US2170173A - Nonpouring self-measuring dispensing container - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 22, 1939. J. E. WHEATLEY NONPOURING SELF-HEASURING DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed July 50, 1936 INVENTOR. zl ey ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNITED STATES NONPOURING SELF-MEASURING DISPENSING CONTAINER John E. Wheatley, Norwood, Ohio Application July 30, 1936, Serial No. 93,443

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to a self-measuring and non-pouring bottle or container for various uses, such as in the laboratory as a reagent bottle and the drug store and in the medicine cabinet for use for proprietary remedies, and various other liquids, and also for use in large quantity storage and dispensing of liquids.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which is complete in itself in that it provides a container for liquid and a graduated bulbless dispensing device in the nature of a pipette which latter element is so fashioned and arranged as to provide for the secure stoppering of the container and of the finger end of the pipette as well.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this kind in a form permitting the safe and sanitary closure of both bottle and dispensing pipette in transportation and in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character referred to which utilizes to the maximum the possibilities for avoiding contamination of the operator's hands and the bottle as. well as surrounding objects in dispensing the liquids and which, at the same time,

materially simplifies and speeds up the dispensing of any desired usage quantity of liquid ranging 7 from drops to liters.

A further particular object of the invention is to provide in a device of this kind anarrangement adapted for particularly large containers whereby large quantities of liquid may be dispensed from the bottle in selected accurately measured quantities without the necessity of tipping the container.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a form of the device suitable for use with medicines, liquid toilet preparations and the like, the device being adapted for ready transportation.

Fig. 2 shows a fragmental vertical sectional view of a modified construction of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a device of the invention adapted to use in various sizes as a laboratory reagent bottle, a liquid toilet preparation bottle, etc.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross sectional view of a device of the invention adapted particularly to large quantity storage and for the dispensing of he contents in various quantities with accuracy, part of the device being broken away.

Fig. 5 is an elevational View of a modified form of control or stopper particularly adaptable to use with the device shown in- Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmental vertical sectional view showing form of upper end of the pipette of the invention whereby bulbless dropper action is btained, this structure being applicable to any of the forms of the invention.

In the dispensing of liquids from containers many difliculties are encountered in spilling the liquids, in contaminating the outside of the .bottle, its label and the person with the spilled contents and also with the difficulty in measuring out the exact quantity of liquid desired and no more. Various forms of medicine droppers and bulb operated pipettes are materially limited in their field of use both by the character of liquids handled and by the rapidity with which the rubber bulbs lose their elasticity or become leaky.

It is known that finger controlled pipettes have been used to some extent in the laboratory in handling certain liquids and also that various different forms of bulb and mechanical piston operated types of dispensing pipettes have been suggested in association with a bottle or container but each of these has been found limited by very definite restrictions in its. scope of uses. In the present invention there is provided a new combination including a novel form of graduated bulbless pipettewhich functions both as a principal closure element for a bottle and as an easily manipulated and accurate dispensing device wherein the finger end or top is equipped for sanitary and safe operation with all kinds of liquids and is in turn equipped with its own sanitary stopper means.

In Fig. 1 the bottle 8 has a short neck 9 with exteriorly disposed screw threads ID and an interior neck or bore tapered about five degrees from parallelism with the axis of the bore. The pipette I2 is preferably formed of straight cylin- 4'0 drical glass tubing e. g. of about three-quarters of an inch in diameter and tapering off abruptly at its 'bottom end l3 leaving a circular opening of about one-quarter of an inch to three-ei-ghths of an inch indiamet-er. The tube is graduated from the bottom upwardly with etched lines and indicia 15 according to any selected form of measurement e. g. teaspoons full and fractions thereof, cubic centimeters or other standard units of liquid measure. Adjacent its top, the pipette is adapted to fit snugly into the mouth of a bottle 8 forming a closure therefor. In this embodiment a sleeve l6, of cork, rubber or composition material is employed, the sleeve having an inside bore IT to tightly fit the tube and the bore I! being enlarged .at the top as at l8 to provide a shoulder IQ for seating an enlarged shouldered top portion 20 of the pipette. The top 20 tapers abruptly inwardly and slightly upwardly to form a central opening from which depends a tapered inwardly extending nipple 2|. By having the sleeve i6 and the top of the pipette extending well above the top of the neck of the bottle, the pipette may be removed or seated in the neck of the bottle by grasping it with the thumb and middle finger. The index finger is placed over the top of the central opening 22 of the pipette and, as will be hereinafter readily understood, this opening and its depending nipple are so arranged as to preclude the contents of the bottle from reaching the exterior top portion, particularly about the finger controlled top opening 22.

In order to provide this form of non-pouring dispensing container for general use, e. g. as in the traveling bag where the container may lie upon its side, an interiorly threaded screw cap of metal or moldable composition is adapted to engage the threads IE! on the exterior of the bottle and to be substantially free of contact with the remaining portion of the sleeve and with the top of the pipette. A sealing plug 2:1 which may be of compressible material such as rubber is fixed to the interior top face of cap 23 and has a portion 25 of a diameter less than the diameter of the finger opening 22 extending in to the hollow nipple 2| and tapered at its end portion to conform substantially to the angle of the nipple. This structure it will be noted provides a shoulder 26 which seats snugly upon the rim or" the finger hole 22 and also wedges the tapered end of the plug portion 25 to seal the tapered bore at a point well below the rim of finger hole 22. When the bottle is employed with solutions or preparations that require shaking before using, the cap and plug structure will at once effectively seal the bottle by pressing the pipette and its associated sleeve snugly into the mouth of the bottle and at the same time will seal the pipette both at the finger opening and at a. slightly distant point below it. Whenever a quantity of the contents are to be dispensed the cap 23 is removed by unscrewing it, this action lifting the plug 25 and also the shouldered topseal 26 vertically away from the pipette. The mere act of lifting the released cap away from the body will thus normally preclude a possible adhering drop of the liquid from reaching the rim of the finger hole 22. To use the device, the operator now grasps the protruding portion of the pipette between the thumb and the middle finger and loosens the seal of the sleeve with the interior wall for the sanitary self-administration of a dose of medicine by holding the end l3 of the pipette over, but out of contact with, the open mouth and then releasing the contents to drop into the mouth by the mere act of removing the finger. The process is quite simple and does not require any particular degree of skill to accomplish the safe and sanitary dispensing of liquids. In a somewhat similar fashion a nurse or attendant may administer doses of medicine to patients with the same or even greater ease. It will be noted that no measuring glass, spoon or other implement is needed because the device is an entirely self-contained liquid holding, measuring and dispensing device. It is unnecessary to rinse the pipette after useage and there has been no necessity for pouring of contents or in any way spilling the liquid and allowing it to run over the outside of the bottle to possibly soil or obscure the label.

The device of Fig. 2 embodies certain modifications of the device as of Fig. 1 namely that the bottle 21 which is essentially like the bottle 8 of Fig. 1, has associated therewith a modified measuring, dispensing and stoppering pipette 28, and having a reduced neck 38 near its other end which projects above the neck of the bottle when the device is in operative position therein, to facilitate the manipulation thereof with the thumb and the middle finger. The tapered stopper 29 has an axial bore 32 therethrough of a diameter selected to secure the desired rate of discharge of the pipette. At this point, it is desired to emphasize the fact that the pipette may be of any suitable diameter to provide for a desired capacity of liquid yet the rate of discharge may be controlled by the size of the discharge orifice and the diameter of the bore directly associated with the finger hole. If the bore 32 is made very small, e. g. capillary bore, the contents of the pipette may be dispensed by drops. For a more rapid flow an increase in the cross sections of the bore allows for ample ingress of air to permit of a more or less rapid stream flow of liquid from the pipette.

The top of the stopper 29 may have a wide annular seat 33 therein in which an interior annular ring 34 in the top of screw cap 35 may seat when the screw cap is turned snugly onto the threaded neck 36 of bottle 27. The stopper 29 being of slightly yieldable material, the closing of, finger hole 37 may be efiected by an interiorly depending integral plug 38 on cap 35. This arrangement of the tapered bore for the finger hole 3'? with the plug 38 provides for the same sanitary and non-contaminating arrangement which is afiorded by the device of Fig. 1 as described.

The device illustrated in Fig. 3 represents an all glass structure such as would be ideally used as a reagent bottle for general use in the laboratory and which is furthermore adapted for use in handling such liquids as are customarily kept in glass stoppered bottles. In this embodiment the bottle 39 has a tapered neck bore 40 in the neck 4!, the bore having a ground fit with a tapered intermediate portion 42 of pipette 43, and above which ground portion. is a reduced annular neck 44 which is just below the fiat top 65. A small tapered bore 46 is provided through the top 45 of the pipette and a ground glass plug ll is adapted to seat in and seal said bore. The grad uations 48 at the lower end of the pipette are provided according to any desired unit system of liqud measure. This type of bottle is ideal in the laboratory because it affords speed and safety in handling dangerous liquids such as acids and, because it is easy to avoid contamination of the outside of the bottle as by liquids running down the outside thereof, temporary labels for prepared solutions are kept clean and legible.

Fig. 4 is illustrative of that form of the invention particularly adapted to the large quantity handling, measuring and dispensing of liquids. The large capacity bottle or glass jug 49 such as would be used for distilled water or large quantities of prepared solutions etc. which liquids would, at least at times, be dispensed in pints or even in greater quantities. The dispensing of such quantities of liquids from jugs, carboys, etc., is always a matter of dimculty or dangerous operation in the laboratory because it normally involves the tilting of a heavy container or jug. The device of the invention as embodied in such containers eliminates these hazards and the necessity for a tilting rack or any other equipment in dispensing the contents. The pipette 50 which is of considerable diameter has a flared or tapered wall section the exterior surface of which has a ground fit with the complementary tapered inside wall 52 of the neck 53 of the bottle. The top portion 54 of the pipette may be either straight walled or otherwise formed and is large enough to be grasped between the palm of the hand and all of the fingers, so that the user can manipulate the large pipette and the relatively heavy contents with facility. The thumb of the same hand is left free to control the finger hole 55 at the top of the pipette. A glass or other plug 56 is provided to seat in the tapered bore 5'! below the finger hole.

As shown in Fig. 5 a plug 53 may be provided with a finger or thumb ring 59 integral therewith or otherwise attached so as to avoid any possible contamination or injury to the fingers by reason of the liquid content of the pipette finding its way into the bore of the finger hole. This form of plug is adaptable to use with any of the embodiments of the invention herein illustrated and. if desired, although it is considered best adapted to the device of Figs. 3 and 4.

In Fig, 6 there is shown the top or head portion of a pipette such as might be used with any of the forms of this invention and this type of pipette is provided with a capillary bore Bl below the finger hole 62 in order to secure bulbless dropper action regardless of the diameter of the pipette. The bore 6! is shown in exaggerated proportions for the sake of clarity of disclosure. Any form of finger hole plug may be used with this device, a glass plug 63 having a ground-in seat being illustrated in the drawing.

The non-pouring, self-measuring, dispensing bottles or containers of the invention are not to be considered as limited to the exact structural details disclosed in the several illustrated embodiments. Modifications may be made within the spirit of this invention and the scope of the appended claims. The devices of the invention differ from previously known or used devices, in that a comparatively large capacity pipette extends very closely adjacent the bottom of the bottle and upwardly through the neck thereof, forming a stopper for the bottle or container and the pipette is arranged at its exterior and with a removable closing plug and a seat therefor surrounded by the rim of the finger hole for protection against contamination during use and during storage of the contents. It will be observed that the devices of the invention do not require to be tilted for the purpose of filling or securing an accurate measurement of liquid in the pipette.

What is claimed is:

1. A non-pouring, measuring container unit comprising a bottle, a graduated bulbless pipette tube extending into the bottle to substantially the bottom thereof and a cover means removably holding the tube in position and securely stoppering the bottle and the top of the tube.

2. In combination a bottle having a relatively short xteriorly threaded neck, a pipette provided at its topwith means to close the mouth of the bottle, said pipette having a tapered bore in the top thereof and a cap member engaging on the screw threads of the bottle neck and covering the protruding end of the pipette, and means carried by the interior of the cap for sealing the top bore exteriorly and interiorly at spaced-apart points.

3. In a device of the class described the combination of a bottle, a pipette member of an outside iameter closely approximating that of the bottle opening and provided near its top with an exterior wall section seating in the hollow neck of the bottle and serving as a stopper therefor, said pipette having an elongated upwardly extending enlarged portion above said seating portion serving as a hand grip, the top of said extending portion having a bore therein constituting a finger hole for controlling operation of the pipette.

4. In a device of the class described the combination of a graduated pipette tube provided at its top with a tapered bore comprising an exterior finger hole, and a removable closure for the finger hole comprising a ground glass plug seating in said bore and having a substantially ring shaped portion integral therewith whereby the finger hole may be controlled by said plug with a finger of the hand which holds the pipette.

5. A non-pouring measuring reagent bottle comprising a container having a mouth, a glass pipette having an integral shouldered portion intermediate its ends for seating in and closing the bottle mouth, said pipette graduated to measure the contents thereof, and a ground glass plug having an integral finger receiving ring thereon whereby said plug is lifted to open the end of the pipette.

JOHN E. WHEATLEY.

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