The subject matter disclosed herein relates to storage and dispensing containers and a method of manufacture thereof, which containers may be used for such items as sanitary wipes, cleaning supplies, and other personal care products.
There are a variety of packaging, storage and dispensing containers designed to facilitate opening and closing of items intended to remain dry or wet depending upon the nature of the product. For example, some personal care products, such as sanitary wipes for infants, are soaked with a cleansing agent and must remain moist from the time the package is initially opened until the product is consumed. Other products, such as napkins for wiping down a wet surface must remain dry. These wipes, napkins or towels are typically stored in a container either in a continuous perforated roll or in a stacked/folded arrangement.
The storage containers of the type described above are typically blow-molded against a mold surface of a die which defines the outer mold line (OML) of the bottle or container. As such, bold-molding, controls the outer surface or OML dimensions of the container including an annular ring corresponding to the opening or lip of the container. This manufacturing process produces a soft, thin-walled, lip which maintains accurate OML dimensions, such that a cap having a similarly formed inner surface may close over and seal the blow-molded container. That is, the blow-molded lip elastically deforms inwardly in response to inwardly directed hoop stresses applied by the cap upon being pressed over the outer surface of the lip. Consequently, the cap produces a moisture tight seal over the lip to keep moisture in and wetness/humidity out. Additionally, the cap may include a hinged lid which may be manually opened or closed to access the product.
While blow molding produces a light-weight, thin-walled structure which produces highly accurate OML dimensions, the fabrication process does not control the inner mold line (IML) dimensions and, therefore, cannot employ an inwardly facing sealing surface. That is, since the IML cannot be accurately controlled, such containers cannot form a reliable seal with outwardly facing caps, i.e., caps forming a plug and seal against the IML of the container lip. Additionally, since blow-molding produces a thin-walled structure, it is often poorly-suited for packaging larger quantities of the same product or products having additional density or weight. That is, the walls tend to collapse when handling the packaged product.
Additionally, such containers and/or cap assemblies are often ill-suited for stacking and shipping prior to being filled with the consumer product. That is, since such containers favor a closed-end fill port, i.e., an end which allows the blow-molded polymer to be pneumatically blown against a mold surface, they do not typically produce a configuration with facilitates stacking. Consequently, such containers must be shipped without the benefit of nesting one container within another. As such, the cost of shipping such containers from the blow-molding facility to the packaging facility is dramatically increased. To reduce the cost of shipping, manufacturers have been faced with the unfavorable prospect of building/buying a packaging facility within a short distance of the blow molding facility. It will be appreciated that the cost of building/buying a packing facility may not be interest of the container manufacturer or visa-versa.
A need, therefore, exists for a dispensing container which is sufficiently robust for everyday use, provides a moisture-tight seal, and is volumetrically efficient to facilitate shipping and handling.
A consumer product container is provided for packaging a consumer product and comprises a top portion, a bottom portion and an intermediate body portion disposed between, and integral with, the top and bottom portions. The top portion includes an opening defining a lip having an internally-facing sealing surface configured to seal with a mating sealing surface of a closing cap. The bottom portion defines a base being substantially parallel to a plane which is normal to a longitudinal axis. The intermediate body portion circumscribes the longitudinal axis and defines an outwardly-directed draft angle relative to the longitudinal axis to facilitate stacking of multiple containers during shipment.
The above embodiments are exemplary only. Other embodiments are within the scope of the disclosed subject matter.
This brief description of the invention is intended only to provide a brief overview of subject matter disclosed herein according to one or more illustrative embodiments, and does not serve as a guide to define or limit the scope of the invention. This brief description is provided to introduce an illustrative selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This brief description is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the invention, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the invention.
So that the manner in which the features of the invention can be understood, a detailed description of the invention may be had by reference to certain embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only certain embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the scope of the disclosed subject matter encompasses other embodiments as well. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis generally being placed upon illustrating the features of certain embodiments of the invention. In the drawings, like numerals are used to indicate like parts throughout the various views.
Various exemplary embodiments describe a consumer product container to create a moisture tight seal between a container and a closing cap. As a non-limiting example, the container includes a lip defining an inwardly-facing sealing surface configured for sealing engagement with an outwardly-facing sealing surface of a closing cap. The sealing interface may include a plurality of protrusions or ridges configured to interlock and produce a moisture-tight seal therebetween. The moisture-tight seal prevents moisture egress from a liquid-saturated consumer product or water/humidity ingress into a dry consumer product. The closing cap also ensures that the container maintains its structural integrity during consumption of the consumer product. In the exemplary embodiment, the closing cap may be removable for product refill.
The consumer product container that is also configured to facilitate packing and shipping. In the described embodiment, the consumer product containers are stackable for ease of shipping. The consumer product container is fabricated by an injection molding process wherein molten polymer is injected under heat and pressure into a mold cavity defining a container having a top portion, a bottom portion and an intermediate body portion disposed between the top and bottom portions.
The top portion of the mold cavity includes an opening defining a lip having an inwardly-facing sealing surface and a first container dimension defined by the width of the opening. As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the inwardly-facing sealing surface is configured to engage with an outwardly-facing sealing surface of the closing cap to produce a moisture-tight seal.
The bottom portion of the mold cavity produces the base of the consumer product container which defines a second container dimension defined by the width of the base. The first diameter dimension is larger than the second diameter dimension of the consumer product container. An intermediate body portion of the mold cavity defines a longitudinal axis of the consumer product container and defines a draft angle relative to a longitudinal axis to effect the geometric change/transition between the first and second diameters. As will be discussed in greater detail hereinafter, the injection molding process produces a highly accurate and reliable sealing interface between the inwardly and outwardly-facing sealing surfaces of the lip of the consumer container and the closing cap, respectively. The draft angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the container facilitates stacking of the injection molded containers and reduces the cost of shipment associated therewith.
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The draft angle α facilitates/enables stacking of the containers 100 during transport/shipment while accommodating ease of container separation. As mentioned in the “Background”, blow-molded containers are shipped with captured dead-air rather than by nesting multiple containers, one container into another. A draft angle α of about six degrees (6°) is employed inasmuch as angles lower than a threshold angle, e.g., an angle of about five degrees (5°), produces a friction fit between containers 100 which generally will prevent separation between the containers 100, i.e., without introducing some form of lubricant therebetween. It will be appreciated, therefore, that while the draft angle α may vary depending on the intended use of the container 100, the draft angle α should be greater than an angle α of about six degrees (6°). While draft angles below about six degrees (6°) can cause nested containers to frictionally bind, larger angles will degrade the volumetric efficiency of the product packaging. Accordingly, the draft angle α should be within a range of between about six degrees (6°) to about twenty degrees (20°).
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The structurally-compliant, inwardly-facing surface 116, therefore, allows for a small degree of outward deformation in response to a tensile hoop stress applied by the structurally-stiffer closing cap 200. That is, the structurally-stiffer closing cap 200 causes the lip 112 and inwardly facing surface 116 to elastically deform outwardly in response to the insertion of the outwardly-facing surface 216 of the closing cap 200. As such, a water-tight, moisture resistant seal is formed at the sealing interface 220 between the inwardly-facing sealing surface 116 of the container 100 and the inwardly-facing sealing surface 216 of the closing cap 200. As a consequence, the sealing interface 220 prevents the ingress of water/moisture into the container 100, i.e., to protect dry consumer products contained within the container 100, and the egress of water/moisture from the container 100, i.e., to keep liquid-saturated products such as wet-napkins from drying-out.
In the described embodiment, the lip 112 of the top end portion 102 of the container 100 includes a plurality of ridges, protrusions, or peaks/troughs 120 for engaging a complimentary-shaped outer ring 216 of the closing cap 200 to augment the sealing capacity of the interface. While the mating interface 210 shows a plurality of protrusions 120, the mating interface 210 may include spikes, bumps, grooves, indents, or other shapes which are capable of interlocking with the closing cap 200 to form a moisture-tight seal. To ensure that the ridges, protrusions or peak/troughs 120 engage in a complimentary fashion, the closing cap 200 may include a radial flange or stop 236 (See
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Both the container 100 and closing cap 200 are formed by an injection molding process wherein a molten polymer is injected under heat and pressure into a mold cavity defining the top, bottom and intermediate body portions as described hereinbefore. In the described embodiment, the mold cavity is injected with either a thermoplastic or thermosetting polymer. A polymer is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into the mold cavity, where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the cavity. As such, both the inner and outer mold line details of the component part to be fabricated are accurately formed/represented following removal from the thermoplastic fabrication tool. Inasmuch as thermoplastic polymers have a propensity for being more compliant following solidification, i.e., the molecules of the polymer do not cross-link in a thermosetting polymer, such polymers are better suited to fabricate the consumer product container 100. That is, since the lid 112 of the container 100 is expected to deform outwardly in response to insertion of a closing cap 200, the elastic properties of thermoplastic polymers is best suited to form the sealing interface 220.
In the described embodiment, the container 100 and the cap 200 may be made of a plastic material such as, but not limited to, polyolefins, styrenics, polypropylene, copolymer polypropylene, polystyrene, thermoplastic elastomers, thermoplastic elastomers, and other forms thereof known in the art. In additional embodiments, the container 100 and the cap 200 may be made of a flexible non-woven or woven material, such as but not limited to blow-molded, melt-blown, co-formed, air-laid, bonded-carded web materials, hydro-entangled materials, and other forms thereof known in the art. In yet additional embodiments, the container 100 and the cap 200 may be made from a plastic flexible film material, such as, but not limited to, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, copolymer polypropylene or various other forms thereof known in the art.
While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what are conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is recognized that departures, modifications, adaptations, variations, and alterations in the described methods and systems may be made and will be apparent to those skilled in the art of the foregoing description which does not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention which is therefore not to be limited to the details herein. For this reason, such changes are desired to be included within the scoped of the appended claims. The descriptive manner which is employed for setting forth the embodiments should be interpreted as illustrative but not limitative of the full scope of the claims which embrace any and all equivalents thereto.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62251473 | Nov 2015 | US |