VENTED BOTTLE

Abstract

Described is a bottle having a cap with an atmospheric venting means comprising a venting receptacle and a porous thermoplastic plug. The porous plug can be held in place with a retaining ring.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to vented bottle closures on bottles for dispensing liquids, such as liquid cleaners and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates generally to flip top and screw top closures with atmospheric venting.

2. Description of the Related Art

A variety of solutions have been disclosed for storage venting of screw top closures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,870 to Pearce discloses ridges with slots or grooves on the inside top horizontal surface of a screw cap to allow venting from inside the bottle. Another example of screw cap venting is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,140 to Caldwell, where the screw cap is slotted through the threads and on the inside top surface. Other venting solutions applicable to screw top containers have used venting liners, i.e. U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,857, U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,728, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,074. Venting for a flip-top closure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,625 to Baird et al. All these solutions achieve some level of success for passive venting with minimal liquid loss through the venting mechanism.

These venting solutions primarily require expensive technology to achieve passive venting through the cap threads or the bottle outlet. Accordingly, what is needed is a simpler but suitable venting during storage for a flip-top and screw top closures having a pour spout.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, in one embodiment, is a bottle comprising a container having a threaded neck; and a dispensing closure having a base member, a cap, and a hinge connecting the base member and the cap,

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a bottle comprises a container having a threaded neck and a pour spout; and a dispensing closure having a cap with a cap top surface and a threaded skirt member, wherein the cap top surface has a venting orifice fitment, the orifice fitment containing a porous thermoplastic plug.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a bottle comprises a container having a neck; and a dispensing closure comprising a cap, wherein the cap has an outer wall and a top surface having an cylindrical venting receptacle, the venting receptacle having at least one small orifice fluidly attached to the top surface and a larger orifice at the opposite end wherein the venting receptacle holds a porous thermoplastic plug.

The use of the bottle of the present invention, from a consumer perspective, would not differ from the use of any conventional dispensing bottle known in the art. The closure could be threaded or non-threaded, for example snap-on, or could be removable or non-removable. The user would simply open the closure mechanism to dispense fluid from the bottle.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of embodiments below, when considered together with the attached drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and others will be readily appreciated by the skilled artisan from the following description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a side plan view of a bottle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 a perspective view of a closure portion according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a closure portion according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the closure portion of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5A shows a sectional view of a closure portion;

FIG. 5B shows a sectional view of a closure portion;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a closure according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows an exploded perspective view of a bottle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of a bottle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. For ease of description, the components of this invention are described in the normal (upright) operating position, and terms such as upper, lower, horizontal, top, bottom, etc., are used with reference to this position. It will be understood, however, that the components embodying this invention may be manufactured, stored, transported, used, and sold in an orientation other than the position described.

Figures illustrating the components of this invention show some conventional mechanical elements that are known and that will be recognized by one skilled in the art. The detailed descriptions of such elements are not necessary to an understanding of the invention, and accordingly, are herein presented only to the degree necessary to facilitate an understanding of the novel features of the present invention.

All publications, patents and patent applications cited herein, whether supra or infra, are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety to the same extent as if

As used herein and in the claims, the term “comprising” is inclusive or open-ended and does not exclude additional unrecited elements, compositional components, or method steps. Accordingly, the term “comprising” encompasses the more restrictive terms “consisting essentially of” and “consisting of”.

It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to a “surfactant” includes two or more such surfactants.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. Although a number of methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice of the present invention, the preferred materials and methods are described herein.

The term “bottle”, as used herein, is meant to mean and include any plastic container and closure for holding a fluid.

In a suitable embodiment as shown in FIG. 1, the bottle 100 comprises a container 102 for holding liquid contents and dispensing closure 120 having a base member 122, a cap 124, and a connecting hinge 118, where the closure 120 be securely mounted onto the container 102 via its base member 122, using any means of attachment commonly know to those skilled in the art including cooperative threads, crimping, clipping means, heat sealing, force fitting, clasp elements, snap-fit bead, groove arrangements, and mixtures thereof. The dispensing closure 120 of the invention may be used with many products, including but not limited to, relatively low or high viscosity liquids, creams, gels, suspensions, mixtures, lotions, pastes, particulates, granular products, and mixtures thereof. Typical products for use in the present invention may be those constituting a food product, a personal care product, an industrial or household cleaning product, or other compositions of matter for use in

Showing the dispensing closure 120 in an open position in FIG. 2 and a cross-sectional view in FIG. 3, the base member 122 is comprised of two distinct parts, an annular skirt member 170 and a deck member 172. The skirt member 170 generally forms the external and surrounding wall of the base member 122 and extends substantially towards the container direction. The deck member 172 which typically extends substantially transversely to the longitudinal axis of the container 102 is generally substantially flat and horizontal or slightly slanted.

More specifically, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the female thread means 174 for attachment of the base member 122 to the container 102 is suitably located onto the inner portion of the outer wall 176 of the skirt member 170 of the base member 122. The skirt member has an inner wall 177 connecting to the deck member 172. The deck member 172 comprises a beveled spout member 180 which extends upward from the deck member 172 to dispense product from the container 102 and a drainback orifice 178.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the top 184 of the cap 124 can also have a porous thermoplastic plug 186 inserted into a venting receptacle 188 for venting during storage. The venting receptable may be cylindrical, rectangular or any other shaped cross section. The venting receptacle 188 can have a retaining ring 190 that compresses and retains the porous plug 186 when the porous plug 186 is inserted into venting receptacle 188. The venting receptacle 188 can have a small diameter orifice 192 in the cap top 184 and a larger diameter orifice 194 at the other end on the interior of the closed cap 124. The porous plug 186, when inserted into the venting receptacle 188 can be compressed by the retaining ring 190 and can extend beyond the larger diameter orifice 194 to allow a greater flow path for venting. The porous plug 186 can also have rounded ends 196 to potentially discourage drops of liquid from blocking the flow path for venting.

FIG. 5A shows the top 384 of the cap 124 can also have a porous thermoplastic plug 386 inserted into a cylindrical venting receptacle 388 for venting during storage. The venting receptacle 388 can have a retaining ring 390 that compresses and/or

FIG. 5B shows the top 484 of the cap 124 can also have a porous thermoplastic plug 486 inserted into a cylindrical venting receptacle 488 for venting during storage. The venting receptacle 488 can have no retaining ring but the plug 486 can be contained in the venting receptacle 488 by interference fit or my some other means, such as a coating or welding by heat, friction, or sonic welding. The venting receptacle 488 can have a small diameter orifice 492 in the cap top 184 and a larger diameter orifice 494 at the other end on the interior of the closed cap 124. The porous plug 486, when inserted into the venting receptacle 488 can be inserted against the interior wall 498 of the cap top 484 adjacent to the small diameter orifice 492.

FIG. 6 shows the dispensing closure 120 in the closed position and having a base member 122, a cap member 124, a hinge 118, small diameter orifice 192 and a child resistant closure tab 198.

In another embodiment in FIGS. 7 and 8, the bottle 200 comprises a dispensing container 202 having an enclosed handle 204 in the container rear section 203 and a neck 206 in the container front section 205 with a spout fitment 208 inserted into the cylindrical neck 206. In this way, the consumer picks up the container at the handle in the rear section and pours from the spout in the front section of the container. The bottle 200 also has a cap 210 which acts to close the pouring spout. The cap 210 has a cap top surface 230 with a small diameter orifice 232 leading to the venting receptacle 234. The neck 206 has external threads 212 to receive complementary internal threads 214 (FIG. 7) on the cap closure 210. As seen in FIG. 8, the spout fitment 208 includes a generally tubular pouring spout 216 having pouring orifice 218 and disposed with an annular sheath 220. The lower end of the spout 216 and the lower end of the sheath 220 are joined by an annular wall 222. The annular wall 222

The cap closure 210 has an annular wall 230 with internal closure threads 214 and one or more locking tabs 234 at the lower end. The annular wall 230 contains two or more differentiated pressure points 236 where the annular wall 230 is flexible enough to be deflected radially inwardly by pushing with the fingers. Pushing the pressure points 236 inwardly causes the annular wall 230 to flex outwardly at the position of the locking tabs 234. This allows the locking tabs 234 to move past the stop tabs 238 on the container neck 206 and the cap closure 210 to be threadedly removed from the container 202.

As shown in FIG. 8, the top surface 230 of the cap 210 can also have a porous thermoplastic plug 236 inserted into a cylindrical venting receptacle 234 for venting during storage. The venting receptacle 234 can have a retaining ring 238 that compresses and retains the porous plug 236 when the porous plug 236 is inserted into venting receptacle 234. The venting receptable 234 can have a small diameter orifice 232 in the cap top surface 230 and a larger diameter orifice 238 at the other end on the interior of the cap 210. The porous plug 236, when inserted into the venting receptacle 234 can be compressed by the retaining ring 238 and can extend beyond the larger diameter orifice 238 to allow a greater flow path for venting. The porous plug 236 can also have rounded ends 240 to potentially discourage drops of liquid from blocking the flow path for venting.

The venting plug is preferably a porous plastic plug comprising a molded, open-cell thermoplastic. The molded open-cell structure may be created in a sintering process. In a typical sintering process, a powder is subjected to a thermal/compression cycle that causes adjacent powder particles to adhere to one another. By using the sintering process described above with a variety of different raw materials, porous plastic components with different pore size (the size of the

It is well known that to increase the pressure or force of friction or sealing between two plastic parts can be accomplished simply by increasing the “interference”, the difference between the dimensions of the two parts; ie. the part with larger dimension is inserted into another part of smaller dimension, therefore create the interference and the resulting forces. It is generally and well accepted that increase the interference will resulted in higher force. In this present invention, however, we have found that two parts both with 0.012″ interference, one may leak and the other had no leaks at 2 psi pressure after 24 hours. This surprising finding was further studied with Instron force measurement. We have found that these two parts, 0.195″ dia and 0.205 diameter, when inserted into receptacles of 0.012″ interference, one with no leaks actually has higher interference force of 25 lbf while the one leaked had 16 lbf force. We also observed that one part with higher “interference” still resulted lower forces. We also have found that with higher interference did not prevent leakage nor had higher interference forces. With further analysis and measurement of the density, we have identified that the pressure is the direct attribute of the seal effectiveness and most important attribute of a venting

This invention has been described herein in detail to provide those skilled in the art with information relevant to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required. However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by different equipment, materials and devices, and that various modifications, both as to the equipment and operating procedures, can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself.

Claims

1. A bottle comprising:

a container having a threaded neck; and

a dispensing closure having a base member, a cap, and a hinge connecting the base member and the cap, wherein the base member comprises a threaded skirt member and a deck member wherein the deck member comprises a spout,

wherein the cap has an outer wall and a top surface having an cylindrical venting receptacle, the venting receptacle having at least one small orifice fluidly attached to the top surface and a larger orifice at the opposite end wherein the venting receptacle holds a porous thermoplastic plug.

2. The bottle of claim 1, wherein the porous thermoplastic plug is molded, open-celled polyethylene having a nominal pore size of 1 micron to 25 microns.

3. The bottle of claim 1, wherein the porous thermoplastic plug is compressible.

4. The bottle of claim 1, wherein the venting receptacle contains a retaining ring.

5. The bottle of claim 4, wherein the thermoplastic plug is inserted past the retaining ring.

6. The bottle of claim 4, wherein the thermoplastic plug is compressed by the retaining ring.

7. The bottle of claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic plug extends beyond the venting receptacle larger orifice.

8. The bottle of claim 7, wherein the thermoplastic plug has curved ends.

9. The bottle of claim 1, wherein the cap outer wall has an interior surface and the interior surface within the venting receptacle has one or more ribs to abut the thermoplastic plug.

10. A bottle comprising:

a container having a threaded neck and a pour spout; and

a dispensing closure having a cap with a cap top surface and a threaded skirt member, wherein the cap top surface has a venting receptacle, the venting receptacle containing a porous thermoplastic plug.

11. The bottle of claim 10, wherein the porous thermoplastic plug is molded, open-celled polyethylene having a nominal pore size of 1 micron to 25 microns.

12. The bottle of claim 10, wherein the porous thermoplastic plug is compressible.

13. The bottle of claim 10, wherein the venting receptacle contains a retaining ring.

14. The bottle of claim 10, wherein the thermoplastic plug extends beyond the venting receptacle larger orifice.

15. The bottle of claim 14, wherein the thermoplastic plug has curved ends.

16. A bottle comprising:

a container having a neck; and

a dispensing closure comprising a cap,

wherein the cap has an outer wall and a top surface having an venting receptacle, the venting receptacle having at least one small orifice fluidly attached to the top surface and a larger orifice at the opposite end, wherein the venting receptacle holds a porous thermoplastic plug.

17. The bottle of claim 16, wherein the porous thermoplastic plug is molded, open-celled polyethylene having a nominal pore size of 1 micron to 25 microns.

18. The bottle of claim 16, wherein the venting receptacle contains a retaining ring.

19. The bottle of claim 16, wherein the thermoplastic plug extends beyond the venting receptacle larger orifice.

20. The bottle of claim 16, wherein the thermoplastic plug has curved ends.