Patent Application
20070045356
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a container closure for a container that is inverted and/or manually squeezed to dispense the contents of the container through an orifice of the closure. Specifically, the present invention pertains to a closure that is removably attachable to the container and comprises a dispensing orifice and a valve element that is biased closed over the orifice. By inverting the container so that a liquid contents of the container exerts pressure on the valve element, or by squeezing the container causing the liquid contents to exert pressure on the valve element, the valve element opens the dispensing orifice allowing the liquid contents to be dispensed from the container. On removing the pressure from the valve element, the valve element resiliently closes the dispensing orifice.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Containers that are inverted and/or squeezed to dispense the liquid contents of the container are employed in dispensing a wide variety of products. Dispensers of this type are commonly used in dispensing household products, for example food condiments such as ketchup, mustard, and pancake syrup, and are also used in dispensing other products such as liquid soaps and glues. The container is typically flexible and resilient, which allows the container to be manually squeezed to exert a pressure on the contents of the container that forces a portion of the contents through a dispensing orifice of the container.
In order to keep the contents of the container fresh in the case of food condiments, or to keep the contents from drying out in the case of soap or glue, the container dispensing orifice is often provided with a closure. A simple example of a prior art closure is a cap that is screw threaded on a threaded neck of the container. Another example is a cap that is snapped onto the container covering over a dispensing spout. Each of these basic types of prior art closures are disadvantaged in that they require some manual movement of the cap to close the container dispensing orifice. When screw threading the cap on the container, it is possible to not completely screw thread the cap on the container. This could result in the cap falling off of the container, or could result in an incomplete seal of the container dispensing orifice. In a like manner, in snapping the cap on the container, it is possible for the cap to not be properly attached to the container. This also could result in the cap falling off of the container, or the cap not sealing the container dispensing orifice. In both situations, the container dispensing orifice is left unsealed, which could result in the spoiling of the container contents or the drying out of the container contents.
The container closure of the present invention overcomes the above described disadvantages associated with prior art container closures by providing a closure that automatically opens when the container is inverted and/or manually squeezed, and automatically closes when the container is positioned uprightly and there is no squeezing pressure on the container.
The container closure of the invention has a simple construction that is comprised of three component parts. Each of the component parts is constructed of a plastic, with the plastic of one of the component parts being more flexible and more resilient than the plastic of the other component parts. The three component parts of the container closure include a base, a valve retainer, and a valve element.
The closure base is constructed similar to a typical cap that is screw threaded on the screw threaded neck of a container. The base has a generally cylindrical configuration with a cylindrical side wall and a circular exterior surface and a circular interior surface at opposite ends of the side wall. A dispensing orifice extends through the base between the interior and exterior surfaces. A cylindrical cavity is recessed into the base interior surface. A cylindrical wall on the base interior surface surrounds the cavity. A portion of the wall has internal screw threading that removable attaches the closure onto the external screw threading that surrounds an opening of a complementary container. The cylindrical wall also surrounds and is concentric with the dispensing orifice of the base. Thus, attaching the base interior surface to the container aligns the base orifice with the container opening.
A lid is attached to the base by a living hinge. The hinge allows the lid to be moved between a closed position where the lid is positioned over the base exterior surface and over the dispensing orifice, and an opened position where the lid is displaced from the base exterior surface and the dispensing orifice.
The valve retainer has a cylindrical peripheral surface that engages with the cylindrical interior wall of the base in attaching the valve retainer to the base. At least one fluid passage hole extends through the valve retainer. The hole is positioned inwardly from the valve retainer peripheral surface.
The valve element is mounted on the valve retainer in a position between the base interior surface and the valve retainer. The valve element is circular and has a dome shape with opposite convex and concave surfaces. The convex surface of the valve element opposes the base interior surface and the orifice, and the concave surface of the valve element opposes the valve retainer. An outer annular flange of the valve element is attached to the valve retainer. The valve element flange has at least one hole that aligns with the hole through the valve retainer. The attachment of the valve element annular flange on the valve retainer positions a central portion of the valve element convex surface in engagement over the dispensing orifice.
The resiliency and flexibility of the valve element allows the valve element to move between closed and opened positions relative to the base and the valve retainer. The resiliency of the valve element biases the valve element to the closed position where the convex surface of the valve element engages over and closes the dispensing orifice. When the container closure is attached to a liquid container and the pressure of the liquid in the container is increased, for example by inverting the container and/or squeezing the container, the liquid flows through the retainer hole to the valve element convex surface and the pressure of the liquid causes the valve element to flex away from the dispensing orifice and opens the orifice.
Further features of the invention are set forth in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and in the drawing figures wherein:
The container closure of the invention has a simplified, inexpensive construction that is comprised of only three component parts. The closure is designed to be removably attachable to a container by being screw threaded on a threaded neck of the container that surrounds the dispensing opening of the container. Alternatively, the closure could be snap fit to the container over the container dispenser opening, or attached to the container by some other method, for example by a bayonet fitment. Although a screw threaded connector will be described on the container closure, the container closure should not be interpreted as being limited to this particular type of connector.
As stated earlier, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, each of the component parts of the container closure is constructed of a plastic material. The three basic component parts of the container closure include a closure base 12, a valve retainer 14, and a valve element 16. The plastic material of the valve element 16 is more flexible and more resilient than the plastic material of the base 12 and valve retainer 14.
The closure base 12 has a similar construction to a typical cap that is screw threaded on the screw threaded neck of a container. The base 12 has a generally cylindrical configuration with a cylindrical side wall 22 and a generally circular exterior surface 24 and a generally circular interior surface 26 at the opposite ends of the side wall. The interior surface 26 is designed to be removably attachable to a separate liquid container over the dispensing opening of the container. To accomplish this, a cylindrical wall 28 having a center axis 32 is formed on the base interior surface 26. The cylindrical wall 28 surrounds a cavity 34 that extends upwardly through the base and communicates with a dispensing orifice 36 of the base. The cylindrical wall 28 has a first portion 38 that is provided with internal screw threading 42. The screw threading 42 is designed to removably attach the container closure base 12 to a separate liquid container. The cylindrical wall interior also has a second portion 44 that is provided with an internal annular groove 46 that is designed to enable attachment of the valve retainer 14 to the base 12, as will be explained. A conical, annular surface 48 is provided at the end of the cavity 34. The conical, annular surface 48 surrounds the dispensing orifice 36.
The base exterior surface 24 has a flat, annular portion 52 that extends inwardly from the base side wall 22 toward the dispensing orifice 36. As the flat annular surface 52 extends toward the orifice 36 it merges into an annular conical portion 54 of the exterior surface 24. This conical portion 54 of the surface extends outwardly from the flat annular surface portion 52 to an annular lip 56 that surrounds the dispenser orifice 36.
A lid 62 is connected to the base 12 by an integral, living hinge 64. In alternate embodiments of the invention, the lid 62 could be separate from the base 12. The lid 62 has a cylindrical side wall 66 that is connected to the hinge 64. A circular wall 68 of the lid extends inwardly from the side wall 66 toward a center, cylindrical protrusion 72 on the lid. The hinge 64 allows the lid 62 to move between a closed position over the dispensing orifice 36 shown in
The valve retainer 14 has a cylindrical wall 74 with a peripheral surface portion 76 that is dimensioned to engage inside the second portion 44 of the base cylindrical wall 28 in attaching the valve retainer 14 to the base 12. An annular rib 78 is provided on the valve retainer wall 74. The rib 78 engages in the annular groove 46 of the base cylindrical wall 28 in securely attaching the valve retainer 14 to the base 12. A flat, circular platform 82 extends across the valve retainer cylindrical wall 74. A center post 84 projects upwardly from the top surface of the platform 82, and an annular rim 86 projects upwardly from the platform and extends around the post. A plurality of liquid passage holes 88 extend through the valve retainer platform 82. The holes 88 are spatially arranged around the platform 82, as seen in
The valve element 16 has a circular, disc shape with a flat annular flange 94 that extends around the outer periphery of the valve element. A plurality of holes 96 pass through the valve element flange. The number of valve element holes 96 corresponds to the number of valve retainer holes 88. In addition, the positions of the valve element holes 96 correspond to the positions of the valve retainer holes 88. As seen in
The valve has a dome shape with a convex exterior surface 98 and an opposite concave interior surface 102 inside the valve element annular flange 94. The concave surface 102 engages around the valve retainer rim 86 and seals the concave surface 102 from the fluid passageways defined by the aligned valve retainer holes 88 and valve element holes 96. The valve element convex surface 98 extends upwardly from the annular flange 94 to a circular protrusion 104 at the center of the convex surface. The circular protrusion 104 is dimensioned to fit inside the dispensing orifice 36 of the base.
The resiliency and the flexibility of the valve element 16 allows the valve to move between closed and opened positions relative to the base 12 and the valve retainer 16.
When the closure base 12 is attached to a liquid container and the container is inverted and/or a squeezing pressure is exerted on the container, liquid passes through the dispensing opening of the container and through the liquid passageway defined by the aligned valve retainer holes 88 and valve element holes 96. This liquid under pressure enters the area between the valve element concave surface 102 and the conical annular surface portion 48 of the base interior surface 26. The fluid pressure acts against the valve element 16, causing the valve element to resiliently flex away from the conical annular surface portion 48 of the base interior surface 26 and causing the valve element protrusion 104 to be displaced from the dispensing orifice 36, opening the orifice. This allows the liquid to be dispensed from the liquid container through the dispensing orifice 36. When the liquid pressure is removed from the concave surface 102 of the valve element 16, the resiliency of the valve element pushes the concave surface 102 back into engagement with the conical annular surface portion 48 of the base interior surface 26 and positions the valve element protrusion 104 in the dispensing orifice 36, again sealing closed the orifice. To further seal closed the orifice, the lid 62 can be attached over the base exterior surface 24 positioning the lid cylindrical protrusion 72 in the base dispensing orifice 36.
Although the container closure of the invention has been described above by reference to a single embodiment, it should be understood that modifications and variations could be made to the dispenser without departing from the intended scope of the invention defined by the following claims.
