FR2543923A1 - Pressurised container of the "aerosol can" type - Google Patents

Abstract

This container comprises a body 2 comprising a lateral wall and a bottom, advantageously obtained by drawing an aluminium pellet, and an upper dome 3 joined to the upper edge of the said body 2, a valve-holder cup being intended to be fixed by crimping onto the upper edge of the said dome 3. According to the invention, the body 2 and the dome 3 are joined together by a weld produced by means of a laser beam, the body 2 having an end collar 7 on which is precisely applied a collar 9 of the dome 3 connected by its internal edge to the lower edge of the arched part 8 of the dome 3.

Description

PRESSURIZED CONTAINER OF TPPE "BOMBE AEROSOL".

 The present invention relates to pressurized containers of the "aerosol can" type used, for example, for the packaging and distribution of cosmetic or maintenance products, these containers being provided with a distribution valve allowing the user, by acting on a push button secured to the valve, to cause the ejection of the product to be dispensed.

 In the current state of the art, there are different types of pressurized containers. In fact, containers have already been manufactured, the body of which is produced by spinning a metal pellet, for example, of aluminum, and subsequent forming of a warhead of the upper part of the body, to which is then fixed, by crimping, the valve holder cup The combination of these spinning, forming and crimping operations makes the cost price of this container quite high. We also know of containers made up of a body made as before, by spinning a metal disc an upper dome being attached to the body and fixed to that by crimping, the valve holder cup then being fixed to the dome in the same way. This type of container has the same suitability as previously as to its cost of manufacture.

 This is why, for the packaging of low-cost products, such as cleaning products, containers are preferred which have a rolled side wall on which, by crimping, on the one hand, there is a base, and, d on the other hand, an upper d8me, the valve holder cup being there also fixed by crimping on the upper dome. Such a container can be made entirely of tinplate: the manufacture of the cylindrical body in rolled t81e and the fitting of the added base is less expensive than spinning an aluminum pellet.

 However, efforts have been made to reduce the cost of receptacles, the body of which is obtained in one piece or in two pieces, by providing a larger valve-holder cup, directly crimped on the upper edge of the side wall of a body. of the container with a wide opening, this is the subject of French patent No. 2 337 089. This therefore saves on a crimping operation.

 Seeking, moreover, to improve the aesthetic presentation of the containers, consideration has been given to making container bodies of oval section. The container body must necessarily, under these conditions, also have a wide opening because, on the confectionery machines, it is impossible to pass from an oval section to a circular section capable of receiving a circular valve holder cup. In addition, if one des @ e manufacture containers with external reliefs> we can not help but also realize container bodies with a large upper opening.

 We have seen that, for container bodies which have a large upper opening> the simplest solution consists, according to French patent 2,337,089, of using a crimped valve holder cup having an outside diameter corresponding to the diameter of the upper opening of the body, with the interposition of a cast or attached seal. To produce at low colt, that is to say using existing production channels, containers with an oval section or with external reliefs, it is therefore necessary to consider adapting conventional crimping materials, which poses problems of 'investment.

 The present invention provides a solution to this problem. For this purpose, the large valve holder cup of the prior art is replaced, as in the past, by a dome and a valve holder cup of conventional size reported on the upper part of the lady, but the latter and the body of the container are laser welded, which eliminates the crimping, which was problematic. The realization of the laser welding is carried out without fifficulté the lag of a border of body with wide open whatever the section of the body. The invention therefore makes it possible to produce aesthetic containers, of oval shape or with relief patterns without exaggerating the manufacturing cost.

 Advantageously, the body of the container according to the invention is produced by spinning an aluminum pellet, which makes the container extremely light, the gain which is achieved in the weight of the aluminum being able to compensate the cost of manufacturing the dme by stamping and the cost of carrying out the welding. laser.

 The present invention therefore relates to the new industrial product that constitutes a pressurized container of the "aerosol can" type consisting, firstly, by a body comprising a side wall and a bottom and, secondly, by a DO attached to the upper edge of said body a valve holder cup being fixed by crimping on the upper edge of said dome, characterized in that said body and said dome are joined by a weld made by means of a laser beam brush.

In accordance with an advantageous characteristic of the invention, the body and the dome are made of different materials. The body can be obtained by spinning a metal pellet, the side wall and the bottom of said body coming from a single piece in this spinning operation. Advantageously, the body is made of aluminum and has a small thickness. The d8me is advantageously made from a sheet of ferrous material, in particular tinplate
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the body and the dome have, in their end zones which cooperate with each other for laser welding, walls capable of being applied exactly one on the other. Advantageously, the walls of the body and of the grid which cooperate with each other for laser welding, have facing annular planar surfaces, which lie in a plane substantially perpendicular to the base of the container.

 Preferably, the planar facing surfaces are formed by the upper surface of an end collar joined to the upper edge of the container body and by the lower surface of a sensitive wall in the form of a crown connected by its edge. inside the lower border of the curved part of the dome.

 The facing flat surfaces can also be constituted by the upper surface of a first peripheral relief carried by an end collar joined to the upper edge of the container body and by the on the underside of a second peripheral relief carried by a wall substantially in the form of a crown connected by its inner border to the curved portion of the in a hollow peripheral zone being formed in the wall of one of the two elements carrying a relief, opposite said relief.

 In both cases, the wall u dOme, which is intended to come to bear on the collar of the body, may have, along its external free edge, a square return intended to come at least partially opposite the free external border of the collar.

 According to another characteristic of the present invention, between the curved part and the end wall intended to come to bear on the collar of the body, the dome is folded in a manner to form a peripheral groove which penetrates inside the body a joint zone being formed between the external lateral wall of the said groove and the wall zone of the body which faces it. The joint area can be made in the form of an emery joint; alternatively, a seal is interposed between the groove of the dome and the wall of the body.

According to other features of the present invention, the container comprises a protective cover capable of being hooked, by its lower edge, under the collar; and the internal walls of the body and the dome are covered with a protective varnish
To better understand the object of the present invention, there will be described below, by way of purely illustrative and nonlimiting examples, two embodiments shown in the accompanying drawing.

On this drawing
- Figure 1 shows> in axial section, a container according to a first variant of a first embodiment of the invention, said container being provided with its presentation cover shown in dashed lines
- Figure 2 is an enlarged view of detail D of Figure 1, showing the assembly of the container body and the dOme attached to said body, the valve holder shovel being assumed to be absent
- Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure i showing a second variant of the first embodiment of the invention
- Figures 4 and 5 are views similar to Figures 2 and 3 respectively, showing respectively a first and a second variant of a second embodiment of the invention.

 Referring to Figure 1, we see that we have designated by 1, as a whole, a pressurized container of the "aerosol can" type consisting of the following three elements: a body 2, a dOme 3 and a cup holder -valve 4.

 The body 2 has a side wall 5 connected to a bottom 6, and it is obtained in one piece by spinning an aluminum pellet. Due to the material used and the manufacturing iodine, the body 2, which has a small thickness, is extremely light, which is one of the advantages of the present invention. The side wall 5 of the body 2, which can have both a circular section and an ovate section, tapers slightly from the vicinity of its upper edge, which is folded outwards to form an end collar 7 perpendicular to the axis of the side wall 5.

 The dome 3 is produced by stamping from a tin plate; its role is to make the connection between the body 2 and the valve holder cup 4. It comprises a curved wall 8 constituted by a generally conical part 8a flaring downwards, where it widens even more on an outwardly curved region 8b, which is folded outward along its free edge, so as to form a collar 9, capable of being applied exactly on the collar 7 of the body 2. The collar 9 has along its external free edge, a square return 10 intended to come opposite the external free border of the collar 7.

The dbme 8 ends> at its upper part> with a circular edge 11.

 The body 2 and the mg 3 are internally covered over their entire surface with a protective varnish.

 The valve holder cup 4 is also made of tinplate. In the central zone of said cup 4, there is disposed, in a known manner, a valve 12, the outlet tube of which carries a push button 13 intended to allow the valve 12 to operate. The cup 4 has the form of a cup returning inside the upper opening of the dOme 3, the side wall 14 of this cup having a circular upper rim 15 which is fixed to the rim 11 of the dOme 8 by crimping.

 The container 1 further comprises a presentation cover 16, produced by molding a deformable plastic material such as polyethylene, comprising a bottom 17 and a side wall 18. The external dimensions of the wall 18 are substantially identical to those of the wall 2 of the pressurized container 1. On the free edge of the side wall 18 is provided a fixing ring 18a, intended to be fixed by snap-fastening under the collar 7 of the body 2.

 The main feature of this container 1 is the assembly of the body 2 and the upper core 3 by a weld made by means of a laser beam brush.

 The manufacture of such a container is carried out as follows: 0 the body 2 of the container 1 is formed by spinning an aluminum pellet, and the dome 3 and the valve-holder cup 4 are produced by stamping. We place the dome 3 on the body 2 so that the wall 9 is applied exactly on the collar 7. We then apply a brush of laser rays above the wall 9 perpendicularly thereto, in its region medians and, simultaneously, one causes a relative rotation of the rod and the assembly around the axis of the body 2. the brush of laser rays thus causes the welding of the tinplate constituting the dome 3 and the aluminum constituting the body 2 in an annular zone of very small width in the middle of the collar 9. The fixing of the valve-holder cup 4 is then carried out elastically by crimping. Finally, the presentation cover 16 is fixed on the upper part of the pressurized container 1 D this cover 16 is presented above the container and, by deformation of the plastic material, the peripheral jone 18a snaps under the collar 7.

 FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the dome / body assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2. In accordance with this alternative, the body 22 also has a collar 27, but this carries, on its upper surface, a relief peripheral 27a having a planar upper surface. The dome 28 is identical to the dome 8 in FIG. 2, and it comprises, in the same way a conical assembly part 28a, a more flared lower part 28b terminated by an annular wall 29 with an external return of square 30. Similarly, it ends9 at its upper part, by a circular rim 31. However, the annular wall 29 has, in its median region, a recess constituting on the internal wall of the dome 28, a perispherical relief 29a having a flat surface intended to come to be applied exactly on the corresponding surface of the relief 27a, a hollow peripheral zone 29b being formed opposite the relief 29a.

 The advantage of this arrangement is to ensure laser welding without any battery effect in the case of a dome made of white iron because of the reduction in contact surfaces.

 Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of the dome / body assembly of the container. The container has a body 32 provided with a peripheral collar 37 which is identical to the collar 7 of the container in FIG. 2. the dOme 33 is identical to the dome 8, with the difference that it presents, between its main part and its collar 39 terminated by the angle bracket 40, a peripheral groove penetrating inside the body, said groove being delimited by two wings 38c and 38d joined to an annular bottom 38e. Between the body 32 and the wing 38d of the a groove 38f is provided in the groove, which is made in the form of an emery seal. in this arrangement, all risk of corrosion is avoided, even if the laser welding has deteriorated over a large area in the vicinity of the sulfur, the varnish which lines the interior walls of the dome 38 and of the body 32.

 FIG. 5 represents a variant of FIG. 4, according to which the collar 47 of the body 42 and the collar 49 of the dome 43 are produced as in the case of the variant of FIG. 3. Thus, the surfaces in contact with view laser welding are constituted by the restricted annular surfaces of the reliefs 47a and 49a, a peripheral peripheral zone 49b being formed opposite the relief 49a. The elements of the dOme 43 which are found in the same way in the dome 33 have been pierced in the drawing by reference numbers greater than 10 than those used in the description of the dOme 33. The wing 48d is separated from the side wall 42 of the container body by a seal 48f which is a seal reported. The usefulness of the seal is the same as for the variant in FIG. 4.

 The assembly of the containers of Figures 3 to 5 is carried out in the same way as that of Figures 1 and 2. In all cases, the containers thus obtained withstand internal pressures of 12 bar absolute.

 It is understood that the embodiments described above are in no way limiting and may give rise to any desirable modifications, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (15)

 1 - Pressurized container of the "aerosol can" type consisting, first, of a body (2, 2%, 32, 42) comprising a side wall (5) and a bottom (6) and, secondly, by a dsme (3, 23, 33, 43) attached to the upper edge of said body (2, 22, 32, 42), a valve-holder cup (4) being fixed by crimping on the upper edge (11, 31, 41, 51) of said dOme (3, 23, 33, 43), characterized in that said body (2, 22, 32, 42) and said dome (3, 23, 33, 43) are joined by a weld made by means with a laser beam brush.  2 - container according to claim 1, characterized in that the body g2 22, 32, 42) and the dome (3, 23, 33, 43) are made of de8 different materials.  3 - Container according to one of claims 1 and '2> characterized in that the body (2, 22, 32, 42) is obtained by spinning a metal chip, the side wall (5) and the bottom ( 6) of said body (2) coming from a single piece in this spinning operation.  4 - Container according to one of claim 1 B 3, characterized in that the body (2, 22, 32, 42) is made of aluminum and has a small thickness.  5 - Container according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the dome (3, 23, 33, 43) is formed from a sheet of a ferrous material, in particular of tinplate.  6 - container according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the body (2, 22, 32d 42) and the dome (3, 23, 33, 43) have, in their end zones which cooperate between them for laser welding, walls which can be applied exactly on top of each other.  7 - container according to claim 6, characterized in that the walls of the body (2, 22, 32, 42) and the dome (3, 23, 33, 43), which cooperate with each other for laser welding, have opposite, planar annular surfaces, which lie in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of the container (1).  8 - A container according to claim 7, characterized in that the facing planar surfaces are constituted by the upper surface of an end collar (7, 37) joined to the upper edge of the body (2s 32) of the container and by the lower surface of a wall (9, 39) substantially in the shape of a crown connected by its inner edge to the lower edge of the curved part (8, 38) of the dome (3, 33).  9 - container according to claim 7 characterized in that the facing planar surfaces are censtituées by the upper surface of a first peripheral relief (27a, 47a) carried by an end collar (27, 47) joined to the edge upper body (22, 42) of the container and by the lower surface of a second peripheral relief (29a, 49a) carried by a wall substantially in the form of a crown (29, 49) connected by an inner edge to the curved part (28, 48) of the dome (23, 43). a hollow peripheral zone (29b, 49b) being formed in the wall of one of the two elements carrying a relief (29a, 49a), opposite said relief.  10 - container according to one of claims 8 and 9, characterized in that the wall of the dome (33 23 33, 43) which is intended to come to bear on the collar (7, 27, 37, 47) of the body (2, 22, 32, 42), has, along its external free border, a square return (10, 30, (40, 50) intended to come at least partially opposite the external free border of the collar ( 7, 27 37, 47).  11 - Container according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that between s partiecintrée (38, 48) and its end wall (39, 49) intended to come to bear on the collar (37, 47 ) of the body (32, 42), the dome (33 43) is folded so as to constitute a peripheral groove which penetrates inside the body (32, 42), a joint zone being formed between the side wall external (38d, 48d) of said groove and the wall region of the body (32, 42) which faces it.  12 - container according to claim 11, characterized in that the joint zone is produced in the form of an emery joint (38f, 48f)  13 - A container according to claim 11, characterized in that a seal is interposed between the groove of the dome and the wall of the body.  14 - Container according to one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that it comprises a protective cover (16) capable of coming to be hooked> by its edge re lower, under the collar (7s 27, 37, 47) *  15 - A container according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the internal walls of the body (2, 22, 32, 42) of the dome (3 23, 33, 43) are covered with a protective varnish .