Patent Publication Number: US-6698627-B2

Title: Fluid dispenser

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of pending U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/375,050, filed Apr. 25, 2002, and priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) of French patent application No. FR-02.02096, filed Feb. 19, 2002. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser comprising a dispensing member and packaging surrounding said dispensing member at least in part. The dispensing member comprises a fluid reservoir defining a deformable actuating wall that can be pushed in by using a finger to reduce the internal volume of the reservoir and thus to deliver some of the fluid stored inside the reservoir through a dispensing orifice. Such dispensing members are in frequent use in the field of perfumes, or indeed cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In the prior art, mention may be made, for example, of Documents FR-2 778 639, FR-2 781 770, FR-2 791 645, or FR-2 796 368. All of those documents describe dispensing members forming reservoirs containing fluid and air. To dispense the fluid, a deformable face of the reservoir is pressed in so that a mixture of fluid and of air is delivered through a dispensing orifice in the form of a two-phase spray. In Document FR-2 796 368, the dispensing member is provided with trim that is in the form of a packaging jacket that covers the deformable face of the reservoir at least in part. That packaging jacket is fixed to the dispensing member over the rear face thereof, i.e. over its face opposite from the deformable face. It can also be noted that that reservoir is made up of a shell that is advantageously thermoformed and that forms the deformable actuating face. That shell is closed by a sealing film which is connected to the shell over the plane periphery thereof. For the same type of packaged dispensing member, mention may be made of Document FR-2 784 361 which describes a dispensing member provided with a flap that extends over the deformable actuating face. That flap is fixed either onto the edge of the shell or onto the edge of the sealing film that closes it. In that Document as well, the reservoir is made up of a shell and of a sealing film. In the preceding two documents, it is easy to fix the packaging to the dispensing member because said dispensing member forms one or more plane surfaces that facilitate fixing. 
     It is an entirely different matter when the dispensing members do not have such plane surfaces suitable for fixing. An object of the present invention is to remedy the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, which drawbacks are related to the specific structure of the dispensing member (shell+film), while also associating very attractive packaging with it. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a dispenser formed of a dispensing member and of packaging, and whose dispensing member is in a more conventional form with a preferably one-piece reservoir forming a neck at which the dispensing orifice is provided. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To this end, the present invention provides a fluid dispenser comprising a dispensing member and packaging surrounding said dispensing member at least in part, said dispensing member comprising a fluid reservoir defining a neck and at least one deformable actuating wall serving to be pushed in to reduce the internal volume of the reservoir, said dispensing member being provided with a dispensing orifice through which the fluid is delivered by pressing on the actuating wall of the reservoir, said packaging having at least one deformable face situated facing the actuating wall of the reservoir, so that the actuating wall can be pushed in via the deformable face of the packaging, said fluid dispenser being characterized in that the packaging is connected to the dispensing member at a fixing appendage that is secured to or integral with the dispensing member and that has a fixing zone for fixing to the packaging. Advantageously, the fixing appendage is situated in the vicinity of the neck of the reservoir. In an embodiment, the fixing appendage is made integrally with the dispensing member. In a variant, the fixing appendage is separate and mounted on the dispensing member. 
     In a more practical embodiment, the dispensing member further comprises a dispensing end-piece forming the dispensing orifice and mounted in or around the neck of the reservoir, the fixing appendage being secured to or integral with the end-piece. 
     In any event, the fixing appendage may have an outer peripheral outline that defines the fixing zone for fixing to the packaging. Advantageously, the fixing zone is cylindrical, with a diamond-shaped or eye-shaped cross-section. 
     As regards the packaging, it may have two faces connected together along their side edges and connected to the fixing appendage along their top edges, their bottom edges advantageously defining an open bottom. In practical manner, the packaging may be made up of two separate sheets of elastically deformable material, or of one sheet of elastically deformable material folded in half. 
     For example, the reservoir of the dispensing member may be in the form of a flask or of a small bottle having a deformable wall, e.g. made of soft thermoplastic. A standard end-piece may then be mounted on the deformable bottle. One advantage of the present invention is that it enables a fixing appendage of any shape to be mounted on the standard end-piece. In this manner, it is possible to produce a standard dispensing member and to equip it subsequently with a fixing appendage of desired design. It should be noted that the packaging can be fixed to the fixing appendage merely by sealing or even by adhesive. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention is described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings which give two embodiments of the present invention by way of non-limiting example. 
     In the figures: 
     FIG. 1 is a partially cut-away diagrammatic perspective view of a fluid dispenser of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a vertical section view of the dispenser of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of detail A of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a vertical section view through a variant embodiment of FIG. 2; and 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of detail B of FIG.  4 . 
    
    
     PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     The dispenser of the invention comprises two essential component parts, namely a dispensing member formed by a reservoir  1  and by a dispensing end-piece  2 , and packaging  4  surrounding the dispensing member at least in part. Preferably, the dispenser is further provided with a cap or stopper  5  which covers the dispensing end-piece  2  so as to close off the dispensing orifice of the dispenser. 
     The dispensing member thus includes a reservoir  1  forming at least one deformable actuating wall  10  and a neck  11 , so that the reservoir  10  is conventionally in the form of a small flask or bottle. For example, the reservoir  10  may be made of a plastics material whose wall thickness is larger at the neck  11  than at the level of the deformable actuating wall  10 . The dispensing end-piece  2  is mounted in or on the neck  11  by establishing leaktight fixing therebetween. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 to  5 , the dispensing end-piece  2  includes a fixing sleeve  22  that co-operates with the inside wall of the neck  11 . It is also possible to use a fixing sleeve that co-operates with the outside wall of the neck  11 . At its end opposite from the fixing sleeve  22 , the dispensing end-piece  2  forms a dispensing orifice  25 . An internal recess  23  is formed inside the dispensing end-piece  2  and extends from the fixing sleeve  22  to the dispensing orifice  25 . The internal recess  23  receives a sort of rod  3  that is made of a porous material that is capable of absorbing fluid by capillary action. The piece of porous material  3  comprises a portion that is received and fixed inside the dispensing end-piece  2 , and an external portion  32  that extends inside the reservoir through the neck  10 . Thus, the piece of porous material  3  can be imbibed with fluid that it collects from the reservoir  1 . The piece of porous material  3  is thus received inside the internal recess  23  formed by the dispensing end-piece  2 , but said recess  23  also forms longitudinal channels  24  that extend over the entire height of the internal portion  31  of the piece of porous material  3 . These channels  24  make it possible for air to reach the dispensing orifice  25 , so that a mixture of air and of fluid reaches the dispensing orifice  25 . Thus, by pressing on the deformable actuating wall  10  of the reservoir  1 , fluid stored in the piece of porous material  3  and also air coming from the channels  24  reaches the dispensing orifice  25  where it is dispensed in the form of a two-phase spray. After each occasion on which the actuating wall  10  is pushed in, said actuating wall returns to its initial rest shape. This is made possible by the fact that the actuating wall has resilience or shape memory resulting in air being sucked into the reservoir  1  through the dispensing orifice  25 . In this way, there is always air inside the reservoir  1 . Two-phase dispensing is thus possible until there is no more fluid stored in the reservoir and in the piece of porous material  3 . 
     Advantageously, the dispensing end-piece  2  may be capped with a cap  5  that may be in the form of a body  50  covered with trim  51 . The cap  50  serves to protect the end-piece  2  and to close off the dispensing orifice  25 . 
     In the invention, the dispensing member is provided with a fixing appendage  21  or  21 ′ to which the packaging  4  is fixed. The fixing appendage may be integral with the dispensing member, i.e. with the reservoir  1  or with the dispensing end-piece  2 . In a variant, the fixing appendage may be separate and mounted on the dispensing member, and be held in place thereon by clamping, snap-fastening, or adhesive, or by any other well-known fixing technique. The fixing appendage is located outside the neck. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the fixing appendage is secured to or integral with the dispensing end-piece  2 . In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fixing appendage  21  is made integrally with the dispensing end-piece. The fixing appendage  21  is situated just above the top end of the neck  11  of the reservoir  10 . It is also possible to imagine that the fixing appendage  21  extends around the neck  11 . In the alternative embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the fixing appendage  21 ′ is in the form of a separate part fixed to the dispensing end-piece  2 , substantially at the same level as in FIGS. 2 and 3. By being separate and mounted on the dispensing end-piece  2 , the fixing appendage  21 ′ makes greater modularity possible because it is very easy to replace the dispensing appendage  21  with another appendage having a different shape. It is thus possible to implement a standard dispensing end-piece to which fixing appendages of different shapes can be fitted. 
     With reference once again to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the fixing appendage  21  extends around the dispensing end-piece  2 . It is diamond-shaped or shaped like an eye in which the dispensing end-piece  2  is the pupil or iris. The outer peripheral outline of the fixing appendage  21  is provided with a cylindrical edge  210  which defines the fixing zone to which the packaging  4  is fixed. The diamond or eye shape is particularly advantageous because it makes it possible for the packaging to be closed off in uninterrupted manner either onto itself or onto the fixing appendage  21 . 
     The packaging  4  may be in the form of a jacket closed along its vertical side edges. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the packaging  4  is made up of two deformable flexible sheets  41  and  42  secured together along their vertical sides edges and fixed onto the fixing zone  210  of the fixing appendage  21 . Advantageously, the bottom edges of the sheets  41  and  42  may remain apart so as to form an open bottom  44 . Thus the packaging  4  is fixed to the appendage  21  at the top end  43  of the packaging. Naturally, it is possible to imagine other embodiments for the packaging  4 . For example, it is possible to implement it with an exactly cylindrical shape by providing a fixing appendage  21  that has a circularly cylindrical fixing peripheral edge. 
     The fixing appendage  21  or  21 ′ of the present invention acts as an intermediate piece between the dispensing member and the packaging  4 , and makes it possible for any packaging to be fixed very easily and in modular manner to a standard dispensing member. It also constitutes a closure element for closing off the packaging at its top end. 
     To actuate such a dispenser, it is necessary merely to push in one or both of the sheets  41  and  42  of the packaging  4  so as to flatten between them the reservoir  1  or more precisely the actuating walls  10  thereof. 
     One of the advantageous characteristics of the invention lies in the fact that a fixing appendage connected to the dispensing member has a cylindrical fixing zone making it possible to fit packaging that is cylindrical but not necessarily circularly cylindrical in overall shape. 
     According to another feature of the invention, which is present in all the embodiments represented on the Figures, the packaging  4  is in contact with the reservoir over a part of its height and periphery. Preferably, the reservoir has a horizontal cross section with a shape similar, approaching or identical to the diamond or eye shape of the fixing appendage. The packaging has therefore a better strength. Advantageously, the package is attached to the reservoir by welding or adhesive. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, represented in FIG. 4, the lower end of the packaging is provided with a bottom appendage  21 ″ which at least partially seals the packaging. This appendage  21 ″ may be quite identical to the fixing appendage  21 ′. It is to be noticed that the reservoir is aligned with both appendages  21 ′ and  21 ″. So, the packaging has a very good strength with a cylindrical shape.