GB2279069A

GB2279069A - Container

Info

Publication number: GB2279069A
Application number: GB9412085A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Archibald Gerard Mciver
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-06-19
Filing date: 1994-06-16
Publication date: 1994-12-21
Anticipated expiration: 2014-06-16
Also published as: GB9412085D0; GB2279069B

Abstract

A refill container 1 has a connector 2, the connector having a shaped rim 3 that matches a rim 8 on the bottle 6 allowing only a refill bag and connector of a matched type to be connected. The connector has an inner diaphragm 5 which is ruptured by the bottle when it is fully inserted into the connector, the connector also has vents 14 to allow air to escape from the bottle. The refill container has a hook 11 attached to it so that it may be suspended when the contents of the refill container are draining into the bottle. The matching of the rims may be in the form of protrusions (9 fig 3) and notches (10 fig 4). <IMAGE>

Description

CONTAINER.

This invention relates to a container used as a refill pack.

Bottles usually have to be fairly robust and rigid and therefore require a considerable amount of material to manufacture them. Refill packs can be made using less material and hence refilling an empty bottle is often more efficient.

A problem that arises in using refill packs is that the refill may be used to fill a container which did not originally contain that product. This may cause several problems which can be of a dangerous nature such as contamination of one product by another , wrong usage of the contents due to mistaken identity or false instructions, lack of appropriate safety warnings and false listing of ingredients. Problems of a commercial nature also arise such as a manufacturer's product being attributed to someone else and loss of identity and advertising after the initial use of the refill.

Several specific embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 shows a side view of the basic refill pack and its connector; Figure 2 shows a side view of the basic bottle and bottle top; Figure 3 shows an end view of the basic refill pack and its connector; Figure 4 shows an end view of the basic bottle; Figure 5 shows a crossectional view of the basic refillpack, its connector and a bottle; Figure 6 shows diaphragm type A; Figure 7 shows diaphragm type B; Figure 8 shows a crossectional view of diaphragm type B inside a connector; Figure 9 shows a cross-sectional view of a connector with a rotatable collar; Figure 10 shows a bulk refill system with bottle;; Figure 11 shows a cross-sectional view of a rotatable connector for the bulk refill system; Figure 12 shows a crosFsectional view of a push-on connector for the bulk refill system; Figure 13 shows a refill pack with with its connector and a tank; Figure 14 shows a cross-sectional view of a connector, cap and tank neck; Figure 15 shows the tank neck in perspective; Figure 16 shows a cross-sectional view of a high security form of bottle neck and connector; Figure 17 shows in perspective a high security form of bottle neck and connector; Figure 18 shows in perspective a push on version of the refill pack, bottle and cap; Figure 19 shows a cross-sectional view of a bottle neck with a push on connector positioned above.

In the description a type of conduit attached to the container and generally comprising a seal and interlocking means is referred to as a connector. To avoid confusion other items which are also connectors in the description such as the neck of a bottle are given alternative nomenclature.

A description of the basic form of the refill pack and connector will be given first.Referring to the drawing in figures 1 to 5 the basic bottle with matched refill consists of a bottle 6, a second container 1 and a refill connector 2.

In order to refill the bottle the bottle cap 15 is removed, the refill connector is pushed onto the bottle with the guide maiks 13 aligned allowing the protrusions 9 on the refill connector rim 3 to pass through the notches 10 on the bottle rim 8. The bottle screw thread 7 is then screwed into the connector screw thread 4 until the top edge of the bottle pushes the diaphragm S against the protruding edge 12 and causes the diaphragm to rupture.The contents of the refill pack can pass-into the bottle through the ruptured diaphragm being guided into the neck of the bottle by the protruding edge 12. The air which is displaced from the bottle by the contents of the refill pack can escape to the atmosphere through vertical grooves 14 in the inner surface of the connector.The rigid edge with hook 11 or other means of attachment can be attached to a suitable fixed point in order that the contents of the bag drain into the bottle when the contents of the refill pack are too viscous to flow quickly. The refill connector is then removed by the reverse procedure and the original bottle top is replace.

In order to restrict the connection of refills and bottles so that only refills intended for a particular bottle can be connected the refills and bottles are provided with a variety of different patterns of notches and protrusions on the bottle and connector rims such that only matching connectors and bottles can be connected Two versions of the diaphragm are now described with reference to the drawing in figures 5,6,7 and 8. Diaphragm type A is labelled S and is shown in figuresS and6 and diaphragm type B is labelled 17 and is shown in figures 7and 8.

Diaphragm A consists of a seal attached around its outer edge to the connector walls and with weakened areas 16 to facilitate rupturing when pushed against the protruding edge 12 as shown in figure 5.

Diaphragm B consists of a seal which is attached to the protruding edge 12, having stronger outer edges 18 and a weakened centre with further weakened areas 16. When the top edge of the bottle neck is inserted ito the connector it pushes against the protruding edges 12 forcing the weakened centre to break downwards into the bottle.

A rotating collar version of the connector is now described with reference to the drawing shown in figure 9 in which the main body of the connector is now in two parts; one part 19 being a rotatable collar, the other part 20 being a neck with diaphragm which can be connected to the refill bag or container. This form of the refill pack connector can be connected to a matching bottle by screwing the rotatable collar onto the bottle thus causing the diaphragm to be pulled onto the neck of the bottle and ruptured.

A bulk refill system is now described with reference to the drawing in figures 10, 11 and 12. A bulk dispenser unit and a bottle 6 is shown in figure 10. The bottle which can be filled by a single refill pack as shown previously in Figure 5 can instead be linked to a bulk dispenser unit capable of filling a large number of bottles. The bulk dispenser unit consists of a bulk storage unit 22, a control unit 21 and a connector 23.

when the bottle and connector are screwed together the control unit releases or pumps an appropriate quantity of the substance within the bulk storage unit to fill the bottle, the coded interlocking areas of the bottle neck and connector allowing only matched bottles to be filled. The bulk refill unit connector 23 with screw threads 4 and air vents 14 is shown in cross-section in figure 11 and is the same as the rotatable collar connector as described above with the exceptions that it requires no diaphragm and that it may require additional features such as grooves or indentations as required by the control unit. Illustrated in figure 12 is a second connector for use with a bulk dispenser unit in which the bottle is pushed into the connector rather than screwed in and having no screw threads 4 or rotatable collar as these would not be required.

The refill pack and bottle will now be described as part of a tank refill system with reference to the accompanying drawing in figurel3, figure 14 andfigurel5.

The refill bag 27 is suspended by the tags 28 and attached by its connector 25 to the neck 26 of the tank 29 from where the contents of the refill bag may flow through the pipe 30 .

The attachment of the connector and bottle is now described in more detail with the diaphragm 17 being of the type described above as type B. When the bottle neck is inserted into the connector the coded protrusions 35 on the neck of the bottle must pass through the matching coded grooves 32 in the screw thread 4 of the connector. The rotatable collar of the connector is then screwed onto the bottle screw thread 36 causing the inner edge of the bottle top 34 to push on the outer rim of the diaphragm causing it to rupture at its centre. When the inner edge of the bottle rim causes the diaphragm to rupture then the top edge and outer rim of the bottle 33 will have passed the diaphragm 17 and will begin to press upon the sealing washer 31 thus sealing the bottle tank system from the atmosphere.The refill bag can remain attached to the tank over a prolonged period till its contents are used up by whatever device is supplied by the tank. The flexibility of the refill bag allows the bag to be emptied without the need for air to enter the refill bag and tank system.

The tank can act as a changeover reservoir with the flexible refill bag acting as a disposable main tank.

A high security version of the refillpack and bottle wiU now be described with reference to the drawing in figure 16 and figure 17 in which figure 16 shows in cross-section a refill pack connector above the neck of a bottle and in which figure 17 shows in perspective the bottle neck.

In order that no bottle or connector can be connected except those with matching coded areas both the connector and the bottle neck are provided with matching protrusions 9 and grooves 32. Only when the connector is pushed onto a bottle neck with a matching pattern of protrusions and grooves will the bottle screw thread 7 be able to engage with the connector screw thread 4 allowing the top edge of the bottle to reach and burst the diaphragm S permitting a flow of substance between the bottle and refill pack attached to the connector.By limiting the width and number of grooves the screw threads normal function can be retained A push on version of the refill pack and bottle will now be described with reference to the drawing in figurel6 and figure 17 in which figure 16 shows in perspective a refill pack above a bottle and bottle cap and in which figure 17 shows in cross-section the connector and neck of the bottle.

To refill the bottle 6 the push on type cap 40 is removed from the bottle and the push on connector 38 is pushed down onto the neck of the bottle 39 ,the rim of the bottle neck 42 pushing up against the outer edges of the diaphragm 41 causing the weakened central area of the diaphragm to burst downwards into the bottle. The connector and bottle rim are provided with protrusions and indentations which allow only matching connectors and bottle necks to be connected. The push on connector can be held onto the bottle neck by appropriate means such as those already widely used for holding snap on caps to bottles. An alternative version of the push on type connector could have the connector levered onto the bottle neck using one engaged edge of the connector and bottle as a fulcrum.

Claims

CLAIMS.

1. A container having a sealed opening, the seal being arranged to be ruptured by attachment of the container to a connector.

2 A container as claimed in Claim 1 wherein interlocking means are provided on the container and connector which co-operate to join the two together.

3 A container as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the interlocking means on the container are adapted to restrict attachment of connectors which lack co-operating interlocking means.

4 A container as claimed in any one of Claims 2 or 3 wherein the container is provided with portions positioned and of a size to be disposed within a portion of the connector when they are attached with the purpose of facilitating the flow of contents between container and connector through the ruptured seal.

5 A container as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 4 wherein the container is provided with portions on the inner side of the seal positioned relative to the seal such that engagement of the connector to the container causes pressure to be exerted on the inside of the seal by the said portions of the container such that the the seal is ruptured from the inside.

6 A container as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 5 wherein the container is provided with a conduit at the opening where the conduit comprises the seal and the interlocking means 7 A container as claimed in Claim 6 wherein the seal comprises a diaphragm which extends across the bore of the conduit and where the said seal may be formed separately from the conduit and subsequently inserted into it or may be formed as an integral part of the conduit.

8 A container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7 wherein the seal comprises one or more areas of relative strength and weakness in order that pressure exerted on one or more of these areas causes stress and subsequent rupture of the seal in the said weak area or areas.

9 A container as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the the strong area or areas of the seal are arranged in a position where they will receive pressure when the container and connector are attached such as at the periphery of the seal and the weak area or areas are arranged so that rupture of the seal in the said weak area or areas is facilitated by pressure applied to the said strong area or areas of the seal.

CLAIMS 10 A container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9 in which the container is provided with a vent at the sealed opening to facilitate the escape of gas between the container and connector junction..

11 A container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9 in which the container is provided with a sealing washer to prevent the leakage of contents between the container and connector junction.

12 A container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 11 in which the connector is part of a second container or is joined to a conduit 13 A container as claimed in any one of Claims 6 and 7 wherein interlocking means are provided which comprise a screw thread on a first portion of the conduit which is axially rotatable to a second part of the conduit of the container with co-operating screw thread being provided on the connector so that the second part of the conduit may be attached to the connector without being axially rotated.

14 A container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 13 in which fastening means are provided to enable the container to be suspended with the sealed opening at the bottom..

15 A container substantially as described herein with reference to figures 1 to 19 of the accompanying drawing.