BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the exterior of an aerosol container cap of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the interior of the aerosol container cap shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the cap shown in the previous Figures.
FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the cap shown in the previous Figures showing the direction of movement of the tabs when disengaging from an aerosol container.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the cap taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the cap taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 4.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the cap identical to FIG. 5 with the cap installed on an aerosol container.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the cap identical to FIG. 7 with a releasing force being applied to the center portion of the cap.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the cap identical to FIG. 7 after application of sufficient releasing force to cause the center portion of the cap to pass over-center through an intermediate unstable position shown in FIG. 8 to a stable release position.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An aerosol container cap 10 is shown in FIGS. 1 through 6 to have a top wall 12 with a peripheral edge 14. The peripheral edge 14 can be radially symmetric about and axis X. An outer skirt 16 depends from the peripheral edge 14. The outer skirt 16 can extend from the peripheral edge 14 generally parallel to axis X to a lowermost edge 18. The lowermost edge 18 can be situated in a plane parallel to the top wall 12 and perpendicular to the axis X. Thus, the outer skirt 16 can be in the form of a right circular cylinder that is symmetric about the axis X. The outer skirt 16 can have other shapes, not shown, that can be matched to the perimeter shape of a given aerosol container. The top wall 12 is shown to have a central portion 20 that is domed and a peripheral portion 22 extending outward to the peripheral edge 14. The central portion 20 and the peripheral portion 22 are shown to be joined to each other by a connecting portion 24. The connecting portion 24 is shown in particular in FIGS. 5 and 6 to define a surface which is not coplanar with the peripheral portion 22.
The cap 10 also has an inner skirt 26 that can depend generally parallel to axis x from the top wall 12 within the outer skirt 16. The inner skirt 26 is shown to consist of a plurality of independent segments 28 and 30. Outwardly extending webs 32 connect the segments 28 of the inner skirt to the outer skirt 16. The outwardly extending webs 32 are shown to connect to the lateral edges 34 and 36 of the segments 28, but the webs 32 could be positioned at other locations between the segment 28 and the outer skirt 16. Further, while the illustrated cap 10 has two webs 32 connected to each segment 28, only one or more than two webs 32 are also contemplated. Additionally, the webs 32 are illustrated to have a lower edge 38 that is coplanar with the lower edge 40 of the inner skirt segments 28, but the web lower edge 38 could be positioned above the illustrated position, and could be inclined or curved upwardly or downwardly from the segment 28. The webs 32 stabilize the position of the inner skirt segments 28 with respect to the outer skirt 16. Inwardly extending webs 42 connect the segments 30 to the top wall central portion 20. The segments 30 include inwardly projecting tangs 44. The tangs 44 are generally situated at the lower edge 46 of the inner skirt segments 30. Unlike the inner skirt segments 28, the lower edge 46 of the inner skirt segments 30 are able to move outwardly in the direction of arrows A seen in FIG. 4.
FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of a typical prior art aerosol container 50 on which the cap 10 of the present invention can be installed. The container 50 has a side wall 52 and an upper wall 54 joined to the side wall 50 at an upstanding rim 56. The upper wall 54 is commonly upwardly domed in shape. A dispensing valve 58 is typically secured to a central portion 60 of the upper wall 54. A nozzle 62 is coupled to the dispensing valve 58 to permit controlled release of the contents of the container 50. An outwardly protruding rim 64 typically surrounds the dispensing valve 58. The rim 64 is typically underscored by an inward radial recess 66. However, the diameter of the dispensing valve 58 and rim 64 and the depth of the inward radial recess 66 can be subject to some significant variation.
A cap 10 of suitable dimension can be installed on an aerosol container 50 as shown in FIG. 7. The length and diameter of the outer skirt 16 can be selected so that the lowermost edge 18 can be situated within the upstanding rim 56 of the container 50. The length of the skirt can be such that the lowermost edge 18 abuts the upper wall 54 of the container 50. The inner skirt 26 can have a length such that the bottom edges 40 of segments 28 are situated adjacent to the upper wall 54 of the container 50. The geometry of the upper wall 54 of the container 50 can be such that the bottom edges 40 of the segments 28 abut the upper wall 58. The size of the inner skirt 26 can be selected so that the inwardly projecting tangs 44 on the bottom edge 46 of the flexible segments 30 of the inner skirt 26 engage the inward radial recess 66 surrounding the dispensing valve 58 to secure the cap 10 to the container 50. The engagement of a plurality of the inwardly projecting tangs 44 in the inward radial recess 66 assures stable retention of the cap 10 on the container 50. The flexibility of the segments 30 and the size of the inwardly projecting tangs 44 allows the cap 10 to tolerate some range of variation in dimension of the container dispensing valve 58 that can arise due to normal variations in specifications from one container manufacturer to the next.
To remove the cap 10 from the container 50, a downward force F is applied to the central portion 20 of the top wall 12 for example as shown in FIG. 8. The downward force can cause the center of the central portion 20 to move downward, which also causes the inner ends of inwardly extending webs 42 to move downward. This downward motion causes a rotation or pivoting of the webs 42 and corresponding segments 30 about the connecting portion 24 of the cap 10. If the downward force is sufficient, the movement of the segments 30 can be sufficient to move the inwardly projecting tangs 44 out of the inward radial recess 66 so that the cap 10 can be lifted vertically away from the container 50 to expose the dispensing valve 58. The downward force necessary to remove the cap 10 is generally sufficiently modest that the outward displacement of the inner skirt segments 30 carrying the inwardly projecting tangs 44, thereby allowing the cap 10 to be removed from the aerosol dispensing container 50, can be achieved without deforming the top wall peripheral portion 22 or the outer skirt 16.
The top wall central portion 20 can have two stable positions. In a first position, shown in FIG. 7, the top wall central portion 20 is upwardly domed and the inner skirt segments 30 having the inwardly projecting tangs 44 are positioned to retain the cap 10 on the container 50. In a second position, shown in FIG. 9, the top wall central portion 20 is downwardly domed and the inner skirt segments 30 having the inwardly projecting tangs 44 are situated so that the cap is no longer retained on the container by the tangs 44. The top wall central portion 20 can be moved from the first stable position, shown in FIG. 7, by a downward force of sufficient magnitude to cause the top wall central portion 20 to move through an intermediate instable position, shown in FIG. 8, “over center” to the second stable position, shown in FIG. 9. This downward movement of the top wall central portion 20 can be accompanied by an audible “pop” indicating that the inner skirt segments 30 having the inwardly projecting tangs 44 have moved away from the inward radial recess 66 surrounding the container valve 64, thereby allowing the cap 10 to be removed from the aerosol dispensing container 50.
While these features have been disclosed in connection with the illustrated preferred embodiment, other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art that come within the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.
Patent Application
20080067182
