CA2245807C - Collapsible container for fluids - Google Patents

Collapsible container for fluids Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2245807C
CA2245807C CA002245807A CA2245807A CA2245807C CA 2245807 C CA2245807 C CA 2245807C CA 002245807 A CA002245807 A CA 002245807A CA 2245807 A CA2245807 A CA 2245807A CA 2245807 C CA2245807 C CA 2245807C
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
container
walls
rigid
cover
closure
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CA002245807A
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French (fr)
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CA2245807A1 (en
Inventor
Michael Gerard Willemsen
Louis Rinze Henricus Adrianus Willemsen
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Individual
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Individual
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Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from NL1002300A external-priority patent/NL1002300C2/en
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of CA2245807A1 publication Critical patent/CA2245807A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2245807C publication Critical patent/CA2245807C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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  • Containers And Packaging Bodies Having A Special Means To Remove Contents (AREA)
  • Containers Having Bodies Formed In One Piece (AREA)

Abstract

The invention relates to a container for a small quantity, for instance a portion, of fluid material such as liquid, gas, paste or gel, wherein the container is adapted to reduce its volume through the exertion o f external forces and the container is provided with a closure, wherein the container comprises two walls (7,8) which are each rigid at leas t on their edge and which are connected by a flexible wall (9, 10). The container is preferably provided with a closure which is breakable by internal pressure in the container.

Description

COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER FOR FLUIDS
The invention relates to a container for a small quantity, for instance a portion, of fluid material such as liquid, gas, paste or gel, wherein the container is adapted to reduce its volume through the exertion of external forces and the container is provided with a closure.
Such containers are generally known, for instance in the form of tubs for condensed milk closed by means of aluminium foil.
Such prior art containers have the drawback that when the cover is removed there is a considerable chance of leakage and spillage.
From GB-A-1 114 691 is known a container for fluid material wherein the container is adapted to reduce its volume through the exertion of external forces.
This is a container which is costly in mass production.
The object of the present invention is to provide a container which can be manufactured at lower cost.
This object is achieved in that the container comprises two walls which are each rigid at least on their edge and which are connected by a flexible wall.
According to the present invention, there is provided a container, being adapted to reduce its volume through the exertion of external forces and comprising two substantially flat walls (16, 20) which are each rigid at least on their edges and which are connected by a flexible wall (17), one of the walls (16) being a base, the other of said two substantially flat walls (20) being a cover, la connected with a rim (21) of the flexible wall, the cover (20) being adapted at least partially as a closure, characterized in that the container is adapted to contain a quantity of a fluid material; that the container includes a closure which is arranged on a discharge spout (18) adjoining the rim (21) of the wall; that the cover (20) is adhered to the rim (21); and that the cover also covers the discharge spout ( 18 ) .
These steps result in a simpler and therefore less expensive production process, for instance by using a moulding process for the rigid walls and possibly a part of the flexible walls, and subsequently applying a blow moulding or deep-draw process to form the flexible walls.
It will be apparent that the container is not only intended for liquids such as condensed milk or lemon squash but that it is also suitable for packaging gas, for instance gas as fuel for lighters, or for gel-like products such as mayonnaise, sauce for French fries, or for pastes such as glue.

-- = WO 97/29020 PCT/NL97/00037 The closure is preferably arranged on a discharge spout adjoining an edge.
This step has the advantage that the closure, which is usually formed by a removable or displaceable element, is formed together with a rigid wall or - if this latter is formed by a rigid edge - is formed together with a cover element arranged on the rigid edge.
According to another preferred step the discharge spout is provided with a closure to be removed manually from its position closing the discharge spout.
With this step the container is properly closed until shortly before use; the closure is not opened by external pressure on the container.
According to a preferred embodiment the edges of the I5 rigid walls are each located substantially in a flat plane, which planes extend substantially parallel when a container is full. This embodiment combines a simple production process, as already known for instance in the case of condensed milk tubs, with the advantages of the invention. For this purpose the manufacturing process far the tubs has only to be adapted to the collapsibility of the side walls. This can be performed for instance by a blow moulding process.
Other attractive preferred embodiments are designat-ed in the sub-claims.
The present invention will be elucidated hereinbelow with reference to the annexed drawings, in which:
figure 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodi-ment of the present invention;
figure 2 shows a perspective view of a second pre-ferred embodiment of the present invention;
figure 3 is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in figure 2 of the present invention, but then in collapsed situation;
figure 4 is a perspective view of a variant of the embodiment shown in figure 2;
figure 5 is a perspective view of the variant shown in figure 4 in collapsed situation; and -- WO 97!29020 PCTINL97/00037 figure 6 shows a cross sectional view of a third embodiment.
The container 1 shown in figure 1 comprises a flat upper surface 2 and a lower surface not shown in the drawing.
Both the upper surface 2 and the lower surface ,l are sufficiently rigid for this application. The rigid upper surface 2 and the rigid lower surface are mutually connected on their edge by side walls 3 which allow of a large measure of flexibility. Side surfaces 3 are folded in concertina shape, wherein the folds 4 extend substan-tially parallel to the edges of the rigid surfaces.

Arranged on one edge of upper surface 2 is a spout 5 which is provided with an internal channel and which i s adapted to guide the content of container 1 when the upper surface 2 is pressed in the direction toward the lower surface. The spout 5 is preferably provided with a closure (not shown in the drawing) which can be removed manually to dispense the fluid. This closure can be formed for instance by a thin wall which is formed simul-taneously with forming of the spout and which can be removed for instance by means of a pull tab.

It is possible to manufacture such a container from many types of material. It will also be apparent that such a container can preferably be manufactured from plastic, and particularly from those plastics which ca n result in a rigid surface when sufficiently thick and which, when the wall thickness is sufficiently thin, ensure the flexibility of such a wall preferably embodied in a concertina configuration.

It is pointed out here that it may also be useful to provide the rigid walls with reinforcement ribs and the like. These can be embodied internally but also external-ly, wherein external placing of reinforcement ribs facil-itates grasping of the container with the fingers.

It is noted that the dimensions of such a container are small; the dimensions are chosen such that in the case of foodstuffs it is suitable to contain a single portion.

_. WO 97/29020 PCT/NL97I00037 In order to remove the full contents from the con-tainer, one of the two surfaces can be provided with an inward directed recess.
Although the foregoing embodiment relates to a container with rectangular rigid surfaces, it will be apparent that such rigid surfaces may also take other ~' forms, for instance square, polygonal, round or oval.
It will also be apparent that it is not necessary for the rigid surfaces to be mutually parallel when the container is full; it is also possible to mutually con-nect these surfaces on one side by a hinge-like construc-tion, which must of course be fluid-tight, and to move the surfaces toward each other in the manner of a bel-lows, whereby the content flows out through spout 5.
Figure 2 shows an alternative embodiment of a con-tainer according to the invention. The container 6 de-picted therein once again comprises a rigid upper surface 7 and a rigid lower surface 8, only an edge of which can be seen in the drawing. Both rigid surfaces 7,8 take a round form. Extending round the rigid surface 7 in the manner of a skirt is a flexible surface 9 which is con-nected on its outer edge to a flexible surface 10 like-wise extending in the manner of a skirt from the rigid surface 8. The two surfaces 9,10 are mutually connected along an edge 11. Arranged along the edge is a spout 12 through which the content of the container can flow out when the rigid surfaces 7,8 are moved toward each other.
The two flexible surfaces 9,10 are provided with radially extending folds 13 which provide the flexible surfaces 9,10 with the relevant flexibility.
Figure 3 shows the collapsed form of the container shown in figure 2. The content of the container flows out through discharge aperture 14 of spout 12.
Figure 4 shows a variant of the container depicted a in figure 2; in the container shown in figure 4 the material from which the flexible walls 9,10 are manufac-tured is of a great flexibility such that they do not have to be provided with folds; collapsing of the sur--- WO 97/29020 PCTlNL97/00037 faces 7,8 results in a deformation of the flexible sur-faces 9,10 as shown in figure 5.
Finally, figure 6 shows a third embodiment which is ~ formed by a plastic container I5 formed by a substantial-5 ly flat base 15 and a substantially cylindrical wall 17.
The wall 17 is provided with ribs extending parallel to the base 16, whereby the container is collapsible in the direction perpendicularly of the wall 16.
Such a container can be manufactured for instance by ZO initially deep-drawing a sheet of material, for instance plastic or aluminium, and subsequently plastically de-forming the thus created semi-manufacture in other manner by, in the case of plastic, blow moulding or suction into a relevant shape or by deforming by means of a mould stamp. A pouring spout I8 is moulded on the wall 17.
Pouring spout 18 is provided with a lip I9. In order to close the container a cover 20 is arranged which is manufactured for instance from aluminium foil or from plastic. Cover 20 is attached by means of a thermal adhesion process to the edge 21 of wall 17.
At the position of pouring spout I8 the cover 20 is adhered to the lip 19. In the present embodiment a seam 22 is present in cover 20; in other configurations this seam can be omitted. At the position of lip 19 the cover 20 is attached by means of a thermal adhesion process to lip 19 as well as to the side walls (not shown in the drawing) of pouring spout I8. All this results in a good, fluid-tight closure. The lip 19 is provided with a tear-ing perforation 23 which can be torn off during use so that the part of the cover 20 located to the right of seam 22 in the drawing can be folded upward and the fluid can be dispensed from the pouring spout by for instance pressing the base 16 and cover 20 of the container be-tween thumb and forefinger. The seam 22 can be made thinner.
Further in this embodiment the base 16 takes an elevated form to enable complete emptying of the contain-er.

-. - WO 97129020 PCT/NL97100037 It will be apparent that it is possible to vary in diverse ways from the embodiment shown here without falling outside the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims (7)

CLAIMS:
1. A container, being adapted to reduce its volume through the exertion of external forces and comprising two substantially flat walls (16, 20) which are each rigid at least on their edges and which are connected by a flexible wall (17), one of the walls (16) being a base, the other of said two substantially flat walls (20) being a cover, connected with a rim (21) of the flexible wall, the cover being adapted at least partially as a closure, characterized in that the container is adapted to contain a quantity of a fluid material;

that the container includes a closure which is arranged on a discharge spout (18) adjoining the rim (21) of the wall;

that the cover is adhered to the rim (21); and that the cover also covers the discharge spout (18).
2. A container as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the flexible wall (17) is folded in concertina shape with folds having a directional component parallel to the rigid edges of the walls (16, 20).
3. A container as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the rigid walls (16, 20) are round and the flexible walls are folded with folds having a directional component transverse to the rigid edges of the walls.
4. A container as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the container is made of plastic.
5. A container as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the walls (16) is provided with a recess.
6. A container as claimed in claim 4, wherein said container is blow molded.
7. A container as claimed in claim 4, wherein said container is injection molded.
CA002245807A 1996-02-12 1997-02-06 Collapsible container for fluids Expired - Fee Related CA2245807C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL1002300 1996-02-12
NL1002300A NL1002300C2 (en) 1996-02-12 1996-02-12 Compressible container for liquid material.
PCT/NL1997/000037 WO1997029020A1 (en) 1996-02-12 1997-02-06 Collapsible container for fluids

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2245807A1 CA2245807A1 (en) 1997-08-14
CA2245807C true CA2245807C (en) 2005-12-06

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002245807A Expired - Fee Related CA2245807C (en) 1996-02-12 1997-02-06 Collapsible container for fluids

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CA (1) CA2245807C (en)

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1972242A2 (en) * 2007-03-22 2008-09-24 Progressive International Corp. Collapsible colander & bowl
USD669318S1 (en) 2012-01-26 2012-10-23 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible container
USD731261S1 (en) 2014-02-03 2015-06-09 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible over the sink colander
USD731260S1 (en) 2014-01-30 2015-06-09 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible colander
USD731862S1 (en) 2014-01-30 2015-06-16 Progessive International Corporation Collapsible colander
USD732354S1 (en) 2014-01-30 2015-06-23 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible colander
USD746640S1 (en) 2014-01-31 2016-01-05 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible storage bowl
USD754495S1 (en) 2014-09-25 2016-04-26 Progressive International Corporation Colander
USD766530S1 (en) 2015-02-04 2016-09-13 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible dish drainer

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9427136B2 (en) 2014-04-22 2016-08-30 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible dish drainer

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1972242A2 (en) * 2007-03-22 2008-09-24 Progressive International Corp. Collapsible colander & bowl
EP1972242A3 (en) * 2007-03-22 2008-10-15 Progressive International Corp. Collapsible colander & bowl
USD669318S1 (en) 2012-01-26 2012-10-23 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible container
USD731260S1 (en) 2014-01-30 2015-06-09 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible colander
USD731862S1 (en) 2014-01-30 2015-06-16 Progessive International Corporation Collapsible colander
USD732354S1 (en) 2014-01-30 2015-06-23 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible colander
USD746640S1 (en) 2014-01-31 2016-01-05 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible storage bowl
USD731261S1 (en) 2014-02-03 2015-06-09 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible over the sink colander
USD754495S1 (en) 2014-09-25 2016-04-26 Progressive International Corporation Colander
USD766530S1 (en) 2015-02-04 2016-09-13 Progressive International Corporation Collapsible dish drainer

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Publication number Publication date
CA2245807A1 (en) 1997-08-14

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Effective date: 20150206