EP2546167A1

EP2546167A1 - Mini aerosol container

Info

Publication number: EP2546167A1
Application number: EP11173657A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Adalberto Geier
Original assignee: Coster Technologie Speciali SpA
Current assignee: Coster Technologie Speciali SpA
Priority date: 2011-07-12
Filing date: 2011-07-12
Publication date: 2013-01-16

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an aerosol container (1) comprising a body portion (10) and a valve portion (30). The body portion (10) comprises a first cavity (11) for holding the propellant and the product to be dispensed, and an orifice (12) at the top edge (13) of the body portion (10) leading into the first cavity (11). The valve portion (30) is located above the body portion (10) and seals the orifice (12) at the top edge (13) of the first cavity (11) and is designed to be one of friction or heat welded, glued or friction fit in place. Further, the body portion (10) is provided with a protective skirt section (14) which is located at the bottom (15) of the body portion (10) and which extends below the lowest point of the outer surface of the first cavity (11) to provide a base (16), wherein the skirt section (14) preferably extends all around the section of the body portion (10) making the first cavity (11).

Description

Background to the Invention

Aerosols find a great deal of use in many different fields, from the storage of beauty products to the storage and spraying of paint. The aerosol canister is typically formed from a container in which the substance to be dispensed is held with a propellant, wherein the propellant is held under high pressure. A valve is provided in the aerosol, which allows the high pressure propellant to expand and in so doing force the substance to be dispensed out through a spraying nozzle.
Typical aerosols are made from a metal, often aluminium or tin, as the liquid to be dispensed and propellant are held under high pressure which needs to be appropriately and safely contained. The formation of aerosol canisters out of metal materials is very successful, but is, from a manufacturing point of view, less desirable than forming the aerosol canister out of a plastic material. Plastic materials can be much more readily formed and produced in desired shapes, and if appropriately produced can support the pressures necessary for formation of an aerosol. Additionally, the plastic materials in an aerosol are more readily recycled, and thus with appropriate plastic recycling facilities a plastic aerosol container can readily be recycled into new plastic based products.
From the point of view of manufacturers and suppliers of aerosols, it would also be desirable to be able to fabricate a smaller or mini aerosol, such that samples of perfumes, hairsprays, or the like, could be provided to customers. It is somewhat cost ineffective to provide a sample hairspray in the smallest available metallic aerosol containers, as the formation of the aerosol costs a significant amount of money and reduces the profit margin. Further, it would be desirable to produce a range of smaller aerosol containers which could readily be carried in a purse or bag.
The production of smaller aerosols, and in particular those made of a plastic material, is difficult, as the aerosol must meet the appropriate safety standards and requirements. The housing and transport of pressurised materials in a plastic container must be undertaken in a secure and safe manner, and in particular the aerosol must be able to cope with ranges of temperature and physical knocks during its use. The present disclosure relates to a design for an aerosol container, wherein the aerosol container could be fabricated from plastic and is provided with appropriate features to safely store the high pressure propellant and secure this within a likely range of storage temperatures and physical knocks.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides an aerosol container in accordance with independent claim 1. Further preferred embodiments are given in the dependent claims.
The claimed invention can be better understood in view of the embodiments described hereinafter. In general, the described embodiments describe preferred embodiments of the invention. The attentive reader will note, however, that some aspects of the described embodiments extend beyond the scope of the claims. To the respect that the described embodiments indeed extend beyond the scope of the claims, the described embodiments are to be considered supplementary background information and do not constitute definitions of the invention per se. This also holds for the subsequent "Brief Description of the Drawings" as well as the "Detailed Description."
The aerosol container of the present disclosure is typically provided with a body section and a valve portion. The body section or portion is structured with a first cavity in which the substance to be dispensed and the high pressure propellant will be stored. An orifice or hole leading into the first cavity can be provided at the top edge of the body portion, which allows the propellant and dispensed product to be filled within the container. A valve portion is attached to the upper side of the body portion, and is used to seal the orifice or hole at the top edge of the first cavity. Preferably, the valve portion may be friction or heat welded, glued or simply friction fit in place to seal the orifice.
In order to protect the body portion from physical knocks, it is possible to provide this with a protective skirt. This protective skirt is provided at least at the bottom section of the body portion, such that it extends below the lowest portion of the first cavity. That is, the protective skirt can be used to form the base of the aerosol container, and preferably extends all the way around the body portion making up the first cavity.
One design for the protective skirt is that of a second wall which extends from the upper top edge of the body portion downward to the base, and thus actually forms the base. The second wall is preferably spaced outward from the first cavity, thus ensuring that the first cavity is appropriately protected from sideways and direct physical knocks.
It is further possible to structure the skirt section in the same way as above and with a protective insert at the lower portion thereof. In this design, the secondary wall extends from the upper portion of the body portion downward toward the base, but not all the way down past the first cavity. The insert section can then be fit to the lower portion up to this second wall, so as to provide a separate base section. The advantage of this being option is that the base can be formed from a different plastic, or a thicker plastic, than that of the secondary wall. It is further possible that the protective insert can be provided with a secondary cavity, which generally matches the size and shape of the lower portion of the first cavity. When the protective insert is attached to the aerosol canister, the lower portion of the first cavity is thus provided with its own secondary wall by means of the second cavity of the insert section, wherein a gap is provided between the first and second cavity.
It is also possible to provide the protective insert section as a stand alone protective base portion, which is intended to protect the lower surface of the first cavity. Instead of integrating this protective base with a second wall extending around the side of the first cavity, this base portion could be structured in a similar manner to that described above, but fit to the lower portion of the first cavity of the aerosol container. In this way, the secondary cavity of the protected base is once again spaced apart from the lower surface of the first cavity, and thus protects the first cavity from physical damage.
In order to attach the protective insert section or base portion to the aerosol container, the insert may be friction fit, glued or heat welded to the outer wall of the first cavity or to the second wall. Further, the protective insert could be friction fit between the outer wall and the first cavity. The protective base portion could be friction fit around the lower portion of the outer wall of the first cavity, or again glued or heat welded thereto.
Turning to the valve portion, this may be integrated with an aerosol container comprising a body portion wherein the body portion does not comprise the protective skirt section. That is, the present disclosure explicitly relates to an aerosol container which simply comprises a body portion with a first cavity, wherein the valve portion seals the top of the cavity, and the body portion does not have the protective skirt. It is not necessary for the functioning of the aerosol container, and in particular the valve portion, that the aerosol container also be provided with the protective skirt. Obviously, it is also possible to combine the two aspects of valve and body portions and provide the aerosol container with the valve portion to be described as well as the secondary wall making up the protective skirt. In particular, the valve portion can be provided with a channel on the under side thereof, wherein this channel is structured and shaped such that it will receive the top edge of the body portion.
The valve portion may also be provided with valve mounting means, wherein the mounting means are provided to allow for the housing or fixing of a valve, or valve unit, to the valve portion. The valve unit is one of any well known designs, and in particular could be the valve unit of DE 37 37 265 . In order to accommodate the valve, the valve mounting means may be further provided with a hole passing through the valve portion, so as to allow the exit or outflow pipe of the valve to extend from the inside to the outside of the aerosol container.
To strengthen the valve portion and aerosol container in general, the valve portion may be provided with a downwardly extending ridge lying between the outer edge of the valve portion and the centre of the valve portion. In defining the ridge on the under side, the upper side of the valve portion will thus be provided with a channel generally extending completely around the entire circumference or outer edge of the valve portion. The recess will typically result from the formation of the ridge, as it is expected that the valve portion will be deformed to create the ridge and the recess in one step. It is further possible to define the ridge such that the inner facing section or wall of the ridge will comprise the valve mounting means, to allow for the valve portion to be friction fit or clipped within the valve portion.
As a further measure to strengthen the aerosol container, it is possible to provide one or more ribs within the recess on the upper side of the valve portion. A preferred design for these ribs is that they extend radially outward from the centre of the valve portion to the outer side of the recess, thus tending to stop the collapse of the recess and thus the internal ridge. That is, the ribs stop the collapse of the recess and ridge, and further stop the pressure within the aerosol canister from deforming the valve portion in any way.
The downwardly extending ridge of the valve portion may be provided with an outer wall making the outer side of the ridge, which matches the inner wall of the first cavity. If the valve portion is structured such that it makes good contact with the inner portion of the first cavity, this again strengthens the upper section of the aerosol and avoids the internal pressure from deforming the valve portion and aerosol container.
The downwardly extending ridge may also comprise a pressure receiving surface for deliberately controlling the main force of the pressure acting on the valve portion. In this design, the pressure receiving surface extends from roughly the centre of the valve portion in a downward and outwardly extending manner, to give an inverse "V" cross section rotated fully around the central axis of the aerosol container. The pressure receiving surface structured in such a manner will ensure that pressure in the aerosol acts on the ridge so as to push this outward into the wall of the aerosol container. In this way, the aerosol is once again structured so as to contain the internal pressure, and avoid deformation should the temperature increase and the pressure of the propellant also increase.
The aerosol container as discussed above is preferably made from a plastic material. In particular, the plastic material may be PBT, as this material has advantageous strength properties and shows very little porosity to the propellant gasses and products to be dispensed. Further, the aerosol container may be a so-called mini aerosol container which has a height from the base to the top of the valve portion when fitted of approximately 35mm, and a diameter of around 35mm. Finally, the aerosol container as described above may be suitable for containing a propellant and product with a pressure of at least 12 bars, or 1.2 MN/m².

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1:: This figure shows a perspective view of an aerosol container which has been cut through the centre to show many of the features of the present disclosure.
Figure 2:: A cross sectional view through the container of figure 1 wherein possible sizes for the components are shown.
Figure 3:: An exploded view of the container shown in figure 2.
Figure 4:: One design for the body portion for the aerosol of figure 1.
Figure 5:: A second design for the body portion of the aerosol container.
Figure 6:: A further design for the body portion of the aerosol container.

Detailed Description

Figure 1 shows an aerosol container 1 according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. In particular, the aerosol container 1 being shown in figure 1 is a so called "mini aerosol container", in that it is much smaller than the standard aerosol containers generally well known. The present disclosure is particularly suitable for a mini aerosol container as shown in figure 1, however it will be appreciated that the description also relates to a normal aerosol container 1 which is not provided with the smaller dimensions. Indeed, figure 2 which shows a cross sectional view through the aerosol container of figure 1 includes a series of possible sizes for each of the components. It is to be noted that these sizes are shown purely to highlight that the following description is suitable for a mini aerosol container 1, but should not be considered as a particularly restrictive embodiment or requirement. Indeed, it will be readily appreciated that the present disclosure can also be used with a normal sized aerosol container 1, in which the height is around 20cm and the diameter is around 5-6cm.
It will further become clear from the following description that the aerosol container 1 is advantageously produced from a plastic material. The plastic material has a variety of advantages, not least that the forming of different shapes from plastic is quite straightforward, and the recyclable properties of plastic are improving with the general trend to avoid excessive waste in today's society. In particular, the aerosol container 1 may be made from Polybuthylenterephtalat, as this has certain advantageous properties for an aerosol container 1. The present discussion is not, however, explicitly limited to an aerosol container 1 made entirely out of plastic, or indeed partially out of plastic. It will be appreciated that some of the discussion presented herein is also applicable to a hybrid aerosol container 1, in which certain elements are made from a metal.
For the aerosol container 1 made out of plastic, it is important that the relevant safety requirements are met. Aerosol containers 1 are provided with a product to be dispensed as well as a propellant gas held under high pressure. When the aerosol is in use, the propellant is allowed to expand by opening a connection through to the product to be dispensed, and allowing an exit of some of the contents of the aerosol container 1. Evidently, it is necessary for the aerosol container 1 to withstand the high pressures, typically these are at least 12 bar or 1.2 M N/m², which is also affected by the ambient temperature. With a significant temperature increase the internal pressure of the aerosol container 1 also increases, and thus the aerosol container 1 must be designed to appropriately cope with such raised internal pressures.
As can be seen from figure 1, the aerosol container 1 comprises a body portion 10 and a valve portion 30. The body portion 10 is typically provided as the container for the propellant gas and product to be dispensed, and is to be sealed under the appropriate pressure to allow functioning of the aerosol. In the present disclosure, the body portion 10 is sealed by means of the valve portion 30 positioned on top of the body portion 10. The valve portion 30 comprises a valve unit 33 which can be used to actuate the aerosol and dispense the product contained therein. The valve unit 33 can be any known valve unit, and the present disclosure is not explicitly limited to the use of any particular one.
As can be appreciated in each of figures 1-3, the body portion 10 is to be sealed at the top by means of the valve portion 30. In the present disclosure, the valve portion 30 is so structured such that it can interact with the top edge 13 of the body portion 10 and create an appropriate seal. The examples shown in the figure indicate that the valve portion 30 may comprise a channel 31 on the underside thereof. The channel 31 can interact with the top edge 13 of the body portion 10, and appropriately seal the body portion 10 and the first cavity 11 therein. A variety of different techniques for sealing the body portion 10 with the valve portion 30 are possible, with these not being limited to any particular mechanism. The valve portion 30 may seal the body portion 10 by means of a frictional heat weld between the channel 31 and the top edge 13. It is further possible to friction fit the valve portion 30 to the body portion 10, or indeed to friction fit and glue or simply just glue these parts together. If the body portion 10 and valve portion 30 are to be friction welded together, it is advantageous if the aerosol container 1 has a circular cross section. If these two parts have a circular outline, the valve portion 30 and body portion 10 can be rotated around a central axis in order to generate the appropriate friction and friction weld there-between.
Within the body portion 10, as shown in figures 3-6, the first cavity 11 is accessible by means of the orifice 12. The orifice is provided at the top end of the body portion 10 and provides the means for filling the first cavity 11 with the product to be dispensed. The orifice 12 is shown as a large opening at the top of the body portion 10 surrounded by the top edge 13 of the sidewall of the first cavity 11. Obviously, the orifice 12 could be smaller thus leading to a smaller valve portion 30, or at least a channel 31 which is of a smaller diameter.
In order to protect the aerosol canister or container 1 from physical damage, it is possible to provide the body portion 10 with a protective skirt section 14. This skirt section 14 can comprise a variety of different designs, but is generally provided to protect, at the very least, the bottom 15 of the body portion 10, It is expected that the bottom 15 of the body portion 10 will likely receive the most physical knocks or stresses, in particular when the aerosol container 1 is used and then replaced on a surface, or dropped. In order to protect the first cavity 11 from such physical stress, the protective skirt section 14 provides an outer cover which stops direct contact to the outer surface of the first cavity 11. A further advantage of the body portion 10 being provided with the protective skirt section 14, is that this skirt section 14 can act as the base 16 upon which the aerosol container 1 will stand. Providing this separate base 16 such that the first cavity 11, and in particular the outer surface thereof, cannot be brought into physical contact with other items helps to secure the aerosol container 1 and stops physical knocks, and the like, from affecting the first cavity 11 and potentially leading to damage of the material making the body portion 10 and a possible crack or leak forming in the first cavity 11.
Figures 4-6 each show different potential designs for the protective skirt section 14. In both of figures 4 and 5, the body portion 10 is provided by a second wall 17. The second wall 17 advantageously extends from the top edge 13 of the body portion 10 down towards the bottom of the body portion 15 and thus then forms the base 16. As will be clear, the provision of the second wall 17 provides a gap between the outer surface of the aerosol container 1 and the outer wall of the first cavity 11. The size of the gap between the second wall 17 and outer side of the first cavity 11 can vary, but a gap which lies between around 2-7mm, preferably 3-6mm, further preferably 4-5mm, will provide an appropriate cushion to physical stresses acting on the side of the aerosol container 1. As will be readily understood, a force acting to the side of the second wall 17 in each of figures 4 and 5 will lead to the second wall 17 deforming, thus absorbing the force, and stopping this from acting on the outer surface of the first cavity 11.
Figure 5 also comprises a protective insert section 18 which is provided at the lower portion of the second wall 17. The insert section 18 is structured such that a second cavity 19 will be formed underneath the first cavity 11. In particular, the protective insert section 18 can be provided with its own secondary cavity 19 which generally matches the size and shape of the lower part of the first cavity 11. The design shown in figure 5 has both the second wall 17 to absorb sideways physical forces, as well as a protective base formed by the insert section 18. As is clear from figure 5, physical knocks provided to the lower portion of the aerosol container 1 will be appropriately absorbed by the gap between the insert section 18 and the lower part of the first cavity 11. It is also possible to provide the insert section 18 by means of a different plastic material which could have further advantageous properties, such as a thicker wall size or a more rigid plastic material, or the like.
Figure 6 shows a further possible mechanism of providing the protective skirt section 14. In this case, the aerosol container 1 is provided by a protective base portion 20. The base portion 20, can be structured in the same way as the protective insert section 18, but is intended to attach only to the lower portion of the first cavity 11. Again, a secondary cavity 19 is provided to stop physical shocks to the base portion 20 passing through to the lower surface of the first cavity 11, and to provide a stable base 16. In the design shown in figure 6, unlike that shown in figures 4 and 5, no secondary wall 17 is provided. It is assumed that most of the physical stress applied to the body portion 10 will arise from the lower parts of the aerosol container 1, and thus the protective base portion 20 shown in figure 6 protects the bottom of the first cavity 11, but does not necessarily protect the sides thereof. Indeed, in many situations the side walls of the first cavity 11 do not need separate protection by means of the second wall 17, and thus this can be removed.
The protective insert section 18 and protective base portion 20 can be friction fit or welded to the outer portion of the first cavity 11. Additionally, these sections could be glued to the body portion 10, as desired. Further, the insert section 18 in figure 5 could be fit between the outer surface of the first cavity 11 and the inner surface of the second wall 17, as it is clear that a gap exists therein, which can be used for fixing the insert section 18 to the aerosol container 1.
The above description is of a particular design of the body portion 10. The remaining description relates to aspects of the valve portion 30, and how this interacts with the body portion 10. It must be understood that the valve portion 30 comprises interesting and particular features, and that the valve portion does not need to be incorporated with the specific body portion 10 as described above. That is, the remaining disclosure of the valve portion 30 could simply be incorporated with a body portion 10 of an aerosol container 1 which comprises the first cavity 11, the orifice 12 and the top edge 13. In other words, the body portion 10 need not comprise the protective skirt section 14, and the like, and the valve portion 30 should not be construed as being necessarily limited for use with such a body portion as shown in the figures.
As described above, the valve portion 30 is intended to be fit to the top edge 13 of the body portion 10. The valve portion 30, as shown in the middle section of figure 3, comprises the valve mounting means 32 which are intended to hold the valve unit 33. In order to allow the valve unit 33 to appropriately interact with the valve portion 30, a hole 34 is preferably provided from the upper to the lower side of the valve portion 30. The valve mounting means 32 can be of any general construction, and may allow for a friction or clip in fit of the valve unit 33, preferably from the bottom such that the pressure within the aerosol container 1 acts to hold the valve unit 33 within the valve portion 30, or the valve unit 33 can be welded or glued in position.
In order to strengthen the valve portion 30, it is possible to provide this with a ridge 35 which extends generally downward and will be placed within the orifice 12 and first cavity 11 of the body portion 10. Structuring the valve portion 30 in this way allows for more material to be used and a shape to be constructed which will appropriately avoid deformation of the valve portion 30, when attached to the aerosol container 1 and under pressure. In forming the ridge 35 extending downward from the valve portion 30, a recess 36 will be formed in the upper surface extending downward. The recess 36 is a direct result of the forming of the downwardly extending ridge 35, and will typically have the inverse profile of the ridge 35.
Within the recess 36, it is possible to provide one or more ribs 37. The ribs 37 can be seen in figure 1, and extend generally across the extent of the recess 36. The ribs 37 are useful for appropriately strengthening the valve portion 30, and further to avoid the ridge 35 and recess 36 from being deformed when under high pressure. The ribs 37 can be provided in any orientation or design, although extending radially outward from the centre of the valve portion 30 is most desirable. Any number of ribs 37 can be chosen, although it is particularly advantageous to have 4, 6 or indeed 8 such ribs 37.
In addition to providing the ribs 37 within the recess 36 in order to strengthen the valve portion 30, the ridge 35 can be structured to further increase the general strength of the connection between the valve portion 30 and the body portion 10. If the downwardly extending ridge is provided with an outer wall 38 which generally matches the internal wall of the first cavity 11, when the valve portion 30 is placed within the orifice 12 of the body portion 10, the two surfaces will mate. As will then be understood, if the valve portion 30 is under high pressure and attempts to deform, the outer wall 38 of the ridge 35 will be pushed against the inner wall of the first cavity 11. This pressure will tend to stop the deformation of the valve portion 30, and will also ensure that a good tight connection between the valve portion 30 and body portion 10 is maintained.
Looking at the design in figures 1-3, it is clear that the valve portion 30 could also comprise a pressure receiving surface 39. Lying between the centre of the valve portion 30 and the bottom outer side of the ridge 35, is the pressure receiving surface 39. In the figures this is shown as generally of an inverted "V" shape, such that the upper inner surface of the ridge 35 is located towards the centre of the valve portion 30, and this extends downwardly and outwardly toward the lowest and most outward portion of the ridge 35. Clearly, pressure from within the aerosol container 1 will act against and on the pressure receiving surface 39 and will tend to act to push the ridge 35 outward. In combination with the ribs 37 and the outer wall 38 in contact with the first cavity 11 inner wall, the pressure receiving surface 39 will stop deformation of the valve portion 30 and ensure that the aerosol container 1 does not leak.
As is clear from the above, a variety of features relating to the body portion 10 and valve portion 30 have been described. The combination of features implied above is not intended to be in any way limiting, and indeed the above discussion that the valve portion 30 need not be connected with the specific body portion 10 shown in each of the figures, is to be understood. The aerosol container 1 as described above can be used in the geometry shown in figure 2, although the specific values shown are to be considered as potential mean values, and of course the aerosol container 1 could be provided as a full size container. Further, the use of plastics in the above description is advantageous as this improves the manufacturing, although it is not a requirement that the design be implemented in a plastic aerosol container 1. The specifics of the present disclosure are provided in the attached claims, wherein the subject matter of the claims 8, 9 and 11 are each to be considered both as independent as well as dependent from the subject matters of any previous claims.

Reference Numerals

1: Aerosol Container
10: Body Portion
11: First Cavity
12: Orifice
13: Top Edge
14: Protective Skirt Section
15: Bottom of Body Portion
16: Base
17: Second Wall
18: Protective Insert Section
19: Secondary Cavity
20: Protective Base Portion

30: Valve Portion
31: Channel
32: Valve Mounting Means
33: Valve Unit
34: Hole
35: Ridge
36: Recess
37: Ribs
38: Outer Wall of Ridge
39: Pressure Receiving Surface

Claims

An aerosol container (1) comprising a body portion (10) and a valve portion (30), wherein
the body portion (10) comprises a first cavity (11) for holding the propellant and the product to be dispensed, and an orifice (12) at the top edge (13) of the body portion (10) leading into the first cavity (11); and
the valve portion (30) is located above the body portion (10) and seals the orifice (12) at the top edge (13) of the first cavity (11) and is designed to be one of friction or heat welded, glued or friction fit in place; wherein
the body portion (10) is provided with a protective skirt section (14) which is located at the bottom (15) of the body portion (10) and which extends below the lowest point of the outer surface of the first cavity (11) to provide a base (16), wherein the skirt section (14) preferably extends all around the section of the body portion (10) making the first cavity (11).
The aerosol container (1) according to claim 1, wherein the skirt section (14) is structured as a second wall (17) which extends from the top edge (13) of the body portion (10) to the base (16), and which is spaced apart from the side wall making up the first cavity (11).
The aerosol container (1) according to claim 1, wherein the skirt section (14) is structured as a second wall (17) which extends from the top edge (13) of the body portion (10) toward the base (16), and which is spaced apart from the side wall making up the first cavity (11), wherein the skirt section (14) is further provided with a protective insert section (18) at the bottom of the second wall (17) which forms the base (16), wherein
the protective insert section (18) is preferably provided with a secondary cavity (19), which further preferably matches the shape of the lower portion of the first cavity (11) and which is spaced apart from, and extends below, the lower portion of the first cavity (11).
The aerosol container (1) according to claim 1, wherein the skirt section (14) is structured as a protective base portion (20) provided at the bottom of the outer side of the first cavity (11) which forms the base (16), wherein
the protective base portion (20) is preferably provided with a secondary cavity (19), which further preferably matches the shape of the lower portion of the first cavity (11) and which is spaced apart from, and extends below, the lower portion of the first cavity (11).
The aerosol container (1) according to any one of the previous claims, in particular claims 3 and 4, wherein the protective insert section (18) is designed to be friction fit between the secondary wall (17) and the outer wall of the first cavity (11), or the protective base portion (20) is designed to be friction fit around the lower portion of the outer wall of the first cavity (11).
The aerosol container (1) according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the valve portion (30) is provided with a channel (31) on the underside thereof for receiving the top edge (13) of the body portion (10).
The aerosol container (1) according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the valve portion (30) comprises a valve mounting means (32) for housing and/or affixing a valve unit (33) to the valve portion (30), wherein the valve mounting means (32) preferably further comprise a hole (34) passing therethrough to allow the out flow pipe of the valve unit (33) to pass through.
The aerosol container (1) according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the valve portion (30) is provided with a downwardly extending ridge (35) which lies between the outer edge of the valve portion (30) and the centre of the valve portion (30), wherein the upper side of the valve portion (30) thus defines a recess (36) which is the inverse of the extending ridge (35) and results from the ridge's formation, wherein preferably
at least a part of the inner facing wall or section of the ridge (35) defines valve mounting means (32).
The aerosol container (1) according to any one of the previous claims, in particular claim 8, wherein one or more ribs (37) are provided within the recess (36) which preferably extend radially outward across the recess (36) from the centre of the valve portion (30) and which strengthen valve portion (30) against deformations as a result of the internal pressure of the aerosol container (1).
The aerosol container (1) according to any one of the previous claims, in particular either of claims 8 or 9, wherein the downwardly extending ridge (35) has an outer wall (38) which mates with and/or matches the inner wall making up the first cavity (11), so as to avoid deformation of the valve portion (30) and strengthen the upper section of the aerosol container (1).
The aerosol container (1) according to any one of the previous claims, in particular any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein a pressure receiving surface (39) is provided as a part of the ridge (35) and which forms the inner side wall of the ridge (35) and is oriented toward the centre of the valve portion (30), wherein
the pressure receiving surface (39) extends outward and downward, with respect to the centre axis of the aerosol container (1) when attached, from around the centre region of the valve portion (30) to create a sloped surface, wherein the slope is so formed such that the internal pressure of the aerosol container (1) will act on the pressure receiving surface (39) and tend to try and deform the ridge(35) outward and into the wall of the body portion (10).
The aerosol container (1) according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the aerosol container (1) is made from a plastic material, preferably PBT.
The aerosol container (1) according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the aerosol container (1) is a mini aerosol container, and has a height of between x and y, and a diameter of between a and b.
The aerosol container (1) according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the aerosol container (1) contains propellant and dispensing product at a pressure of 12 bar, or more.