Drip liquid dispenser

Abstract

The invention relates to a packaging device for a liquid that is to be dispensed drop by drop, comprising a container ( 1 ) with manually elastically deformable walls, which ends in a rigid neck ( 3 ) in which a head ( 4 ) for dispensing the liquid is mounted. A membrane ( 31 ) which is both hydrophilic and hydrophobic, advantageously antibacterial, is arranged in the dispensing head ( 4 ) across the passage of the liquid towards a duct expelling it to the outside. This membrane allows external air to enter the container ( 1 ) once the liquid has passed through it in the expulsion phase, and the bottle reverts elastically to its initial shape after each dispensing operation. A frangible partition ( 7 ) isolates the membrane from the liquid contained in the bottle until the time of first use whereupon it is fractured by a striker secured to the said dispensing head ( 4 ).

1 . Packaging bottle for a liquid that is to be dispensed drop by drop, comprising a container ( 1 ) having a rigid neck ( 3 ) in which is mounted a dispensing head ( 4 ) forming an external endpiece ( 11 ) pierced with a duct for expelling the liquid from the said container ( 1 ), characterized in that it the said container consists of a deformable cylindrical wall closed, at its lower part, by a rigid cap ( 2 ) which is fixed on after the container ( 1 ) has been filled, and in that the said container has an elastically deformable boundary wall ( 6 ) for expelling a fraction of the liquid contained in the reservoir during each dispensing operation, in that the said dispensing head comprises, mounted across the path of the liquid thus expelled from the container, a membrane ( 31 ) which is partially hydrophilic, to allow the liquid to pass under the effect of a raised pressure exerted in the container by the deformation of the wall, and partially hydrophobic so that the membrane wetted by the expelled liquid nonetheless allows air from the outside to enter the container when the container elastically reverts to its initial shape, and in that it comprises a frangible partition ( 7 ) secured to the container for isolating the said membrane ( 31 ) from the liquid contained in the container ( 1 ) up to the time of first use, the said partition being torn by the passage of the said dispensing head from a security position into an availability position.  
     
     
         2 . Bottle according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the said membrane is made of a hydrophilic polymer, particularly one based on polyamide or polyether sulphone, which is made hydrophobic over a zone covering from 20 to 50% of its area and which has a pore diameter advantageously of the order of 0.1 or 0.2 microns, capable of preventing contaminants present in the outside air from entering the bottle.  
     
     
         3 . Bottle according to  claim 1  or  2 , characterized in that the said wall of the container is of cylindrical shape and is elastically deformable by manual compression so as to create a raised pressure in the container to cause liquid to be expelled during each dispensing operation, the elastic return of the container to its initial shape causing unexpelled liquid to be sucked back out of the endpiece and external air allowed in to compensate for the liquid expelled.  
     
     
         4 . Bottle according to  claim 3 , characterized in that the said container is closed at the bottom, at the opposite end to the said dispensing head, by a rigid bottom cap to be fixed to its cylindrical wall equipped with the dispensing head after the bottle has been filled.  
     
     
         5 . Bottle according to any one of  claims 1  to  4 , characterized in that the said dispensing head ( 4 ) is mounted so that it can move between two different longitudinal positions inside the said neck ( 3 ), comprising the said security position in which communication between the container ( 1 ) and the said expulsion duct ( 12 ) via the said membrane ( 31 ) is sealed off and the said availability position in which the said communication is allowed through the destruction of the frangible partition ( 7 ) and in that the said dispensing head ( 4 ) is equipped, at its lower part, with a striker ( 18 ) capable of fracturing the said partition ( 7 ) the first time the container is used, entailing a movement of driving the said dispensing head ( 4 ) into the said neck ( 3 ) of the container.  
     
     
         6 . Bottle according to  claim 5 , characterized in that the said partition ( 1 ) is constructed in such a way that it therefore frees a passage cross section for the liquid that corresponds at least to one quarter of the area of the said partition.  
     
     
         7 . Bottle according to  claim 5  or  6 , characterized in that the said partition ( 7 ) is made as a single piece of a material that can be moulded with the said container ( 1 ) and the said neck ( 3 ).  
     
     
         8 . Bottle according to any one of  claims 5  to  7 , characterized in that the partition ( 7 ) comprises precut radial lines ( 33 ) arranged in a star configuration and in that the striker ( 18 ) comprises radial fins ( 19 ), also arranged in a uniform distribution about the longitudinal axis, the number of precut lines ( 33 ) in the membrane being different from the number of fins ( 19 ) on the striker ( 18 ).  
     
     
         9 . Bottle according to any one of  claims 5  to  8 , characterized in that it comprises a tamperproofing ring ( 22 ) inserted between a shoulder ( 14 ) of the dispensing head ( 4 ) and an upper face ( 15 ) of the neck ( 33 ) of the container ( 1 ) when the dispensing head ( 4 ) is in its security position, the said shoulder ( 14 ) coming to bear on the said upper face ( 15 ) after removal of the tamperproofing ring by the driving of the body ( 9 ) of the dispensing head ( 4 ) as far as the availability position.  
     
     
         10 . Bottle according to any one of  claims 5  to  8 , characterized in that it comprises a tamperproofing ring ( 42 ) mounted permanently on the neck ( 3 ) of the container ( 1 ) which is linked by breakable strips to an unscrewable stopper ( 5 ) protecting the dispensing head until the time of first use of the bottle.  
     
     
         11 . Bottle according to any one of  claims 5  to  10 , characterized in that it comprises means with a ramp ( 45 ) to induce the said driving of the dispensing head ( 4 ) towards the availability position during the unscrewing of a stopper ( 5 ) protecting the said head until the first use.