EP1468926B1

EP1468926B1 - Multiple bottle

Info

Publication number: EP1468926B1
Application number: EP03008748A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Vittorio Pizzolotto
Original assignee: Pizzolotto SpA
Current assignee: Pizzolotto SpA
Priority date: 2003-04-17
Filing date: 2003-04-17
Publication date: 2008-09-17
Anticipated expiration: 2023-04-17
Also published as: ATE408560T1; EP1468926A1; HRP20040342A2; DE60323601D1

Abstract

The invention relates to a multiple bottle container comprising at least two compartments (2, 3), each shaped as a bottle, an interconnecting structure (10) between said compartments designed to hold them securely connected to each other and having at least one portion (10c) shaped as a handle (28, 31). <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a multiple bottle container, particularly suitable for liquids.
Detergent and disinfectant products are currently finding an ever increasing use in the household field and elsewhere, said products being obtained by mixing two reacting substances just before their use. Such reacting substances can be either in the liquid or in the solid state and must be kept separate from each other before use, e.g. because their reaction product is unstable in time, or can be very aggressive against many substances.
On the other hand, also to avoid possible and at times dangerous mistakes in selecting the right products to be mixed, it would be desirable to be able to provide the user with an error-preventing type of container that makes it virtually impossible to make mistakes when selecting reagents to obtain a detergent or disinfectant product.
A twin-cavity bottle according to the preamble of claim 1 is disclosed in GB-A-940 326 .
The main object of the present invention is to provide a bottle container that is suitable for storing several types of substances in liquid or granular form, keeping them separate from each other during storage, but easily available and identifiable upon use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a bottle container easy to be filled, handled and stocked both at the warehouse, and during shipping, and above all, suitable for being very handy for the user when pouring its different contents.
A not last object of the present invention is to provide a bottle-like container for several liquids, powders or granular materials that can be manufactured at a competitive cost.
These and other objects, that will be better apparent below, are attained by a multiple bottle container according to the present invention, comprising at least two compartments, each shaped as a bottle, an interconnecting structure between said compartments that is integral with at least one compartment to keep them securely attached to each other and has at least one portion thereof shaped as a handle and a pair of recesses arranged on opposite sides with respect to said interconnecting structure, characterized in that said recesses are through lights or openings.
Said interconnecting structure is integral with at least one compartments.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will be better apparent from the dependent claims and the detailed description of a currently preferred embodiment of a multiple bottle container according to the invention, given by way of an illustrative not limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a front elevation view of a double bottle container according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a top plan view of the container shown in Fig. 1;
Figure 3 shows a bottom view of the container of Fig. 1,
Figure 4 is a side view from the right side (for an observer looking at Fig. 1) of the container of Fig. 1;
Figure 5 is a side view from the left side (for an observer looking at Fig. 1) of the container of Fig. 1;
Figure 6 shows a rear side view of the container shown in Fig. 1;
Figure 7 shows a cross section view taken along line VII-VII of Fig. 2;
Figure 8 shows a cross section view taken along line VIII-VIII of Fig. 1;
Figure 9 shows a cross section view taken along line IX-IX of Fig. 1; and
Figure 10 is a cross section view taken along line X-X of Fig. 1.

With reference to the above listed Figures, it will be noted that a multiple bottle container 1 according to the present invention comprises a first compartment 2 and a second compartment 3, both shaped as bottles or tanks or the like.
Preferably, the two bottle shaped compartments 2 and 3 are arranged symmetrically opposite to one another with respect to an intermediate vertical plane indicated by line VIII-VIII in Figure 1.
The two compartments 2 and 3 are securely held attached to each other by an interconnecting structure or portion that, as better shown in Figure 8, comprises a rib 10 having an adequate thickness, that, as it will be further explained below, acts both as a partition between the two compartments, and as a handle. Rib 10 in fact comprises three portions 10a, 10b and 10c, integral with each other: the two end portions 10a and 10b are in mutual alignment, whereas the intermediate portion 10a is offset or out of alignment with respect to the other two, is not in contact with compartments 2 and 3, and has a reduced width to act as a handle, which is suitably shaped, if so desired. Offset of handle 10c with respect to the end portions 10a and 10b makes it quite easy for the contents of the bottle to be poured by the user, since upon being lifted by the user's hand the bottle is urged by gravity to tilt forward, thus making it easier for the substances contained (usually two different liquids) in the compartments 2 and 3 to be poured out.
As it is better shown in Figure 5 portion or handle 10c drawn in dotted lines is remarkably offset towards the front of container 1, while still remaining within the overall dimensions of the two containers 2 and 3.
With reference to Figures 1 and 7, it will be noted that the two compartments 2 and 3 are also affected with a pair of recesses 4 and 5 arranged on opposite sides with respect to the handle-shaped intermediate portion 10b, preferably symmetrically opposite with respect to line VIII-VIII. Recesses 4 and 5 extend e.g. by one quarter of the height of container 1, and are preferably so dimensioned as to let user's fingers and hand to pass through them and to hold the handle-shaped portion 10b.
Figures 1 and 6 show that the two recesses 4 and 5 delimit two through lights or openings separated by the handle shaped portion 10c.
Bottle shaped containers 2 and 3 are provided with an inlet/outlet opening at their top, preferably having a threaded neck, onto which a respective closing stopper or lid 6 or 7 can be airtight screwed.
If desired, the neck of each bottle- shaped container 2, 3 can be curved towards the back of the container 1 so as to make it easier for the user to pour out the content of either container 2, 3.
Figure 10 shows that portion 10b and portion 10c of the rib 10 are out of alignment, portion 10b being closer to the front and portions 10b and 10c to the rear of multiple container 1.
Moreover, in Figure 2 it will be noted that the front of containers 2 and 3 is slightly rounded, whereas, at the rear, the two containers 2 and 3 have a substantially straight outline except for a slight roundness close to their threaded neck.
The container as set forth above is susceptible to numerous modifications and variations within the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.
In practice, the materials used as well as their sizes can be various according to specific requirements.
Any reference sign following technical features in any claim has been provided to increase intelligibility of the claim and shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the claim.

Claims

A multiple bottle container comprising at least two compartments (2, 3) each shaped as a bottle, an interconnecting structure (10) between said compartments that is integral with at least one compartment (2, 3) to keep them securely attached to each other and has at least one portion (10c) thereof shaped as a handle and a pair of recesses (4, 5) arranged on opposite sides with respect to said interconnecting structure (10), characterised in that said recesses (4, 5) are through lights or openings.
A container according to claim 1,
wherein said interconnecting structure comprises an uninterrupted rib (10) ,characterised in that said rib (10) comprises three adjoining portions (10a, 10b, 10c), at least one of which is not in alignment with the others.
A container according to Claim 2, characterised in that said portion out of alignment (10c) is suitable for being used as an offset handle whereby making pouring out easier.
A container according to Claim 3, characterised in that said handle-shaped portion (10c) is within the overall dimensions of said compartments (2 and 3).