Patent ID: 11873155
Assignee: COMPAGNIE GERVAIS DANONE
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 7:
8. A method for assembling a container for keeping contents in separate compartments before use, the method comprising:
providing a first container body with a first compartment configured to contain a first content, a first closure member sealing the first compartment;
providing a second container body separate from the first container body, the second container body having a second compartment configured to contain a second content, a second closure member sealing the second compartment;
providing an interface device, separate from the first container body and separate from the second container body, the interface device being configured to connect the first container body to the second container body, an internal passage being delimited by the interface device, allowing communication between the first compartment and the second compartment;
providing the first opener and the second opener in a connector forming all or part of the interface device, the connector comprising a tubular wall delimiting an exterior face of the interface device, the first opener and the second opener being disposed inside the tubular wall, the interface having two opposite axial ends that are opposite end female parts of the connector, the axial ends each providing a first insertion position and a second insertion position for a corresponding male part in the form of a coupler;
coupling and fastening the first container body, which is already filled with the first content in the first compartment delimited by the first container body, to one of the two opposite axial ends of the interface device;
coupling and fastening the second container body, which is already filled with the second content in the second compartment delimited by the second container body, to the other one of the two opposite axial ends of the interface device; and
maintaining a first configuration of the container, in which the first opener is facing a first closure member sealing the first compartment and the second opener is facing a second closure member sealing the second compartment, so that an internal passage delimited by the tubular wall of the interface device and allowing communication between the first compartment and the second compartment remains closed by a first membrane of the first closure member and a second membrane of the second closure member,
wherein the connector is fastened to a first coupler of the first container body and to a second coupler of the second container body, which permit narrowing a distance between the first coupler and the second coupler to obtain a second operative configuration of the container, in which the first opener opens the internal passage by one or more of puncturing and displacing the first membrane and the second opener opens the internal passage by one or more of puncturing and displacing the second membrane, thus allowing mixing between the first content and the second content, and
wherein the first configuration of the container is maintained by preventing relative rotation and or relative sliding between the connector and each of the first container body and the second container body, by rigid protecting parts irremovably secured to the connector, which are protruding in opposite directions relative to the connector, in order to prevent displacement of the first and second container bodies towards each other, the rigid protecting parts being two protecting rings that surround the connector in the second operative configuration of the container.