Assembly Adapted for the Mixing of Two Different Products Stored Separately

This invention relates to an assembly for mixing two different products which react with one another and consequently cannot be stored in contact with one another.

Oxidation hair dyes can be cited by way of example. In oxidation hair dyes, this the oxidant and the dye must be stored separately and are mixed only when the dye composition is applied to the hair. Oxidation dyes are presently sold in a package containing a bottle filled with oxidant, a tube filled with a dye paste, and a light tray of thermoformed plastic material in which the oxidant and the dye paste are mixed. This package generally also contains a brush for mixing the two products in the tray and for applying the mixture to the hair strand by strand.

In view of the volume of the tray, the packages are bulky, and expensive, and they cannot be packaged manually.

The present invention proposes an assembly for mixing two products and for which the package and the packaging costs are substantially reduced. In order to obtain this result, mixing is accomplished in one of the containers containing one of the products.

Therefore, this invention relates to an assembly adapted for the mixing of two different products stored separately. The assembly comprises two separate containers, each of which contains one of the products. The two containers can be assembled so as to ensure that they are placed in communication with one another, characterized in that it comprises:

1. a first container, the contents of which can be removed by manual pressure without air recirculation and which is provided with a neck to which a tearable cap is fixed. A removable stopper is fixed to the neck so as to protect the cap.

2. a second substantially rigid container, the neck of which is provided with a closure system consisting of two parts:

The first part includes a capsule fixed to the neck of the second container. A collar is opening provided in the capsule and has a perforating upper edge.

The second part includes a removable cover fixed to the capsule in order to close its collar opening and to protect the perforating edge device. The neck of the first container is threaded and capable of cooperating after removal of the stopper, with a complementary threaded element provided on the capsule of the first container. Thus, the first container can be securely screwed to the second container, such that, upon securing, the perforating device perforates the cap and allows the products to mix.

The first container is preferably a tube of flexible material. The second container, in which the user effects mixing, is preferably a wide-necked pot in the form, for example, of a bowl.

The perforating device preferably consists of a collar having a bevelled edge surrounding the opening of the capsule, but could also consist of several cutters disposed around the opening.

The fixing element provided on the neck of the first container preferably consists of a thread provided externally on the neck. The thread serves to fix the removable stopper to the neck of the first container. A first cylindrical skirt is advantageously disposed on the capsule and around the perforating device, the inner wall of which is provided with a thread complementary to the thread of the neck of the first container for fixing the first container to the capsule of the second container. The thread of the neck of the first container, therefore, serves two functions.

The first cylindrical skirt is advantageously surrounded by a second cylindrical skirt coaxial with the first, the second skirt being provided on its exterior with a fixing means complementary to the one provided on the cover for fixing the cover to the capsule. The first and second cylindrical skirts are separated by an annular housing which opens towards the exterior and may preferably receive in this zone, when the cover is fixed to the capsule, a sealing skirt provided in the interior of the cover, on the base of the latter. The first and second skirts preferably have substantially the same height, the annular housing extending substantially over the entirety of the said height.

The neck of the second container is preferably a cylinder of circular section and the capsule is fixed to the second container by virtue of the cooperation of a thread provided externally on the edge of the second container with a complementary thread provided internally on a circular cylindrical wall of the capsule. The capsule preferably comprises a sealing skirt coaxial with the cylindrical wall, the said skirt coming to rest against the inner wall of the neck of the second container. The axis of the cylindrical wall and those of the first and second skirts of the capsule coincide with one another.

The package may also contain a manual stirring apparatus for mixing the two products. This stirring apparatus preferably consists of a brush, serving both to mix the products and to apply the mixed product.

The package of the assembly according to the invention may also contain in the known manner gloves formed by heat sealing a polythene film serving to protect the hands of the user when applying the mixture, and instructions for use.

The assembly according to the invention operates as follows: At the time of use, the user removes the stopper of the first container and the cover of the capsule. He then fixes the first container to the capsule of the second container by the cooperation of the two fixing elements. During this operation, the perforating device perforates the cap fixed to the neck of the tube. The user then presses manually on the walls of the first container. The contents of the first container penetrate through the opening of the capsule into the second container. When the first container is empty, the user separates the capsule from the second container. The two products are then in the second container and the user mixes them in the said second container with a manual stirring apparatus.

The subject matter of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description of one embodiment given purely by way of a non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation, with some broken away portions, of two containers of an assembly according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation, with some broken away portions, of the two containers of the assembly of FIG. 1 after they have been assembled together;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the capsule of the second container surmounted by the first container after emptying of the latter, and

FIG. 4 is an axial section of the second container after removal of the capsule, during the mixing operation.

The assembly according to the invention is packaged in a package which is not shown. It consists principally of a tube 2 and a wide-necked pot 3, forming the first and second containers respectively of the assembly according to the invention. The tube 2 contains, for example an oxidation dye paste and the pot 3 an oxidizing paste. The tube 2 has a flexible-walled tube 4 closed at one end by a welded joint 5. At the opposite end to the welded joint 5, the tube 2 has a cylindrical neck 6. A tearable cap 7 is disposed on the edge of the neck 6, which can be made in one piece with the tube or can be connected thereto. A thread 8 is provided on the external wall of the neck 6. A stopper 9 formed by a circular base provided with a cylindrical skirt is fixed to the neck 6 by means of a thread 10 which is disposed on the inner wall of the cylindrical skirt of the stopper 9 and which is complementary to the thread 8 of the neck 6.

The pot 3 is a cylindrical pot of rigid plastic material. The pot has a flat circular base 11 and a cylindrical lateral wall 12, the upper part of which (in the position shown in FIG. 1) has a smaller diameter in order to form the neck 12a of the pot 3. This neck 12a has an external thread 13. A closure system consisting of a capsule 15 and a cover 16 is fixed to the pot 3.

The capsule 15 consists of a circular plate 17 of moulded plastic material, in the center of which an axial opening 18 is formed. The opening 18 is bordered by a perforating device which consists of a collar 19 directed towards the exterior of the pot 3. The edge of collar 19 is bevelled so that it is a cutting edge. The plats 17 is provided with a first skirt 20 which is situated at a distance from the collar 19 equal, except for the necessary clearance, to the thickness of the wall of the neck 6. The skirt 20 has the same axis as the opening 18 and the collar 19. The inner wall of this first skirt 20 is provided with a thread 21 which is complementary to the thread 8 of the neck 6 of the tube 2. The skirt 20 has a height smaller than the height of the neck 6 of the tube 2, although close to the latter. The plate 17 is provided with a second cylindrical skirt 28 coaxial with the opening 18 and with the first skirt 20, surrounding the first skirt 20 and having the same height as the latter. The external wall of this second skirt 28 is provided with a thread 29. An annular housing 40 is provided between the two skirts 20 and 28 over the entire height thereof, the presence of this housing facilitating the removal of the threaded skirts. A cylindrical wall 22 is disposed on the periphery of the plate 17, directed towards the pot 3, and having an outer diameter equal to that of the lateral wall 12 of the pot in its non-narrowed part and an inner diameter equal to the outer diameter of the neck 12a. A thread 24 is provided on the inner face of this wall 22, which cooperates with the thread 13 of the neck 12a of the pot 3. A sealing skirt 23 coaxial with the cylindrical wall 22 comes to rest against the inner wall of the neck 12a of the container 3.

The cover 16 consists of a flat circular base 25 on the periphery of which there is disposed a cylindrical skirt 26. A thread 27 is provided on the inner face of the said skirt 26, which cooperates with the thread 29 of the skirt 28. The cover is also provided with a sealing skirt 30, having the same axis as the skirt 26. The sealing skirt 30 has an outer diameter equal to the inner diameter of the second skirt 28 and, when the cover 16 is screwed on to the capsule 15, it is positioned in the zone of the housing 40 which opens towards the exterior.

The assembly according to the invention moreover comprises a brush 31 which is packaged in the same package as the containers 2 and 3.

The assembly according to the invention is used in the manner described hereinafter. The user removes the stopper 9 from the tube 2. The neck 6 is then closed only by the cap 7. He also removes the cover 16 of the closure system of the pot 3. He then screws the neck 6 of the tube 7 into the skirt 20, the thread 21 of the skirt 20 cooperating with the thread 8 of the neck 6. During this screwing operation, the collar 19 tears the cap 7 (see FIG. 2). The tube 2 and the pot 3 are then in communication with one another via the opening 18 of the capsule 15. The user then rolls up the tube 2, as illustrated in FIG. 3, and the product contained in the tube 2 passes into the pot 3, with no risk of loss of the product. The user then separates the capsule 15 from the pot 3 simply by unscrewing the threads 13, 24, the tube 2 remaining fixed to this capsule. The user can then mix the two products (dye and oxidant) in the pot 3 with the aid of the brush 31. He may leave it to rest to allow the color to develop, the mixture then being applied to the hair with the aid of the brush 31.