US2267159A - Pouring spout for tapping containers - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 23, 1941; Q M. s. LOPES, JR 2,267,159 I POURING SPOUT FOR TAPPING CONTAINERS Filed March 18, 1939 IN V EN TOR Mfi/YUE'L 5. Z OPEJ JE.

HIS A TTORNEV Patented Dec. 23, 1941 umrso stares parent, crevice POUERNG sron'r Fon 'rArPIN coN'rAnvEn-s Manuals. Lopes, J12, Alameda, Cal-if. Application March 18, 1939,: Serial No, 262,659

10 Claims. (Cl. 22ll23) This invention relates to devices by means of which sealed packages containing flowable material may betapped and the material withdrawn therefrom and directed in a continuous stream into a receiving receptacle.

An object of the invention is to provide a pouring spout which may be inserted into ,a container through a wall thereof in such manner as to cleanly cut in the side wall an opening having a tab of complemental shape hinged to oneside thereof, which tab, in the event that it is desired to. withdraw. thepouring spout from-the containerbefore the contents of the latter are entirelyexhausted, may serve to close the open-.

ing and prevent dirt or othercontaminating matter: from entering the. container, as well as to seal the container until such time as the pour-.

ing spout is replaced.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a deviceof the class described having a spout adapted to pierce the Wall of a container, grip members which engage the interior surface of the said wall anda follower which engages the exterior surface of the container whereby saidtion is not to be limited to thespecific formherein shown and described, since various other embodiments thereof may be employed within the scope of the appended claims.

With reference to the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of one form of pouringspout of my invention showing the spout attached to a sheet of material such as the side wall: of a container, the said sheet of material being shown in section.

Figure2 is a side elevational View of the structure shown in Figure 1. V

Figure 3 is a side elevational view, partly in vertical section, of a modified form of pouring spout.

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of a paper container for liquids showing a still further modified form of pouring spot attached thereto. A portion of the View is omitted to shorten it.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the pouring spout shown in Figure l.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the structure shownin. re.

Figure '7. is an end elevational view of the. struc-, ture shown in Figure 6.

In broad terms, my invention comprises a tu'. bular member adapted to be attached, preferably, to a fiberboard package containing pourablematerial so asto provide a pouring spotthrcugh which the material in the package may be dis:

pensed, Cutting meansisprovidedonthe pour-1 ing spout so that, during; the operation of pushing the spout against a surface of the package, a o e in eme ary. to e c s al. form of the spout will lee-pierced through a wall of the package. Means isalso provided on the: spoutrwhich limits the amount of; the package; wall. that thecutting means may sever so-that; a tab of the wall materialis left hinged alonga portion of the periphery of theopening and-may be swung into the opening Itov close the latter uponremoval of the spout. Yieldablemeans is provided on the spout for. engaging one surface. of the pierced. wall of the package, and meanspreferably formed unitarily with the spout is provided for engaging, under force. applied by said? yieldable member, the opposite surface of the pierced wall of the package sothat the said wall will be securely clampedto the pouring spout in such manner that they may not be easily separated. I

In greater detail, my improved pouring spout may take a number of advantageous forms, oneof' which is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and comprises a unitary sheet of metal shapedto provide a generally cylindrical tubular spout body i5;-

the oppositeend portions of the sheet which are brought into abutting relation along the line 9 being without curvature so. that a chordal flat H is provided extending axially along; and preferably at the top of, the spout body. One end of the spout body is acutely inclined with respect to the axis of the body to provide sloping cutting edges I? which meet diametrically opposite the line 9 in an extended and sharp cutting point [3.

When the pouring spout is positioned with the cutting point. 13 engaging a surface of a: sheet of material M, representing a side wall of'a pref-- erably fiberboard package, and force isapplied manually to the pouring spout, axially of the latter and in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the sheet I4, the cutting point l3 will" pierce the sheet and, upon continued forcible ad vancement of the pouring spout, the cutting edges [2 will shear from the sheet a flap it which; is complemental in form to the cross-sectional" form of the pouringspout; This cutting of the sheet 4 by the cutting edges |2 will cease, however, when the end l! of the chor-dal fiat H is reached thus providing at one side of the flap 6 an unsevered portion which serves as a hinge l8 for the flap.

It will be observed that by the provision of the hinge I8, the fiap I6 may be caused to move into the opening pierced in the sheet |4 so as to close the opening against the passage therethrough of contaminating matter into the package should the pouring spout be removed before the contents of the package are completely dispensed.

Means is provided on the spout body 8 for gripping the package sheet I4 so as to join the spout body thereto. Spaced around the periphery of the spout body adjacent the cutting end thereof is one or more, three being the preferred number, of embossed protuberances I9 which slope, with respect to the axis of the spout body, outwardly from the said axis and away from the cutting end of the body and are each sheared, at their outer end, from the adjacent metal of the spout body to provide one or more pointed spurs 2|. The radial extent of the spurs 2| is rather small, being in the order of L of an inch. It will be seen that as the spout body is pushed axially through the opening cut in the package sheet l4, and the outwardly sloping protuberances l9 pass therethrough, the resilient fiberboard, of which the sheet M is composed, will be compressed and will, after the protuberances have passed completely through the opening, spring radially inwardly of the opening behind the projecting spurs 2|. The slight radial projection of the protuberances allows the latter to pass through the opening without materially deforming the latter.

Means is provided engaging the surface of the package sheet opposite that engaged by the'spurs 2| for forcibly urging the spurs against the package sheet so that the sharp ends of the spurs will become embedded in the sheet. Mounted on and for slidable movement axially of the spout body is a follower comprising a sleeve 22, surrounding the body, having a flange 23 formed integrally therewith and extending radially from the end thereof facing the package sheet. A coil spring 24, surrounding and concentric with the spout body, has one end bearing against the flange 23 of the follower and the other end engaging a collar 26 which is mounted on and concentric with the spout body in spaced relation to the follower and which is fixed against movement axially of the spout body by its engagement with a pair of spaced cylindrical hinge eyes 21 which are provided by tabs formed integrally with and extending from the end of the spout body. These hinge eyes provide journals for and engage hinge tabs 28 formed on and extending tangentially in opposite directions from the periphery of a circular flap 29 which serves as a pivoted closure for that end of the pouring spout which extends exteriorly of the package. It will be seen that the spring 24, in urging the follower against the exterior surface of the package sheet, will forcibly draw the sharp ends of the spurs 2| into engagement with the inner surface of the sheet causing the spur ends to bite into the sheet and thus firmly secure, against easy displacement, the pouring spout to the package.

In order to facilitate, as much as possible, the flow of material from the interior of the package into the inner end of the pouring spout, I provide one or more feed openings 3| in the inner end of the spout body.

In Figure 3 I have illustrated a materially Simplified form of my invention. Here I replace the coil spring 24 with a collar 32 of resilient material, preferably sponge rubber, which is backed by a metallic washer 33 held against movement axially of the spout body by a plurality of protuberances 34 which are embossed raidally outwardly from the metal of the spout body. The rubber washer, of course, functions in the manner of the spring, to forcibly press the spurs 2| against the surface of the package sheet.

In Figures 4 to '7 inclusive, I have shown a further modified form of my pouring spout particularly adapted to packages containing fluids. Referring to Figure 5, I provide a piece of sheet metal which may be rolled about a suitable mandrel so as to bring the opposite ends of the sheet into abutting relation along the line 36 to provide a tubular body 31 having at one end a piercing point 38 and inclined cutting edges 39, similar to the cutting end of the pouring spouts previously described, and one or more gripping spurs 4| also similar to those previously described. Disposed intermediate the ends of the body 31 are pairs of embossed protuberances 42 which extend radially outwardly from'the periphery of the body and are spaced axially therealong so that a gap of predetermined width is provided between each pair of the protuberances. i

A resilient follower is provided, comprising asubstantially U-shaped member having a fixed leg 43, a movable leg 44, and an integral bridge portion 46 joining the legs together at one'end.

7 Both the fixed and movable legs are provided with alined apertures, the aperture 41 of the movable leg being slightly larger than that of' the fixed leg so as to permit free movement of the spout body in the aperture as the leg 44 is moved. The aperture of the fixed leg, which is only sufficiently larger than the spout body so that the latter may slide therethrough, is provided witha pair of radially extending notches 48, see Fig-;

tuberances will be finally located midway be-- tween the notches 48 and the leg 43 will thus be firmly secured to the spout body. The gap between the protuberances will, of course, have to be slightly less than the thickness ofthe sheet material from which the U-shaped member is,

constructed so that the resultingtight frictional engagement between the fixed leg and'spout body will be suflicient to prevent easy rotational move-f ment between the parts. r

While the type of pouring spout just described may be used to dispense any kindv of pourable material from packages which may be pierced by the spout, I intend it to be used in conjunction with the new types of fiberboard milk containers 49 one of which is shown in Figure 4. Since the advent of this type of milk container, users who have made a practice of removing the topcream from the milk find it quite difiicult to now remove the cream. The factor contributing most tothis situation is not so much, the inability of the user to see the cream level in the newcontainer as his inability to insert intoi'the container the different types of stopples or bafiles which have long been on the market and were designed for use with the ordinary type of milk bottles. last described form of my invention discounts this difficulty to a large extent. By inserting the pouring spout, as shown in Figure l, where he believes the cream line should be, the user may drain most of the cream from the container without agitating the remainder of the milk and possibly diluting the cream. After serving as a cream extractor, the pouring spout may be left attached to the container to serve during subsequent pourings. When once in place the flexed resilient leg '44 securely clamps the container wall between such leg and the spurs M and functions to retain the spout firmly in position.

It will be observed that the pouring spout of my invention is constructed entirely without the use of solder. Thus the likelihood of tiny pieces of lead becoming mixed with the food is eliminated as is also the danger of the contents of the package becoming contaminated by contact with soldered joints that are usually provided in pouring spouts of this type.

I claim:

1. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable material comprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edges thereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, said tubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularly with respect to the central axis of the member so as to provide a cutter adapted to pierce, in a wall of said package, an opening complemental in form to the cross-sectional form' of the tubular member and through which said member may be moved to enter said package, a plurality of protuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the periphery of said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member and shearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the member so as to provide at said end a sharp spur facing away from the cutting end of the member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberances through the opening in the package wall formed by said cutter, being engageable with the inner surface of said package wall, a follower slidably mounted on said tubular memher and engageable with the opposite exterior surface of the package wall, resilient means for urging the follower against said package wall so as to clamp said wall between the follower and said spurs, and means pivotally mounted at an end of said tubular member and forming a closure therefor.

2. A pouring spout for attachment to packages'of pourable material comprising a'unit sheet of material curved to bring opposite edges thereof into abutting relation so as to provide a cylindrical tubular member, said sheet of material having portions thereof paralleling said abutting edges uncurved so as to provide, on the periphery of the formed tubular member, a chordal flat area extending longitudinally of and entirely along said member, the plane of one end of said tubular member being inclined with respect to the axis of the latter, said plane intersecting said chordal fiat area and sloping toward the end of the member to form at the said end a sharp cutting point, diametrically opposed to said chordal :flat, and curved portions of the tubular member forming cutters extending from said point and terminating at the intersection of said plane with said chordal flat area, said point and cutters cooperating, when the tubular member is forcibly pressed axially and perpendicularly against the .package wall, to cut in said wall a curved slit The complemental in contour with the contour of said curved portions forming the cutters and forming .a flap in said package wall closing the opening in said wall bounded by said slit and hinged along one side of the opening by an uncut portion of the package wall complemental with said chordal flat and extending linearly between the opposite ends of said slit, means forming integral portions of said tubular element extending radially therefrom, passable through said opening and engage- .able with the interior surface of said package wall, and resilient means on said tubular member and positioned exteriorly of said package for urging said wall-engaging means into eng gement with said wall.

3. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of .pourable material comprising a unit sheet of material curved to bring opposite edges thereof into abutting relation so as to provide a cylindrical tubular member, said sheet of material having portions thereof paralleling said, abutting edges uncurved so as to provide, on the periphery of the formed tubular member, a chordal flat area extending longitudinally of and entirely along said member, the plane of one end of said tubular member being inclined with respect to the axis of the latter, said plane intersecting said chordal flat area and sloping toward the end 'of the member to form at the said end a sharp cutting point, diametrically opposed to said chordal flat, and curved portions of the tubular member forming cutters extending from said point and terminating at the intersection of said plane with said chordal flat area, said point and cutters cooperating, when the tubular member is forcibly press-ed axially and perpendicularly against the package Wall, to cut in said wall a curved slit complemental incontour with the contour of said curved portions forming the cutters and forming a flap in said package wallclosing the opening in said wall bounded by said slit and hinged along one side of the opening by an uncut portion of the package wall complemental with said chordal flat and extending linearly between the opposite ends of said slit, means forming integral portions of said tubular element extending radially therefrom, passable through said opening and engageabl with the interior surface of said package wall, a collar mounted concentrically on and slidable along said tubular member, said slidable collar having at one end thereof 'a radially extending flange for engaging the outer surface of said package wall, a fixed collar on and concentric with said tubular member and disposed in spaced relation to said slidable collar, a coil spring surrounding said tubular member and engaging, at its respective ends, said fixed collar and the flange of said slidable collar, a pair of wings rising from an end of said tubular member and formed to provide tubular eyes engaging said fixed collar, and a closure flap covering an end of said tubular member and provided with tabs journaled in said eyes.

4. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable material comprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edges thereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, said tubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularly with re spect to the central axis of the member so as to tuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the periphery of said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member and shearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the member and along an undulating line so as to provide at said end of the protuberance one or more sharp spurs facing away from the cutting end of said tubular member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberances through the opening in the package wall formedby said cutter, being engageable with the inner surface of said package wall, a follower slidably mounted on said tubular member and engageable with the opposite exterior surface of the package wall, resilient means on said tubular member and operatively connected with said follower for urging the latter against the package wall so as to clamp said wall between the follower and said spurs, and a flap pivotally mounted at an end of said tubular member and movable to close said end of the tubular member.

5. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable material comprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edges thereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, said tubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularly with respect to the central axis of the member so as to provide a cutter adapted to pierce, in a wall of said package, an opening complemental in form to the cross-sectional form of the tubular member and through which said member may be moved to enter said package, a plurality of protuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the periphery of said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member and shearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the member so as to provide at said end a sharp spur facing away from the cutting end of the member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberances through the opening in the package wall formed by said cutter, being engageable with the inner surface of said package wall, and unit resilient means on said tubular member and engageable with the opposit exterior surface of the package wall for urging said spurs against the inner surface of said package wall.

6. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable material comprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edges thereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, said tubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularly with respect to the central axis of the member so as to provide a cutter adapted to pierce, in a wall of said package, an opening complemental in form to the cross-sectional form of the tubular mem ber and through which said member may be moved to enter said package, a plurality of protuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the periphery of said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member and shearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the member so as to provide at said end a sharp spur facing away from the cutting end of the member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberances through the opening in the package wall formed by said cutter, being engageabl with the inner surface of said package wall, a washer of compressible material on said tubular member and engageable with the opposite exterior surface of the package wall, a rigid washer mounted on said tubular member and engaging said compressible washer, and means for connecting said tubular member and said rigid washer together against relative movement. 1

7. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable material comprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edges thereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, said tubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularly with respect to the central axis of the member so as to provide a cutter adapted to pierce,'in a wall of said package, an opening complemental in form to the cross-sectional form of the tubular member and through which said member may be moved to enter said package, a plurality of protuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the periphery of said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member and shearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the member so as to provide at said end a sharp spur facing away from the cutting end of the member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberances through the opening in the package wall formed by said cutter, being engageable with the inner surface of said package wall, and an integral resilient member having a fixed portion thereof secured to said tubular member and a movable portion thereof relatively movable with respect to said tubular member, said relatively movable portion being engageable with the exterior surface of said package wall.

8. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable material comprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edges thereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, said tubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularly with respect to the central axis of the member so as to provide a cutter adapted'to pierce, in a wall of said package, an opening complemental in form to the cross-sectional form of the tubular member and through which said member may be moved to enter said package, a plurality of protuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the periphery of said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member and shearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the member so as to provide at said end a sharp spur facing away from the cutting end of the member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberances through the opening in the package wall formed by said cutter, being engageable with the inner surface of said package wall, an integral piece of spring metal bent into substantially U-form and provided with a pair of substantially parallel legs, one of said legs having therein an aperture through which said tubular member is freely movable and which is adapted to engage the exterior surface of said package wall, and the other of'said legs having therein an aperture through which said tubular member passes, means for securing said other of the legs to said tubular member comprising a pair of alined and spaced protuberances extending radially from the periphery of said'tubular member between which said other leg is positioned, and said aperture in said other leg having a notch extending radially therefrom through which said protuberances may pass.

'9;A pouring spout for tapping a container comprising a cylindrical tube having a cutting end for piercing a wall of said container, a spur rising above the normal surface of said tube and having a relatively sharp point extending away from the cutting end'of said tube for engaging the inner face of the pierced wall of said container, means slidably'mounted on said tube for engaging the outer face of said wall, and resilient means for urging said slidable means toward said spur to clamp said wall against the point thereof.

10. A pouring spout for tapping a container comprising a cylindrical tube having a cutting end for piercing a wall of said container, a spur rising above the normal surface of said tube and having a relatively sharp point extending away from the cutting end of said tube for engaging the inner face of the pierced wall of said container, a washer slidably mounted on said tube and adapted for engagement with the outer face of said wall, and a spring disposed on said tube for resiliently urging said washer toward the point of said spur to clamp said wall thereagainst.

MANUEL S. LOPES, JR.

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