Devices and Methods for Packaging and Dispensing Unit Doses of Personal Care Products

Abstract

Packaging and delivery systems for personal care products and methods of providing samples or single units of use, include dispensing devices that produce a spray, mist, or stream delivery of measured amounts of personal care products packaged in internally pierced blister unit doses which protect the quality of the unused product and reduce the amount of product wasted in providing samples.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]N / ASTATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]N / ABACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]In the personal care product industries, and especially the cosmetics, cosmeceuticals and fragrance industries, there is a recognized need for “unit of use” product packaging and dispensing suitable for mass distribution and / or in-store testing. Unit of use or unit dose packaging provides numerous benefits for manufacturers and marketers of such products including: improved shelf life, product quality, convenience, ease of use and product sampling. Companies attempt to grow their customer bases by distributing free samples of small quantities of their products, often via direct mail or as inserts in magazines, with the hope that the recipient consumer will use and enjoy the products, and eventually become a customer. The types of products distributed through these samples typically include cosmetic products, fragrances, essential oi...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The disclosed delivery devices and containers offer a convenient way to distribute personal care products, such as perfumes or essential oils, in single use, single dose dispensers. These devices can be easily carried in a purse or pocketbook for freshening one's fragrance or environment when needed. The devices are also useful as travel size containers for both men and women, allowing them to carry a number of single doses in their luggage or shaving kit. The devices offer the advantage of allowing a user to mix fragrances or have a larger variety of options available at any one time, rather than buying or carrying multiple conventional sized bottles. The devices are designed to deliver a small amount of product with at least 70% of the product delivered for more viscuous products such as lotions. The devices create a spray or mist by forcing the product through the delivery channel under sufficient pressure. The devices enable precise delivery of small amounts of flowable ingredients in a very short time frame, depending on the viscosity and volume to be delivered.

Problems solved by technology

There are notable disadvantages to this method, however.

When a consumer expels the contents of the sealed sample, there is often a substantial amount of product left on the internal walls of the two ply layers.

This results in a waste of product and money for the company, and even more so if the company compensates for the inaccessible product by packaging more than the amount of product necessary for a single use.

Another important disadvantage is that these sealed samplers often cannot be applied in the same way that the commercial products are applied, especially in the case of fragrances or other products that are delivered through sprays, mists, or drops.

For example, the distribution of perfume through a sealed liquid sample does not allow the consumer to test the product in the mist or spray form in which the product would be used if purchased.

The use of the product in unintended forms, such as dabbing a concentrated amount of a fragrance on the skin, prevents the potential customer from experiencing the product in the manner that he or she would if they were to buy a full-sized container.

This type of sample has many of the same disadvantages as the sealed samplers, however.

Moreover, with the exception of sprayed samples, the vial applicators do not provide the same experience and application as would the commercial products.

Another disadvantage which is unique to the vials is that they have the potential to break or leak, causing waste of product, negative experiences for the consumers, and even potential liability for the company.

In addition to the problems with distributed samples, problems of wastefulness occur when samples and testers are used in stores or other public locations.

This method of providing samples to customers creates a great deal of waste.

Customers will often use a substantially greater amount of the product than is necessary for a single use, and unsupervised children are likely to expel large volumes of product.

The financial consequences of this waste are especially damaging when the product is a more expensive commodity, such as a fragrance.

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