Patent Application
20230201851
The present invention is in the field of trigger dispensing devices for liquid products, generally used for household hygiene, air freshening, ironing of clothing, personal care, plant care, animal care, etc.
These devices are enormously popular; several hundred million are produced each year. In particular, the present invention relates to a trigger dispensing head applicable to a bottle, provided with a nozzle assembly for dispensing the product, particularly suitable for dispensing surface cleaning products.
In the home hygiene industry, cleaning vertical surfaces, such as bathroom wall tiles, particularly near fixtures, and downward-facing surfaces, such as the edges of bathroom fixtures, plays an essential role. Such surfaces are problematic, as the sprayed product, initially in foam form, tends to slide off or drip off, without remaining on the surface long enough to ensure sanitization or intervention by a user.
The volume of foam generated by the product, the persistence time of this volume, and the drip rate along a vertical surface depend on the technical and functional features of the dispensing head and the composition of the product, as illustrated, for example, in the International Application WO-A1-2015/145399.
The object of the present invention is to meet the needs of the industry and to overcome the drawbacks discussed above with reference to the prior art. This object is achieved by a dispensing head according to claim 1. Dependent claims identify additional advantageous embodiments.
The features and advantages of the dispensing head according to the present invention will be apparent from the description below, given by way of non-limiting example in accordance with the figures in the appended tables, wherein:
With reference to the figures in the appended tables, reference 1 refers to a trigger dispensing device as a whole comprising a bottle having a neck 4, comprising an annular neck wall 6 extending along a central neck axis X, and a dispensing head 8 having a trigger 10, removably or unremovably applicable to the neck 4 of the bottle 2, for example by means of a threaded or bayonet connection.
The dispensing head 8 includes a frame 12 for supporting the components, preferably made in one piece of plastics material by injection molding.
The frame 12 supports a first annular wall 14 having extension along a piston axis Y, incident on the neck axis X, e.g., orthogonally; the first wall 14 delimits a piston chamber 16, wherein a piston 18, actuated by the trigger 10, is sealingly slidable. Preferably, the frame 12 comprises the first wall 14.
The frame 12 further supports a second annular wall 20 having extension along a dispensing axis Z, preferably parallel to the piston axis Y; the second wall 20 delimits a dispensing duct 22, adapted to be placed in communication with the piston chamber 16 and terminating with a dispensing end. Preferably, the frame 12 comprises the second wall 20.
The piston chamber 16 is in communication with a main duct 24 for the inlet of the product suctioned into the piston chamber 16 and for the outlet of the product to be dispensed from the piston chamber 16 toward the dispensing duct 22; the main duct 24, preferably formed through the thickness of the second wall 20, has an inner mouth 24a toward the piston chamber 16 and an opposite outer mouth 24b.
The frame 12 also supports an annular main wall 26, projecting from the second wall 14, which surrounds the outer mouth 24b of the main duct 24. The main wall 26 has an inner side main surface 26a. Preferably, the frame 12 comprises the main wall 26.
On the main surface 26a, there is a sealing band 26aa, proximal to the outer mouth 24b, and a passage band 26ab, distal from the outer mouth 24b and provided with a plurality of recesses forming passages for the product being dispensed.
The head 8 further comprises pre-compression valve means configured to operate between the main duct 24 and the dispensing duct 22 and adapted, in a dispensing step, to pass product from the piston chamber 16 to the dispensing duct 22 only when the product pressure in the piston chamber 16 exceeds a predefined threshold value and, in a suction step, to prevent the passage of air from the dispensing duct 22 to the piston chamber 16.
Said pre-compression valve means comprise a valve assembly 27 comprising a tang 28, an elastically deformable membrane 30, and an engagement portion 32. Preferably, the valve assembly 27 is made in one piece of plastics material typically by injection molding.
The tang 28 has a sliding portion on the main surface 26a of the main wall 26.
In a resting configuration, the tang 28 is in contact with the sealing band 26aa of the main surface 26a. During an initial sub-step of the dispensing step, wherein, by actuating the trigger, the pressure of the product in the piston chamber 16 increases, the tang 28 slides, while maintaining contact with the sealing band 26aa, and the product does not pass to the dispensing duct 22. During a second sub-step of the dispensing step, at the beginning of which the product pressure is greater than or equal to the predefined threshold pressure, the tang 28 slides on the passage band 26ab, so as to allow the passage of the product outside the tang, toward the dispensing duct.
In addition, the tang 28 is penetrated by a suction duct 34 adapted to place the main duct 24 in communication with the compartment inside the bottle 2.
The head 8 further comprises suction valve means configured to operate along the suction duct 34. For example, said suction valve means comprise a ball 40, movable in the suction duct 34 between a closed position, assumed in the dispensing configuration wherein it occludes the suction duct 34 and prevents passage of product to the bottle compartment, and an open position, assumed in the suction configuration wherein it at least partially frees the dispensing duct 34.
Additional structural and functional details of the pre-compression and suction valve means are set forth in the International Application WO-A1-2014/013352, in the name of the Applicant, the teaching of which is incorporated herein.
The dispensing head 8 further comprises a nozzle assembly 50, applied to an annular end section 20b of the second wall 20, which defines a nozzle axis K, parallel to the dispensing axis Y.
The nozzle assembly 50 comprises a nozzle 52 applied to the end section 20b, preferably in a rotatable manner about the nozzle axis K between an open configuration and a closed configuration, and a foamer 54 attached to the nozzle 52.
The nozzle 52, preferably made in one piece of plastics material, comprises an annular grip wall 56, coaxial to the nozzle axis K, and a base 58, orthogonal to the nozzle axis K, from which the grip wall 56 protrudes axially. The grip wall 56 is adapted to be maneuvered to rotate the nozzle 52 relative to the nozzle axis K.
The nozzle 52 further comprises an annular connection wall 60, located radially internally to the grip wall 56, projecting axially from the base 58, adapted to snap-connect to the outer surface of the end section 20b, and an annular sealing lip 62, located radially internally to the connection wall 60, adapted to form a seal with the inner surface of the end section 20b.
The nozzle 52 further comprises an annular channeling wall 66, located radially internally to the sealing lip 62 and protruding axially from the base 58, which delimits a nozzle chamber 68 in communication with the dispensing duct 22 in the open nozzle configuration 52.
The base 58 of the nozzle 52 has a nozzle passage 70 through its thickness, coaxial to the nozzle axis K, which places the nozzle chamber 68 in communication with the exterior, emerging, via an outer mouth 70a, on an outer face 58a of the base 58.
In particular, said outer face 58a has a depression zone 72, which forms a dip on said outer face 58a, coaxial to the nozzle axis K, in which said outer mouth 70a opens. Said zone 72 has a depth H, at which said outer mouth 70a is located. The depth H is preferably between 0.7-1 millimeter, preferably between 0.8-0.9 millimeters, preferably is 0.85 millimeters.
The foamer 54 is applied, preferably by snap-connection, to the nozzle 52 and provides for a mixture of the product with the air coming from the external environment so as to generate a foam having the desired characteristics.
The foamer 54, preferably made in one piece of plastics material, for example by injection molding, comprises an annular outer wall 80, preferably comprising a pair of flaps 82 adapted to snap into respective windows 84 open on the base 58 of the nozzle 52. The engagement between the flaps 82 and the windows 84 achieves the engagement between the foamer 54 and the nozzle 52.
Additionally, the foamer 54 comprises an annular inner wall 86 having a preferably circular cylindrical, preferably smooth (i.e., free of ridges) inner surface 86a, coaxial to the nozzle axis K. The inner wall 86 delimits an inner chamber 88, into which the nozzle passage 70 of the nozzle 52 flows.
For example, the inner surface 86a has an axial length L of between 8-11 millimeters, preferably between 9-10 millimeters, preferably 9.5 millimeters. Furthermore, for example, the inner surface 86a has a diameter D of between 6-9 millimeters, preferably between 7-8 millimeters, preferably 7.9 millimeters.
On the other hand, an outer chamber 90 is delimited between the outer wall 80 and the inner wall 86.
Through the inner wall 86 is provided at least one inner opening 92, preferably formed in a proximal section 86a of the inner wall 86, proximal to the base 58 of the nozzle; for example, the inner opening 92 opens at the edge of said proximal section 86a. The inner opening 92 places the outer chamber 90 of the foamer 54 in communication with the inner chamber 88 of said foamer 54.
Preferably, moreover, at least one outer opening 94 is formed through the outer wall 80, which places the external environment in communication with the outer chamber 90 of the foamer.
In particular, the outer wall 80 provides at least one side outer opening 96 formed in an end section 98 of the outer wall 80, proximal to the base 58 of the nozzle 52, and at least one front outer opening 100 formed in a front region 102 of the outer wall 80, connecting the outer wall 80 with the inner wall 86. Said front outer opening 100 is contained on an imaginary plane orthogonal to the nozzle axis K.
Preferably, each front outer opening 100 has a radial width A of 0.5-2.5 millimeters, preferably 1-2 millimeters, preferably 1.55 millimeters. Further, preferably, each outer opening 100 has an angular opening B, preferably between 10°-25°, preferably between 15°-20°, preferably 18°.
According to a preferred embodiment, four front outer openings 100 are provided, angularly equally spaced on the front region 102.
During dispensing of the product from the outer opening 70a of the nozzle 52, air is drawn from the external environment into the outer chamber 90 through the outer openings 94, 96, 100, and from the outer chamber 90 to the inner chamber 88 through the inner openings 92, thereby arriving in the inner chamber 88 to mix with the product, producing the desired foam.
Innovatively, the dispensing head described above, equipped with the nozzle assembly, meets the needs of the industry, as it makes a foam having a high volume compared to the initial volume of the liquid product, and a long persistence time on a vertical surface, without dripping.
In particular, advantageously, the dispensing head according to the present invention has shown excellent performance with regard to the volume of foam generated by the product, the persistence time of this volume and the dripping speed along a vertical surface, even with products having peculiar formulations, having, in addition to a high cleaning power, a significant sanitizing and antimicrobial effect.
In particular, the head according to the present invention has shown excellent performance with products having a composition comprising one or more of the substances contained in one of the following groups:
Moreover, in particular, the head according to the present invention has shown excellent performance with strongly alkaline products (pH >11).
It is understood that a person skilled in the art, in order to meet contingent needs, could make modifications to the dispensing head described above, all of which are contained within the scope of protection as defined by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102020000013405 | Jun 2020 | IT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2021/054860 | 6/3/2021 | WO |
