Title of the invention: Machine for dispensing a controlled amount of a cosmetic composition

[0001] The present invention relates to a device or machine for dispensing a controlled amount of at least one cosmetic product into a container from a larger- capacity reservoir, the machine comprising a dispensing zone configured to receive the container that is able to contain said amount of cosmetic product to be dispensed.

[0002] A “cosmetic product” is understood to be any product as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 30, 2009 relating to cosmetic products. Thus, a cosmetic product is generally defined as being a substance or a mixture intended to be brought into contact with superficial parts of the human body (epidermis, body-hair and head-hair systems, nails, lips, and external genitalia) or with the teeth and the oral mucous membranes in order, exclusively or mainly, to cleanse them, fragrance them, modify their appearance, protect them, keep them in good condition, or correct body odors.

[0003] The cosmetics industry always aims to improve the experience of consumers and to offer products and compositions that are ever more suited to their needs and to their specific characteristics. This trend is generally known as “customization”.

[0004] It is thus known practice, for example, to recommend foundations on the basis of one or more characteristics of a user’s skin (see for example the documents US5478238 and US9519927). The treatment or cosmetic product designed in accordance with the user’s specific characteristics may be a ready-formulated finished product selected from a catalog or database, or a customized product of which the composition itself has been determined on the basis of the individual characteristics obtained (for example “Le Teint Particulier”® offered by LANCOME®). [0005] It is also known practice to offer customized haircare products, the composition of which is determined on the basis of different properties of the user’s hair (for example W02004/002300A2).

[0006] The product can then be purchased in the conventional way or ordered by the individual in question. In the case of a customized (or “custom-made”) product, said product may be manufactured directly at the point of sale (store or salon for example) using a device capable of dispensing components in accordance with the customized composition determined in advance.

[0007] Such devices are described for example in the documents US2017151538A1 in the case of a foundation and EP0443741 , US9316580B in the case of hair dyeing products.

[0008] In general, such machines comprise a body configured to receive a plurality of cartridges of different cosmetic products made from ingredients that are able to be combined in order to form a final cosmetic composition. The machine may thus comprise one or more cartridges of one or more cosmetic bases (for example in the form of a cream) and/or one or more cartridges of active cosmetic products (dyes, pigments, active care products, etc.) that are intended to be added to one of the cosmetic bases in order to form the final composition as per the consumer’s wishes.

[0009] The machines also comprise a dispensing zone configured to receive a container that is able to contain said cosmetic composition. In the case of products of the care-cream or foundation type, the container may conventionally be a bottle or jar. In the case of a hair dyeing product, the container may in particular be a mixing bowl.

[0010] Electromechanical systems of the pump or piston type take up an amount of cosmetic product from the desired cartridge or pouch and move it to the dispensing zone where the product can be transferred into the container through a dispensing nozzle disposed opposite an opening of said container.

[0011] In the case of a customized cosmetic product, the composition of which is defined to suit the user and is manufactured on demand, either in-store or at the user’s home, it is important to be able to precisely control the amount of each ingredient dispensed into the container. For hair dye, for example, a dispensing tolerance of around 4% of the target weight of cream or liquid to be dispensed is targeted. The tolerance may vary depending on the application, but, as a general rule, may be generally in the region of 2% for cosmetic applications in general.

[0012] It has been found that, in spite of the use of electromechanical dispensing systems with precisely controlled movement (for example a peristaltic pump or a metering piston) and of a weighing cell (for example a scale) for precisely monitoring, in real time, the amount of product actually dispensed into the container, stopping the flow of the product through the dispensing nozzle and cutting off said flow (commonly known as “cream tail cutoff”) remains imprecise. Specifically, the flow of product may be stopped more or less cleanly at the nozzle. This imprecision or hysteresis in cutting off the stream of product dispensed leaves a margin of uncertainty as to the exact amount of product dispensed.

[0013] In order to achieve a more precise cutoff of the flow, the dispensing nozzle may be equipped with or be in the form of a duckbill valve.

[0014] In a manner known per se, a duckbill valve has a substantially tubular body having a first, open, upstream end intended to be mounted on a product feed tube, and a second, free, downstream end, i.e. one not connected to a tube, having two elastomeric lips that are movable between a spaced-apart position, in which they allow the product to flow through the valve, and a closed position, in which the two lips are pressed together and close the passage through the valve. When there is no flow, at rest, the lips are in the closed position. On account of their elastomeric nature, the lips are thus subjected, in the spaced-apart position, to an elastic return force urging them into their closed position.

[0015] The valve is kept open by the product flowing from the feed tube by a sufficient positive pressure exerted on an interior face of the lips. A zero pressure (stopped flow) or a negative pressure (“backflow”) on the interior surface of the elastomeric lips no longer allows them to be kept open and forces them to return to the closed position, thereby interrupting and cutting off the stream of product. For a more detailed description of a duckbill valve, reference may be made to the document US4524805. [0016] In addition to a conventional nonreturn function for avoiding contamination of the products, the elastomeric lips allow relatively clean, precise and reproducible interruption of the stream of product at the end of dispensing.

[0017] As it is used, the duckbill valve undergoes aging and the elasticity of the lips decreases. Besides the loss of elasticity of the lips, the nature of the cosmetic product dispensed may also accelerate this aging. In particular, hair dyeing creams may contain aggressive products, of the aqueous hydrogen peroxide and ammonia type, which damage the elastomeric material used and accelerate the aging and loss of elasticity thereof.

[0018] Thus, after a certain number of dispensing operations and, consequently, opening/closing cycles of the duckbill valve, the lips may tend to no longer close naturally, resulting in a less clean cutoff of the stream of product at the end of dispensing.

[0019] The poor closure of this duckbill valve may also cause the electromechanical dispensing system to malfunction in the case of a system that operates by aspiration (piston pump, syringe). This is because the non-closure of the valve could make it possible to aspirate air instead of aspirating the cosmetic product to be metered from the main reservoir, making it impossible, in extreme cases, to take up the desired amount of product.

[0020] Moreover, in the specific case of hair dyeing products, and more generally products that are likely to deteriorate in air by releasing gas, product may even flow and leak through the valve.

[0021] Thus, there is a need for a system for maintaining optimal effectiveness of the closure of the duckbill valves that are used in such cosmetic product dispensing machines.

[0022] A first solution, as described for example in the document W02019161360A1 , consists in allowing partial re-aspiration, which makes it possible to aspirate the product remaining at the end of the nozzle and thus to prevent it from being able to drop into the container, after the target weight has been achieved. However, such a solution requires relatively substantial re-aspiration of the product by the actuator and is not desirable for reasons of possible contamination of the product. [0023] The present invention aims to provide a simple and effective system for addressing all or some of these limitations and drawbacks, and proposes, to this end, a device for dispensing a determined weight of a cosmetic product into a container from a reservoir, the device comprising at least one electromechanical member that is able to ensure the movement of an amount of cosmetic product from said reservoir fitted in the device to a dispensing zone of said device where said amount of product can be transferred through a nozzle into the container received in said dispensing zone, said nozzle being equipped with a duckbill valve comprising at least two elastomeric lips. The device is characterized in that it is equipped with at least one complementary member for pinching the elastomeric lips of the duckbill valve, the complementary pinching member being able to move between a closed position in which it exerts an exterior lateral load on the lips that is able to keep them closed in the absence of a flow of product and a spaced-apart position in which it allows the lips to open.

[0024] Thus, by providing a complementary member for assisting closure that is able to exert an additional pinching load on the lips of the valve so as keep them firmly pressed together in the absence of flow, it is possible to overcome the defects mentioned above.

[0025] Preferably, the duckbill valve is disposed at a terminal end of the nozzle, that is to say directly at the outlet of the dispensing pipe and is exposed to the air outside the duct.

[0026] Preferably, the complementary pinching member is feedback-controlled on the basis of the flow of product so as to allow said product to flow at least above a threshold pressure value exerted on an interior surface of the lips of the duckbill valve. Feedback-controlled means that the spaced-apart state and the closed state of the complementary member is linked to the operating state of the electromechanical member and the dispensing of product.

[0027] Thus, when the electromechanical member is not operating and no product is being pushed toward the dispensing nozzle, the complementary pinching member is in the closed position. Conversely, when the electromechanical member is operating and pushes an amount of product toward the dispensing nozzle, the complementary pinching member is in the open position. [0028] According to a first embodiment, the feedback control is electromechanical, the additional pinching member being able to be controlled by a controller depending on the operation of the electromechanical member, the controller being preferably common.

[0029] According to a first embodiment, the complementary closure member is actuated by an electromagnet. Preferably, the electromagnet is configured to exert a pressing force that is interrupted during dispensing. Thus, during dispensing, the lips are in the closed position and can open under the internal pressure of the product to be dispensed. A reverse configuration is, of course, optionally possible.

[0030] According to a second embodiment, the complementary closure member for closure is actuated by a motor. It is, for example, possible to provide a complementary closure member in the form of a movable plate that bears a fixed element and is able to be driven, for example, in rotation by a motor so as to move the fixed element away from or toward the duckbill valve in order to release the lips thereof or constrain them in position. If necessary, the movable plate may bear several fixed pressing elements, each associated with a dispensing nozzle and the duckbill valve thereof. The common plate allows synchronized feedback control for the opening and closure of all the valves simultaneously. The plate may also be configured to release the dispensing openings one by one so as to allow each product to be weighed out.

[0031] According to another embodiment, the feedback control is mechanical, the additional pinching member comprising at least one elastic return element that tends to keep it in the closed position. Thus, it is essentially the internal pressure of the product to be dispensed when it is pushed by the electromechanical member which, when it is greater than the elastic return force of the return element, allows the complementary closure member to pass into the spaced- apart position allowing the opening of the lips of the duckbill valve and, consequently, the outlet and dispensing of the product. As soon as the electromechanical dispensing member stops, the product to be dispensed is no longer pushed through the dispensing nozzle and the pressure then exerted on the interior of the lips of the duckbill valve drops and no longer opposes the elastic return force. As a result, the complementary closure member exerts its additional closing load on the lips again and helps to press them together.

[0032] Advantageously, the pinching member comprises a fastening base equipped with at least one pressing flap mounted so as to be pivotable relative to the base.

[0033] Preferably, the base has a central opening, said base being fixed around the duckbill valve. Thus, the base may in particular be secured to a fixed part of a frame of the device and immovable with respect to the dispensing nozzle and the duckbill valve. The base may be equipped with pressing flaps on either side of the duckbill valve or with a single pressing flap and a complementary fixed pressing piece on the other side of said flap with respect to the duckbill valve.

[0034] According to different embodiment variants that may optionally be complementary:

[0035]- the pivoting flap is formed integrally with the base and joined to the latter by a film hinge, the flap and the base thereof being able in particular to be made in one piece, for example by injection molding a thermoplastic material;

[0036]- the pivoting flap is mounted on the base by way of a hinge having a pivot pin;

[0037]- the elastic return element is a torsion spring;

[0038]- the elastic return element is a compression spring.

[0039] Advantageously, the load that is able to be exerted by the elastic return means is adjustable. This load is adjusted in particular depending on the necessary pressure and the type of product, in particular cream, to be metered.

[0040] The invention may be understood better on reading the following description, accompanied by nonlimiting implementation examples thereof, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

[0041] [Fig. 1] is a functional schematic depiction of a device for dispensing a determined amount of a cosmetic product according to the present application,

[0042] [Fig. 2] to [Fig. 6] are depictions of embodiment variants of the additional closure member with which the device in figure 1 is equipped, [0043] [Fig. 7] is a depiction of a dispensing zone that is equipped with a plurality of outlet nozzles and comprises a mechanically feedback-controlled complementary closure member.

[0044] It is important to note that, although it is illustrated for the sake of clarity with a device that uses only one main reservoir for the system in figure 1 , the present application is of course not limited to a given, minimum or maximum, number of reservoirs, and relates more generally to dispensing machines that comprise a plurality of reservoirs that are able to contain together functionally different cosmetic ingredients that can be combined with one another to form a final cosmetic composition. Thus, in the particular case of a machine for preparing a customized hair dyeing composition, one or more main reservoirs could contain one or more base creams to which will be added one or more dyes contained in other reservoirs so as to obtain the desired hair dyeing composition. As indicated above, the present application may be applied to the dispensing in loose form of a determined amount of a cosmetic product, a larger amount of which is contained in the reservoir. The machine may therefore have only one reservoir from which a relatively small amount of the product contained in said reservoir will be dispensed. The present invention is more particularly advantageous for machines designed to dispense relatively small amounts, not on an industrial scale, corresponding substantially to the amounts that are present in a bottle intended for sale and consequently need to be metered with a degree of precision. Thus, the maximum amount of product to be dispensed (setpoint) for one ingredient is preferably less than 100 g, preferably less than 50 g, or even less than around ten grams or even less than one gram for ingredients that are used as additives to a cosmetic base dispensed in a larger amount.

[0045] For further details, reference could be made to the documents cited above, which describe the makeup of such machines in detail. It is also important to note that the present application is not limited to one particular application, and, although it is intended more particularly for a machine for manufacturing a customized hair dye, it is applicable to other products such as, for example, a customized foundation or a customized lipstick composition or a care cream for the skin or hair. [0046] Furthermore, although the present application is preferably illustrated with systems for dispensing liquid or creamy products, it is applicable to systems for dispensing solid products in the form of fluid powder or of beads or tablets that can flow.

[0047] Figure 1 is a schematic functional depiction of a dispensing device according to the present application based on a dispensing device from the prior art.

[0048] The machine 1 comprises a main reservoir 12 that initially contains a large amount (capacity for example greater than ½ liter, or even greater than 1 liter) of a cosmetic product P to be dispensed in smaller amounts, typically of around a few grams for a cosmetic additive to a few tens of grams for a cosmetic base.

[0049] Advantageously, the reservoir 12 is in the form of a removable cartridge that can be replaced, in particular when a cartridge is empty, with a cartridge of the same product or of a different product. Such a removable cartridge may in particular be in the form of a cartridge with a rigid body or of a flexible pouch. The removable connection of the reservoirs is not the subject of the present application and a person skilled in the art may use any known solution allowing the reservoirs to be installed removably. Examples of solutions are described in particular in the documents cited above. Another advantageous example of the removable connection of a pouch of liquid product is described in the application FR18/71211, which is yet to be published.

[0050] The machine 1 also comprises a dispensing zone 4 intended to receive a container 10, in particular a bottle, a jar or a bowl, into which the cosmetic product contained in the reservoir 12 is to be dispensed, specifically in a controlled amount. According to the present application, the receiving zone 4 is equipped with a scale 13 having a plate on which the container 10 is placed. The scale constitutes a weighing cell for measuring the weight of the container, and for tracking the change therein during a dispensing operation. The weighing cell thus makes it possible to determine at any time the weight of an actually dispensed product.

[0051] The reservoir 12 is associated with an electromechanical dispensing system that is able to take up a determined amount of cosmetic product from said reservoir 12 and to convey it to the dispensing zone 4 of the machine 1 where said amount of cosmetic product can be transferred into the container 10 through a corresponding dispensing nozzle 20.

[0052] Such electromechanical systems are not the subject of the present application and a person skilled in the art is free to choose the appropriate transfer system. According to one embodiment variant, the dispensing system may be common to several reservoirs. Thus, systems are known in which the reservoirs are carried by a carousel that is able to move each reservoir to the receiving zone where a common piston may ensure that a desired amount of cosmetic product is ejected into the container located beneath a nozzle carried by said reservoir. As before, the documents cited above give examples of uptake and dispensing systems. Since the present application relates to the control and driving thereof, they will not be described further.

[0053] In the present case, the machine 1 implements an uptake and dispensing system of the piston-syringe type 30, the general operation of which is described in the document W02019161360A1. The syringe 30 comprises a piston 31, the movement of which is controlled by a motor. The syringe 30 is fluidically connected on one side to the reservoir 12, so as to be able to take up the contents thereof, and on the other side to the dispensing nozzle 4. A first nonreturn valve 15 disposed between the reservoir 12 and the syringe 30 and a second nonreturn valve 14 disposed between the syringe 30 and the dispensing nozzle 20 ensure that the cosmetic product flows from the reservoir 12 to the dispensing nozzle 20.

[0054] Alternatively, the electromechanical dispensing system may implement a peristaltic pump, for example.

[0055] The electromechanical uptake and dispensing system is able to be controlled and driven by a controller 50 configured to deliver a control signal to the electromechanical member depending on the determined weight of product to be dispensed (setpoint) and the weighing datum representative of the amount of said cosmetic product dispensed.

[0056] The control of dispensing is not the subject of the present application. By way of example, a dispensing operation may be effected as follows, once the weight of product to be dispensed has been transmitted to the controller as setpoint. [0057] After the weight of the container has been set (weight dispensed = 0) and the piston has been retracted as far as possible so as to fill the syringe with cosmetic product to be dispensed, the piston is moved in a controlled manner so as to expel the cosmetic product previously aspirated and dispense it into the container through the nozzle.

[0058] It should be noted that the reverse is also possible, namely retracting the piston in a controlled manner so as to take up an expected amount of product before pushing the piston all the way so as to dispense all of the amount taken up.

[0059] According to the present application, the dispensing nozzle ends with a duckbill valve 41 which, as described above, comprises two elastomeric lips 42 that are movable between a spaced-apart position, in which they allow the product to pass through the valve, and a closed position, in which they are pressed together and close the passage for the product through the valve. The duckbill valve also fulfills a nonreturn function when the piston takes up the product from the reservoir 12 in order to fill the syringe. The negative pressure then exerted on the lips ensures that they are pressed together.

[0060] According to the invention, the device is equipped with at least one complementary member 100 for pinching the elastomeric lips of the duckbill valve. The complementary pinching member is able to move between a closed position in which it exerts an exterior lateral load on the lips that is able to keep them closed in the absence of a flow of product and a spaced-apart position in which it allows the lips to open.

[0061] According to the embodiments shown in figures 2 to 6, the pinching member 100 comprises a fastening base 101 supporting at least one pressing flap 102 that is mounted so as to be movable relative to the base. The base 101 has a central opening intended to be passed through by the lips of the duckbill valve, the base being mounted in a fixed manner around this valve.

[0062] The pressing flap is mechanically feedback-controlled on the basis of the dispensing of the product through the duckbill valve by means of an elastic return member that tends to return it into the pressed-together position of the elastomeric lips. It is the dispensing pressure of the cosmetic product that makes it possible to overcome the elastic return force of the elastomeric lips and of the pressing flap and to allow the outlet of the product through the dispensing nozzle.

[0063] According to the embodiments, the pinching member 100 may comprise a pressing flap that is movable against a complementary opposite fixed flap or two pressing flaps that are movable against one another.

[0064] According to the embodiments, the pressing flap(s) may be movable in translation or in a pivoting manner.

[0065] More particularly, the embodiment in figure 2 shows a pinching member 100a having a base 101 that is disposed around the duckbill valve and supports two pressing flaps 102a that are articulated on the base by means of a film hinge 103. More specifically, the pinching member 100a may thus be made in one piece, in particular by injection molding from a plastics material. The film hinge forms the elastic return member.

[0066] The embodiment in figure 3 shows a pinching member 100b having a base 101 that is disposed around the duckbill valve and supports two pressing flaps 102b that are articulated on the base by means of a pivot pin 104. The elastic return member of each flap is formed by a torsion spring 105.

[0067] The embodiment in figure 4 shows a pinching member 100c having a base 101 that is disposed around the duckbill valve and supports a pressing flap 102c that is articulated on the base in translation and is movable toward a fixed opposite counter-flap 106. The elastic return member of the pressing flap 102c is formed by a compression spring 107.

[0068] The embodiment in figure 5 shows a pinching member 100d having a base 101 that is disposed around the duckbill valve and supports a pressing flap 102d that is articulated on the base in a pivoting manner about a pivot pin and is movable toward a fixed opposite counter-flap 108. The elastic return member of the pressing flap 102d is formed by a compression spring 107.

[0069] The embodiment in figure 6 shows a pinching member 100e having a base 101 that is disposed around the duckbill valve and supports two pressing flaps 102e that are each articulated on the base in a pivoting manner about a pivot pin and are movable against one another. The elastic return member of each pressing flap 102e is formed by a compression spring 107. [0070] While the embodiment implementing a film hinge has the advantage of simplicity and the possibility of being made in one piece, such a hinge is more easily subject to aging and the elastic return force decreases over time and with use.

[0071] A torsion spring exhibits better aging resistance and has a higher pressing force. It may be simply fixed around the pivot axis, one arm of the spring bearing against the flap and an opposite arm bearing against the base.

[0072] Tension springs are slightly more complex to implement. However, their return force can be controlled more easily, or even be adjustable depending on the products and/or wear. The replacement thereof may also be facilitated, in particular in order to adapt the spring to the product delivered.

[0073] When the pinching member has two opposite articulated flaps, an elastic return force that is substantially identical on each side of the duckbill valve will be preferred.

[0074] Also preferably, the pressing flap(s) are designed to have a width at least equal to the width of the lips of the duckbill valve, and preferably slightly greater.

[0075] Preferably, the additional pinching force is exerted close to the free end of the lips of the duckbill valve, in particular at a distance from the free end of between 1 and 5 mm. More particularly, a machine of the abovementioned type for dispensing cosmetic product will use duckbill valves with a relatively small size, not on an industrial scale. For example, the width of the duckbill could be less than 20 mm, preferably less than 10 mm. The length of the lips could also be preferably less than 10 mm, for example 8 mm. Of course, the material of the duckbill valve will be adapted depending on the type of product to be dispensed. In the case of ammonia-based, alkaline, oxidizing haircare creams, in particular, use could be made of duckbill valves made of EPDM, Viton/FKM, Superviton/FFKM.

[0076] The base is mounted on a fixed part of the dispensing device, for example on a frame or body of said machine.

[0077] According to another embodiment, the complementary closure member is actuated by a motor. The motor is advantageously controlled by the controller 50 synchronously with the dispensing of the product. [0078] As illustrated in figure 7, the complementary pinching member 200 comprises a base 201 mounted in a movable manner with respect to the duckbill valve or to a set of duckbill valves bearing a plurality of flaps 202 that are fixed relative to the base, each flap being configured to move with the base between a spaced-apart position in which they allow the associated duckbill valve to open and a pressed- together position in which they exert an additional closing load. The base may in particular be in the form of a rotary ring.