Device for distributing a pasty, in particular, cosmetic, product and method of manufacturing this device

A device for dispensing a pasty product in a body enclosed in a casing having a stationary hollow body and a cap for closing and opening the casing to permit the use of the pasty product, wherein the bottom portion of the body of the pasty product is anchored in the hollow body and the cap encloses a free usable portion of the body of the pasty product. The invention is usable for dispensing a cosmetic product such as lipstick.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
 The invention relates to a device for distributing a pasty, in particular
 cosmetic product such as a lipstick consisting of a body enclosed in a
 casing having been used as a mould for the making of the porduct, the
 casing comprising a stationary hollow body and a cap for closing and
 opening the casing to permit the use of the pasty product and to a method
 of manufacture of such a distributing or dispensing device.
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 In the dispensing devices of this type which are known, the paste consists
 of a stick carried by a piston axially movable in the casing between a
 retracted position and an outward extended position of use. In such a
 case, the casing is essentially constituted by an elongated tubular body
 and a cap is made as a cover for closing the top end of the body.
 These known distributing or dispensing devices are designed in order that
 the stick may have the greatest possible length and that the height of the
 base inserted into the piston be relatively small with respect to this
 length. Research has shown that the structure of the dispensing device is
 complex and that the filling with a pasty product from the base or bottom
 of the device is difficult to carry out automatically. Now to the extent
 where the devices for dispensing cosmetic products are products
 manufactured in a great number, these two facts constitute serious
 inconveniences.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The object of the present invention is to provide a distributing or
 dispensing device of the kind described hereinabove, which would not
 exhibit these inconveniences.
 To reach this goal, the distributing or dispensing device according to the
 invention has a hollow body for anchoring the base portion of the body of
 the pasty product surrounding the latter and the cap surrounds the free
 usable portion of this body.
 According to of the invention, the cap is pivotally connected to the hollow
 body through a pivot means mounted between opposite front faces of the
 body and of the cap. Pivoting between positions of closing and of opening
 the casing.
 According to invention, at least that side face of the body of the pasty
 product which is opposite to the pivot means exhibits, in the plane of
 pivoting, a profile in the shape of an arc of a circle having radius
 slightly smaller than the distance between the pivot axis and the lower
 peripheral edge line of the front face of the cap at the level of this
 side face.
 According to the invention, the hollow body comprises, in its base face, a
 sealable aperture to be used as a hole for filling the casing with the
 pasty product.
 According to the invention, the aperture is sealable with a stopper after
 the filling.
 According to the invention, the opposite front faces of the hollow body and
 of the cap comprise sealing means advantageously provided by a peripheral
 rib provided on one of the two opposite faces and intended to be inserted
 in a groove of complementary shape the other face.
 According to the invention, the casing exhibits a general ovoidal shape
 advantageously with an oval cross section in a plane parallel to the pivot
 axis, the latter extending in parallel relation to the minor or short axis
 of this cross section.
 A method of manufacture of the device for distributing or dispensing a
 pasty product according to the invention includes making in a single
 operation, the casing as one single piece through injection, filling the
 casing in the closed state with the pasty product through the filling
 aperture provided in the base face of the casing and thereafter sealing
 this filling aperture by the insertion of a closure stopper into the
 aperture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
 As clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the device for dispensing a pasty, in
 particular, cosmetic, product, such as a lipstick, comprises a casing 1
 with a general ovoidal shape, as shown in FIG. 2, exhibiting, in a plane
 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X--X shown in FIG. 2, substantially
 oval cross sections and a body of pasty product 2 enclosed within the
 casing 1 and exhibiting the shape corresponding to the internal face of
 the casing. The casing is made from a plastic material such as
 polypropylene or polyethylene and comprises a stationary hollow body 4
 within which the base 5 of the block 2 of pasty product is anchored and a
 cap 6 pivotally connected to the base body 4 through pivot means 7 mounted
 between the opposite front faces 8 and 9 of the body 4 and of the cap 6,
 respectively. The cap may therefore swing about an axis 10 located
 substantially at the level of the outer peripheral surface of the casing,
 between a closed position and an open position in which the body and the
 cap are juxtaposed. In the opposite portion of the pivot means 7, the
 hollow body 4 and the cap 6 comprise gripping means 11 facilitating the
 opening of the casing.
 The front face 8 of the hollow body 4 exhibits in the middle between the
 pivot means 7 and the gripping or opening means 11, hollow zones 14 having
 a rounded shape, into which projecting zones 15, of complementary shape,
 of the cap 6 are inserted. The casing moreover comprises sealing means to
 prevent the pasty product from flowing outwards when the casing is closed.
 These sealing means essentially comprise a peripheral rib 17 on the front
 face 9 of the cap, which extends all about the body 2 and a groove 18 of
 complementary shape, in the front face 8 of the stationary hollow body 4.
 The base 19 of the body 4 is flattened and has a through hole 20 permitting
 the filling of the casing with a pasty product. This filling hole 20 is
 sealable with a stopper 21 which will be permanently put in place in the
 hole 20 after the filling step.
 As to the pivot means 7, it is of the type known per se with a sudden or
 snap-like automatic pivatal movement after having moved past a
 predetermined angle of pivoting .alpha. of 135.degree., for example. Pivot
 means 17 ensure that the cap remains in its maximum opening position with
 an angle of 180.degree. until the application of a suitable force acting
 in the closing direction of the cap.
 Of course, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the cap 6 is arranged so that upon
 opening by pivoting, its inside surface does not rub against the block 2
 of the pasty product. To ensure there is no undue rubbing, the block 2 of
 the pasty product has, in a plane perpendicular to the pivot axis 10 and
 intersecting the surface of the block 2 of the pasty product most distance
 from the pivot axis 10, an arcuate profile with a radius smaller than the
 distance between the pivot axis 10 and the inside surface to the cap 6, in
 that plane, where the cap touches the body 4 when the cap 6 is closed.
 It should further be pointed out that one may provide inside of the casing
 and in particular of the cap, an insert (not shown) covering the internal
 face thereof and made from a material compatible with the pasty product.
 Owing to this simple structure of the dispensing device which has just been
 described, the manufacture of the latter may be easily carried out
 automatically. In effect, in a first operating step, one makes the casing
 through injection in one single piece integral with the base body 4 and
 the cap 6 in the open state, the pivot means 7 being then also made
 integral in one single piece of material. One then closes the casing and
 fills the latter with pasty product by inserting the latter through the
 filling hole 20. One then puts in place the stopper 21. One easily
 understands that the manufacture as well as the filling constitute
 operating steps which may carried out automatically without any
 difficulty.
 Thus, the present invention provides a dispensing device of simple and not
 very expensive structure and manufacture, based upon the consideration
 that the inconvenience of some loss of pasty product due to the anchoring
 of the body 2 within the lower half of the casing formed of the hollow
 body 4 does not constitute a real inconvenience but, on the contrary, is
 advantageous because one thus obtains the advantage of a very simple and
 automatable manufacture of the casing. In effect the plastic casing and
 its assembly normally constitute the expensive part whereas the pasty
 product is of a lower price.