Devices and Methods for Packaging and Dispensing Unit Doses of Personal Care Products

Abstract

Packaging and delivery systems for personal care products and methods of providing samples or single units of use, include dispensing devices that produce a spray, mist, or stream delivery of measured amounts of personal care products packaged in internally pierced blister unit doses which protect the quality of the unused product and reduce the amount of product wasted in providing samples.

1 . A packaging and delivery system for dispensing single use amounts of a personal care product comprising:
 a dispensing device comprising:   (a) a housing defining a cavity shaped to hold a blister delivery device, the housing comprising:
 a pair of opposing arms joined by a hinged connection at one end thereof; and 
 a dispensing outlet disposed in the housing and providing an opening from the outside into the cavity; 
   (b) an internally pierced formed blister disposed in the cavity adjacent the dispensing outlet, said blister comprising:
 a blister formed from a stretched flexible film material into a recess with an open end; 
 a piercable surface sealed to the open end of the blister to form an internal chamber enclosed by the formed recess; 
 a flowable personal care product contained in the internal chamber; 
 a piercing nozzle wholly contained in the internal chamber, 
 the piercing nozzle comprising:
 a base, 
 a hollow elongated body projecting from the base at a first end and forming a discharge nozzle at a second end opposite the base, 
 one or more inlet openings and channels providing a fluid path from the internal chamber through the base and into the internal channel of the piercing nozzle and out the discharge nozzle; and 
 
   (c) a ram device disposed in the housing with a first end adjacent the cavity;   wherein the blister is disposed in the cavity with the discharge nozzle proximate the outlet and the base proximate the ram and wherein when the device is activated, the ram is forced into the cavity effective to crush the blister and dispense the flowable personal care product.   
     
     
         2 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the ram device comprises lever, hinge, cam or inclined plane. 
     
     
         3 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the flowable personal care product comprises a liquid, powder, high viscosity liquid or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the flowable personal care product is a cosmetic, cosmeceutical, nutriceutial, nutricosmetic, hygienic product, fragrance, lotion, cream, gel, a serum, essential oil, dermal treatment, skin coloring agent, skin masking agent, liquid soap, makeup, toothpaste, breath freshener, hair serum, shaving cream, lotion, or hair gel. 
     
     
         5 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the flowable personal care product is a product for topical application to the mouth, lips, skin, hair, or nails of a user. 
     
     
         6 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein a first arm provides the outlet and the opposing arm is the ram. 
     
     
         7 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 6 , wherein a band is wrapped lengthwise around the two arms to hold the arms together against the blister during storage.
 wherein the connector is a band which surrounds the outer surfaces of the dispensing arm and the lever arm.   
     
     
         8 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 7 , wherein the band is a flexible material is selected from a group consisting of paper, plastic, rubber, and tape. 
     
     
         9 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 1 , the blister contains from 50 to 200 milliliters of flowable personal care product. 
     
     
         10 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 1 , the blister contains from 10 to 50 microliters of flowable personal care product. 
     
     
         11 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 1 , the blister contains from 1 to 3 milliliters of flowable personal care product. 
     
     
         12 . A packaging and delivery system for dispensing single use amounts of a personal care product comprising:
 a dispensing device comprising:   (a) a housing defining a cavity shaped to hold a blister delivery device, the housing comprising:
 a pair of opposing substantially rectangular, planar members each member comprising opposing ends and opposing sides, wherein the members are connected along the sides in a slidable, telescopig connection; and 
 a dispensing outlet disposed a first planar member and providing an opening from the outside into the cavity; 
   (b) an internally pierced formed blister disposed in the cavity adjacent the dispensing outlet, said blister comprising:
 a blister formed from a stretched flexible film material into a recess with an open end; 
 a piercable surface sealed to the open end of the blister to form an internal chamber enclosed by the formed recess; 
 a flowable personal care product contained in the internal chamber; 
 a piercing nozzle wholly contained in the internal chamber, 
 the piercing nozzle comprising:
 a base, 
 a hollow elongated body projecting from the base at a first end and forming a discharge nozzle at a second end opposite the base, 
 one or more inlet openings and channels providing a fluid path from the internal chamber through the base and into the internal channel of the piercing nozzle and out the discharge nozzle; and 
 
   (c) a ramp device disposed in the housing attached to an inner face of the second planar member;   wherein the ramp is inclined such that sliding the members such that one telescopes into the other forces the ramp against the blister effective to crush the blister and dispense the flowable personal care product.   
     
     
         13 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 12 , wherein the device further comprises a planar member disposed between the ramp and the blister. 
     
     
         14 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 12 , wherein the flowable personal care product comprises a liquid, powder, high viscosity liquid or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 12 , wherein the flowable personal care product is a cosmetic, cosmeceutical, nutriceutial, nutricosmetic, hygienic product, fragrance, lotion, cream, gel, a serum, essential oil, dermal treatment, skin coloring agent, skin masking agent, liquid soap, makeup, toothpaste, breath freshener, hair serum, shaving cream, lotion, or hair gel. 
     
     
         16 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 12 , wherein the flowable personal care product is a product for topical application to the mouth, lips, skin, hair, or nails of a user. 
     
     
         17 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 12 , the blister contains from 50 to 200 milliliters of flowable personal care product. 
     
     
         18 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 12 , the blister contains from 10 to 50 microliters of flowable personal care product. 
     
     
         19 . The packaging and delivery system of  claim 12 , the blister contains from 1 to 3 milliliters of flowable personal care product. 
     
     
         20 . A method for providing samples or single use packaging of a personal care product comprising:
 providing a single dose dispensing device comprising:
 a blister formed from a stretched flexible film material into a recess with an open end; 
 a piercable surface sealed to the open end of the blister to form an internal chamber enclosed by the formed recess; 
 a flowable personal care product contained in the internal chamber; and 
 a piercing nozzle wholly contained in the internal chamber, and 
 a mechanism for manually crushing said internally pierced blister; 
   wherein crushing the blister in the device dispenses a precise single dose amount of personal care product in a spray, mist or stream through the piercing nozzle.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the packaging protects the personal care product from light, moisture, and air prior to dispensing. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the personal care product comprises a liquid, powder, high viscosity liquid or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the personal care product is a cosmetic, cosmeceutical, nutriceutial, nutricosmetic, hygienic product, fragrance, lotion, cream, gel, a serum, essential oil, dermal treatment, skin coloring agent, skin masking agent, liquid soap, makeup, toothpaste, breath freshener, hair serum, shaving cream, lotion, or hair gel. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the personal care product is a product for topical application to the mouth, lips, skin, hair, or nails of a user. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the blister contains from 50 to 200 milliliters of personal care product. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the blister contains from 10 to 50 microliters of personal care product. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the blister contains from 1 to 3 milliliters of flowable personal care product. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the dispensing device is reusable. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the dispensing device contains multiple single dose blisters which can be dispensed in sequence. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the personal care product is a fragrance. 
     
     
         31 . A method for providing samples or single use packaging of a personal care product comprising:
 providing a single dose dispensing device sized to be contained in a magazine or standard size letter envelope, said dispensing device comprising:
 a blister formed from a stretched flexible film material into a recess with an open end; 
 a piercable surface sealed to the open end of the blister to form an internal chamber enclosed by the formed recess; 
 a flowable personal care product contained in the internal chamber; and 
 a piercing nozzle wholly contained in the internal chamber, and 
 a mechanism for manually crushing said internally pierced blister; 
   wherein crushing the blister in the device dispenses a precise single dose amount of personal care product in a spray, mist or stream through the piercing nozzle;   placing a single dose dispensing device into a magazine or bulk advertising mailer.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the personal care product comprises a liquid, powder, high viscosity liquid or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the personal care product is a cosmetic, cosmeceutical, nutriceutial, nutricosmetic, hygienic product, fragrance, lotion, cream, gel, a serum, essential oil, dermal treatment, skin coloring agent, skin masking agent, liquid soap, makeup, toothpaste, breath freshener, hair serum, shaving cream, lotion, or hair gel. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the personal care product is a product for topical application to the mouth, lips, skin, hair, or nails of a user. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the personal care product is a fragrance. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the dispensing device is asthetically designed to resemble a fragrance bottle pump spray top.