CN-122003297-A - Dropper having bladder comprising thermoplastic vulcanizate

Abstract

A dropper is disclosed that includes a bladder, a pipette coupled to the bladder, and a cap coupled to the bladder, wherein the bladder comprises a thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) having a Shore A hardness of from about 40 to about 70. The present invention provides a dropper having a bladder containing a recyclable material and having a good balance between dispensing force and resistance to deformation. The present invention relates generally to droppers, and more particularly to a dropper capable of recycling.

Inventors

• TIAN YANG
• SUN HAIYAN

Assignees

• 宝洁公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20241009

Priority Date

20231107

Claims (20)

1. 1. A dropper includes a bladder, a pipette coupled to the bladder, and a cap coupled to the bladder, wherein the bladder is composed of a thermoplastic vulcanizate having a Shore A hardness of from about 40 to about 70.
2. 2. The dropper of claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic vulcanizate has a shore a hardness of from about 45 to about 65.
3. 3. The dropper of claim 2, wherein the thermoplastic vulcanizate has a shore a hardness of from about 50 to about 65.
4. 4. The dropper of claim 3, wherein the thermoplastic vulcanizate has a shore a hardness of from about 55 to about 65.
5. 5. The dropper of claim 1, wherein the bladder comprises from about 50% to about 100% thermoplastic vulcanizate.
6. 6. The dropper of claim 5, wherein the bladder comprises from about 80% to 100% thermoplastic vulcanizate.
7. 7. The dropper of claim 6, wherein the bladder comprises from about 80% to about 95% thermoplastic vulcanizate.
8. 8. The dropper of claim 1, wherein the dropper has a dispensing force of from about 4N to about 20N.
9. 9. The dropper of claim 8, wherein the dropper has a dispensing force of from about 4N to about 13N.
10. 10. The dropper of claim 9, wherein the dropper has a dispensing force of from about 4N to about 8N.
11. 11. The dropper of claim 1, wherein the bladder has a wall thickness of from about 1mm to about 2.5 mm.
12. 12. The dropper of claim 11, wherein the bladder has a wall thickness of from about 1mm to about 1.5 mm.
13. 13. The dropper of claim 12, wherein the bladder has a wall thickness of from about 1.1mm to about 1.4 mm.
14. 14. The dropper of claim 13, wherein the bladder has a wall thickness of from about 1.1mm to about 1.3 mm.
15. 15. The dropper of claim 1, wherein the dropper is for a product comprising the dropper, a bottle, and a liquid inside the bottle, wherein the weight of the product (sum of the weight of the dropper, bottle, and liquid) is about 150g or more.
16. 16. The dropper of claim 15, wherein the weight of the product is about 180g or more.
17. 17. The dropper of claim 16, wherein the weight of the product is about 200g or more.
18. 18. The dropper of claim 17, wherein the weight of the product is about 210g or more.
19. 19. The dropper of claim 1, wherein the cap is made of polypropylene.
20. 20. The dropper of claim 1, wherein the pipette is made of polypropylene.

Description

Dropper having bladder comprising thermoplastic vulcanizate Technical Field The present invention relates to a dropper comprising a bladder, a pipette coupled to the bladder, and a cap coupled to the bladder, wherein the bladder comprises a thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) having a Shore A hardness of from about 40 to about 70. The present invention provides a dropper having a bladder containing a recyclable material and having a good balance between dispensing force and resistance to deformation. The present invention relates generally to droppers, and more particularly to a dropper capable of recycling. Background Droppers are well known devices for dispensing liquids from bottles. Typically, a dropper consists of a bladder, a pipette coupled to the bladder, and a cap coupled to the bladder. The cap holds the bladder and attaches to the bottle in a well known manner. Bottles often contain liquid inside for sale as a product with a dropper. Droppers having one or all of its components made of non-recyclable material are well known. However, there is a need to improve the recyclability of such droppers. One way to improve recyclability is to change the material of the bladder from, for example, conventional rubber to a recyclable material. For example, PCT patent application publication No. WO2022220871A1 to APC is said to relate to a dropper capable of recycling and discloses a dropper comprising a bladder entirely composed of one of an ethylene propylene copolymer, a thermoplastic polyolefin, a thermoplastic elastomer, and a thermoplastic olefin elastomer, a pipette entirely composed of a recyclable material conforming to the recycling code "5" specification, the pipette being coupled to the bladder, and a cap entirely composed of a recyclable material conforming to the recycling code "5" specification, the cap being coupled to the bladder. The recyclable material conforming to the recycling code "5" specification is, for example, polypropylene. However, the inventors of the present invention have found that in such capsules composed of recyclable materials, it is still difficult to balance the dispensing force with resistance to deformation. Resistance to deformation is a desirable property of the balloon such that the balloon does not deform and/or the balloon does not have any undesirable wrinkles. Such deformation and/or wrinkling is mainly caused by "bending" of the capsule, which may occur, for example, during e-commerce transport when the product is not held upwards and/or the product is accidentally dropped, especially for products having a certain weight. Such deformation and/or wrinkling may not be caused by conventional means of using droppers (e.g., by aspiration/dispensing alone). For example, by making the bladder wall thicker, the deformation resistance properties may be improved. However, such thicker bladder walls may increase the dispensing force, i.e., make the bladder stiffer and difficult for the consumer to aspirate and/or dispense. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a dropper that includes a bladder comprising a recyclable material and having a good balance between dispensing force and resistance to deformation. Disclosure of Invention The present invention relates to a dropper comprising a bladder, a pipette coupled to the bladder, and a cap coupled to the bladder, wherein the bladder comprises a thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) having a Shore A hardness of from about 40 to about 70. The present invention provides a dropper having a bladder containing a recyclable material and having a good balance between dispensing force and resistance to deformation. The inventors of the present invention have surprisingly found that by selecting a TPV among a variety of materials, and by further selecting a certain hardness for such TPV, the capsule can achieve both deformation resistance and good distribution force as well as recyclability. Drawings Fig. 1 is a front view of a dropper including a bladder, cap and pipette, having an illustrated configuration and shape, in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view A-A of the dropper shown in fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front view of a two-piece dropper including a combined bladder and cap and pipette having an illustrated structure and shape in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 4 is a B-B cross-sectional view of the two-piece dropper shown in fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an illustration of compression testing with a steel custom fixture and fixture. Detailed Description Reference in the specification to "an embodiment" or similar means that a particular material, feature, structure, and/or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment, optionally multiple embodiments, but it is not intended that all embodiments include the described material, feature, structure, and/or characteristic. Furthermore, materials, features, structures, and/or characteristics may be combined in