Dispenser for metering two liquid or paste products in the required proportions

Abstract

 The dispenser (10) for liquid or paste products comprises a positive displacement pump (18) for delivering a metered quantity of product withdrawn from a bottle (12) to which the pump (18) is applied, the metered quantity consisting of at least two different liquid and/or paste substances contained in respective compartments (12A, 24) of the bottle (12). A dip tube (18A) is divided into a number of branches (32, 34) equal to the number of different substances, each branch dipping into one of said substances contained in the respective compartment (12A, 24). All the branches (32, 34) of the dip tube with the exception of one (32) comprise a flow regulating valve (36), the valves (36) being operable from the outside.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to dispensers provided with a positive displacement pump for delivering a predetermined or metered quantity of a liquid or paste product contained in a bottle to which the pump is applied.

[0002] Dispensers are known able to meter a product formed from two different liquid or paste substances. However in such dispensers it is not possible to vary the predefined proportions.

[0003] Particularly in the cosmetics field there is the known problem that the skin of a user can vary in terms of its natural characteristics (sebum, moisture, acidity) during the course of the same day. Consequently a product such as a cream, containing in known manner a base substance and active principles, may be validly used only at particular moments of any given day, whereas at other moments during that day it may not have the desired effect on the user.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a dispenser of the aforesaid type which enables the proportions of at least two constituent substances of an individual dispensed metered quantity to be varied, the substances being contained in respective compartments of the bottle.

[0005] A particular object of the invention is to provide a dispenser of the stated type containing for example a cosmetics product based on active principles, in which the percentage of these latter can be varied by a user according to requirements.

[0006] These objects are attained by the dispenser according to the invention, the characteristics of which are defined in the accompanying first claim.

[0007] With the present invention it is possible, for example, to vary at will the percentage of active substance contained in a single metered quantity as required by the user or according to prescription. In this manner a product can be dispensed having a composition adaptable to individual requirements and, for a given person, to particular circumstances (such as the environmental situation) or to specific requirements.

[0008] The invention will be more apparent from the following description of one embodiment of a dispenser able to mix two different substances together in proportions variable at will. In this description reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

[0009] Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section through the dispenser of the present invention taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 2, the bottle being shown only partly for simplicity; and Figure 2 is a plan view thereof from above.

[0010] As can be seen from the figures, the dispenser 10 is associated with a bottle 12, of which for simplicity virtually only the threaded mouth 14 is shown, the body of the bottle 12 being of any shape.

[0011] A conventional positive displacement pump 18 of the type commonly used for delivering metered quantities of a liquid or paste product is applied to the mouth 14 of the bottle 12 by means of a ring cap 16, which is screwed on. The pump 18 is operated by pressing with one finger the delivery button 20 positioned on its top and provided with a delivery spout from which the metered quantity of product to be dispensed emerges, having been withdrawn from the bottle 12 by the operation of the pump 18. The delivery button 20 is conveniently provided with a conventional locking means (which for example requires the button 20 to be rotated through a predetermined angle for its release) so that the button cannot be pressed accidentally.

[0012] The bottle 12 contains a determined liquid or paste substance (not shown). The bottle also contains a container 24 (shown only partially in Figure 1) containing a second liquid or paste substance. The internal volume of the bottle and said container define substantially internal bottle compartments 12A and 24 from which the respective product or substance contained in them is drawn by the action of the pump 18, as described hereinafter.

[0013] The container 24 is connected by an intermediate element 26 to the bottom 18A of the pump 18. The intermediate element 26 (for example force-fitted onto the part 18A) also closes the mouth 28 of the container 24 (to which it is connected for example as an interference fit) and also contains a channel 30 which opens into a conventional dip tube 18B of the pump 18. This tube, which extends into the compartment 12A via a branch 32, is connected via the channel 30 to a second branch 3 (or dip tube) inserted into the compartment 24.

[0014] The branch or dip tube 34 is connected in known manner to the element 26 and to a duct 26A opening into a chamber 26B to which the channel 30 arrives. The head 36A acts on the mouth 26F of said duct 26A on the same side as the chamber 26B.

[0015] The tube 34 is at least partly immersed in the substance contained in the container 24, for example a substance based on active principles.

[0016] The valve 36 is operated by a stem 38 the upper end 38A of which projects from the ring cap 16 to the outside of the bottle 12 via a hole 40. This stem is associated by a threaded portion 38B with a threaded seat 26C of the element 26. To the upper end of the stem 38 there is fixed a lever 42 shaped in the manner of a pointer, which on being rotated within a predetermined field of movement shifts the valve 36 to regulate the degree of closure of the mouth or aperture 26F. A scale 44 provided on the horizontal free face 16A of the ring cap 16 divides the field of movement of the adjustment lever 42, to allow precise adjustment of the valve 36. This latter therefore enables the flow of the substance leaving the compartment 24 on operating the button 20 to be adjusted.

[0017] The dip tube 18B of the pump 18 (connected to the branches or tubes 32 and 34) terminates in a mixing chamber 46 provided within the pump 18 in known manner.

[0018] It will now be assumed that the product is to be dispensed from the bottle 12. This product comprises the substance (for example the base substance) contained in the compartment 12A and that (for example formed from active principles or itself containing a weighed proportion of base substance and active principles) contained in the compartment 24.

[0019] After setting the lever 42 to a position chosen, for example, on the basis of a known characteristic of the user's skin (for example moisture or sebum content), the user presses the button 20 to cause the pump 18 to operate by suction and draw into the mixing chamber 46 the contents of the bottle compartments 12A and 24. The products drawn from said compartments are mixed together in this chamber and then delivered jointly through the delivery spout 22.

[0020] By adjusting with the lever 42 the extent of closure of the aperture 26F by the valve 36, the proportions of the two substances forming the metered quantity of product to be dispensed can be varied. In this respect, operating the lever 42 causes rotation of the stem 38, the threaded part 38B of which screws into or unscrews from the the seat 26C. The result is a greater or lesser closure of the aperture 26F and hence a greater or lesser flow of substance from the compartment 24 to the channel 30 and hence to the mixing chamber 46. Consequently by operating the lever 42, the user can vary at will the percentage of active principles mixed with the base substance, on the basis of the characteristics (for example moisture, sebum content, acidity) of the user's skin.

[0021] As is well known to the expert of the art, in order for the dispenser to operate, both the interior of the bottle 12 and the interior of the container 24 must communicate with the outside via conventional means provided for this purpose. This is also the case with the bottle of the invention even if not shown. The reason for this is, following the operation of the pump 18, to prevent the interior of the container or compartment 24 or of the compartment 12A forming a vacuum preventing the emergence of the product. The fact that communication with the outside exists allows air to replace the volume of substance drawn from each compartment following each dispensing operation.

[0022] It should be noted that if the substance contained in one of the two compartments is exhausted, the dispenser ceases to operate because the mixing chamber 46 of the pump 18 fills with air. Hence when one of the two substances is finished, there is no danger of pump operation delivering a metered quantity consisting only of the other substance.

[0023] It should be further noted that in general, if three or more liquid and/or paste substances need to be mixed together in variable proportions, the bottle 12 can contain a corresponding number of separate compartments each containing a specific substance and in each there terminating one branch of the dip tube of the pump 18. These substances remain separated until the moment of operating said pump, ie of operating the button 20 to draw said substances into the chamber 46 where they mix together. In the example under examination, the bottle can be provided with internal dividing walls forming a number of compartments equal to the number of substances to be mixed together, or can contain a number of containers of the same type as the aforedescribed container 24.

[0024] The dispenser of the present invention can therefore be usefully used for example for dispensing a skin cream composed of a base substance and a substance consisting of or containing active principles. The proportions of the two substances of an individual metered quantity can hence be varied at will according to the user's skin type (for example on the basis of the skin serbum quantity) or, for the same user, in relation to the environmental situation (for example dry or humid climate) so as to achieve the most suitable dispensed product composition.

[0025] The dispenser according to the invention can also be usefully used for dispensing toothpaste consisting of a base substance and a substance containing active principles and/or fluorine in proportions which can be varied.

[0026] It is apparent that the dispenser of the invention can also have many other uses. More generally, it is conveniently usable in all those cases in which it is required to deliver a metered quantity of liquid or paste product consisting of at least two substances in proportions which can be varied.

Claims

1. A dispenser (10) for liquid or paste products, comprising a positive displacement pump (18) for delivering a metered quantity of product withdrawn from a bottle (12) to which the pump (18) is applied, said metered quantity consisting of at least two different liquid and/or paste substances contained in respective compartments (12A, 24) of the bottle (12), and further comprising for the pump (18) a dip tube (18A) divided into a number of branches (32, 34) equal to the number of said different substances, each branch of the dip tube dipping into one of said substances contained in the respective compartment (12A, 24), characterised in that all the branches (32, 34) of the dip tube with the exception of one (32) each comprise a flow regulating valve (36), said valves (36) being operable from the outside.

2. A dispenser (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the different component substances of the metered quantity of product to be dispensed are two in number.

3. A dispenser (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the two substances is contained directly in the bottle (12) whereas the other substance is contained in a container (24) itself contained in the bottle (12).

4. A dispenser (10) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each regulating valve (36) is operable by a coaxially rotatable stem (38) projecting to the outside of the dispenser via a hole (40) provided in a ring cap (16) which enables the pump (18) to be applied to the bottle (12), to the outer end of the stem (38) there being fixed an operating means (42) for the valve (36), the rotation of the stem (38) resulting in a gauged movement of this latter such as to modify the flow of substance within the respective dip tube.

5. A dispenser (10) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the operating means (42) is configured in the manner of a pointer, the field of movement of this pointer being graduated to allow precise adjustment of the relative valve (36).

Drawing