Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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~3 ~a/S J~e ~5~
~ his invention relates to a closure Eor containers
for storing and dispensing moist tissues or the like ana
more particularly to a container closure adapted to maintain
the tissues in the container in a moist condition over a
long period. ~he tissues are stored in the container in
continuous rolled or folded length sui-tably perforated
at spaced transverse lines to provide separable tissues
of appropriate size~ Such con-tainers are referred to as
dispenser-containers hexeinafter.
Generally dispenser-containers have included an opening
in one wall of the container in the :Eorm of a straight or
cros.s shaped s].it through which tissues may be drawn~ A
problem with these prior art dispenser containers is that
a portion of tissue to be next extracted necessarily protrudes
through the slit opening and sometimes separates the edges of
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the slit to a considerable extent. This separation allows
some escape of the evaporable fluids with which the tissue
is impregnated in its moist state.
An object of the present invention, thereoxe, is to
S provide a closure for a dispenser-container that reduces
direct escape to atmvs~here of the evaporable moistening
fluids by comparison with conventional slit wall cQntainers.
The invention provides a closure for a dispenser-container
mouth comprising an inner and outer diaphragm each with an
opening therethrough completely out of register with each
other at least one of the diaphragms having a substantially
planar portion, a frusto conical wall portion extending from
one o~ the diaphragms in the direction of said planar portion
in the other of the diaphragms -to terminate in a free end
forming the opening in the diaphragm which is resiliently
sealed by the planar portion of the_other diaphxagm.
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The frustoconical wall portion can be in the outer
diaphragm, the frustum providing a recess in the top of
the diaphragm in which the free end of the next extracted
tissue can be contained and readily gripped between the
users fingers..
~ he frustoconical wall portion can be resilient, a
particularly good seal being achievable between the contact
zone rimming the opening at the free end of the frustum
and the other diaphragm.
~o minimise the risk of the frustoconical wall portion
being inverted in use the frustoconical wall portion is
preferably a frustum of an oblique cone.
~ he opening in a diaphragm can be provided with an
edge flange exte~ding along at least part of the edge of the
opening to mi~imise the risk of tearing the tissue as it
is pulled through the opening.
A convenient construction is to provide an inner
diaphragm adapted to snap engage the mouth of a container
and an outer diaphragm adapted to snap engage with the
;nner diaphragm. An external snap fitting cap can be
provided for covering the opening in the outer diaphragm
between uses to reduce the dr~ing up of the protrudiDg
free end of the next extracted tissue.
~ way of example an embodiment of the inven~ion will now
be described with reference to the accompanying drawings
in which~
~igure 1 is a plan view of a closure with the cap
in the open position, part of the outer diaphragm beIng
cut away to show the inner diaphragm;
~igure 2 is a partly sectioned side elevation of the
closure along the line II-II of ~igure 1 applied to a
container and with the cap closed, and
~igure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line
III-III of ~igure 1 and appears on the same sheet as that
35 view.
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~he illustrated closure is shown applied to -the mouth
of an open topped, tub-like container 4 having a detent
rib 5 around -the mouth.
The closure comprises a s-tiff or rigid inner diaphragm
5 6 which itself comprises a planar central portion 7 and a
char~el-shaped, circumferential flange structure8 having
an outer detent rib 9 and an inner detenk rib 10~ '~he
outer detent rib 9 snap fits over the de-tent rib 5 o f`
the mouth of container 4 so as to secure the diaphragm
thereto in hermetic engagement -therewith.
~he cen-tral portion 7 of diaphragm 6 has an opening
11 formed in it of more or less elliptical shape. ~he
curved edge of the opening 11 nearer to the center of the
diaphragm is defined by a downwardl~ directed flange 12
integral with the diaphragm~
An ou-ter diaphragm 13 is made of an elastomeric or
resilient plastics material~ The outer diaphragm has a
planar portion 14 from which a resilient frustoconical
wall portion 15 extends to terminate at the free end in an
elliptical opening 16 forming the opening through the
diaphragm 13 having a rim 17. The frustoconical por-tion
15 is a frustum of an oblique substantially elliptical cone
so that the inclined surface surrounding the opening 16
is of varying width from place to place about the periphery
of the openingO
The outer diaphragm 13 is secured in place by means
of a detent rim flange 18 having a detent rib 19 thereon
which snap ~its into the inner detent rib 10 of the flange
structure 8 the outer diaphragm.
When secured in posi-tion rela-tive to -the lnner diaphragm
-the rlm of -the opening 16 in the outer diaphragm resiliently
contac-ts the planar portion 7 of` the inner diaphragm, the
rim 17 of the opening f'orming the continuous contact zone
surrounding the opening 16 in only the outer diaphragrn and not
surro~mdirlg or o~erlapping the opening 11 in -the inner diaphragm.
~he resilient engagement of -the rim of the opening 16 with the
inner diaphragm forms a substa~tially hermetic seal of the
opening 16 to seal the container.
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An outer closure cap 20 is secured to the flange
structure 8 of the inner diaphragm by an integral hinge
21. '~he lid is a snap fit in the closed position with
the closure and presents not only a pleasing appearance
when the container is closed bu-t also fur-ther assists in
rendering the entire closure a herme-tic seal t'or the mouth
of the container.
In use -the container has a folded leng-th of -tissue
shee-t packed within it and may have a moistening fluid
which may be scented as desired, The tissue sheet is suitably
perforated at spaced apart transverse lines to provide
separable tissues of appropriate size.
~he free end of first tissue -to be extracted is
compressed and extended through the opening 11 in the inner
diaphragm and under the rim 17 of the opening 16 which is
completely out of register with the opening 11 to be held
thereby in pressure contact with the central planar portion
7 of diaphragm 6. The ~ree end o~ the length o~ tissue is
then disposed subs-tantially as shown in ~igure 3 in the
recess formed by the frustoconical wall portion 15 where
it can be readily gripped by the user. ~issues may be
withdrawn as desired by gripping the free end of the
tissue next to be extracted and pulling it awa~ from the
container through opening 16.
When a tissue is being withdrawn a portion of the
next tissue will be pulled under the rim 17 of opening
16 as a result of resilient deformation of the fructo-
conical portion of diaphragm 1~ before the first mentioned
tissue tears away, thus rendering the next tissue ready
for removal.
As the length of tissue enters the opening 11 in the
~ er diaphragm it rubs over the flange 12 a-t the edge of
the opening 11, the flange 12 guarding against the tissue
being torn against the relatively sharp edge of the opening
11 which would be presented to the tissue in the absence
of the ~lange 12.
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Pulling the tissue th~ough the opening 16 in the outer
diaphragm tends to cause -the frustoconical portion to
invert but this risk is reduced because the frustum is
that of an oblique cone.
Whilst dependant on the -thickness and compressibility
of the tissue~ and the resiliency of the diaphragm, the
closure provides an impro~ed sealing of the container to
minimise the e~aporation or drying out of the tissues~
~etween uses the sealing is further improved by closing
the cap 20.
Other embodiments of the invention are of course
possible in which a frus-toconical wall portion, resilient or
rigid, can be pro~ided o~ one or both of the diaphràgms.
When the frustoconical por-tion is rigid the necessary
resilience to obtain the desired seal can be obtained
either from resilience elsewhexe in the diaphragm or in
the other diaphragm. Subs-tartially flat diaphragms can be
used one or both of which may have contact ~ones surrounding
or rimming the openings
One or other of the diaphragms may ~e integral with
-the container closed thereby.
Closuresaccording to -the in~ention may be applied
to any form of container, including those of a pliable
or flexible nature.
