Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
This invention relates to a system for dispensing a material from a container.
There are a variety of types of conventional dispensing closures. One type of prior art dispensing closure system includes a body or base for being attached to the top of a container. The body defines a dispensing opening. The system further includes a lid which is hingedly mounted on the body and which can be lifted up to open the dispensing opening.
Dispensing closures are typically used for dispensing a product from a container. With some types of fluent material products, it would be desirable to provide a closure with a hinged top or lid structure that could accommodate pouring of the fluent material product through the closure, and also alternatively accommodate the insertion of a utensil through the open closure to permit the fluent material product to be scooped out or ladled out of the container. Such a closure could also permit the user to scoop or ladle out products such as nuts, candy, cookies, crackers, etc.
It would be advantageous if an improved dispensing closure could be provided that would be readily adjustable to accommodate the scooping out of various materials as well as the pouring or scooping out of a fluent material product.
It would also be advantageous if the lid structure of such an improved dispensing closure could be readily and easily manipulated as necessary to permit the closure either to be used for pouring a fluent product from the container or to accommodate the scooping of the fluent material product or other product out of the container.
Additionally, it would be beneficial if an improved dispensing closure could provide a relatively narrow pour stream of a the fluent material product and yet be wide enough to readily accommodate a conventional, wider container opening.
It would also be advantageous if such an improved dispensing closure could accommodate containers which have a variety of shapes and which are constructed from a variety of materials.
Such an improved dispensing closure should accommodate ease of use. Preferably, such an improved closure should also facilitate cleaning of the closure.
It would also be desirable if an improved dispensing closure could be molded as one piece, and not require assembly of multiple parts.
Further, it would be desirable if an improved dispensing closure could accommodate alternative designs for a narrow pour stream or a wider pour stream wherein the basic closure structure could be molded from one, common mold cavity to produce either of the designs.
It would also be beneficial if an improved dispensing closure could readily accommodate its manufacture from a variety of different materials.
Further, it would be desirable if such an improved system could accommodate efficient, high-quality, high-speed, large volume manufacturing techniques with a reduced product reject rate to produce products having consistent operating characteristics unit-to-unit with high reliability.
The dispensing closure system of the present invention can accommodate designs that include one or more of the above-discussed desired features.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a first form of a dispensing closure system is provided for a container that has an interior where a fluent material product or other type of product may be stored. The closure system includes a peripheral wall for extending from the container around an opening to the container interior, and includes a top that is unitary with the peripheral wall.
The peripheral wall defines a first access region and a second access region. The first access region has a first configuration and a size to accommodate pouring of the product out of the container. The first access region has a wide end and has a narrow end with a converging shape for pouring. The second access region has a second configuration and a size to accommodate scooping of the product out of the container interior.
The top includes a first lid, a second lid, and a first film hinge for connecting the first lid with the second lid to accommodate movement of the first lid between a closed position occluding the first access region and an open position exposing the first access region. A second film hinge is provided unitary with both the peripheral wall and the second lid for connecting the second lid with the peripheral wall to accommodate movement of the second lid between a closed position occluding the second access region and an open position exposing the second access region.
According to another aspect of the invention, a second form of a dispensing closure system is also provided for a container that has an interior where a fluent material product or other product may be stored. The second form of the closure system includes a peripheral wall for extending from the container around an opening to the container interior. A top is provided that is unitary with the peripheral wall. The top includes a stationary panel that is unitary with the peripheral wall and that extends across the peripheral wall to define a first access region separated by the stationary panel from a second access region. The first access region has a first configuration and a size to accommodate pouring of the product out of the container. The first access region has a wide end adjacent the stationary panel and has a narrow end that (1) is located away from the stationary panel, and (2) has a converging shape for pouring. The second access region has a second configuration and a size to accommodate scooping of the product out of the container interior.
The top includes a first lid and a second lid. A first film hinge connects the first lid with the stationary panel to accommodate movement of the first lid between a closed position occluding the first access region and an open position exposing the first access region. A second film hinge connects the second lid with the stationary panel to accommodate movement of the second lid between a closed position occluding the second access region and an open position exposing the second access region.
Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings.
In the accompanying drawings forming part of the specification, in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, this specification and the accompanying drawings disclose only some specific forms as examples of the invention. The invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments so described, however. The scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.
For ease of description, the dispensing system of this invention is described in a generally upright orientation that it could have at the upper end of a container when the container is stored upright on its base. It will be understood, however, that the dispensing system of this invention may be manufactured, stored, transported, used, and sold in orientations other than the position described.
The dispensing system of this invention is suitable for use with a variety of conventional or special containers having various designs, the details of which, although not illustrated or described, would be apparent to those having skill in the art and an understanding of such containers. With respect to the illustrated embodiments of the invention described herein, the container, per se, forms no part of, and therefore is not intended to limit, the broadest aspects of the present invention. It will also be understood by those of ordinary skill that novel and non-obvious inventive aspects are embodied in the described exemplary dispensing system alone.
One presently preferred first embodiment of a dispensing closure system of the present invention is in the form of a dispensing closure assembly illustrated in
The container (not shown) typically has a conventional mouth which provides access to the container interior and product contained therein. The product may be, for example, nuts, candies, crackers, cookies, etc., which can be scooped out or ladled out of a container. The product may also be a more highly fluent material that can be poured, as well as scooped out, or ladled out, such as ground coffee, sugar, or other material, such as liquids, powders, slurries, etc. Such materials may be sold, for example, as a food product, a personal care product, an industrial or household product, or other composition (e.g., for internal or external use by humans or animals, or for use in activities involving medicine, manufacturing, commercial or household maintenance, construction, agriculture, etc.).
The container typically may have a neck or other suitable structure defining the container mouth having a cross-sectional configuration with which the closure 30 is adapted to engage. The body of the container may have another cross-sectional configuration that differs from the cross-sectional configuration of the container mouth. The container may, on the other hand, have a substantially uniform shape along its entire length or height without any neck portion of reduced size or different cross-section.
The container may or may not be a squeezable container having a flexible wall or walls which can be grasped by the user and compressed somewhat. However, the closure 30 is especially suitable for use with a container that has substantially inflexible walls that are not intended to be squeezed by the user.
As shown in
In other contemplated embodiments, the closure 30 need not be a structure that is completely separate from the container. Instead, the container could be made with a dispensing end structure that incorporates the closure 30 as a unitary part of the container. In such an alternative, the illustrated first embodiment closure 30 could be modified so that it is formed as an extension of the container, and the extending portion defining the body 32 could then be characterized as a structural feature that functions to accommodate communication with the container interior.
In either of the above-discussed alternatives (i.e., a separate closure or a closure molded as an extension of a container), the container may have an initially open bottom end opposite the dispensing end on which the closure 30 is located, and such a bottom end could be used for accommodating the filling of the inverted container with the product to be dispensed. After the inverted container is filled with the product through the open bottom end of the container, the open bottom end of the container could be closed by suitable means, such as by a separate bottom end closure which could be attached to the container bottom end (e.g., through a suitable threaded engagement, snap-fit engagement, adhesive engagement, thermal bonding engagement, etc.). Alternatively, such an open bottom portion of the container could be deformed closed (e.g., with an appropriate process applying heat and force if the container bottom end portion is made from a thermoplastic material or other material that would accommodate the use of such a process).
The peripheral wall or body 32 may have a skirt 40 (
The closure body 32 and container could also be releasably connected with a screw thread system (not shown), or by other means. Alternatively, the closure body 32 may be permanently attached to the container by means of induction bonding, ultrasonic bonding, gluing, or the like, depending upon the materials employed for the container and closure body 32.
The interior of the body 32 may also include special or conventional seal features to provide an enhanced leak-tight seal between the closure body 32 and the container. The illustrated snap-fit closure body 32 does not employ such an enhanced seal feature.
The illustrated preferred, first form of the closure body 32 defines an inwardly extending rim or top edge 44 (
As shown in
As can be seen in
As can be seen in
The first lid 61 includes a peripheral flange 65 (
With reference to
With reference to
To assist in opening and closing the top 34, the first lid 61 includes an outwardly extending, or laterally extending, thumb lift 76 (
If it is desired to scoop or ladle the fluid contents out of the container, then the second lid 62 can also be lifted upwardly, and the entire top 34 can be positioned in a fully opened configuration as shown in
A second form or embodiment of a dispensing closure system 30A of the present invention is illustrated in
The closure body 32A also includes a peripheral shoulder 45A and a short, peripheral neck or sidewall 48A which has a laterally projecting latch bead (not visible in the small scale drawings, but which is identical with the latch bead 50 described above with reference to the first embodiment illustrated in
As can be seen in
The first access region 51A is separated from the second access region 52A by a stationary panel 55A (
The second lid 62A has a similar flange 67A with a latch bead 66A (
As can be seen in
Except for the stationary panel 55A extending across the top of the closure body 32A, the closure body 32A defines the first access region 51A and the second access region 52A with substantially the same configurations as the first embodiment access regions 51 and 52, respectively, described above with reference to
The closure body 32B has an inwardly extending peripheral top edge 44B similar to the top edge 44 employed in the first embodiment closure 30 illustrated in
The use of the shelf 82B facilitates flexibility in manufacturing. For example, one common mold cavity could be used to produce either the first embodiment closure 30 or the third embodiment closure 30B. This is accomplished by using a removable mold insert in the common mold cavity to define the shelf 82B when molding the third embodiment closure 30B. The mold insert is removed when molding the first embodiment closure 30.
A fourth embodiment of the closure 30C is illustrated in
The ramp 103C provides advantages in certain pouring applications. In particular, some larger particulate items (e.g., snack food pieces having a diameter of about 3/16 of an inch or more) can flow more easily, and in a more constrained discharge configuration, over the ramp 103C.
Also, as can be seen in
The flat shelf 82B and ramp 103C of the third and fourth embodiments, respectively, can also each be employed in modifications of the second embodiment closure 30A described above with reference to
It will be readily apparent from the foregoing detailed description of the invention and from the illustrations thereof that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts or principles of this invention.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060108381 A1 | May 2006 | US |