US832654A - Collapsible tube. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED OUT. 9, 1906.

R. BROOKS. COLLAPSIBLE TUBE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, 1904.

naw/Mm Men Brae/ks 3513M qflomm wi/tmcww UNITED STATES PATENT orrion.

REUBEN BROOKS, OF GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO RUS IA CEMENT COMPANY, OF GLOUCESTER. MASSACHUSETTS, A COR ORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

QOLLAPSlBL-IE TCBED Specification of Letters Patent.

Appli ation fil d March 18, 1904. Serial in. 198,772.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

' Gloucester, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in' Collapsible Tubes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to collapsible tubes for holding viscous or adhesive substances such as glue, paint, &c. and the main object of the invention is to provide a tube of this class which is completely. sealed when placed on the market, but has at its discharge end a thin portion or wall which may be punctured by a pin, needle, or similar small article, but which is so protected by a large mass of material constituting the nozzle of the tube that it cannot be reached and enlarged by a puncturing instrument of relatively large size such, for example, as a knife-blade or similar article. a

in a prion patent granted to me June 4', 1901, Serial No. 675,372, there is disclosed a collapsible tube having a thin puncturable wall similar to that just described; butin said patent this wall. is not protected from puncture by a knife-blade or similar large article' capable ofmaking a large hole in such thin opening. It has been found in practice that when collapsible tubes of the type shown in said patent are put on the market the purchasers do not always break the seal formed by this thin puncturable wall in the manner intended-that is, bymaking a pin-like puncture or perforation therethroughbut often make an opening much larger than is intended, either by greatly increasing the size of the hole that a pin will normally make or by using a larger puncturing instrument which at the moment of puncturing will form an opening of large area. ing formed in the puncturable wall of such a tube is of small area or diameter-that is to say, is a pin-likeperforation-the contents of the tube will flow through the opening even when no pressure is applied to the walls of the tube. If, however, the puncture is limited to the small diameter or area desired, the contents will not ilow out unless such pressure is applied to the collapsible walls. When my improved tube embodies the self-sealing featureldisclosed in my prior patentthat is to Unless the opensay, when it is provided with a cup or cavity at the outside of the puncturable wall, in which cavity a small quantity of the contents may be permitted to dry after the first use of the contentsthe opening formed in the puncturable wall will be sealed by the drying of the small quantity permitted to escape into such cavity. 011 each subsequent use of the contents of the tube the new seal formed by such dried portion of the contents is'broken; but in my prior patent each breaking of the seal after the original puncturing of the metal tends to enlarge the opening, waste the contents of the tube, and render it increasingly diificult to effectually seal the enlarged opening.- In my present invention, however, the metal adjacent to the. puncturable wall is so thick that even the most careless user will be unable to insert any puncturing instrument larger than a pin, needle, or similar article, and hence will be unable to make a large initial opening. Moreover, the resistance opposed bythese thick walls to a pin, needle, or like article is so great as topreclude the enlargement of the hole first madein such wall.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming part of the present application, Figure l is a sectional side elevationof an improved collapsible tube having a self-sealing discharge-nozzle constructed in accordance with my present invention. Fig.

2 is a planet the same. Fig. 3 is a view simi lar to Fig. 1 of a modification of the invention, illustrating a removable nozzle. 4 is a plan of the same. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of a tube having a wide distributing-opening in its nozzle for applying a wide band of glue, paint, &c;, to a surface. Fig. 6 is a plan of the same. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of a modification of the in vention, illustrating a nozzle for applying a narrow thread-like line of glue, paint, the, to a surface. Fig. 8 is a plan of the same.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

In carrying my invention into effect it may be applied either to collapsible tubes having one of the features illustrated in my aforesaid patent-viz, a discharge-nozzle integral with the body of the tube-or it may be embodied in a modified form of the old type of collapsible tubes, in which the sealing cap Fig.

to tubes as ordinarily made.

body or barrel of which is designated by A- construction At its lower end the tube is or may be closed inthe' usual manner by folding over the flattened edges of the tube to form a seam. The whole body and is substantially similar in i of thistube, including the folded end and the neck with its nozzle, is made from a single piece of material, usually metal, the various parts being so shaped and formed by dies as to leave a relatively large, strong, and-unyielding massof material at the nozzle and merging into the thin, weak, and easily-collapsible walls of thebody A.. This large mass of material is designated by B and has an opening therein of considerable length, forming an aperture which does not extend entirely through the same, but which extends almost through it, leaving only a thin wall, such as E, to seal the tube. This thin wall is easily punctured by a pin, needle, or like article passed through an aperture in alinement with the wall, and such an aperture is shown at D. This aperture is of relatively small diameter or area and of considerable length as compared with its diameter, its area being just suflicient to admit such a small article as a'pin and its'len'gth being.

such as to hold the pin and guide the same positively and prevent enlargement of the openin in the thin wall E.

' It wi 1 be noticed that there is a large body of metal all around the aperture D, through which the puncturing-pin or other article is passed, and the strength of this solid mass of 'metal and the resistance offered by it are suflicient to'prevent the enlargement of the aperture in the wall E by working the pin around in the aperture D.

In the preferred construction the aperture through which the puncturing instrument is passed is in communication with the exterior of the tube through a cup or cavity of sufiicient size to permit a small portion of the contents of the tube to dry .out over the outer" end of such'aperture and seal the same, thus making the tube self-sealing, as in my afore-g said patent. In the resent case, however, this automatic resea ing of the tube after each use of the same is assured, because the massof metal around the aperture prevents the same from bein enlarged by successive punctures of the sea and hence the aperture will always remain small enough to be sealed by the contents .until the tube is empty. At C, I have shown such a cup or cavity in which a small portionof the contents of the tube may dry to reseal the tube, as in my prior patent aforesaid. In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated a modification in which the body A of a collapsible 'tube is formed with a threaded neck in the well-known manner; and a removable cap or nozzle is threaded ontosuch neck to seal the tube. This nozzle as to its large mass of material B for protecting the puncturable wall E thereof from enlargement and as to the other principal features there0fviz., the ap-- erture D and the sealing cup or cavity Cis similar in construction to the corresponding features of the integral nozzle shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In Figs. 5 and6 I have illustrated another modification of the invention, in which a tube-body A, similar to that just described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4, also has a removable cap or nozzle; but in thiscap the discharge opening or nozzle outlet which communicates with the aperture D is 'a relatively ion and narrow outlet, preferably formed by a aring sealing cup or cavity G, the outer edges or lips of which are sufficiently close together to permit the rapid and uniform distribution of the contents of the tube in a broad band on any smooth surface over which this spreading-nozzle may bedrawn. These lips are designated by L, the mass of metal which surrounds the aperture D" is designated by B", and the puncturingwall by E.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I have illustrated amodification of the tube similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, except'that the body Ahas a "discharge-nozzle which tapers practically to a point and is conical. In this nozzle the puncturable Wall E" has in alinement therewith an aperture D somewhat longerthan the aperture shown in the other views, this aperture being surrounded b a sufficient mass of metal B to prevent the insertion of any large-instrument therein. In this tube the increased length of the aperture is for the purpose of assuring the drying of a sufiicient quantity of the contents to seal the tube after it has been once used, there being no separate sealing cup or cavity, as in the other views. With this ty e of discharge-nozzle a very thin thread-1i e line of glue or other substance may be laid on a surface, as is desirable in doing some kinds of ornamental work.

In all of the various forms of collapsible tubes shown in this case it will be seen that the tube is entirely sealed by the walls of the tube itself until the tube reaches the hands of the consumer,- and this is important, as it often happens .that a long time elapses after the tube is sent out from the factory before it reaches the consumer, and it is essential that the tube shall be perfectly sealed until nozzle is of sufiicient size to permit the resealing or self-sealing action of the contents, and the outer ed es or lips of the opening at the discharge emf of the nozzle are so shaped as to permit the contents to be applied in a broad band or otherwise to a surface, thus adding to the practical value of the nozzle as a means for distributing the contents of the tube. -When used as a spreading-nozzle, the

- narrow slit formed by the walls of the flaring opening permits the contents of the tube to beforced out in a broad thin sheet, as wide as the discharge-outlet is lon when the Walls of the tube are squeezed an the nozzle drawn along a suitable surface, the thickness of the coating ap lied in this manner being determined by t e pressure exerted on the walls of the tube and by the. position in which the nozzle is held.

What I claim is v1. A collapsible tube having at its discharge end a thin readily-punctu'rable wallv and an elongated aperture of small and substantially uniform diameter in alinement with said puncturable wall, the said a erture being surrounded by rigid noncol apsible 2. A collapsible tube having at its discharge enda thin readily-puncturable wall and an elongated aperture of small and substantially uniform diameter inalinement with said puncturable wall, the said a erture being surrounded by. rigid non-col apsible walls and terminating at its outer end in an enlarged cup-like cavity. 7

3. A collapsible tube having at its dis charge end a removable cap, which cap is formed at its inner part with a thin, readilypuncturable wall, and at the outer side of said thin wall with a narrow elongated aperture of uniform width for guiding a puncturing-tool, 'said narrow aperture being surrounded with a relatively thick mass of material in which is .formed an enlarged cup-like outlet, whereby the puncturing-tool is guided, the area of the puncture limited and the tube made self-sealing bya portion of its contents in said cup-like outlet, substan .tially as set forth.

Signedat Gloucester, in the county of Essexand State of Massachusetts, this 10th day of March, A. D. 1904.

REUBEN BRooKs.

'Witnesses:

I Josnrn F MAGPHEE,

WILLARD 0. 1 001.12.

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