The present invention relates to bottles, receptacles, and container structures. Specifically, the present invention relates to a flip top closure assembly for a liquid container for a comestible product such as milk, juice, flavored water, etc. However, it is to be appreciated that the present invention is also amenable to other like applications.
Many consumer products are packaged in containers with flip-top dispensing closures. Typically, flip top closures have round orifices with round plugs that seal the orifice when the top is closed and may have pour spouts that are also round and encircle the round orifice. The sale of such products in containers having flip top closures has enhanced the consumers experience in the use of many consumer products, thus helping to increase their popularity. However, such conventional flip top closures can be messy to use and do not pour well.
A precise cutoff during the pour is desired so that there is no leakage or dripping. In conventional bottles, the edge of the pour spout is not well defined, e.g., a rounded opening that relies on the direction of pouring to determine what portion of the rounded opening receives the fluid. Although this may provide some flexibility for the user, it does not provide an effective pour lip.
Moreover, known caps position or locate the edge of the pour lip within the confines of the side wall of the bottle. Thus, if the fluid is not abruptly cut off when the pour is terminated, the shape of the bottle promotes the dripping of the fluid down the side wall of the bottle. This, of course, is not desirable.
In addition to the convenience of the flip top arrangement, the bottle manufacturer desires the convenience of a threaded cap, as well as a foil seal for purposes of contamination protection. These three competing concerns lead to different, divergent design traits that are difficult to incorporate into an integrated design.
As part of a caseless shipping system, the cap preferably provides a large planar area or upper surface in order to facilitate the transfer of vertical loads or forces through a stacked array. Particularly, it is important to transfer forces from an adjacent upper layer or row of bottles to an upper surface of a bottle, vertically through the sidewall of the bottle, to the lower surface of the bottle where the forces are then transferred in the same manner to the next adjacent lower layer or row of bottles. A commercially successful version of the caseless shipping arrangement as used in the dairy industry is shown and described in commonly owned U.S. patents 6,247,507 and 6,068,161 the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
It is desired to improve the pouring capabilities of the cap. Adequate air flow is desired to prevent “glugging” of the fluid as the fluid is poured from the bottle. This promotes laminar flow as the fluid is poured from the bottle.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an improved flip top closure assembly which overcomes certain difficulties with the conventional designs while providing better and more advantageous overall results.
In accordance with the present invention, a flip top closure assembly for a bottle or container comprises a base portion affixed onto a neck of the bottle and a cap portion connected to the base portion. The base portion includes a peripheral skirt for engagement with the container and a wall extending inwardly from atop the skirt. The wall has a pour opening. A pouring lip extends upwardly from the skirt. The pouring lip and a portion of the wall define a pouring spout. At least a portion of the pouring spout extends outwardly past a side wall of the bottle. The cap portion includes a substantially planar flip top hingedly connected to the base portion adjacent to a second apex of the pour opening. The flip top has an open and close position. In the close position, a top surface of the flip top lies substantially in a plane defined by a top wall of the bottle.
A foil seal may be incorporated into the assembly to seal the neck of the bottle. The seal is preferably heat sealed or fusion bonded to the bottle at the opening in the neck, i.e., beneath the base portion of the closure assembly.
Preferably the neck of the bottle is externally threaded in order to threadably receive the closure assembly. Particularly, the base portion is internally threaded for mating engagement with the neck threads to facilitate mounting the closure assembly on the bottle.
Still other aspects of the invention will become apparent from a reading and understanding of the detailed description of the embodiment described hereinbelow.
It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawings herein are merely illustrative and that various modifications and changes can be made in the structures disclosed without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. It will be appreciated that the various identified components of the closure assembly and bottle or container disclosed herein are merely terms of art that may vary from one manufacturer to another and should not be deemed to limit the present invention. Those of ordinary skill will also recognize that the bottle described herein is scalable to achieve virtually any size comprising a blow-molded plastic, although different manufacturing techniques may be used.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views,
The bottle may be a standard (3-liter or 1 gallon) size container or any other size. The bottle 10 includes a planar upper or top surface 20, a bottom surface (not shown) and a side wall 26 molded integrally therewith. The top surface and bottom surface are of a generally diamond shape with one apex thereof coinciding with an integrally molded handle 28. The handle proceeds from the top surface along the apex and terminates adjacent the bottom surface.
The top surface 20 in conjunction with the cap defines an enlarged planar upper surface that has a large footprint for supporting a next adjacent bottle(s) when postioned in stacked array for shipment without the use of cases, i.e., caseless shipping. The top surface includes a recessed or stepped conformation having an upper surface 30 and lower level portion 32 which is slightly vertically recessed from the upper surface. A neck 34 extends upwardly from the lower portion adjacent an opposite apex of the diamond-shape from the handle. The neck has a generally cylindrical configuration and preferably includes external threads (
The wall 26 is preferably formed with a number of structural load distributing or load transferring features 40 which increase the sectional modulus of wall 26 and prevent bending and/or buckling when the wall thickness is minimized to limit the amount of plastic required to form the bottle. The ribs are generally of a “V” shape in cross-section, with the apex of the “V” extending inward of the container and are substantially continuous along the longitudinal height of the bottle. This structure permits the construction of molds without the presence of undercuts, which are inefficient from a manufacturing standpoint. The vertical ribs or flutes 40 can be incorporated into vertical surfaces of the wall 26 in an effort to reduce the unbraced length of the wall and limit deflections. For example, at least one of the structural load distributing ribs or flutes is a continuous flute that proceeds through the substantially planar surface of the top surface 30 and down opposite sides of the bottle toward the bottom surface. This flute is preferably situated between the closure assembly 12 and the handle 28, again to minimize the unbraced dimensions of the bottle since the handle also functions as a load distributing feature disposed at the apex of the horizontal cross-section of the bottle.
With continued reference to
The closure assembly 12 preferably comprises a base portion including a generally cylindrical skirt 60 and an end wall 62 extending inwardly from atop the skirt, generally in a plane transverse to the axis of the skirt. The skirt includes internal threads (
The base portion of the closure assembly further includes a pour opening or dispensing aperture 70 (
With particular reference to
As shown in
A downwardly extending rim 130 is formed on the underside of the flip top 100. The rim is shaped and sized accordingly so that it fits securely within the aperture 70 in the end wall 62, such that the rim 66 acts as a plug and forms a releasable seal with the end wall, inward of the pour spout 82. The rim 130 is also sized such that it touches a downwardly extending inner flange 132 of the end wall, the flange at least partially directing fluid to and from the pour spout. Thus, as the flip top 100 is moved from the open position to the closed position, the rim 130 at least partially sweeps adjacent the flange, thereby providing a sealed interface around the periphery of the aperture when the flip top is moved into the closed position.
Although not illustrated, depending on the intended use, a foil seal 140 (
The subject closure assembly provides a number of desired benefits without requiring additional plastic. For example, this flip-top closure assembly as shown and described uses the same amount of plastic (about 5.7 grams) as a conventional threaded cap. However, it adds the benefits of a profiled pour spout, one-piece flip-cap, pour lip outside the diameter of the neck/cap opening and advantageously beyond the outer periphery of the bottle wall, accommodates a foil seal, is conducive to manufacture with mating threads, and adds substantial planar surface area at the same height as the upper surface of the bottle for use in a caseless shipping system.
The present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiment. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. For example, although the above closure assembly has been described as having a screw-on configuration, it will also be appreciated that the closure assembly can be a configured as a snap cap which can be snapped into place over the container neck. It is intended that the present invention be construed as including all such modifications and alterations.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2008/051781 | 1/23/2008 | WO | 00 | 8/5/2009 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60881989 | Jan 2007 | US |