US2889967A - Condiment containers - Google Patents

Description

June 9, 1959* J. G. DRENNAN I 6 CONDIMENT CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 17, 1958 L {m a 341' ////.lIIII% United States Patent "ice 7 are sr'cosrxmnns James G. Brennan, San Mateo; Califgassignor to Owens- Illinois Glass Company, a corporation of- Ohio Application February 17, 1958, Serial No. 715,591 4 came. (Ci. Zia-4' 98) type fitments andmore particularly is concerned with the I A provision of simple and effective means to facilitate assembling such fitments and containers and reliably securing such elements together.

An object of my invention is the provision in a device of the above character, a sifter or shaker-type dispenser comprising a perforate disk and integral attaching skirt wherein the latter is capable of contraction to facilitate entry into the container mouth and then upon complete insertion expands to bring an annular external rib on the skirt into holding engagement with the lower side of an internal abutment which is formed on the container in relatively close proximity to the mouth opening.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a shakertype dispenser of the above character in which the attaching skirt is reduced in thickness at circumferentially spaced points in such fashion as to form a number of thin distortable webs which are foldable upon themselves to allow contraction of the skirt during an assembling operation and substantially upon completion of such operation assume their normal extended form and thereby expand the skirt into firm holding engagement with retaining means provided internally of the container.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary sectional view showing my invention incorporated in a condiment container and shaker fitment which are illustrated in completely assembled form, there being a closure cap indicated in dot and dash lines.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the shaker fitment and container partially assembled with the skirt in its maximum contracted form.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken substantially along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 and showing the circumferentially spaced thin webs distorted by reason of contraction of the attaching skirt at this stage of assembly.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the sifter fitment.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken substantially along the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

In the illustrated embodiment of my invention, it comprises a bottle or jar 10 formed with a cylindrical wall 11 defining a neck having a circular rim 12 extending about and defining the mouth 13. Interiorly of this wall 11 and in reasonably close proximity to the rim 12 is an abutment 14 which is formed by reducing the inside diameter in a localized annular zone and in such fashion as to provide upwardly of this abutment a downwardly inwardly tapered guiding surface 15 and beneath said abutment an outwardly downwardly flared surface 16. The function of this abutment and the surfaces 15 and 16 will become apparent presently.

The shaker fitment or dispenser element 17 may be 2,88%,967 patented June 9,. 1959 formed" or rubber or other elastic material but preferably of polyethylene: It. is molded in a single piece and comprises a flat d'isk 18 of a diameter slightly greater than the; interior diameter oftlie annular rim '12 so that when assembled this disk-may, to some extent, rest upon this rim. This disk '18 is-providedwith amultiplicity ofperforations 19 extending therethrough; such perforations being of a diameter dictated by the particular grain size of the condiment orflothe'r material involved. The attaching-.meansfor separably and reliably securing the disk 18' upon the rini 12' of the container comprises an annular skirt 20 depending from and of somewhat smaller diameter than said disk 18i This attaching skirt is intended to be teles'cope'd into the container mouth and cooperate with the aforementioned abutment 14 in such fashion as to effectively interlock the two elements.

Preferably this attaching skirt is an annular wall 21 of approximately the thickness of the-disk 1 8; such wall preferably though not necessarily being flared outwardly and downwardly away from the disk. The exterior surface of the skirt is formed in its upper area with 'an outwardly downwardly tapered zone 22 and beneath the latter with a relatively abrupt downwardly and inwardly tapered Zone 23 which functions as a guide to aid in the initial steps of the assembly operation. In order to insure re liable interlocking and assembly of the two elements, it is apparent that the skirt 20 at the juncture of the two zones 22 and 23 must be of slightly greater diameter than that of the abutment 14 so that when the two parts are completely assembled the rib 24 provided at said juncture point will be positioned just below the abutment 14. Consequently, this abutment will resist bodily upward displacement of the panel fitment relative to the container.

To the end that the assembling operation may be performed with relative ease yet when assembled the parts cannot inadvertently become separated, I have designed the attaching skirt in a special fashion to obtain both of these highly desirable objectives. Accordingly, at circumeferentially spaced points in the attaching skirt 20 I have formed relatively deep transverse channels or grooves 25 which open through the lower margin of the attaching skirt and have an upper end wall 26 which in effect is a part of the lower side of the disk 18. By forming these grooves or channels of sufficient depth, I have provided thin resilient and more or less readily distortable webs 27 which collapse and fold in one direction or another as the rib 24 of the skirt approaches and slides over the abutment 14 incident to assembling of these parts. Such folding or distortion of these webs may assume either of the forms shown in Fig. 3 or perhaps any of many other forms. All or only some of the webs may be so distorted. Immediately following movement of the rib 24 on the skirt beyond said abutment the webs 27 are free to and do return to their normal position because of the elastic memory of the material, all with the result that the attaching skirt expands to its normal maximum diameter as shown in Fig. 1, and the rib and abutment interlock to efiectively hold the parts assembled.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A sifter-type fitment formed of resilient plastic material and comprising a relatively flat disk provided with a multiplicity of perforations therethrough, an annular attaching skirt depending from and of lesser diameter than the disk, said skirt increasing in external diameter downwardly from approximately its juncture with the disk to a plane near its free end perpendicular to the axis of said fitment and the exterior surface below said plane being directed generally inward to form an annular tapered guiding surface, said skirt being longitudinally grooved externally at circumferentially spaced points to a radial depth such as will form a radially distortable thin resilient Web normally yieldingly holding the skirt expanded to its maximum diameter, thereby providing an interrupted holding rib at the upper margin of said guiding surface.

2. The fitment defined in claim 1, the skirt inits entirety normally being flared toward its free end.

3. In combination a container comprising an annular wall defining a mouth, said wall having an outer end providing an annular rim and an internal annular surface of reduced diameter near said rim to form an abutment, a sitter-type fitment formed of resilient plastic material and comprising a relatively flat disk provided with a multiplicity of perforations therethrough, said disk being of greater diameter than the internal diameter of the annular rim and positioned in contact with the latter, a resilient annular attaching skirt depending from and of lesser diameter than the disk, said skirt positioned within the container mouth and formed externally at a plane beneath and parallel to the plane of said abutment with a radially outwardly projecting rib of greater diameter than 20 a 4 viding a thin resilient transverse web at its base, said webs being capable of distortion to facilitate contraction of the skirt as its rib portion passes over said abutment during assembly and thereafter resumption of their undistorted form to positively expand the skirt to its normal maximum diameter.

4. The combination defined in claim 3, the skirt normally being flared toward its free edge and provided externally near said edge with an inwardly downwardly tapered surface merging with said free edge and providing guide means facilitating insertion of the skirt into the container mouth.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,723,041 Hart-Sill Nov. 8, 1955 2,792,976 Stewart May 21, 1957 2,820,564 Solomon Jan. 21, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 767,144 France May 1, 1934

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