Patent Grant
6889876
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to dispenser caps for dispensing liquid or other fluid material, and more particularly relates to a dispenser cap assembly which is fitted onto a container and which selectively seals in the contents of the container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dispensing caps for containers used in the food, beverage, personal care and cosmetics industries are well known to be structured such that they may be removed from their respective containers by a user applying a quarter-turn rotational force. This allows the user to quickly dispense the contents of the container without the need and time required to untwist the cap with multiple, 360° rotations of the cap with respect to the container on which it is seated.
A problem with all dispenser caps, and more particularly with those which require only a quarter turn to be removed from their respective containers, is to ensure that the contents of the container are sealed by the cap prior to their being dispensed. Many dispenser caps have threads cooperatingly engaging corresponding threads on the mouth or neck of the container for releasably mounting the caps on the containers. Very often, such cooperating threads on the cap and container are relied upon to seal the contents of the container prior to their being dispensed. Because quarter-turn dispenser caps have limited engagement with the threads of the container, there is the possibility that they do not provide a sufficient seal, and inadvertent leakage of the contents of the containers on which the dispenser caps are mounted may occur.
In each of the aforementioned industries, and in particular the personal care and cosmetics industries, the appearance (e.g., shape and color) and other aesthetics of the cap and container are of utmost importance and contribute to the marketability of the product. The color of the cap and container is an important factor in this regard. In the highly competitive and crowded cosmetics and personal care fields, a consumer may be influenced to purchase one product over another based solely on the color of the container.
Also, manufacturers very often offer variations of their products, with such variations denoted by different product container colors. For example, a manufacturer's shampoo for oily hair may be denoted by a red container, while a shampoo for dry hair may be sold in a brown container, with all other aspects of the container, such as shape, style or function, remaining common for that product (e.g., shampoo).
Furthermore, many manufacturers prefer to have their products standing vertically, that is, either upright on a shelf by resting on the bottom of the container, or upside down by resting on the cap mounted on the container. Shelf space, not only in a retail store but also in a consumer's home, is limited, and very often vertically disposed containers take up less space. Containers which rest upside down on their caps must be sufficiently stable so that they do not inadvertently, and annoyingly, tip over. For containers disposed upside down, the cap must provide the necessary stability and support, and particularly must ensure that the product held in the container does not inadvertently leak out.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispenser cap for a container which ensures that the contents of the container will not inadvertently leak out.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dispenser cap for a container that dispenses the contents of the container through the center of the cap.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a center dispenser cap assembly for a container which is structured to allow the product to be dispensed from the center thereof and to permit the container on which it is mounted to rest vertically upside down on the cap.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a dispenser cap assembly in which the perceivable color of the cap may be easily and cost effectively changed by the manufacturer.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a dispenser cap which overcomes the inherent disadvantages of conventional dispenser caps.
In accordance with one form of the present invention, a dispenser cap assembly for mounting on a container having an opening formed therein includes an outer shell, an inner sleeve received by the outer shell and a plug structure received by the opening of the container and the inner sleeve and cooperating with the inner sleeve to selectively allow egress of the contents of the container through the inner sleeve and outer shell. Preferably, the outer shell is at least partially transparent so that the inner sleeve, which may be colored or have a design or writing on an exposed sidewall thereof, is viewable therethrough.
The plug structure preferably includes an outer sidewall, an inner closed plug disposed radially inwardly of the outer sidewall and at least one rib extending between the outer sidewall of the plug structure and the inner closed plug to support the plug in a spaced apart relationship to the outer sidewall. The outer sidewall of the plug structure and the inner closed plug thus define therebetween an open area to allow egress of the contents of the container to pass therethrough. The inner closed plug is selectively in contact with the edge of an opening formed in a top wall of the inner sleeve to selectively allow egress of the contents of the container to pass through the opening in the top wall of the inner sleeve.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The preferred structure of the inner sleeve 3 is shown in
Surrounding the opening 28 is an upstanding boss 30 in which opening 28 is formed, which boss has a protruding peripheral rim 32 which, as will be described in greater detail, is received by an opening formed in the outer shell 4.
The inner sleeve 3 also includes at least one but preferably three flanges 31 spaced apart 120 degrees about the peripheral lower edge of outer sidewall 26 and extending radially outwardly from the outer surface of outer sidewall 26 over a portion of the periphery, each flange thereby forming an arc of a predetermined circumferential distance.
The middle sidewall 24 is circumferentially ramped in the axial direction of the inner sleeve 3. More specifically, the middle wall 24 is cut to form two diametrically opposed ramps 33 which extend over about a 90 degree arc about the circumference of the middle wall 24. The end of each ramp 33 thus forms a shoulder 34 with a strengthening rib 36 protruding slightly radially from the outer surface of middle wall 24 and axially along the diametrically opposed shoulders 34. The ramps 33 start from the free end of the middle wall 24 opposite each other at point A shown in FIG. 7 and extend in a ramping fashion to extend the overall length of middle wall 24 until it reaches a flat surface 37, which acts as the farthest projection of middle wall 24 before it terminates in shoulder 34 and rib 36.
The outer shell 4 is shown in the several views of
Preferably at least one, but more preferably three, partial cutouts 46 are formed in the inner surface of sidewall 42 of outer shell 4 over a portion of the circumference of the outer wall 42 and spaced apart 120 degrees from each other. These partial cutouts 46 define an arc which has a circumferential length that is equal to or slightly larger than the length of flanges 31 formed on the inner sleeve 3 so that the flanges 31 may be received by the partial cutouts 46. A rib 48 extends radially inwardly from each partial cutout 46, and is spaced apart from a bottom shoulder at least partially defining cutout 46 so as to capture between the shoulder 50 and the rib 48 the flanges 31 of the inner sleeve 3 when the inner sleeve 3 is received by outer shell 4. Thus, inwardly protruding rib 48 and shoulder 50 of each partial cutout 46 capture the flange 31 between them and secure the inner sleeve 3 inside outer shell 4 when inner sleeve 3 is press fitted into outer shell 4.
Opening 44 formed in the top wall 40 of outer shell 4 is dimensioned in diameter to closely receive boss 30 which is preferably also held in place through the interaction of rim 32 with the inner edge of top wall 40 defining the opening 44.
The concavity of the top wall 40 of the outer shell 4 is provided to allow the bottle 1 with the cap subassembly affixed thereto to rest upside down on the cap subassembly without tipping over. In other words, the concavity recesses the boss 30 of the inner sleeve 3, which extends partially through opening 40 in the outer shell 4 when the inner sleeve 3 is assembled with shell 4, below the level of the outer peripheral edge of outer shell 4 so that the boss 30 does not interfere with the stability of the bottle and cap subassembly when the bottle rests upside down on a surface. The concavity in the top wall 20 of the inner sleeve 3 closely matches that of the top wall 40 of the outer shell 4.
The plug structure 2 is shown in
The outer wall 60 of plug structure 2 includes a widened mouth portion 66 near its upper portion and has a radially extending shoulder 68. The radially enlarged upper mouth portion 66 is provided so that plug structure 2 may be closely received and retained by, and press fitted into, the opening of threaded neck 13 of container 1, with shoulder 68 resting on the exposed upper edge of threaded neck 13. Another advantage of having a plug structure 2 with this particular outer shape is that the smaller diameter lower portion defined by outer wall 60 helps in self-centering the plug structure in the bottle opening 6, thus facilitating an automated machine to locate the bottle opening and drop the plug structure in place in the opening, and then apply pressure to seat the enlarged upper mouth portion 66 in the bottle opening 6, with shoulder 68 abutting the edge of the bottle neck defining the opening.
The plug 62 has basically a truncated conical shape with an inwardly tapered circumferential sidewall 70 which converges into a closed plug top 72. The particular diameter and angle of the wall 70 of plug 62 and size of plug top 72 are such that it is closely received by opening 28 formed on inner sleeve 3. It should be noted that opening 28 may also have a slight taper to it to conform to the taper of sidewall 70 of plug 62. Also, it should be noted that plug 62 includes a beveled edge 74 where sidewall 70 meets plug top 72. This beveled edge 74 will allow more of the contents of bottle 1 to flow between sidewall 70 of plug 62 and opening 28 of inner sleeve 3, depending on whether the cap subassembly is in a loosened position on bottle 1, or in a tightened position.
As shown in
The overall dimensions of the outer shell 4 and the inner sleeve 3 are such so as to allow the inner sleeve to be closely received by the outer shell and also to allow about a {fraction (15/1000)}th of an inch space between the outer surface of the inner sleeve 3 and the inner surface of the outer shell 4. This spacing is to avoid the occurrence of a phenomenon referred to as “wetting”. When a clear plastic material, such as what preferably forms the outer shell 4, contacts a plastic material having a darker colored surface, such as what preferably forms the inner sleeve 3, a visual defect occurs over the area where the two surfaces touch, that is, the colored surface will appear darker. To prevent this, the inner sleeve 3 is “suspended” in the outer shell 4 so that the facing surfaces of their respective top walls and outer sidewalls are spaced apart slightly from each other.
Returning again to
When the cap subassembly is fully screwed onto the threaded neck of bottle 1, the plug 62 extends through opening 28 of inner sleeve 3 and seals the opening so that the contents of bottle 1 may not flow therethrough. To allow the contents of the bottle to be dispensed, the cap subassembly (inner sleeve 3 and outer shell 4) are turned in a loosening direction (preferably counter-clockwise, looking down on the top of the cap subassembly) one-quarter turn until each shoulder 34 on inner sleeve 3 abuts against a cooperating edge stop 90 formed on bottle neck 13. By loosening the cap subassembly one-quarter turn, the cap assembly rises on threaded neck 13 in a axially direction with respect to bottle 1, which causes the plug 62 and boss 30 of inner sleeve 3 to separate and allow space between plug 62 and the inner edge wall defining the opening 28, which allows the contents of the bottle to flow through opening 28. In other words, by unscrewing the cap subassembly slightly (one-quarter turn), the cap subassembly rises on threaded neck 13, and now plug 72 is no longer closely received by opening 28. One-quarter turn in the tightening direction (preferably the clockwise direction, looking down on the top of the cap subassembly) will lower the cap assembly onto plug 62, closing opening 28.
With the structure of the present invention, there are three primary sealing areas that prevent the contents of bottle 1 from being inadvertently dispensed. This is shown in
As may be seen from the foregoing description, the dispenser cap of the present invention has many desirable features. For example, the colored inner sleeve and the clear outer shell allow the manufacturer to easily select the color of the cap by merely choosing a desired colored inner sleeve to be received by the clear outer shell.
The dispenser cap of the present invention also provides sufficient stability to the container on which it is mounted to allow the container to rest vertically, upside down on the cap. For flowable container contents having a high viscosity, this is especially useful, as the contents will have settled by gravity toward the cap and be immediately available to the user for dispensing. Also, the dispenser cap of the present invention provides such stability for upside down support for the container, even thought the cap dispenses the container contents through its center. In other words, the particular cooperating structure of the outer shell, inner sleeve and plug provides for the dispensing of the container contents through the center of the cap without interfering with the ability of the cap to support the container on which it is mounted vertically, upside down, when not in use.
Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.
This application is based on U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/388,116, filed on Jun. 11, 2002, and entitled “Center Dispenser Cap Assembly”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5004127 | Morel | Apr 1991 | A |
| 5161718 | Gueret | Nov 1992 | A |
| 6338425 | Berge et al. | Jan 2002 | B1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20040004095 A1 | Jan 2004 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60388116 | Jun 2002 | US |
