Certain bottles containing certain materials may be mandated to have certain flow restrictions, e.g., as a child proof measure. As of Mar. 8, 2019, bottles for nicotine containing materials are subject to CPSC enforcement, e.g, in accordance with 16 CFR ยง 1700.15(d). Similar vials for liquids such as essential oils and other oils have traditionally featured components restricting the flow of the liquid.
Traditional flow inhibitors, referred to as orifice reducers, restrict the flow by incorporating tubelike features affixed to the bottle's aperture. These items limit the amount of fluid dispensed, thus reducing the flow.
Traditional flow restrictors rely on inversion of the bottle to obtain its fluid contents. In addition, these traditional flow restrictors often require specific bottle cap types in order for them to work. Also, the fluid in the bottle cannot be accessed by pipette under reasonable use conditions, e.g., without disassembling
The present application describes a special flow restricting device which relies on a special mounting taper with flaps and a central opening. The taper device is either concave or convex in one embodiment.
In an embodiment, a flow restrictor is described that inhibits the flow of nicotine containing fluid in accordance with 16 CFR 1700.15d. In embodiments, the flow restrictor component does not compromise the proper functioning of liquid nicotine's packaging or contents, and will not meaningfully chemically alter the vial's contents and allows access to the contents via pipette or the like, without need to invert the vial. In addition, the vial can be inverted to remove liquid in the conventional way.
In the Drawings:
Embodiments describe a liquid flow prevention device for use in containers such as vials or other containers which have hazardous constituents such as, but not limited to, nicotine.
The flow prevention device allows restriction of fluids when the vial is inverted to remove contents. In addition, the device allows introduction of a cylindrical stemmed pipette into an upright bottle or vial. The pipette, when inserted, causes the flow inhibitor to compact necessarily to enter the vial easily without removing the flow restrictor, and without causing flow restriction failure. Also the device does not meaningfully restrict access to the fluid when the vials containing the fluids are in the upright position. However, this device successfully inhibits the flow of liquid or fluid so that no more than 2 mL of contents can be obtained when an inverted open container is taken or squeezed once or when the container is squeezed using the strength of an anthropometry-based simulation of a 5 year old child's applied force.
An embodiment uses vacuum pressure and curved (convex or concave) tapered flaps. The basic valve 100 includes first and second sealing rings 110, 120, enabling the valve to be located inside the inner surface of the inside closure of a container. For example,
The valve 100 includes an open area at a first end, 220, and includes flaps forming a restriction at the second end. The flaps, 130, 131, 132 and 133 each extend toward the center of the opening, to form a flow restriction. Each of flaps such as 130 is substantially triangular, it extends between an edge portion (in this embodiment the sealing ring 120, and a tip portion adjacent the opening 150, and another edge portion. While this is not a perfect triangle, and in fact may be flat near the tip portion where the pipette is inserted, it is substantially in the shape of a triangle. There is also an open area 140 between each two adjacent flaps such as between the flaps 130 and 132 in
In the embodiment shown in
In one embodiment, the valves/flaps, are formed of rubber or plastic, for example of TPE, HDPE, LDTE, or PET. More generally, the valve can be formed of any material which discourages chemical leaching. The valves can be formed for example by injection or can be machined or 3D printed.
The sealing mechanisms allow the component to be used in very different bottle types without necessitating any kind of modification to the bottle type or use of a special kind of bottle opening, other than one that fits the valve. The component allows access to the housed fluid when upright, but maintains flow restricted properties when inverted.
The embodiment described above has the flap on the bottom, with a convex mounting taper. The mounting taper is the rounded part at the end of the device. This is shown in further detail in
There can also, however, be another version shown in
However, the center flap embodiment can have a concave or convex mounting taper 400.
In one particularly preferred embodiment, there can be 4 flaps.
The previous description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
For example, the flow restrictor can have other numbers of flaps, such as 3 or 5 flaps.
This application claims priority from Provisional application No. 62/875,914, filed Jul. 18, 2019, the entire contents of which are herewith incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62875914 | Jul 2019 | US |