Closure for Dispensing Fragrance from the Closure
A closure (2) for a container (3), the closure (2) being engageable with a container (3) to close the container (3) and/or having a first part engageable with a second part to close a container (3), wherein the closure (2) has an orifice (11) and has a source of fragrance (8), and includes a chamber (9), or, when the first part is engaged with the second part, forms a chamber (9), the chamber (9) containing the source of the fragrance (8), the closure (2) being arranged such that, when used to close a container (3), the chamber (9) is separated from an internal space of the container (3) and vented to the surroundings of the container (3) by the orifice (11), and compression applied to the chamber (9) causes a puff of the fragrance to be emitted from the chamber (9) through the orifice (11) into the surroundings of the container (3).
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This invention relates to delivering fragrance from a consumer product, and in particular to a closure for a container, to packaging for a consumable product, to a consumer product and to a method of dispensing fragrance from a consumer product.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTIONFor the purposes of this specification “consumer product” means packaging for a consumable product, the packaging comprising a container and a closure for the container and containing a consumable product, typically a liquid consumable product, such as a shampoo, shower gel, laundry detergent or lavatory cleaning preparation, and typically including a fragrance. Such consumable products are also referred to as “active substances”.
Fragrance plays an important part in the promotion and sales of a consumer product by reinforcing the product brand. In supermarkets selling consumer products with removable caps, it is known for customers to take a product from a shelf and remove its cap so that they can sample a fragrance included in the consumable product before they purchase the consumer product. If a loosened cap is not properly re-tightened, there is a risk of spillage or contamination of, or damage to, the consumable product. Also, there are some consumable products, e.g., liquid cleaning products, that may contain an aggressive constituent, such as bleach, in order to perform their function. The headspace (air) above the consumable product in the container may then contain less attractive odours or odours which quickly disperse in use and are thus not representative of the fragrance which lingers after use. Some consumer products have tamper-proof or tamper-evident closures removal of which can render the product unsaleable.
For these reasons, sampling the fragrance of a consumable product by releasing some of the product, or some of the air in the headspace above the product, has a number of disadvantages which the invention aims to overcome.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a closure for a container, the closure being engageable with a container to close the container and/or having a first part engageable with a second part to close a container, wherein the closure has an orifice and, in use, has a source of fragrance, and includes a chamber, or, when the first part is engaged with the second part, forms a chamber, the chamber, in use, containing the source of the fragrance, the closure being arranged such that, when used to close a container, the chamber is separated from an internal space of the container and vented to the surroundings of the container by the orifice, and, in use, compression applied to the chamber causes a puff of the fragrance to be emitted from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the container.
The invention encompasses the closure when the closure has the source of the fragrance.
According to a second aspect of the invention, therefore, there is provided a closure for a container, the closure being engageable with a container to close the container and/or having a first part engageable with a second part to close a container, wherein the closure has an orifice and a source of fragrance, and includes a chamber, or, when the first part is engaged with the second part, forms a chamber, the chamber containing the source of the fragrance, the closure being arranged such that, when used to close a container, the chamber is separated from an internal space of the container and vented to the surroundings of the container by the orifice, and compression applied to the chamber causes a puff of the fragrance to be emitted from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the container.
The invention can provide a closure that, when used to close a container containing a consumable product that includes a fragrance, enables the fragrance of the consumable product to be sampled (by applying compression to the chamber of the closure to cause a puff of a fragrance similar to, or identical with, the fragrance of the product to be emitted through the orifice into the surroundings of the container) without opening the container. Compression can repeatedly be applied to the chamber to cause repeated puffs of the fragrance to be emitted through the orifice.
Since the closure of the invention avoids the need to open the container, the risk of spillage or contamination of or damage to the consumable product contained in the container is reduced, as is the likelihood of removal of a tamper-proof or tamper-evident closure.
Moreover, where the consumable product contained in the container is such that the headspace contains odours that are not representative of the fragrance that lingers after use of the consumable product, the closure of the invention enables the fragrance that lingers after use of the consumable product to be sampled.
Of course, it is not essential that the fragrance of the source of the fragrance be representative of a fragrance included in the consumable product contained in the container. The fragrance of the source of the fragrance may, for example, be a fragrance included in a consumable product other than that contained in the container.
Where the closure has a first part engageable with a second part to close a container, it is envisaged that the closure may be integrally formed with the container, for example by moulding. Preferably, however, the closure is adapted to be engageable with a container.
In preferred embodiments of the invention the closure is provided with a screw threaded portion for engagement with a corresponding screw threaded portion of a container.
In first, second and third embodiments of the invention the closure is a screw cap comprising a first wall, which, when the screw cap is used to close a container, separates the chamber from an internal space of the container, and a second wall in which the orifice is formed and which, but for the orifice, separates the chamber from the surroundings of the screw cap.
In the first and third embodiments, the first wall is flexible, such that when the closure is used to close a container, and the container is squeezed to increase an internal pressure within the container, the increased internal pressure results in compression of the flexible first wall and consequently compression of the chamber and emission of a puff of the fragrance from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the container.
In the second embodiment, the second wall is flexible and accessible to be squeezed, such that squeezing of the closure results in compression of the flexible second wall and consequently compression of the chamber and emission of a puff of the fragrance from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the closure.
In a fourth embodiment of the invention the closure is a flip-top lid assembly comprising a nozzle through which, when the assembly is attached to a container, a consumable product contained in the container can be dispensed, and a flip-top lid engageable with the nozzle to close the nozzle, the nozzle forming a first wall, which, when the flip-top lid is engaged with the nozzle, separates the chamber from an internal space of the container, and the flip-top lid forming a second wall in which the orifice is formed and which, but for the orifice, separates the chamber from the surroundings of the flip-top lid assembly.
The first wall may advantageously be permeable by the fragrance of the source of fragrance.
In this way, where the closure is used to close a container containing a consumable product that would otherwise cause the headspace above the consumable product to contain less attractive odours or odours which quickly disperse in use and are thus not representative of the fragrance which lingers after use of the consumable product, the closure can introduce a fragrance into the headspace so that, when the container is opened, the headspace contains the fragrance rather than the less attractive odours or odours which quickly disperse in use.
In the fourth embodiment the flip-top lid is formed with a resiliently deformable blister such that compression of the blister results in compression of the chamber and emission of a puff of the fragrance from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the closure.
The invention includes within its scope a consumer product before the latter has been filled with active substance or charged with the fragrance.
According to a third aspect of the invention, therefore, there is provided packaging for a consumer product, the packaging comprising a container having an internal space for holding an active substance of the product, the container having an opening, a closure which in use closes the opening and is removable from the container for the purpose of dispensing the substance from the container, the closure including a chamber defined by a first wall separating the chamber from the internal space of the container and by a second wall which has an orifice therein and which separates the chamber from the surroundings of the product, the chamber in use holding a source of fragrance such that compression applied to the chamber causes a puff of fragrance to be emitted from the chamber through the orifice and into the surroundings without the emission of any active substance.
The invention also includes within its scope packaging for a consumable product, the packaging comprising a container and a closure for the container, before the former has been filled with a consumable product.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided packaging for a consumable product, the packaging comprising a container and a closure for the container, the closure being engageable with the container to close the container and/or having a first part engageable with a second part to close the container, wherein the closure has an orifice and a source of fragrance, and includes a chamber, or, when the first part is engaged with the second part, forms a chamber, the chamber containing the source of the fragrance, the closure being arranged such that, when used to close the container, the chamber is separated from an internal space of the container and vented to the surroundings of the container by the orifice, and compression applied to the chamber causes a puff of the fragrance to be emitted from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the container.
The invention further includes within its scope a container and a closure for the container not only before the former has been filled with a consumable product, but also before the latter has been charged with a fragrance.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided packaging for a consumable product, the packaging comprising a container and a closure for the container, the closure being engageable with the container to close the container and/or having a first part engageable with a second part to close the container, wherein the closure has an orifice and, in use, has a source of fragrance, and includes a chamber, or, when the first part is engaged with the second part, forms a chamber, the chamber, in use, containing the source of the fragrance, the closure being arranged such that, when used to close the container, the chamber is separated from an internal space of the container and vented to the surroundings of the container by the orifice, and, in use, compression applied to the chamber causes a puff of the fragrance to be emitted from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the container.
Where the closure has a first part engageable with a second part to close the container, the first part of the closure may advantageously be integrally formed with the container.
Preferably, however, the closure is engageable with the container, and more preferably still, engageable by means of screw threads.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention there is provided a consumer product comprising a container having an internal space holding an active substance of the product, the container having an opening, a closure which closes the opening and is removable from the container for dispensing the substance from the container, the closure including a chamber defined by a first wall separating the chamber from the internal space of the container and by a second wall which has an orifice therein and which separates the chamber from the surroundings of the product, the chamber holding a source of fragrance such that compression applied to the chamber causes a puff of the fragrance to be emitted from the chamber through the orifice and into the surroundings without the emission of any active substance.
Thus, sampling of the fragrance does not deplete the consumable product or involve breaking the seal enclosing the space accommodating the consumable product so the risk of spillage of the latter is avoided.
This means that there is complete freedom to choose the nature of the fragrance in relation to the consumable product. Normally, the fragrance will be representative of the fragrance of the consumable product, but it is possible for the fragrance not to be so representative. For example, the fragrance could promote a complementary or contrasting product.
Preferably the consumable product is a consumable liquid product.
The consumer product may be designed so that the compression applied to the chamber may result from direct manual squeezing of a chamber wall, for example, by making the chamber wall flexible and accessible to be squeezed, either as a result of the chamber projecting from the container or being withdrawable from the container. It is preferred, however, for the chamber to be located within the container in such manner that the container is squeezed to increase the internal pressure within the container, this raised internal pressure resulting in the compression of the flexible first wall of the chamber and the consequent emission of a puff of fragrance.
In some embodiments the chamber is located in a headspace at the top of the container, enabling the invention to be put into effect with modification of the closure but without modification of a conventional container or its consumable product and without significant change in appearance. Preferably, the closure is a screw cap and the container has a neck onto which the cap is screwed, the circular disc-like top of a conventional cap being modified so that the first wall depends from the top of the cap into the neck of the container and the second wall spans the top of the cap. The first wall is conveniently tubular, having a tubular side wall and a closed lower end and being positioned in the neck of the container, with all round clearance between the side wall and the neck of the container.
Although in one embodiment the tubular side wall is cylindrical, so that the side wall is circular in plan, the side wall may advantageously be flattened, so that the side wall is, e.g., elliptical in plan. This may facilitate compression of the first wall and hence emission of a puff of fragrance.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention there is provided a consumer product comprising a container having an internal space holding a consumable product of the consumer product, the container having an opening for dispensing the consumable product from the container and a closure which closes the opening, the closure being engageable with the container to close the opening and/or having a first part engageable with a second part to close the opening, wherein the closure has an orifice and a source of fragrance, and includes a chamber, or, when the first part is engaged with the second part, forms a chamber, the chamber containing the source of the fragrance, the closure being arranged such that, when used to close the opening, the chamber is separated from an internal space of the container and vented to the surroundings of the container by the orifice, and compression applied to the chamber causes a puff of the fragrance to be emitted from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the container.
According to an eighth aspect of the invention there is provided a method of dispensing a fragrance from a consumer product having a container with an internal space holding an active substance of the product and with a chamber holding the fragrance, the method comprising squeezing the product and consequently causing a puff of fragrance to be emitted without the emission of any active substance from the internal space.
It is preferred, as previously mentioned, for the user to squeeze the container and for the resulting increased pressure within the container to cause a puff of fragrance to be emitted from a source of fragrance held within a chamber separate from the space within the container.
The invention is particularly applicable to products such as hair shampoos and shower gels where the fragrance may be closely similar to, or identical with, the fragrance of the active substance. In the case of products that include more aggressive constituents such as bleach (e.g. certain cleaning or laundry preparations), the fragrance may be representative of the fragrance that lingers or remains after the active substance has been put into use and left for a period of time.
A consumer product and four closures forming preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:—
The consumer product, a household cleaning preparation, comprises a plastics container 3 holding a consumable liquid product 4 (cleaning liquid) above which is a headspace 5 extending into the neck 13 of the container. A closure cap 2 has a main plastics body screwed onto threads integrally moulded onto the external surface of the neck 13.
The body of the cap 2 has a depending cylindrical wall 12 which sealingly engages against the internal surface of the upper extremity of the neck 13. Integrally moulded with, and depending from the top of, the cap body is a flexible tubular wall 6 terminating in a closed lower end and defining a chamber 9. The chamber 9 accommodates a substrate 7 impregnated with a fragrance (indicated by the reference 8) representative of the fragrance of the consumable liquid product 4. The substrate 7 consists of wadded crinkled polyester fibres. Use of the wadded crinkled polyester fibres gives rise to a substrate that expands substantially to fill the chamber 9, but is easily deformable when the flexible tubular wall 6 is compressed. The circular top of the cap body (and the top of the chamber 9) is closed by a disc-shaped wall 10 having a central orifice formed by a pinhole 11. Thus, the wall 6 projects downwardly into the headspace, being sealed therefrom, and being surrounded with all round radial clearance by the neck 13.
When the consumer product is on a shelf in a supermarket, a potential purchaser can squeeze the container 3 which causes an increase in pressure in the headspace 5. This in turn compresses the wall of the chamber 9 and increases the pressure in the chamber, causing a small pulse or puff of fragrance from the substrate to be emitted through the pin hole 11, without the emission of any fragrance from the consumable product or from the headspace 5. The consumable product 4 remains sealed in the container until the closure cap 2 is unscrewed from the container neck 13, when the consumable product 4 can then be poured through the open neck. This action is generally performed after the consumer product has been purchased and taken home and the action of unscrewing the cap 2 will cause a puff of fragrance from the substance to be emitted as a result of the compression applied to the container to resist the turning moment applied to the cap.
It will be appreciated that the container 3 (and the consumable product) can be conventional, only the closure cap 2 requiring modification to put the invention into effect.
In
Turning to
Turning to
When the flip-top lid 66 is closed, as shown in
Conventional flip-top lid assemblies for consumer products (i.e. flip-top lid assemblies without the substrate 68, orifice 76 and blister 78) are often provided with a tamper-evident seal in the form of a shrink-wrapped sleeve that encloses the join between the screw threaded portion and the flip-top lid, so as to prevent the flip-top lid from being opened. In order to sample a fragrance of a consumable product contained in a container closed by a conventional flip-top lid assembly, the tamper-evident seal must be broken. The flip-top lid assembly of the invention can be used to sample the fragrance of the consumable product contained in a container closed by the flip-top lid assembly without breaking the tamper-evident seal, which is a feature of considerable value.
It will be apparent that the above description relates only to four embodiments of the invention, and that the invention encompasses other embodiments as defined by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A closure for a container, the closure being engageable with a container to close the container and/or having a first part engageable with a second part to close a container, wherein the closure has an orifice and, in use, has a source of fragrance, and includes a chamber, or, when the first part is engaged with the second part, forms a chamber, the chamber, in use, containing the source of the fragrance, the closure being arranged such that, when used to close a container, the chamber is separated from an internal space of the container and vented to the surroundings of the container by the orifice, and, in use, compression applied to the chamber causes a puff of the fragrance to be emitted from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the container.
2. A closure according to claim 1, wherein the closure is provided with a screw threaded portion for engagement with a corresponding screw threaded portion of a container.
3. A closure according to claim 2, wherein the closure is a screw cap comprising a first wall, which, when the screw cap is used to close a container, separates the chamber from an internal space of the container, and a second wall in which the orifice is formed and which, but for the orifice, separates the chamber from the surroundings of the screw cap.
4. A closure according to claim 3, wherein the first wall is flexible, such that when the closure is used to close a container, and the container is squeezed to increase an internal pressure within the container, the increased internal pressure results in compression of the flexible first wall and consequently compression of the chamber and emission of a puff of the fragrance from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the container.
5. A closure according to claim 3, wherein the second wall is flexible and accessible to be squeezed, such that squeezing of the closure results in compression of the flexible second wall and consequently compression of the chamber and emission of a puff of the fragrance from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the closure.
6. A closure according to claim 1, wherein the closure is a flip-top lid assembly comprising a nozzle through which, when the assembly is attached to a container, a consumable product contained in the container can be dispensed, and a flip-top lid engageable with the nozzle to close the nozzle, the nozzle forming a first wall, which, when the flip-top lid is engaged with the nozzle, separates the chamber from an internal space of the container, and the flip-top lid forming a second wall in which the orifice is formed and which, but for the orifice, separates the chamber from the surroundings of the flip-top lid assembly.
7. A closure according to claim 3, wherein the closure has a source of fragrance and the first wall is permeable by the fragrance of the source of fragrance.
8. A closure according to claim 6, wherein the flip-top lid is formed with a resiliently deformable blister such that compression of the blister results in compression of the chamber and emission of a puff of the fragrance from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the closure.
9. Packaging for a consumable product, the packaging comprising a container and a closure for the container, the closure being engageable with the container to close the container and/or having a first part engageable with a second part to close the container, wherein the closure has an orifice and, in use, has a source of fragrance, and includes a chamber, or, when the first part is engaged with the second part, forms a chamber, the chamber, in use, containing the source of the fragrance, the closure being arranged such that, when used to close the container, the chamber is separated from an internal space of the container and vented to the surroundings of the container by the orifice, and, in use, compression applied to the chamber causes a puff of the fragrance to be emitted from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the container.
10. A consumer product comprising a container having an internal space holding a consumable product of the consumer product, the container having an opening for dispensing the consumable product from the container and a closure which closes the opening, the closure being engageable with the container to close the opening and/or having a first part engageable with a second part to close the opening, wherein the closure has an orifice and a source of fragrance, and includes a chamber, or, when the first part is engaged with the second part, forms a chamber, the chamber containing the source of the fragrance, the closure being arranged such that, when used to close the opening, the chamber is separated from an internal space of the container and vented to the surroundings of the container by the orifice, and compression applied to the chamber causes a puff of the fragrance to be emitted from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the container.
11. A method of dispensing a fragrance from a consumer product having a container with an internal space holding an active substance of the product and with a chamber holding the fragrance, the method comprising squeezing the product and consequently causing a puff of fragrance to be emitted without the emission of any active substance from the internal space.
12. A closure according to claim 2, wherein the closure is a flip-top lid assembly comprising a nozzle through which, when the assembly is attached to a container, a consumable product contained in the container can be dispensed, and a flip-top lid engageable with the nozzle to close the nozzle, the nozzle forming a first wall, which, when the flip-top lid is engaged with the nozzle, separates the chamber from an internal space of the container, and the flip-top lid forming a second wall in which the orifice is formed and which, but for the orifice, separates the chamber from the surroundings of the flip-top lid assembly.
13. A closure according to claim 4, wherein the closure has a source of fragrance and the first wall is permeable by the fragrance of the source of fragrance.
14. A closure according to claim 5, wherein the closure has a source of fragrance and the first wall is permeable by the fragrance of the source of fragrance.
15. A closure according to claim 6, wherein the closure has a source of fragrance and the first wall is permeable by the fragrance of the source of fragrance.
16. A closure according to claim 7, wherein the flip-top lid is formed with a resiliently deformable blister such that compression of the blister results in compression of the chamber and emission of a puff of the fragrance from the chamber through the orifice into the surroundings of the closure.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 22, 2007
Publication Date: Mar 26, 2009
Applicant: Givaudan SA (Vemier)
Inventor: Brian Parry Slade (Kent)
Application Number: 12/293,152