CONTAINER OPENABLE AND RECLOSABLE AT TWO SUBSTANTIALLY AND MUTUALLY OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF
A container is openable and reclosable at two substantially and mutually opposite ends, and includes a base from which a side wall rises, which converges to form a neck ending in a first opening closed by a cap. The container includes a second opening near or at the base and closed by a tongue, which is a portion of the base. By virtue of the second opening, when the container is nearly empty, the residual substance deposited at the base can be easily taken through the second opening. The base can be disconnected and reconnected to the side wall. In this case, the second opening extends over the entire base of the container. Alternatively, it can include at least one wall partitioning the interior into multiple compartments extending end-to-end, each provided with a first and a second opening at the two ends.
The present invention applies to the field of containers intended to contain at least one preferably viscous liquid substance, even more preferably belonging to the scope of hygiene and cleaning products. By way of example, “viscous substance” means generic shampoo, commonly available on the market.
More precisely, the present invention refers to a container of the aforesaid type which is openable and reclosable at two substantially and mutually opposite ends thereof.
OVERVIEW OF THE PRIOR ARTThe containers intended to contain liquid substances generally comprise a preferably flat resting base, from which a side wall rises, which converges to form a neck ending in an opening arranged at an end of the container substantially opposite to the base. The opening allows to take the substance enclosed therein from the container and is reversibly closable (i.e. so as to be openable and reclosable) by means of a specific cap.
When a container encloses a viscose substance therein (e.g. such as shampoo, conditioner, bubble bath, soap, cream, detergent, etc.), the substance adheres to the base and to the side wall of the container so that, by inclining it or turning it upside down, the substance does exit from the container due to gravity, but too slowly for its use. For this reason, the containers of the type to which the present invention relates can be easily compressed at the side wall. Indeed, a compression of the container reduces its volume and thus pushes the substance enclosed therein through the opening, thus releasing it from the container.
When the container is nearly empty, it cannot be compressed sufficiently to determine the release of the residual substance. In order to extract the latter from the container, it is therefore necessary to turn it upside down and wait for the residual substance to deposit on the cap due to the weight force. This could require a relatively long time.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTIONIt is the object of the present invention to overcome the aforesaid drawbacks by providing a container adapted to contain a viscose liquid substance and from which said substance can be easily taken, even when the container is nearly empty.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a container comprising:
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- a base at a first end;
- at least one side wall which rises from the aforesaid base;
- a first opening placed at a second end substantially opposite to the first end;
- first closing means adapted to reversibly close the first opening,
wherein, according to the invention, the container further comprises:
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- a second opening placed at the aforesaid base or at the aforesaid side wall close to the aforesaid base;
- second closing means adapted to reversibly close said second opening, the aforesaid base comprising the second closing means when the second opening is at the base,
- the aforesaid side wall comprising the second closing means when the second opening is at the side wall.
When the container is nearly empty, the residual substance is deposited at the base. Advantageously, since the container can also be opened near or at the base, the residual substance can be easily taken from the container through the second opening, regardless of whether the container can be compressed or turned upside down.
Additionally, since the second closing means included in the base or in the side wall of the container (thus a portion of the base or of the side wall of the container acts as a cap of the second opening), the provision of the aforesaid second closing means does not require the addition of components to the container of the invention. More precisely, the second closing means can be obtained by appropriately cutting and/or deforming the base or the side wall of the container (so as to provide through grooves, easy breakage lines and easy folding lines by way of example). If the second closing means cannot be completely disconnected from the remaining portion of the base or of the side wall of the container (e.g. by virtue of a connection comprising an easy folding line), there is no risk of the second closing means being lost when the second opening is not occluded (i.e. when the latter is open).
Further innovative features of the present invention are described in the dependent claims.
According to an aspect of the invention, the base can be at least partially connected to and disconnected from the side wall of the container.
Advantageously, according to this aspect of the invention, the base can be at least partially reversibly removed from the side wall of the container. This allows to refill the container easily when it is empty or nearly empty.
According to another aspect of the invention, the base and the side wall of the container at least partially delimit an inner space portion the container, the container comprising:
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- at least one partition wall at least partially accommodated at the aforesaid space portion and partitioning the latter into at least two compartments extending from the base to said second end of the container,
the container further comprising a plurality of the aforesaid first and second openings and of respective first and second closing means, the container comprising at least one of the aforesaid first openings (with the respective first closing means) and at least one of the aforesaid second openings (with the respective second closing means) for each of said compartments.
Advantageously, by virtue of the presence of one or more partition walls, the container of the invention may contain multiple substances (e.g. shampoo and hair conditioner) keeping them separate from each other.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment thereof and from the accompanying drawings merely provided by way of non-limitative example, in which:
Hereinafter in the present description a figure may also be shown with reference to elements not expressly indicated therein but indicated on other figures instead. The scale and proportions of the various elements shown do not necessarily correspond to the real values.
Container 1 differs from the containers of known type in that it comprises a second opening placed near base 2 and closed by a tongue 8 of substantially rectangular shape, by way of example. The second opening is preferably made at the side wall 3 starting from base 2, and has substantially the same width as tongue 8. The latter is preferably a portion of the side wall 3 arranged with the long sides directed orthogonally to base 2 (i.e. longitudinally with respect to container 1) and the short side 9 farther from base 2 and hinged to the remaining portion of the side wall 3. Tongue 8 can rotate between a first portion, at which tongue 8 is interlocked to the aforesaid remaining portion of the side wall 3 so as to close the aforesaid second opening, preferably hermetically, and a second position, at which tongue 8 does not occlude the second opening. Similarly to the cap 5 with respect to the first opening, tongue 8 acts as reversible closing means for the second opening. Incidentally, since tongue 8 is a portion of the side wall 3, the latter comprises the aforesaid closing means for the second opening. In other words, one part of the side wall 3 acts as a cap for the second opening.
Alternatively to being hinged to the remaining portion of side wall 3 at side 9, tongue 8 may be hinged to base 2 at the short side opposite to side 9. Additionally, instead of being substantially rectangular, tongue 8 may be substantially in the shape of an isosceles trapezium, with the minor base at base 2. The connection between tongue 8 and base 2 may be made by means of an easy folding line. The side wall 3 may further comprise a recess (not shown in the figure), in which a finger of a user using the container can be inserted, at the greater base of tongue 8. By inserting the tip of a finger in the aforesaid groove, the tongue 8 may be easily turned from the first position to the second position.
Alternatively to being hinged to base 2 at the side 13, tongue 12 may be hinged to the remaining portion of the side base 3 at the short side opposite to side 13. Additionally, tongue 12, instead of being substantially rectangular, may be substantially in the shape of an isosceles trapezium, with the minor base at the side wall 3. The connection between the tongue 12 and the side wall 3 may be made by means of an easy folding line. Base 2 may further comprise a recess (not shown in the figure), in which a finger of a user using the container can be inserted, at the greater base of tongue 12. By inserting the tip of a finger in the aforesaid groove, tongue 12 may be easily turned from the first position to the second position. Preferably, when tongue 12 is in the first position (i.e. when the second opening is closed), the tongue 12 is flush with the remaining portion of base 3 (i.e. does not protrude with respect thereto). Thereby, the presence of tongue 12 does not make the resting of the container of the invention unstable at base 3.
The container of the present invention, in all its variants described above, is preferably made of a polymeric material.
According to the provided description of a preferred embodiment, it is apparent that changes may be made by those skilled in the art without therefore departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
Claims
1-7. (canceled)
8. A container (50) comprising:
- a base (2) at a first end;
- at least one side wall (3) which rises from said base (2), said base (2) and said side wall (3) at least partially delimiting a portion of space inside said container (50);
- at least one partition wall (32) at least partially accommodated at said space portion and partitioning it into at least two compartments (33, 34) extending from said base (2) to a second end of said container (50) substantially opposite to said first end;
- a plurality of first openings placed at said second end, said container (50) comprising one of said first openings for each of said compartments (33, 34);
- first means (36, 38) for reversibly closing said first openings;
- a plurality of second openings placed at said base (2), said container (50) comprising one of said second openings for each of said compartments (33, 34);
- second means (51, 52, 53) for reversibly closing said second openings, said base (2) comprising said second closing means (51, 52, 53), wherein said second openings have, as a whole, substantially the same extension as said base (2), said base (2) being portioned in at least two portions (51, 52), one of said portions (51, 52) being at each of said compartments (33, 34), each of said portions (51, 52) being able to be disconnected from and reconnected to said side wall (3) so as to act as said second closing means.
9. A container (50) according to claim 8, wherein said side wall (3) is cylindrical, said portions (51, 52) of said base (2) being semicircular and mutually symmetric.
10. A container (50) according to claim 9, wherein said base (2) comprises a cylindrical edge (53) partitioned between said portions (51, 52) of said base (2) and able to be fitted onto a terminal portion of said side wall (3).
11. A container (50) according to claim 10, wherein said portions (51, 52) of said base (2), through said edge (53), can be connected to and disconnected from said terminal portion of said side wall (3) by fitting.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 22, 2017
Publication Date: Feb 13, 2020
Inventor: Doriano VISENTIN (Codogno (LO))
Application Number: 16/335,963