foam caps

LionstarCorp has developed an aerosol dispensing device for foam-based products such as shower and shaving gels which prevents the messy post-foaming which can occur after use.(note: insert full stop here). The product, a special 'foam cap' actuator, has been specifically developed for products ranging from shaving and shower gels to foodstuffs such as UHT creams.

The company has received substantial interest, particularly from personal care companies, and we hope to see the first commercial application later this year. The actuator is a bi-injection-moulded component (mouse over the image top to your left), with the base formed from a rigid plastic such as PP and the top section made from a flexible polymer, for instance PE.

Soft-touch plastics are now increasingly popular with personal care manufacturers thanks to their tactile and aesthetic properties and lend themselves especially well to use for the upper component. Personal care product manufacturers and producers of foam-based foodstuffs have complained for years about the problem of post-foaming, a phenomenon caused by exposure of the product to air where the consumer may be left with a messy residue of unwanted product around the actuator. Most of the attempts to solve the problem have been unsuccessful.

The current technology works in the following manner. Upward pressure on the foam within the aerosol forces the product up a vertical channel and then along a horizontal channel for dispensing, but these results are often imprecise.

Here at Lionstar a more innovative route has been taken by forming the top component, from a highly flexible plastic, enabling it to expand upwards when the consumer applies downward pressure, which in turn allows the product out. The plastic's elasticity means the top component then snaps firmly back into place on the base immediately the trigger is released, preventing both product 'glugging' around the top of the container and subsequent escape of excess foam/gels once the required volume has been dispensed. This has always been a widespread problem with existing aerosol foam dispensers.

Lyndhurst-based structural packaging design company Rodd Industrial Design (www.rodd.uk.com) provided extensive creative and technical support throughout the development.

innovative spray and pump technology

At lionstar's laboratories our technical staff have achieved outstanding results in the field of spray technology.

The lionstar technical team have gained a reputation in the field, having worked for some of the largest companies both in Europe and the USA.