Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D1/00—Containers having bodies formed in one piece, e.g. by casting metallic material, by moulding plastics, by blowing vitreous material, by throwing ceramic material, by moulding pulped fibrous material, by deep-drawing operations performed on sheet material
  • B65D1/02—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents
  • B65D1/0223—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents characterised by shape
  • B65D1/023—Neck construction
  • B65D1/0238—Integral frangible closures
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D47/00—Closures with filling and discharging, or with discharging, devices
  • B65D47/04—Closures with discharging devices other than pumps
  • B65D47/06—Closures with discharging devices other than pumps with pouring spouts or tubes; with discharge nozzles or passages
  • B65D47/10—Closures with discharging devices other than pumps with pouring spouts or tubes; with discharge nozzles or passages having frangible closures
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D1/00—Containers having bodies formed in one piece, e.g. by casting metallic material, by moulding plastics, by blowing vitreous material, by throwing ceramic material, by moulding pulped fibrous material, by deep-drawing operations performed on sheet material
  • B65D1/09—Ampoules
  • B65D1/095—Ampoules made of flexible material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D35/00—Pliable tubular containers adapted to be permanently or temporarily deformed to expel contents, e.g. collapsible tubes for toothpaste or other plastic or semi-liquid material; Holders therefor
  • B65D35/02—Body construction
  • B65D35/04—Body construction made in one piece
  • B65D35/08—Body construction made in one piece from plastics material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D35/00—Pliable tubular containers adapted to be permanently or temporarily deformed to expel contents, e.g. collapsible tubes for toothpaste or other plastic or semi-liquid material; Holders therefor
  • B65D35/44—Closures

Definitions

• the present invention relates to containers with severable closures. More particularly the present invention relates to containers where the severable closures are used for opening and closing of the containers between uses.
• Small dose containers are utilized in various applications, and such containers assume various structures.
• the substances to be contained in the containers and the way these substances are to be dispensed will often determine the shape, structure and the materials used to produce the containers.
• These containers are used for personal care products such as lotions and ointments, and oral care products such as toothpastes, mouthwashes, and gum treatment medications.
• These containers may also be used for medical products such as eye drops and ointments, skin ointments, and a range of antiseptics and antibacterials.
• there are industrial uses such as for adhesives and specialty lubricants. Because of the various application uses, small dose containers come in various shapes and sizes, and a range of materials are used to make the containers.
• Various processes are also utilized to make the containers. These include thermo forming or injection molding the complete containers and separately applying a closure after filling. In some cases, parts of the container can be separately made and then combined in a later step to make the container.
• the present invention addresses one or more of the foregoing issues.
• the invention is directed to a container comprising a body having a cavity for containing a product.
• the container also comprises a nozzle, and a break-off closure that seals a dispensing orifice of the nozzle, the dispensing orifice being exposed upon the break- off closure being severed from the nozzle.
• the body, the nozzle and the break-off closure can be formed of the same or different materials. When of the same materials, the body, the nozzle and the break-off closure will be formed in a single molding step. When of differing materials, the body, the nozzle and the break-off closure will be formed in two or more steps with the body being formed separately from the nozzle and the break-off closure (with or without the shoulder).
• the body can be a laminate or other structure while the nozzle and the break-off closure can be separately formed and bonded to the body.
• the body can be a laminate or other structure while the nozzle and the break-off closure can be compression molded to the body in a single step which both forms the nozzle and the break-off closure and bonds them to the laminate body.
• the invention is directed to a method to decrease the torque required to sever a closure from a nozzle of a container comprised of a high density polyethylene comprising: adding an inorganic additive to the high density polyethylene to form a mixture of the high density polyethylene and the inorganic additive; and forming at least the nozzle and the closure of the container with the mixture of the high density polyethylene and the inorganic additive.
• the invention is directed to a container comprising: a body having a cavity for containing a product; a unitary dispensing body coupled to the body, the unitary dispensing body comprising a nozzle and a break-off closure that seals a dispensing orifice of the nozzle, the dispensing orifice being exposed upon the break-off closure being severed from the nozzle; and the unitary dispensing body formed of a mixture comprising a high density polyethylene and an inorganic additive.
• the invention is directed to a dispensing body for a container comprising: a nozzle; a break-off closure sealing a dispensing orifice of the nozzle, the dispensing orifice being exposed upon the break-off closure being severed from the nozzle; and the nozzle and the break-off closure unitarily formed of a mixture comprising a high density polyethylene and an inorganic additive.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a plurality of containers attached to each other at body portions of the containers and at closures of the containers;
• Figure 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary container according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 3 is a perspective view of the container of Figure 2 with the closure having been removed from the container;
• Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the container of Figure 2 along line 4-4;
• each of the containers 10 is in the form of a tube. That is, the container 10 has a generally round cross-section and is sealed at a lower end by, for example, a crimp seal 11 after the container 10 is filled with the desired product/substance.
• the container 10 could take on other structures and shapes in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
• the container 10 generally comprises a body 18, a shoulder 12, a nozzle 16, and a break-off closure 14. In some embodiments, the shoulder 12, the nozzle 16, and the break-off closure 14 may form a unitary dispensing body 40.
• the body 18 and the unitary dispensing body 40 are coupled together to form the container 10.
• the unitary dispensing body 40 may comprise only the nozzle 16 and the break-off closure 14, with the shoulder 12 being formed separately, as part of the body 18, or being omitted all together.
• the body 18 may include a cavity for containing personal care products such as lotions and ointments, and oral care products such as toothpastes, mouthwashes, and gum treatment medications [0020]
• the shoulder 12 is provided at and extends upward from an upper portion of the body 18.
• the nozzle 16 is provided at and extends upward from an upper portion of the shoulder 12.
• the break-off closure 14 is provided at and extends upward from an upper end of the nozzle 16.
• the shoulder 12, the break-off closure 14, and the nozzle 16 are formed onto and coupled to the body 18 by compression molding.
• the body 18, which is open at each of its upper and lower ends, is first fitted into a mold for compression molding.
• the mold piece that is to form the shoulder 12, the break-off closure 14, and the nozzle 16, is then fitted over an upper end of the body 18.
• Hot plastic is then injected into the mold piece to simultaneously: (1) integrally and unitarily form the shoulder 12, the nozzle 16 and the closure 14 as the unitary dispensing body 40; and (2) couple the unitary dispensing body 40 to the upper end of the body 18.
• the body 18 (and thus the container 10) is sealed at the upper end while remaining open at the lower end for filling with the desired substance/product.
• the product cavity 41 (Fig. 4) is filled with the desired substance/product, the lower end is sealed via the crimp 11 or other means.
• the unitary dispensing body 40 can be separately molded and then molded or otherwise coupled to the body 18. Such a technique would be used where compression molding is either not possible or not as efficient or effective of a coupling technique.
• the present invention forms the unitary dispensing body 40 (which includes at least the break-off closure 14 and the nozzle 16, and optionally inclusive of the shoulder 12) as a single unitary molded structure in which the break-off closure 14 can be easily severed from the nozzle 16 by torqueing the break-off closure 14 relative to the nozzle 16 (or by applying another manual force).
• the present invention achieves a balance between easy severance of the break- off closure 14 from the nozzle 16 and creating the unitary dispensing body 40 with sufficient structural integrity so as to be capable of withstanding handling forces before and during the torqueing of the break-off closure 14 to sever the break-off closure 14 from the nozzle 16.
• the present invention utilizes a mixture of a high density polyethylene and a solid inorganic additive.
• the high density polyethylene has a high impact strength and toughness and also provides good structural integrity.
• it has been discovered that the use of a high density polyethylene alone to form the unitary dispensing body 40 requires a torque to remove the closure that exceeds the torqueing strength of many users.
• the solution was found to be the addition of the solid inorganic additive to the high density polyethylene to form a mixture.
• the addition of the solid inorganic additive to the high density polyethylene enhances the flexural modulus and hardness of the high density polyethylene, and lowers the torque required to sever to the closure 14 from the nozzle 16 by about 10 to about 20 percent, as compared to the torque required to remove the closure 14 from the nozzle 16 when the unitary dispensing body 40 is formed solely of the high density polyethylene and without the solid inorganic additive.
• the inorganic additive is added in an amount of about 3 percent to about 21 percent by weight of the mixture of the high density polyethylene and the inorganic additive. In a more particular embodiment, the inorganic additive is added in an amount of about 9 percent to about 18 percent by weight of the mixture of the high density polyethylene and the inorganic additive.
• the formation of the unitary dispensing body 40 from the mixture of the high density polyethylene and the inorganic additive reduces the torqueing force required to sever the break- off closure 14 from the nozzle 16 to a level that is feasible to most potential users of the container 10.
• the container 10 in certain embodiments, may have a nominal wall thickness of about 0.130mm. The wall thickness varies for different parts of the container parts.
• One suitable high density polyethylene that can be used to form the desired mixture is one with a low tensile modulus, such as one with a tensile modulus of about 800 to 900 MPa and with a low tensile impact strength.
• high density polyethylenes can be used as desired.
• One suitable inorganic additive is calcium carbonate.
• other inorganic solid additives also can be used, including without limitation, one or more of silicas, silicates, aluminas, aluminosilicates, titanias, clays, talcs, glass fibers, mica, barite and other inorganic substances that would be inert with regard to the contents of the high density polyethylene filled containers.
• the inorganic additive preferably is in a particle size range of about 1 micron to about 100 micron, and usually about 60 micron to 100 micron.
• the particle size is governed to a large extent by the size of the entrance gate on the molding equipment because the inorganic additive passes through the mold entrance gate along with the high density polyethylene during injection of the mixture into the mold used to form the unitary dispensing body 40.
• the particle size may not be too close in size to the wall thickness.
• the unitary dispensing body 40 was formed with a mixture of the high density polyethylene and calcium carbonate, wherein the calcium carbonate was added at concentration of about 15 percent by weight of the mixture.
• the use of the mixture of the high density polyethylene and calcium carbonate reduced the required torqueing force from about 15.5 Ncm to about 13.5 Ncm.
• the concentration of the calcium carbonate in the mixture was increased, the amount of torque required to sever the break-off closure 14 from the nozzle 16 decreased further.
• the torque that is needed to sever the closure is further reduced, a point is reached where the break-off closure 14 may become severed unintentionally, such as solely through handling.
• the inorganic additive can be added directly to the high density polyethylene.
• the inorganic additive may be added to the high density polyethylene as a mixture with a polyethylene resin, such as a linear low density polyethylene resin. Adding the inorganic additive to the high density polyethylene as a previously formed mixture of the inorganic additive and the linear low density polyethylene resin results in an ease in blending the inorganic additive into the high density polyethylene.
• the mixture of the inorganic additive and the linear low density polyethylene contains from about 10 percent to about 60 percent by weight of the inorganic additive. The content, of course, can be adjusted to get the proper amount of inorganic additive into the final mixture of the high density polyethylene and the inorganic additive.
• the break-off closure 14 comprises a cylindrical portion 42 and a pair of wings 17a, 17b extending radially outward from the cylindrical portion 42.
• the pair of wings 17a, 17b protrude from the cylindrical portion 42 to provide the user with a mechanism to more effectively grip the break-off closure 14 to sever it from the nozzle 16 by twisting.
• the pair of wings 17a, 17b also make it is possible for a user to apply more torque to the break-off closure 14 to sever it from the nozzle 16 to expose the dispensing orifice 43 of the nozzle 16 so that the product/substance within the product cavity 41 of the body 18 can be dispensed from the container 10.
• a plurality of the containers 10 can be provided in an interconnected manner to collectively form a multipack of the containers 10.
• the wings 17a, 17b of each container 10 are attached to one another as depicted to provide the containers 10 in a detachable array for easier handling.
• the containers 10 are optionally also attached to one another along the bodies 18. In some instances, depending on the size of the containers 10, an interconnection at the break-off closures 14 will be sufficient to retain the containers 10 in the detachable array. However, for larger versions of the containers 10, the additional attachment at the bodies 18 may be useful.
• each of the bodies 18 of the containers 10 may be provided with an attachment band 15 having a pair of wings 19a, 19b protruding radially outward therefrom.
• the pair of wings 19a, 19b on the bodies 18 are detachably coupled to one another as illustrated to provide a more stable array of the containers 10.
• FIGS. 2-4 concurrently, the structural detail of the container 10 will be discussed in greater detail.
• the container 10 is illustrated separated from the detachable array of FIG. 1, and wherein the break-off closure 14 is still connected to the nozzle 16 so as to seal the dispensing orifice 43.
• the break-off closure 14 has been severed from the nozzle 16 by a twisting motion, thereby exposing the dispensing orifice 43 of the nozzle 16 so that product/substance within the product cavity 41 of the body 18 can be dispensed from the container 10.
• the break-off closure 14 has been inverted and replaced atop the nozzle 16 so as to re-seal the dispensing orifice 43.
• the break-off closure 14 may be used to re-seal the dispensing orifice 43, however, in other embodiments, the break-off closure 14 may be a one-time break-off closure such that it may not be used to re-seal the dispending orifice.
• a lower edge 44 of the break-off closure 14 is connected to a top edge 45 of the nozzle 16.
• a pre- weakened area 46 is formed at the juncture of the lower edge 44 of the break-off closure 14 and the top edge 45 of the nozzle 16 to facilitate severance of the break-off closure 14 from the nozzle 16.
• the pre-weakened area 46 can be a perforated area, a scored area, or an area of reduced cross-section.
• a pre-weakened area does not have to be included as the formation of the unitary dispensing body 40 from the mixture of the high density polyethylene and the inorganic additive provides sufficient ease in severability.
• the top edge 47 of the break-off closure 14 comprises a nozzle cavity 48 having an opening 13 for receiving the nozzle 16 once the break-off closure 14 has been severed from the nozzle 16 and the break-off closure 14 has been inverted and placed over the nozzle 16 (as shown in FIG. 4).
• the nozzle 16 is slidably inserted into to the nozzle cavity 48 via the opening 13.
• the pre-weakened area 46 intersects a dispensing conduit 49 of the nozzle 16.
• the break-off closure 14 is severed from the nozzle 16 along the pre-weakened area 46, the dispensing conduit 43 is exposed.
• the present invention sets out structures, methods, and materials to improve the use of small dose containers and in particular the structure and materials for the closure, nozzle and shoulder of such containers. It has been found that there are materials that have the structural stability needed for the handling of containers and for the severing of closures from the containers to open the containers. This particularly is the case where the closure is formed integral with the nozzle and in many instances integral with the shoulder and nozzle of the container. The shoulder, nozzle and closure then are of a unitary structure having been molded in a single step.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
• Closures For Containers (AREA)
• Containers Having Bodies Formed In One Piece (AREA)
• Injection Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)

Priority Applications (13)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=44654506

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (13)

Families Citing this family (4)

Citations (7)

Family Cites Families (16)

• 2011
  • 2011-09-09 MX MX?A patent/MX2014002737A/es unknown
  • 2011-09-09 CA CA2847110A patent/CA2847110A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2011-09-09 BR BR112014005493A patent/BR112014005493A2/pt unknown
  • 2011-09-09 RU RU2014113898/12A patent/RU2014113898A/ru not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2011-09-09 WO PCT/US2011/051036 patent/WO2013036242A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2011-09-09 AU AU2011376289A patent/AU2011376289B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2011-09-09 CN CN201180073356.2A patent/CN103796922B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2011-09-09 EP EP11758333.6A patent/EP2753549B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2011-09-09 US US14/343,519 patent/US20140217131A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2011-09-09 SG SG2014010425A patent/SG2014010425A/en unknown
• 2012
  • 2012-09-07 TW TW101132630A patent/TWI468322B/zh not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2012-09-07 AR ARP120103322A patent/AR087819A1/es unknown
• 2014
  • 2014-02-28 ZA ZA2014/01574A patent/ZA201401574B/en unknown

Patent Citations (8)

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