Assembly for Packaging and Dispensing a Product, in Particular a Cosmetic Product, Comprising a Dispensing Member

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to French Patent Application No. FR2206323 filed on Jun. 24, 2022, and to International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2022/087942 filed in on Dec. 28, 2022, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties for all purposes.

An assembly for packaging and dispensing a product may include a container including a body, a junction of non-circular cross section and with inclined slope and radially connecting the body to a neck, and a dispensing member of a cross section corresponding to the cross section of the junction of the container. In some embodiments, the assembly may be mounted by snap-fastening on the container and disengaged from said container by a relative rotation of the dispensing member with respect to the container. In some embodiments, the dispensing member may include an inner snap-fastening skirt radially surrounded by the body and intended to cooperate with the neck of the container. In some embodiments, the dispensing member may include at least one stiffening rib radially connecting the inner snap-fastening skirt to the body of the dispensing member.

The present invention relates to the field of assemblies for packaging and dispensing a product, in particular a cosmetic product, comprising a container of the vial, tube or bottle type containing a product and provided with an opening and with a dispensing member intended to plug the opening of the container.

By way of entirely non-limiting example, the product may be fluid, such as a cosmetic product, for example, or any other fluid product, such as a food product, paint, for example, or a non-fluid product, for example a viscous product, such as glue, compote or a pasty product designed to flow, for example.

A “cosmetic product” is understood, in particular within the meaning of the present invention, to be a product as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 Nov. 2009 on cosmetic products.

More particularly, the present invention relates to dispensing members, also known as closure caps, made of synthetic material comprising a hollow cylindrical body that is intended to be snap-fastened onto the open end of the container to be closed, and a lid that is fastened to the body and movable with respect to said body between an open position in which the container is open and a closed position in which said container is closed.

The lid is generally hinged to the body, for example by one or more hinges or articulations.

The lid could also be fastened to the body, for example by being screwed on, or by any other means.

Conventionally, such a dispensing member is fastened on the neck of a container by the cooperation of one or more snap-fastening protrusions provided on the outer surface of the neck of the container and the inner surface of a fastening skirt provided on the dispensing member and designed to extend radially around the neck of the container in the position fastening the closure member to the neck of the container.

However, in order to meet environmental obligations, it may prove advantageous to be able to detach the dispensing member from the container in order to reuse it, and in particular to be able to refill it, for example with solid or liquid refills contained in packaging containing a lower quantity of plastic than the quantity of plastic of the container.

A dispensing assembly comprising a dispensing member comprising a mounting skirt mounted on a reservoir and intended to be dismantled from the reservoir using a turning movement is known from document FR 3 084 655. The neck of the reservoir for that purpose comprises radial protrusions cooperating with V-shaped ramps formed on the mounting skirt.

However, such a solution is intended for a single dismantling operation, because during the relative rotation of the dispensing member with respect to the container, the mounting skirt of the dispensing member and/or the radial protrusions present on the neck of the reservoir may undergo plastic deformation.

The dispensing member and/or the container would therefore not be reusable.

In addition, the amount of plastic is greatly increased by the radial protrusions and the particular shape of the mounting skirt.

The presence of the radial protrusions on the neck of the reservoir and of the ramps on the mounting skirt of the dispensing member also renders the structure and design of these elements more complex and increases the difficulty of manufacturing them industrially.

Finally, the ergonomics and intuitiveness of the use of such an assembly, in particular when refitting the dispensing member on the container after these two elements have been separated, are not entirely satisfactory.

Such a dispensing assembly is unable to provide a satisfactory solution to environmental problems while at the same time being simple to design, to manufacture and to use.

Containers of non-circular cross section comprising a hollow body of non-circular cross section and a neck provided with an opening allowing access to the internal volume of the body and connected to said body by a junction or shoulder, are also known.

The junction exhibits an inclined slope between the body and the neck and intended to cooperate with an external skirt of the dispensing member.

Thus, upon relative rotation of the dispensing member with respect to the container, the external skirt of the dispensing member cooperates with the inclined profile of the junction to transmit an axial force to the snap-fastening skirt and thus bring about axial disengagement of the snap-fastening skirt from the neck of the container.

However, and again with a view to reducing the environmental impact, to limit the use of plastic, it is advantageous to reduce the wall thickness of the dispensing member or else to reduce the height of the external skirt of the dispensing member, and this of necessity entails reducing the height of the junction between the neck and the body of the container.

With such a design, the external skirt of the dispensing member may become radially deformed during the relative rotation of the dispensing member with respect to the container, so that the axial disengagement force may fail to be transmitted to the snap-fastening skirt or may prove to be insufficient in magnitude.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to alleviate the above disadvantages and improve the reliability of the detachment of the dispensing member from the container through a relative rotation of these elements.

Another objective of the invention is to reduce the amount of material, particularly of plastic, used in the manufacture of the dispensing member in particular, but also of the container.

The invention relates to an assembly for packaging and dispensing a product, in particular a cosmetic product, comprising a reservoir or container and a dispensing member or cap intended to close off the opening of the container.

Said dispensing member is intended to be mounted by snap-fastening onto the container and to be disengaged from said container by a relative rotation of the dispensing member with respect to the container.

The container comprises a body, a neck of circular cross section and a junction or shoulder of non-circular cross section radially connecting the body to the neck and having a non-circular cross section.

The dispensing member comprises a body of cross section similar to or the same shape as the cross section of the junction of the container and an inner snap-fastening skirt radially surrounded by the body and intended to cooperate with the neck of the container.

The junction exhibits a slope inclined towards the neck and cooperating with the body of the dispensing member during relative rotation of the dispensing member with respect to the container.

The height of the inclined profile of the junction of the container is dimensioned in such a way as to ensure that the inner snap-fastening skirt disengages from the neck of the container upon a relative rotation of the dispensing member with respect to the container through an angle of around 90° for example.

The dispensing member further comprises at least one stiffening rib radially connecting the inner snap-fastening skirt to the body of the dispensing member.

Thus, upon relative rotation of the dispensing member with respect to the container, the body of the dispensing member cooperates with the inclined profile of the junction to transmit an axial force to the inner snap-fastening skirt and thus bring about axial disengagement of said inner snap-fastening skirt from the neck of the container.

In other words, using the stiffening rib that connects the body to the snap-fastening skirt of the dispensing member makes it possible to encourage the transmission, from the body to the snap-fastening skirt, of this axial force experienced by the body during the relative rotation of the dispensing member and of the container due to the cooperation with the inclined profile of the junction of the container. The reliability of the operation of disengaging the dispensing member from the container through the relative rotation of these elements is thus improved.

Thanks to the stiffening rib, the stiffness of the body is increased and any excessive elastic, and especially plastic, deformation of said body, which might tend to render inoperative the disengagement of the dispensing member through relative rotation thereof with respect to the container, or might even lead to a need to scrap the dispensing member, can thus be avoided.

In addition, the transmission of the axial forces experienced by the body to the inner snap-fastening skirt is improved and also allows said inner skirt to be offset radially outwards, making disengaging said inner skirt from the neck of the container easier still.

Specifically, during the relative rotation of the dispensing member with respect to the container, the radial force experienced by the body of the dispensing member is transmitted to the inner snap-fastening skirt so as to facilitate the disengagement thereof by offsetting it radially outwards.

Thanks to the stiffening rib, it is therefore possible to considerably reduce the dimensions, and particularly the wall thicknesses, of the dispensing member and therefore the amount of plastic used, while at the same time improving the ease and reliability with which said dispensing member can be disengaged from the container for the purposes, for example, of refilling the container, or of separating the dispensing member from the container in order to recycle these elements at the end of life of the packaging and dispensing assembly.

Finally, the use of such a stiffening rib also makes it possible to improve the longer-term geometric integrity of the dispensing members when they are packaged and transported or loose in large bulk packages, such as large bags, before being snap-fastened onto the necks of corresponding containers, thus preventing them from becoming individually deformed under the weight of the other dispensing members, which deformation would be liable to impede or even render impossible their subsequent snap-fastening onto the neck of a container.

For example, the inner snap-fastening skirt has a circular section and radially surrounds the neck of the container.

Advantageously, the inner snap-fastening skirt comprises at least two skirt portions circumferentially spaced apart by a circumferential clearance.

In other words, the inner snap-fastening skirt is discontinuous in the circumferential direction.

Such a configuration encourages the radial parting of the snap-fastening skirt portions during the relative rotation of the dispensing member with respect to the container and makes it possible to minimize still further the quantity of material needed in the manufacture of the dispensing member.

In a variant, the inner snap-fastening skirt may comprise a body-junction portion, which is continuous in the circumferential direction, and at least two skirt portions intended to perform the snap-fastening onto the neck of the container and which are spaced apart circumferentially by a circumferential clearance.

Advantageously, the dispensing member comprises at least two stiffening ribs respectively radially connecting an inner skirt portion to the body of the dispensing member.

For example, the cross section of the body of the dispensing member corresponds to the cross section of the body of the container.

For example, the non-circular cross section of the body of the dispensing member has an ovoid shape defined by a major axis and a minor axis at least 10%, preferably at least 15%, and in particular at least 20% smaller than the major axis.

The skirt portions are advantageously centred on the major axis of the non-circular shape of the body of the dispensing member.

The body may, for example, further comprise a radial upper wall provided with a flow or dispensing orifice for the passage of the fluid contained in the container.

Advantageously, the assembly comprises a lid that is hinged with respect to the body of the dispensing member by means of at least one articulation or hinge about a transverse pivot axis, along a transverse axis perpendicular to the axis of elevation of said body, between an open position, in which the flow orifice is open, and a closed position, in which the flow orifice is closed off, for example by a plugging pip or protrusion.

Other systems for connecting the lid to the body could be provided. For example, provision could be made for the lid to be screwed or snap-fastened onto said body. Provision could also be made for the dispensing member not to comprise a pivoting lid, but rather a temporary membrane seal covering the flow orifice or a removable peg inserted into said flow orifice in a position closing said orifice and having radial and axial dimensions configured so as to be withdrawn from said orifice by the user before the packaging assembly is used.