Commonly owned, concurrently filed design patent application serial No. 29/146,737 entitled “CONTAINER”, now Patent No. Des. 463,982 issued on Oct. 8, 2002.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a container with a plastic closure, more particularly to a container with a wide-mouth spout and a closure which seals against the spout for resealably closing the container.
2. Background Information
It is known to provide a resealable container for granular or fluid product having a wide mouth spout with a closure which seals against the spout. Examples of such packaging are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,383,558 and 5,489,036. These containers have a semi-spherical spout with an opening that is 50 to 80 percent of the diameter of the container. The closure has an end wall approximately the diameter of the opening formed by the spout and a double frustoconical skirt which engages threads on the container below the semi-spherical spout. The closure includes three separate sealing elements extending downward form the end wall: a circular centering sealing rim which forms a plug seal with the container opening; a circular projection which seals against the finish on the container; and a circular flexible flange with a tip which is deflected outward by the semi-spherical spout.
There is room, however, for improvement in such packaging and especially in the arrangement for sealing the closure.
An object of the present invention is to provide such improved packaging and especially, such packaging with a simple, reliable arrangement for sealing the container initially and between uses.
This object and others are realized by the invention which is directed to a package that includes a container having a main body with an upper portion having enclosure engaging members such as threads, and a spout extending upward and inward from this upper portion and topped with an upwardly and outwardly flared portion terminated by a rim defining a container opening. A closure for the container has an end wall which extends across the container opening when in place, and a skirt extending outward and downward from a periphery of the end wall and having an inner surface with container engaging members adjacent a lower end, which engage the closure engaging members on the container to removably secure the closure to the container. The package further includes sealing elements including an annular sealing flange extending downwardly and inwardly from the end wall of the closure and having an outer sealing surface which engages an inner sealing surface on the flared portion of the container. The sealing elements further include an annular upper portion of the inner surface of the skirt which is inclined downwardly and outwardly relative the outer sealing surface of the annular sealing flange to form with the sealing flange an upwardly converging annular gap into which the rim of the container is wedged as the container engaging members on the closure and the closure engaging members on the container engage.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the package includes a container having a main body with an upper portion having closure engaging members thereon and a spout extending upward and inward from the upper portion and terminating in a rim defining a container opening. The closure has an end wall extending across the container opening when in place, and a skirt extending outward and downward from a periphery of the end wall and having an inner surface with container engaging members adjacent a lower end which engaged the closure engaging members on the container to removably secure the closure to the container. The package further includes sealing elements comprising a first seal adjacent the container opening and a second seal comprising an annular sealing member on one of the lower portion on the inner surface of the skirt above the container engaging members and on the main body of the container above the closure engaging members but below the spout which engages the other of the lower portion of the inner surface of the skirt and the main body of the container. Preferably, this secondary seal is on the lower portion of the inner surface of the skirt above the container engaging members and engages the main body of the container above the closure engaging members.
A full understanding of the invention can be gained from the following description of the preferred embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to
The package 1 further includes a closure 19 which is shown in section in
The package 1 also includes sealing elements 33 which seal the container opening 17 when the closure 19 is in place on the container 3. The sealing elements 33 include a first seal 35 comprising an annular sealing flange 37 extending downwardly and inwardly from the end wall of the closure and, as best seen in
Often, the large opening 17 of the container goes out of around during cooling of the resin from which the container is molded. This can make it difficult to provide a good seal. Accordingly, in accordance with the invention, a plurality of circumferencially spaced ribs 51 extend radially inward and axially along the inner surface of the closure skirt 23 and blend into the rib 45. These guide ribs 51 each have a convex radially inward free edge 53 which guides the rim 15 of the container into the gap 47.
As best seen in
As can be appreciated, the invention provides a simple double seal between the container and the closure to assure freshness and dryness of the contents of the container. It also assures that despite out of roundness of the container rim, a good seal will be formed.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the claims appended and any and all equivalents thereof.
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