FR2911775A1 - Tubular body for use in application or cleaning stick, has spiral or helicoidal cleavable zone for receiving applicator tip at open end and closed end, where cleavable zone extends longitudinally along tubular body - Google Patents

Abstract

The body (2) has a spiral or helicoid cleavable zone for receiving an applicator tip at an open end (3) and a closed end (5), where the cleavable zone extends longitudinally along the tubular body. The scored area adopts a closed contour without revolution symmetry around an axle of the tubular body. The area is placed close to the end (5) of the tubular body. A hooking unit on both sides of the scored area cooperates with a coating material. The hooking unit is constituted by a relief arranged on the tubular body.

Description

The present invention relates to a tubular body for a stick

  application or cleaning device, designed to contain a liquid for flowing through a first open end, said tubular body being designed to be closed at the other end thereof said second end, and having at least one zone breakable, and designed to receive, at the first or / and second end an applicator tip. The invention further relates to an application or cleaning stick.

  The present invention is in the field of hygiene products for external use. The invention relates more particularly to the tubular bodies serving as reinforcement for application or cleaning sticks, generally used as cotton swabs, provided at one or both ends with applicator tips. absorbent or dressing material, such as hydrophilic cotton, gauze, or the like. Depending on the texture of the absorbent material, such a cotton swab may be used for cleaning wounds, cleaning an area before care, applying liquid or viscous products, removing makeup, cleaning hollow ducts, or other. Such applications are known in cosmetics, paramedical, veterinary, or even for precision work, such as precision mechanics or watchmaking, for example. For the removal or application of a liquid on a given area, hollow rods containing a liquid, for example a disinfectant or a cleaning product, are known. This liquid is intended to be deposited, or / and to soak an applicator of absorbent material located at a first end of the stick. At the second end of the stick opposite this first end, this liquid is stopped by a stopper designed to ensure the maintenance of the product in the stick, or by a particular embodiment of this end, by sealing, melting, welding, gluing, pinching Or other.

  In the vicinity of this second end, the rod has a breakable zone, allowing, in the manner of a glass bulb whose first end is already open, to let the liquid that it contains by this first end, when proceeding at the opening and putting into atmospheric pressure of the second end. This breakable zone is often difficult to break because of imperfect execution. The operator may then badly break the stick, or even hurt, because of the creation of sharp portions when breaking the stick. This is particularly unacceptable for all uses related to hygiene, especially in sterile environment or high cleanliness. Finally, it should be noted that the user does not always have both hands to cut the stick, either because of cosmetic care, hygiene or paramedical precisely to apply to one of two hands, or because of the unavailability of one of the two hands to maintain an organ, or manipulate another instrument or another product. In the case of large capacity containers, especially for veterinary use, it frequently happens that the user does not need to deliver all of the product contained in the reservoir that constitutes the tubular body. Nowadays, only sticks with a breakable zone at the end opposite to that by which the product is poured for its use are known, so that, by making a call for air, the entire quantity is discharged. liquid contained in the applicator or cleaning stick. WO 03/030681 discloses a rod which is provided with several breakable zones: a group of breakable zones is disposed at each end of the stick, which makes it possible to use this rod reversibly by flowing the liquid at any end, each group of breakable zones consisting of several parallel and close grooves, either perpendicular to the axis of revolution of the stick, or oblique to the latter. However, this provision does not allow any determination of the amount of spilled liquid. The object of the invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the state of the art by providing a reliable and inexpensive solution to these problems, by making available to the operator an easy-to-cut application or cleaning stick. without risk of bad cutting, or injury, easy to handle with one hand. In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, this solution allows, in addition, to choose, over the length of the tubular body, the location of the sectioning. To this end, the invention relates to a tubular body for an applicator or cleaning rod, designed to contain a liquid intended to flow through a first open end, said tubular body being designed to be closed to the other of its ends said second end, and having at least one breakable zone, and designed adapted to receive, at the first or / and second end an applicator tip, characterized in that said breakable zone extends longitudinally along said tubular body. According to another characteristic of the invention, the rupture at the level of the breakable zone is partial. According to a feature of the invention, said breakable zone is spiral or helical. According to one characteristic of the invention, said breakable zone adopts an open contour. According to a feature of the invention, a breakable zone is disposed near said second end of said tubular body. According to one characteristic of the invention, said tubular body comprises several breakable zones separated from each other. According to one characteristic of the invention, said tubular body comprises, on either side of said breakable zone, fastening means designed capable of cooperating with a coating material.

  The invention also relates to an application or cleaning stick comprising at least one such tubular body. Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments of the invention, with reference to the appended figures in which: FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a tubular body according to the invention, in a first embodiment; FIG. 2 schematically and in perspective shows a tubular body according to the invention, in a second embodiment; FIG. 3 schematically shows in perspective a tubular body according to the invention, in a third embodiment; FIG. 4 schematically shows in perspective a detail of embodiment of a tubular body according to the invention; The invention falls within the field of hygiene products for external use. The invention relates more particularly to a tubular body 2, in particular to form the armature of an applicator or cleaning stick 1, not shown in the figures. The invention also relates to an applicator or cleaning rod 1 incorporating such a tubular body 2. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the tubular body 2 has a first open end 3. This first end 3 may be provided with an applicator tip 4, not shown in the figures, of absorbent material or dressing, such as cotton wool, gauze, or the like. It can also be provided with an accessory such as a brush, a brush, a sponge, a foam shape, or a large diameter cotton ball, or other. It will be understood that an applicator tip of such an applicator or cleaning stick can naturally be used both for product application and for product removal due to the absorbent properties of the material of this mouthpiece. The tubular body 2 is still designed to be provided at a second end 5, an applicator tip 6, not shown in the figures, or an accessory, as the first end. Depending on the use for which the applicator rod 1 is intended, this applicator tip 4 or 6, usually of ellipsoidal shape, may also be of conical, spherical, cylindrical or other shape. The tubular body 2 is designed capable of containing at least one liquid 7, not shown in the figures. For this purpose, the tubular body 2 is designed to be closed, for example on the side of its second end 5, by a permanent closure means 8, not shown in the figures, such as a plug, or a weld or a bonding of the tubular body 2 to itself or with a foreign body, or the like. The liquid 7 is then maintained in the tubular body 2, of which it occupies only a part, and has a surface tension such that it does not flow, and remains confined in the tubular body 2 under the effect of the atmospheric pressure. The liquid 7 is, advantageously, on the side of the first end, confined by means of a phase 9, not shown in the figures, of liquid or viscous material, surface tension and viscosity different from those of the liquid. service, forming a barrier to prevent pollution or evaporation thereof, and said liquid stopper. The tubular body 2 comprises at least one breakable zone 10, of least resistance, designed capable of being broken under the application of a manual force exerted with a component perpendicular to the axis of the tubular body 2, in the vicinity of the breakable zone 10. In the usual case where this breakable zone 10 is close to the closed end 5, during breaking of the breakable zone 10, the atmospheric pressure placed on the liquid 7, on the side of the second end 5, allows the flow of the liquid 7 by gravity, to the first end 3 and the applicator tip 4 of which it is optionally provided. In a preferred embodiment, the breaking of the breakable zone 10 is partial so as to allow the integral retention of the second end 5 with the tubular body 2 after breaking of the breakable zone 10. The breakable zone 10 is preferably made under the shape of a reduced section, such as a groove partially or totally of revolution. With an equal diameter of tubular body, for the same depth of such a groove, the remaining section, when decreasing the thickness of the tubular body 2, is reduced accordingly, which results in increased ease for the operator to break the breakable zone 10. The breakable zone 10 may especially be designed in the form of a breaking primer, with one or more profiles closed or not. In the case of a closed profile can be made a groove in a plane perpendicular or oblique to the axis of the tubular body 2, or a developed profile such as an eight, or the like. In the case of an open profile, the preferred embodiments consist of incomplete grooves, whose opening angle is easily adjustable on the production line, or by spiral, helical or similar profiles. The achievement of this breakable zone is advantageously made by rotating the tubular body 2, and put in contact with the latter with one or more tools arranged perpendicularly and / or obliquely to its axis of revolution. As can be seen in FIG. 1, in a preferred embodiment, the breakable zone 10 develops along an open contour, the ends of which are bounded by two planes P1 and P2 locally perpendicular to the tubular body, and which are distant from each other. one of the other in the longitudinal direction of the tubular body 2.

  It will be noted, in this regard, that if the figures represent a cylindrical tubular body for the sake of clarity, the cylindrical body 2 according to the invention can take various forms, in particular with variations of section making it possible to form one or more storage tanks. liquid of appropriate volumes, and that it can develop around a left contour, including a curve. The breakable zone 10 can, again, as can be seen in FIG. 2 in a second embodiment, result from the combination of several rupture primers 101, 102, in a particular zone.

  Some applications require the implantation of several breakable zones 10 on the tubular body 2, as visible in Figure 3. In a preferred application, as shown in Figure 4, the tubular body 2 comprises, on both sides each breakable zone 10, attachment means 11 adapted to cooperate with a coating material. Advantageously and particularly economically, these attachment means 11 are constituted by a protruding relief and / or hollow formed on the tubular body 2, for example by the action of cutting tools, or heating, or deformation, as a knurling or the like. This relief may especially take the form of notches of revolution or not, or gorges of revolution, or oblique, or other. Preferably, this relief is achieved by rotating the tubular body 2, and put in contact with the latter with one or more tools arranged perpendicularly and / or obliquely to its axis of revolution. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, these attachment means 11 extend, on each side of each breakable zone 10, over a length at least equal to the diameter of the tubular body 2. They thus provide a contact surface sufficient for allow the good adhesion of a coating material. In the preferred use of a tubular body 2 according to the invention for an applicator or cleaning stick, the design of this body is particularly oriented to facilitate the manipulation of this rod by the operator, especially with one hand . The design, especially in a helix, of the breakable zone 10 facilitates its breaking under the action of a single finger, the other fingers now and directing the tubular body 2, for the spill and the application of the liquid 7 to the place precise desired. In a third embodiment, as visible in FIG. 3, the tubular body 2 comprises several breakable zones 10A, 10B, separated from each other. This arrangement makes it possible, in particular in the case of tubular bodies of large capacity, for example for applicators for veterinary use, to release only a part of the liquid 7 that can contain the body 2, if the immediate consumption of all is not required. This thus allows the economy of the remainder of the product, which remains ready to be poured, in one or more times according to the number of breakable zones remaining on the side of the closed second end 5. Many drugs or products for various cosmetic applications, veterinary, aesthetic (nail hardener glue, hair dye), techniques (fast-drying glues) or other, require separate storage to maintain the integral properties of the molecules or active ingredients in the formula and prevent any reaction between them before their mixture, and require a mixture of several substances just before application to allow the conduct of the required reaction between them just in time. Also, in yet another embodiment, not shown in the figure, the same tubular body 2 contains successively several different liquid products 7. These liquids are then separated from each other by liquid or viscous material phases similar to that 9 described above to preserve the liquid 7, said liquid plugs, and preferably made of silicone material. In a first case, they are intended to be mixed after the rupture of a single breakable zone 10. In a second case, such liquid plugs are each located at a different breakable zone: it is thus it is possible, by successive breaking of the different breakable zones, to sequence the flow of the different products according to their logical order of application. This arrangement makes it possible to treat, with a single applicator, a complete process, instead of requiring several applicators dumped successively. In another particular embodiment, not shown in the figures, the application rod 1 comprises a plurality of primary tubular bodies according to the invention. These primary tubular bodies may, as appropriate, be inserted into one another, or be juxtaposed substantially parallel to form a beam, or be assembled by combining these two modes, that is to say under the shape of a beam comprising tubes inserted into each other, or a tube in which is inserted at least one such beam. Each of these primary tubular bodies is adapted to contain a particular primary liquid, and has a breakable zone. The juxtaposition of these primary tubular bodies is performed so as to juxtapose their breakable zones, to form a single rupture zone at the rod 1, so that the operator has to perform a single breaking maneuver in the same way as if he manipulates a single tubular body 2. This is why it is essential that the breakable zone 10 of each of them is easy to break, and does not require a precision of the operator as to the rupture zone. In a preferred manner, these primary tubular bodies contain different liquids or products, which are mixed, at the time of rupture, at the first end 3 of the rod 1, or the tip 4 that may comprise this same first end 3. Each primary tubular body contains the right amount necessary to obtain a mixture in the exact proportions, which are often very precise, especially in the case of adhesives. Such an application of the invention makes it possible, by conditioning small quantities, to avoid frequent wasting in the case of making multi-component mixtures made from different packages, often in excess, and some of which is unusable, and obviously overcomes the problem of dosing which is always difficult to perform with precision and cleanliness in this kind of mixture.

  In a preferred embodiment, the tubular body 2 is made of a semi-translucent material, so as to protect the photosensitivity of the liquid or liquids 7 against ultraviolet rays and the like, and to ensure its good preservation in the weather.

  In an alternative embodiment, the tubular body 2 of the stick is colored, or provided with labeling or identification marking of the liquid it contains, to facilitate the identification of the latter.

  In another variant, it comprises at least one longitudinal marker line along its length. This longitudinal feature can be printed, screen printed, extruded into the thickness of the tubular body, or in relief or depression, by etching, deformation or the like. This feature may advantageously be colored.

  Each combination of tube colors, and / or longitudinal lines, and / or applicator colors corresponds to a particular application. The different combinations are identified in a table. The identification of the stick 1 is easy and immediate. Management is facilitated.

  It is further understood that, whenever a liquid is mentioned in the foregoing description, this also relates to a powdery product capable of flowing in a tubular body.

  In a particular embodiment, the breakable zone 10 adopts a closed contour without symmetry of revolution about the axis of the tubular body 2.

  Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples illustrated and described above which may have variants and modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (12)

  Tubular body (2) for an applicator or cleaning stick designed to contain a liquid intended to flow through an open first end (3), said tubular body (2) being designed to be closed at the other of its ends said second end (5), and having at least one breakable zone (10), and designed adapted to receive, at the first (3) and / or second (5) end an applicator tip, characterized by the fact that said breakable zone (10) extends longitudinally along said tubular body (2).   2. tubular body (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that the rupture at the breakable zone (10) is partial.   3. tubular body (2) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said breakable zone (10) is spiral or helical.   4. tubular body (2) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said breakable zone (10) adopts a closed contour without symmetry of revolution about the axis of said tubular body (2).   5. tubular body (2) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said breakable zone (10) adopts an open contour.   6. tubular body (2) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a breakable zone (10) is disposed near said second end (5) of said tubular body (2).   7. tubular body (2) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises, on either side of said breakable zone (10), hooking means (11) designed adapted to cooperate with a coating material.   8. tubular body (2) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said attachment means (11) 35 are constituted by a relief formed on said tubular body (2). 11   9. tubular body (2) according to one of claims 7 or 8, characterized in that said attachment means (11) extend on each side of said breakable zone (10), for a length at least equal to the diameter of said tubular body (2).   10. Tubular body (2) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of breakable zones (10) separated from one another.   11. Tubular body (2) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least one longitudinal marking line along its length.   12. Application or cleaning stick comprising at least one tubular body (2) according to any one of the preceding claims.