US2837252A - Closure for collapsible containers - Google Patents

Description

June 3, 1958 P. x. HOYNAK, JR

CLOSURE FOR COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINERS Filed Sept. 6. 1957 INVENTOR ATfa/QMFJ S United States Patent CLOSURE FOR COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINERS Peter X. Hoynak, In, Englewood, N. J. 7

Application September 6, 1957, Serial No. 682,385

3 Claims. (Cl. 222-494) This invention relates generally to closures. More particularly, the invention has reference to a closure device adapted to be mounted upon any of various collapsible containers, such as tooth paste or shaving cream tubes, etc., a characteristic of such containers being the dispensing of the contents of the container responsive to the application of a squeezing pressure to the walls of the container. p

The invention has utility in the dispensing not only of pasty substances, but also of liquids, powders, seeds, etc.

The conventional, screw-threaded closure cap used upon containers of the character described has certain disadvantages. Considerable inconvenience results from the use of conventional caps, in that the cap must be threaded off the neck of the collapsible container whenever the contents are to be dispensed from said container,

and thereafter threaded onto said neck to again close the container. Additionally, the cap when removed often is lost, so that the container is without a closure, resulting in an untidy appearance thereof, as well as in flow of the contents between uses of the collapsible container.

The main object of the present invention, in view of the above, is to provide a generally improved closure cap for containers of the character described. It is proposed, in this regard, to provide a closure cap that will be designed to be left upon the container at all times,'thus eliminating the possibility of the cap being lost.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a closure cap which will have a normally closed dispensing opening, with the cap being so designed that said opening will be exposed responsive to squeezing pressure upon the walls of the container, by reason of the fact that the contents of the container, forced toward the opening responsive to said squeezing pressure, will be adapted to bias a closure member from a normally closed to an open position.

Another object is to so form the closure cap that immediately upon the cessation of the squeezing pressure, the

closure element will move automatically to its normally closed position.

Still another object is to so design the closure cap that the stationary and movable parts thereof will be inter related in a manner such as to insure against dust or other foreign material entering the cap, and so as, further,

to insure against the container contents moving into areas of the closure cap where said contents should not enter. In this way, it is proposed to not only assure efficient usage of the closure cap at all times, but also, to insure that the closure cap will be maintained in a fully sanitary condition.

Still another object is to form a closure cap of the character described which, while having the decided benefits noted above, will at the same time be usable on conventional collapsible containers, without requiring modification or redesign of said containers in any way.

A further object is to provide a closure cap which will have the desirable characteristics noted above, while yet F atented June 3, 1958 ice being capable of manufacture at a cost sufficiently low to make the same commercially feasible.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a view showing the upper portion of a conventional collapsible container to which the closure cap of the invention has been applied, the cap being shown in longitudinal section, substantially on line 1-1 of Figure 2, with the closure element in its normal, closed position;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the closure cap and container;

Figure. 3 is a view like Figure l in which the closureelement has been shifted to its open position;

Figure 4 is a plan sectional view, substantially on line 4-4 of Figure l; Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 55 of Figure l;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the movable closure.

element, per se; and t Figure 7 is a perspective view of said closure element,

per se, showing the opposite side thereof.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference number 10 designates a collapsible container of conventional In the illustrated example the container is a end portion 12 on which is formed the neck 13, through which the contents C of the container are dispensed.

Normally, a screw-threaded cap is applied to the neck 13, but in accordance with the present invention, there is used in place of the threaded cap a closure cap generally designatcd 14. The closure cap 14 can be disposable, so as to be sold with the collapsible container, as the cap thereof, with the closure cap to be disposed of with the container following exhausting of the contents. However, the closure cap could be purchased as a separate item, to be retained by the householder and applied to collapsible container, each time a fresh container is to be placed inusev In this event, the closure cap 14 would be substituted for the conventional threaded cap that is provided upon the container. Following exhausting of the contents, the cap 14 would be removed, and would be cleaned, to await use on the new container.

in any event, the cap 14 is applied to the threads 24 of the neck 13, and includes a hollow, upwardly tapering,- flat-sided body 26 having a flat bottom wall disposed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the neck 13, saidbottom wall being centrally, integrally formed with a depending, internally threaded skirt 28 extending about a center opening of the bottom wall end engageable with the threads 24.

The bottom wall has been designated at 30, and in the illustrated embodiment, is cemented at 32, or otherwise sealably, permanently secured, to the lower end of One of the inclined walls of the body 26 is progressive- 5 1y increased in thickness in a direction toward the upper end of the body, as shown at 34, providing a solid backing wall the inner surface of which is inclined obliquely to the axis of the closure cap body 26, as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3. At its upper end, the inner surface of the thickened wall 34 is offset to a very slight extent laterally from said axis, while at the lower end, said inner 3 surface of the wall 34 is offset laterally of said axis to a substantially greater extent, and is, in fact, disposed adjacent the periphery of the bottom wall 30.

Adjacent its upper extremity, the thickened wall 34 of body 26 is formed with a deep guide slot 36 opening upon the inner surface of the wall 34 immediately above the main portion 37 of the top wall of the body 26. Slot 36 is arcuately curved, as best shown in Figure 1, about the axis of swinging movement of a movable closure element to be described in detail hereinafter.

Formed in the Wall 34 (see Figures 4 and are side guideslots 38. These are divergent in a direction away from the inclined plane of the inner surface of the wall 34..

The side slots 38, at their upper ends, communicate with the upper guide slot 36 as best shown in Figure 5.

'The hollow formation of the body 26 defines a pressure chamber 40 therein, communicating, through the dispensing opening of neck 13, with the interior of the collapsible container 10. The pressure chamber is in continuous communication with the interior of the container and, there-- fore, the contents of the container will move into the pressure chamber and will fill the same, as long as there remains a quantity of the pasty substance that is to be dispensed, within the container.

A movable closure element 42 is in the icon of an elongated, wide flat arm,-,,which may be of molded plastic or the like, said arm eing progressively decreased in thickness in a direction from its outer. to its inner end as clearly shown in Figure 1. The arm is of a resilient or springable material, and the progressive reduction in thickness increases the springability of the arm in a direction toward its inner end, with the increase being progressive over the full length of the arm.

The inner end 44 of the arm is engaged in a narrow, deep slot or recess 45 formed in the inner surface of the bottom wall3t in communication with the chamber 40. Said inner end of the arm 42 is fixedly engaged in the recess, as for example by being cemented or otherwise fixedly secured therein.

The spring tension in the arm of the closure element is such as to cause said element to be normally biased to the Figure 1 position thereof. However, said tension is selected ofa value such that responsive to a squeezing.

pressure on the wall of the collapsible container, the pressure exerted against the arm by the contents C will overcome the force of the spring tension, thus to bias the arm angularly about its pivot axis from its Figure l to its Figure 3 position.

Adjacent its upper extremity, the closure element is formed with a wide lip 48 curved correspondingly to the curvature of the slot 36, and complementing or mating with the slot, so as to be movable into and out of the'slot as shown in Figures 1 and 3. The lip at its distal end, is at all times engaged in the slot, so as to insure against the entrance of dirt or the container contents into the slot 36.

Integrally formed upon the opposite sides of the arm of the closure element are wings 50, said wings being progressively decreased in width in a direction toward the inner endof the arm, and being, also, progressively decreased in thickness in a direction from their arm-connected edges to their forward or free'edges. The free edges of the wings are in convergent relation to the plane of the wide arm 51 of the closure element, in a direction toward the inner end of the closure element. The wings are in embracing relation to the lip 43, and tike the lip, project forwardly from the arm 51. The wings 50 are in diverging relation to each other, in a direction forwardly from the plane of the arm 51.

Wings 50 are of resilient or springaole characteristics, and are normally tensioned to flex toward each other, to their Figure 4 positions. In the normal, closed position of the closure element, wings 56 are in almost parallel planes, though still beingdivergent to a slight extent in a direction vaway from the arm 51. The free edges of the '4', wings are at all times engaged in the respective slots 38, even in the closed position of the closure element 42, as shown in Figure 4. Thus, the wings prevent dirt or the contents C from entering the slots 38, in the same manner that the lip 48 prevents such materials from entering the slot 36, when the element 4-2 is in its closed position.

Designated at 52 is adispensing opening, centrally formed in the top wall of the body 26. The dispensing opening is disposed alongside the upper end of the thickened wall 34, and one edge ofthe dispensing opening is bounded by the upper end portion of the arm 51 as shown in Figure 3. The dispensing opening is normally closed, with the lip extending across said opening as clearly shown in Figure 2, and the edge of the dispensing opening directly opposite the upper end portion of the wall 34 is oblique to the axis of the neck, so as to be in face-toface contact with the upper end of the arm 51, in the closed position of the element 42 (see Figure l).

As seen from Figure 2, the arm 42, and the lip 48, are of a width substantially less than the width of the wall 34, and the opening52 is, of course, of a width corresponding to that of the closure element. 7 In use of the device, arm 51 will normally be disposed, by reason of the inherent spring tension thereof, in the Figure 1 position. the path in which the contents C would tend to move through the dispensing opening 52, with the arm lying obliquely to said path. The dispensing opening 52 as shown in Figures 1 and 3 is aligned coaxially with the dispensing opening of the end 13, it being understood that the neck 13 would have a centered dispensing opening, either circularly shaped or, perhaps, slot-like in configuration. In any event, when the container is squeezed, the contents C are placed under pressure, which pressure is transmitted to the arm 51, causing the pressure against the arm to overcome the value of the spring tension, as

a result of which the arm is biased to its Figure 3 position, i

into face-to-face contact with the inclined inner surface of the thickened wall 34. Lip 48 moves fully into the upper guide slot 36, while the wings 50 move fully into the side slots 38. The wings 50, it will be noted, are biased or spread outwardly from each other, by reason of the divergent planes of the walls of the slots 38, as the Wings move to the right in Figure 4, to the inner edges of the slots 38. As a result, the Wings 50 are placed under progressively increased tension, during the movement of the arm 51 from its Figure 1 to its Figure 3 position, and this progressively increased tension on the wings in turn results in the wings hearing more and more tightly against the inner walls of the slots 38. Of course, the wings do not bear against said walls so tightly as to prevent the ready movement of the closure element from its Figure l to its Figure 3 position. They do, however, bear sufficiently tightly to insure that there will be no leakage of the container contents between the contacting surfaces of the wings 50' and the slot walls, into the space between the wall 34 and the arm 51.

In this way, the closure cap, though normally closed,

is automatically opened responsive to the normal squeezing of the container walls, for the purpose of dispensing a selected quantity of the tooth paste or other pasty contents. It is of importance to note that when the closure element moves to its Figure 3 position, the resultant dispensing opening is itself of slot-like form, so that the container contents are dispensed 'in a ribbon form.

As soon as the pressure is relieved, of course, the inherent tension of the arm 51 is permitted to assert itself, causing the arm to immediately return to its normal, Figure 1 position.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles ofoperation and the means In this position, the arm lies across presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A dispensing type closure for a container holding a pasty substance, said container having an outlet, comprising: a hollow body connectable to the outlet of the container for flow of the container contents into said body, said body having a dispensing opening; and an H elongated closure element of spring material anchored at one end to the body within the same and spring tensioned to normally shift to a position closing said dispensing opening, said body including a plurality of guide slots, and the closure element including means slidably engaging in said slots, to guide the closure element to and from said position thereof, said guide slots including an upper guide slot, the closure element including a lip projecting into said upper guide slot, the body additionally including, in said plurality of guide slots, a pair of side guide slots, the closure element including side wings slidably engaging in the side slots, the side wings being of springable material and being under tension tending to bias the same toward each other, the side slots lying in divergent planes, said planes diverging in a direction such as to bias thewings outwardly from each other against the spring tension thereof, during movement of the closure element from said position thereof,

whereby to provide a seal between the wings and the'adjacent walls of the side guide slots.

2. A dispensing type closure for a container holding a pasty substance, said container having an outlet, comprising: a hollow body connectable to the outlet of the container for flow of the container contents into said body, said body having a dispensing opening; and an elongated closure element of spring material anchored at one end to the body within the same and spring tensioned to normally shift to a position closing said dispensing opening, said body including a plurality of guide slots, and the closure element including means slidably engaging in said slots, to guide the closure element to and from said position thereof, said guide slots including an upper guide slot, the closure element including a lip projecting into said upper guide slot, the body additionally including, in said plurality of guide slots, a pair of side guide slots, the closure element including side wings slidably engaging in the side slots, the side wings being of springable material and being under tension tending to bias the same toward each other, the side slots lying in divergent planes, said planes diverging in a direction such as to #bias the wings outwardly from each other against the spring tension thereof, during movement of the closure element from said position thereof, whereby to provide a seal between the wings and the adjacent walls of the side guide slots, said closure element, when in said position thereof, lying obliquely to the axis of said body, whereby to receive pressure from said substances during passage of the substance through the body, said pressure being exerted upon the closure element in a direction to shift the same from said position thereof.

3. A dispensing type closure for collapsible containers holding semifluid substances comprising, in combination with a collapsible container, a hollow body connectable to the outlet of the container for flow of the container contents into said body, said body having a dispensing opening; and an elongated closure element of spring material anchored at one end to the body within the same and spring tensioned to normally shift to a position closing said dispensing opening, said element including an arm extending obliquely to the path of movement of the container contents from the container to said dispensing opening, for biasing of the closure element from said position responsive to pressure exerted thereagainst by the container contents resulting from a squeezing pressure exerted against the container tending to collapse the same, the closure element including an elongated arm of resilient material one end of which constitutes the end of the closure element anchored to the body, said arm being under tension tending to shift the same to a positionextending across the dispensing opening for closing the opening, said closure element further References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Volk Mar. 11, 1919 Burrell Feb. 13, 1934

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