Attachable spout for affixation to pouch-like container of liquid
An attachable spout for a pouch-like container of liquid. A spout assembly includes a substantially-planar base having a spout and a backing plate fixed to a surface of the base. A transverse crease defines a fold line for folding the base to capture an edge of the container between opposed surfaces of the folded base. The spout and the backing plate are located equidistant from the transverse crease to align in when the assembly is in a folded attitude.
The present application claims the priority of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/948,160 of inventor Jonathan Gunn titled “Adhesive Liquid Dispensing Spout For Flexible Liquid Packages Which is Designed to Open the Package by Allowing the End User to Pierce the Flexible Material it is Attached to” filed Jul. 5, 2007 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
BACKGROUND1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pouch-like, sealed containers for liquids. More particularly, this invention pertains to an attachable spout for affixation to a liquid-filled, sealed pouch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The advantages of sealed, pouch-like containers for liquids are well-known. Such containers offer low packaging cost, versatility in use and other advantages that make them suitable alternatives to bottle and can containers of rigid structure. Such containers can range in capacity from smaller pouches having a capacity of 200 m.l. to one liter (often found in medical applications) to those as large as 10 liters. They are currently very common in Europe and Asia as beverage containers although they are also found in numerous other applications including, but not limited to the fields of medicine, the food and beverage industries, industrial fluid storage and dispensing.
Pouch-like fluid container/dispensers are generally formed of sheets of liquid-impermeable material that are sealable joined along laser or heat-welded edge seams. Access to the interior is often provided by an edge perforation that permits the user to tear or cut a corner portion of the pouch to open it. Spouts are sometimes formed with the pouch, enabling post-initial opening fluid storage.
Commonly, the provision of a spout with a pouch-like fluid container is accomplished through the retrofitting of standard (“horizontal” or “vertical”) form, fill and seal machinery to include apparatus for the heat or ultrasound welding of the spout to the pouch prior to or after the container filling step and prior to welding the film. The inclusion of spout fixation in the container manufacturing process increases costs and can compromise the process of making an aseptic fill of the container. Furthermore, the storage of vast numbers of pouch-like containers with spouts is vastly more complicated than that of storage of spoutless-containers that pose a lesser risk of rupture or leakage due to the intermixture of the rigid spouts with the otherwise-pliable containers when stored in close proximity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention addresses shortcomings of the prior art by providing, in a first aspect, an attachable spout assembly for a pouch-like container of liquid.
The assembly includes a substantially-planar base having a pair of opposed surfaces defining a thickness therebetween. A spout and a backing plate are fixed to a surface of the base. The base includes a transverse crease of reduced thickness defining a line for folding the base. The spout and the backing plate are arranged so that the spout is aligned with the backing plate when the base is in a folded attitude.
In another aspect, the invention provides a package. Such package includes a pouch-like container comprising opposed flexible surfaces joined at a common seam. The container encloses a volume of liquid.
A spout assembly is fixed to the container adjacent the common seam. The assembly includes a substantially-planar base having a pair of opposed surfaces defining a thickness therebetween. A spout is fixed to a surface of the base. A backing plate is fixed to the surface of the base. The base includes a transverse crease of reduced thickness defining a line for folding the base. The spout and the backing plate are arranged so that the spout is aligned with the backing plate when the base is in a folded attitude.
The base is folded to capture the container between the surfaces of the base.
The preceding and other features of the invention are described in a detailed description that follows. Such description is accompanied by a set of drawing figures. Numerals of the drawing figures, corresponding to those of the written description, point to the features of the invention. Like numerals refer to like features throughout both the written description and the drawings.
Turning now to the drawings,
Referring to
The planar base 14 includes a crease 22 of reduced thickness defining a fold line whereby the assembly 10 can be readily configured in accordance with the folded configuration of
Apertures 24, 26 are also arranged equidistant from the crease 22 to form a single through-hole for hanging a pouch-like container with assembly 10 attached thereto.
The adhesive bearing assembly 10 is delivered from the first robotic arm to a holder at step S-5, then transferred therefrom to a second robotic arm at step S-6. The second robotic arm positions the assembly 10 with respect to a sealed pouch like container of liquid at step S-7. Thereafter, at step S-8, the second robotic arm performs the functions of grasping, folding the assembly 10 with respect to the container and applying sufficient force between the opposed spout 18 and the backing plate 16 to assure fixation of the assembly to opposed flexible surfaces of the container.
The location of the tamper-evident ring 36 with respect to the vertical spout 18 is a safety feature that provides the end user with an indication of whether or not the spout has previously been opened to expose the contents of the attached container 32. As noted in
In addition to the activation of the tamper evident ring 36 that occurs upon twisting of the top 38, the sharpened tip of the penetrator 20 located at the center of the cap 12 travels downwardly toward the backing plate 16 aligned with the spout 18. Comparing
The distance between the facing surfaces of the folded base 14 will vary in accordance with the degree to which the container 32 is filled with liquid a the edge that is captured by the assembly 10. Thus, in some situations, such distance may be relatively small. Alternatively, as liquid is drained from the container over time, such distance may narrow. In either event, the possibility may exist for the tip of the penetrator 20 to puncture both of the opposed flexible surfaces of the container 32. Should this occur, the presence of the backing plate 16, with an internal recess 52 assures that any liquid flowing though such an inadvertent puncture of the remote surface of the container 32 will be captured and not affect the successful operation of the combined assembly 10-and-container 32.
Thus it is seen that the present invention provides an attachable spout for a pouch-like container of liquid. By employing the teachings of the invention, one can provide such a container with the advantages of a spout at a low cost without compromising such important features as aseptic fill and bulk storage.
While this invention has been described with reference to its presently preferred embodiment, it is not limited thereto. Rather, the invention is limited only insofar as it is defined by the following set of patent claims and includes within its scope all equivalents thereof.
Claims
1. An attachable spout assembly for a pouch-like container of liquid comprising, in combination:
- a) a substantially-planar base having a pair of opposed surfaces defining a thickness therebetween;
- b) a spout fixed to a surface of said base;
- c) a backing plate fixed to said surface of said base;
- d) said base including a transverse crease of reduced thickness defining a line for folding said base; and
- e) said spout and said backing plate being arranged so that said spout is aligned with said backing plate when said base is in a folded attitude.
2. An attachable spout assembly as defined in claim 1 further including:
- a) said spout being of open cylindrical shape aligned perpendicular to said base;
- b) a cap for engaging said spout, said cap being symmetrical about an axis of rotation whereby said axis of rotation is coincident with the axis of rotation of said cylindrical spout when said cap is engaged to said spout;
- c) said cap including an elongated penetrator, said penetrator being symmetrical with respect to the axis of rotation of said cap; and
- d) said penetrator being arranged to extend through the plane of said base when said cap is closed on said spout.
3. An attachable spout as defined in claim 2 further including
- a) said elongated penetrator having opposed upper and lower ends;
- b) said upper end being fixed to said cap and said lower end terminating in a sharpened tip for extending through the plane of said base when said cap is closed on said spout.
4. An attachable spout as defined in claim 2 further including:
- a) a tamper-evident ring;
- b) said tamper-evident ring surrounding said spout; and
- c) said tamper-evident ring being located beneath said cap.
5. An attachable spout as defined in claim 4 wherein said tamper-evident ring is joined to said cap by a plurality of vertical ribs.
6. An attachable spout as defined in claim 1 further including:
- a) a first aperture in the portion of said base on one side of said transverse crease;
- b) a second aperture in the portion of said base the other side of said transverse crease; and
- c) said first and second apertures being aligned and located equal distances from said transverse crease whereby said apertures form a through-hole when said assembly is in said folded attitude.
7. A package comprising, in combination:
- a) pouch-like container comprising opposed flexible surfaces joined at a common seam;
- b) said container enclosing a volume of liquid;
- c) a spout assembly being fixed to said container adjacent said common seam, said assembly including (i) a substantially-planar base having a pair of opposed surfaces defining a thickness therebetween, (ii) a spout fixed to a surface of said base, (iii) a backing plate fixed to said surface of said base, (iv) said base including a transverse crease of reduced thickness defining a line for folding said base (v) said spout and said backing plate being arranged so that said spout is aligned with said backing plate when said base is in a folded attitude; and
- d) said base being folded to capture said container therebetween.
8. A package as defined in claim 7 further including;
- a) adhesive material for fixing said assembly to said container; and
- b) said adhesive material being located on facing surfaces of said folded base adjacent said surfaces of said container.
9. A package as defined in claim 8 wherein said adhesive material is fixed to facing surfaces of said folded base in regions surrounding said spout and said backing plate.
10. A package as defined in claim 9 further including:
- a) said spout being of open cylindrical shape aligned perpendicular to said base;
- b) a cap for engaging said spout, said cap being symmetrical about an axis of rotation whereby said axis of rotation is coincident with the axis of rotation of said cylindrical spout when said cap is engaged to said spout;
- c) said cap including an elongated penetrator, said penetrator being symmetrical with respect to the axis of rotation of said cap; and
- d) said penetrator being arranged to extend through the plane of said base when said cap is closed on said spout.
11. A package as defined in claim 10 further including:
- a) said elongated penetrator having opposed upper and lower ends;
- b) said upper end being fixed to said cap and said lower end terminating in a sharpened tip for extending through the plane of said base when said cap is closed on said spout.
12. A package as defined in claim 10 further including:
- a) a tamper-evident ring;
- b) said tamper-evident ring surrounding said spout; and
- c) said tamper-evident ring being located beneath said cap.
13. A package as defined in claim 12 wherein said tamper-evident ring is joined to said cap by a plurality of vertical ribs.
14. A package as defined in claim 7 further including:
- a) a first aperture in the portion of said base on one side of said transverse crease;
- b) a second aperture in the portion of said base the other side of said transverse crease; and
- c) said first and second apertures being aligned and located equal distances from said transverse crease whereby said apertures form a through-hole when said assembly is in said folded attitude.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 1, 2008
Publication Date: Jan 8, 2009
Inventor: Jonathan R. Gunn (Newbury Park, CA)
Application Number: 12/217,170
International Classification: B65D 25/40 (20060101); B65D 33/00 (20060101); B65D 41/04 (20060101);