US3204827A - Spout seal - Google Patents

Description

P 1965 A. KRAUTKRAMER 3,204,827

SPOUT SEAL Filed April 1. 1963 INVENIOR $7M Kan/maze W ATTORNEY 5 United States Patent 3,204,827 SPQUT SEAL Adam Krautkriimer, Drususwall 72, Mainz, Germany Filed Apr. 1, 1963, Ser. No. 269,281 Claims priority, application Germany, Mar. 30, 1962,

1 Claim. oi. 222-143 The invention represents a spout seal made of a plastic material, especially suitable for a container of the gas can nature for example.

Various spout caps and seals for containers of all kinds and for tubes are known which consist of a cap affixed to the container having a cut-ofi or open seal to provide a secure seal-oft before the first intake. It is furthermore common to build a lock immediately next to the seal; the lock can be put on after opening the container for the first use.

Spout seals of this kind have proved to be very practicable. Later it was found that the lock caps or the spout connected with them extend too far above the housing of the container for practical stacking of container. Suggestions then were made to make spout seals of a design which would permit, by means of a telescopic tube, an infolding of the spout into the interior of the container, so that the tip of the spout would not extend beyond the margin of the container, which would thus enable a multiple storage.

It has not been found that the two characteristics of both known spouts may be combined so as to obtain a seal which would retain the advantages of a seal afiixed to the container and yet permit stacking up of cans. An object of this invention is therefore the provision of a spout seal made of plastic and having a spout tube with a cut-off or open-seal projection at its outer end, and an adjacently connected reclosing mechanism which closes the seal after the first use. According to the present invention, the spout tube is built in such a way that it may be extendable.

It is preferable to connect the re-closing mechanism with the seal, so that they are made of one piece.

It is also of advantage to add a ring With a handle to the spout with the hollow advance, which serves as a device to pull out the spout. According to the invention it is also feasible to aflix the handle to the cut-ofl portion of the hollow advance. This is especially significant, since after the first use the spout remains in an extended position and the handle is not used; it may be discarded with the cut-01f of the upper portion.

The illustrations present schematic drawings of several examples of the spout seal according to the invention.

FIGURE 1 is a sectional side view of a spout seal in a closed position;

FIGURE 2 shows the spout seal as per FIGURE 1, but in an open or extended position, and

FIGURE 3 shows a special form of the spout seal in side view, partially in section.

As FIGURES 1 and 2 show, foot or base 2 of the spout seal is aflixed in the container opening 1 of a can. The spout seal furthermore consists of a tube-like hollow extension 3 Whose lower part 3a is flexible, and as shown in FIGURE 1, enables the folding-in of the tube-like part in the container opening, so that when the reclosing mechanism 4 is closed and seated in the rim receptacle 3b around the upper end of tube 3, the spout seal does not extend above the upper edge of rim 1a of the container. In this way the stacking up of two or more containers is practicable. The re-closing mechanism, 4 is affixed to the foot 2 of the spout seal by means of a flexible connector 5. Until its first use, the contents of the container are sealed off by means of a uniform cut-ofi or open seal 30 connected with the spout tube. This seal is removed, as by cutting, before the first use. Thereafter, the re-closing mechanism 4 serves as a seal until further use.

It is considered practicable to attach a handle 6 to the tube-like part to simplify the extension of the tube-like part. As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the handle may be attached below the seal 30 and pivotally attached to tube 3 as at rim 3/). FIGURE 3 shows another example. In this case a ring-like handle 6 is aflixed to the upper portion of an extended seal 3c, which may be cut off along line 7 before first use.

Since the cans do not have to be stacked after their first use, the handle, which after the first use becomes superfluous, is cut 0E along with the upper part of the seal 3c.

What is claimed is:

A plastic spout seal for stackable containers of the type which have an outer upstanding rim and spaced therefrom an inner upstanding rim which is of height substantantially less than the said outer ring, said inner rim forming a container opening, said spout seal comprising:

a base ring secured to said inner rim,

a spout in the form of a hollow tube flexibly connected at one end to said ring for insertion into and withdrawal from said opening through said ring,

the other end of said spout having an openable seal,

a bail handle pivotally connected to said spout tube below said openable seal for extending the spout,

means forming an annular channel surrounding said spout tube adjacent said other end with the channel opening upward at a point below the said openable seal,

a cap having an annular depending member for insertion into said channel both before and after said seal is cut open,

and a flexible member securely connecting said ring and cap for movement of the cap to and from said annular channel without possibility of loss of the cap,

the overall height of the said spout seal, when said hollow tube is fully inserted into said opening and said cap is in said annular channel and said handle is pivoted downwardly, being less than the said height difference between said inner and outer rims of the container, notwithstanding whether the said seal has been opened or not.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner.

Images