Patent Application
20080308522
This invention relates to containers. In particular, the invention relates to bottles that are easy to open.
One type of container is a bottle having exterior helical threads around the opening. Typically, a closure for the bottle is a cap that has threads that cooperate with the threads around the bottle opening. The cap thus is twisted onto the bottle to seal it, and is twisted in the opposite direction to remove the cap and open the bottle.
Although this type of bottle with removable closure is popular, such bottles are not always easily opened and closed. For example, a person with a weak grip may have difficulty twisting a typical screw-on bottle cap. Also, it often is difficult to properly grip a bottle that is relatively small, such as a container for pharmaceuticals, especially pharmaceutical tablets. Similarly, it often is difficult to hold the container if the bottle or cap is slippery, perhaps because of moisture or oil thereon. Thus, the inability to securely grip the bottle and the cap can make it difficult to open the container.
Accessories for opening bottles with twist-off caps, such as that in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,154, have been proposed. Similarly, various bottle shapes have been proposed to make bottles easier to hold. For example, the hot-fillable bottle of U.S. Pat. No. 7,191,910 is designed to be easy to hold. Similarly, the bottle of U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,285 is narrowed toward the top to make it easier to grip. However, these designs are not completely satisfactory. Therefore, there remains a need for an easily-opened bottle.
A first embodiment is directed to a bottle that is easy to open.
A second embodiment is directed to a round bottle having finger grooves.
A third embodiment is directed to a round bottle having deep finger grooves in lower side walls of the bottle.
The invention is directed to a bottle that is easy to open. In one embodiment, a round bottle has finger grooves in the side wall of the bottle. In another embodiment, a round bottle has deep finger grooves in lower side walls.
Bottles that are slippery because they are wet or oily often are difficult to open. Similarly, a bottle can be difficult to open for a person having a weak grip because of advanced aged, physical impairment, or injury.
The inventor has discovered that a bottle having grooves for the fingers is easy to open. An embodiment of the bottle of the invention is round and has deep finger grooves in the lower side walls. The grooves allow the user's fingers to enter the grooves. The ability to put one's fingers in the grooves increases the diametrical grip between opposing fingers. This ability also affords the opportunity to use the sides of the fingers to exert additional force in the direction that resists rotation of the cap for removal.
The drawing figures illustrate one embodiment of the invention.
Finger grooves 6 are smoothly formed to accommodate a finger and have dimensions that afford the opportunity to place the finger sufficiently deeply into the groove to afford the opportunity to exert a firm grip and to provide additional twisting force with the sides of the fingers placed in the grooves. The grooves are oriented essentially vertically on side wall 7 of the bottle and extend upwardly from bottom 5. Often, the grooves wrap around the bottom edge of the bottle and extend somewhat into or across bottom 5. Often, the grooves are between about 0.15 to about 0.5 inches wide at the bottle surface, and are between about 0.1 to about 0.4 inches deep. Often, the grooves extend around bottom 5 of bottle 1, and typically extend up the lower sides of bottle, as shown in
The grooves of the embodiments of this invention are designed, including shape and size, to accommodate the user's fingers and to enable the sides of the fingers to provide resistance to turning of the bottle. Thus, these deep finger grooves are fundamentally different from other bottles such as bottles for soft drinks or water. Such bottles have a similar geometry to that shown in the drawing figures. However, soft drink and water bottles have indentations and bulges for different purposes. Thus, the indentations and bulges on such bottles are not designed to make opening easier. Rather, these bulges and indentations are provided to increase the strength of the bottle or to better enable the bottle to stand vertically. These shapes thus are different from the shape of grooves to the fingers. The shapes of known soft drink and water bottles are not intended to accommodate the fingers to improve grip and make opening the bottle easier. The skilled practitioner need only examine such bottles and compare them to the drawing figures herein to see the difference in shape engendered by the difference in purpose.
The number of finger grooves often is related to the size of the container. For example, the bottle illustrated in
Bottles can be formed of any material from which bottles are known to be made. Finger grooves in accordance with embodiments of the invention can be incorporated into bottles made of plastic, whether blown, moulded, cast, or otherwise formed, metal, or glass.
A bottle was blow moulded from plastic. The bottle had a diameter of 2.125 inches and a total height of about 2.75 inches. The opening had a diameter of about 1.375 inches. The bottle has helical threads on the outside of the neck of the bottle. The radius of curvature between the vertical side wall and the bottom was 0.5 inch. Six finger grooves having a width of about 0.7 inches at the widest part of the top surface (i.e., at the bottle wall) extended vertically up the side wall and about 0.7 inches from the side wall across the bottom toward the center.
While the invention has been described with respect to specific examples including presently preferred modes of carrying out the invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variations and permutations of the above described systems and techniques that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60917402 | May 2007 | US |
