A BOTTLE FOR PACKAGING LIQUID

The invention concerns a l iquid dispensing bott le and, more particularly, a dispensing bott le equipped with a pump system to init iate dispensing of the l iquid.

The invention is particularly suitable for ophthalmic dropper bottles, but it is understood that it can be applied to the dispensing of any type of l iquid.

In this type of bott le, a known pumping mechanism is used which is actuated by pressing a movable part thereof. In order to design a bott le with optimal ergonomics which is easy to grasp and operate by applying the necessary pressure to the movable piston, it is known in the art to use a cover cap to help actuate the piston and therefore the pump. Said cover cap comprises a cylindrical part that covers at least part of the l iquid receiving reservoir of the bott le, and has, at the top, a plane upper face with a central bore which the dispenser t ip can pass through. When the cover cap is posit ioned on the bott le, the upper face rests on the pump piston. This increases the size of the area that must be pressed to actuate the pump and makes it easier to operate in the long term.

Different variants of cover caps can be used with the bott le to facil i tate actuation of the pump, such as that claimed in patent WO 2010/139883 fi led by the Applicant, which describes a cover cap consisting of two parts designed to sl ide towards each other parallel to the axis of the pump and which each have a thumb tab that further faci l i tates actuation of the two parts of the pump system.

Liquid dispensing bott les are commonly used to dispense eye lotion or other eye care substances. It is common, particularly due to the number of bott les sold together in the same box, for several bott les to be available to the user at the same time, yet it is important that they are not al l open at the same time, but rather one after the other. As an example, it may be recommended storing the bott les, which are f i l led under steri le condit ions, at a certain temperature before opening and, once they are open, storing them for several weeks at ambient temperature. When carrying out the invention, it therefore seemed advisable to improve the dispensing bott les such as they are described above so that their previous use can be clearly identif ied since, once a bott le has been used for the f irst t ime, i t can only be kept for a prescribed period of t ime.

In this context, the present invention concerns a l iquid dispensing bott le comprising a cover cap providing a simple, effective way of informing the user that the bott le is being used for the f irst t ime.

In this respect, the invention concerns a bott le to contain a l iquid comprising a l iquid receiving reservoir (2) with a distr ibution head mounted thereon, which distr ibution head comprises an axially movable piston portion n a pump system for pumping the l iquid out and a dispenser t ip which moves solid with said piston and through which said l iquid is discharged said movable piston portion having a f lange with an upper face on which said dispenser t ip is attached. According to the features of the invention, a cover cap is formed on the one hand by a sleeve covering the piston designed to actuate the pump and on the other hand by a removable part that covers the bott le. The cover sleeve forms a cylindrical side wall whose upper end is extended by a transversal wall designed to rest on said upper face of the f lange and which has a central bore to allow the dispenser t ip to pass through, while said removable cover part is attached to the transversal wall of the sleeve by retaining means which are broken the f irst t ime the bott le is used. In this way, the removable cover part covers the central bore, which is opposite the side wall, when it is f ixed to said transversal wall of the sleeve, and the central bore and dispenser t ip are uncovered when the removable part is set aside after breaking the retaining means.

Thus, the user can easily see if the bott le concerned has already been opened, by visual observation of whether or not the means retaining the removable part have been broken. This prevents the user from opening all the bott les at the same time as a result of which each of the bott les can be kept according to the recommendations for use.

When the sleeve covers the piston f lange, the transversal wall is designed to rest against the upper face of the f lange and the central bore allows the dispenser t ip to pass through. Furthermore, a cover cap not only indicates whether the bott le has been used, but also actuates the pump via a part that covers the piston f lange.

According to a feature of the invention, binding pins are placed on the inside face of the side wall so that the f lange is imprisoned between said binding pins and the transversal wall. Thus, the cover cap cannot be removed from the bott le without intentional action on the part of the user. The cover cap is left in place on the bott le and only the removable part can be removed. It is thus ensured that the indication that the bott le has been used wil l depend on the presence or absence of the removable part, or whether or not the retaining means have been broken.

In the preferred embodiments of the invention, the transversal part of the sleeve is extended radially by a tab which extends towards the outside of the sleeve, and the cylindrical side wall of said sleeve extends axially to cover the f lange and at least part of the l iquid reservoir. Advantageously, said side wall of the cover sleeve extends axial ly along the reservoir under said tab. The tab is designed to facil i tate the axial thrust on the sleeve in order to actuate the pump piston, and the side wall is designed to facil i tate sl iding of said sleeve along the bott le, with its preferred posit ion under the tab reducing the t i l t ing effect and fr ict ion that can be caused by the sleeve sl iding along the bott le.

According to a feature of the invention, means are provided to prevent the cover cap from rotating in relation to the bott le, in order to secure the relative angular posit ion of the cover cap. In said secured angular posit ion of the cover cap, the side wall of the cover sleeve extends along the reservoir, under the tab, and on the side of the bott le opposite the side reserved for labell ing.

Thus, the removable part is designed to cover the dispenser t ip. Said removable part is made solid with the transversal wall by retaining pins that can be broken by rotating the removable part in relation to the sleeve when using the bott le for the f irst t ime. Advantageously, said pins are placed transversally between the end of the removable part and the rim of the central bore, in the plane of the f lange. Their arrangement in the extension of the f lange therefore makes it easier to demold the assembly.

The removable cover part can then have a conical shape that is complementary to that of the dispenser t ip in order to cover said t ip, and it can have blisters on the inside of the wall delimit ing said conical form. Thus, the inside cross-section of the removable part is reduced to enable the removable part of the dispenser t ip or a cap added to said t ip beforehand to be cl ipped into place, when the cover is placed in posit ion. Handling and removal of the cap is thus facil i tated by using the removable part to grasp the cap.

According to the features of the invention, the conical t ip forming the removable part of the cover cap can be in the shape of a cone truncated at the end opposite the transversal wall of the sleeve, to al low the cap to pass through. The conical portion has axial st i f fening ribs on the outside to make it easier for the user to maintain a grip and exert action.

This type of removable part posit ioned above the transversal wall is interesting for a particular embodiment of the invention in which the cover sleeve has two parts that sl ide along each other. An upper part covers the movable piston portion to actuate the pump and a lower part covers the bottom of the reservoir, and both parts are prevented from rotating one with respect to the other. The pump is actuated by the two parts moving towards each other, and the two parts each have a radial tab so that the bott le can be easily grasped in order to produce said movement. When the user wishes to break the retaining means when using the bott le for the f irst t ime, the cover sleeve is prevented from rotating in relation to the torque applied to the piston, regardless of where it is grasped by the user. If the user holds the upper part, i t is easy to break the retaining means. If, on the other hand, the user holds the lower part, the upper part is prevented from rotating by the combined action of the user's grasp and the means used to prevent the two parts from rotating with respect to each other.

The invention also concerns a process to manufacture a bott le to contain a l iquid in which, under steri le condit ions, a reservoir is f irst f i l led with l iquid after which said reservoir is assembled with a distr ibution head comprising a pump system, an axial piston to actuate the system, a dispenser t ip that is displaced along with the movable piston portion and through which the l iquid is discharged, and a cap that covers the t ip. According to the process, in a second step, and under condit ions that are not necessari ly steri le, a cover cap is formed by a sleeve covering said movable piston portion to actuate the pump and a removable part f ixed to said sleeve by breakable retaining means, with said removable part placed so that it covers the cap placed on the distribution head. Thus, the assembly can be manufactured and mounted in different locations while respecting the steri le manufacturing requirements. The cover cap can be mounted at the end of the process under nonsteri le condit ions, after the bott le has been fi l led and sealed hermetically by the cap under steri le condit ions.

For this purpose, the cover cap has an inside dimension such that it can cover the dispenser t ip when the t ip is already covered with its own cap. Implementation of the device is thus facil i tated while respecting the steri le condit ions required for using an eye drop dispensing bott le, without, however, requiring steri le condit ions during manufacture and implementation of the thumbpress tab. The bott le with its dispenser t ip and cap can be produced under steri le condit ions and the bott le can be subsequently equipped with the cover cap that covers the t ip cap.

The invention and the result ing advantages wil l be described in detail in the embodiments below, based on the fol lowing f igures:

- f igure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a bott le to contain a l iquid, equipped with a cover cap used to indicate when the bott le has been opened, according to a f irst embodiment of the invention;

- f igure 2 is a view of the bott le i l lustrated in f igure 1 assembled and in cross-section;

- f igure 3 is a perspective view of a bott le to contain a l iquid, equipped with a cover cap used to indicate when the bott le has been opened, according to a second embodiment of the invention;

- f igure 4 is a front view of a bott le according to a third embodiment of the invention;

- f igure 5 is a side view of the bott le i l lustrated in f igure 4;

- f igure 6 is a perspective view of a f irst element forming the cover cap equipping the bott le i l lustrated in f igures 4 and 5; and

- f igure 7 is a perspective view of a second element forming the cover cap equipping the bott le i l lustrated in f igures 4 and 5.

As i l lustrated in the f igures, the bott le to contain a l iquid according to the invention comprises a reservoir 2, a distr ibution head 4 mounted on the reservoir, and a cover cap 6.

The reservoir has a side wall 8 which is more or less cylindrical in shape, and a bottom wall 10. The l iquid to be dispensed in the form of drops is stored in the reservoir and discharged via the distr ibution head.

For this purpose, the distribution head has a pumping device and a dispenser t ip 12 placed on the outlet of the pumping device, so that the l iquid taken from the reservoir by the pumping device wil l pass through the t ip via a central canal that is not depicted, to a terminal l iquid dispensing orif ice 14. In the visible part of the pumping device depicted in the f igures, there is a piston 16 designed to move axial ly with respect to the reservoir in order to create negative pressure and draw up the l iquid. The movable piston portion is displaced by exerting axial pressure on a f lange 18 which is part of the movable piston portion. The f lange, which has a diameter at least equal to that of the reservoir, is extended axially by the dispenser t ip through which the drops are dispensed.

The cover cap has a cover sleeve 20, a removable cover part 22 and retaining means 24 designed to be broken and release the removable part so it can be moved away from the sleeve.

The retaining means are formed here by breakable pins 25 (depicted in f igure 2), designed so that they are init ial ly sol id with the removable part and the cover sleeve and can subsequently be separated by breaking of the pins as the result of rotation by the user.

The cover sleeve 20 has a cylindrically-shaped side wall 26, one axial end of which is extended transversally to the centre of the sleeve to form a transversal wall 28, which has a central bore 30. The cover sleeve is open at the other opposite end.

When the sleeve is posit ioned on the bott le, the transversal wall 28 rests on the upper face of the f lange 18. Said transversal wall increases the bearing surface available to the user to apply pressure to the f lange. A radial tab 32, which makes it easier to grasp the cover cap, radial ly extends said transversal wall towards the outside of the sleeve, by further increasing the available bearing surface. Advantageously, the tab is curved to facil i tate the posit ion of the user’s thumb.

The side wall of the cover sleeve extends axially to cover the movable piston portion and at least part of the reservoir when the sleeve is posit ioned on the bott le. A variant (not depicted) could be developed so that the side wall extends axially in a non-uniform manner around the bott le and an axial clearance enables an information label glued to the reservoir to be read easily. The bott le can then include means to prevent the cover cap from rotating in relation to the bott le to ensure that, when the cover cap is locked in the angular posit ion, the label is not covered and is therefore visible. In such a variant, i t wil l be ensured that the side wall of the cover sleeve which does not comprise the clearance, that is, the most extensive, wil l be located along the reservoir under the tab.

The cover cap has binding pins 34 on the inside of said side wall of said sleeve so that the f lange is imprisoned between said binding pins and the transversal wall of the cover cap. As i l lustrated in f igure 2, said binding pins can take the form of an inclined plane reducing the inside diameter of the sleeve so that when the sleeve is inserted over the bott le, the f lange sl ides into a locked posit ion between the transversal wall and the right shoulder of the binding pins formed at the end of the inclined plane.

The removable cover part 22 takes the form of a conical t ip 50, placed on an upper face 52 of the transversal wall, opposite the side wall 26 of the cover sleeve. Said removable part is placed approximately in the middle of the transversal wall 28, so as to cover the central bore, and is held against the upper wall by breakable pins 25 which form retaining means 24. Here, the breakable pins are placed transversally between the end of the removable part and the edge of the central bore, in the plane of the f lange. This arrangement makes the assembly easy to demold.

The conical shape of the removable cover part is complementary to that of the dispenser t ip and, advantageously, complementary to the shape and dimensions of a cap 36 placed on the dispenser t ip prior to f inal assembly of the bott le.

When the cover cap is placed over the bott le via the open end of the side wall of the sleeve, the transversal wall comes into contact with the upper face of the f lange, while the central bore allows the dispenser t ip to pass through, and the removable part of the cover cap is posit ioned around the dispenser t ip 12 and the cap 36 placed on the t ip in a previous step.

The wall delimit ing the conical shape of the removable cover part has blisters 56 on the inside. When the cover cap is inserted over the bott le and the removable cover part covers the cap on the dispenser t ip, the blisters, which locally reduce the inside diameter of the removable cover part, compress the cap. As a result, when the cover cap is removed for the f irst t ime and the retaining means are broken by turning the removable cover part in relation to the cover sleeve, the cap is pulled inside the removable cover part by fr ict ion so that, when the removable cover part is removed, the cap covering the t ip is also removed and remains inside the cover cap. Gripping means could be provided on the outside surface of the removable cover part, such as the ribs 58 i l lustrated by way of example in f igure 3, such that manipulation of the t ip cap by said removable cover part is faci l i tated.

The cover cap is mounted by inserting the bott le through the free open end of the sleeve 30 unti l the transversal wall 28 of the sleeve comes up against the pump flange, as shown in f igure 3. The dispenser t ip 12 of the bott le and, where required, a cap 36 placed on the t ip, thus pass through the central bore of the transversal wall. The bott le is held axial ly by binding pins 34.

Figures 1 and 2 show a bott le with a particular cover cap in that the sleeve is of a single piece and that, in accordance with each of the embodiments of the invention, i t has an upper face to which a removable cover part is added.

We wil l now describe a second embodiment i l lustrated in f igure 3. Since the bott le has a structure similar to that of the bott le described above, identical elements in the fol lowing description wil l be assigned the same numerical references, prefixed by 100.

The bott le has a reservoir 102, a distribution head 104 mounted on the reservoir, and a cover cap 106. In this embodiment, the cover cap 106 has a specif ic cover sleeve.

The cover sleeve consists of two parts 40, 42, designed to sl ide axial ly along the reservoir towards each other when the radial tabs 132 on each part as per the previous embodiment, are pressed. When the two parts move towards each other, the pump system is actuated and the drop is dispensed. It is understood that the radial tabs are curved for good gripping and that the curves face in different directions because, in order for the two parts to move towards each other, they must sl ide in opposite directions.

Here an upper part 40 and a lower part 42 of the cover sleeve are defined by their relative posit ion when the bott le is placed vertically as i l lustrated in f igure 2.

The upper part of the cover sleeve 40 comprises a side wall 43 whose upper end is extended transversally by a transversal wall 128 and whose lower end is extended axially by a collar 44, so that i ts outside diameter is greater than the outside diameter of the rest of the upper part. The collar is hollow to leave a passageway for the side wall of the lower part of cover sleeve 42 between the wall and the bott le.

A groove 46 is made axially in the collar of the upper part and a lug 48 is made axially on the side wall of the lower part in order to form axial guides for the two parts of the cover sleeve as they sl ide one with respect to the other. It is observed that they also provide a means to prevent the upper part from rotating in relation to the lower part.

As i l lustrated in f igure 3, the removable cover part 122 takes the form of a conical t ip 150, placed on the transversal wall 128 of the upper part 40 of the cover sleeve so as to cover the dispenser t ip as before and, advantageously, the cap 136 placed on the dispenser t ip prior to f inal assembly of the bott le.

The removable cover part can be different from that described above but it wil l be useful once again if i t has ribs 158 on the outside surface and at least one blister on the inside.

The combination of a two-part cover sleeve and the removable part covering the dispenser t ip results in good gripping when the removable part is removed, as in the previous embodiment.

The removable part can only be removed if i t is turned while the sleeve covering the cover cap in held in posit ion. In the f irst embodiment, the user wil l understand that, in order to remove the cover cap, one hand must be placed on the removable part and the other hand on the cover sleeve and not on the reservoir of the bott le when it is accessible. In the second embodiment, regardless of where the user places the second hand, the bott le wil l not rotate independently of the cover cap because of the lug which prevents one part of the cover cap from rotating in relation to the other, so they are guided axial ly only.

We are now going to describe a third embodiment i l lustrated in f igures 4 to 7. Since the bott le in the third embodiment has a structure similar to that of the bott les described above, identical elements in the fol lowing description wil l be assigned the same numerical references, prefixed by 200.

The bott le according to this embodiment mainly differs from the previous embodiments in the shape of the removable part 222. Said removable part once again has a conical t ip 250, specif ic here in that it is partial, that is, i t is open at the end 60 opposite the sleeve, so as to only form one conical portion. When the cover cap is placed over the bott le, the end 236 projects beyond the conical t ip.

The removable part 222 also differs in that the t ip has stiffening ribs 62 which extend axial ly around the t ip. Said ribs make the removable part easier to grip and facil i tate transmission of the effort required by the user to break the retaining pins, which are not visible in f igures 4 to 7. Furthermore, the axial arrangement of the r ibs tends to encourage the user to rotate the conical t ip and the fact that said ribs extend over only a portion of the cone, and therefore over only one part of the height of the cap, forces the user to target the rotating action at the base of the t ip, next to the retaining means which makes it easier to break the pins forming said retaining means.

It wil l be understood that although the different embodiments have been described with a conically shaped tip, whether partial or not, a different external shape can also be proposed without going outside the scope of the invention, it being understood that the inside shape must necessari ly cover the dispenser t ip and the associated cap.

It can also be observed that the axial guides for the two parts of the cover sleeve 240, 242 differ from the previous embodiment in that the upper part 240 has a slotted hole 64 on its lower edge, unlike the groove 46 in the previous embodiment. Lug 248 supported by the lower part 242 of the cover sleeve is suff iciently elastic for it to change shape in order to pass over the lower edge of the upper part when the two parts are moved towards each other and be slotted into said hole. It is observed that axial retaining means are thus formed for the two parts covering each other.

The bott le to contain a l iquid which has just been described in each of the above embodiments has the advantage of being able to be manufactured in distinctly successive stages. The f irst stage comprises the manufacture and assembly of a reservoir and a distribution head including a pump system, an axial ly actuating piston, and a dispenser t ip that moves at the same time as the movable piston portion and through which the l iquid is dispensed. During the second stage, under steri le condit ions, the dispenser t ip is closed with an airt ight cap and the reservoir is f i l led with l iquid before airt ight closure of said reservoir.

Advantageously, the subsequent stages, during which the cover cap, manufactured elsewhere, is mounted, can then be carr ied out under condit ions that are not necessari ly steri le. The cover cap is placed over the bott le. The removable cover part, attached to the cover sleeve by the breakable retaining means, is placed at the same time over the bott le, ready to be removed by breaking the retaining means before the bott le is used for the f irst t ime. As described previously, said removable part provides an indicator that the bott le has been used. The user knows that the bott le considered has already been used if the removable part has been removed or if the removable part is no longer attached by the breakable means.