Patent Application
20250051080
The present invention relates to the field of assemblies for packaging two products that need to be kept separate from one another, in particular during transport and storage, said products being mixed upon first use of the assembly. The present invention also relates to the dispensing of the resultant mixture of said products. The products are, in particular, cosmetic products.
A “cosmetic product” is understood, in particular within the meaning of the present invention, to be a product as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 Nov. 2009 on cosmetic products.
More particularly, the invention relates to an assembly for packaging and dispensing a product comprising two superposed receptacles that are capable of turning with respect to one another and are able to communicate with one another upon first use.
In general, the invention relates to the packaging of pasty or viscous products, for example hair products. The hair product may be a hair dyeing product, a hair serum, a cream for the hair or any other hair product for keratin fibres.
The invention relates more particularly, but not exclusively, to a packaging assembly configured to keep the dye and the oxidizing agent of a hair dyeing product separate, these two components being intended to be mixed a short time before they are used.
Reference may be made to the document WO201904726-A1, which describes a device configured to package two products separately and to dispense a resultant mixture upon first use. The device comprises a lower receptacle delimiting a cavity for receiving a first product and an upper receptacle delimiting a cavity for receiving a second product, said receptacles being configured to turn with respect to one another without moving axially with respect to one another. The device also comprises a temporary closure element that is configured to close an open end of the upper receptacle before first use and cooperates by way of a thread with said end of the upper receptacle. Said closure element comprises rotation prevention elements so as to prevent it from rotating during the relative rotation of the two receptacles and so as to move axially towards the lower container until it drops into the latter.
However, on account of the presence of dead zones in which the mixture of products can get stuck, the yields of the mixture are not satisfactory with such a device.
Furthermore, in such a device, it is not possible to force the dispensing of the mixture of the products.
Therefore, there is a need to improve the dispensing and the yield of the mixture of products from such devices.
The aim of the present invention is therefore to overcome the above drawbacks and to allow an improvement in the dispensing and the yield of the mixture of product to be dispensed, while retaining a simple structure that is easy to manufacture and ergonomic.
Another objective of the invention is to ensure that there is a seal between the two receptacles before first use.
A further objective of the invention is to provide an assembly for packaging a product in the form of a unitary assembly that is ready to use, not requiring the separation of the two receptacles in order to open the temporary closure member. In other words, the receptacles that each accommodate a component in the initial state form an assembly and are not intended to be separated from one another at any stage in the operation of the assembly in order to bring about the mixture of these two components.
The subject of the invention is an assembly for packaging two products separately and for dispensing a mixture of said products upon first use. Said assembly comprises:
The assembly comprises an assembly collar snap-fastened onto the lower container and onto the upper container. Said collar rotates as one with the upper container and is rotatable with respect to the lower container, wherein, before first use, the temporary closure member is in sealing contact with the assembly collar.
Said temporary closure member comprises first rotation prevention means cooperating with second rotation prevention means provided on the assembly collar so as to prevent the relative rotation of the temporary closure member and of the assembly collar and the temporary closure member does not have means for axial retention with the containers and the collar, such that when the lower container is rotated with respect to the upper container, the temporary closure member is moved axially until it is located in the internal volume of the upper container.
In an assembled position before first use, the lower container and the upper container are snap-fastened to the assembly collar. The lower container can turn with respect to said collar, whereas the upper container rotates as one with said collar.
The assembly collar ensures such an inseparable connection of the lower container with respect to the upper container, while allowing relative rotation of the upper container with respect to the lower container.
The assembly collar also keeps the temporary closure member in a position, before first use, in which said member sealingly partitions the internal volumes of said containers.
Advantageously, the assembly collar comprises an internal skirt disposed radially between the open end of the lower container and a lower end of the upper container, said internal skirt comprising, on its internal surface, a snap-fastening bulge intended to be snap-fastened over an annular rib provided on the lower container.
For example, the internal skirt of the assembly collar also comprises, on its internal surface, a sealing lip protruding towards the open end of the lower container.
Advantageously, the internal skirt of the assembly collar comprises, in its internal surface, a groove, preferably an annular groove, that cooperates, in a preassembled intermediate position, with a snap-fastening bead carried by the temporary closure member.
The snap-fastening bead protrudes, for example, outwards.
In a variant, provision could be made for the external surface of the internal skirt of the collar to comprise a groove that cooperates with an inwardly protruding snap-fastening bead carried by the temporary closure member.
According to one embodiment, the temporary closing member also comprises an intermediate cylindrical skirt radially surrounding the internal cylindrical skirt at least partially and comprises a bead that protrudes outwards and cooperates with the groove in the collar.
The bead is preferably annular.
For example, the temporary closing member comprises an external skirt surrounding the intermediate skirt. The three cylindrical skirts of the temporary closing member are coaxial.
For example, the assembly collar comprises an external skirt radially surrounding the internal skirt of the assembly collar and the lower end of the lower container, said external skirt comprising, on its internal surface, at least one snap-fastening protrusion protruding radially towards the internal skirt and cooperating with a snap-fastening protrusion provided on the external surface of the lower end of the upper container.
Advantageously, the external skirt of the collar comprises, on its internal surface, at least one rotation prevention protrusion cooperating with at least one notch provided in the external surface of the lower end of the upper container.
For example, the external skirt of the collar comprises four rotation prevention protrusions that each cooperate with a notch provided in the upper container. As a variant, a different number of rotation prevention protrusions could be provided.
According to one embodiment, the first rotation prevention means are at least one notch formed in the external skirt of the temporary closure member and the second rotation prevention means are formed by at least one longitudinal rib provided on the external surface of the internal skirt of the assembly collar.
For example, the second rotation prevention means are formed by at least one group of longitudinal ribs disposed on the external surface of the internal skirt of the assembly collar.
As a variant, a different number of groups of longitudinal ribs, for example more than or equal to three, could be provided. The groups of ribs are regularly spaced apart around the circumference of the internal skirt. A number of ribs per group of ribs equal to one, two, three or more than three, could also be provided.
For example, the first rotation prevention means are formed by at least one U-shaped notch provided in the external cylindrical skirt of the temporary closing member. The notch cooperates with a group of longitudinal ribs of the collar.
For example, two or three notches that are regularly spaced apart from one another around the entire circumference of said external skirt of the temporary closure member could be provided. As a variant, a different number of notches, for example a number greater than or equal to three, could be provided.
Each notch cooperates with a group of longitudinal ribs provided on the internal skirt of the collar, such that the temporary closure member is not set in rotation when the collar rotates.
In other words, the cooperation of the notches with the longitudinal ribs forms the rotation prevention means between the temporary closure member and the collar.
Other forms of rotation prevention means of the closure member with respect to the collar could also be provided.
Advantageously, the assembly collar comprises first angular limiting means cooperating with second angular limiting means provided on the lower container in order to limit the angular rotation of said lower container with respect to said collar, in particular to an angular range of around 180°.
For example, the lower container comprises, on its external surface, a first angular limiting stop that cooperates with at least one second angular limiting stop protruding from the lower surface of the body of the collar towards the lower container. The angular limiting stops respectively form the first and second angular limiting means.
Thus, the angular rotation of the lower container with respect to the collar is limited to an angular range, for example around 180°. The angular range is delimited by the angular limiting stops provided on the collar and on the lower container.
The angular range of rotation of the lower container with respect to the collar needs to be enough to allow the disengagement of the thread segments of the internal thread of the closure member. In other words, the angular range of rotation of the lower container with respect to the collar is greater than or equal to the angular range of the thread segments of the internal thread of the closure member.
For example, the internal thread of the closure member comprises three thread segments that each extend over an angular range of 120°.
Such a use advantage implies the assembly of the collar, of the closure member and of the lower container in the same angular positions, in order that one of the thread segments of the internal thread of the closure member is engaged with the same thread segment of the lower container.
To this end, the closure member comprises an indexing member protruding from the upper surface of the closure member, in order to be positioned angularly on the neck of the lower container when it is fitted.
In general, the closure member comprises at least one indexing member configured to allow it to be positioned angularly on the lower container.
For example, the internal skirt of the collar is disposed radially between the intermediate skirt and the external skirt of the temporary closing member.
For example, the lower surface of the closing element comprises an annular sealing lip having an outside diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of the open end of the lower container in order to be inserted into said open end and to sealingly close the lower container before first use of the assembly.
Advantageously, the outside diameter of the closing element is greater than the outside diameter of the open end of the neck of the lower container.
According to one embodiment, the upper surface of the closing element comprises axial protrusions extending axially into the upper container. Said axial protrusions make it possible to avoid the closure of the open end of the lower container and/or of the open upper end of the upper container once the temporary closure member is detached from the lower container, and thus to prevent the temporary closure member from impeding the flow of the mixture of the products.
For example, and entirely non-limitingly, the upper surface of the closing element comprises four axial protrusions that are in this case regularly spaced apart around the entire circumference of the closing element. As a variant, two or three axial protrusions could be provided.
According to one embodiment, the assembly comprises a device for application of said product mounted on the upper container.
For example, the product application device is in the form of a dispensing tube in fluidic communication with the upper container.
The product application device may comprise a skirt for mounting on the neck of the upper container that is mounted on the neck of the upper container by screwing or snap-fastening.
The application device may also comprise, on the opposite side from the mounting skirt, a frangible dispensing nozzle allowing access to the internal volume. The dispensing nozzle is intended to be broken before first use in order to open the dispensing orifice.
As a variant, the application device comprises a cap or lid screwed onto its upper end and designed to selectively close and open up the dispensing orifice.
The body of the lower container is advantageously made of rigid synthetic material, that is to say material that is not compressible by a user, and the body of the upper container is advantageously made of elastic synthetic material that is more flexible than the body of the lower container and is compressible by a user so as to eject product contained in the internal receiving volume simply by pressing on the body of the upper container.
The body of the upper container is more flexible than the body of the lower container.
The body of the upper container may be made, for example, of thermoplastic elastomer.
According to a second aspect, the invention relates to a method for assembling an assembly as described above. The method comprises the following steps:
Advantageously, in the unfastened position of the temporary closure member and the assembly collar, the protrusion, and in particular the annular bead, for snap-fastening the temporary closure member to the assembly collar remains in sealing contact with the collar, and in particular with the lower surface of the lower skirt of the collar.
At the end of the assembly method, the assembly is in an assembled use position in which the lower container, the upper container and the assembly collar are assembled inseparably.
The snap-fastening of the lower container to the collar is thus realized by a purely axial movement, different from the screwing movement of the lower container into the temporary closure member, so as to limit assembly forces.
The respective axial movements of the assembly collar and of the upper container can be carried out successively or simultaneously.
According to another aspect, the invention relates to a method for using an assembly as described above, wherein the rotation of the lower container is actuated, this causing the axial movement of the temporary closure member towards the upper container until the temporary closure member has been completely unscrewed with respect to the neck of the lower container, the internal volume of the upper container then being in fluidic communication with the internal volume of the lower container.
The temporary closure member is located in the internal volume of the upper container and may serve as an agitator contributing to the mixing of the products.
The user can then detach the frangible dispensing nozzle or unscrew the cap of the application device in order to use the assembly and apply the resultant mixture of the products through the dispensing orifice.
The present invention will be understood better from studying the detailed description of embodiments that are given by way of entirely non-limiting examples and are illustrated by the appended drawings, in which:
and
In the rest of the description, reference will be made to an orthonormal basis X, Y, Z, where Z corresponds to an elevation axis representing the vertical direction, in which there can be seen:
The expressions “upper” and “lower” refer to the upper part and the lower part of the figures, in the assembled position of the assembly.
The assembly 10 can be used to package two cosmetic products, for example two liquid or semi-liquid cosmetic products, or a liquid product and a powder.
For example, the products may be hair products, such as haircare products, for example hair dyeing products, creams or any product used for keratin fibres.
The assembly 10 is particularly intended for products requiring a single application. As a variant, the assembly 10 could be intended to be used for several applications.
By way of non-limiting example, the first product is a dye and the product is an oxidizing agent, which, when they are mixed to form a mixture, forms a dyeing product for the keratin fibres.
As illustrated in
The assembly 10 comprises a lower reservoir or container 12 delimiting an internal volume 12a for receiving a first product A, visible in
The assembly 10 also comprises an assembly collar 20 mounted between the lower container 12 and the upper container 14 and a temporary closure member 30 that is mounted on the lower container 12 and separates the lower container 12 from the upper container 14 before first use of the assembly 10.
In the assembled position before first use, shown in
The body of the lower container 12 is provided with a closed lower end 12b forming a bottom and an open upper end 12c, at the opposite end from the lower end 12b, forming a neck provided with an opening 12d that allows access to the internal volume 12a for receiving the first product.
By way of non-limiting example, the neck 12c may have an outside diameter less than the outside diameter of the body of the lower container 12.
As illustrated, the neck 12c comprises, on its outer surface 13, an external thread 13a. The neck 12c is connected to the body of the lower container 12 by an external shoulder 15 comprising, on its outer surface, a rib 15a, in this case an annular rib, protruding radially outwards.
A “shoulder” is understood to be any surface that is substantially normal to the elevation axis of a cylindrical component resulting from an abrupt change in diameter.
The body of the lower container 12 may be made, for example, of rigid synthetic material, that is to say material that is not compressible by a user.
The body of the upper container 14 is provided with an open lower end 14b and an open upper end 14c, at the opposite end from the lower end 14b, forming a neck provided with an opening 14d that allows access to the internal volume 14a for receiving the second product.
By way of non-limiting example, the neck 14c may have an outside diameter less than the outside diameter of the body of the upper container 14.
As illustrated, the neck 14c comprises, on its outer surface, an external thread 14e that cooperates with a tapped thread 16b provided on the product application device 16.
As a variant, a snap-fitting rib could be provided for snap-fitting a product application device 16 onto the upper container 14.
The body of the upper container 14 may be made, for example, of flexible synthetic material, so as to be able to eject product contained in the internal receiving volume 14a simply by pressing on the latter. The body of the upper container 14 is more flexible than the body of the lower container 12. The body of the upper container 14 may, for example, be made of thermoplastic elastomer.
The product application device 16 is in the form of a dispensing tube in fluidic communication with the upper container 14. The product application device 16 comprises a skirt 16a for mounting on the neck 14c of the upper container 14 comprising the tapped thread 16b cooperating with the external thread 14e of the upper container 14. The application device 16 also comprises, on the opposite side from the mounting skirt 16a, a dispensing orifice 16c allowing access to the internal volume 14a and a cap 17 screwed onto the upper end of the application device 16 and designed to selectively close and open up the dispensing orifice 16c. The cap 17 is intended to be unscrewed from the application device 16 to allow the mixture of the products to be dispensed through the dispensing orifice 16c.
As a variant, provision could be made for the dispensing orifice 16c to be closed by a frangible dispensing nozzle intended to be broken before first use to allow the mixture of the products to be dispensed through said dispensing orifice 16c.
As illustrated, the assembly collar 20 comprises two coaxial cylindrical skirts 22, 24.
The internal skirt 22 of the assembly collar 20 is disposed radially between the neck 12c of the lower container 12 and the lower end 14b of the upper container 14.
The internal skirt 22 of the assembly collar 20 comprises, on its internal surface, a snap-fastening bulge 22a intended to be snap-fastened over the annular rib 15a provided on the lower container 12.
The internal skirt 22 of the assembly collar 20 also comprises, on its internal surface, a sealing lip 22b protruding towards the neck 12c of the lower container 12.
The internal skirt 22 of the assembly collar 20 also comprises, on its external surface, a plurality of groups of longitudinal ribs 22c, one pair of which can be seen in
As illustrated, the internal skirt 22 of the assembly collar 20 comprises, on its external surface, three groups of two longitudinal ribs 22c arranged at 120°. As a variant, a different number of groups of longitudinal ribs could be provided. A different number of ribs per group of ribs could also be provided, for example one rib or number greater than or equal to three.
The internal skirt 22 comprises, on its internal surface, a groove 22d, in this case an annular groove, that cooperates with a snap-fastening bead 36a carried by the temporary closure member 30.
The external skirt 24 radially surrounds the internal skirt 22 and the lower end 14b of the lower container 14.
The external skirt 24 comprises, on its internal surface, a snap-fastening protrusion 24a protruding radially towards the internal skirt 22 and cooperating with a snap-fastening protrusion 14f provided on the external surface of the lower end 14b of the upper container 14.
The snap-fastening protrusion 24a in this case comprises four protruding segments spaced apart regularly from one another. As a variant, a different number of protruding segments could be provided.
The external skirt 24 radially surrounds the internal skirt 22 and comprises, on its internal surface, rotation prevention protrusions 24b cooperating with notches 14g provided in the external surface of the lower end 14b of the upper container 14.
The external skirt 24 in this case comprises four rotation prevention protrusions 24b that each cooperate with a notch 14g provided in the upper container 14. As a variant, a different number of rotation prevention protrusions 24b could be provided.
The rotation prevention protrusions 24b are spaced apart regularly between two snap-fastening protrusion segments 24a.
In the assembled position before first use, which can be seen in
As illustrated in
As illustrated, the temporary closing member 30 is a cover which can be screwed, sealingly, onto the external thread 13a of the neck of the lower container 12.
The temporary closing member 30 comprises an internal cylindrical skirt 32 and a closing element 34 connected to said skirt 32. The internal cylindrical skirt 32 extends radially between the neck 12c of the lower container 12 and the lower end 14b of the upper container 14.
The internal cylindrical skirt 32 comprises, on its internal cylindrical surface, an internal thread 32a cooperating with the external thread 13a of the neck of the lower container 12.
The outside diameter of the closing element 34 is greater than the outside diameter of the open end 12b of the neck of the lower container 12.
The lower surface of the closing element 34 comprises an annular sealing lip 34a having an outside diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of the open end 12b of the neck of the lower container 12 in order to be inserted into said open end and to sealingly close the lower container 12 before first use of the assembly.
The upper surface of the closing element 34 comprises axial protrusions 34b extending axially into the upper container 14. Said axial protrusions 34b make it possible to avoid the closure of the open end of the lower container 12 and/or of the open upper end of the upper container 14 once the temporary closure member 30 is detached from the lower container 12, and thus to prevent the temporary closure member 30 from impeding the flow of the mixture of the products.
As illustrated, and entirely non-limitingly, the upper surface of the closing element 34 comprises four axial protrusions 34b that are in this case regularly spaced apart around the entire circumference of the closing element 34. As a variant, a different number of axial protrusions 34b, for example two or three axial protrusions 34b, could be provided.
The temporary closing member 30 also comprises an intermediate cylindrical skirt 36 radially surrounding the internal cylindrical skirt 32 partially and comprising an external bead 36a protruding outwards and cooperating with the groove 22d in the collar 20 in a preassembled position that can be seen in
The temporary closing member 30 also comprises an external cylindrical skirt 38 surrounding the intermediate cylindrical skirt 36.
The external cylindrical skirt 38 also comprises a plurality of U-shaped notches 38a, one of which can be seen in
As illustrated, the external cylindrical skirt 38 of the temporary closing member 30 comprises three notches 38a that are regularly spaced apart from one another around the entire circumference of said skirt 38. As a variant, a different number of notches 38a, for example one notch, two notches or a number greater than or equal to three, could be provided.
Each notch 38a cooperates with a group of longitudinal ribs 22c provided on the internal skirt 22 of the collar 20, such that the temporary closure member 30 is not set in rotation when the lower container 12 rotates with respect to the assembly formed by the upper container 14 and the collar 20, which rotate as one on account of the cooperation of the rotation prevention protrusions 24b and the notches 14g.
In other words, the cooperation of the notches 38a with the longitudinal ribs 22c forms rotation prevention means between the temporary closure member 30 and the collar 20.
Other forms of rotation prevention means of the closure member 30 with respect to the collar 20 could also be provided.
In general, the cylindrical skirt 32 and the lower container 12 comprise rotation prevention means for preventing the rotation of the temporary closure member 30 with respect to the assembly collar 20.
The internal skirt 22 of the assembly collar 20 is disposed radially between the external cylindrical skirt 38 of the temporary closure member 30 and the intermediate cylindrical skirt 36 of said member 30.
As illustrated, the lower container 12 comprises, on its external surface, a first angular limiting stop 12e that cooperates with a second angular limiting stop 26 protruding from the lower surface of the body 24 of the collar 20 towards the lower container 12. The angular limiting stops respectively form the first and second angular limiting means.
Thus, the angular rotation of the lower container with respect to the collar is limited to an angular range, for example around 180°. The angular range is delimited by the angular limiting stops 12e, 26 provided on the collar 20 and on the lower container 12.
The angular range of rotation of the lower container 12 with respect to the collar 20 needs to be enough to allow the disengagement of the thread segments of the internal thread 32a of the closure member 30. In other words, the angular range of rotation of the lower container 12 with respect to the collar 20 is greater than or equal to the angular range of the thread segments of the internal thread 32a of the closure member 30.
In the example illustrated, and entirely non-limitingly, the internal thread 32a of the closure member 30 comprises three thread segments that each extend over an angular range of 120°.
Such a use advantage implies the assembly of the collar 20, of the closure member 30 and of the lower container 12 in the same angular positions, in order that one of the thread segments of the internal thread 32a of the closure member 30 is engaged with the same thread segment of the lower container 12.
To this end, the closure member 30 comprises an indexing member 37 protruding from the upper surface of the closure member 30, in order to be positioned angularly on the neck of the lower container 12 when it is fitted.
An example of assembling the assembly 1 for packaging and dispensing a product is carried out using the following method, with reference to
The temporary closure member 30 and the assembly collar 20 are preassembled in an intermediate position, which can be seen in
The subassembly formed by the temporary closure member 30 and the assembly collar 20 is positioned angularly with respect to the lower container 12 by virtue of the indexing member 37 and then screwed onto the lower container 12 by way of the corresponding threads 13a, 32a.
The collar 20 is then moved axially towards the lower container 12 until the snap-fitting bead 22a of the collar 20 snap-fits under the rib 15a of the lower container 15, as can be seen in
During this step, the collar 20 is moved axially whereas the temporary closure member 30 is not moved axially, and so the annular bead 36a of the temporary closure member 30 is unfastened from the groove 22d of the assembly collar 20. In this position, which can be seen in
Simultaneously with this step, or subsequently, the upper container 14 is clip-fastened onto the collar 20 via a relative axial movement of the container 14 towards the collar 20 until the snap-fastening protrusions 14f, 24a are snap-fastened, as can be seen in
The assembly collar ensures such an inseparable connection of the lower container 12 with respect to the upper container 14, while allowing relative rotation of the lower container 12 with respect to the upper container 14.
The assembly collar 20 thus makes it possible to obtain an assembly for packaging a product that is ready to use, not requiring the separation of the two containers in order to detach the temporary closure member. In other words, the containers that each accommodate a product in the initial state form an assembly and are not intended to be separated from one another at any stage in the operation of the assembly in order to bring about the mixture of these two products.
The assembly collar 20 also keeps the temporary closure member 30 in a position, before first use, in which said member sealingly separates or partitions the internal cavities 12a, 14a of said containers 12, 14.
The snap-fastening of the lower container 12 to the collar 20 is thus realized by a purely axial movement, different from the screwing movement of the lower container 12 into the temporary closure member 30, so as to limit assembly forces. Once the assembly 10 has been assembled, the user actuates the rotation of the lower container 12, thereby causing the axial movement of the temporary closure member 30 towards the upper container 14 until the temporary closure member has been fully unscrewed from the neck of the lower container 12, as can be seen in
This is because the temporary closure member 30 does not have means for axial retention with the containers 12, 14 and the collar 20, and so, when the lower container 12 is rotated with respect to the upper container 14, the temporary closure member 30 is moved axially until it is located in the internal volume 14a of the upper container 14.
The temporary closure member 30 is thus located in the internal volume 14a of the upper container 14 and may serve as an agitator contributing to the mixing of the products.
The user can then unscrew the cap 17 in order to use the assembly 10 and apply the resultant mixture of the products A and B through the dispensing orifices 16c.
By virtue of the assembly according to the present invention, the dispensing and yield of the mixture of product to be dispensed are substantially improved, while retaining a simple structure that is easy to manufacture and ergonomic.
Moreover, it is possible to ensure that there is a seal between the two receptacles before first use.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2113699 | Dec 2021 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2022/085266 | 12/9/2022 | WO |
