阅读说明：本技术 用于流体产品分配器的剂量阀 (Dosage valve for fluid product dispenser ) 是由 P·莱昂内 M·巴齐尔 于 2018-04-09 设计创作，主要内容包括：用于流体产品分配器的剂量阀,包括限定剂量室(20)的阀主体(10),阀门(30)在所述剂量室中在息止位置和致动位置之间滑动,所述阀主体(10)和/或所述阀门(30)用包括聚对苯二甲酸丁二醇酯(PBT)基质和散布在所述聚对苯二甲酸丁二醇酯基质中的玻璃微球粒的材料通过注射模制制成。(A dosing valve for a fluid product dispenser, comprising a valve body (10) defining a dosing chamber (20) in which a valve (30) slides between a rest position and an actuated position, the valve body (10) and/or the valve (30) being made by injection moulding with a material comprising a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) matrix and glass microspheres dispersed in the polybutylene terephthalate matrix.)

1. Dosing valve for a fluid product dispenser, comprising a valve body (10) defining a dosing chamber (20) in which a valve (30) slides between a rest position and an actuated position, characterized in that said valve body (10) and/or said valve (30) are made by injection moulding with a material comprising a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) matrix and glass microspheres dispersed in said polybutylene terephthalate matrix.

2. Dosage-valve according to claim 1, characterised in that the diameter of the glass microspheres is comprised between 1 and 2000 μ ι η, advantageously between 1 and 100 μ ι η.

3. Dosage-valve according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the glass microspheres are incorporated in the polybutylene terephthalate matrix in a weight proportion comprised between 1% and 20%, advantageously between 1% and 15%.

4. Dispenser of fluid products, comprising a container (1) containing the fluid product to be dispensed, characterised in that it comprises a dosage valve according to any one of the preceding claims.

5. The fluid product dispenser according to claim 5, comprising HFA gas as the propellant gas.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a dosing valve for a fluid product dispenser.

A preferred field of application of such a dosage valve is in the pharmaceutical field, but such a dosage valve may also be used in other fields, such as in the cosmetics or perfume field.

Background

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention aims to overcome the above problems.

The present invention also aims to provide a reliable, regular and reproducible dose valve each time the dispenser is actuated.

The invention also aims to provide a dosage valve which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

The invention therefore relates to a dosing valve for a fluid product dispenser, comprising a valve body defining a dosing chamber in which the valve slides between a rest position and an actuated position, said valve body and/or said valve being made by injection moulding of a material comprising a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) matrix and glass microspheres dispersed in said polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) matrix.

Advantageously, the diameter of said glass microspheres is comprised between 1 μm and 2000 μm, advantageously between 1 μm and 100 μm.

Advantageously, the glass microspheres are incorporated in the polybutylene terephthalate matrix in a weight proportion comprised between 1% and 20%, advantageously comprised between 1% and 15%.

The invention also relates to a fluid product dispenser comprising a container containing a fluid product to be dispensed and a dosage valve as described above.

Advantageously, the dispenser comprises HFA gas as the propellant gas.

Drawings

These features, advantages and other advantages will become more apparent in the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments given below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a dosage valve according to an advantageous embodiment,

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the Young's modulus of a PBT comprising a PBT alone and a PBT with other additives, and a PBT comprising microspheres according to the invention, and

FIG. 3 is a graphical representation comparing the coefficient of friction of PBT alone with PBT comprising microspheres according to the invention.

Detailed Description

In the following description, the terms "upper", "lower", "upper", "lower" refer to the vertical position shown in fig. 1, while the terms "axial" and "radial" refer to the longitudinal axis of the valve shown in fig. 1.

The dosage valve shown in fig. 1 is a retention valve. However, it will be appreciated that this is only one embodiment and that the invention is applicable to all types of dosage valves.

The dosage valve comprises a valve body 10 extending along a longitudinal axis a. Inside said valve body 10, the valve 30 slides between a rest position, shown in fig. 1, and a dispensing position, in which the valve 30 is pressed inside the valve body 10.

The dosage valve is intended to be mounted on the container 1, preferably using a fastener 5, which may be a lid of the mosaic, screw-on or ratchet-fixed type and is advantageously inserted into a neck gasket 6. If necessary, a ring 4 can be fitted around the valve body, in particular for reducing the dead volume of the inverted position and for limiting the contact of the fluid product with the neck gasket. The ring may be of any shape and the embodiment of fig. 1 is a non-limiting embodiment.

The valve 30 is brought into its rest position by means of a spring 8, the spring 8 being arranged in the valve body 10 and cooperating with the valve body 10 on the one hand and the valve 30 on the other hand, preferably with a radial collar 320 of the valve 30. Inside the valve body 10 a dosing chamber 20 is defined, inside which said valve 30 slides, in order to be able to dispense the content of the dosing chamber when the dosing valve is actuated.

The dosing chamber is preferably defined, in a known manner, by two annular gaskets, namely a valve gasket 21 and a chamber gasket 22.

Figure 1 shows the metering valve in the storage upright position, i.e. in which the dosing chamber 20 is positioned above the container 1.

The valve 30 comprises an outlet orifice 301 connected to an inlet orifice 302, which is placed in the dose chamber 20 when the valve 30 is in the dispensing position. The valve 30 can be made in two parts, an upper part 31 (also referred to as the valve upper part) and a lower part 32 (also referred to as the valve lower part). The lower part 32 is in this embodiment mounted inside the upper part 31. An inner tube 33 is provided in the valve 30, which is able to connect the dosing chamber 20 to the container 1 so as to fill it when the valve 30 returns to its rest position under the action of the spring 8 after each actuation of the dosing valve. This filling takes place through a valve placed under the container, when the device is still in the inverted position of use.

According to the invention, the valve body and/or the valve are made by injection moulding with a material comprising a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) matrix and glass microspheres dispersed in the polybutylene terephthalate matrix.

Because of the problem with molding polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), that is, the large variation in crystallinity from batch to batch, the addition of glass microspheres to a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) matrix can control the crystallinity of the material, thus reducing molding problems.

Solid glass microspheres are made of glass, preferably recycled glass, with the advantage of not containing free silicon or heavy metals. The solid glass microspheres are shown in powder form. The pH is alkaline, which is beneficial in the hope of limiting the interaction with the active ingredient. The solid glass microspheres may be subjected to a surface treatment with a coupling agent selected according to the nature of the matrix, the coupling agent allowing better adhesion and, in addition, better dispersion between the microspheres and the matrix.

The diameter of the glass microspheres is typically comprised between 1 μm and 2000 μm. In the various tests carried out above, glass microspheres with a diameter comprised between 3 μm and 100 μm and a median diameter comprised between 10 μm and 30 μm were used. The glass microspheres are incorporated in the polybutylene terephthalate matrix in a weight proportion comprised between 1% and 20%, advantageously comprised between 1% and 15%.

The following improvements can be obtained in particular by adding glass microspheres to a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) matrix:

microspheres can reduce the degree of variation in crystallinity between different material batches when moulding, reducing problems when moulding; this enables, among other things, a significant reduction or even elimination of the problem of deformation of the component (known as shrinkage cavities) and an improvement in its dimensional stability;

the microspheres are capable of increasing the mechanical properties of the material in which they are distributed; to show the mechanical endurance characteristics of the material, traction measurements are carried out, which enable the breaking stress value or young's modulus to be obtained; FIG. 2 shows a significant improvement in Young's modulus for PBT with glass microspheres compared to PBT alone and compared to PBT with known different additives such as nucleating agents, talc or blowing agents;

glass microspheres are mineral-derived, so they do not carry additional extractables; instead they have a diluting effect; thus, at a glass microsphere ratio of 13% in the PBT matrix, a slightly greater than 15% reduction in extractables was observed;

microspheres can reduce the friction coefficient; the coefficient of friction is the ratio of the traction force (the reaction force that enables the instrument to operate) to the applied force (the positive force); there are two types of coefficients of friction: coefficient of dynamic friction and coefficient of static friction; the static friction coefficient is the coefficient measured at the start of the test; this is the force necessary to move the sample over the substrate and initiate movement; also called adhesion; the kinetic coefficient of friction is the necessary coefficient to maintain motion at a constant speed; in our case we used the value of the dynamic coefficient of friction, since this is that the system is stable and at a constant speed; the test consists in rubbing a steel ball against a determined material (in this case PBT, with and without microspheres) in order to determine the friction coefficient; the results obtained, presented in figure 3, show that the addition of microspheres enables to reduce the friction coefficient; this may in particular reduce friction problems in the valve;

the microspheres do not affect the compatibility with the active ingredient; this has been verified by bringing PBT comprising microspheres into direct contact with active ingredients (e.g. formoterol fumarate) and measuring the degradation of these active ingredients by analytical techniques; tests that have been completed do not show the effect of glass microspheres on this degradation.

The invention has been described with reference to an advantageous embodiment, but it will be understood that a person skilled in the art may make any modifications thereto within the framework of the invention as defined by the appended claims.