WO2023194671A1 - Arrangement for sampling a fluid in a leaktight container - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an arrangement (10) for connection between a container (12) and a cannula (16), the container (12) comprising a lid (14) provided with a sampling port (30) which is capable of receiving the end of the cannula (16), characterised in that the sampling port (30) extends inside the container (12) by means of a duct (38) which is provided with at least one port (42) in communication with the inside of the container (12), and in that the duct (38) is fitted with a valve (48) that is movable between a sealed closed position of the sampling port (30) and a position for sampling inside the container (12), the movable valve (48) being provided to move between these two positions under the action of the cannula (16) when the cannula (16) is inserted into the sampling port (30).

Description

DESCRIPTION

TITLE: ARRANGEMENT FOR SAMPLING A FLUID IN A WATERPROOF CONTAINER

Technical field of the invention

The present invention relates to an arrangement allowing the sampling of a fluid inside a container, in particular an airless type container (“airless” according to English terminology).

Technical background

An airless container, or airless container, is a container that contains a product that is not in contact with atmospheric air.

When you wish to sample a liquid or pasty product contained in an airless bottle sealed tightly with a lid, it is generally necessary to have a pump-type sampling device or other, non-removable fixed to the bottle. If you wish to reuse the pump with bottles having refill functions and you wish to change the refill bottle during distribution, it is difficult to make this change without a risk of air entering the bottle .

When the airless container is separated from the sampling device, it is no longer protected in an airless manner; a device is needed to recap it to prevent the product from leaking, being oxidized by the air or contaminated by bacteria.

When separating the refill bottle from the distribution system, this must be done in airless conditions, without breaking the seal of the container with respect to air.

It is also complicated to put a sampling device back on an airless bottle already used because we are obliged to have a break in the airless quality of the bottle (opening of the protective cap of the bottle to connect the sampling device) and we reintroduce air in the bottle with a risk of contamination.

There is a need for a solution that allows airless containers to be changed easily on a single sampling device while keeping the entire container airless, without releasing the product into the air and without risk of bacterial contamination.

Summary of the invention

The invention proposes an arrangement for the connection between a container and a cannula, the container comprising a cover provided with a sampling orifice capable of receiving the end of the cannula, characterized in that the sampling orifice extends to the interior of the container by a conduit which is provided with at least one orifice communicating with the interior of the container, in that the cylinder is equipped with a movable valve between a sealed closing position of the sampling orifice and a sampling position inside the container, the movable valve being designed to move between these two positions under the action of the cannula when the cannula is inserted into the sampling orifice.

According to other characteristics of the invention:

- the mobile valve comprises a tubular body provided with a transverse plate capable of sealingly separating the interior from the exterior of the container when the mobile valve occupies its sealed closed position;

- the tubular body comprises at least one hooking element capable of allowing the movable valve to be secured to the cannula, the movable valve occupying a locked state on the cannula when the cannula moves from the sealed closed position towards the position of sampling, and an unlocked state on the cannula when the movable valve occupies the sealed closed position;

- the tubular body comprises at least one internal lug forming the hooking element, the cannula comprising a recess capable of receiving the internal bead in the locked state on the cannula;

- the tubular body comprises at least one locking member which cooperates with a locking surface arranged in the cover so as to retain the movable valve in the sealed closed position;

- the tubular body comprises at least one external lug forming the locking member and the locking surface forms a recess capable of receiving the external lug in the sealed closed position; - the cover comprises an annular lip which is arranged in the sampling orifice and a portion of which forms a stop surface to axially retain the valve in the sealed closing position;

- the lip is designed to be in tight radial support against an external surface of the cannula in the sampling position;

- the tubular body comprises at least one external sealing ring located on the interior side in relation to the transverse plate;

- the tubular body comprises a first external sealing ring located in the vicinity of the transverse plate and a second external sealing ring located in the vicinity of the free end of the tubular body;

- the cannula comprises at least one radial opening capable of being placed opposite the opening of the conduit in the sampling position;

- the cannula has three transverse openings distributed circumferentially in a regular manner and the conduit has two diametrically opposite orifices;

- the conduit comprises an end section which extends under the at least one orifice of the conduit and which is capable of receiving the tubular body in the sampling position;

- the end section has an axial opening at its free end in communication with the interior of the container;

- the container is a so-called airless or airless container.

Brief description of the figures

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear during reading of the detailed description which follows, for the understanding of which we will refer to the appended drawings in which:

[Fig.1] is an exploded perspective which schematically represents an arrangement for the tight connection between a container and a cannula;

[Fig.2] is an axial sectional view along the plane ll-ll which schematically represents the arrangement of Figure 1 in an axial sampling position where the cannula is inserted axially into the container; [Fig.3] is a perspective view which schematically represents a mobile valve fitted to the arrangement of Figure 1;

[Fig.4] is a perspective view with axial section along plane IV-IV which represents the mobile valve of Figure 3;

[Fig.5] is a partial perspective view which schematically represents the sampling head of the cannula of the arrangement of Figure 1;

[Fig.6] is a partial perspective view and in cross section along plane VI-VI which represents a first configuration corresponding to a first relative angular position of the cannula relative to an internal conduit comprising transverse orifices in the arrangement of Figure 1;

[Fig.7] is a view similar to that of Figure 6 which represents a second configuration corresponding to a second relative angular position of the cannula relative to the internal conduit;

[Fig.8] is a partial view in axial section along the plane ll-ll which represents the mobile valve in the tight closing position before insertion of the cannula;

[Fig.9] is a view similar to that of Figure 8 which represents the mobile valve in a first intermediate axial position just after insertion of the cannula and its sampling head into the mobile valve;

[Fig.10] is a view similar to that of Figure 9 which represents the movable valve in a second intermediate axial position when the cannula begins to push the movable valve inwards;

[Fig.11] is a view similar to that of Figure 10 which represents the movable valve in a third intermediate axial position when the inner end of the movable valve reaches the transverse orifices of the inner conduit under the axial thrust of the cannula;

[Fig.12] is a view similar to that of Figure 11 which represents the movable valve in a fourth intermediate axial position just when the movable valve begins to pass in front of the transverse orifices of the internal conduit, pushed by the cannula; [Fig.13] is a view similar to that of Figure 12 which represents the mobile valve in its sampling position, in axial abutment against the bottom of the inner conduit, the radial openings of the cannula facing the transverse orifices of the inner conduit and the interior of the container then communicating with the interior of the cannula through the radial openings;

[Fig.14] is a view similar to that of Figure 13 which represents the movable valve returning to its sealed closed position after passing through the sampling position, the movable valve being in axial abutment against an annular lip and the head of the cannula being ready to separate from the mobile valve.

Detailed description of the invention

In the description which follows, identical, similar or analogous elements will be designated by the same reference numerals.

Figures 1 and 2 represent an arrangement 10 for the tight connection between a container 12 equipped with a cover 14 and a cannula 16, or needle.

Note that the cannula 16 is intended to be connected to a second container (not shown). It can for example be fixed on a container provided with pumping means or fixed at the end of a pipe provided with pumping means capable of allowing the sampling of a fluid contained in the container 12. The cannula 16 extends here following a main axial direction A1 corresponding to the main axis of the container 12.

In the remainder of the description, we will use, on a non-limiting basis, an orientation from the outside to the inside following the main axial direction A1 which corresponds to an orientation from top to bottom considering Figure 1.

The cover 14 is intended to be fixed in a watertight manner on the container 12, for example by screwing or fitting onto a neck 18 forming the main opening of the container 12.

The cannula 16, which is illustrated in Figures 5 to 7, here comprises a main tubular section 20 of circular section which is intended to communicate, through its upper end, or outer end, with the pumping means and which is extended, at its lower free end, by a sampling head 22.

The sampling head 22 includes a narrowing which forms an annular groove 24 and radial openings 26 which communicate with the interior of the main tubular section 20.

The sampling head 22 advantageously comprises radial grooves 28 on its inner axial end face which have a drainage function.

The cover 14 is provided with a sampling orifice 30 capable of receiving the sampling head 22 of the cannula 16. The cover 14 here comprises a transverse main body 32 provided with interlocking fixing means 34 and provided with sealing means 36 interposed between the neck 18 of the container 12 and the main transverse body 32 to ensure the sealing of the closure of the container 12 by the cover 14.

Advantageously, the sealing means 36 are overmolded on the transverse main body 32 by bi-injection.

The sampling orifice 30 extends inside the container 12 by a conduit 38 which extends here in the main axial direction A1. This conduit 38 is presented here in the form of an attached part which is fixed by elastic interlocking on the main transverse body 32. Other methods of manufacturing or assembly could be planned.

The conduit 38 here comprises an interior tubular section 40 which is provided with two diametrically opposed transverse orifices 42 which open into the container 12. The conduit 38 extends under the transverse orifices 42 by an end section 44 provided with an axial opening 46 which opens into the interior of the container 12.

Advantageously, the conduit 38 is equipped with a movable valve 48 which is designed to slide axially inside the conduit 38 between a sealed closed position, or high position, illustrated in Figure 8, and a sampling position, or low position, illustrated by Figures 2 and 13. The mobile valve 48 controlled in movement between these two positions by the cannula 16. The movable valve 48 here comprises a tubular body 50 provided with a transverse plate 51 capable of sealingly separating the interior from the exterior of the container 12 when the movable valve 48 occupies its sealed closed position.

The tubular body 50 comprises a hooking element 52 capable of allowing the movable valve 48 to be secured to the cannula 16. More precisely, the hooking element 52 allows the movable valve 48 to hook onto the head of the cannula 16. sample 22 when placed in a locked state which is illustrated by Figures 2, and 10 to 13.

According to the embodiment shown here, in particular in Figures 3 and 4, the tubular body 50 comprises two internal lugs forming the hooking element 52. These internal lugs are intended to be received in the recess formed by the annular groove 24 of the sampling head 22 in the locked state.

The tubular body 50 comprises a locking member 54 which cooperates with a locking surface 56 arranged in the cover 14 so as to retain the movable valve 48 in the sealed closed position. The blocking member 54 is formed here by two external lugs and the blocking surface 56 is arranged in a recess capable of receiving the external lugs in the sealed closed position.

The conduit 38 here comprises an outer tubular section 58 which is received in the sampling orifice 30 and whose outer axial end edge 60 forms part of the blocking surface 56. The sampling orifice 30 comprises a portion of the sealing means 36 which ensures tight contact between the cover 14 and the outer tubular section 58, and which forms an annular sealing lip 62 in the vicinity of the outer axial end edge 60.

The annular sealing lip 62 is arranged in the sampling orifice 30 and comprises a portion which forms an annular abutment surface 64 to axially retain the movable valve 48 in the sealed closed position. The annular lip 62 is designed to be in tight radial support against an external surface of the cannula 16 in the sampling position, when the cannula 16 enters the sampling orifice 30.

The tubular body 50 here comprises a first external sealing ring 66 located in the vicinity of the transverse plate 51 and a second external sealing ring 68 located in the vicinity of the free end of the tubular body 50.

The mobile valve 48 and its tubular body 50 are preferably made in one piece by molding, preferably in elastomeric material.

We now describe the operation of the arrangement according to the invention by considering Figures 8 to 14.

In Figure 8, the mobile valve 48 is shown in the sealed closed position. In this position, the upper axial end edge of the tubular body 50 faces axially with the abutment surface 64 formed by the annular lower axial end edge of the annular lip 62. In addition, the locking member 54 formed by the two external lugs is received in a recess delimited at the top by the abutment surface 64 and at the bottom by a notch 70 formed in the outer tubular section 58.

The two external sealing rings 66, 68 are pressed against the internal axial surface of the conduit 38 which ensures a good seal between the interior and exterior of the container 12.

In Figure 8, the sampling head 22 of the cannula 16 is approaching but not yet in contact with the mobile valve 48.

In Figure 9, the sampling head 22 is received in the receptacle formed by the tubular body 50 at its outer axial end and the internal lugs of the hooking element 52 penetrate into the annular groove 24.

By continuing to move towards the interior of the container 12, that is to say downwards considering these figures, the sampling head 22 exerts axial support on the movable valve 48 which causes its movement towards the interior by causing an elastic deformation of the external lugs, as illustrated in Figure 10. The two external sealing rings 66, 68 are always in tight support inside the conduit 38 and the annular lip 62 begins to come into sealed radial contact with the main tubular section 20. At this stage, a double seal is obtained thanks to the lip and the external rods.

While the axial movement of the sampling head 22 and movable valve 48 assembly continues inwards, the second external sealing ring 68 slides on the transverse orifices 42, as illustrated by the figure 11.

By continuing to slide, as illustrated in Figure 12, the first external ring 66 reaches the transverse orifices 42 and it therefore no longer ensures complete sealing with the exterior part of the movable valve 48. However, the annular lip 62 is always in sealed contact with the main tubular section 20 of the cannula 16.

From the moment when the first external ring 66 is opposite or exceeds the transverse orifices 42, as illustrated in Figure 13, then the fluid contained in the container 12 can circulate towards the radial openings 28 of the head sampling 22. There is always the annular lip 62 in sealed contact with the main tubular section 20 to prevent circulation of the fluid outside the cannula 16.

Figure 13 shows the cannula 16 when it has reached its axial end position inside the container 12 and the movable valve 48 occupies its axial sampling position. The mobile valve 48 is here entirely received in the end section 44 of the conduit 38 and in axial support against the bottom of the conduit 38. The radial openings 28 are then located at the same axial height as the transverse orifices 42.

Figures 6 and 7 represent two configurations according to the angular position of the cannula 16 relative to the conduit 38. In the configuration of Figure 6, two radial openings 26 have the majority of their opening section aligned radially with the transverse orifices 42 In the configuration of Figure 7, one of the three radial openings 26 is perfectly aligned radially with one of the transverse orifices 42. These two extreme configurations show that the arrangement 10 according to the invention and the structure of the head sampling 22 are designed to ensure an optimal sampling flow between the interior of the container 12 and the cannula 16. From the extreme axial position illustrated in Figure 13, when the cannula 16 is removed from the container 12 by sliding it axially upwards, the movable valve 48 moves upwards with the sampling head 22 since the mobile valve 48 is hooked, or locked, on the sampling head 22.

When the sampling head 22 and movable valve 48 assembly reaches the sealed closing position, as illustrated in Figure 14, the outer axial end rim of the tubular body 50 comes into axial abutment against the annular lip 62. Simultaneously, the outer end portion of the tubular body 50 returns to its initial shape by releasing the attachment on the sampling head 22 since the external lugs return to their place in the corresponding recesses. The cannula 16 can then continue its course towards the outside of the sampling orifice 30 while the movable valve 48 is retained axially in the cover 14.

Thus the invention proposes a waterproof connection device between a cannula and a container, in particular an airless or airless container. The invention also proposes a sealed connection assembly comprising a cannula and a container as described above. LEGEND 10: arrangement 12: container 14: cover 16: cannula 18: neck 20: main tubular section 22: sampling head 24: annular groove 26: radial opening 28: radial grooves 30: sampling orifice 32: transverse main body 34: means of fixing by interlocking 36: sealing means 38: leads

40: inner tubular section

42: transverse orifice

44: end section

46: axial opening

48: movable valve

50: tubular body

51: cross plate

52: hooking element

54: blocking member

56: blocking surface

58: outer tubular section

60: outer axial end edge

62: annular lip

64: abutment surface

66: first external sealing ring

68: second external sealing ring

70: notch

A1: main axis

Claims

1. Arrangement (10) for the connection between a container (12) and a cannula (16), the container (12) comprising a cover (14) provided with a sampling orifice (30) capable of receiving the end of the cannula (16), characterized in that the sampling orifice (30) extends inside the container (12) by a conduit (38) which is provided with at least one orifice (42) communicating with the inside the container (12), in that the conduit (38) is equipped with a movable valve (48) which is designed to slide axially inside the conduit 38 between a tight closing position of the orifice sampling (30) and a sampling position inside the container (12), the movable valve (48) being provided to move between these two positions under the action of the cannula (16) when the cannula (16) is inserted into the sampling port (30). 2. Arrangement (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the movable valve (48) comprises a tubular body (50) provided with a transverse plate (51) capable of sealingly separating the inside from the outside of the container (12) when the movable valve (48) occupies its sealed closed position. 3. Arrangement (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the tubular body (50) comprises at least one hooking element (52) capable of allowing the movable valve (48) to be secured to the cannula (16) , the movable valve (48) occupying a locked state on the cannula (16) when the cannula (16) moves from the sealed position to the sampling position, and an unlocked state on the cannula (16) when the valve movable (48) occupies the watertight closing position. 4. Arrangement (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the tubular body (50) comprises at least one internal lug forming the hooking element (52), the cannula (16) comprising a recess capable of receiving the 'internal lug in the locked state on the cannula (16). Arrangement (10) according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the tubular body (50) comprises at least one blocking member (54) which cooperates with a blocking surface (56) arranged in the cover (14) so as to to retain the movable valve (48) in the sealed closed position. Arrangement (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the tubular body (50) comprises at least one external lug forming the blocking member (54) and the blocking surface (56) forms a recess capable of receiving the external lug in the watertight closing position. Arrangement (10) according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the cover (14) comprises an annular lip (62) which is arranged in the sampling orifice (30) and a portion of which forms an abutment surface for retaining axially the valve (48) in the sealed closed position. Arrangement (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the lip (62) is designed to be in tight radial support against an external surface of the cannula (16) in the sampling position. Arrangement (10) according to any one of claims 3 to 8, characterized in that the tubular body (50) comprises at least one external sealing ring (66, 68) located on the interior side relative to the transverse plate (51). ). Arrangement (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the tubular body (50) comprises a first external sealing ring (66) located in the vicinity of the transverse plate (51) and a second external sealing ring (68) located near the free end of the tubular body (50). Arrangement (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cannula (16) comprises at least one radial opening (26) capable of being placed opposite the opening of the conduit (38) in the picking position. Arrangement (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the cannula (16) has three transverse openings (26) distributed circumferentially in a regular manner and the conduit (38) has two diametrically opposed orifices (42). Arrangement (10) according to any one of the preceding claims taken in combination with claim 2, characterized in that the conduit (38) comprises an end section (44) which extends under the at least one orifice (42 ) of the conduit (38) and which is capable of receiving the tubular body (50) in the sampling position. Arrangement (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the end section (44) has an axial opening (46) at its free end in communication with the interior of the container (12). Arrangement (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the container (12) is a so-called airless container. Container comprising a lid (14) provided with a sampling orifice (30) capable of receiving the end of a cannula (16), the sampling orifice (30) extending inside the container (12) by a conduit (38) which is provided with at least one orifice (42) communicating with the interior of the container (12), in that the conduit (38) is equipped with a movable valve (48) which is provided to slide axially inside the conduit 38 between a sealed closing position of the sampling orifice (30) and a sampling position inside the container (12), the movable valve (48) being designed to be move between these two positions under the action of the cannula (16) when the cannula (16) is inserted into the sampling orifice (30).