE, LDPE, PET, PE, PA, PP etc., having the shape of bottles, containers, collapsible tubes, flexible packaging, and so on, and examples are given hereinbelow. More generally, the package may be non-coated or coated cardboard, rigid or flexible plastic, metal, glass, wood, or a hybrid of several materials.
As explained above, with propellant free technology, the external packaging for the aerosol no longer has to be metal and may be made of plastic or other materials instead. Indeed, flexible packaging to form laminated pouches, collapsible tubes or rigid tubes may be possible. The greater flexibility in packaging may thus enable different shapes of packaging and more applications in which aerosol spray can be used, such as toothpaste, sealing products, creams, foodstuffs such as ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, etc. for example, and for these products, the current finger press actuation as shown in
Referring now to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
The center of the swivel motion actuator may comprise a screw thread that is fitted to the valve's stem housing thread.
By rotating the actuator, e.g., using the thumb and index finger while other fingers surround and hold the package, the actuator rotates downwards on the thread and presses the stem downwards, releasing material in the same way as in
The present embodiments thus provide a swivel motion actuator for release of material from a dispensing container or canister.
The swivel valve may comprise a threaded nut located at the center of the actuator fitted to a stem housing thread of a valve.
Reference is now made to
The actuator 54 may be made of polyethylene PE or polypropylene PP or any other standard materials currently utilized for actuators.
The actuator dispensing structure (i.e., nozzle, liquid path, etc.) and size may be similar to that commonly used with standard aerosol actuation.
The actuator may have continuous and varying dosage capabilities.
Reference is now made to
It is therefore possible to provide an elastic sleeve on the inner bag as a sub-assembly formed without being attached to a valve.
There are currently two standard valve configurations in use: a stand-alone aerosol valve used for single compartment dispensing and a Bag On Valve (BOV) where an inner bag of the device is attached to the aerosol valve. The latter is employed for dual compartment dispensing.
The present embodiments comprise an elastic sleeve that is mounted over an inner bag without a valve attached, so that the resulting sub-assembly may subsequently be fitted to any valve.
The inner bag 70 may be constructed from flexible materials made for example by processes such as lamination, co-extrusion, blow molding etc. The elastic sleeve 72 is made of an elastic material or elastomer such as rubber, silicone etc.
After the elastic sleeve is mounted over the inner bag it is ready for vacuum and valve assembly. The valve may be a 1″ valve, a 20 mm valve or any other valve.
Attachment of the valve to the sleeve on bag device may be done by heat welding or any other mechanical connection, e.g., snapping, screwing, locking, or chemical connection such as gluing.
Reference is now made to
The flange or the cup or both may be springy to allow snap-together fitting of the cup into the flange.
As shown in
All along the length of the package, the column provides for stability and integrity of the package and allows a reduction in the package wall thickness, which in turn may save on package materials. For example a rigid plastic container can be changed to soft plastic, or a thick cardboard package can be changed to thin cardboard with or without lamination, as in the examples below.
Reference is now made to
The column may be round, square, hex etc, and may or may not be hollow. The column may be utilized for other needs such as piping the fluid between the inner bag and the valve.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Top fixation may be as per
The top 131 of the package includes a hole, which may accept the valve so that the mounting cup edge can rest on the rigid flange of the hole, which may be plastic and/or may be the flange shown above in
The top 141 of the package includes a hole, which may accept the valve so that the mounting cup edge can rest on the rigid flange of the hole, which may be plastic and/or may be the flange shown above in
Reference is made to
Reference is now made to
In embodiments, the valve may be attached to the packaging, via the mounting cup, by use of complementary shaping, complemented by heat welding, or other mechanical connections such as snapping and/or screwing, or chemical connections such as gluing.
It is expected that during the life of a patent maturing from this application many relevant aerosol and package manufacturing technologies will be developed and the scopes of the corresponding terms are intended to include all such new technologies a priori.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, “including”, “having” and their conjugates mean “including but not limited to”.
The term “consisting of” means “including and limited to”.
As used herein, the singular form “a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the invention, and the present description is to be read as if such combinations are clearly written therein and fully described. Certain features described in the context of various embodiments are not to be considered essential features of those embodiments, unless the embodiment is inoperative without those elements.
Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.
All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification, to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein by reference. In addition, citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention. To the extent that section headings are used, they should not be construed as necessarily limiting.
This application is a National Phase of PCT Patent Application No. PCT/IL2017/050061 having International filing date of Jan. 17, 2017, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/289,248, filed on Jan. 31, 2016. The contents of the above applications are all incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein in their entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IL2017/050061 | 1/17/2017 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2017/130186 | 8/3/2017 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3672543 | Roper | Jun 1972 | A |
| 3791557 | Venus, Jr. | Feb 1974 | A |
| 4121737 | Kain | Oct 1978 | A |
| 4251032 | Werding | Feb 1981 | A |
| 4458830 | Werding | Jul 1984 | A |
| 4964540 | Katz | Oct 1990 | A |
| 4988018 | Loychuk | Jan 1991 | A |
| 5111971 | Winer | May 1992 | A |
| 20080272145 | Nimmo | Nov 2008 | A1 |
| 20100133295 | Chan | Jun 2010 | A1 |
| 20110108574 | Nimmo | May 2011 | A1 |
| 20120097706 | Nimmo | Apr 2012 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1030554 | Jan 1989 | CN |
| 2661618 | Dec 2004 | CN |
| 1656010 | Aug 2005 | CN |
| 105050917 | Nov 2015 | CN |
| 2452495 | Jul 1975 | DE |
| 0300886 | Jan 1989 | EP |
| 2707264 | Jan 1995 | FR |
| WO 03099663 | Dec 2003 | WO |
| WO 2007051229 | May 2007 | WO |
| WO 2007093889 | Aug 2007 | WO |
| WO 2017130186 | Aug 2017 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| FR2707264 with machine translation (Year: 1995). |
| DE2452495 with machine translation (Year: 1975). |
| International Preliminary Report on Patentability dated Aug. 9, 2018 From the International Bureau of WIPO Re. Application No. PCT/IL2017/050061. (10 Pages). |
| International Search Report and the Written Opinion dated Jun. 21, 2017 From the International Searching Authority Re. Application No. PCT/IL2017/050061. (17 Pages). |
| Invitation to Pay Additional Fees and Communication Relating to the Results of the Partial International Search and the Provisional Opinion Accompanying the Partial Search Result dated Apr. 19, 2017 From the International Searching Authority Re. Application No. PCT/IL2017/050061. (10 Pages). |
| International Preliminary Report on Patentability dated Nov. 8, 2018 From the International Bureau of WIPO Re. Application No. PCT/IL2017/050469. (9 Pages). |
| Communication Pursuant to Article 94(3) EPC dated Jul. 29, 2019 From the European Patent Office Re. Application No. 17704833.7. (4 Pages). |
| Notification of Office Action and Search Report dated Nov. 4, 2019 From the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China Re. Application No. 201780020874.5. ( 7 Pages). |
| Translation Dated Dec. 6, 2019 of Notification of Office Action dated Nov. 4, 2019 From the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China Re. Application No. 201780020874.5. (4 Pages). |
| Notification of Office Action dated Jun. 23, 2020 From the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China Re. Application No. 201780020874.5. (5 Pages). |
| Communication Pursuant to Article 94(3) EPC dated Apr. 17, 2020 From the European Patent Office Re. Application No. 17704833.7. (6 Pages). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20190177076 A1 | Jun 2019 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62289248 | Jan 2016 | US |
