US2793795A - Dispensing closures - Google Patents

Description

May 28, 1957 w, s. WILSON ET Ai.

DISPENSINGY cLosUREs Filed Dec. l1, 1956 i INVENToRs DELL M. MAL/a6, Waan/Qon/. W/Asa/v, Maeva# A. QASEL.,

.rmpugy DISPENSING CLOSURES Woodrow S. Wilson, Pasadena, Morton A. Carabel, Los

A Angeles, Dell M. Malick, Whittier, Calif. i' Application December 11, 1956, Serial No. 627,677

- A 5 Claims. (Cl. 2225536) vThis invention relates to new and improved dispensing closures. This application is a continuation-impart of the cci-pending application Serial No. 555,491 tiled December 27, 1955 entitled container structures.

The term dispensing closures is commonly employed at the present time to designate closures for containers,

whichl closures are capable of being manipulated so that Practically all of the prior :dispensing closures haveV been designed in' such a manner that the principal parts -ofl'tliese structures are formed of rigid materials such` as," forexample, various metals, thermosetting plastics or the like. Further, all prior dispensing closures formed withparts of such rigid materials are manufactured so More 2,793,795' Patented May 28.-, v1957 ice ' oletln class or any vinyl composition can be used. Such thermoplastic resins generally tend to change shape and form when subjected to tension or compression for a prolonged period; also they tend to shrink -as a result of cooling after being molded. As a result of these and other related factors the manufacture of dispensing closures out of thermoplastic resins has almost become more of an art than an engineering science. The prior structures utilizing such thermoplastic resins appear to have 'been designed so as to take into consideration only certain of the inherent properties of these thermoplastic resins.

yThis can be illustrated by specilically discussing one type of common dispensing closure used with containers for lighter iluid and the like at the present time. This type of dispensing closure structure is designed so as to include a cap having a centrally located cavity formed therein, and a hole leading from the bottom of this cavity through the cap. The cavity in this type of structure is important; it corresponds in shape to more than half of a surface revolution so that a spout member having corresponding conguration may be snapped into it and held against the hole referred to in order to obtain a seal at all times. In order to obtain a satisfactory seal with this type of prior construction it is necessary to make the internal cavity comparatively large so that sufficient holding area is available to hold the spout against the hole so :as to include at least one part which may be moved with` respect to another partin order to obtain a sealing action. Unfortunately, rigid materials cannot normally be manufactured by large scale mass production techniques at a comparatively low cost tothe tolerances necessary so that satisfactory seals against leakage can be obtained in such dispensing closures. e difficulty, many of the prior dispensing closure structures utilizing rigid` parts have been designedA so as tolinclude4 leather,'rubber or the like sealing members.

ln order to remedy this Such separate sealing means add to the oost of dispensing closures and increase the complexity of such devices.

In order to provi-de dispensing closures in which asatisfactory seal may` be obtained without using extra parts, such assealing means, a number of dispensing closures have been designed in which one or more of the principal e parts involved are created from a somewhat resilient' material. With this type of construction it is intended that a part in a dispensing closure serves two or more,

functions simultaneously. Dispensing closures utilizing resilient parts serving two or more purposes simultaneously have been widely utilized in spite of the fact that they suffer from certain limitations or drawbacks atiecting'- their commercial acceptability.

To understand many of these limitations and drawi shap'e'at'a"minimum-cost by simple injection molding techniques; ""Althoiighnpolyethylene is the principal poly-` mer-utilized,- a'iiunibrof-related thermoplastic resins can alsob employed; thus, virtually any polymer of the polyas to prevent leakage. Since a comparatively large area isfrequired to develop sutiicient force for this purpose, and

since suflicient space is required so that :a spout may be snapped into place, a dispensing closure formedfin this manner is comparatively large. These size requirements result in an ungainly appearing structure which cannot be satisfactorily stacked and which extends from a container a'comparatively large distance. Also, because of the size of the parts involved in this type of construction, the shrinkage in the individual parts after they have been molded tends to be very important, and makes it difficult to' satisfactorily design a structure of the category.

'It is a broad object of the present invention to provide new and improved dispensing closures which over come the principal limitations and disadvantages of the parts are fonned out of resilient, resinous materials. An-

other related object of the-invention is to provide dis-1"' pehsing closures in which the individual parts utilize comL paratively thin or small wall and body sections so las to'make allowances for substantiallythe shrinkage and other physical properties of polyethylene and other related thermoplastics. A still further object of the invention is toV provide dispensing closures having `a neat, dat-like appearance which may be stacked with a .minimum of diulty. `Another object of the invention-isito provideV dispensing Aclosures of the class indicated inthe preceding discussion incorporating various novel sealing means as will hereinafter be described in more detail'. i

Because of the nature of this invention still further objects and advantages of the invention itself will be fully apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a detailed consideration of the remainder of this description, including the appended claims and the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a dispensing closure of thisinvention in a closed position; l

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the dispensing closure shdwn .in Fig. l in an open position; 4

ure rshown in Fig. 2;

e Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional View Figl 3;

Fig. 3 is a top elevational view of the r.dispensing clos- Fig. 5 is la perspectivel .View of la spout employed with the closure illustrated in the preceding figures;

Fig. 6 is 1a partial enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the same plane as Fig. 4 showing a part of the sealing fmeans employed; 5

Fig. 7 is -a cross-sectionalview takennat iine 7 7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a partial enlarged cross-sectional View similar to Fig'. 6 illustrating Wa lmodified sealingustructure of the invention; 10

Fig. 9 isa cross-sectional View taken at line 9 9 of Fig. 8;

Fig'. kl0 is a partial cross-sectional View similar to Fig.

6 showing asecond modied sealing structure pt this invention; 15

Fig.v ll'is a vcrosssec :tional `View takenlatline 11T-11 of Fig."10;and Y Figs."12"and v13 are s idee-levational views? partially in section, showing the use of "dispensing,closures.ofJ the present invention "with diierfent containersf p 20 In `all iiguresfof the' drawing ylike'numerals- 'areulsed; to designatelike' parts whereverfconvenient for purposes of illustration and explanation'. It`is'to'be understood that the accomp anyingV drawingv is not to be` taken as j lirnfA iting this invention infamy' respect. Those skilled in the v25 art to Which this invention pertains will .realizethat it is possible to design ia wide varietyof differently` appear:v ing dispensing ciosure utilizingthe essential featuresf of lthis invention. i y i As an aid to' understand this-invention it may be stated 30 in essentially summaryform 'that'itinvolvesfdispensing closures havingV two parts, 'atleast one of Whichpats is formed of `a somewhat resilient'material. The nfirst ofAV these parts* may be formed integrally with the wa'lloi al container or-as a separate cap. In'eithercase it is manuf 35 factured soas to include a central cavity from the sides f of which project what may be termed bearing openings.. The second o'fthese parts is manufacturedV so Vlas to Vinclude a body section which is adapted to be rotatably held within lthe central' cavityV by means of vshafts whichr 40 is provided in the second part; by rotating ythe second part 4 this opening and Vthis passage may be aligned with one anothen The 'shaftsfemployed' serve to hold at alltimes v the Abodysection against the portions of the centralfcavff ity around this opening so las to form a seal in this areal.'l Because. of the' nature of Ythis invention, it is best .r'noreQl tul'lyIexplained i by-referr'ing directly to the accompanying drawing'.l In Fig.- l lthere is shown' la vdispensingfclos-" ure 10of .the present invention which is formed so as tofA inoludeja iirst'inemb'er or cap 12 which is'adapted to hold a second member or spout 14 by various means ,as y will hereinafter; be described. The cap 12 itself is `prefl J enably formed so as to include a conventional type of t' internally threaded cylindiicaicavity i6 so that it may be readily .attached to a container v(not shown). inthe obvious manner. It desired a small ange 18 maybe lo t catedwithin the cavity 16 so as to tact essentially as aseal-ving washer in forming Va seal against the portion of the container uponwhich the cap 12 is mounted. It is frequently desired to provide the exterior 20 of the cap 12 with various serrations as shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawing soes to improve the aesthetic appearance of the cap and so as to aid in attaching this cap to a container.

The construction ot the top 22 of this oap 12v is important; As can be seen 'from an examination of Figs.

0 Further, because of thetact that the shafts 38 and the);y bearing openings 36 are, as shown, `of a bilaterally symr 3 'and 4 of fthe :'drawing, this top 22 is formed so as to 70 have an internal cavity 24 'from which there extends par-` allel to the top 22 a groove 26 leading to the edge of thel i cap 512i itself. The cavity 24 has twowaill sections 28,l v each of which extendscompletely across the width ' ofthel cavity 24,5 and'isforxned so" as to'have the shapemof a7 From the sides of vthe cavity 24 thereextend circular,

bearing openings 36. The axes of` these bearing openings 36 are aligned with one anotherfandwith the axes of the cylindrical wal'l sections 28'in such a manner that smail shaft-like extensions 38 uponzthespout 14 may be secured within these bearing openings so that the entire spout may be held by them when it is rotated from either a closed position shown in Fig. 1 to an open position shown in Fig. 2 or back again. During suchvrotationja central body section 40 upon thev spout 14 havinganex ternal surface corresponding to atleast a partial surface 1 of revolution is rotated so thatthis body section 40 en-` gages with the wall sections 28, thecircular ilange ,34, and the at section 30 so as #to form a doubletseal around the opening 32. With the closure 10 the surface of thel body section 40 preferably has thecylindrical shape. This double seal is a result of the il-atY section being, A

engagedby the body section 40, and is the result of cir-v cular flange 34 being. engaged by the body section-40. The pressure necessary to obtain a seal at thesegpointsis obtained by means o f the shafts38 being securely heldA i within the bearing openings 36 with respectto thek cap,:1 2.-` L

An important feature of the preferred constructionfot;v this invention lies in the fact that small slots 42 extending the length of the bearing openings 36 are formedwithin the top 22 of the cap 12. Preferably the entrance `Walls to these slots 42 are curved as indicated inthe drawing sothat the spout 14 may be securelysnapped intoposition by temporary vdeformation of the portions of the top 22, adjacentto these slots 42; It Will be realized Vthat during such an operation that only the shafts 38 are, in elect, directly attached to the cap 12.. It is not necessary with thedispensing closure 10 that the sides of the cavity 22 engage the body `section of the spout 14. Part of this]` 'body vsection `does engage only the bottom sideiof the` cavityfu24 as indicated-in the preceding; such engagementsL doesnot serve to holdthe spout 14 into position.-

Because of theprecise shaft andbearing opening struc/f ture involved-with this construction, it is possible to fadi;

just'the.lengths and diametersrof the shafts 38 to virtually anyl'desired extentnso as to obtain-sutcientv holding area`V to obtain any necessary `amount of pressure required'tov produce asealby forcing and/Vor holding the body'section which any required amount of pressure can be obtained.

metrical construction the force applied. to the b0dy section 40 in orderto obtain va seal is equally distributed within the cavity 24. From lan examination of thedrawfingit will be further seen, that nowhere in this construction isv a comparatively thick wall or body section utilized.

Thick or large wall, or body sections will tend to distort as by shrinkage when formed from ,many resins, vand such changelin dimensions will, of course,faie ct the na- ,i

ture of the seal obtained in a dispensing closure.,

Thess two Sections 28v are .tion 30".

message dust shield serves to tend to prevent dust ljgiarticle-sor the lik'frox'n coming in contact with part of the surface of the body section 40. Any dust particles or other contaminants getting to the body section 40 beneath the shield 44 will be wiped olf of the surface of the body section by Ian end 46 of one of the wall sections 28 when the spout 14 is rotated. Those contaminants not removed by this end 46 in this manner will be removed through engagement of the circular flange 34. Thus, the structure shown provides a double type of protection against the entrance of particles which would tend to destroy a seal within the dispensing closure 10.

The dust shield 44 also serves essentially as a stop Ias illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawing so as to limit the rotation of the spout 14 so as to -guarantee that a passage 48 formed within the spout 14 so as to extend through the body section 40 and out through Ia projecting arm 50 is aligned with the opening 32 when the spout 14 is rotated to an open position. The arm 50 normallyrests within the groove 26 when in a closed position as indicated in Fig. 1. When the arm 50 is located within this closed position, it does not extend from the cap 12 to any material extent. Hence, it cannot be dam-aged by engagement during handling, sta-cking and the like. Further, it does not interfere with such operations since it lies essentially within the conines of the top 22.

It is possible to modify the dispensing closure in various manners as indicated in Fig. 8 through 11 of the drawing so as to utilize other sealing means than rare specifically indicated in Figs. 1 through 7. In Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawing there is shown a structure which is identical with that described in the preceding figures except for the fact that the circular flange 34 previously described is omitted. The fact that a construction of this category is operative is considered to demonstrate the fact that a double seal is obtained in the preferred construction lof the dispensing closure, 10. A double seal is normally preferred with the invention in order to prevent any possibility of leakage. In Figs. 10 'and ll of the drawing, there is shown a second modified construction which is identical with the construction of the dispensing closure 10 except for the fact that the circular ange 34 is -omitted Iand is replaced by another circular flange or bead 52 which extends around the opening 32, on to the portions of the wall sections 28 adjacent to a flat sec- The mechanism by which this construction operates is essentially identical to the mechanism by which a seal is obtained in the dispensing closure 10; in it both the anges 34 `and the iiat section 30" act in forming a seal.

In order for a dispensing closure of the present invention to be operative, either the cap 12 or the spout 14 employed must be formed out of a material having some degree of resiliency. Presently, both of the parts of dispensing closures such as the dispensing closure 10 are fbeing commercially manufactured out of polyethylene. These can, however, be lalso manufactured out of Various related thermoplastic materials such as any related polyolens, polyvinyl compositions or the like. All such resins possess some degree of resiliency land are capable of some deformation at the part of the dispensing closure of the inventi-on where a seal is created. Such deformation is necessary from a practical standpoint, although theoretically no deformation is required, in forming a seal. With the preferred construction of the invention both the cap 12 and the spout 14 are preferably formed of such resilient materials so that both the surface of the body section 40 and the corresponding vadjacent parts of the cap 12 and the opening 32 give or are deformed slightly during use of the dispensing closure 10. This is believed to promote an effective sealing action. It is at least theoretically possible to obtain an operative structure in which either the cap 12 or the spout 14 is formed out of more rigid material such as, for example,

polystyrene.

` plicable.

If desired, a*dispensingclosurefofl them-invention be formed out of any of these ,materialsduring the manu#- facture of a conta-inet so that what corresponds tothe cap 12 previously described is formed integrally with the wall of a container. This is illustrated in Fig. 12 of the drawings where there is shown a container 54 having a top 56 formed asthe top 22, so as to hold a spout 58' corresponding to the spout 14. .If desired a dispensing the top 22. Within the top 66 there is located a spoutA p 68 which is substantially identical to the spout 14. As an aid to stacking there are` provided on the closures 60a,

series of bumps 10 designed to engage the bottom ofan adjacent lcontainer (not shown). v

Itfwill'be obviousto those skilled in the art vto which 'I this invention pertains that a number of modifications may be made'in the structures shown and described, and that dispensing closures as herein indicated can even be formed integrally with the wall sections of various types of containers so as to be completely disposed adjacent to or beneath the surfaces of such containers. In this connection it is to be noted that the term cavity employed herein is not to be considered as limiting the invention. From an analysis of the aforegoing, it will be apparent that an operative structure can be created in which the wall sections 28 Iare omitted and in which the body section 40 of the spout 14 is suspended in a continuous groove or essentially in the open between separate bearing means so as to bear against sealing means surrounding an opening as herein described. Such a groove or essentially open space is essentially a cavity, and hence is to be considered as being defined by this term in the accompanying claims. vention is capable of a great many modifications, it is to be considered as being limited only by the appended claims, and these claims are to be interpreted in the light of the doctrine of equivalents wherever the same is ap- Wherever the term means is employed in these claims, this term is to be interpreted as defining the corresponding structure set forth in this specification or the equivalent of the same.

We claim:

l. A dispensing closure having two parts, each of said parts being formed of a resilient material, the first of said parts being formed so as to include a cavity open at the top of said first part, said cavity having sides, aat bottom and cylindrical wall sections extending from opposite sides of said at bottom, means defining an opening leading to the center of said ilat bottom means defining aligned bearing openings leading from said sides, slots extending the length of said bearing openings and leading into said bearing openings from the top of said first part, and a. groove open at the -top of said iirst part leading from said cavity, the other of said parts being formed so as to include a body section located within said cavity, aligned shafts extending from said body section into said bearing openings, said shafts being adapted to be snapped through said slots into said bearing openings by temporary deformation of said first part, said shafts being held by engagement with the walls of said bearing openings so as to rotatably mount said other part with said body section against said flat bottom so as to cause deformation of said flat bottom, the portion of said body section adapted to engage said at bottom during rotation of said other part being of a cylindrical shape, said other part also lincluding an arm extending from said body section and a passage extending through said body section and said arm, said other part being adapted to be rotated so as to align said passage with said opening, said arm being adapted to be positioned within said groove in one position of said other part.

Because of the fact that this inv :wss-394s 42. A dispensingclosure as;dened nclam l'including 3. A Adispensing closureas ydefined in claim- 1 including.

said cylindrical Wall sections; said opening ,beingin .the center rrof; said'.ange, sid ange being.. .engaged -by said L body ,'sction, sofas ltobedeformed thereby.

4. -A` .dispensing closure'as denedinlaim l including combined dustshieldnd I.stop means .fomedon saidrst pait 'sof asto extend overf part of'` s'idcavity, said combirid'ineansfbeing'gdpted to limit i-.ota'tionof said'otheif.v

said" b'e'ringr openingsI bingspacedfrom one-another; 20' f means d'eiining anop'ejningylledin'g through ,s'aidf top from theV space, between .saidbearing openings, -and'.`V sealing@ means.; located a-ioundsaidopeningrthe.other of saidvparts being f o'rmedlsoasto include a body-Sectionflocated be@ tween said AbearingzopeuingsV. aligned -shaft= meansexn tendinglfrmy 4said body, sectionv intofrsaid. bear-ing open-5` -tendrigcthrotlgmsaicL body section, :said.body section beingl held' byf, said, shaft ;means..in engagement with saidv seaiiig.[means yandfbein'g .capable .fof rotation so Vas -to place` said v,passage in communication, with said opening. i

References Ctd inthe le'of this patent UNITED STA'PES PATENTS '1

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