This invention generally relates to packaging. More specifically, the invention relates to a liquid dispensing device and method of dispensing liquid from a liquid dispensing device.
Today, approximately 400 million tons of plastic waste is generated every year, with 36% attributed to plastic packaging waste. The plastic packaging includes a wide variety of plastics, broadly categorized as rigid and flexible. In the context of liquid product packaging, rigid plastic packaging, which includes cans and containers that are resistant to shape deformation, inherently demands more substantial material volume than its flexible counterpart. The rigid plastic packaging often includes features like caps, closures, and dispensing mechanisms, offering precise dosing and user-friendly handling. It excels in product protection, safeguarding against impact, breakage, contamination, and tampering. Additionally, the rigid plastic packaging serves as an optimal canvas for branding, offering an ideal surface for labels, graphics, and designs, enhanced by advanced barrier films and lamination techniques. The advent of cutting-edge printing technologies further elevates its potential.
Further, in contrast, the flexible plastic packaging used for liquid products packaging is adaptable, consumes fewer resources, and harnesses the finest attributes of plastic film. Currently, while flexible plastic packaging has made strides in product protection and branding with advanced barrier films, improved resistance to external factors, and superior printing technologies, the continued prominence of the rigid plastic packaging is rooted. Despite being heavier and costlier, the rigid plastic packaging remains popular due to its key advantages, such as the rigid plastic packaging provides structural integrity and protects product from any damage moisture, abrasion, and the like. These factors make the rigid plastic packaging the preferred choice despite its higher plastic consumption, weight, and expense across the supply chain.
This is because the currently used flexible plastic packaging does not provide consistent structural integrity, uniform product dispensing, and are even prone to damage during handling and transportation. Further, the currently used flexible plastic packaging lacks a user-friendly nature in overall product handling and can be easily deformed. Considering these key advantages and disadvantages of the rigid plastic packaging and the flexible plastic packaging, and in the pursuit of sustainability, plastic manufacturing companies should focus on a conscious reduction of plastic consumption while manufacturing plastic packaging to improve environmental conditions without effecting consumer convenience.
The present invention is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above or any other limitations associated with the known arts.
In one embodiment, a liquid dispensing device is disclosed. In one example, the liquid dispensing device may include an air column configured to provide stability to the liquid dispensing device. The liquid dispensing device may further include a set of two side walls affixed to opposite sides of the air column to create a casing. The liquid dispensing device may further include a bottom wall coupled to the casing. It should be noted that the bottom wall may include an opening configured to dispense a predefined amount of the liquid. The liquid dispensing device may further include a cap attached to the bottom wall. It should be noted that the cap may include a hollow section configured to collect the predefined amount of the liquid to be dispensed from the opening.
In another embodiment, a method of dispensing liquid from liquid dispensing device is disclosed. In one example, the method may include transferring a predefined amount of the liquid from a casing into a hollow section of a cap by positioning the liquid dispensing device in an upside-down position. It should be noted that, in the upside-down position, the cap may be positioned below the casing of the liquid dispensing device. The cap may further include a top section including a lid positioned on a bottom surface, and a bottom section. The method may further include reversing the upside-down position of the liquid dispensing device to collect the predefined amount of liquid within the hollow section of the cap. The method may further include dispensing the predefined amount of liquid collected in the hollow section of the cap by uncoupling the lid coupled to the top section of the cap.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles.
Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherever convenient, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. While examples and features of disclosed principles are described herein, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the following detailed description be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.
Referring now to
In an embodiment, the air column 106 may include at least two sheets. In other words, the air column 106 may be created using the at least two sheets (for example: two plastic sheets). In an embodiment, each of the at least two sheets may be laminated together in a predefined shape. It should be noted that the at least two sheets may be limited together using an existing plastic lamination technique. Further, upon lamination, each of the at least two sheets may be inflated using air, such that each of the at least two sheets may create a sealed air column, i.e., the air column 106. Examples of the at least two sheets of the air column 106 may include, but are not limited to, a Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic sheet, a bio-degradable plastic sheet, low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, polypropylene, etc. As will be appreciated, once each of the at least two sheets are laminated and inflated using the air, the air column 106 may obtain a predefined structure, for example, a cylindrical structure, a cuboidal structure, or any other similar structure. Further, the air column 106 may be bent to get a desired shape, i.e., the predefined shape. As shown in the
In other words, the air column 106 may be a cylindrical or cuboidal structured tube that is inflated with air and then bent to form the desired shape. In another exemplary embodiment, instead of laminating each of the at least two sheets, a hollow sheet may be inflated with air to form the air column 106. As will be appreciated, the air column 106 may be configured to provide stability to the liquid dispensing device 100. It should be noted that the air column 106 provides a flexible yet rigid support to the liquid dispensing device 100. Further, the set of two side walls 108A and 108B of the liquid dispensing device 100 may be affixed to opposite side of the air column 106 to create the casing 102. The casing 102 may be used to store the liquid to be dispensed. It should be noted that the casing 102 may correspond to a cavity or a hollow space formed by joining the air column 106 and the set of side walls 108A and 108B.
The liquid dispensing device 100 may further include a bottom wall 110. The bottom wall 110 may be coupled to the casing 102. It should be noted that, the bottom wall 110 may be coupled to the casing 102 in way such that an enclosed space is created for storing the liquid within the casing 102. The bottom wall 110 may include an opening configured to dispense the predefined amount of the liquid stored in the casing 102 of the liquid dispensing device 100. The opening of the bottom wall 110 may be a nozzle or a hole in the bottom wall 110. Further, the bottom wall 110 may be coupled to the casing 102 in an inclined position to dispense the predefined amount of the liquid as explained in detail in conjunction with
Further, the cap 104 may be attached to the bottom wall 110. The cap 104 may include a hollow section. The hollow section may be configured to collect the predefined amount of the liquid dispensed from the opening of the bottom wall 110. To dispense the predefined amount of the liquid, the cap 104 may include a top section 112 and a bottom section 114 coupled to each other via a connecting mechanism. Examples of the connecting mechanism may include, but are not limited to, a hinge mechanism, a screw-on lid mechanism, a press and seal mechanism, a twist-off lid mechanism, etc. Further, it should be noted that, in some embodiments, height of each side wall of the cap 104 may be different from each other. This is done to create the hollow section within the cap 10 for collecting the predefined amount of the liquid. For example, as depicted via the present
In an exemplary embodiment, the bottom section 114 of the cap 104 may include a hole attached to the opening of the bottom wall 110. The hole on the bottom section 114 may be an opening or a nozzle depending upon the opening of bottom wall 110. As will be appreciated, in one embodiment, when the opening of the bottom wall 110 is the nozzle, then the hole on the bottom section 114 may be the opening, such that the nozzle of the bottom wall 110 completely fits into the opening of the bottom section 114 of the cap 104. In another embodiment, when the opening of the bottom wall 110 is the hole, then the hole on the bottom section 114 may be the nozzle, such that the nozzle of the bottom section 114 of the cap 104 completely fits into the hole of the bottom wall 110.
The pre-defined amount of the liquid may pass through the hole on the bottom section 114 and gets collected in the hollow section of the cap 104. It should be noted that, the hole on the bottom section 114 may be present near the short side wall 118 of the cap 104 in a way such that a spacing (i.e., the hollow section) within the cap 104 is created towards the long side wall 116 of the cap upon coupling the cap 104 to the bottom wall 110. Further, the top section 112 of the cap 104 may include a lid configured to dispense the predefined amount of the liquid collected within the hollow section of the cap 104. This is further depicted and explained in detail in conjunction with
Referring now to
The bottom section 114 of the cap 200 may include the bottom wall 110, the long side wall 116, and the short side wall 118. The bottom wall 110, the long side wall 116 and the short side wall 118 of the bottom section 114 may be arranged in a way to create the hollow section 202 of the cap 200. The hollow section 202 may be configured to collect the predefined amount of the liquid as depicted via a dashed lines in the present
Further, in order to dispense the predefined amount of the liquid for storing in the hollow section 202, the bottom wall 110 of the cap 200 may include an opening, for example: a nozzle 208. As depicted in the
Referring now to
As depicted via
Further, as depicted via the
Once the predefined amount of the liquid gets filled in the cap 104 as depicted via the
Further, since the bottom wall 110 is connected in the inclined position to create the hollow section 202, and the nozzle 208 of the bottom wall is of a predefined height, therefore the predefined amount of the liquid collected within the hollow section 202 may be prevented from returning to the casing 102 as depicted via the present FIG. 3B. In the present
Further, as depicted via the present
Further, once the predefined amount of the liquid is collected within the hollow section 202 as depicted and explained via
Further, upon uncoupling the lid 206, the user of the liquid dispensing device 100 may tilt the liquid dispensing device 100 to dispense the predefined amount of the liquid collected within the hollow section 202 of the cap 104 as depicted via the present
By way of an example, consider a scenario where the liquid dispensing device 100 may correspond to a mouth wash bottle containing mouth wash (i.e., the liquid). In this scenario, initially the mouth wash bottle may be placed in the upside-down position, i.e., the default position, as depicted via the
Further, when the user may reverse the upside-down position, then the predefined amount of the mouth wash filled within the cap 104 gets collected in the hollow section 202 of the cap. The predefined amount of the mouth wash collected in the hollow section 202 is depicted via the dashed lines. Upon reversing the upside-down position, the user may open the lid 206 of the mouth wash bottle to dispense the predefined amount of the mouth wash collected in the hollow section 202 of the cap 104 as depicted via the
An innovative design of the liquid dispensing device 100 depicted via the
Referring now to
Once the predefined amount of the liquid gets transferred, then at step 404, the upside-down position of the liquid dispensing device may be reversed. The upside-down position of the liquid dispensing device may be reversed to collect the predefined amount of the liquid within the hollow section of the cap. In other words, the liquid dispensing device may be inverted to collect the predefined amount of the liquid in the hollow section. This has been depicted and already explained in detail in conjunction with
By way of an example, consider a scenario where the liquid dispensing device (i.e., the liquid dispensing device 100) may correspond to a shampoo bottle containing shampoo (i.e., the liquid). In this scenario, initially the shampoo bottle may be placed in its default position, i.e., the upside-down position. In the default position, the shampoo stored in a casing (i.e., the casing 102) of the shampoo bottle may flow towards a cap (i.e., the cap 104). Further, when the user of the shampoo bottle may want to dispense a predefined amount of shampoo stored in the shampoo bottle. Then, for this, the user may reverse the default position of the shampoo bottle by rotating the shampoo bottle. In other words, the user may invert the shampoo bottle to reverse the upside-side down position of the shampoo bottle.
Further, when the user may reverse the upside-down position, then the predefined amount of the shampoo gets collected in the hollow section of the cap. Upon reversing the upside-down position, the user may open a lid, i.e., the lid 206 to dispense the predefined amount of the shampoo collected in the hollow section of the cap. To dispense the predefined amount of the shampoo, the user may tilt the shampoo bottle to a predefined angle (for example: 50 degree) such that the predefined amount of the shampoo that is collected in the hollow section is only dispensed. It should be noted that the unique structuring, design, and arrangement of the cap and the casing ensure that remaining shampoo stored within the casing of the shampoo bottle do not spill while dispensing the predefined amount of the shampoo. This complete process of dispensing the predefined amount of the liquid from the liquid dispensing device 100 has been already explained in detail in the above
Referring now to
As depicted via the present
It should be noted that liquid dispensing devices 502-508 may be used for storing any type of liquid. Moreover, each of the liquid dispensing devices 502-508 may be reusable. For example, the user of the liquid dispensing device 502 may refill the casing 502-2 with a required liquid based on his requirement. This may be done by detaching the cap 502-4 from the casing 502-2. It should be noted that the design structure of the liquid dispensing device 100 is not limited to the design structures shown via the liquid dispensing devices 502-508 in the present
Various embodiments provide a liquid dispensing device and a method of dispensing liquid thereof. The disclosed liquid dispensing device may include an air column configured to provide stability to the liquid dispensing device. Further, the disclosed liquid dispensing device may include a set of two side walls affixed to opposite sides of the air column to create a casing. In addition, the disclosed liquid dispensing device may include a bottom wall coupled to the casing. The bottom wall may include an opening configured to dispense a predefined amount of the liquid. Furthermore, the disclosed liquid dispensing device may include a cap attached to the bottom wall. The cap may include a hollow section configured to collect the predefined amount of the liquid to be dispensed from the opening.
Thus, the present disclosure may overcome drawbacks of traditional conventional flexible and rigid packaging used for liquid products. The present disclosure includes a customizable design of a liquid dispensing device that may cater to diverse needs of users. The disclosed liquid dispensing device may provide user convenience by dispensing uniform amount of liquid easily and conveniently. In other words, the disclosed liquid dispensing device may incorporate an ingenious cap design and specific orientation of the liquid dispensing device that may ensure precise dosing and controlled dispensing of liquid content. The disclosed liquid dispensing device may provide structural integrity with minimum plastic use. For this the disclosed liquid dispensing device may use an air column. The air column may play a vital role in maintaining stability of the liquid dispensing device and prevent it from collapsing. Additionally, the air column may resist deformation during transportation, storage, and usage, ensuring the disclosed liquid dispensing device retains its original shape and protects the stored liquid content from potential damage. Moreover, by incorporating the air column and by optimizing the use of plastic material, the disclosed liquid dispensing device may reduce plastic consumption significantly as compared to conventional packaging, hence improving environmental conditions.
Further, manufacturing process of the disclosed liquid dispensing device may have been significantly simplified as compared to manufacturing of conventional packaging with the use a lamination technique for production. For this, at least two sheets are laminated and then inflated by air to create the air column. This lamination technique may ensure a strong bond between the at least two sheets, providing excellent structural integrity to the disclosed liquid dispensing device. Further, the use of the lamination technique may eliminate the need for complex assembly processes or additional components, streamlining the manufacturing process workflow, and reducing production time. This not only results in cost savings but also contributes to a more sustainable approach by minimizing waste and resource consumption during the production.
Further, the unique cap design of the disclosed liquid dispensing device ensures that each time the liquid dispensing device is used, an equal amount of liquid is dispensed in every use without use of any external pressure. In addition, the unique cap design prevents wastage or spillage of the liquid content within the liquid dispensing device during usage. Additionally, the disclosed liquid dispensing device may be manufactured in a variety of designs and shapes to accommodate requirements of all business entities and variety of liquid contents. In addition, the structure of the disclosed liquid dispensing device facilitates branding (e.g., visual graphics) of liquid products as per the requirements of business entities.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the claims. Additionally, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognize that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in accordance with the invention.
Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means, elements or process steps may be implemented by, for example, a single unit. Additionally, although individual features may be included in different claims, these may possibly be advantageously combined, and the inclusion in different claims does not imply that a combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. Also, the inclusion of a feature in one category of claims does not imply a limitation to this category, but rather the feature may be equally applicable to other claim categories, as appropriate.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202411002930 | Jan 2024 | IN | national |