Re-usable dispensing aid for a semi-solid preparation packaged in a bag

Abstract

The re-usable dispensing aid helps to manually dispense a semi-solid preparation packaged in a bag having a seal seam on an end of the bag opposite to a bag tear-off. The dispensing aid has a housing, a device for fixing the bag in the housing and a device for forcing the preparation out of the bag by single-handed operation after fixing the bag and opening the bag. The device for forcing the preparation out of the bag has a manually operable slider on the housing exterior and a roller connected with it inside the housing so that a mechanical pressure is applied to the open bag by the roller to squeeze out its contents when the slider is operated by a thumb of the operator. The bag can be especially adapted for dispensing with this dispensing aid by suitable structuring of the seal seam with appropriate recesses.

1 . A re-usable dispensing aid for a cosmetic or pharmaceutical semi-solid preparation packaged in a bag for application to skin, said bag having a seal seam for closing the bag on one end of the bag and a bag tear-off for forming an opening on another end opposite from the one end, said dispensing aid comprising 
 a housing; and    means for forcing the semi-solid preparation contained in the bag out of the bag, said means for forcing the preparation out of the bag being operable by a single hand of an operator after fixing the bag in a dispensing position in the housing.    
   
   
       2 . The dispensing aid as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising a manually operable retaining device for releasably holding the bag in the housing during operation to dispense the semi-solid preparation, and wherein the retaining device is arranged in the vicinity of the seal seam and is engaged with the bag in the vicinity of the seal seam prior to dispensing the semi-solid preparation.  
   
   
       3 . The dispensing aid as defined in  claim 1 , wherein said means for forcing the preparation out of the bag comprises a squeezing device for squeezing the bag and a slider connected with the squeezing device, wherein said squeezing device is arranged in an interior region of the housing and said slider is slidably mounted on an exterior of the housing for manual operation of the squeezing device by means of a thumb of the hand of the operator.  
   
   
       4 . The dispensing aid as defined in  claim 3 , wherein the squeezing device comprises a roller mounted so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis and said roller is movable in a direction perpendicular to said rotation axis by means of the slider.  
   
   
       5 . The dispensing aid as defined in  claim 4 , wherein said roller is mounted so that said roller exerts a manually applied mechanical pressure on the bag and is movable over a predetermined portion of the bag but remains rotatable while exerting the mechanical pressure on the bag.  
   
   
       6 . The dispensing aid as defined in  claim 5 , wherein said roller is made of an elastomer or rubber material.  
   
   
       7 . The dispensing aid as defined in  claim 5 , wherein the roller traverses a length of from 3 to 10 cm during travel of the roller over the predetermined portion.  
   
   
       8 . The dispensing aid as defined in  claim 7 , wherein said length is from 4 to 7 cm.  
   
   
       9 . The dispensing aid as defined in  claim 4 , wherein said roller has a roller width of from 0.5 to 5 cm.  
   
   
       10 . The dispensing aid as defined in  claim 9 , wherein said roller width is from 1 to 3 cm.  
   
   
       11 . A bag for a cosmetic or pharmaceutical semi-solid preparation packaged in a bag, said bag comprising a bag tear-off for forming an opening for dispensing the semi-solid preparation and a seal seam for sealing the bag on an end of the bag opposite from a bag tear-off, wherein the seal seam has a width of more than 5 mm.  
   
   
       12 . The bag as defined in  claim 11 , wherein recesses are provided in the seal seam opposite from the bag tear-off and said seal seam and said recesses are formed for positioning and justifying the bag in a dispensing aid for assisting dispensing the preparation.  
   
   
       13 . The bag as defined in  claim 11 , wherein said width is more than 7 mm.  
   
   
       14 . A bag for packaging a cosmetic or pharmaceutical semi-solid preparation and a re-usable dispensing aid for the preparation packaged in the bag; 
 wherein said bag comprises a bag tear-off for forming an opening for dispensing the semi-solid preparation, said bag tear-off being arranged at one end of the bag, and a seal seam for closing the bag at another end of the bag opposite from the one end having the bag tear-off; and    wherein the dispensing aid comprises 
 a housing;  
 retaining means for for releasably holding the bag in the housing during operation to dispense the semi-solid preparation, and wherein the retaining device is arranged at the end of the bag opposite from the bag tear-off and is engaged with the bag in the vicinity of the seal seam prior to dispensing the semi-solid preparation; and  
 means for forcing the semi-solid preparation contained in the bag out from the bag, said means for forcing being operable by a single hand of an operator after fixing the bag in a dispensing position in the housing.  
   
   
   
       15 . The bag and the dispensing aid as defined in  claim 14 , wherein said seal seam has a width of more than 5 mm and is provided with a plurality of recesses, and said means for forcing the preparation out from the bag comprises a roller inside of the housing and a manually operable slider outside of the housing and movable along the housing so as to move the roller over a distance of from 3 to 7 cm inside the housing while bearing on the bag in order to squeeze out the contents of the bag when the bag is fixed in the housing.