Patent Grant
7152763
The invention relates generally to containers used to dispense fluids and other substances, such as foodstuffs (for example, ketchup) or cosmetics. More particularly, the invention relates to a closure for a squeeze-type container wherein contents can be discharged from the container through a self-closing valve.
Many different configurations of self-sealing valves for use with squeeze-type containers are known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,940 (Manning et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,504 (Socier) both disclose a self-sealing valve mechanically retained in a closure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,566 (Mueller) discloses a self-sealing valve bonded by a molding process to a closure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,443 (Hins) discloses a valve bonded to a base, the valve/base combination in turn being retained against a container neck by a fastening element. U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,324 (Baudin) discloses a valve bonded directly to a container. U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,006 (Drobish et al.) discloses several embodiments of a self-sealing valve mechanically retained by a closure against a bottle neck. In each of these inventions, the valve or the combination of the valve and the component to which it is attached for subsequent engagement with a container must be designed for a specific container configuration.
It is an object of the invention to provide a self-sealing valve and adapter assembly which is inexpensively manufactured and is readily adaptable for use with containers having a wide variety of configurations.
In a first aspect, the invention is a closure for use with a container having a container neck. The closure includes an adapter formed from a first thermoplastic material. The adapter preferably has a cylindrical shell defining a passage through the adapter and a first end and a second end. At least one adapter connector is proximate the first end. An attachment surface is proximate the second end. The closure further includes a valve formed from a second thermoplastic material. The valve has a flexible central portion having at least one opening. The aperture flexes between a normally closed position and an open position when a predetermined force is applied to the central portion at the aperture. The valve includes an outer peripheral portion molded to the adapter at the attachment surface to form an adapter and valve assembly.
The closure may also include a base having a top including a periphery. A skirt depends from the periphery of the top. An opening is provided within the base. At least one base connector is sized and shaped to engage the at least one adapter connector. The adapter and valve assembly is directly connectable to the base by engagement of the adapter connector with the base connector.
The closure is connectable to the container neck in a conventional manner, such as by threads or inter-engaging snap elements, or the closure may be permanently affixed to the container neck.
Preferably, the first thermoplastic material is a polyolefin such as polypropylene and the second thermoplastic material is a thermoplastic elastomer.
The closure preferably further includes a lid hingedly attached to the base for rotation or pivoting between an open position and a closed position. The lid may include a protrusion sized, shaped and positioned on an interior side of a top of the lid to prevent the aperture from opening when the lid is in the closed position.
The valve may further include a pleated portion disposed between the central portion and the outer peripheral portion. Various styles of connectors may be used to form the adapter and base connectors, including hook-like connectors, inter-engaging bead-like protrusions and recesses, inter-engaging parts having an interference fit, or connectors which are interlocking corrugations.
In a second aspect, the invention includes a method of assembling a closure to a container having a neck. The closure includes an adapter formed from a first thermoplastic material. The adapter has an attachment surface. The closure further includes a valve formed from a second thermoplastic material. The valve has an outer peripheral portion molded to the adapter at the attachment surface to form an adapter and valve assembly. The closure further includes a base connectable to the container and to the adapter and valve assembly. The method includes the steps of: forming the adapter and valve assembly by a multi-material injection molding process; directly connecting the adapter and valve assembly to the base to form the closure; and connecting the closure to the container neck.
The basic aspects of the present invention may be combined in a number of forms. The preferred aspects of the various constructions may be used in conjunction with one another or used alone. The various features provide certain advantages over the prior art. These advantages will be described herein and will be understood by those skilled in the art upon reviewing the description and drawings.
For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings forms of the invention which are presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:
As used herein, the term “multi-material molding” means any conventional molding process in which two or more materials are injected simultaneously or in sequence into a single mold during a single molding cycle. Multi-material molding is intended to include co-injection molding, bi-injection molding, two-shot molding and insert molding techniques well known to those of ordinary skill in the art of injection molding.
Referring to the drawings, and initially to
The container 10 is preferably squeezable with at least one flexible wall capable of being manually deformed to compress the contents therein and increase the pressure within the container to force the contents out of the container.
The closure 20 is an assembly of a base 30, an adapter 60 and a valve 80. In a first preferred embodiment, the base 30 includes a top 32 having an outer periphery. An opening 34 is formed in the top 32, the opening 34 being surrounded by a lip 36. As discussed further below, in this embodiment, the lip 36 is sized and shaped to be engaged by an adapter connector 70, and thus the lip 36 serves as a base connector 38. A base skirt 40 depends from the outer periphery, generally perpendicular to the top 32. A base helical internal thread 42 may be provided on an interior surface of the base skirt 40, allowing the base 30 to be connected to the container neck 12 by threaded engagement of the internal thread 42 with the external thread 16. While threads are shown in the figures, those skilled in the art would readily appreciate that many other conventional attachments may be used for a engaging the base with the container neck.
The base 30 further preferably includes a lid 44 hingedly attached to the base 30 by a hinge 46. The hinge permits that lid 44 to rotate or pivot between an open position 44a and a closed position 44b. The lid 44 includes a lid top 48 having a periphery, and a lid skirt 50 extending from the lid top 48. Preferably, the lid 44 includes a protrusion 52 on an interior side of the top 48 of the lid. The protrusion 52 is preferably sized, shaped and positioned to prevent a valve aperture 86 from opening when the lid 44 is in the closed position 44b.
The base 30, including the lid 44, is preferably fabricated using conventional thermoplastic materials such as polyolefins, including polypropylene, and using conventional fabrication techniques, such as injection molding, well known to those of ordinary skill in the art of bottle closures.
The adapter 60 is formed from a first thermoplastic material, preferably a polyolefin material such as polypropylene. The adapter 60 includes a shell or housing 62, which is preferably cylindrical in shape and which defines a passage 64 through the adapter. The adapter 60 has a first end 66 and a second end 68. At least one adapter connector 70 is provided proximate the first end 66. In a first preferred embodiment, the adapter connector 70 is a hook element that engages and latches with the base connector 38 to connect the adapter 60 to the base 30. The adapter 60 further includes a valve attachment surface 72. It is along this surface 72 that the valve 80 is connected to the adapter 60. As should be readily apparent in view of this disclosure, numerous variations are possible for forming the inter-engaging base and adapter connectors 38, 70, as well as the valve attachment surface 72.
The valve 80 is formed from a second thermoplastic material, preferably a thermoplastic elastomer. The valve 80 has a resiliently flexible central portion 82 provided with at least one opening 84 forming an aperture 86. The aperture 86 has a closed position 86a and an open position 86b. The resiliency of the flexible central portion 82 biases the aperture 86 into the closed position 86a. Upon application of a predetermined pressure to the central portion 82 near the aperture 86, the central portion 82 flexes from a retracted position 82a into an extended position 82b, such that the aperture 86 moves to the open position 86b. When the pressure applied to the central portion 82 decreases below the predetermined level, the resilient nature of the aperture 86 biases it back to the closed position 86a. Preferably, at least the central portion 82 of the valve 80 has a substantially uniform wall thickness.
The valve 80 includes an outer peripheral portion 88. The valve outer peripheral portion 88 is molded to the adapter 60 at the attachment surface 72 thereby bonding the valve 80 to the adapter 60 to form an adapter and valve assembly. A pleated portion 90, forming a bellows-like fold, may be provided to allow increased flexure of the central portion 82. The pleated portion 90 acts to bias the central portion 82 into the retracted position 82a.
In one preferred embodiment, the adapter and valve assembly of the closure 20 are formed by a multi-material molding process. In summary, this process entails sequentially injecting first and second thermoplastic materials into a single mold such that the adapter 60 is formed from the first thermoplastic material, the valve 80 is formed from the second thermoplastic material and a physical bond between the adapter 60 and valve 80 is formed during the molding process, eliminating the need for any subsequent assembly using adhesive or other types of fasteners to join the adapter 60 to the valve 80. It has been found to be advantageous to form valve 80 using a so-called “center-gated” molding technique, whereby the valve 80 material is injected into the mold through a port which is centrally and symmetrically positioned relative to the valve body. Using this center-gated approach, it is found that non-symmetric residual stresses that might otherwise occur are eliminated or minimized, thus enhancing performance of the valve 80.
After the adapter and valve assembly are integrally formed, the assembly is connected to the base to form the closure 20. As discussed above, the connection is made by engagement of the adapter connector 70 with the base connector 38. As discussed below, numerous embodiments of the adapter connector and base connector are possible. Preferably the connection is one that is performed in a manner that prevents subsequent disconnection. Also, it is preferred that the connection be a snap connection wherein the assembly is snapped downward on, onto or into engagement with the base, thus forming the complete closure.
After the closure is formed, it is connected to the container neck, for example, by screwing the closure 20 onto the container neck 12 (for containers 10 having a conventional threaded design), snapping the closure 20 onto the container neck 12 (for containers having a conventional snap-on design), or by permanently affixing the closure 20 to the container neck 12.
Upon assembly of the closure 20 to the container 10, the adapter 60 does not interface directly with the container neck 12. That is, the valve and adapter assembly, when incorporated into the closure 20 and installed on the container 10, is separated from the container 10 by the base 30. In this manner, as the valve and adapter assembly does not directly connect or otherwise directly interface with the container, the design of the valve and adapter assembly is generally independent of the design of the container, and a single valve and adapter assembly design may be adapted for use with different types of containers.
In use, the lid 44 is placed in the open position 44a and the container 10 is squeezed, pressurizing and forcing contents of the container 10 against an interior side of the valve central portion 82. When the pressure within the container exceeds the predetermined level necessary to open the aperture 86, contents of the container 10 are dispensed. When the pressure within the container 10 falls below the predetermined level, the aperture 86 moves back to the closed position 86a. After use, the lid 44 is rotated back into the closed position 44b. As discussed above, the lid preferably includes a lid protrusion 52 formed on the lid that moves with the remainder of the lid 44, into a position adjacent to the aperture 86. The lid protrusion 52 blocks the aperture 86 so as to prevent or inhibit the valve central portion 82 from flexing and/or rotating open. Thus, the lid protrusion 52 operates to prevent discharge of the container contents should the container 10 be squeezed when the lid 44 is in the closed position 44b.
From this disclosure, those skilled in the art will recognize that it is possible to omit the base 30 from the closure 20, and design a container 10 having a neck 12 provided with a connector corresponding to the base connector 38, adapted to engage the adapter connector 70, thus allowing the valve and adapter assembly to be mounted directly to the container 10.
With reference now to
A second embodiment base 130, adapter 160 and valve 180 are illustrated in
A third embodiment base 230, adapter 260 and valve 280 are illustrated in
A fourth embodiment base 330, adapter 360 and valve 380 are illustrated in
A fifth embodiment base 430, adapter 460 and valve 480 are illustrated in
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification, as indicating the scope of the invention.
Although distinct embodiments have been described, those skilled in the art will understand how features from different embodiments may be combined.
Furthermore, while the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto, without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
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