Device for dispensing a fluid product

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for dispensing a fluid product, comprising a reservoir (10) containing a fluid product and a dispensing head (20) provided with a dispensing opening (21) and a radial flange (23) forming a finger rest during actuation, said reservoir (10) being axially movable relative to said dispensing head (20) during actuation, and a plunger stopper (50) being movable in said reservoir (10) in order to dispense the fluid product through said dispensing opening (21) during actuation, said device comprising a blocking member (100) that blocks the axial movement of the reservoir (10) in the dispensing head (20), said blocking member (100) being movable and / or deformable between a blocking position and a release position, and said device comprising an unblocking member (200) movable between an idle position, in which the blocking member (100) is in a blocking position, and an unblocking position in which the blocking member (100) is moved and / or deformed into the release position.

Description

[0001] Fluid product dispensing device

[0002] The present invention relates to a fluid product dispensing device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a single-dose nasal fluid product dispensing device for dispensing a pharmaceutical fluid product into the nose of a user via a single nasal spray.

[0003] A disadvantage of existing nasal fluid dispensing devices is the risk of unwanted actuation if the device is dropped.

[0004] Documents EP0810906, FR3116203, US2013317433, US6708846 and FR3011829 describe devices of the state of the art.

[0005] The present invention aims to provide a fluid product dispensing device which does not reproduce the aforementioned drawbacks.

[0006] More particularly, the present invention aims to provide a fluid product dispensing device which avoids the risks of unwanted actuation, for example in the event of the device being dropped.

[0007] The present invention also aims to provide such a device which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

[0008] The present invention therefore relates to a fluid product dispensing device comprising a reservoir containing fluid product and a dispensing head provided with a dispensing orifice and a radial flange forming a finger rest during actuation, said reservoir being axially movable relative to said dispensing head during actuation, a piston stopper being movable in said reservoir to dispense fluid product through said dispensing orifice during actuation, said device comprising a locking member which blocks the axial movement of said reservoir in said dispensing head, said locking member being movable and / or deformable between a locking position and a release position, said device comprising an unlocking member movable between a rest position, in which said locking member is in the locking position, and an unlocking position,in which said locking member is moved and / or deformed into the release position.,

[0009] Advantageously, said reservoir is formed by a hollow, blind body, comprising a bottom and a single opening which, in the rest position, is sealed in a sealed manner by said piston stopper.

[0010] Advantageously, the device comprises a hollow insert inserted and fixed in said dispensing head, said insert comprising a piercing tip for piercing said piston stopper and thus connecting said reservoir to said dispensing orifice during actuation.

[0011] Advantageously, said drilling tip is produced separately and then assembled in said insert, in particular by force fitting or by overmolding.

[0012] Alternatively, said drilling tip is molded integrally with said insert.

[0013] Advantageously, said locking member is movable and / or deformable radially between its locking and release positions, said unlocking member being movable axially.

[0014] Advantageously, the device comprises an actuating body receiving said reservoir.

[0015] Advantageously, said locking member comprises a hollow internal sleeve assembled around said actuating body, said hollow internal sleeve comprising locking projections which extend radially inwards and which are formed on first elastically deformable tabs, said locking projections, in the locking position of said locking member, cooperating with a first groove of said actuating body, to thus block a relative movement between said actuating body and said locking member.

[0016] Advantageously, said first groove is arranged in an upper part of said actuating body, a second groove being arranged in a lower part of said actuating body, the external diameter of said upper part being larger than the diameter of said lower part. Advantageously, said upper and lower parts are connected by a frustoconical part.

[0017] Advantageously, said unlocking member comprises a tubular body which contains an internal body defining a radial shoulder which extends axially upwards by elastically deformable tabs.

[0018] Advantageously, in the rest position, said radial shoulder is distant from an axial bottom wall of said actuating body.

[0019] Advantageously, at the start of actuation, the user moves said unlocking member axially upwards, until it comes into contact with said actuating body, which moves and / or deforms said locking member towards its release position.

[0020] Advantageously, said actuating body comprises a radial ring connected to said actuating body by one or more breakable bridges, said radial ring cooperating with a part of said dispensing head to form a precompression threshold that the user must overcome during actuation to break said breakable bridges and thus actuate the device.

[0021] Advantageously, said reservoir contains a single dose of fluid product dispensed in a single actuation.

[0022] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly during the following detailed description, made with reference to the attached drawings, given as non-limiting examples, and in which: Figures 1 to 3 are schematic cross-sectional views of a fluid product dispensing device according to an advantageous embodiment, respectively at rest, at the start of actuation and after actuation, Figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of the actuation body of Figures 1 to 3, Figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of the locking member of Figures 1 to 3, Figure 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the step of assembling the locking member on the actuation body supporting the reservoir, Figure 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view after assembly of the locking member on the actuation body,Figure 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the step of assembling the unlocking member on the actuating body, and Figure 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the step of assembling the actuating body in the dispensing head.,

[0023] The terms "axial" and "radial" refer to the longitudinal central axis of the device. The terms "top" and "bottom" refer to the upright position of the device shown in Figures 1 to 3.

[0024] Referring to the figures, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this embodiment, the device is a single-dose device, that is to say that the reservoir contains a single dose of fluid product dispensed in a single actuation.

[0025] In a known manner, a reservoir 10 containing fluid product to be dispensed, typically a liquid, is arranged inside a body forming a dispensing head 20. This dispensing head 20 comprises an axially oriented dispensing orifice 21. This dispensing orifice 21 is used to dispense a dose of fluid product out of said dispensing head 20 when the device is actuated by a user.

[0026] The dispensing head 20 comprises an elongated nasal tip 22 comprising at its proximal axial end said dispensing orifice 21, as well as a lateral body 24, connected to said nasal tip 22 at a radial flange 23.

[0027] A hollow insert 60 is advantageously arranged in the dispensing head 20, upstream of said dispensing orifice 21, said hollow insert 60 defining a central expulsion channel 61 and, in cooperation with the bottom wall of the dispensing head 20, a spray profile (not visible in the drawings) directly upstream of said dispensing orifice 21. The channel 61 terminates at its lower end with a piercing tip 40. This piercing tip 40 may be molded in one piece with the insert 60. Alternatively, it could be made separately, for example from metal or another synthetic material than that of the insert, then assembled in said insert, for example by force fitting or by overmolding. The piercing tip 40 extends axially downwards beyond the elongated cylindrical body of the insert 60.

[0028] The reservoir 10 is advantageously formed by a hollow and blind body, comprising a single opening defining a neck 11 and closed by a piston-stopper 50. In the example shown, which is a single-dose unit, the reservoir 10 contains a single dose of fluid product to be dispensed by a single actuation of the device. The piston-stopper 50 is movable in the reservoir 10 between a rest position and an end-of-actuation position to dispense said fluid product through the dispensing orifice 21 during actuation.

[0029] An actuating body 30 is provided to enable the device to be actuated.

[0030] This actuating body 30 is movable relative to the dispensing head 20, said actuating body 30 supporting said reservoir 10 to move it axially relative to the dispensing head 20, in the direction of the dispensing orifice 21. The actuating body 30 comprises a bottom wall 32.

[0031] To actuate the device, the user presses axially on the actuating body 30, to move it together with the reservoir 10 axially in the dispensing head 20, thus causing the piercing of the piston-stopper 50 by the piercing tip 40 and the distribution of the dose of fluid through the dispensing orifice 21. During such actuation, the reservoir 10 is therefore pushed axially in the direction of the dispensing orifice 21, so that the piercing tip 40 will pierce the piston-stopper 50. The contents of the reservoir 10 are then connected to the dispensing orifice 21 and the user's pressure on the actuating body 30 moves the piston-stopper 50 in the reservoir 10 to ensure the distribution of the fluid product.It should be noted that the present invention could also be applied to devices without a piercing tip suitable for piercing a piston stopper, such as for example described in documents WO2019122671, WO2021069823, W02022090675, WO2022101589, W02022208014.

[0032] Advantageously, the actuating body 30 comprises a radial ring 35 connected to the actuating body by one or more breakable bridges 36, notably visible in FIG. 6. This ring 35 cooperates with a part of the dispensing head 20 to form a precompression threshold that the user must overcome during actuation to break the breakable bridges 36 and thus actuate the device. This radial ring 35 also serves as a first-use indicator.

[0033] These breakable bridges 36 provide security against unwanted actuation, but during an axial fall of the device, it is not excluded that the inertia of the device is sufficient to break the breakable bridges and thus the security provided by the breakable bridges 36 may not be sufficient.

[0034] According to the invention, the device comprises a locking member 100 which blocks the axial movement of the reservoir 10 in the dispensing head 20. The locking member 100 is movable and / or deformable between a locking position and a release position. The user must first move and / or deform the locking member 100 to its release position before being able to actuate the device by axially moving the reservoir 10 in the dispensing head 20.

[0035] According to the invention, the device comprises an unlocking member 200 axially movable relative to the actuating body 30 between a rest position and an unlocking position. In the rest position of the unlocking member 200, the locking member 100 is in the locking position, and in the unlocking position of the unlocking member 200, the locking member 100 is in the release position.

[0036] Advantageously, the invention provides that the movement and / or deformation of the locking member 100 towards its release position is carried out when the user takes the device in hand, by pressing his fingers on the radial flange 23 of the dispensing head 20 and his thumb on the bottom of the unlocking member 200. Thus, the present invention makes it possible to guarantee safety in the event of the device being dropped, without requiring an additional movement of the user to actuate the device. When the user takes the device in hand, he places two fingers on the radial flange 23 of the dispensing head 20, and presses with the thumb on the distal axial bottom of said unlocking member 200.When pressing to actuate the device, he will first move the unlocking member 200 with his thumb to its unlocking position, which moves and / or deforms the blocking member 100 to its release position, and then the thumb will move the actuating body 30 to dispense the dose.

[0037] Thus, to actuate the device, it is necessary to simultaneously press axially on the radial flange 23 of the dispensing head 20 and on the bottom of the unlocking member, which is impossible in the event of an accidental fall of the device. In addition, in the event of an accidental fall of the device, the weight of the unlocking member 200 is not sufficient to move and / or deform by inertia the blocking member 100 towards its release position. The present invention therefore ensures perfect safety against unwanted actuation in the event of the device falling.

[0038] An advantage of the present invention is that it does not require additional movement or displacement of any part of the device: the user simply takes the device in hand and performs the classic actuation movement.

[0039] The advantageous embodiment shown in the figures will now be described in more detail below.

[0040] The locking member 100 comprises a hollow internal sleeve 101 assembled around the actuating body 30.

[0041] This hollow internal sleeve 101 comprises locking projections 102 which extend radially inwards and which are formed on first elastically deformable tabs 103. In the locking position of the locking member 100, these locking projections 102 cooperate with a first groove 33 of the actuating body 30, thus to block a relative movement between the actuating body 30 and the locking member 100.

[0042] The hollow internal sleeve 101 also comprises fixing projections 104 formed on second elastically deformable tabs 105. In the locking position of the locking member 100, these fixing projections 104 cooperate with a second groove 34 of the actuating body 30.

[0043] As seen in Figures 4 and 6, the first and second grooves 33, 34 of the actuating body 30 are axially offset from each other, and as a result, the locking projections 102 and the fixing projections 104 of the locking member 10 are also axially offset from each other, as seen in Figures 5 and 6.

[0044] The first groove 33 is arranged in an upper portion 38 of the actuating body, while the second groove 34 is arranged in a lower portion 39 of the actuating body, with the outer diameter of the upper portion 38 being larger than the diameter of the lower portion 39. Thus, there is a radial gap 109 formed between the lower portion 39 of the actuating body and the first tabs 103, when the locking member 100 is in the locking position, as seen in Figures 7 and 8. The upper and lower portions 38, 39 are connected by a frustoconical portion 37, as seen in Figure 6.

[0045] The locking member 100 comprises a hollow external body 110 which contains the hollow internal sleeve 101 and which comprises an upper axial edge 111 provided with a snap-fastening profile adapted to cooperate in the assembled state with a snap-fastening housing 25 of the dispensing head 20.

[0046] Thus, when the device is assembled, with the locking member 100 in the locking position, any axial movement of the actuating body 30 relative to the dispensing head 20 is prevented by the locking member 100.

[0047] The unlocking member 200 comprises a tubular body 210 which contains an internal body 201 defining a radial shoulder 202 which extends axially upwards by elastically deformable tabs 205 comprising at their upper axial ends fixing profiles 204. When assembling the unlocking member 200 on the actuating body 30, shown in FIG. 8, the tubular body 210 slides inside the hollow external body 110 of the locking member 100, while the elastically deformable tabs 205 of the internal body 201 come into said radial gap 109, with the fixing profiles 204 cooperating with the second groove 34 of the actuating body 30 and / or with the fixing projections 104 of the locking member 100, to prevent removal of said unlocking member 200.

[0048] As visible in figure 1, in the rest position the radial shoulder 202 is distant from the axial bottom wall 32 of the actuating body.

[0049] At the start of actuation, the user moves the unlocking member 200 axially upwards, until it comes into contact with the actuating body 30, which moves the elastically deformable tabs 205 on the frustoconical part 37 of the actuating body 30, so that they deform the first elastically deformable tabs 103 of the locking member 100 radially outwards. Thus, the locking projections 102 come out of the first groove 33, and the locking member 100 is no longer in the locking position but in the release position. Pressing on the bottom of the unlocking member 200 will then move the actuating body 30 and therefore the reservoir 10 relative to the dispensing head 20, to carry out the dispensing of the dose.

[0050] Of course, other variant embodiments are also conceivable, without departing from the scope of the present invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

Claims Fluid product dispensing device comprising a reservoir (10) containing fluid product and a dispensing head (20) provided with a dispensing orifice (21) and a radial flange (23) forming a finger rest during actuation, said reservoir (10) being axially movable relative to said dispensing head (20) during actuation, a piston stopper (50) being movable in said reservoir (10) to dispense fluid product through said dispensing orifice (21) during actuation, characterized in that said device comprises a locking member (100) which blocks the axial movement of said reservoir (10) in said dispensing head (20), said locking member (100) being movable and / or deformable between a locking position and a release position, said device comprising an unlocking member (200) movable between a rest position,wherein said locking member (100) is in the locking position, and an unlocking position, in which said locking member (100) is moved and / or deformed into the release position. Device according to claim 1, wherein said reservoir (10) is formed by a hollow and blind body, comprising a bottom and a single opening which, in the rest position, is sealed by said piston stopper (50). Device according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a hollow insert (60) inserted and fixed in said dispensing head (20), said insert (60) comprising a piercing tip (40) for piercing said piston stopper (50) and thus connecting said reservoir (10) to said dispensing orifice (21) during actuation., Device according to claim 3, wherein said drilling tip (40) is produced separately and then assembled in said insert (60), in particular by force fitting or by overmolding. Device according to claim 3, wherein said drilling tip (40) is molded in one piece with said insert (60). Device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said locking member (100) is movable and / or deformable radially between its locking and release positions, said unlocking member (200) being movable axially. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising an actuating body (30) receiving said reservoir (10).Device according to claim 7, wherein said locking member (100) comprises a hollow internal sleeve (101) assembled around said actuating body (30), said hollow internal sleeve (101) comprising locking projections (102) which extend radially inwards and which are formed on first elastically deformable tabs (103), said locking projections (102), in the locking position of said locking member (100), cooperating with a first groove (33) of said actuating body (30), to thereby block a relative movement between said actuating body (30) and said locking member (100).Device according to claim 8, wherein said first groove (33) is arranged in an upper part (38) of said actuating body (30), a second groove (34) being arranged in a lower part (39) of said actuating body (30), the external diameter of said upper part (38) being larger than the diameter of said lower part (39). Device according to claim 9, wherein said upper and lower parts (38, 39) are connected by a frustoconical part (37). Device according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein said unlocking member (200) comprises a tubular body (210) which contains an internal body (201) defining a radial shoulder (202) which extends axially upwards by elastically deformable tabs (205). Device according to claim 11, wherein in the rest position, said radial shoulder (202) is distant from an axial bottom wall (32) of said actuating body (30). Device according to claim 12, wherein at the start of actuation, the user moves said unlocking member (200) axially upwards, until it comes into contact with said actuating body (30), which moves and / or deforms said locking member (100) towards its release position.Device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said actuating body (30) comprises a radial ring (35) connected to said actuating body (30) by one or more breakable bridges (36), said radial ring (35) cooperating with a part of said dispensing head (20) to form a precompression threshold which the user must overcome during actuation to break said breakable bridges (36) and thus actuate the device. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said reservoir (10) contains a single dose of fluid product dispensed in a single actuation. * * *

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