Handled Bottle

Abstract

Described is a bottle having bottle central part having a bottle base, an enclosed handle, and a bottle top with a bottle closure. A bottle closure has a forward directed pouring orifice and attached child-resistant closure means. A bottle closure has a venting means fluidly connected to the interior of the enclosed handle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to 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 on handled bottles.

2. Description of the Related Art

A typical directional pour spout with a flip top cap is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,549,559 to Conroy et al. A child-proof closure for a flip top cap is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2007/0144996 to Sawyer. A typical bottle with an integral handle and method of making is described in U.S. 2005/0163952 to Beale and U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,598 to Thompson.

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.

Accordingly, what is needed is an ergonomic enclosed handled bottle, with a forward directed pour spout, suitable venting during pouring and storage, and a child-resistant closure.

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 on the container top front surface and having an enclosed handle on the container top rear surface wherein the neck comprises a container outlet and a separate handle inlet; 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 outer threaded skirt member and a deck member wherein the deck member comprises a beveled spout and a venting channel and the venting channel is fluidly connected to the handle inlet.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a bottle comprises a container having a threaded neck on the container top front surface and having an enclosed handle on the container top rear surface wherein the neck comprises a container outlet and a separate handle inlet; a dispensing closure comprising a base member, a cap, and a hinge connecting the base member and the cap, wherein the base member has an outer threaded skirt member with a pair of latches on opposite sides of the base member and an a deck member wherein the deck member comprises a beveled spout wherein the cap has a pair of tabs that lock into the latches, wherein the neck has a neck base having a neck base container front surface and a neck base handle surface wherein the neck base container front surface has one of more ratchets and a stop tab and the handle portion of the neck base has one or more ratchets.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a bottle comprises a container having a threaded neck on the container top front surface and having an enclosed handle on the container top rear surface; a dispensing closure comprising a base member, a cap, and a hinge connecting the base member and the cap, wherein the base member has an outer threaded skirt member with a pair of latches on opposite sides of the base member, an indented inner skirt member having an inner surface, and an a deck member wherein the deck member comprises a spout and a venting channel, and wherein the cap has a pair of tabs that lock into the latches, an outer wall, and an inner wall having an inner surface wherein the cap inner wall inner surface frictionally mates with the inner surface of the indented skirt on the base member.

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 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 shows a side plan view of a container in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a rear plan view of a container in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a top plan view of a container in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a closure portion according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a closure portion according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a closure according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a closure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows a plan view of a closure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of a closure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of a closure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 shows an exploded perspective view of a bottle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 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 each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

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 FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottle 100 comprises a container 102 having a body portion 104 for holding container content, with a container front side 106 adjacent to the dispensing opening 108 and a rear side 110 adjacent to the handle 112, and a lower closed bottom end 114 for supporting the container 102. The container has an upper end including a neck 116 delimiting a dispensing opening 108. A dispensing closure 120 of the present invention, having a base member 122, a cap 124, and a connecting hinge 118 may be securely mounted onto said 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 container 102 can have an enclosed handle 112 with an extended handle exterior 126 and an enclosed extended handle interior 128. The bottle has a thumb pad 130 on the extended handle exterior 126 and a forefinger alignment nub 132 on the extended handle interior 128. These handle easy-grip features are suitable for a forward directed pouring spout which is tipped during pouring to a lesser extent than is required for a more central directed pouring spout on the top of a bottle. A solid web 134 separates the handle top end 136 from the container front side 106 where the handle top end 136 and the container front side 106 both enter the neck 116. The handle bottom end 135 is fluidly connected to the container body portion 104 about half way up the container rear side 110. The handle top end 136 is fluidly connected to the dispensing opening 108 at the neck 116. Below the handle 112 is an indented label wall 138. As shown in FIGS. 2-4, the container 102 is an elongated circle rather than round. In other embodiments, the container is round. In a suitable embodiment, the container 102 has a length 140 and a width 142. In one embodiment, the neck 116 is entirely within the front 20% of the length 140 of the container 102 and the handle 112 stretches across greater than 80% of the length 140 of the container 102. The elongated container, the extended handle position, the separate handle opening to the neck, the forward neck, or combinations of these allow for effective directed pouring out of the front of the bottle.

Suitably, the dispensing closure 120 of the invention is provided with an inner female thread typically located in the base member 122, as described hereinafter, and the container neck 116 is provided with an exterior male thread 150 formed adjacent its dispensing opening 118. Typically, the dispensing closure 120 is mounted onto the container 102 with the female thread of the base member 122 screwed on the male thread 150 of the container 102. Alternatively, the container 102 may not need having a neck 116. Instead the container 102 may consist of a just a body portion 104 with a dispensing opening 118. The dispensing closure 120 of the present invention is suitable for use with a variety of conventional or special containers having various designs, the details of which, although not illustrated or described, would be apparent to those skilled in the art. The container 102 may have a rigid wall or walls, or may have a somewhat flexible wall or walls.

In a suitable aspect of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the dispensing closure 120 is a separate element which is adapted to be removably or non-removably mounted, via its base member 122, to a previously manufactured container 102 which has a dispensing opening 108 to the container interior. In an alternative execution, the dispensing closure 120 may be formed as a unitary part, or extension, of the container 102. The dispensing closure 120 is adapted to be used with a container 102 having a dispensing opening 108 to provide access to the container interior volume and to a product contained therein, which is preferably a pourable product. However, 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 activities involving manufacturing, commercial or household maintenance, construction, agriculture. Suitably, said pourable product is a liquid composition.

The container neck 116 may be a simple threaded closure or may have in addition to the male thread 150, several functional elements to prevent removal of the base member 122 of the dispensing closure 120. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the container neck 116 has two or more ratchets 152, 153 and a closure stop 154 on the neck base 156 to interact with the dispensing closure 120 during attachment of the dispensing closure 120. Suitably, one or more of the ratchets 153 is located at the top of the handle neck base 158 and one or more of the ratchets 152 is located on the container front neck base 160. The closure stop 154 is suitably located on the container front neck base 160. An anti-removal stop 155 is located on the handle neck base 158. At the bottom of the neck 116 are the container outlet 162 and the handle venting inlet 164.

Showing the dispensing means 120 in an open position in FIG. 5 the base member 122 may have any suitable configuration, form or dimension for accommodating an upwardly projecting neck 116 or portion of a container 102 (FIG. 2). In a suitable execution of the present invention, the base member 122 has a substantially round shape when seen from the top perspective, as represented in FIG. 5. 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, typically parallel to the neck 116 of the container 102 (FIG. 3). 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. 5 and 6, the female thread means 174 for attachment of the base member 122 to the neck 116 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 of the base member 122 comprises a venting channel 178 adapted to communicate with the interior volume of the handle 112 through the handle inlet 164 (FIG. 4). The deck member 172 also comprises a beveled spout member 180 which extends upward from the deck member 172 to dispense product from the container 102 through the container outlet 162 (FIG. 4). Also shown is a spout deflector 182 at the bottom of the spout member 180 which acts to moderate the pouring stream out of the spout member 180. The top 184 of the cap 124 can also have a venting pad 186 for venting during storage. The venting pad 186 can overlay a hole in the top of the cap 124 and provide grooved channels for passage of air between the bottle interior and the bottle exterior.

Another embodiment of the dispensing closure 120 is shown in FIGS. 7-9. FIG. 7 shows a dispensing closure 120 in the closed position and having a base member 122, a cap member 124 and a hinge 118. FIG. 8 shows the dispensing closure 120 of FIG. 7 in an open position having a base member 122, a cap member 124 and a hinge 118. The skirt member 170 comprises an outer annular shirt 188 having latches 190 and a contiguous indented inner annular skirt 192 having an inner skirt inner surface 194. On each side of the cap member 124 is a tab 196. The tabs 196 can be pushed inward towards each other to release the tabs 196 from the latches 190 in the outer skirt 188 of the skirt member 170 to allow the cap member 124 to swing on the hinge 118 to the open position. As shown in FIGS. 8-10, the cap member 124 also has an inner annular wall 198 concentric with the outer annular wall 199 that frictionally mates with the inner skirt inner surface 194 of the base member 122 to prevent product from leaking from the container 102 (in FIG. 1).

When the bottle contains liquid contents that expand or generate gas during storage of the bottle when the nozzle is in the closed position, it may be necessary to include a storage venting means. This passive storage venting means can be achieved by a circuitous channel, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,870 to Pearce, or by a porous liner, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,306 to Costa et al., both of which are incorporated in the entirety herein. In one embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 11, the storage venting means can be achieved by a pattern of channels 195 on the outer surface 199 of the inner wall 198 of the cap member 124. Alternately, there can be a pattern of channels 197 on the inner skirt inner surface 194. Because these channels 195, 197 are only on vertical surfaces of the dispensing closure 120, there may be less likelihood to foul from product gassing than grooves on horizontal surfaces. In some embodiments, it may be advantageous to have channels 195, 197 on both the outer surface 199 of the inner wall 198 of the cap member 124 and the inner skirt inner surface 194 in order to reduce mold wear. These channels are especially advantageous where two smooth injection molded surfaces fit together. The channels can be laser etched or chemical etched into the molds.

The bottle may have an integrated spout fitment such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,803 to Sprick, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. In another embodiment in FIGS. 12 and 13, 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 closure 210 which acts to close the pouring spout. The neck 206 has external threads 212 to receive complementary internal threads 214 (FIG. 13) on the cap closure 210. As seen in FIG. 13, 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 contains a drainback hole 224. The drainback hole 224 may be connecting with the pouring orifice 218 (not shown) or it may be adjacent to the spout 216 as in FIG. 13. The lower end of the sheath 220 contains a venting hole 226. The upper end of the sheath 220 is provided with a lip 228 which is fastened to the inside surface of the neck 206. The venting hole 226 is fluidly connected to interior of the enclosed handle 204 of the dispensing container 202. The spout 216 and drainback hole 224 are fluidly connected to the interior of the container front section 205.

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.

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 on the container top front surface and having an enclosed handle on the container top rear surface wherein the neck comprises a container outlet and a separate handle inlet;

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 outer threaded skirt member and a deck member wherein the deck member comprises a beveled spout and a venting channel and the venting channel is fluidly connected to the handle inlet.

2. The bottle of claim 1, wherein the base member of the dispensing closure has a pair of latches on opposite sides of the base member and the cap has a pair of tabs that lock into the latches.

3. The bottle of claim 1, wherein the neck has a neck base with one or more sets of ratchets and a stop tab.

4. The bottle of claim 3, wherein the neck base comprises two or more sets of ratchets.

5. The bottle of claim 3, wherein one of the sets of ratchets is on the handle portion of the neck base.

6. The bottle of claim 1, wherein the base member additionally comprises an indented inner skirt having an inner surface.

7. The bottle of claim 1, wherein the cap has an outer wall and an inner wall having an inner surface.

8. The bottle of claim 1, wherein the cap inner wall inner surface frictionally mates with the inner surface of the indented inner skirt of the base member.

9. The bottle of claim 8, wherein there is a venting surface where the cap inner wall mates with the indented skirt of the base member.

10. The bottle of claim 9, wherein the venting surface comprises vertical channels on a surface from the group consisting of the indented inner skirt inner surface, the cap inner wall inner surface, and combinations thereof.

11. A bottle comprising:

a container having a threaded neck on the container top front surface and having an enclosed handle on the container top rear surface wherein the neck comprises a container outlet and a separate handle inlet;

a dispensing closure comprising a base member, a cap, and a hinge connecting the base member and the cap, wherein the base member has an outer threaded skirt member with a pair of latches on opposite sides of the base member and an a deck member wherein the deck member comprises a beveled spout wherein the cap has a pair of tabs that lock into the latches,

wherein the neck has a neck base having a neck base container front surface and a neck base handle surface wherein the neck base container front surface has one of more ratchets and a stop tab and the handle portion of the neck base has one or more ratchets.

12. The bottle of claim 11, wherein the deck member additionally comprises a venting channel and the venting channel is fluidly connected to the handle inlet.

13. A bottle comprising:

a container having a threaded neck on the container top front surface and having an enclosed handle on the container top rear surface;

a dispensing closure comprising a base member, a cap, and a hinge connecting the base member and the cap,

wherein the base member has an outer threaded skirt member with a pair of latches on opposite sides of the base member, an indented inner skirt member having an inner surface, and an a deck member wherein the deck member comprises a spout and a venting channel, and

wherein the cap has a pair of tabs that lock into the latches, an outer wall, and an inner wall having an inner surface

wherein the cap inner wall inner surface frictionally mates with the inner surface of the indented skirt on the base member.

14. The bottle of claim 13, wherein the indented inner skirt is contiguous with the outer threaded skirt member.

15. The bottle of claim 13, wherein the venting channel is fluidly connected to the handle inlet.

16. The bottle of claim 13, wherein the treaded neck has a neck base comprising two or more sets of ratchets.

17. The bottle of claim 13, wherein the treaded neck base has a front base section and a rear handle base section and one of the sets of ratchets is on rear handle base section.

18. The bottle of claim 13, wherein a solid web separates the handle top end from the container front side at the bottom of the neck.