EP0217114A2 - Spray bottle of plastic for a detergent - Google Patents

Abstract

The spray bottle has a bottle body, an elbow mounted thereon in an impact connection, and a nozzle mouthpiece supported by the elbow and directed obliquely upwards. The spraying direction of the nozzle mouthpiece encloses an angle between 50 DEG and 75 DEG , preferably approximately 73 DEG , with the longitudinal median axis of the bottle body. The nozzle mouthpiece is covered by a closure cap. The nozzle mouthpiece and closure cap can be locked by catching on a nipple supported by the elbow. A childproof connection may be provided for the closure cap.

Description

The invention relates to a wash bottle for cleaning liquid, in particular for cleaning toilet bowls, with a bottle body which can be squeezed by hand and a spray nozzle located in the upper end region thereof, directed obliquely upwards.

Such a squirt bottle is known from DE-OS 31 21 591. It has a steeply directed spray nozzle, the central axis of which points in the spraying direction and forms an angle of approximately 40 ° with the longitudinal direction of the bottle body. This design is not very favorable if one tries to spray the lower side of the inwardly drawn upper edge of a toilet bowl with the bottle essentially held upright. You have to reach deep into the toilet with your hand holding the squirt bottle, which is unpleasant and hygienically questionable. It is not readily possible to make the angle of attack of the spray nozzle less steep, since in conventional plastic manufacturing technology, in particular tube drawing and injection molding, there are limits to the formability.

From US-PS 45 09 661 a dispenser for foamed brine is known in which a manifold with a nozzle is screwed onto a compressible bottle body. The spray direction of the nozzle forms an angle of approx. 60 ° with the longitudinal direction of the bottle body. The nozzle is fitted into an opening in the elbow. This dispenser has a non-generic area of application. Its assembly is comparatively cumbersome, whereby the tightness required, in particular for aggressive cleaning liquids, does not appear to be guaranteed.

The object of the invention is to provide a squeeze bottle of the type mentioned, which allows a well-dosed discharge of liquid running without liquid surge and dripping at a user-friendly angle and can be easily formed using conventional plastic production technology and can be easily and easily assembled from individual parts with a good seal.

This object is achieved in that the spray nozzle is carried by a manifold which can be placed on the bottle body under sealing with a bump closure and carries a nipple on which a nozzle mouthpiece and a closure cap can be fixed, the central axis of the nozzle pointing in the spraying direction with the Longitudinal direction of the bottle body includes an angle between 50 ° and 75 °, preferably about 73 °.

The bottle according to the invention sprays more sideways in an upright position than is known from the prior art. This results in significant advantages in handling. In particular, you don't need to go so deep into a toilet bowl with the bottle drive if you want to spray their top edge. The attachment of the spray nozzle to a bend separate from the bottle body has the advantage that the bottle body can be filled in an upright position, as is customary in filling systems. The manifold is simply opened in a sealing manner after filling. The bottle body and elbow are made of plastic, with no molding problems occurring within the specified angular range.

In a preferred bounce closure for the elbow, the latter bears two rows of nubs which are offset in the plug-in direction and which rest on two correspondingly offset webs of the bottle body. This double-row notch ensures a considerable holding force. The individual, spaced-apart knobs can be deformed more easily when the manifold is bounced than, for example, a continuous, circumferential retaining lip, so that the assembly of the wash bottle can be carried out conveniently with comparatively little effort. Due to the latching on two successive bars in the direction of insertion, the bend is pulled open and pulled off in two stages. In an attempt to break open the squirt bottle, both rows of knobs with the associated webs initially come out of engagement, but a lower row of knobs on the elbow snaps into place behind an upper web on the bottle body, which is accompanied by additional safety and a warning function.

The connection between the elbow and the body of the bottle can have double tightness. For this purpose, the elbow can have a connection piece which is sealed with a neck of the bottle body in a plug connection is coming. In this way, two sealing zones enclosing one another and a correspondingly increased sealing security are obtained, as is particularly desirable when dealing with aggressive cleaning fluids.

A guide device can be provided which aligns and guides the elbow when it is placed on the bottle body. In a preferred design, a guide rail is formed on the elbow for this purpose, which positively engages in a groove in the bottle body. The elbow is centered in a convenient manner when bouncing and stabilized when it is lifted off the bottle body.

In a preferred design, the elbow has an end surface which is inclined in relation to the longitudinal axis of the bottle body, from which the nipple, on which the nozzle mouthpiece and a closure cap can project, projects in the normal direction. This design makes it easier to aim with the syringe bottle, since the spray direction is clearly recognizable from the sloping face.

At the base of the nipple, a base can preferably be provided at the level of the end face of the bottle body, which has a plurality of openings, in particular two openings arranged off-center. This plurality of openings serves to prevent gushing when dispensing liquid from the squirt bottle. Furthermore, a good return flow of non-sprayed liquid into the interior of the spray bottle is achieved, in which after the spraying there is a negative pressure which returns the liquid.

The tip of the nozzle mouthpiece can have a trumpet-like shape that widens outwards. This serves to prevent dripping. A sharp tear-off edge is created for liquid emerging from the spray bottle, which does not drip and does not stain the bottle. The user does not come into contact with aggressive cleaning liquid residues.

The closure cap of the squirt bottle according to the invention can be fixed in a childproof snap connection on a circumferential web of the nipple. Children are not able to remove the cap so that they cannot do anything with an unopened squirt bottle. Childproofing is particularly recommended for wash bottles for toilet cleaning, which usually contain very aggressive cleaning fluids and therefore represent an increased hazard for children.

The web serving for anchoring the closure cap can be essentially circular and flattened on part of its circumference, preferably along two parallel secants. The flats can preferably be at an angle of approximately 90 ° to two wedges of the childproof snap connection, which can be formed on the end face of the bottle body. The flats make it easier to put on and remove the cap. Their position relative to the wedges is selected so that when the childproof lock is actuated, the cap can be easily bent over the web holding it.

• Fig. 1 die Seitenansicht einer ersten Bauform einer Spritzflasche, wobei ein Flaschenkörper mit durchgezogenen Linien, und die Außenkontur eines Krümmers und einer Verschlußkappe ge­strichelt dargestellt sind;
• Fig. 2 eine Vorderansicht des Flaschenkörpers mit Blick in Richtung II von Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 das obere Teil des Flaschenkörpers einer zwei­ten Bauform der Spritzflasche in Seitenansicht;
• Fig. 4 eine Vorderansicht des Flaschenkörpers mit Blick in Richtung IV von Fig. 3;
• Fig. 5 eine Draufsicht von oben auf den Flaschenkör­per in Richtung V von Fig. 3;
• Fig. 6 einen Längsschnitt durch einen Krümmer;
• Fig. 7 eine Draufsicht auf den Krümmer von oben mit Blick in Richtung VII von Fig. 6;
• Fig. 8 einen Blick auf die Stirnseite des Krümmers in Richtung VIII von Fig. 6;
• Fig. 9 halbseitig längsgeschnitten ein Düsenmundstück der Spritzflasche;
• Fig. 10 den Längschnitt einer Verschlußkappe mit einem teilweise weggebrochenen inneren Stutzen;
• Fig. 11 einen weiteren Längsschnitt der Verschlußkappe mit gegen Fig. 10 um 90° versetzter Schnittebene;
• Fig. 12 zwei halbseitige Darstellungen der Verschluß­kappe in um 90° zueinander versetzten Positionen;
• Fig. 13 einen Blick in das Innere der Verschlußkappe in Richtung XIII von Fig. 10.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to two exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings. Show it:

• Figure 1 is a side view of a first design of a squirt bottle, a bottle body with solid lines, and the outer contour of a bend and a cap are shown in dashed lines.
• FIG. 2 shows a front view of the bottle body with a view in the direction II of FIG. 1;
• 3 shows the top part of the bottle body of a second design of the squirt bottle in a side view;
• Fig. 4 is a front view of the bottle body looking in the direction IV of Fig. 3;
• 5 shows a top view of the bottle body in the direction V from FIG. 3;
• 6 shows a longitudinal section through a manifold.
• Figure 7 is a top plan view of the manifold from above looking towards VII of Figure 6;
• Figure 8 is a view of the face of the manifold in the direction VIII of Figure 6;
• 9 shows a nozzle mouthpiece of the squirt bottle cut longitudinally on one side;
• Figure 10 shows the longitudinal section of a closure cap with a partially broken inner socket.
• 11 shows a further longitudinal section of the closure cap with the cutting plane offset by 90 ° compared to FIG. 10;
• 12 shows two half-sided representations of the closure cap in positions offset by 90 ° to one another;
• 13 is a view into the interior of the closure cap in the direction XIII of FIG. 10.

1 and 2 show the bottle body 10 of a squirt bottle which is about twice as wide as it is deep. The bottle body 10 can be comfortably gripped with one hand. It consists of an elastic plastic and can be compressed by hand to build up an overpressure inside. The bottle body 10 has two beads 12, 14 offset in the longitudinal direction, which delimit a grip area 16. The lower bead 12 is located near the bottom 18 of the bottle body 10, which is slightly pulled inwards, and the upper bead 14 is provided approximately halfway up the bottle body 10. Above this, the bottle body 10 tapers both in width and in depth (FIGS. 1 and 2). When looking at the broad side of the bottle body 10, one can see in the tapering area a curved front flank 22, which runs obliquely with respect to the longitudinal central axis 20 of the bottle body 10, as well as a neck-like constriction 24 on the back of the bottle body 10, which is arranged in a somewhat less obliquely rearward angle against the longitudinal central axis 20 Edge 26 passes over. The flanks 22, 26 end in a step 28, which runs parallel to the base 18 and marks the transition to an integrally molded projection 30, on which a bend 32, only schematically indicated in FIG. 1, can be fixed in a bump connection. The approach 30 is approximately one and a half times as wide as deep. It carries on its outer jacket a circumferential, outwardly projecting web 34, which has an oblique flank upwards and radially springs back on its underside. The manifold 32 can thus be snapped onto the web 34 from above.

A pipe socket 36 is formed on the top of the extension 30. Its axis 38 extends parallel to the longitudinal central axis 20 of the bottle body 10. The pipe socket 36 is located in the narrow side plan view (FIG. 2) in the middle of the extension 30, in contrast to which it is tapered in its clear width. Wide seen from the side (Fig. 1), the pipe socket 36 is eccentric with respect to the approach 30, on the side facing the longitudinal central axis 20 of the bottle body 10; the axis 38 of the pipe socket 36 is offset to the side against the longitudinal central axis 20. The foot of the pipe socket 36 is connected to the edge of the projection 30 via inclined floor surfaces 40, so that the bottle body 10 is closed apart from the opening of the pipe socket 36.

3 to 5 show a modified design of the bottle body 10. Instead of a single web 34, here two webs 42, 44 are formed on the extension 30, which are parallel to one another at a distance and follow one another in the axial direction. As explained below, a double detent is obtained for the elbow 32 to be opened. Furthermore, the outer jacket of the extension 30 is provided with two axially extending grooves 46, which are formed mirror-symmetrically to the longitudinal center plane of the bottle body 10 and at the height of the pipe socket 36 are diametrically opposed to each other. The grooves 46 serve to guide the manifold 32 when it bounces.

6 to 8, the elbow 32 to be placed on the bottle body 10 is shown in more detail. The manifold 32 has a housing 48 which is open at the bottom and which fits onto the extension 30. On the inner casing of the housing 48, locking knobs 50, 52 are formed, which engage under the webs 42, 44 on the outer casing of the extension 30 and thereby hold the elbow 32 on the extension 30.

The knobs 50 can be pressed over the webs 42, 44 with oblique flanks 54. Two rows of knobs 50, 52 can be seen, which follow one another in the direction of impact and have the same spacing as the webs 42, 44. In each of the two rows, the knobs 50, 52 are spaced apart and set from row to row to a gap; a knob 50 in the lower row near the mouth thus meets a gap in the upper, inner row of knobs 52 and vice versa. In the opened state, the knobs 50 of the lower row snap with the lower web 42, and knobs 52 of the upper row with the upper web 44, which is more towards the free end of the bottle body 10. The double latching ensures a considerable holding force. On the other hand, the relatively small, spaced-apart knobs 50, 52 can be deformed well when the elbow 32 is bounced, so that the effort required during assembly is kept within limits. The manifold 32 snaps onto the shoulder 30 in stages. This is particularly advantageous if an unauthorized attempt is made to loosen the manifold 32. After the actual assembly position has been broken open, the lower row of knobs 50 engages once again on the upper, outer web 44 of the projection 30, and force is once again required in order to finally lift the elbow 32 off. The gradual locking thus ensures additional safety and it has a warning function for the user. However, this design is not mandatory for the invention; as shown in Fig. 2, the squirt bottle according to the invention can rather also be provided with a simple bounce closure for the elbow 32.

Two guide rails 56 are formed on the inner surface of the elbow 32, which fit into the grooves 46 of the extension 30. The rails 56 engage in the grooves 46 when the elbow 32 is bounced. The elbow 32 is thereby centered and stabilized when it is lifted off the bottle body 10.

The top of the housing 48 is curved in the rear area in the manner of a 90 ° elbow. In contrast, on its front side, which is on the left in FIG. 6, the housing 48 offers a flat end face 58 with an essentially circular plan. In the center of the end face 58 there is a nipple 60 which is integrally formed on the housing 42 and extends in the normal direction of the end face 58. The nipple 60 forms the outlet of the squirt bottle, and its central axis 62 points in the spray direction. In the interior of the housing 48, a downward-pointing pipe stub 64 adjoins the nipple 60 and is integrally formed on the housing 42. The wall of the nipple 60 is extended 66 on its underside into the housing 42 in order to create a transition to the pipe stub 64. The end face 58 also partially delimits the space enclosed by the pipe stub 64. The rear wall 68 of the pipe stub 64 is pulled up to the top of the housing 48. With an orientation of the elbow 32, which corresponds to that in the mounted state on the bottle body 10, the axis of the pipe stub 64 points in the longitudinal direction 20 of the bottle body 10.

The pipe stub 64 ends at a distance from the lower edge 70 of the housing 42. Its end is provided with a conical chamfer 72. When the elbow 32 is in place, the pipe stub 64 sealingly engages in the pipe socket 36 on the neck of the bottle body 10. A connection is thus established through which the angled nipple 60 communicates with the inside of the bottle body 10. The interior 74 of the housing 42 which is not occupied by the pipe stub 64 should in principle never contain any liquid. However, it advantageously serves as a collecting container in the event of a leak in the plug connection between pipe socket 36 and pipe stub 64. The bounce connection of the elbow 32 on the extension 30 is preferably designed to be sealed, so that a double seal security is formed with two mutually enclosing sealing zones.

The nipple 60 has a base 76 at its base, which forms an extension of the wall of the pipe stub 64 and comes to rest at the level of the end face 58 of the bottle body 10. The bottom 76 has two circular openings 78, 80 which are arranged one above the other in the longitudinal center plane of the elbow 32. The edge of the lower openings 80 comes close to the inner surface of the nipple 60. The arrangement of the bottom 76 and openings 78, 80 reduces the passage cross section at the base of the nipple 60, which serves to prevent gushing when dispensing liquid. The position of the lower opening 80 also ensures that liquid can flow back unhindered through the nipple 60 into the interior of the bottle body 10 after the end of a spraying process. A promotional effect arises from the negative pressure prevailing therein and from gravity.

On the nipple 60 are axially offset, two radially outwardly projecting, circumferential locking webs 82, 84 of different diameters. The locking web 82 near the mouth has a smaller diameter and serves to snap open a nozzle mouthpiece 86 shown in FIG. 9. The second locking web 84, which is further away from the mouth of the nipple 60, has a larger diameter and serves to fasten a closure cap 88 shown in FIGS. 10 to 13 Seen from the mouth of the nipple 60, both locking webs 82, 84 have a conically rising flank and after a short cylindrical transition section they jump radially onto the outer dimension of the nipple 60 back.

The nozzle mouthpiece shown in FIG. 9 has an essentially circular-cylindrical anchoring section 90 which engages over the nipple 60 radially on the outside. A circumferential rib 92 is formed on the inner ring of the anchoring section 90, which has a flank which tapers conically in the direction of insertion and, in the assembled state, engages behind the locking web 82 of smaller diameter near the mouth. The anchoring section 90 merges via a conical intermediate piece 94 into the wall 98 of the mouthpiece 86 which tapers conically towards an outlet opening 96. A pipe stub 100 is formed coaxially in the interior of the anchoring section 90 on the wall 98 and ends at a distance from the edge 102 of the anchoring section 90. The end of the pipe stub 100 is chamfered 104. When the nozzle mouthpiece 86 is snapped on, the pipe stub 100 engages in the nipple 60, while the anchoring section 90 comes to rest on the outer jacket of the nipple 60. A connection with double tightness can also be realized at this point.

In the area of its outlet opening 96, the nozzle mouthpiece 86 has a step-shaped cross-sectional constriction 106. Downstream of this, an essentially circular-cylindrical outlet channel 108 can be seen, which widens in the shape of a trumpet on the outlet side. With this type of mouth, you create a defined tear-off edge at which the spray jet is cut off, and you effectively prevent dripping. After the end of the spraying process, liquid remaining in the mouthpiece 86 is sucked back into the nipple 60 and from there predominantly through the lower bottom opening 80 into the bottle body 10.

Childproofing is provided for the closure cap 88. This includes wedges 110 which are integrally formed on the manifold 32 and are located on the end face 58. The wedges 110 have a base area in the form of a segment of a circle and are arranged in a rotationally symmetrical arrangement with respect to the central axis 62 of the nipple 60 by 180 ° offset, whereby they come to lie on both sides of the longitudinal center plane of the elbow 32. They have a curved ramp surface 112 which, starting from the end surface 58, rises both in the circumferential direction and radially from the inside to the outside.

The cap 88 of the squirt bottle shown in FIGS. 10 to 13 has a conical shape with a rounded tip. A cylindrical connecting piece 116 is formed on the inside of the conical surface 114 in a coaxial arrangement, which attaches to approximately half the height of the closure cap 88 and ends at a short distance from the conical base 118. The connecting piece 116 has on its inner jacket a circumferential rib 120 which tapers conically in the plugging direction and is suitable for engaging behind the locking web 84 of larger diameter on the nipple 60. The closure cap 88 can thus be snapped onto the spray bottle, whereby it overlaps and covers the nipple 60 with the nozzle mouthpiece 86 attached to it.

10 and 13 show a profile with a plurality of webs 122 distributed over the circumference and extending in the axial direction on the inner jacket of the connecting piece 116. These serve to guide the closure cap 88 on the outer jacket of the nozzle mouthpiece 86.

At the tip inside the closure cap 88 there is a central, axial pin with a dome-shaped rounded hollow body 124 and one axially attached to it pin 126 of smaller diameter. When the closure cap 88 is in place, this pin protrudes into the discharge opening 96 of the nozzle mouthpiece 86, so that the latter is closed. In the vicinity of the pin, a number of elastic lamellae are provided in the interior of the closure cap 88, distributed over the circumference thereof, which lie around the tip of the nozzle mouthpiece 86 and bring about additional securing and fixing.

As parts of the child safety device, two projections 130 are formed on the inner surface of the closure cap 88 near the cone base 119, which are diametrically opposite one another and rise in the circumferential direction. At the height of the projections 130 there are gripping surfaces 132 on the outer jacket of the closure cap 88. The latter each consist of a plurality of outwardly projecting webs 134 which extend in the axial direction. The closure cap 88 can be grasped and compressed on the gripping surfaces 132. When the closure cap 88 is attached, its conical base 118 lies against the end face 58 of the elbow 32. The projections 130 come to lie radially outside of the wedges 110, so that the closure cap 88 can rotate freely on the nipple 60. The locking position of the closure cap 88 cannot be released by pulling it off in the axial direction, since this requires too much force. In order to release the closure cap 88 in a regular manner, it must be compressed in the area of the grip surfaces 132, so that the projections 130 come into contact with the wedges 110, and at the same time rotate the closure cap 88. During this combined movement, the closure cap 88 is lifted, bent and released from the nipple 60 by the cooperating inclined ramp surfaces.

8, the locking web 84 of larger diameter, which holds the closure cap 88, is flattened on both sides along two parallel secants. The flats 136 lie at an angle of 90 ° to the two wedges 110 in planes parallel to the longitudinal center plane of the elbow 132. The flats 136 facilitate the bending movement of the closure cap 88 in this plane. Furthermore, excessive force is not required when opening the cap 88.

Claims (10)

1. wash bottle for cleaning liquid, in particular for cleaning toilet bowls with a hand-squeezable bottle body and a spray nozzle located in the upper end region thereof, characterized in that the nozzle is carried by a bend (32) which is sealed can be placed on the bottle body (10) with a bump closure and carries a nipple (60) on which a nozzle mouthpiece (86) and a closure cap (88) can be locked in place, the central axis (62) of the nozzle pointing in the spraying direction with the longitudinal direction (20) of the bottle body (10) includes an angle between 50 ° and 75 °, preferably approximately 73 °. 2. Spray bottle according to claim 1, characterized in that the elbow carries two staggered rows of spaced knobs (50, 52), which rest on two correspondingly offset webs (42, 44) of the bottle body (10). 3. Spray bottle according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the connection between the elbow (32) and the bottle body (10) has double tightness, for which purpose the elbow (32) can be provided with a nozzle (64) which has a neck ( 36) of the bottle body (10) comes in a sealed plug connection. 4. squirt bottle according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by a guide device (46, 56) which aligns and guides the elbow (32) when placed on the bottle body (10), in particular in the form of a rail formed on the elbow (32) (56) which positively engages in a groove (46) in the bottle body (10). 5. Spray bottle according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the elbow (32) has an inclined in the attached state to the longitudinal axis (20) of the bottle body (10) end face (58), of which the nipple (60) protrudes in the normal direction. 6. wash bottle according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at the base of the nipple (60) preferably at the height of the end face (58) a bottom (76) is provided which has a plurality of openings (78, 80), in particular two openings (78, 80) arranged off-center. 7. squirt bottle according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the tip of the nozzle mouthpiece (86) has a trumpet-like outward widening shape. 8. squirt bottle according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the closure cap (88) can be fixed in a childproof snap connection on a circumferential web (84) of the nipple (60). 9. squirt bottle according to claim 8, characterized in that the web (84) is substantially circular and is flattened on part of its circumference, preferably along two parallel secants. 10. Spray bottle according to claim 9, characterized in that the flats (136) are preferably offset by approximately 90 ° to two wedges (110) of the childproof snap connection, which can be formed on the end face (58).

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