Patent Publication Number: US-10307776-B2

Title: Device with rigid receptacle and flexible cylindrical pouch for packaging fluids

Description:
The invention relates to a device with a rigid outer bottle and a flexible cylindrical inner pouch for packaging fluids. 
     Such a device is described in the patent document WO 03/011713. 
     As represented in  FIG. 1 , this device for packaging and dispensing a liquid product has a leaktight flexible pouch  1  a placed in a rigid bottle  10 , associated with a pump or a valve  13  and intended to be filled with the product to be packaged. This pouch  1  has a cylindrical wall consisting of at least one metal sheet or sheet of plastic material rolled into a cylinder, the edges of which are fixed in a leaktight fashion to two flanges  3 ,  4 , of which one  3  forms the bottom of the pouch and the other  4  forms a ring for fastening to the bottle and to the pump or the valve. 
     Each flange  3 ,  4  has a solid disk or a ring having a raised edge  3 A,  4 A forming an annular lateral surface, to which the edge of the sheet of the cylindrical wall of the pouch  1  is fixed. 
     The pouch  1 , filled with the product to be packaged, is introduced into the bottle  10 , a radial edge  4 B of the upper ring  4  being fixed by snap-fastening into a groove formed in the inner wall of the bottle  10 . The pump  13 , equipped with a push-button  14  and a nozzle  16 , is mounted in a leaktight fashion on the upper ring  4 . 
     Preferably, and as specified in the patent document WO 2010/125304, the cylindrical wall of the pouch  1  consists of a multilayer sheet, these layers being, from the outer layer to the inner layer, made of polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, aluminum and polyethylene. 
     Furthermore, the two flanges  3 ,  4  are generally made of plastic material, and preferably polyethylene. 
     Such polyethylene flanges pose the following technical problems. 
     They are transparent to light and permeable to oxygen. They can cause evaporation of volatile products, for example alcohol. Certain products may lead to phenomena of adsorption and/or absorption on the plastic material and become denatured thereby. 
     It could be envisaged to produce these flanges from barrier materials molded in bulk fashion, but such materials are relatively expensive. Furthermore, the use of such barrier materials requires, for the sheet forming the pouch, use of the same barrier material or a compatible material which can be fixed to it, preferably by welding. This would result in a significant increase in the manufacturing cost and complexity of the overall device. 
     Furthermore, patent document EP 0 354 137 describes a device for packaging and dispensing a liquid product, having a leaktight flexible pouch placed in a rigid bottle and associated with a pump or a valve, this pouch having a cylindrical wall consisting of a sheet rolled into a cylinder, one edge of which is fixed in a leaktight fashion to a flange forming a ring for fastening to the bottle and to the pump or the valve. 
     This ring consists of a plastic material, and its inner face may carry a washer with a barrier effect partially covering the inner face of the ring, and this washer may be made of a metal/plastic composite having a metal film. 
     This washer is welded to the face of the ring via a large face and is retained at its base by a small annular bead of plastic material. 
     Such a washer does not form an effective barrier, because it does not cover the inner face of the ring under this bead of plastic material retaining its base. 
     The invention improves the barrier effect of such a covering layer and provides a device which is easy to manufacture and an arrangement that can be fitted easily to current flanges consisting of a plastic material. 
     To this end, it provides a device for packaging and dispensing a fluid product, having a leaktight flexible pouch placed in a rigid bottle and associated with a pump or a valve, this pouch having a cylindrical wall consisting of a sheet rolled into a cylinder, one edge of which is fixed in a leaktight fashion to a flange forming a ring for fastening to the bottle and to the pump or the valve, this flange consisting of a plastic material, the other edge of the said sheet being fixed in a leaktight fashion to a second flange forming the bottom of the pouch, this second flange consisting of a plastic material, these flanges having a solid disk or a ring having a raised edge forming an annular lateral surface, to which the edge of the said sheet forming the wall of the pouch is fixed, the said sheet of the cylindrical wall being a multilayer sheet having at least one inner film of plastic material, characterized in that
         the inner face of the said flanges carries a covering sheet entirely covering the inner face of the said flanges and also covering at least a part of the said inner annular lateral surface for fastening the edge of the said sheet forming the wall of the pouch, and   the said covering sheet has at least one film of the same plastic material as the said inner film of the said sheet of the cylindrical wall and a metal film, its plastic material film facing toward the inner face of the said sheet constituting the cylindrical wall.       

     The metal film of the covering sheet of each flange ensures a reliable barrier over the entire inner face of each flange in contact with the packaged product contained in the pouch. This embodiment ensures a total barrier on the entire inner face of the flange in contact with the packaged product contained in the pouch. 
     The covering sheet is therefore a multilayer sheet having at least one film of plastic material and a metal film. Since the plastic material of the inner film of the multilayer sheet of the cylindrical wall is identical to the one constituting the film of the covering layer which faces toward the inner face of the said cylindrical wall, fixing by welding between this wall and the coated flange can be carried out particularly effectively. 
     According to a preferred embodiment, the said covering sheet has at least one film of the same plastic material as the said flange and the said metal film, its plastic material film facing toward the inner face of the said flange. 
     Since this film of plastic material is made of the same plastic material as the flange and faces toward the inner face of the flange, fastening by welding of the covering sheet and the flange can be carried out particularly effectively. 
     Preferably, the said metal film(s) is (are) made of aluminum. 
     Furthermore, advantageously, the said plastic material is polyethylene. 
     Advantageously, the said covering sheet is a multilayer sheet, its layers being made of polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, aluminum and polyethylene. 
     Preferably, the said covering sheet is welded onto the inner face of the said sheet constituting the cylindrical wall. 
    
    
     
       The invention is described in more detail below with the aid of figures, which only represent a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 1  is a view in vertical section of a device according to the prior art, and has already been described above. 
         FIGS. 2 and 3  are views in section, and in perspective in the case of  FIG. 3 , of a pouch of a device according to the invention. 
         FIGS. 4 and 5  are views in perspective of the flanges according to the invention, cut away in order to allow their cross section to be seen. 
     
    
    
     As represented in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the invention relates to a device for packaging and dispensing a fluid product, having a leaktight flexible pouch  1  placed in a rigid bottle and associated with a pump or a valve, this pouch having a cylindrical wall consisting of a multilayer sheet  2  rolled into a cylinder, the edges of which are fixed in a leaktight fashion to two flanges  3 ,  4 , of which one  3  forms the bottom of the pouch and the other  4  forms a ring for fastening to the bottle and to the pump or the valve. 
     Each flange  3 ,  4  has a solid disk or a ring having a raised edge  3 A,  4 A forming an annular lateral surface, to which the edge of the sheet of the cylindrical wall of the pouch is fixed. 
     The multilayer sheet  2  of the pouch  1  has at least one inner film of plastic material and a metal film, preferably a film of polyethylene and a film of aluminum. Preferably, it in fact consists of a multilayer sheet, these layers advantageously being, from the outer layer to the inner layer, made of polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, aluminum and polyethylene, in order to ensure optimal chemical and mechanical conditions. 
     The flanges  3 ,  4  consist of the same plastic material as the inner film of the sheet  2 , and therefore preferably of polyethylene. 
     The inner face of at least one of the said flanges  3 ,  4  has a covering sheet  20 A,  20 B having a metal film and entirely covering the inner face of the corresponding flange. 
     To this end, the covering sheet  20 A,  20 B covers the inner face of the flange  3 ,  4  as well as at least a part of the inner annular lateral surface of its raised edge  3 A,  4 A. 
     The covering sheet  20 A,  20 B is identical to the multilayer sheet  2  constituting the cylindrical wall of the pouch  1  and is therefore a multilayer sheet, these layers being made of polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, aluminum and polyethylene. 
     The product to be packaged, intended to fill the pouch  1 , therefore remains in contact with the polyethylene, but in a much smaller proportion by thickness, limiting any phenomenon of absorption and/or adsorption. Specifically, if the thickness of a flange  3 ,  4  is of the order of from to 1.5 mm, that of the film of polyethylene of the covering layer  20 A,  20 B is of the order of 0.1 mm. 
     Furthermore, since the covering sheet  20 A,  20 B has a film of polyethylene on its two faces, fastening by welding of the covering sheet and the flange is easy and, once covered, the flange has a film of polyethylene on the outer annular lateral surface of its raised edge, which allows easy fastening by welding of the sheet  2  of the cylindrical wall of the pouch  1 , which itself has a film of polyethylene directed toward the flange. 
     Even though, in the scope of the invention, just one of the flanges  3 ,  4  may be equipped with such a covering sheet while providing an improvement in the conditions of evaporation, adsorption and/or absorption, optimally both flanges are made of plastic material, preferably polyethylene, and the inner face of the two flanges  3 ,  4  of the pouch  1  has such a covering sheet  20 A,  20 B, as represented in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . As can be seen in these figures, the covering sheet  20 A,  20 B preferably covers the entire inner annular lateral surface of the flanges  3 ,  4 . 
     The process of fitting the covering sheet  20 A,  20 B on the corresponding flange  3 ,  4  is greatly facilitated by the fact that the plastic material constituting the flange and the film of plastic material of the covering sheet  20 A,  20 B is the same, and preferably polyethylene. 
     The covering sheet  20 A,  20 B is overmolded on the inner surface of the flange by the method known as “In-mold labeling” or “IML”. This method ensures optimal integration of the covering sheet over the entire inner face of the flange  3 ,  4 , as well as over the annular lateral surface  3 A,  4 A. Further to the fact that this method can be fully robotized, it ensures perfect positioning of the covering sheet and therefore perfect and full covering of the inner face of each flange.