Refillable toothpaste tube

Abstract

Refillable toothpaste tube. The inventive system relates to an eco-designed device, allowing the reuse of its toothpaste tube, while preserving our resources and with zero waste. It consists of a casing (7) having at its base a threaded orifice (4) into which a toothpaste refill (6) is inserted. A retaining screw (1) of the cartridge (6) with the threaded part (4) forms the closure. The casing (7) is threaded (5) at its second end to accommodate a vacuum pump with a plunger rod, in order to extract all of the toothpaste contained in the refill (6). The toothpaste is packaged in recyclable glass refills (6). The user only replaces the toothpaste refill. The device according to the invention is particularly intended for the reuse of the toothpaste tube. The figure chosen for the abstract: figure no. 2 ".

Description

Title of the invention: Refillable toothpaste tube

[0001] The present invention relates to the eco-design of a toothpaste tube refillable by inserting a cartridge, like fountain pens and their ink cartridge refills.

[0002] The inventive system is composed of three independent elements. A rigid formwork, a vacuum pump with a plunger rod and a glass refill cartridge.

[0003] Soft toothpaste tubes do not allow their entire contents to be emptied by squeezing, and each tube still contains approximately 4% of toothpaste located in the neck area of ​​the tube, before being replaced. Unused toothpaste is wasted, representing 4% of the 151 million tubes sold on average in France each year, which represents more than 450,000 kg of unused paste.

[0004] Soft toothpaste tubes include a layer of aluminum between the plastic layers which, while preserving the integrity of the toothpaste, excludes them from any recycling system. The caps of plastic toothpaste tubes are too small to be recycled because they escape sorting machines.

[0005] Once the toothpaste is used, the tube is thrown away without being able to be recycled, which generates considerable plastic and aluminum waste.

[0006] The system according to the invention makes it possible to overcome these drawbacks. It comprises, in fact, according to a first characteristic, a rigid casing acting as a receiving container, having at its base a threaded orifice through which the toothpaste cartridge is inserted. The toothpaste refill is housed in the casing up to the stop of the neck of the casing. The threaded part of the base of the casing receives a closure cap for holding the refill cartridge inside the casing. At its second end, the casing is provided with a thread to receive a vacuum pump equipped with a plunger rod. The user will be able, thanks to the vacuum pressure system coupled with a plunger rod, to use all of the toothpaste.

[0007] The system according to the invention makes it possible to overcome other drawbacks. It comprises, according to a second characteristic, a glass refill cartridge, pre-filled with toothpaste, and sealed with a hermetic protective tab before use. The glass refill cartridge is 100% recyclable according to current glass recycling methods. This recycled glass toothpaste refill makes it possible to significantly reduce the consumption of plastic in toothpaste packaging.

[0008] The system according to the invention finally makes it possible to remedy this drawback. It comprises, in fact, according to a third characteristic, a layer of aluminum present on the internal surface of the casing which will ensure the integrity and good conservation of the toothpaste. The inventive system makes it possible to considerably reduce the use of aluminum present in each tube of toothpaste today.

[0009] The attached drawings illustrate the invention:

[0010] [Fig.l] represents in section, the device of the invention.

[0011] [Fig.2] represents in perspective the device of the invention.

[0012] With reference to these drawings, the inventive system consists of three elements. A casing (7) acting as a container and which receives the glass refill (6). A vacuum pump is screwed onto the threaded part (5) of the casing. The plunger rod of the pump is inserted into the toothpaste refill.

[0013] The lower base of the formwork (7) is threaded (4) to accommodate the closing cap (1) which allows the refill (6) to be held in the formwork (7). The toothpaste refill (6) is made of recycled glass. The vacuum pump (not shown) is screwed onto the threaded part (5) of the formwork and has a plunger rod which is inserted into the refill (6) to extract its contents by simply pressing the pump.

[0014] The formwork (7) contains a layer of aluminum on the internal surface (2) which allows the toothpaste to be preserved. According to a variant, the formwork (7) may be made entirely of aluminum (3).

[0015] According to different variants, the shape of the casing (7) and the shape of the toothpaste refill cartridge (6) can be cylindrical, square, rectangular or adopt the shape defined by its creator.

[0016] By way of non-limiting example, the casing (7) and the toothpaste refill cartridge (6) will have measurements of 15 mm in diameter and 120 mm in length for its cylindrical shape.

[0017] The device according to the invention is particularly intended to eliminate the plastic and aluminum present in toothpaste tubes and preserve our natural resources. The device according to the invention makes it possible to have an eco-designed and refillable toothpaste tube.

Claims

Claims

1. Device for reusing the toothpaste tube characterized in that it comprises a cylindrical casing (7) having at its base a threaded orifice (4) and at its second end a neck with a threaded part (5)

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it allows the introduction of a removable and independent glass refill (6).

3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the casing (7) having a neck with a threaded part (5) allows a vacuum pump to be accommodated to extract all of the toothpaste contained in the refill (6).

4. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that the formwork (7) has a threaded base (4) receiving a screw for holding the refill cartridge (1) in the formwork and acting as a closure.

5. Device according to claim 2 characterized in that the removable refill (6) is made of 100% recyclable glass.

6. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that the casing (7) contains an aluminum film over its entire internal surface (2) for optimal conservation of the toothpaste contained in the cartridge (6)

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