GB2231036A

GB2231036A - Dispensing closure

Info

Publication number: GB2231036A
Application number: GB9009794A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard A Gross; Dieter F Lay
Original assignee: Pittway Corp
Current assignee: Pittway Corp
Priority date: 1989-05-02
Filing date: 1990-05-01
Publication date: 1990-11-07
Anticipated expiration: 2010-05-01
Also published as: GB2231036B; FR2646655B1; IT9047913A0; CA2015823C; CA2015823A1; DE4013925A1; IT1240100B; IT9047913A1; MX173990B; FR2646655A1; GB9009794D0; AU5461090A; AU632807B2

Description

v 22 -:3 1 O E-I Cs 1 Toggle-Acting Dispensing Closure with 2 Premature

Actuation Prevention Means 3 4 A variety of dispensing closures for containers for consumer use are currently available One such 6 closure which combines highly effective operation with 7 desirable aesthetics is a toggle-acting closure in 8 which the actuator is mounted for pivotal movement 9 between a closed non-dispensing position and an open dispensing position.

11 One difficulty which is sometimes encountered with 12 such closures is premature actuation of such closures 13 during shipping and handling Thus the closure may 14 inadvertently or accidentally be moved to the open dispensing position, resulting in spillage of the 16 contents and damage of the container as a saleable 17 item Further such a closure may typically be 18 deliberately opened without itself providing evidence 19 of opening having occurred.

According to the present invention, a 21 toggle-acting dispensing closure for securance to a 22 container comprises: a body; an actuator defining a 23 discharge passage and being mounted on the body for 24 pivotal movement of the actuator on the body normally in response to a force applied to a finger pad portion 26 of the actuator at a first location on the actuator for 27 movement of the actuator between a closed, 28 non-dispensing position and an open dispensing 29 position; and removable tear tab means joined via severable frangible bridging means with one of the 31 actuator and the body and located oppositely from the 32 discharge passage, the tear tab means being positioned 33 adjacent the finger pad portion and between the body 1 and the actuator to prevent pivotal movement of the 2 actuator on the body prior to removal of the tear tab 3 means, whereby when the tear tab means is removed by 4 severing the frangible means, the actuator may be pivoted to the open dispensing position in response to 6 the application of the said force to the finger pad 7 portion.

8 The invention thus provides a toggle-acting 9 closure in which the possibility of undesirable leakage is substantially reduced, and in which premature 11 deliberate actuation is clearly evidenced, all without 12 changing or affecting the operation of the closure and 13 associated container, and without otherwise 14 significantly changing the structure and the ease of initial actuation of the closure.

16 In one form of the invention the tear tab is 17 integral with the actuator and the frangible bridging 18 means comprises a web means integral with the actuator 19 adjacent the finger pad portion of the actuator The web means may be continuous.

21 Desirably the body defines a fingerwell, and the 22 tear tab means overlies a portion of the fingerwell to 23 prevent pivotal movement of the actuator on the body 24 prior to removal of the tear tab means The tear tab means position overlying the fingerwell may desirably 26 be contoured to be complementary to the fingerwell 27 contour.

28 In another form of the invention the tear tab is 29 integral with the body adjacent the fingerpad portion of the actuator, with the actuator preferably overlying 31 the tear tab means to resist pivotal movement of the 32 actuator on the body.

33 The invention may be carried into practice in 1 various ways but one closure embodying the invention 2 and a modification thereof will now be described by way 3 of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, 4 in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the closure in a 6 closed, non-dispensing position; 7 Figure 2 is a plan view of the closure of Figure 8 1; 9 Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3 of Figure 2; 11 Figure 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of 12 Figure 3; 13 Figure 5 is a fragmentary enlarged view like 14 Figure 4, but with the actuator moved to the dispensing position; and 16 Figure 6 is a fragmentary view of a modified 17 closure which is similar in general construction to the 18 closure of Figures 1-5.

19 Referring now to the drawings, a toggle-acting dispensing closure 10 includes a body 12 defining 21 threads 14 for threaded securance to the neck of a 22 container (not shown) The body 14 may be integrally 23 moulded of plastic, such as of polypropylene, or of 24 polyethylene, polyoxymethylene, polystyrene, polybutylene, polymethylpentene, an d 26 styrene-acrylonitrile.

27 An actuator 20 is pivotally mounted on the body 12 28 via trunnions 21 which are retained in conventional 29 recesses 16 defined by the body As such, the actuator 20 is toggle-acting, i e, is pivotally movable about 31 the trunnions (and recesses) from the closed, 32 non-dispensing position shown by Figures 1 to 4, to a 33 conventional open dispensing position illustrated by 1 Figure 5 The actuator 20 may be integrally moulded of 2 plastic, such as of a polyethylene, or of 3 polypropylene, polyoxymethylene, polystyrene, 4 polybutylene, polymethylpentene, and styrene-acrylonitrile.

6 As best seen in Figure 3, the body 12 defines a 7 passageway comprising a discharge opening 18 which is 8 in flow communication with the actuator 20 The 9 actuator 20 defines a flow receiving sleeve 22 which, at its forward side, defines a dispensing passage 24.

11 When the actuator 20 is in the non-dispensing position 12 (Figure 3), the passage 24 sealingly engages a front 13 wall portion 26 of the body 12, preventing discharge 14 through passage 24 Additionally, the discharge opening 18 in the body is sealed within the 16 flow-receiving sleeve 22, as by a sealing post 28.

17 When the actuator is toggled or pivoted to the 18 position represented by Figure 5, as by an actuating 19 force F applied to a first location such as against the actuator finger pad 30, the discharge passage 24 21 will be positioned above the front wall portion 26 and 22 liquid will be free to flow from the container through 23 discharge opening 18, receiving sleeve 22 and discharge 24 passage 24.

As so far described, the closure 10 is the same as 26 closures which have been made for some years by 27 Seaquist Closures, a division of Pittway Corporation.

28 In the closure being described, a locking tab 29 means is provided to prevent inadvertent or deliberate premature actuation of the actuator 20 and to provide 31 evidence that the actuator has not been actuated, hence 32 that access has not been gained to the contents of the 33 container To that end a removable locking tear tab 50 1 is provide as at the rear of the closure 10 and in a 2 position that overlies and extends outwardly from a 3 rear wall portion 52 adjacent the fingerwell zone 66 of 4 the body 12 The locking tear tab is integrally formed with the actuator 20, as during the moulding of the 6 actuator 20 Preferably the tab 50 is actuator finger 7 pad 30 to resist opening when a force, such as force F, 8 is applied to finger pad 30 Thus, as best seen in 9 Figures 3 and 4, any effort to pivot the dispensing position of Figure 5 will be impeded, resisted and 11 prevented Of course actuation, via toggling about 12 runnions 21 and recess 16, will be apparent from Figure 13 5 Once the tear tab is removed, a customary actuation 14 force F on the first actuation of the actuator will serve to open the closure, without any additional force 16 being required on that first actuation.

17 In the preferred form shown in the drawings, the 18 locking tear tab 50 comprises a circumferentially 19 oriented segment 60 and an out-turned grippable or finger manipulatable end portion 62 The segment 60 is 21 desirably formed with the actuator 20 via a frangible 22 bridging means such as continuous frangible web 64.

23 For strength and integrity one or more stabilising 24 struts 65 may be provided The base 68 of the tab 50 overlies body portion 52 in the zone of the fingerwell 26 66, and, of course, therefore interferes with pivoting 27 of the actuator from the position of Figure 4 to that 28 of Figure 5.

29 When access to the contents of the container is desired, the tab 50 is gripped as by a user's fingers, 31 as via end portion 62, and is pulled or torn, such as 32 in a radial direction, thereby causing the web 64 to be 33 severed The tab 50 is thus removed and may be 1 discarded At that time the actuator 20 may be 2 operated in its normal fashion.

3 It will be apparent that the closure 10 may serve 4 also a tamper-evident closure Under such circumstances it would be desirable also to lock the 6 closure to the container neck finish in one of a 7 variety of conventional ways, so that the closure may 8 not be removed (as it might be with a threaded finish 9 comprising only threads complementary to threads 14).

In that way, access to container contents could be 11 gained only via the discharge or dispensing passage 24, 12 and the integrity of the container would be evidenced 13 by the presence of the integrally formed locking tab 14 50 Of course, the presence or absence of the locking tab 50 may serve also as proof-of-purchase evidence.

16 Although a specific form of frangible connection 17 has been shown, clearly a series of spaced frangible 18 web segments or bridges, rather than continuous web 64, 19 may be used Desirably the frangible means may follow the contour of the fingerwell 66 of the closure body 21 rather than simply being straight and lying straight 22 across a central base portion of the fingerwell.

23 Further, although the frangible means may be, as shown, 24 connected to a vertical back wall 23 of the actuator, the back wall 23 may be omitted and the integral 26 frangible connection be made at the base of the top 27 wall 25 with the necessary interference shown between a 28 tab base 68 and the body rear wall portion 52 being 29 maintained.

It is also contemplated that the tear tab may be 31 formed integrally with the body and may be positioned 32 to underlie a portion of the actuator, as is 33 illustrated by Figure 6 Thus, in Figure 6 a closure 1 l OA has a body 12 A which is formed integrally with a 2 tear tab 50 A which is connected thereto by a frangible 3 means such as a frangible web 64 A located along the 4 fingerwell 66 A The upper end 70 A of the tear tab 50 A underlies a portion of the actuator 20 A, preferably in 6 the zone of the finger pad 30 A As such, until tear 7 tab 50 A is removed, the actuator 20 A will not oscillate 8 or pivot about trunnions 21 A between the closed 9 position of Figure 6 and an open dispensing position comparable to that of Figure 5.

11 It will be apparent to those skilled in the art 12 that the principles of this invention may be applied to 13 a wide range of toggle-acting dispensing closures and 14 that a variety of locking tear tab constructions may be developed for use depending upon the specific 16 construction of the toggle-acting dispensing closure to 17 which the principles are applied.

18 19 21 22 23 24 26 27 28 29 31 32

Claims

1 Claims:

2 3 1 A toggle-acting dispensing closure for securance 4 to a container, and comprising: a body; an actuator defining a discharge passage and being mounted on the 6 body for pivotal movement of the actuator on the body 7 normally in response to a force applied to a finger pad 8 portion of the actuator at a first location on the 9 actuator for movement of the actuator between a closed, non-dispensing position and an open dispensing 11 position; and removable tear tab means joined via 12 severable frangible bridging means with one of the 13 actuator and the body and located oppositely from the 14 discharge passage, the tear tab means being positioned adjacent the finger pad portion and between the body 16 and the actuator to prevent pivotal movement of the 17 actuator on the body prior to removal of the tear tab 18 means, whereby when the tear tab means is removed by 19 severing the frangible means, the actuator may be pivoted to the open dispensing position in response to 21 the application of the said force to the finger pad 22 portion.

23 24 2 A toggle-acting dispensing closure as claimed in claim 1 in which the tear tab is integral with the 26 actuator and the frangible bridging means comprises a 27 web means integral with the actuator adjacent the 28 finger pad portion of the actuator.

29 3 A toggle-acting dispensing closure as claimed in 31 claim 2 in which the web means is a continuous web 32 integral with the actuator.

I 1 4 A toggle-acting dispensing closure as claimed in 2 claim 2 or claim 3 in which the body defines a 3 fingerwell, and the tear tab means overlies a portion 4 of the fingerwell to prevent pivotal movement of the actuator on the body prior to removal of the tear tab 6 means.

7 8 5 A toggle-acting dispensing closure as claimed in 9 claim 4 in which the tear tab means portion overlying the fingerwell is contoured to be complementary to the 11 fingerwell contour.

12 13 6 A toggle-acting dispensing closure as claimed in 14 claim 1 in which the tear tab means is integral with the body adjacent the finger pad portion of the 16 actuator.

17 18 7 A toggle-acting dispensing closure as claimed in 19 claim 6 in which the actuator overlies the tear tab means to prevent pivotal movement of the actuator on 21 the body prior to removal of the tear tab means.

22 23 8 A toggle-acting dispensing closure substantially 24 as described herein with reference to Figure 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

26 27 9 A toggle-acting dispensing closure as claimed in 28 claim 8 and modified substantially as described herein 29 with reference to Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings.

31 32 Published 1990 as The Patent Office, State House, 60; 71 High Holborn London WC 1 R 4 TP FP-rther copies maybe obtainedfrom The Patent Office.

Gales Br rnch, St Mary Cray, Orpington Kent BR 5 3RD Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd St Mary Cray, Kent, Con 1/87