GB2142317A - Dispensing containers - Google Patents

Abstract

A cylindrical dispensing container for dispensing individual non-woven fabric wipes comprises a container body 1 which holds a linked succession of the non-woven fabric wipes and a container lid 2 which has a depending skirt and is adapted to fit rotatably over the upper end of the container body 1. Openings 3, 10 in the depending skirt and the upper end of the container body 1 aligned so that a wipe can be withdrawn from inside the container. When not aligned the end of the succeeding wipe is held in a temporary enclosure formed between the skirt of the container lid 2 and the wall of the container body 1. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Dispensing container This invention relates to a dispensing container for a linked succession of non-woven fabric wipes and more particularly to a dispensing container in which the wipes are removed through an opening in the side of the container body.

Non-woven fabrics such as paper, impregnated with an alcohol-based perfume and/or medicament have been found to be useful as cosmetic wipes or as medical wipes, for example prior to injections. Such wipes are conveniently provided as a linked succession of such wipes either in the form of a roll with tear lines between the individual wipes defined by spaced perforations or interfolded in a concertina-fashion. The wipes so linked must resist drying out in storage and must also resist drying out over the period of use of the whole succession of wipes after the container is opened. Previously, wipes have been dispensed from within a closed cylindrical or box-like container of synthetic polymeric material through an opening or slit in the top of the lid of the container.For use the lid of the container is removed and the end wipe is extracted and put through the slit or opening in the lid and the lid replaced. Successive wipes are then pulled through the slit or opening by the action of the preceding wipe before it tears off.. The exposed end is then protected by a tight-fitting cover over the slit.

Such dispensing containers have the disadvantage that they cannot be produced and marketed pre-threaded, therefore require the user to either follow threading instructions or use threading devices before the dispensing container may be used. They also in making the slit or opening as small as possible to avoid evaporation of the moistening fluid in use, tend to wring-out the wipe as it is pulled through the slit. If the openings are large the end of the next wipe to be used may fall back into the container.

Dispensing containers which have a rotatable lid are known for dispensing tablets and the like by rotating a lid of a dispenser until an opening in the lid is aligned with an opening in the body of the container so that by manipulation a tablet falls from within the container. Such containers are unsuitable for use with moist non-woven fabric wipes since no precautions are taken either to prevent the wipe falling back into the container or to prevent the end of the wipe or the roll of wipes from drying out. Such containers are described in British Patent No. 1036733 but this patent does not disclose or suggest that the container could be used for dispensing moist non-woven fabric wipes.British Patent Application No. 20241 60 discloses a container for dispensing non-woven wipes from the side wall of the container near the base of the container by aligning an aperture in the wall of the container with an aperture in the wall of the lid. This container also must be threaded by the consumer prior to use and the apertures are large which is not suitable when used with moist wipes.

Surprisingly it has been found that by forming a dispensing container from a cylindrical body and lid which forms a snap fit over the upper end of the body and is rotatable thereon so that an opening in the wall at the upper end of the body and in the cap can be aligned, wipes may be removed from the interior of the dispenser without the above disadvantages being manifest. The dispensing container holding the wipes can be produced and marketed with the end of the first wipe prethreaded through the opening in the container wall and held in a temporary enclosure between the wall of the container and the inside wall of the lid so that it has little tendency to dry out.Upon rotation of the lid the openings may be brought into alignment and the end of the wipe pulled through the opening in the lid and on separation of the wipe, the end of the next wipe is held in a temporary enclosure again as the lid is rotated to its previous position. This arrangement allows for the opening to be larger than those conventionally used with top dispensing containers, thereby reducing the tendency of the wipe to wring-out as the wipe is extracted.

This system also allows for the dispensing container to have more than one opening so that different types of wipes may be used depending upon which compartment is selected.

Accordingly the present invention provides a cylindrical dispensing container for dispensing individual non-woven fabric wipes comprising a container body, a linked succession of the non-woven fabric wipes located within the container body and a container lid having a depending skirt adapted to be fitted on to the upper end of the container body, which container lid is rotatable on the upper end of the container body characterised in that both the depending skirt of the container lid, and the wall of the upper end of the container body have an opening whereby when the opening in the container lid is aligned with the opening in the container wall a wipe can be drawn from inside the container and when not in alignment the end of the succeeding wipe is held in a temporary enclosure formed between the skirt of the container lid and the wall of the upper end of the container body.

The present invention provides a cylindrical dispensing container for dispensing individual non-woven fabric wipes comprising a container body, a linked succession of the nonwoven wipes located within the container body and a container lid having a depending skirt adapted to be snap fitted on to the upper end of the container body, which container lid is rotatable on the upper end of the body, which is characterised in that both the depending skirt of the container lid and the wall of the upper end of the container body have an opening whereby rotation of the lid aligns the opening in the lid with the opening in the container so that a wipe can be drawn from inside the container and upon subsequent further rotation of the lid the end of the succeeding wipe is held in a temporary enclosure formed between the skirt of the container lid and the wall of the upper end of the body.

The container body is defined as cylindrical when at least its top portion over which the cap fits is cylindrical. This allows the cap to freely rotate around the top of the container as required. Clearly the remainder of the container could take any aesthetically pleasing shape.

Usually the container body will be formed in one manufacturing step, that is a moulding process, so that the container body comprises one piece. It is envisaged that container bodies which are formed from more than one piece are also within the scope of the invention. For example a two piece container body would comprise a major body portion which would hold the non-woven fabric wipes and a second top portion which would contain an opening for alignment with an opening in the cap. The second piece may be attached to the major body portion by means of a screw thread or a snap-fit.

The non-woven fabric wipes may be made from any suitable non-woven fabric such as a paper or entangled natural or polymeric fibres which are capable of absorbing liquid. The wipes may be used dry or more preferably in a moist condition. The wipes may be moistened by water or more suitably an alcohol-water mixture or other conventional cosmetic liquid bases such as liquid paraffin.

When used cosmetically the solution may additionally contain a perfume, skin moistener, cleanser or the like. When used as a medicinal wipe the solution which is absorbed by the wipe may contain an antibacterial agent, such as chlorhexidine or its salts, insect repellant or the like. It is a further advantage in dispensing through a side opening that if the wipe is impregnated with for example a cream, the weight of the impregnant in the wipe does not tend to drag the wipe back through the opening and back into the container.

Suitably the wipes will be in the form of a roll in which each wipe is defined by a tear line in the form of perforations. The roll is position with its axis parallel to the axis of the container body. The wipes are pulled from the centre of the roll.

Aptly the opening in the container lid is present in the skirt in a manner whereby it extends upwards towards the top surface of the lid from the bottom rim of the skirt. The opening may be of any shape which is capable of allowing withdrawal of the wipe when aligned with the opening in the container body. For ease of manufacture and if necessary rethreading it has been found that an inverted-Y shape is the most convenient.

Typically the arms of the Y-shape are 10 to 20 mm and preferably 1 5 mm across whilst the stem of the Y-shape is 4 to 10 mm and preferably 5 mm across. The Y-shape extends up to 75% of the distance between the rim of the skirt and the top of the container lid.

Similarly the opening in the upper-wall may be of any shape which is capable of allowing a wipe to be threaded through it so that the wipe may be withdrawn when the opening is aligned with that in the lid. Suitably the opening is of a Y-shape of the same dimensions as that of the opening in the container lid. The Y-shape extends down from the upper edge of the container body. From the above it is clear that the opening in the container lid and in the container body will only overlap over a portion of their extent when aligned.

The hole formed by the overlap may be varied in both size and shape according to the dimensions of the respective openings. In the preferred form the overlap will occur in the stem of the Y-shaped openings and as a result a square overlap is formed. By rounding the stem of the Y-shape, the hole so formed can be made circular, oval or capsule-shaped.

Alternatively the opening in the lid and container may comprise a V-shape. The base of the V-shape may be sharp so as to provide a diamond shaped opening or may be rounded to form an elliptically shaped opening.

The size of the hole is governed to some extent by the weight of the non-woven fabric wipes to be used. Suitably the weight of the non-woven fabric is from 25 to 80 gm-2 and preferably is a weight of 35 to 55 gm-2. The cross-sectional area of the overlap which will allow effective withdrawal of the wipe without wringing it out whilst holding the wipe ready for use is from 10 to 75 sq. mm and preferably 20 to 50 sq. mm. The size of the overlap may be used to control the wetness or weight of liquid carried by each wipe. The most effective sizes will be derived as a matter of experiment.

The container lid is adapted to snap-fit over the upper end of the container body by, for example, having a flange near the upper end of the container body and a thickened rim on the bottom of the skirt of the lid so that when pushed over the flange the rim deforms and snaps over the flange. The container lid when in position on the container body is free to rotate around the container body. By rotation the openings in the container lid and body can be aligned and a wipe withdrawn.

Suitably the container will be rotated from 5 to 10 mm from the effectively closed position to the open position when the openings are aligned. Preferably the rotation of the container lid will be restricted between certain limits by the presence of stops on the wall of the container body which will interact with stops on the inside of the container lid and so will prevent over rotation of the lid. The dispensing container may have on its outside an indication of the open and closed positions in the form of words or indica or both.

Suitably the container lid forms a seal with the top of the container body so as to prevent the wipes from drying out. Alternatively if the rotation of the container lid is restricted by the presence of stops, the stops may be adapted to form a water light seal with the depending skirt of the container lid.

As an alternative to the presence of stops on the walls of the container, the container lid and the top of the container body may interact by means of a ratchet mechanism which governs the rotational movement of the lid relative to the container body.

When the container lid is in the closed position the protruding corner of the next wipe to be used is held in the temporary enclosure formed between the inside of the skirt of the container lid and the wall of the upper part of the container body. This prevents the corner of the wipe from drying out and prevents also the wipes within the container body from drying out. On rotation of the container lid the openings are aligned and the corner of wipe then protrudes ready for withdrawal. The temporary enclosure may take the form of a channel moulded into the cap.

The dispensing container may be assembled with the first wipe threaded through the opening in the wall of the container body. The container lid is placed on the container body in the closed position and the opening sealed with a peelable piece of adhesive tape. For use the adhesive tape is removed and the lid rotated and the first wipe pulled from the container.

Normally the dispensing container of the present invention will be used for dispensing only a single type of moist or dry non-woven fabric wipe. However, the dispensing container may be adapted to dispense more than one type of wipe by dividing the inside of the container body into more than one section and having the appropriate number of openings in the container body and lid.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the following drawings in which Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a dispensing container with the openings in the container lid and upper wall of the container body aligned Figure 2 is a perspective view of the upper part of the container body Figure 3 is a perspective view of the top of the container lid Figure 4 is a view of a portion of the top of a container showing an alternative overlap shape.

Figure 5 A, B and C show the three components of an alternative container comprising a container body, a container top and a container a container lid respectively.

In the perspective drawing of Figure 1 a dispensing container is shown which comprises a container body (1) and a container lid (2). The container lid (2) and body (1) are shown with the openings in each aligned. The opening (3) in the container lid (1) is an inverted Y-shape comprising two portions, the arms (4) of the Y-shape and the stem (5) of the Y-shape is 1 5 mm. A similar V-shape is present in the upper wall of the container body extending downwards from the top. The stems of the two V-shapes therefore overlap to form a hole (6) through which the wipe is drawn in use. The arms (4) of the V-shapes facilitates the threading of the wipe into the opening in the container body and lid.The body of the container may carry indica (7) and (8) to show the position of the opening in the lid for the closed and open positions respectively. The cross-sectional area of the hole (6) in this embodiment would be of the order of 25 sq. mm.

Figure 2 shows a view of the upper wall of the container body (1) showing the V-shape opening (3) extending downwards from the top of the wall of the container body. The flange (9) forms part of the snap-fit arrangement over which the thickened rim on the skirt is pushed to seal the completed dispensing container.

Figure 3 shows a view of a container lid (2) for use in the dispensing container.

Figure 4 shows a view of the top of a dispensing container in which the bottom of the stem of the Y-shaped opening on both the container body and lid is in the form of a semicircle rather than square and hence a circular overlap is formed when the openings are aligned.

Figures 5A, 5B and 5C show the three components of an alternative embodiment of the invention. Figure 5A shows a container body (1 3) which at its upper end has a screw thread (14). Figure 5B shows a container top having around its inner surface a complementary screw thread to that present on the container body (13) so that the container top (15) can be attached firmly to the body (13).

The container top (15 has a piece (16) removed from its upper wall. Figure 5C shows a container lid (17) which has a piece (18) removed from its depending skirt. The container lid fits over the container top (15) and is rotatable around it so that when the two pieces or openings (16, 18) coincide a tissue may be drawn from the inside of the container body. On rotation of the lid (17) the end of the next tissue is held between the upper wall of the container top and the depending skirt of the lid.

Claims (11)

1. A cylindrical dispensing container for dispensing individual non-woven fabric wipes comprising a container body, a linked succession of the non-woven fabric wipes located within the container body and a container lid having a depending skirt adapted to be fitted on to the upper end of the container body, which container lid is rotatable on the upper end of the container body characterised in that both the depending skirt of the container lid and the wall of the upper end of the container body have an opening whereby when the opening in the container lid is aligned with the opening in the container wall a wipe can be drawn from inside the container and when not in alignment the end of the succeeding wipe is held in a temporary enclosure formed between the skirt of the container lid and the wall of the upper end of the container body.

2. A dispensing container as claimed in claim 1 in which the opening in the container lid extends upwards towards the top surface of the lid from the bottom rim of the skirt.

3. A dispensing container as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2 in which the opening in the upper-wall of the container extends down from the upper edge of the container body.

4. A dispensing container as claimed any of claims 1 to 3 in which the opening in the container lid and the wall of the upper end of the container body are both Y-shaped in which the distance between the outside edges of the arms of the V-shape is from 10 to 20mm and across the stem of the V-shape is from 4 to 1 Omm.

5. A dispensing container as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 in which the area of the overlap between the openings in the container lid and in the wall of the upper end of the container body is from 10 to 75 mm2.

6. A dispensing container as claimed in claim 5 in which the overlap has one area of 20 to 50 mm2.

7. A dispensing container as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 in which the weight of nonwoven fabric wipes per unit area is from 25 to 80 gum.~2

8. A dispensing container as claimed in claim 7 in which the weight of non-woven fabric wipe per unit area is 35 to 55 gm-2.

9. A dispensing container as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 in which the temporary closure is in the form of a channel between the container lid and upper wall of the container body.

10. A dispensing container as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9 in which the rotation of container lid on the upper wall of the container body is limited to between 5 to 1 Omm by the interaction of stops on the upper wall of the container body and inside of the container lid.

11. A cylindrical dispensing container for dispensing individual non-woven fabric wupes comprising a container body, linked succession of the non-woven wipes located within the container body and a container lid having a depending skirt adapted to be fitted on to the upper end of the container body, which container lid is rotatable on the upper end of the body characterised in that the container holds at least two linked successions of nonwoven fabric wipes and that both depending skirt of the container lid and the wall of the upper end of the container body each have at least two openings whereby when the openings in the lid are aligned with the openings in the container body wipes may be drawn from each succession of non-woven fabric wipes from inside the container and when not in alignment the ends of the succeeding wipes are held in a temporary enclosure between the container lid and the upper wall of the container body.

1 2. A dispensing container as claimed in claim 11 in which the container body holds two separate linked successions of non-woven fabric wipes and the upper wall of the container body and the container lid end have two openings for withdrawal of the wipes.

1 3. A dispensing container substantialiy as described herein and shown in Figure 1.

1 4. A dispensing container substantially as described herein and comprising the parts shown in Figure 5A, 5B and 5C.