Not applicable.
This invention relates to a closure for consumer containers as may be used to package spices, sugar, powdered drink mixes, salt or other dry, fluent (flowable) materials or products. More specifically, this invention relates to such a closure which may be used with small containers with a flip open lid that exposes one or more product dispensing holes through which the product may be poured, shaken or spooned from the container.
In the high-speed packaging of dry, fluent products, a pre-measured quantity (either a pre-determined weight or volume) of the product is discharged into the container. Oftentimes, a tamper-evident, tear-off seal is adhered to the mouth of the container after filling of the container. These containers typically have a screw-on closure which is threaded onto the threaded neck of the container by high-speed capping equipment incorporated in the product filling line. Such capping equipment oftentimes applies more torque to the closure than is necessary to insure that the closure is tightly screwed onto the container. In the past, this excess torque applied to the closure caused the closure to deform as it was screwed tightly to the container, which, in turn, caused a flip open lid formed with the closure to become unseated from the remainder of the closure and to partially open or to open. With the lid in a partially open position, the container could become jammed in the filling line, or the partially open lids would not allow the containers to be packaged in overcartons using automated equipment. In addition, such partially open lids may cause the filled package to be automatically rejected by the filling line or by inspectors. Still further, even if the lid would remain closed during filling and packing in overcartons, the stress imposed on the closure during the capping operation would, on occasion, cause the flip open lids to become unseated during shipping or while the container was on a store shelf prior to being purchased by a consumer. Such partially open lids would cause the container to be seen by the store clerks or the consumer as defective because the clerk or the consumer may believe that the product had been opened or contaminated, even though a taper-evident seal applied to the mouth of the container under the closure remained intact. As will be appreciated, such containers having the above-described tamper-evident seals applied to the mouth of the container must be removed prior to use by unscrewing the closure from the container, removing the seal, and then screwing the closure back onto the container. On occasion, the consumer (customer) may, when using the container, over-tighten the closure thus resulting in a similar deformation such that the flip open lid will not stay in its closed position. This, of course, my result in the spillage of the contents of the container or it may result in the degradation of the contents.
There has long been a need for a flip open, screw-on closure that better resisted deformation during the capping operation, particularly if the closure was screwed onto the container with more torque than was necessary. There has also been a need for such a flip-open closure where the lid will remain secured in its closed position during shipping, and while the product is displayed on store shelves and is used by the consumer.
Among the several objects and features of the closure herein described is the provision of a closure having a flip open lid where the closure resists deformation upon being tightly applied (e.g., screwed) onto its container either by automated capping equipment or by hand thereby insuring that its flip open lid remains closed;
The provision of such a closure that has a flush upper surface when the flip open lid is in its closed position; and
The provision of such a closure which, while resisting deformation caused by over-torquing, is of light-weight construction, which is easy to mold, and which is economical to manufacture.
It will be appreciated that some of the above objects and features may be applicable to only some of the claims hereinafter presented and that the closures described in the claims need not include all of the above-noted features or advantages.
Other objects and features of the closure herein described will be in part apparent and in part disclosed herein.
The closure herein described is intended for use with a container, where the container has a neck and a mouth at the upper end of the neck. The closure has a lower closure body having a downwardly depending skirt for sealable connection to the mouth of the container. A end wall extends across the upper end of the lower closure body for closing the end of the closure and of the container when the closure is applied to the container. The end wall has one or more openings therethrough for the dispensing of a fluent (loose or flowable) product contained within the container. A flip-open lid is hingedly connected to the closure by a hinge for movement of the lid relative to the closure between a closed position in which the lid overlies and closes the opening(s) in the end wall and an open position in which the lid is clear of the openings thereby to permit the dispensing of the product. A snap lock is provided for retaining thelid in its closed position. The closure has a shoulder integrally formed with the upper end wall on opposite sides of the hinge for stiffening the end wall against deformation upon application of the closure to the container.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Referring now to the drawings, one embodiment of the closure of the present invention is indicated in its entirety by reference character 1. The closure is adapted to be applied, preferably (but not necessarily) threaded, onto a container 3. As shown in
Closure 1 has a lower body portion, as generally indicated at 13, having a downwardly extending cylindrical skirt 15. As shown in
Closure 1 has an upper end wall 19 extending across the upper end of lower body portion 13 and closing the closure and the upper end of container 3. The end wall is provided with one or more product dispensing openings, as indicated at 21. It will be understood that the number and size of the openings may be varied, depending on the product to be contained in container 3 and the method of dispensing that is desired for the product. As shown, five (5) of such product openings are used where each opening is relatively large. Such openings are preferable when dispensing a flowable or fluent, dry product such as Parmesan cheese or flake spices (e.g., basil or parsley). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that smaller opening may be preferred in dispensing products having a finer granular form, such as popcorn salt or the like.For such fine products, more than five (5) holes may be preferred. For certain products, particularly products used in baking, such as baking powder, where the end-user spoons the product from the container, only a single opening for accommodating a spoon may be preferred. Also, those skilled in the art will understand that for closures of a larger size than is shown in the drawings, a combination of different groups of openings may be used for different dispensing applications.
Further, closure 1 has a flip-open lid, as generally indicated at 23, which is hingedly connected to the upper portion of lower body portion 13 by a hinge 25 integrally molded to skirt 15 and to lid 23. Preferably, hinge 25 is adjacent the periphery of the closure. While a number of different hinge designs may be used, a so-called “bow tie” hinge design is preferred. Such “bow tie” hinges are well known to those skilled in the closure field. Lid 23 has a distal edge end 27 generally opposite hinge 25 and a snap lock closure 29 carried by the distal edge of the lid opposite the hinge. A variety of snap lock closures for such flip open lids are widely used in the closure field and any of these well known designs would be suitable for use with the closure of the present invention. These snap lock closures typically operate to engage a portion of the lid with a receptacle in the upper edge of the lower body portion 13 when the lid is forced to its fully closed position. In order to open such snap locks, a fingernail groove 30 is provided in the upper edge of the lower body portion 13 of the closure so that an end-user may more readily grip only the lid 23 to force it open.
As best shown in
As generally indicated at 31a, 31b and as best shown in
As will be appreciated, flip lid 23 has an upper surface 41 (as shown in
Depending on the shape and/or size of closure 1, other arrangements of the stiffening shoulders 31a, 31b of this invention may be employed. For example, on larger size closures, each of the stiffening shoulders 31a, 3b may have two or more segments (not shown) similar to shoulders 31a, 31b shown in
While the present invention has been described by reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood that modifications and variations of the invention may be constructed without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the following claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No: 60/672,924, filed Apr. 19, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3323671 | Minarik, Jr. et al. | Jun 1967 | A |
4022352 | Pehr | May 1977 | A |
4291818 | Nozawa et al. | Sep 1981 | A |
4403712 | Wiesinger | Sep 1983 | A |
4457458 | Heinol | Jul 1984 | A |
4545508 | Cribb, Jr. et al. | Oct 1985 | A |
4911337 | Rosenthal | Mar 1990 | A |
4936494 | Weidman | Jun 1990 | A |
4941592 | Kitterman | Jul 1990 | A |
5038957 | Gross | Aug 1991 | A |
D331878 | Forsyth | Dec 1992 | S |
D334538 | Bolen, Jr. et al. | Apr 1993 | S |
RE34263 | vanKerkhoven et al. | May 1993 | E |
D339065 | Forsyth et al. | Sep 1993 | S |
D340187 | Forsyth | Oct 1993 | S |
5330082 | Forsyth | Jul 1994 | A |
5499736 | Kohl | Mar 1996 | A |
5769253 | Gross | Jun 1998 | A |
6039197 | Braun | Mar 2000 | A |
D448296 | Bried et al. | Sep 2001 | S |
RE37634 | Hickman et al. | Apr 2002 | E |
6510971 | Martin | Jan 2003 | B1 |
D476892 | Martin | Jul 2003 | S |
D509426 | Samz et al. | Sep 2005 | S |
D529800 | Liebe | Oct 2006 | S |
20020125203 | Bried et al. | Sep 2002 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20060237388 A1 | Oct 2006 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
60672924 | Apr 2005 | US |