This invention is directed to a dispensing container that has an enhanced appearance. More particularly, this invention is directed to a dispensing container where the dip tube is formed into a decorative shape, which shape optionally coordinates with a design on the front or rear of the bottle.
Dispensing containers with dip tubes are used to store and dispense a range of personal care products. These include hand soaps, hand and body lotions, shampoos and body cleansing gels. There is a constant need to enhance the appearance of these containers. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,937,554, 6,073,373 and 6,233,856 the appearance is enhanced by a decorative film material placed within the container. A design on this decorative film material coordinates with a design on the front and/or rear surface of the container. This gives a 3-D appearance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,600 discloses attaching a figurine to the dip tube of a dispensing container. And U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,566 discloses a cylindrical section surrounding the dip tube and depending from the cap area of container, this cylindrical section having a decoration thereon. The objective in each of these patents is to enhance the appearance of the container and the product in the container.
The present invention improves on the techniques of these patents to enhance the appearance of a container and its product. In the present invention, the dip tube is molded to contain a multi-dimensional design. This technique simplifies the manufacture of dip tubes that have an attached identifiable shape since the dip tube and identifiable shape are made in a single operation. This is in distinction to where the dip tube and multi-dimensional shape are separately made and then assembled.
The invention comprises a dispensing container having a body portion and a neck portion. A pump dispenser is supported by the neck portion and comprises a pump mechanism with a dip tube at one end and an exit channel at another end. The dip tube has an identifiable three-dimensional shape as an integral part of the dip tube. A preferred mode of making the three dimensional identifiable shape is by blowmolding. The three-dimensional identifiable shape can be that of a land animal, a sea animal, an air animal or an inanimate object.
The identifiable shape preferably is decorated as to color by a label. This can be by in-mold labeling or by placing a shrink film label over the identifiable shape and heat shrinking the label to the identifiable shape. The colors of the label will be coordinated to the colors needed for the identifiable shape. In the use of in-mold labeling, the dip tube is shaped to have an identifiable shape and colored in a single operation. When a shrink film colored label is used, only two in-line steps are needed.
This identifiable shape on the dip tube will coordinate with a design on front and/or rear label. This coordination yields a three dimensional effect by a label design on the front or rear surface of the container and the identifiable shape.
It also is a preferred embodiment where the refractive index of the liquid in the container and that of the dip tube be within about 0.6 of each other, and preferably about 0.4 In this embodiment the dip tube substantially disappears in the liquid except for the identifiable shape of the dip tube.
The invention will be disclosed in its preferred embodiments with reference to the Figures in the drawings. The dispensing container has an enhanced appearance using a highly efficient manufacturing process.
The dip tube has as a molded section with an identifiable shape 24 of a sea horse. This identifiable shape 24 is an integral part of the dip tube 22. This identifiable shape 24 can be formed at the same time as the dip tube is formed or in a subsequent operation. A preferred method of forming the dip tube 22 identifiable shape 24 is by blowmolding the identifiable shape 24 after the dip tube 22 has been extruded to an elongated form. Also shown in
Useful techniques for applying the label 34 to the identifiable shape 24, is through in-mold labeling or through the use of a shrink film. A shrink film 35 is shown in
In the use of in-mold labeling, the label 37 (see
The container will be substantially transparent, as will be the product liquid that is to be dispensed. This is necessary to readily view the identifiable shape. In this regard, the front label 25 will be substantially transparent where there is no design. The rear label can be opaque.
In a preferred embodiment, the contained liquid and the dip tube material will have a refractive index of within about 0.6, and preferably within about 0.4. In this way, the dip tube, except for the colored identifiable shape, will substantially disappear in the liquid.
The container can be made of essentially any substantially transparent plastic. Glass can also be used. Useful plastics are polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate. The dip tube can be produced from any plastic that can be extruded and blowmolded. These can be polymers and copolymers of ethylene and propylene, vinyl compound polymers and copolymers and polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate.
The unidentifiable shape and the dip tube will be made from a plastic material that can be extruded and blowmolded. The plastic preferably is a thermoplastic. Included in the plastics are ethylene, propylene and vinyl polymers and copolymers and polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate. A useful vinyl polymer is polyvinyl chloride.
The front labels containing the decoration 26 and 28 and the rear label containing the decoration 30 and 32 can be any substantially clear plastic. The preferred plastics are thermoplastics. The preferred thermoplastics are polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate. The decoration on the front and rear labels will be printed on to the labels. The in-mold label and the shrink film label can be comprised of a wide range of monolayer and laminate materials.
This application is a continuation of application PCT/US04/006992, filed Mar. 5, 2004, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60/455,942, filed Mar. 19, 2003, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20050236423 A1 | Oct 2005 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60455942 | Mar 2003 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/US2004/006992 | Mar 2004 | US |
Child | 11157517 | US |