DE102013226706A1 - Lightweight packaging with dosing chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a particularly lightweight packaging for liquid preparations, comprising two chambers, characterized in that there is a connection between the chambers.

Description

The invention relates to a particularly lightweight packaging for liquid preparations, comprising two chambers, characterized in that there is a connection between the chambers.

Packaging for liquid preparations there are many. From bottles to ampoules made of glass, metal or plastics, to small containers made of low-volume film materials.

Small packages, such as blisters, sachets or foil bags, are made by welding or gluing together flexible films made of metal or plastic so that only the film edges are liquid-tightly interconnected and remains in the center of a fillable cavity. The German utility model 8900366 for example, discloses a foil pouch having a specially designed dispensing opening.

The cavity can be filled accordingly by machine. For example like in the German Patent 1461911 disclosed.

The removal of the contents can be done in various ways, for example, the small box can be cut and the contents are then poured out or pressed out through the opening.

Sachets or foil pouches are a kind of bag or bag and are used, for example, as portion packaging for ketchup. When Sachet both films are made of very flexible material, so that forms a kind 'pillow-shaped' body in the filled state.

Blisters, on the other hand, generally have a stiffer film part with a deep-drawn cavity which has been closed by sealing a second film. Bliester are usually more dimensionally stable than sachets.

There are also sachets, blisters or foil bags which have a closable dispensing opening welded into the wall or seam (so-called spout for spout or mouth).

A disadvantage of these very simple small packages is that they are more or less only for single use, so keeping ready the necessary amount for an application preparation. A dosage of the contents of several applications (portions) is very difficult with such a single-chambered small container, since the preparation must be expressed from the very unstable Folinenverbund. Depending on how viscous the preparation or how full the small container is, more or less pressure on the elastic wall of the reservoir of the Kleindebindes is necessary to spend a certain amount of medium. Most of the time, there is a considerable overdose, which, while the manufacturer of the products pleased, but requires the user to dispose of the excess amount.

There are also sachets or blisters having a plurality of chambers, wherein at least one chamber is filled with a preparation component and this can be transferred by transfer into the other chamber, which may contain a further preparation component or an absorbent material. Subsequently, the resulting mixture can be dispensed or the soaked absorbent material removed. For this purpose, small containers are very well suited due to the defined content (volume), which is the case, for example, with adhesive or cleaning products ( DE 8235226 ) is exploited.

For the expert was not foreseeable, the
Small container with at least two mutually incompletely sealed chambers of two superimposed films, which are connected at their ends and at the chambers bounding areas with seams, preferably welded, comprising at least a first and a second chamber, characterized in that the first chamber has a larger volume than the second chamber and the first and second chamber in the region of the seams which separate the first and second chamber, a passage point, so that a transfer of the medium stored in the first chamber is possible in the second chamber and the second chamber having a dispensing opening which allows an output of the medium in the second chamber and a transfer of medium located in the second chamber in the first chamber largely prevented, the problems of the prior art can solve.

Small containers according to the invention are particularly suitable for packaging of liquid or viscous media. Especially suitable are small containers according to the invention for cosmetic preparations such as creams, shampoos or liquid soaps.

Small containers according to the invention are outstandingly suitable for the storage and storage of preparation quantities which correspond to a multiple of the usual application quantity. By metering the amount to be dispensed over the limited volume of the second chamber, only a small volume is spent accordingly.

The ratio of the volume of the first chamber to the volume of the second chamber is settled according to the invention in the range of 2: 1 to 50: 1, in particular for products that can be taken on trips has a volume ratio of 4: 1 to 10: 1 proved to be advantageous ,

• – In einem ersten Schritt wird durch Druck auf die erste Kammer wird so viel des gespeicherten Mediums in die zweite Kammer überführt, bis diese gefüllt ist.
• – In einem zweiten Schritt wird durch Druck auf die zweite Kammer das in der zweiten Kammer befindliche Medium über die Ausgabeöffnung aus getragen. Ein Rückfluss in die erste Kammer wird durch das Ventilsystem verhindert.

The output takes place in the following steps:

• In a first step, as much of the stored medium is transferred into the second chamber by pressure on the first chamber until it is filled.
• In a second step, the medium in the second chamber is carried out via the dispensing opening by pressure on the second chamber. Backflow into the first chamber is prevented by the valve system.

The small box can z. B. made of only two strips of a thermoplastic weldable material. Such a construction is very environmentally friendly, since only a small amount of material compared to bottles must be used.

For the purposes of the invention, it is also the small container to reinforce by further film layers. In particular, it is advantageous if the edge regions are reinforced by additionally applied stiffer films in order to give the small containers the stability necessary for packaging and trade.

Since the passage point connecting the first chamber to the second chamber has a much smaller open cross-section compared to the discharge opening, the medium escapes almost exclusively via the discharge opening when the second chamber is pressed out, since this has the lower flow resistance.

This effect is the better, the larger the cross section of the dispensing opening in relation to the cross section of the passage point.

According to the invention it is also to provide the passage point with a valve which prevents the backflow from the second into the first chamber. The assembly with a valve can be particularly advantageous for very low viscosity or very viscous media. In the case of, for example, water-thin media, the action of gravity can cause a backflow, because the second chamber is held above the first chamber. in the case of very viscous media, on the other hand, a discharge opening which is very large in relation to the passage opening constitutes a not insignificant resistance, so that a 'high' discharge pressure is necessary and thus also portions of the medium return through the passage opening into the first chamber.

Valves that can successfully prevent this backflow can be relatively easily formed by using elastomers, such as silicone rubber, in such a way that when pressure is applied in the flow direction, an expansion of an opening, which then allows a flow. On the other hand, if a pressure is exerted on the valve in the reverse direction, an elasticity-related deformation takes place in such a way that the opening is 'pressed in'. Valves of this principle are for example as a star valve ( DE 1965006 A1 ) known.

According to the invention, the valve is made of thermoplastic material, so that it can be integrated (welded in) into the weld seam between the chambers.

In the manufacture of small containers according to the invention, it is possible to produce a plurality of such small containers in one go. The resulting chains of foil bags can be wound up and then separated from each other by cutting or at weakening lines or perforations before use. The filling of the small container can be done in the course of the production immediately or at a later date.

Subsequent filling of the finished small container can be particularly difficult if only the later discharge opening is available for filling, because dan is the introduction of the filling material in the first chamber prevented or impeded by the passage opening. It may be advantageous not to completely execute the peripheral seam of the first chamber, so that the first chamber can be filled by the remaining opening by means of a lance and only after filling the first chamber to complete the edge seam, so that the first chamber towards the environment is tightly closed.

On the basis of the schematic drawings of three embodiments of a small container according to the invention, the invention will be explained in more detail.

1 shows a small container according to the invention in the top view. The first chamber 1 points in relation to the second chamber 2 a multiple of area and volume. First chamber 1 and second chamber 2 are not completely separated from each other, so this is a passage point 3 forms. The second chamber 2 carries in the border area a discharge opening 4 ,

2 shows that in 1 described small container along the cutting axis A-A '. First chamber 1 is with the second chamber 2 over the passage point 3 connected. The walls of the chambers, which form the outer surface of the Kleindebindes are through the films 5 and 6 educated. The slides 5 and 6 are welded together and also enclose the dispensing opening 4 that with a cap 7 is closed.

3 shows an embodiment of the invention, in which the one film 8th , which forms the bottom, is formed from a plane stiffer material, so that the chambers only in the film 9 train, which forms the top. The passage point 3 is with a valve 10 Mistake. The dispensing opening 4 is with a screw cap 7 Mistake.

4 shows an embodiment in which the films 5 and 6 in the area of the welds by another film 12 is reinforced. The dispensing opening 4 is with a flip top closure 11 Mistake.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

first chamber

2

second chamber

3

Exit site

4

discharge opening

5

Foil forming the bottom

6

Foil that forms the top

7

cap

8th

Foil forming the bottom

9

Foil that forms the top

10

Valve

11

Flip-top closure

QUOTES INCLUDE IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents listed by the applicant has been generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• DE 8900366 U [0003]
• DE 1461911 [0004]
• DE 8235226 [0010]
• DE 1965006 Al [0021]

Claims (8)

Small container with at least two mutually incompletely sealed chambers of two superimposed films, which are connected at their ends and at the chambers bounding areas with seams, preferably welded, comprising at least a first and a second chamber, characterized in that the first chamber has a multiple volume than the second chamber and the first and second chamber in the region of the seams, which separate the first and second chamber, a passage point, so that a transfer of the stored medium in the first chamber is possible in the second chamber, and in that the second chamber has an output opening which allows an output of the medium located in the second chamber. Small container according to claim 1, characterized in that the ratio of the volume of the first chamber to the volume of the second chamber is in the range of 2: 1 to 50: 1, in particular 4: 1 to 10: 1. Small container according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the passage opening has a valve, which prevents the backflow from the second chamber into the first chamber. Small container according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the films which form the top and bottom have different physical and / or mechanical properties. Small container according to claim 4, characterized in that one film is thinner and more flexible than the other film. Small container according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the edge regions of the films are reinforced by one or more films. Method for dosing liquid media using a small container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - transferred in a first step by pressure on the first chamber so much of the stored medium in the second chamber until it is filled; - In a second step by pressure on the second chamber, the medium in the second chamber is carried out via the discharge opening and a backflow into the first chamber is prevented by the valve system. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that a backflow into the first chamber by a valve system, in the region of the passage point between the chambers, is prevented.

Images