EP0628495A1 - Packaging assembly for hair lightening products and corresponding hair lichtening process - Google Patents

Abstract

Packaging assembly (1) for hair lightening products containing, in a same container (2), a flexible plastic sachet containing a bleaching powder (P) and a receptacle containing a developer in fluid form characterized in that the sachet (4) consists of a bag made of flexible plastic material fixed on a rigid head comprising an annular element forming a neck provided with at least one thread, the sachet (4) being closed by a cap (23) screwed on the said annular element; in that the receptacle is a tube (5) made of flexible material containing the developer in cream form, this tube (5) comprising a neck provided with a thread, which is capable of cooperating with a thread of the annular element, the tube (5) being closed by a stopper (27) screwed on the thread of its neck; and in that at least one element of the container constitutes a tray (70) capable of receiving a mixture of the powder and the developer for subsequent application to the hair. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a set for packaging products for lightening or bleaching the hair and a method for lightening or bleaching the hair by means of such a set. In the present description and in the claims, the terms "lighten" and "discolor" will be used interchangeably, the two concepts differing only in the extent of the change in color and therefore corresponding to the same action to different degrees.

To date, to lighten or bleach the hair, a paste obtained is prepared by mixing, just before use, a bleaching powder containing a peroxygenated salt and a developer, most often based on hydrogen peroxide, the mixture obtained is applied, either on the whole of the hair, or on locks, for a determined time, then, finally, rinse with water and dry the hair. During the mixing of the bleaching powder and the developer, unfortunately a cloud of bleaching powder is formed, which is irritating to the nasal mucous membranes and which gives off an unpleasant odor.

To overcome this drawback, it has been proposed to store the bleaching powder in a plastic bag and to mix the bleaching powder and the developer, in the plastic bag, by manual mixing: a process of this type is described in US -A 4 116 365 and in US-A 4 506 783. However, the process described in the aforementioned patents does not make it possible to eliminate all the risks of release into the atmosphere of a cloud of bleaching powder and it corresponds, in in addition, relatively bulky packaging assemblies.

The object of the present invention is to propose a compact assembly which makes it possible to completely eliminate the release into the atmosphere of an irritating cloud of bleaching powder.

The present invention therefore relates to a set of packaging products for lightening hair containing, in the same container, a flexible plastic bag containing a bleaching powder and a container containing a developer in fluid form, characterized in that the sachet consists of a bag of flexible plastic material, fixed on a head of rigid plastic material comprising an annular element forming a neck provided with at least a thread, the bag being closed by a cap screwed onto said annular element; that the container is a tube of flexible material containing the developer in the form of a cream, this tube comprising a neck provided with a thread, which is capable of cooperating with a thread of the annular element, the tube being closed by a screw cap on the thread of its neck; and that at least one element of the container constitutes a tray capable of receiving the mixture of the powder and the developer with a view to its application to the hair.

In the present application and in the claims, the expression "developer in the form of a cream" means a developer in the form of a viscous paste or a viscous gel, but nevertheless fluid.

In this packaging unit, the sachet comprises an annular element provided with a thread capable of cooperating with the thread of the neck of the tube containing the developer in the form of a cream; it is thus possible to avoid any release of cloud of bleaching substance when mixing it with the developer. In fact, according to the invention, after having unscrewed the cap fixed on the bag and the stopper fixed on the tube, the neck of the tube is screwed onto the annular element of the bag and by compressing the tube, the developer initially contained in the tube, without the pulverulent product being able to be released from the sachet because the latter is closed by the tube during the operation; moreover, the developer being in the form of a cream, it is deposited on the powder, forming a layer which prevents any release of a cloud of powder in the sachet; as a result, no powder particles can escape from the sachet when the sachet is opened. In addition, since the user then closes the sachet using the cap, before mixing, there can also be no formation of a cloud of powdery product at the mixing stage.

According to a preferred embodiment of the assembly according to the invention, the neck of the tube has an external thread, the cap of the bag has an internal thread and the annular element comprises, on the one hand, an external thread which is capable of cooperating with the thread of the cap and on the other hand, an internal thread which is capable of cooperating with the thread of the neck of the tube. Advantageously, in the container, the bleaching powder is placed in the bottom of the bag, the latter being folded so that its part containing the powder is placed opposite a first empty part of said bag located in the vicinity of the fixing head of the bag and, between the part of the bag containing the powder and the fold of the bag, there is a second empty part, which is opposite an area of the first empty part of the bag, the tube being arranged in line with the area where the first and second empty parts mentioned above are opposite, parallel to the fold of the bag. This arrangement, in which the bag is folded and in which the tube is placed against two superimposed empty zones of the folded bag, which therefore have a small thickness, makes it possible to significantly reduce the volume of the container and to obtain a compact assembly. .

In the event that a certain amount of water has to be added to the mixture in order to obtain a more or less fluid mixture depending on its use, the packaging assembly comprises a metering device which is preferably provided with at least one dosage level. and a spout. This dispenser is advantageously fixed detachably outside the container. It should be noted that, according to the invention, the developer being in the form of a cream, it is possible to introduce it into the packaging assembly using a tube which contains the developer. If it is desired to obtain a more fluid mixture, water is introduced subsequently using the aforementioned metering device. This avoids having to store a liquid developer in a rigid bottle, which would require a larger packaging unit.

The container is preferably constituted by a rigid or semi-rigid plastic shell provided with a detachable cover, the assembly having, in general, the shape of a right prism or cylinder. The shell can be used as a tray to pour the mixture obtained by kneading before removing it and applying it to the hair. According to a preferred embodiment, when the assembly includes a metering device, the container has the shape of a straight prism based polygonal of which two adjacent faces form between them, outside the container, an angle less than 180 ° to constitute outside the container a housing allowing the positioning of the metering device.

According to a preferred embodiment of the bag, the end of the bag, which is opposite to the fixing head, constitutes a bottom closed by a transverse weld in which two to four rigid bars are sealed, the total length of which is at less equal to two thirds of the width of the bag at said bottom. The bars are preferably made of rigid plastic. The presence of these separate bars makes it possible to knead the bag in the width direction because the bag can fold longitudinally between two bars. However, all of the bars remain rigid enough so that the bag can be rolled around the bars to completely expel the mixture from the sachet. Advantageously, the transverse weld of the bottom of the bag defines with the longitudinal edges of said bag rounded corners to avoid any retention of powder in the corners of the bag.

The bag is preferably at least partially made of transparent plastic so as to allow the user to check the homogeneity of the kneaded mixture during kneading. According to a preferred embodiment, the bag is composed of two sheets of plastic, one of these sheets being transparent and the other opaque: the bag comprises, in this case, two longitudinal welds and a transverse bottom weld.

The bag preferably has, over a certain height in the vicinity of the fixing head, and in projection on the plane passing through the bottom weld and through the axis of the fixing head, a decreasing width in the direction of said head. of fixation. The sachet thus forms, in a way, a funnel, which facilitates the flow, out of the sachet, of the mixture obtained after kneading.

The bag is advantageously made from one or two sheets of flexible plastic. These sheets can be, for example, made of polyethylene, or a multilayer plastic complex consisting of layers of (polyethylene terephthalate / polyethylene) or layers of (polyethylene terephthalate / polyethylene / copolymer of ethylene and vinyl alcohol / polyethylene).

The packaging set may contain accessories, such as gloves, a perforated cap for bleaching locks, hooks for locks or instructions for use. It generally also contains an applicator, such as a brush, usable independently of the sachet or an applicator capable of being screwed onto the annular element of the sachet, in place of the cap.

• a) on ouvre un ensemble de conditionnement tel que décrit ci-dessus et on y prélève le sachet contenant la poudre décolorante et le tube contenant le révélateur,
• b) on dévisse le capuchon fermant le sachet et le bouchon fermant le tube et on visse le goulot du tube dans l'élément annulaire de la tête de fixation du sachet,
• c) on comprime le tube de façon à expulser tout son contenu dans le sachet,
• d) on dévisse le tube pour libérer l'élément annulaire,
• e) on ferme le sachet en revissant le capuchon sur la tête de fixation,
• f) on malaxe manuellement le sachet de façon à obtenir un mélange homogène,
• g) on dévisse le capuchon,
• h) on expulse du sachet le mélange obtenu par malaxage, et
• i) on applique ledit mélange sur les cheveux, on le laisse agir pendant un temps suffisant pour obtenir l'éclaircissement désiré, on rince les cheveux et on les sèche.

The present invention also relates to a process for lightening the hair by means of a packaging unit according to the invention containing a bleaching powder and a fluid developer to be mixed before application, characterized in that:

• a) a packaging assembly is opened as described above and the sachet containing the bleaching powder and the tube containing the developer are removed therefrom,
• b) the cap closing the bag and the cap closing the tube are unscrewed and the neck of the tube is screwed into the annular element of the bag fixing head,
• c) the tube is compressed so as to expel all of its content in the sachet,
• d) the tube is unscrewed to release the annular element,
• e) the bag is closed by screwing the cap back on the fixing head,
• f) the bag is kneaded manually so as to obtain a homogeneous mixture,
• g) unscrew the cap,
• h) the mixture obtained by kneading is expelled from the sachet, and
• i) the said mixture is applied to the hair, it is left to act for a time sufficient to obtain the desired lightening, the hair is rinsed and dried.

If necessary, at the end of step d), a determined quantity of water is added to the sachet, preferably measured by means of a metering device associated with the assembly, this metering unit preferably being that fixed for detachable outside the container.

At the end of step g), it is possible, according to a first variant of implementation, to screw on the fixing head of the bag, in place of the cap, an applicator tip and use this applicator tip to directly apply the mixture. on the hair.

According to another implementation variant, in step h), the mixture is expelled into a tray constituted by the container and, in step i), the mixture is withdrawn from said tray using a applicator.

Preferably, in step h), the mixture is expelled by winding the bag of the sachet around the bars sealed in the weld at the bottom of the bag.

To better understand the object of the invention, we will describe below, purely by way of illustration and not limitation, an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un ensemble de conditionnement selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue de dessus de l'ensemble ouvert, l'ensemble étant posé sur une surface horizontale ;
• la figure 3 est une vue en détail du doseur inclus dans l'ensemble de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 4 est une vue en élévation du sachet utilisé pour l'ensemble de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 5 est une vue en coupe longitudinale selon V-V de la figure 4;
• les figures 6A à 6E représentent les différentes étapes d'un procédé pour éclaircir les cheveux au moyen de l'ensemble de conditionnement des figures 1 à 5.

On this drawing :

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a packaging assembly according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a top view of the open assembly, the assembly being placed on a horizontal surface;
• Figure 3 is a detailed view of the dispenser included in the assembly of Figure 1;
• Figure 4 is an elevational view of the bag used for the assembly of Figure 1;
• Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view along VV of Figure 4;
• FIGS. 6A to 6E represent the different stages of a method for lightening the hair by means of the packaging assembly of FIGS. 1 to 5.

Figures 1 and 2 show a package 1 according to the invention. This assembly is constituted by a container formed by a shell 2 of semi-rigid plastic, the base of which has the shape of a rectangle, rectangle of which one of the angles 8 is notched so as to form two sides constituting on the outside an angle less than 180 °; the side walls of the hull are perpendicular to its bases. This shell 2 is open on one of its bases and a cover 28 fits onto the side walls of the shell 2 to close it; in a variant, the cover 28 could be replaced by a peelable film heat-sealed on the edges of the shell 2. In the shell 2 are arranged a bag 4, a tube 5 and an applicator constituted by a brush 6.

In the notched corner 8 of the shell 2 is fixed a metering device 7 which comes from molding with the shell 2; this dispenser is attached to the shell 2 by pins 9, which can be broken to detach the dispenser 7 from the shell 2. The dispenser 7 is shown in detail in Figure 3: it has a generally parallelepiped shape; a spout 10 has been provided there. A line is drawn on its wall to indicate the level of filling to be respected.

The bag 4 is illustrated in more detail in Figures 4 and 5. It consists of a plastic bag 11 welded to a fixing head 12. The bag 11 is formed by welding two sheets of plastic material 13 and 14 , one of these sheets 13 being transparent and the other 14 being opaque. To form the bag, the two sheets 13 and 14 are welded laterally by the welds 15 and, to form the bottom, by a transverse weld 16. In the bottom weld 16, two bars 17 of rigid plastic are sealed. As can be seen in Figure 4, the junction between the bottom weld 16 and the side welds 15 is done each time with a rounded angle 18; in this way, during the kneading stage, bleaching powder is prevented from remaining trapped in the corners. The two plastic sheets 13 and 14 have, starting from the bottom weld 16, a constant width over a certain height then a decreasing width in the direction of the mouth of the bag 11 so as to form in a way a funnel which favors the flow of the kneaded mixture.

The bag 11 is fixed to the fixing head 12, which is made of rigid plastic. Said head 12 is obtained in one piece by molding and consists of two coaxial elements 19, 20. The first element 19 is constituted by a skirt having in cross section an oblong shape and the external surface of which is provided with horizontal ridges to facilitate fixing the bag 11. The perimeter of the element 19 is close to the perimeter of the mouth of the bag 11 so as to be able to thread and weld the bag on the element 19 without making folds. The element 20 is connected by a shoulder to the element 19; it constitutes an annular element, which forms a neck for filling and emptying the bag 4. Said annular element 20 is provided with an external thread 21 and an internal thread 22. The bag 4 can be closed by a cap 23, which is provided with an internal thread 24 capable of cooperating with the external thread 21 of the annular element 20.

Before the sachet 4 is placed in the shell 2, the bleaching powder P is introduced into said sachet 4 by the annular element 20 forming a neck. After introduction of the powder P, the bag 4 is pressed between two pushers to expel the air and the cap 23 is screwed on. The bag 4 is then folded into two parts which are superimposed so that the bars 17 are located at the element 19 for fixing the bag, while keeping the powder in the vicinity of the bottom of the bag, so as to preserve on both sides of the fold an empty part, the zone where these two empty parts are superimposed being thin. The sachet thus folded is placed in the shell 2. The tube 5 containing the developer in the form of a cream is placed against the sachet 4, in line with the aforementioned thin zone. In the shell 2, a brush 6 is placed next to the tube 5 at the fold of the bag 4.

The tube 5 comprises a neck 25 (see FIG. 6B) provided with an external thread 26 capable of cooperating with the internal thread 22 of the annular element 20. The tube is closed by a plug 27 screwed onto the thread 26.

The relative arrangement of the sachet 4 in folded form and of the tube 5 on an area of the folded sachet 4, in which two empty parts of powder are opposite, makes it possible to obtain a very compact packaging assembly.

When a user wishes to use the packaging assembly described above, he operates in the manner schematically illustrated in FIGS. 6A to 6E. He opens the shell 2 by removing the cover 28 and takes from it the sachet 4 containing the powder P and the tube 5 containing the developer in the form of cream C. He unscrews the cap 23 of the sachet 4 and the cap 27 of the tube 5 then screws the tube 5 in the annular element 20, the thread 26 of the neck 25 of the tube 5 cooperating with the internal thread 22 of the annular element 20 (see FIG. 6B). He then compresses the tube 5 to introduce into the bag 4 all of the cream C contained in the tube 5. During this operation, the tube 5 closing the bag 4, the bleaching powder cannot escape from the bag. The user then unscrews the tube 5 so releasing the annular element 20: the bleaching powder P cannot escape from the bag 4 since it is covered by the cream C.

The user then detaches the metering device 7 from the shell 2 and pours water (E) into it up to the level determined by a line: he pours this water (E) into the bag 4 (see FIG. 6C). He then screwed the cap 23 back onto the annular element 20 to close the bag 4 and kneaded the mixture until it was homogeneous, the homogeneity of the mixture being able to be checked visually through the transparent plastic face 13 of the bag 4. It should be noted that the presence of the two bars 17 does not hinder the kneading in any way since the bag can fold longitudinally between the two bars. Finally, the user unscrews the cap 23 and empties the bag 4 into the shell 2 which thus constitutes a tray 70; the complete emptying of the bag 4 is obtained by rolling the bag 11 on the rigid bars 17.

The mixture obtained by kneading can then be taken from the tray 70 using the brush 6 to be applied to the hair.

Claims (18)

1 - Set (1) of packaging for hair lightening products containing, in the same container (2), a flexible plastic bag containing a bleaching powder (P) and a container containing a developer in fluid form, characterized by the fact that the bag (4) consists of a bag (11) of flexible plastic material, fixed on a rigid head (12) comprising an annular element (20) forming a neck provided with at least one thread (21, 22) , the bag (4) being closed by a cap (23) screwed onto said annular element (20); that the container is a tube (5) of flexible material containing the developer in the form of cream (C), this tube (5) comprising a neck (25) provided with a thread (26), which is capable of cooperating with a thread (22) of the annular element (20), the tube (5) being closed by a plug (27) screwed onto the thread (26) of its neck (25); and that at least one element of the container (2) constitutes a tray (70) capable of receiving the mixture of the powder and the developer with a view to its application to the hair. 2 - assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that in the container (2), the powder is disposed in the bottom of the bag (11), the latter being folded so that its part containing the powder is arranged in screw -with respect to a first empty part of said bag (11) located in the vicinity of the fixing head (12) of the bag (4) and, that between the part of the bag (11) containing the powder and the fold of the bag, there is a second empty part, which is opposite an area of the first empty part of the bag (11), the tube (5) being arranged in line with the area where the first and second parts the aforementioned voids are opposite, parallel to the fold of the bag (11). 3 - assembly according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the neck (25) of the tube (5) has an external thread (26), that the cap (23) of the bag (4) has a thread internal (24) and that the annular element (20) comprises, on the one hand, an external thread (21), which is capable of cooperating with the thread (24) of the cap (23), and, on the other part, an internal thread (22), which is capable of cooperating with the thread (26) of the neck (25) of the tube (5). 4 - assembly according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a dispenser (7) provided with at least one dosage level and a pouring spout (10), said dispenser being fixed detachable way outside the container. 5 - An assembly according to claim 4, characterized in that the container (2) has the general shape of a straight prism with a polygonal base, two adjacent faces of which form, outside the container, an angle less than 180 ° to constitute, outside the container, a housing allowing the positioning of the metering device (7). 6 - assembly according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the end of the bag (11), which is opposite the fixing head (12), constitutes a bottom closed by a transverse weld (16) in which two to four rigid bars (17) are sealed, the total length of which is at least equal to two thirds of the width of the bag (11) at said bottom. 7 - Assembly according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the bag (11) is at least partially made of transparent plastic. 8 - An assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that the bag (11) consists of two sheets of plastic material welded together, one of these sheets (13) being transparent and the other (14) opaque. 9 - Assembly according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the transverse weld (16) of the bottom of the bag (11) defines with the longitudinal edges of said bag rounded corners (18). 10 - assembly according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the bag (4) has, over a certain height in the vicinity of the fixing head (12), and in projection on the plane passing through the weld (16) from the bottom and by the axis of the fixing head (12), a decreasing width in the direction of said fixing head (12). 11 - assembly according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the bag (11) is made from polyethylene sheets or from a multilayer plastic complex chosen from the group formed by a complex (polyethylene terephthalate / polyethylene) and a complex (polyethylene terephthalate / polyethylene / copolymer of ethylene and vinyl alcohol / polyethylene). 12 - assembly according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the container contains at least one accessory selected from the group formed by gloves, hats, hooks for wicks and instructions for use. 13 - assembly according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it contains an applicator (6) or an applicator capable of being screwed onto the annular element (20) of the bag (4) instead of the cap (23). 14 - Method for lightening the hair by means of a mixture of a packaging unit containing a bleaching powder and a fluid developer to be mixed before application to the hair, characterized in that: a) a packaging assembly (1) according to one of claims 1 to 12 is opened and the sachet (4) containing the bleaching powder and the tube (5) containing the developer are removed therefrom, b) the cap (23) closing the bag (4) and the cap (27) closing the tube (5) is unscrewed and the neck (25) of the tube (5) is screwed into the annular element (20) of the fixing head (12) of the bag (4), c) the tube (5) is compressed so as to expel all of its content in the bag (4), d) the tube (5) is unscrewed to release the annular element (20), e) the bag (4) is closed by screwing the cap (23) on the fixing head (12), f) the bag (4) is manually kneaded so as to obtain a homogeneous mixture, g) the cap (23) is unscrewed, h) the mixture obtained by kneading is expelled from the sachet (4), and i) the said mixture is applied to the hair, it is left to act for a time sufficient to obtain the desired lightening, the hair is rinsed and dried. 15 - Process according to claim 14, using an assembly according to claim 4, characterized in that at the end from step d), a determined quantity of water (E) measured by means of the metering device (7) previously separated from the container is added to the sachet (4). 16 - Method according to one of claims 14 or 15, using an assembly according to claim 13, characterized in that at the end of step g), one screws on the fixing head (12) of the sachet (4), in place of the cap (23), an applicator tip and this applicator tip is used to apply the mixture to the hair. 17 - Method according to one of claims 14 or 15, using an assembly according to claim 13, characterized in that in step h), the mixture is expelled into the tray (70) and that step i), the mixture is withdrawn from said tray using the applicator (6). 18 - Method according to one of claims 14 to 17, using an assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that in step h), the mixture is expelled by winding the bag (11) of the sachet ( 4) around the bars (17) sealed in the weld (16) at the bottom of the bag.

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