US3454196A - Fixed spout closure with auxiliary cap - Google Patents

Description

' July 8, 1969 R. E. HAZARD FIXED SPOUT CLOSURE WITH AUXILIARY CAP Filed July 20, 1967 /Nl EA/ 70/? ROBE/W 5. HA ZARD B EDWARD 0. OER/AN A 77'0RA/EY United States Patent 3,454,196 FIXED SPOUT CLOSURE WITH AUXILIARY CAP Robert E. Hazard, North Kingstown, R.I., assignor to Polytop Corporation, Slatersville, R.I., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed July 20, 1967, Ser. No. 654,732

Int. Cl. B67b 7/24, 7/26 US. Cl. 222-83 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention This invention pertains to the field of fixed spout closures. Such closures are commonly used in packaging and dispensing a wide variety of different liquid products. Closure of this type traditionally have been formed so as to include a principal cap which is adapted to be attached to a container and a spout either attached to or formed on the principal cap so as to extend from it. Frequently an auxiliary cap is used so as to fit over the end of the spout remote from the principal cap in this type of closure. Such an auxiliary cap normally seals off the spout when in place upon the spout.

Such fixed spout closures have been manufactured from various different materials. When they have been manufactured from rigid material such as metal, sealing gaskets have been used in connection with them to prevent the problem of leakage. More recently such fixed spout closures have been commonly manufactured from various so-called plastic materials such as polyolefins so that the spout is integral with the principal cap. Closures manufactured out of such materials have normally included specialized sealing structures in the principal cap so as to avoid the necessity of the use of separate sealing gaskets.

Upon occasion such integrally formed plastic fixed spout closures have been formed with the auxiliary cap used with such closures attached to the base of the principal cap by a small strap, and have been formed with the end of the spout sealed by a type of plug or related struc ture. In use, closures of this type are manipulated so as to sever such a strap, releasing the auxiliary cap for use and are manipulated so as to sever the sealing means at the end of the spout, thus opening the spout. It is considered that these steps are disadvantageous from a practical point of view.

A severing operation as referred to in the preceding is best carried out using some sort of a sharp instrument such as a knife or a pair of scissors. Such instruments tend to be dangerous when employed by relatively small children. Further, as they are used they may result in the end of a spout being mutilated so as not to have a preferred configuration for use. When a strap such as indicated in the preceding is severed in some manners there is a certain amount of danger of the principal cap being loosened with respect to a container so that there is a danger of leakage between the principal cap and the container.

Summary of the invention An object of the present invention is to provide new and improved fixed spout closures which eliminate vari- 3,454,196 Patented July 8, 1969 ice ous dis-advantages and limitations of prior related structures such as are briefly indicated in the preceding discussion of the background of this invention. An object of this invention is to provide comparatively inexpensive, effective, reliable fixed spout closures formed from a plastic material such as a polyolefin. A further object of the present invention is to provide closures of this type in which the spout is initially sealed against leakage by a diaphragm, and in which the auxiliary cap can be used to break this diaphragm and to thereafter seal the end of the spout.

The invention concerns fixed spout closures, each having a principal cap, a spout formed integrally with the principal cap so as to extend from it, and an auxiliary cap adapted to fit over the end of the spout wherein the improvement comprises a breakable diaphragm extending across the interior of the spout so as to initially seal the spout, and a plug formed on the auxiliary cap so as to be capable of breaking the diaphragm so as to open the spout when the auxiliary cap is appropriately moved upon the end of the spout.

The foregoing brief summary does not indicate all of the details of a fixed spout closure of this invention, nor all of the advantages of such a closure. Various specific aspects of a fixed spout closure of this invention, many of which are considered to be of an inventive character, will be apparent from a study of the drawing and the remainder of this specification.

Description of the drawing In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a presently preferred embodiment of a fixed spout closure of this invention as it initially appears;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2', and FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing the relationship and orientation of certain parts of this closure after the closure has been used, a part of this figure being in elevation so as to more clearly indicate the nature of the preferred construction of this invention.

Description of the preferred embodiment In the various figures of the drawing, there is indicated a fixed spout closure 10 of this invention. This closure 10 has a principal cap 12 and an integrally formed, conical spout 14 which extends from the top 16 of the principal cap 12. Both the principal cap 12 and the spout 14 may be conveniently formed integrally with one another from various plastics by commonly used molding methods. Presently it is preferred to use a polyolefin such as linear polyethylene in forming the cap 12 and the spout 14, although other related materials having analogous or similar physical properties can be used.

The principal cap 12 can be formed in various different manners which are well known in the closure industry so as to facilitate the principal cap 12 being mounted in a sealed relationship upon a container such as the container 18 indicated by phantom lines in FIG. 1. The particular principal cap 12 illustrated has, in addition to top 16, a dependent cylindrical skirt 20 having internal threads 22 located within its interior. The exterior of the skirt 20 is provided with decorative grooves 24. These grooves 24 also serve to facilitate the complete closure 10 being located upon a container such as container 18 through the use of automatic capping equipment. In the principal cap '12 a dependent sealing flange 26 is formed integrally with the top 16 so as to extend generally towards the center region within the skirt 20. This flange 26 is designed so that as the threads 22 are tightened down upon a threaded neck 28 of the container such as container 18, the fiange 26 will engage the end of such neck, forming a seal.

The present invention relates to the construction and utilization of the portion of the spout 14 adjacent to the spout end 30 remote from the top 16 in conjunction with an auxiliary cap 32. The spout 14 is provided with an integral, internal diaphragm 34 adjacent to the end 30. This diaphragm 34 can be considered as a membrane having a thickness roughly corresponding to the thickness of a piece of bond paper or thin cardboard. Being of such thickness, the diaphragm 34 is easily broken, but it is still sufficiently strong physically to withstand the normal pressure of a fluid within a container such as container 18 without being broken. As opposed to this thickness of diaphragm 34, the remainder of the spout 14 and the principal cap 12 is of sufficient thickness so as to be self-supporting and so as to be substantially incapable of being broken during normal handling and use.

The dimensions of these parts necessary to achieve these characteristics will vary depending upon the type of polymer composition used in forming them. It is presently considered that the diaphragm 34 should be about .010 inch thick when the principal cap 12 and the spout 14 are formed of a material such as linear polyethylene, while the minimum wall thickness of the various other parts of this spout should be at least about inch, although greater wall thicknesses are preferred.

The auxiliary cap 32 may be formed of the same material as the remainder of the closure as an integrally formed part. The auxiliary cap 32 forming a part of the fixed spout closure has a top wall 36 which is slightly larger than the end 30 of the spout 14 and an integrally formed dependent skirt 38. This skirt 38 is tapered so that its internal wall 39 corresponds to the slope and configuration of the spout 14, but is spaced from this spout 14 a comparatively short distance when the auxiliary cap 32 is located upon the spout 14 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawing. The exterior of the skirt 38 may be provided with grooves 40 corresponding to and serving the same purpose as the grooves 24 previously described.

The top wall 36 carries a plug 42 which extends from this top wall 36 generally within the skirt 38. This plug 42 is located so as to extend along the axis of the skirt 38; it is provided with a conical base 44, a cylindrical section 46 extending from the base 44, and a conical section 48 extending from the section 46. This conical section 48 terminates in a rounded end 50' which, in effect, serves as a pointed end. This plug 42 is sufliciently thick so as to be capable of withstanding pressure without significant physical deformation. The entire length of the plug 42 is such that when the auxiliary cap 32 is mounted upon the spout 14 in an in use type of position, as shown in FIG. 4, the end 50 projects past the initial area occupied by the diaphragm 34, as indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing.

The complete closure 10 is normally supplied, for use on a container such as the container 18, with the diaphragm 34 unbroken, and with the auxiliary cap 32 accessible to be used upon the spout 14. When installed on a container such as container 18, the diaphragm 34 prevents any leakage through the spout 14. After shipment and handling, the auxiliary cap 32 may be used so as to open the complete closure 10. In such use, this auxiliary cap 32 is located over the end of the spout 14 and is pressed down on the spout 14 towards the principal cap 12. Moderate force applied in this manner causes the end 50 of the plug 42 to rupture or break the diaphragm 34. Upon removal of the auxiliary cap 32 material can then be dispensed through the spout 14.

Upon the auxiliary cap 32 being relocated upon the end 30 of the spout 14, the conical section 48 of the plug 42 will deform the ruptured diaphragm 34 as indicated in FIG. 4 so as to tend to form a seal with it. Also, at

this time the cylindrical section 46 of the plug 42 and the base 44 of this plug 42 will contact the interior of the end 30 of the spout 14 so as to, in effect, operate as a stopper. Thus, two areas of sealing are achieved. If one of these areas should for any reason leak, the other Will still operate to create a seal.

In the complete fixed spout closure 10 means are provided so that the auxiliary cap 32 can be locked into place on the spout 14 in either of two positions. These means include a series of equally spaced protuberances or ridgelike bumps 52 on the interior of the skirt 38 remote from the top wall 36. These protuberances 52 are dimensioned to slide in the spaces between bayonet-type sloping ridges 54 on the exterior of the spout 14 and then, upon the cap 32 being turned, to lock underneath these ridges 54 so as to hold the auxiliary cap 32 in place upon the spout 14.

It will be noted that there are two sets of ridges 54, each set lying in a separate plane perpendicular to the axis of the spout 14. The ridges 54 in each of these sets are equally spaced around the spout 14. When the auxiliary cap 32 is locked into place with respect to the uppermost set of ridges 54, that is, the ridges 54 most closely adjacent to the end 30, the auxiliary cap 32 is firmly secured in place so that the end 50 of the plug 42 does not deform or disrupt the diaphragm 34. When the protuberances 52 are secured under the other set of ridges 54, this plug 42 forms a seal as indicated in the preceding (and as indicated in FIG. 4). Prior to the diaphram 34 being broken the auxiliary cap 32 can be engaged with the other set of ridges 54 and twisted upon them in order to break this diaphram. It will be observed that, in effect, the protuberances 52 form one part of a bayonet-type connection, the other part of which can be either of the sets of ridges 54. With this construction, the auxiliary cap 32 can be locked in place for shipment, handling and the like prior to the complete closure 10 being opened by the diaphragm 34 being broken, and may also be locked in place so as to seal the spout 14 after this diaphragm 34 is broken.

The complete fixed spout closure 10 is considered to be a very efficient, simple, easily constructed device serving its intended purpose. Because of the nature of the closure of this invention, the invention is to be considered as being limited solely by the appended claims forming a part of this disclosure.

I claim:

1. A fixed spout closure having a principal cap which is capable of being attached to a container and a spout attached to said principal cap so as to extend therefrom, said closure also having an auxiliary cap for closing the end of said spout, said auxiliary cap having a peripheral skirt, wherein the improvement comprises:

an easily broken diaphragm extending across the interior of said spout,

said diaphragm being spaced from the end of said spout,

a plug means for breaking said diaphragm located within the interior of said auxiliary cap so as to extend into said spout when said auxiliary cap is located upon the end of said spout,

said plug means having a base and a conical section,

said base being located on the interior of said auxiliary cap and said conical section being the portion of said plug means remote from said auxiliary cap,

a plurality of bayonet-type connection means located within the interior of the skirt of said auxiliary cap, two separate sets of bayonet-type connection means located on the exterior of said spout,

said bayonet-type connection means on said auxiliary cap being capable of being engaged with either of said sets of bayonet-type connection means on said spout so as to lock said auxiliary cap in place with respect to said spout in either of two positions,

in one of said positions said auxiliary cap being held so that said plug means does not disrupt said diaphragm,

in the other of said positions said conical section extending through said diaphragm so as to form a seal therewith;

said diaphragm being capable of being ruptured by contact with said conical section when said auxiliary cap is moved from the first of said positions to the second of said positions.

2. A fixed spout closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

when said auxiliary cap is in said other of said positions in which said conical section form a seal with said diaphrams said base of said plug means engages the end of said spout so as to form a seal therewith.

3. A fixed spout closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said bayonet-type connection means on said auxiliary cap are protuberances and wherein said bayonet-type connection means of both of said sets on said spout are sloping ridges.

when said auxiliary cap is in said other of said positions in which said conical section forms a seal with said diaphragm said base of said plug means engages the end of said spout so as to form a seal therewith;

said bayonet-type connection means on said auxiliary cap are protuberances and wherein said bayonet-type connection means of both of said sets on said spout are sloping ridges.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,974,132 9/1934 Bennett 222552 X 2,596,415 5/1952 Kochner 222-541 2,771,218 11/1956 Henderson 222-541 X 3,282,478 11/ 1966 Russell 222-546 X SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

4. A fixed spout closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein: 20 22-541

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