CONTAINER HAVING A BACTERICIDAL INSERT

Abstract

The invention relates to a container (10) for storing and dispensing a fluid product, having a body (12) delimiting a volume in which the product is held, and having a dispensing end piece (14) through which the product is intended to exit the container (10), 235 and having at least one insert (16, 18, 36) situated in the internal volume of the body (12), which is in contact with the fluid product and which comprises at least one bactericidal material, characterized in that the at least one insert (16, 18, 36) is made entirely of the bactericidal material.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a container for storing and dispensing a fluid product such as for example a cosmetic product, which is designed to limit potential proliferation of bacteria in the fluid product.

More specifically, the invention proposes a container having means for substituting chemical additives.

PRIOR ART

Numerous fluid products, such as for example cosmetic products, are contained in hermetically sealed containers, to avoid any oxidation of the product and to avoid contamination of the product by bacteria for example.

Such containers notably have a flexible or rigid body, the walls of which are hermetically sealed to air and to any other type of pollutant, and an end piece for dispensing the product.

In order to avoid oxidation of the product, the container comprises a dispensing end piece which is designed to only allow the product to exit, which is then referred to as an “airless” type end piece. Such an end piece is designed to open in the direction the product exits and to close automatically as soon as the desired amount of product has exited.

The container is then designed to be deformable and compressible as the product is withdrawn. Indeed, by applying pressure on the walls of the container a pressure is formed within the container, causing the product to exit.

The document FR-A-3.011.826 describes an “airless” type dispensing end piece, which makes it possible to prevent any contamination of product remaining inside the container, whether when a certain amount of the product is made to exit the container, or instead when a user withdraws the exited product.

Thus, numerous solutions exist to protect the product against potential contamination coming from outside the container.

The preservation of the product as such, inside the container, is achieved by the use of preservative compounds such as for example antioxidants, anti-mold agents, bactericides, virucides, or anti-fungal agents.

Such compounds may have a harmful effect, notably when the product in which they are used is a cosmetic product intended to be applied on the skin.

That is why it has been proposed to market products not having such compounds. To ensure a good shelf life, it has then been proposed to toughen the hygiene and sterility conditions of production sites, which proves to be particularly complex and costly to implement.

The aim of the invention is to propose a container that is designed to limit the proliferation of potential polluting elements in the product that is contained inside the container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention proposes a container for storing and dispensing a fluid product having a body delimiting a volume in which the product is held, and having a dispensing end piece through which the product is intended to exit the container, and having at least one insert situated in the internal volume of the body, which is in contact with the fluid product and which comprises at least one bactericidal material, characterized in that said at least one insert is made entirely of the bactericidal material.

The presence of an insert composed of bactericidal material in the internal volume of the container makes it possible to place the product still present in the container in contact with said bactericidal material.

The various manipulations of the container to withdraw the product make it possible to achieve mixing of the product, in order to increase the proportion of product that comes into contact with the insert

Preferably, said at least one insert is made of another material which is entirely covered by said bactericidal material.

Preferably, said at least one insert consists of at least one bead which is free to move within the internal volume of the body.

Preferably, said at least one insert consists of a porous or perforated element that is capable of being passed through by the fluid.

Preferably, said at least one insert consists of a grid.

Preferably, said at least one insert is arranged between the dispensing end piece and the internal volume of the body.

Preferably, the insert forms a sheet which extends in a median main plane of the body.

Preferably, said at least one insert covers at least in part the inner walls of the body.

Preferably, said at least one insert is made of a material selected from copper and silver.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become clear on reading the detailed description that follows, for the understanding of which reference should be made to the appended figures, among which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation in lateral view of a container for a fluid product having two inserts according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section of the container represented in FIG. 1, along a median vertical main plane thereof; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of another container having an insert according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

In FIGS. 1 and 2 a container 10 for containing a fluid or liquid product is represented. This product may be for example a cosmetic cream or a gel.

The container 10 has a hollow body 12 which is here of lengthened shape, and it is obtained from a cylindrical tube of which a lower end 12a is flattened to close it. According to the embodiment represented in FIGS. 1 and 2, the body 12 is made of a flexible material, such as a plastic material. It may also be made of a ductile, easily deformable material.

The container 10 also has an end piece 14 for dispensing the product, through which the product is intended to be withdrawn by the user.

According to the embodiment represented in FIGS. 1 and 2, the end piece 14 seals the upper end 12b of the body 12.

Moreover, here, the end piece 14 for dispensing the product is an end piece which only allows the product to exit, that is to say that it prevents anything from penetrating inside the internal volume of the container 10, whether it is a certain amount of the product which could have exited the container, or instead air.

This end piece 14 is an end piece of the so-called “airless” type. It here consists of an end piece such as described in the document FR-A-3.011.826 to which reference may be made for more details on the structure or operation.

Thanks to this end piece 14, the internal volume of the container 10 is 100 isolated from the exterior and more particularly from any polluting element that could cause oxidation or contamination by bacteria of the product present therein.

It may be that contamination of the product occurs before the first use thereof, for example during the process of manufacturing the product, or instead while it is being introduced into the container 10, despite the numerous precautions that may be put in place on site.

To avoid any proliferation of this contamination in the product, the container 10 has at least one insert 16 which is arranged within the internal volume of the body 12 and which is permanently in contact with the product contained within the container 10.

The insert 16 is made of a bactericidal material. As non-limiting examples, the bactericidal material is preferably copper, it may also be silver.

In the case of copper, when it comes into contact with the product, the insert 16 releases Cu++ ions, which have a bactericidal effect.

According to a first embodiment, the insert is made of another material, such as a plastic material or another metal, which is covered, by plating or by deposition, with the bactericidal material. This notably makes it possible to reduce the production cost of the insert 16.

According to another embodiment, the insert 16 is made entirely of this bactericidal material.

According to the embodiment represented in FIGS. 1 and 2, the insert 16 is in the form of a substantially flat grid, which extends along a median main plane of the container.

Here, this median plane is the vertical plane according to the orientation of the figures, which passes through the flat lower end 12a of the body 12. Thus, according to a particular embodiment, a lower end of the insert 16 is situated at the level of the lower end 12a of the body 12 and it is maintained in the body 12 by permanent deformation by crushing of the lower end 12a of the body 12, when this lower end 12a of the body 12 is closed.

The grid shape of the insert 16 makes it possible to increase the contact surface of the insert 16 with the product contained within the container, which makes it possible to treat a larger amount of product.

According to an alternative embodiment, not represented, the container has one or more inserts which are in the form of beads made of bactericidal material or covered with bactericidal material. These beads are capable of moving freely within the container, to be able to come into contact with the entirety of the product contained therein. These beads further have the advantage of enabling homogenization of the product which is mixed by said beads during their movement within the container.

Furthermore, since the walls of the body 12 are flexible, this makes it possible to mix the product in the container 10 at each manipulation thereof, further increasing the amount of product that comes into contact with the insert 16, whether it is when it is in the form of one grid or instead in the form of one or more grids.

According to an alternative embodiment, the container has a second insert 18 situated at the level of the end piece 14 for dispensing the product.

This second insert 18 is here also produced in the form of a grid based on bactericidal material, which is modelled into a hopper shape, separating the opening of the end piece 14 from the internal volume of the body 12.

Here, the second insert 18 has a cylindrical grid 20 substantially coaxial to the vertical main axis of the end piece 14 and a bottom grid 22 at the lower end of the cylindrical grid.

Thanks to this second insert 18, product that flows towards the dispensing end piece 14 is forced to pass through the grid constituting the second insert 18. This amount of product then comes into contact with the bactericidal material, which then exerts its action on the product.

This makes it possible to dispense product that has been sterilized beforehand.

The shape and dimensions of the second insert 18 are defined to make it possible to treat an average amount of product which is withdrawn at each use.

In FIG. 3 is represented another container 30 with rigid walls. For example, the container is made of glass.

This container 30 here also has a body 32 in which the product is stored and an open dispensing end piece 34. This end piece 34 is capable of receiving a cap, not represented, for closing the opening of the end piece 34.

According to this embodiment, the product is withdrawn directly from the opening of the end piece 34, for example with a finger or an appropriate tool.

This container has an insert 36 provided in the body 32. This insert is also made of a bactericidal material, as described previously, such as for example it is made of copper.

In order not to hinder the withdrawal of product, the insert 36 is pressed against the walls of the body 32.

Here, the insert 36 consists of a grid covering the cylindrical wall and the bottom wall of the body 32. According to an alternative embodiment, the insert consists of a sheet based on bactericidal material, or instead consists of a layer of the bactericidal material, which is applied on these walls.

The dimensional characteristics of the grid constituting each insert 16, 18, 36 that is to say its pitch and the thickness of each bar, are defined as a function of the product, notably as a function of its viscosity.

Such an insert 16, 18, 36 makes it possible to sterilize the product present in the container 10 at any moment, and whatever the conditions of use of the container.

The result is better hygiene and security of use for any user and a reduction in the commercialization costs of the product in such a container since the hygiene constraints of the production site may be relaxed.

The container 10, 30 has been described as containing a cosmetic product. It will be understood that such a container may be used for any type of fluid product, whether for a cosmetic product, a pharmaceutical product or a food product notably.

Also, it has been mentioned above that the material constituting the insert 16 may be copper or silver. It will be understood that these two materials are non-limiting examples of the invention and that each insert 16 may be made of an alloy of one and/or the other of these two materials or instead of any other material or alloy having bactericidal properties and which is also chemically compatible with the fluid product intended to be contained within the container.

Claims

1. Container (10, 30) for storing and dispensing a fluid product, having a body (12) delimiting a volume in which the product is held, and having a dispensing end piece (14, 34) through which the product is intended to exit the container (10),

and having at least one insert (16, 18, 36) situated in the internal volume of the body (12), which is in contact with the fluid product and which comprises at least one bactericidal material,

characterized in that said at least one insert (16, 18, 36) is made entirely of the bactericidal material.

2. Container (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one insert consists of at least one bead which is free to move within the internal volume of the body (12).

3. Container (10, 30) according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one insert (16, 18, 36) consists of a porous or perforated element which is capable of being passed through by the fluid.

4. Container (10, 30) according to claim 3, characterized in that said at least one insert (16, 18, 36) consists of a grid.

5. Container (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that said at least one insert (18) is arranged between the dispensing end piece (14) and the internal volume of the body (12).

6. Container (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that the insert (16) forms a sheet which extends in a median main plane of the body (12).

7. Container (30) according to claim 3, characterized in that said at least one insert (36) covers at least in part the inner walls of the body (12).

8. Container (10, 30) according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one insert (16, 18, 36) is made of a material selected from copper and silver.