GB2233315A

GB2233315A - Container spout

Info

Publication number: GB2233315A
Application number: GB8914955A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert John Aris; Stephen Robert Matthews
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-06-29
Filing date: 1989-06-29
Publication date: 1991-01-09
Also published as: GB8914955D0

Abstract

A liquid or powder-containing carton has a discharge spout 13 and a membrane 17 which initially prevents the contents from escaping but is relatively readily removed by the end-user without the end-user having to penetrate the carton wall by means of a pull-tab 19. A cap 21 is provided for re-closing the spout 13. <IMAGE>

Description

CONTAINER SPOUT Field of the Invention The invention relates to containers and is specifically concerned with the improvements in the pouring spouts of containers.

Review of Art Known to the Applicants Containers in the form of asentic liauid-filled cartons are

sold in large numbers under suchCtrade marks as BLOWPEK, and TETRAPAK and ELOPAK. They contain such perishable popular beverages as milk and fruit juices. Once opened they cannot normally be re-sealed and their contents must be drunk quickly; and ideally, the opened carton should be refrigerated in the meantime.

Very often, such containers are not refrigerated after open ing. Bacteria may form around the opened area of the carton from which liquid is subsequently poured. This danger is all the greater because of the common tendency to tear open such cartons using the fingers and fingernails of the purchaser's hand. It has given rise to fears in connection particularly with milk-containing cartons.

The invention is especially applicable to aseptic liquid-containing cartons of the general kind discussed above, i.e. of the kind wherein the carton itself is made wholly or substantially of material which - at least in the intended openable region of the carton - can be readily torn or cut open.

Summary of the Invention The invention provides, in or for a liquid-containing or powdercontaining carton, a pouring spout which is incorporated into the container by the time the filled container reaches its end user and which includes a membrane, impermeable by the container' 5 contents, the arrangement being such that the membrane initially prevents the contents from escaping but is relatively readily penetrated by the end-user without the end-user having to penetrate the carton wall; the membrane being incorporated into the spout region of the container in such a way that, when pulled or penetrated, it parts company with the surrounding spout material to leave a cleanly defined pouring opening in the spout; the necessary weakened areas of membrane material and/or spout material being so positioned that, when the membrane comes away to define the said pouring opening, the periphery of the said opening need not include any region that has had to be grasped or penetrated by the user ' s fingernails in order to part the membrane from the spout; and the spout when opened incorporating means to re-seal the opening.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 shows in cross section the spout region of one container embodying the invention; Figure 2 shows in cross section and to the same scale as Figure 1 another embodiment of the invention; and Figure 3 is a part-view, drawn to the same scale as Figure 2 and showing a modification of the Figure 2 embodiment.

Each of these embodiments is only an example of ways in which the invention might be put into practise. But this specification contains the best disclosure known to the applicants of putting the invention into practise.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments A container, for example, an aseptic milk-containing carton of the TETRAPAK, ELOPAK etc. kind referred to previously, has walls 11 (Figure 1) in which an opening 12 is initially formed. The construction of the container can be selected from known alternatives by those skilled in the field to which the invention is applicable.

A circular-cylindrical spout 13 is flanged as indicated at 14 and is moulded from plastics material which, by comparison with the material of the container walls 11, is relatively rigid. The spout is fives to the underside of the container wall, at its flanged face or at its periphery (15).

One end region of the spout 13 is screw threaded (16). The other end region is formed with a membrane 17 which is impermeable to the liquid held in the container and which is joined to the rest of the spout along a predefined in!loront line of weakness 18.

A tab 19 protrudes from the r.lemblane 17 and a screw threaded cap 21 co-operates with the threads 16 to close the protruding end of the spout 13 when the container is initially filled and sent to its end-user.

The end region of the spout 13 which is longitudinally remote from the screw threaded region 16 of the spout is open to the container contents, below the membrane 17.

To open the initially filled container, the cap 21 is unscrewed. The user grasps the protruding tab 19, pulls it, and causes the membrane 17 to part from the rest of the spout 13 as the weakened areas 18 give way. A cleanly defined pouring opening then exists around the circle 18; and there has been no need for any part of this thus-created opening to have been contacted by the user's fingernails.

The container, with the membrane 17 and its integral tab 19 disposed of, then exhibits a protruding re-sealable spout.

Cap 21 provides the means of sealing and re-opening the container.

In Figure 2, a snap-fitting cap 21A is held by a live hinge 23 onto the co-operating end region 16A of the spout 13A.

The membrane 17A, tab 19A and weakened circle 18A all function in the way just described with reference to Figure 1. The snap fitting cap 21A provides the means to re-seal the spout 13A once the membrane 17A has been disposed of to allow access to the contents of the container.

In Figure 3, the live hinge 23B holds a cap 21B whose reduceddiameter section 22 is a liquid-tight - but nevertheless relatively readily removed - fit in the neck 24 of the spout.

The spouts illustrated may be bonded to the internal and/or external faces of the container wall by way of thermosetting, ultrasonic welding, catalytic, cyanoacrylate adhesive, pressure sensitive adhesive, flame sealing or heat sealing. This operation is carried out during container manufacture.

The spout itself may be formed by way of either injection moulding, blow moulding, rotational moulding, compression moulding, transfer moulding, casting, machining or thermoforming, from thermoplastic or thermosetting plastics materials.

It is not necessary for the re-sealing means to be removable, as in the case of the caps illustrated in the drawings.

Removing the membrane could, for instance, reveal a one-way valve already built into the spout and which valve would open automatically when the container was squeezed to exert pressure on the valve whilst closing automatically once the pressure was removed.

Anaerobic adhesive could be used to fix the spouts to the container wall.

As illustrated, tab 19 protrudes from the membrane adjacent the line of weakness 18. This gives maximum leverage and ensures that the predefined lines of weakness parts most easily and leaves a cleanly defined pouring opening. In the particular embodiment illustrated, the line of weakness is a circular line.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A liquid-containing or powder-containing carton, in or for which a pouring spout is incorporated into the container by the time the filled container reaches its end user and which includes a membrane, impermeable by the container's contents, the arrangement being such that the membrane initially prevents the contents from e scaping but is relatively readily penetrated by the end-user without the end-user having to penetrate the carton wall; the membrane being incorporated into the spout region of the container in such a way that, when pulled or penetrated, it parts company with the surrounding spout material to leave a cleanly defined pouring opening in the spout; the necessary weakened area of membrane material and/or spout material being so positioned that, when the membrane comes away to define the said pouring opening, the periphery of the said opening need not include any region that has had to be grasped or penetrated by the user' s fingernails in order to part the membrane from the spout; and the spout when opened incorporating means to re-seal the opening.

2. A liquid-containing or powder-containing carton, sub stantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.