Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a container for cleaning product for use in cleaning appliances with automatic dosing function, and a method for preparing a packaged cleaning product in such a container.

Background of the Invention

Cartridges for automatic dosing machines typically have a rigid outer side and a connection portion with an outlet valve for connecting to the machine to automatically dose a portion of the contents into the machine. These types of cartridges typically have a check valve somewhere on the cartridge body that allows air exchange between the inside of the cartridge and the enviroment. Check valves are necessary for a correct discharge of the contents of the cartridge as they prevent the building of a vacuum inside the cartridge during the discharge process. On the other hand, outlet valves have to allow easy and controlable discharge of the contents of the cartridge with desirably no unwanted leakage of the contents through the outlet valves when the cartridge is not in use.

However, simple check valves (although efficient for air exchange) often result in leakage of the contents of the cartridge which is inconvenient for the user and wasteful. CN111270480A disclosesa one-way air-permeable structure which includes an air-permeable element, a switch element and a power part. This results in a complex structure of the check valve with a number of elements made of different materials.

In order to provide an external liquid storage box with better sealing performance and easy replacement, CN 108998931 A discloses an external liquid storage box comprising a box body and a flow guiding structure arranged on a liquid outlet of the box body. On the other hand, CN112900012A discloses a detergent box comprising a liquid storage box, a breathable oneway valve and a liquid extraction connector assembly, wherein the top of the liquid storage box is provided with the breathable one-way valve or a breathable film assembly.

To prevent leakage of the liquid, other prior art cartridge solutions offer complex structure of the outlet valves and/or check valves, which are costly due to presence of metallic parts and/ springs, difficult to produce and problematic to recycle due to the presence of different materials. Furthermore, the liquid at the bottom of the cartridge cannot be fully extracted resulting in an undesirable waste of the product.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a container for a cleaning product comprising a rigid outer body, a flexible inner body that is at least partially inside the outer body and a coupler for coupling the container to a cleaning appliance. The inner body defines a cleaning product space which is configured to accommodate an amount of cleaning product. The inner body is connected to the outer body by connection means to form a liquid conduit configured to cooperate with the coupler and enable liquid flow from the container. This connection and flow can be directly into the cleaning appliance or flow to a conduit leading to a cleaning appliance, or in some cases directly on a surface or object to be cleaned.

Such a container or cartridge with a rigid outer body and flexible inner body provides a simple and effective way to store liquid contents inside a cartridge without leaking and ensures that most or all of the contents are able to be dispensed from the cartridge through use. Using a rigid outer body allows for easy handling, storage and connection to cleaning appliances, while the flexible inner body provides for no leakage while allowing controlled flow out of the container.

An outer surface of the outer body that faces outside environment is an outside surface of the outer body while a surface of the outer body opposite to the outside surface of the outer body is an inside surface of the outer body. The surface of the inner body that faces the cleaning product space is an inside surface of the inner body, while a surface of the inner body opposite to the inside surface is an outside surface of the inner body.

The outer body of the cleaning product container can have a shape of a prism or a cylinder or similar. This means that the container comprises two bases and at least one side face. For example, if the container has a shape of the cylinder then the bases are circular or elliptic and the container has one curving side face that envelops the bases and forms the outer circumference of the container. If the container has a shape of a rectangular prism then the bases are rectangular and the container has four rectangular side faces. The container could also have other shapes depending on the system, cleaning appliance, etc.

In the present application following, three orthogonal directions are used. The direction along the side faces is referred to as a longitudinal direction. The bases are substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and substantially parallel to a plane defined by a transversal and a vertical direction. The axis parallel to the longitudinal direction and connecting centers of the bases is a central axis. The axis perpendicular to the central axis is a radial axis.

The connection means may comprise one or more connections between an outside surface of the inner body and an inside surface of the outer body. Alternatively or additionally, the inner body is connected to each side of the outer body. If the container has a cylindrical shape, the inner body may be connected to the outer direction by only two line connections along the longitudinal direction, wherein the two line connections lie at opposite points with respect to the central axis. Optionally, the connection means may comprise one or more of: adhesive, welding, and mechanical connectors. The type, number and placement of connection means can vary, but help to ensure that the flexible inner body stays in place within the rigid outer body and does not deform in such a way that flow out of the inner body would be blocked. By connecting the inner body to one or more places on the outer body, the contents of the inner body can be used in a way that most or all of the contents can be used from the inner body, resulting in less waste, a longer container lifespan, and a therefore a happier user.

The inner body may comprise an inner body opening, the outer body comprises an outer body opening and the inner body opening and the outer body openings align. The inner body opening and the outer body opening can be connected by the connection means. For example, the inner opening may be glued to the outer opening or the inner body can be clamped to the outer body, or any other suitable connection means can be used at the openings such that they are secure and align. By aligning the openings, the contents of the flexible inner body can be easily emptied through the openings.

The coupler may be aligned with the inner body opening and the outer body openings. The coupler may be, for example, a cap for the container configured to allow liquid flow between the container and the cleaning appliance. The coupler may comprise a coupling insert configured to cooperate with elements of the cleaning appliance (and/or dispensing device) in order to form a liquid conduit between the container and the cleaning appliance.

The coupler may further comprise means for controlling the flow through the coupler. Such means could be a valve, such as a cross-valve, duckbill valve or ball valve. This can provide a simple mechanism for ensuring contents do not leak from the container, but can be easily dispensed when desired. The use of the flexible inner body inside the rigid outer body allows for use of such simple valves for dispensing, removing the need for complex or leaky check or spring valves.

Preferably, the outer body and the inner body comprise plastic materials. Plastics are simple and economical. Furthermore, versatility of these materials offers a vast number of possibilities for choosing one plastic component for the outer body that can provide a rigid structure for use or storage of the container, and another component for the inner body that allows for the flexibility of inner body to be able to deform and dispense most or all of the contents within through use. The selection may be based on the recycling capabilities of chosen materials.

Preferably, a volume encompassed by the outer body substantially corresponds to a volume of the inner body when the cleaning product space is completely filled. By forming the inner body to have a volume substantially corresponding to a volume encompassed by the outer body, the unused space between the inner body and the outer body is minimized and the container can hold a higher volume of cleaning product, resulting in a longer usable life. The unused space is usually filled with air. The outer body may comprise one or more air openings which are configured to allow air exchange between the outside environment and the unused space to alleviate pressure within the rigid outer body. However, there is no air exchange between the unused space and the cleaning product space to avoid any leakage of cleaning product.

The inner body of the cleaning product container may have a maximal volume between 50 ml and 2000 ml. Such a volume can be ideal for use in auto-dosing cleaning appliances.

The cleaning appliance may be one or more of a washing machine, a dish washer, a carpet cleaning machine, or an electric soap dispenser. Such a container can provide a simple yet effective way to dose cleaning product to the specific appliance in a controlled manner while ensure there is no leakage.

Further, there is provided a kit for cleaning product comprising the container according to the first aspect of the invention, a valve for liquid flow control, and an amount of cleaning product. The cleaning product could be already included in the flexible inner body of the container or could be outside. In some embodiments, the inner body and outer body may be already joined together, and in others they may be joined together later, for example, by inserting the inner body into the outer body and clamping or adhering them together. Such a kit can be useful for providing a simple and effective container for use with a cleaning appliance. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for preparing a packaged cleaning product. The method comprises steps of connecting a flexible inner body at least partially inside a rigid outer body to obtain the container according to the first aspect of the invention and filling the flexible inner body with a cleaning product. This connection can be through adhesive, threads, clamping or any other suitable means. Optionally, this connection is within the rigid outer body and/or at an outlet of the rigid outer body. Such a method is a simple and economical way of providing a container of cleaning product which is easy to store, transport and use without leaking.

The skilled person will appreciate that except where mutually exclusive, a feature or parameter described in relation to any one of the above aspects may be applied to any other aspect. Furthermore, except where mutually exclusive, any feature or parameter described herein may be applied to any aspect and/or combined with any other feature or parameter described herein.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Except in the examples, or where otherwise explicitly indicated, all numbers in this description indicating amounts of material or conditions of reaction, physical properties of materials and/or use may optionally be understood as modified by the word “about”.

It should be noted that in specifying any ranges of values, any particular upper value can be associated with any particular lower value.

For the avoidance of doubt, the word “comprising” is intended to mean “including” but not necessarily “consisting of” or “composed of’. In other words, the listed steps or options need not be exhaustive.

The disclosure of the invention as found herein is to be considered to cover all embodiments as found in the claims as being multiply dependent upon each other irrespective of the fact that claims may be found without multiple dependency or redundancy.

Where a feature is disclosed with respect to a particular aspect of the invention (for example a composition of the invention), such disclosure is also to be considered to apply to any other aspect of the invention (for example a method of the invention) mutatis mutandis.

We note that in this application terms “container” and “cartridge” are not meant to be mutually exclusive or limiting but instead can be used interchangeably. The container typically takes a form of a cartridge that is suitable to be the inserted into a cleaning appliance, preferably, a cleaning appliance with an automatic dosing function of the cleaning product. Suitable cleaning appliances could be, for example, a washing machine, a dishwasher, a mop or other cleaning device.

The cartridge comprises a rigid outer body, and a flexible inner body inside the outer body. The outer body may have a shape of a prism, a cylinder, or any other shape suitable for inserting into the cleaning appliance. The outer body comprises a base, plurality of side faces, and an outer body opening. The inner body comprises an inner body opening and a cleaning product space configured to accommodate an amount of the cleaning product.

The outer body opening may be aligned with the inner body opening to allow discharge of the cleaning product from the cleaning product space. The inner body and the outer body may be connected around their respective openings by connection means such as one or more of the following: an adhesive, welding, stitching, mechanical means, or similar. The cartridge can have a cap placed on the base of the outer body. The cap can include means for control of the cleaning product flow. The cap may be mounted onto the outer body by fastening means, such as threads, a tight fit, latch, or similar. Additionally, cap or cover could be used for storage and/or transport.

The inner body can be additionally fixed to the outer body by one or more linear connections connecting an outside surface of the inner body to an inside surface of the outer body. These can be in the longitudinal direction and/or around the sides (e.g., radially). In some examples, the linear connections can be in a form of one long connection extending along the length of the outer body or series of short/point connections along the body, for example, on each side face. This can be achieved by an adhesive, welding, stitching, mechanical means, or the similar.

The connection between the cartridge and a cleaning appliance can be formed by coupling a connecting insert on the cap to a negative pressure device, which could be part of the cleaning appliance or separate. The connection can be air-tight to allow correct discharge of the cleaning product. This connection can be through threads, a tight fit or any other means which could secure the two parts together.

The cap can further comprise a cap opening which allows liquid to flow through the cap. In this manner a liquid conduit is formed between the cartridge and the cleaning appliance. Under the negative pressure, for example generated by the negative pressure device of the cleaning appliance, the cleaning product can be discharged from the cleaning product space within the inner body, through the cap opening and the negative pressure device into the cleaning appliance.

Before use, the cartridge inner body is stretched to maximize volume of the cleaning product space, and the inner body almost completely coincides with the outer body of the cartridge. When the cartridge is in use, the cleaning product is periodically discharged from the cartridge. As the cleaning product is discharged, the volume of the cleaning product space decreases and the inner body separates from the outer body except around the one or more linear connections. At the same time, a volume of an unused space inside the (rigid) outer body and outside the flexible inner body increases. The unused space fills with air as the cleaning product is discharged and the inner body, and as such the inner body decreases in volume. The volume of the cleaning product space and the volume of the unused space together always add to a volume of the outer body. Consequently, as the volume of cleaning product space is decreased when the cleaning product is discharged, the volume of the unused space increases. The outer body can have one or more air openings, for example, away from the linear connections or other means that allow pressure leveling between the unused space and the environment. When the cleaning product has been mostly or completely used, the cleaning product space is minimized, while the volume of the unused space is maximized.

By using a flexible inner body inside the outer body, the cartridge is able to hold and empty the contents almost completely without the need for complicated air valves (and leakage there through). As described in the background, past cartridges typically only had a rigid outside, which required an air valve for emptying. Liquid would sometimes leak out that valve. By instead using a flexible inner body, only a simple air hole is needed in the outer body, and no contents leak as they are completely contained in the inner body. The flexibility of inner body allows for more complete emptying of the contents of cartridge, resulting in less waste. The use of one or more linear connections provides a simple way of ensuring that inner body empties in a way that contents will not remain stuck or trapped inside. Thus, forming cartridge of an outer body and a flexible inner body with aligned outlets provides a simpler cartridge which is easier to manufacture (due to no complicated air valves), does not leak and is able to more completely use all the contents within.

In order to control the liquid flow from the cartridge and prevent the spilling of the cleaning product when the cartridge is not connected to the cleaning appliance, a valve may be placed on or in the cap. The valve can have the form of a silicon cross piece, a duckbill valve or a deformable ball. Preferably, the valve is placed over the cap opening.

The silicon cross piece may have four flaps formed by two perpendicular slits extending through the center of the silicon cross piece. However, in other configurations different number and positions of the flaps are conceivable. The flaps may extend in a radial direction from a central axis of the cap opening towards an edge of the opening. The silicon cross piece may be placed around the edge of the opening and fastened to the cap by a pressure ring. Under the negative pressure, the flaps may open to form a liquid conduit between the cleaning product space and the cleaning appliance.

The silicon cross-valve provides a simple design with minimal parts which can control the flow of the contents of the cartridge. The valve is able to keep the contents within the cartridge with little to no leakage when not in use, and then allow for easy and simple flow through the valve when connected to a negative pressure device.

Preferably, the cap comprises the duckbill valve. The duckbill valve may be placed over the cap opening and fastened to the edge of the opening by the pressure ring. The duckbill valve comprises two flaps which form a seal around the central axis of the cap when the cartridge is not in use to prevent spillage of the cleaning product. Duckbill flaps may be formed of silicone or rubber.

The seal may be opened by an injection pin of the negative pressure device to form the liquid conduit between the cleaning product space and the cleaning appliance. The contents then may flow from inside the cartridge out the valve and cap for use.

The duckbill valve forms a simple yet secure valve at the opening of cartridge which can minimize or prevent any contents from escaping from the cartridge until desired. The duckbill valve can easily be opened by a negative pressure device with a pin or other flow channel to allow for dosing out of the cartridge. This valve is made with minimal parts and is robust and easy to manufacture and use.

The cap may have a deformable ball placed in the center of the cap and one or more flow openings that extend radially around a ball space. The ball may sit within the ball space and a closing ring may be placed around the cap opening such that the ball stays within the ball space and cannot escape. The flow openings allow passage of the cleaning product from the cleaning product space into the ball space and out of cartridge. When the cartridge is not in use, the ball (in its natural state) covers openings, forming a seal that prevents spillage or flow of the cleaning product out of the cartridge.

When in use, the cartridge may be connected to the negative pressure device via the cap. The injection pin may be arranged to apply a force and deform the ball. The ball is configured to be deformed such that it moves away from the closing ring, and allows for flow through the flow openings. Consequently, the liquid conduit is formed from the cleaning product space, through the flow openings and the ball space, to the cleaning appliance.

The ball may be formed of a compressible material which reverts back into its original shape after the compressive force is removed (to seal off openings again). Such suitable materials can be, for example silicone or rubber.

The ball valve provides a simple but effective way to prevent flow and leakage in a cartridge until it is ready for use. The use of a compressible ball allows for sealing in a non-use state and a simple compression of that ball (e.g., by a pin) allows for flow out of cartridge. This simple but effective valve is formed with minimal parts and is therefore robust and easy to manufacture and use.

As discussed in the background, past cartridges required complicated outlet valves to ensure that liquid could exit the outlet when needed, but not leak out when not in use. Such valves typically included a number of metal parts, springs, etc. Instead, the valves described in this application provide very simple, yet effective designs for ensuring that the contents of a cartridge does not leak, but is able to exit the container when connected to the proper device. None require metallic parts or springs, which typically means less degradation and therefore a longer useable life for the valve and cartridge. Additionally, this can result in an easier and less costly manufacturing process for the valves.

Figures

Figure 1A shows a longitudinal view of a container for a cleaning product;

Figure 1B shows a transversal cross-sectional view of a container for a cleaning product;

Figure 1C shows an enlarged area of Figure 1A around a cap portion of the container for the cleaning product;

Figure 2 illustrates a cartridge containing an amount of cleaning product connected to a cleaning appliance; Figure 3A illustrates a cross-sectional view of a cartridge filled and prior to use,

Figure 3B shows the cartridge of Fig. 3A in a partially used state, and

Figure 3C shows the cartridge of Fig. 3A in an empty or almost fully used state;

Figure 4A shows a front view of a cartridge with the cap;

Figure 4B shows a cross-sectional view of the cap portion of the cartridge of Fig. 4A and with a cross-valve;

Figure 4C illustrates a cross-sectional view of the cap portion of the cartridge of Fig. 4A connected to a negative pressure device; and

Figure 5A illustrates a cross-sectional view of the cap portion of a cartridge with a duckbill valve; Figure 5B shows the cap of Fig. 5A connected to a negative pressure device;

Figure 6A illustrates a cross-sectional view of the cap portion of a cartridge with a deformable ball valve; and

Figure 6B shows the cap of Fig. 6A connected to a negative pressure device.

Examples

The invention will now be further described with reference to the following non-limiting embodiments and with reference to the drawings. The drawings are only schematic and are not limiting. In the drawings, the size, shape and placement of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustration purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention.

Figures 1A and 1B show a longitudinal and a transversal cross-sectional view of a container for a cleaning product, respectively. The container has a form of a cartridge that is suitable to be the inserted into a cleaning appliance 200 with an automatic dosing function of the cleaning product.

The cartridge 10 comprises a rigid outer body 12, and a flexible inner body 14 inside the outer body 12. The outer body 12 shown has a shape of a prism with a rectangular base 11 , four side faces 15 and an outer body opening 36. The inner body 14 has an inner body opening 34 and is configured to accommodate an amount of the cleaning product in a cleaning product space 16. As shown in Figures 1A and 1 C, the inner body opening 34 and outer body opening 36 are aligned such that the cleaning product can be easily discharged from the cleaning product space 16. The inner body 14 and the outer body 12 are connected around their respective openings by connection means 22. The cartridge 10 has a cap 50 placed on the base 11 of the outer body 12, around the outer body opening 36. The cap 50 can include means for control of the cleaning product flow, which will be discussed in more detail in relation to Figures 4-6. The cap 50 is mounted onto the outer body opening 36 by fastening means 52.

The inner body 14 is additionally fixed to the outer body 12 by series of linear connections 26 along a longitudinal direction X. Figure 1B shows an example in which the inner body 14 is connected to each side face 15 of the outer body 12. The linear connections 26 are formed by connecting an outside surface of the inner body 28 to an inside surface of the outer body 32.

Figure 2 illustrates the cartridge 10 containing an amount of cleaning product 42 connected to the cleaning appliance 200. The connection is formed by coupling a coupling insert 18 placed on the cap 50 to a negative pressure device 44 of the cleaning appliance 200.

The cap 50 further comprises a cap opening 54 which allows liquid to flow through the cap 50. In this manner a liquid conduit 24 is formed between the cartridge 10 and the cleaning appliance 200. Under negative pressure, the cleaning product 42 is discharged from the cleaning product space 16, through the cap opening 54 and the negative pressure device 44 into the cleaning appliance 200, as shown by the flow arrows in Figure 2.

Three different working stages of the cartridge 10 are shown in Figures 3A-3C, which show cross-sectional views of cartridge 10 with outer body 12 and inner body 14 at different stages of fill of the inner body 14. Figure 3A illustrates the cartridge filled and prior to use, Figure 3B shows the cartridge 10 in a partially used state, and Figure 3C shows an empty or almost fully used state.

Figure 3A illustrates the cartridge prior to use when the cleaning product space 16 is completely filled with the cleaning product 42. The inner body 14 is stretched to maximize volume of the cleaning product space 16, and the inner body 14 almost completely coincides with the outer body 12. When the cartridge 10 is in use, the cleaning product 42 is periodically discharged from the cartridge 10. This situation is shown in Figure 3B. As the cleaning product 42 is discharged, the volume of the cleaning product space 16 decreases and the inner body 14 separates from the outer body 12 except around linear connections 26. At the same time, a volume of an unused space 17 increases. The unused space 17 is the space inside the (rigid) outer body 12 and outside the flexible inner body 14, which fills with air as the cleaning product is discharged and the inner body 14 decreases in volume. The volume of the cleaning product space 16 and the volume of the unused space 17 together always add to a volume of the outer body 12. Consequently, as the volume of the cleaning product space is decreased when the cleaning product 42 is discharged, the volume of the unused space 17 increases. The outer body 12 has air openings 19 away from the linear connections 26 or other means that allow pressure leveling between the unused space and the environment. Figure 3C illustrates the cartridge 10 when the cleaning product 42 has been mostly or completely used. The cleaning product space 16 is minimized in this case, while the volume of the unused space 17 is maximal.

In order to control the liquid flow from the cartridge 10 and prevent the spilling of the cleaning product 42 when the cartridge 10 is not connected to the cleaning appliance 200, a valve 60 is placed on or in the cap 50, and over the cap opening 54. The valve 60 can have the form of a silicon cross piece 70 (Figs. 4A-4C), a duckbill valve 80 (Figs. 5A-5B) or a deformable ball 90 (Figs. 6A-6C).

Figure 4A shows the front view of the cartridge 10 with the cap 50 and cross valve 60. The valve 60 is placed over the cap opening 54. In this case, the valve 60 is the silicon cross piece 70. This valve has four flaps 72 formed by two perpendicular slits extending through the center of the silicon cross piece 70. Figure 4B shows the cross-sectional view of the cap 50 with the silicon cross piece 70. The cap opening 54 is bound in the radial direction by an edge of the opening 56. The flaps 72 extend in a radial direction R from a central axis C of the cap opening 54 towards an edge of the opening 56. The silicon cross piece 70 is placed around the edge of the opening 56 and fastened by a pressure ring 62 that extends radially around the edge of the opening 56 and the outer edge of the cross piece. Figure 4C illustrates the situation when the cap 50 is connected to the negative pressure device 44 of the cleaning appliance. Under the negative pressure, the flaps 72 open and the liquid conduit 24 is formed between the cleaning product space 16 and the cleaning appliance, shown by the flow arrows.

Figure 5A illustrates a preferred type of the valve, the duckbill valve 80. Similarly as in Figs. 4A- 4C with the silicon cross-valve, the duckbill valve 80 is placed over the cap opening 54 and fastened to the edge of the opening 56 by the pressure ring 62. The duckbill valve has two flaps 82 which form a seal 59 around the central axis C of the cap when the cartridge 10 is not in use to prevent spillage of the cleaning product 42.

Figure 5B shows the cap 50 when connected to the negative pressure device 44 of the cleaning appliance 200. The negative pressure device 44 has an injection pin 46 which opens the seal 59 to form the liquid conduit 24 between the cleaning product space 16 and the cleaning appliance 200. The contents then flow from inside the cartridge 10 out the valve 80 and cap 50 for use.

Figure 6A shows the cap 50 with the deformable ball 90. The cap 50 has a ball space 58 placed in the center of the cap 50 and one or more flow openings 92 that extend radially around the ball space 58. The ball 90 sits within the ball space 58 and a closing ring 94 is placed around the cap opening 54 such that the ball stays within the ball space 58 and cannot escape. The flow openings 92 allow passage of the cleaning product from the cleaning product space 16 into the ball space 58 and out of cartridge 10. However, when the cartridge 10 is not in use, the ball 90 covers the openings 92, forming a seal that prevents spillage or flow of the cleaning product out of the cartridge 10.

When in use, the cartridge 10 is connected to the negative pressure device 44 via the cap 50, as illustrated in Figure 6B. The injection pin 46 of the negative pressure device 44 applies a force and deforms the ball 90. The ball 90 is deformed such that it moves away from the closing ring 94, and allows for flow through the flow openings 92. In this manner, the liquid conduit 24 is formed from the cleaning product space 16, through the flow openings 92 and the ball space 58, to the negative pressure device 44.

While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments and examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.