Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
BOTTLE-CAP AND POURING-FITMENT ASSEMBLY
BAC~GROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a bottle-cap and
pouring-fitment assembly having improved pouring,
sealing and other features.
Bottles for dispensing liquids are frequently
provided with a pouring-spout fitment located within
the neck of the bottle to improve the flow and to
prevent spilling and dripping of the contents. Such
fitments usually fit over and engage the edge of the
neck of the bottle and have a~ annular pouring lip.
Caps for such bottles are usually provided with
internal screw threads which engagé external screw
threads on the neck of the bottle.
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U. S. Patent No. 3,311,275 describes one
variety of such fitments wherein the fitment and
-the cap are separately assembled to a bottle, and
U. S. Patent No. 3,693,847 describes another
S variety wherein the fitment and the cap are
frictionally preassembled to each other, so that
a single operation can accomplish permanent
assembly of the fitment to the bottle and releasable
threaded assembly of the cap to the bottle.
Fitments of the character indicated extend
within the bottle neck and are particularly suited
for the dispensing of low-viscosity liquids, such
as alcoholic liquors. However, they inheren-tly
trap and therefore do not dispense a residual
~uantity of the bottle con-tents, and they are
inherently not suited for the dispensing of higher-
viscosity liquids, such as cooking or salad oils.
Furthermore, containers now used for such oils are
prone to rodent access, should a closure fail to be
properly replaced after a dispensing use.
BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide an
improved bottle-cap and pouring-fitment assembly of
the character indicated.
It is a specific object to meet the above
object for the case of bottles containing higher-
viscosity contents such an an oil of the character
indicated.
Another specific object is to provide anti-rodent
protection in a container of the character indicated.
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A general ohject is to achieve the above objects with
relatively simple, foolproof structure having superior pouring
and sealing properties, and having the ability to fully dis-
pense liquid contents of the bottle.
The invention achieves t,he foregoi.ng objects and other
features in a preassembled cap and fitment construction wherein
no part of the fitment extends within the bottle, but rather,
the pouring fitment is characterized by an upper tubular portion
with a pouring lip at its upper end and with a radially outward
seating flange at its lower end, the seating flange having
permanent-retention engagement with the upper en~ o~ th~! bottl~
neck. Integral interior formation~ of the cap include an innor
annular flange which has telescoping frictional engag~m~nt ~ith
the bore of the tubular port.ion o~ the fitment, and a stop-
~ abutment formation within the cap compresses the seating flange
`~ to the end of the bottle neck when the cap is in tight threaded
~ engagement with the bottle neck. A pattern of radial struts
,~ within the base end of the tubular portion of the fitment
~ provides enhanced stiffness to augment the frictional engagement
.~ 20 and to provide protection against rodent access to bottle con-
: tents, should the cap fail to have been replaced, by reasons of
carelessness.
' More particularly the invention provides a bottle cap
and pouring fitment assembly, comprising a bottle cap having a
top web and an outer annular flange depending therefrom, said
flange having inner thread formations for selective engagement
to an externally threaded bottle, inner and intermediate integral
annular flanges depending from said web in radially spaced
concentric relation with the axis of the thread formations of
said outer flange; a pouring fitment comprising an upper tubular
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portion having a radially outward pouring lip at its upper end
and a radially outward seating flange at its lower end, an
outer annular skirt depending from the ou-ter edge of said seat-
ing flange and having an inner bead formation for self-retained
engagement over an externally beaded end of the bottle, -the
outer diameter of said outer annular skirt hav:ing radial clear-
ance with the outer annular flange of said cap, and angularly
spaced radial-strut formations within the :lower end of said
tubular portion; the upper tubular portion of the fitment being
received in the space between said inner and intermediate
flanges of the capl the external surace of said inner flange
of the cap having frictional telescoping engagement with the
inner surface of the upper tubular portion of the fitment
throughout the extent o its axial overlap therewith, and the
respective axial lengths o said inner and intermediate flanges
being such that direct circumferentially continuous axial
abutment of said intermediate flange with said seating flange
will limit threaded advance of the cap to the bottle prior to
axial abutment of said inner flange with said radial-strut
formations.
DETAILED_DESCRIPTION
The invention will be described for a preferred form,
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
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Fig. 1 is an enlarged view in elevation of a cap
and fitment of the invention in secured relation to a
threaded bottle neck, the view being partly broken and
in longitudinal section to reveal coacting elements;
Fig. 2 is a.vertical sectional view of the cap of
Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the fitment
of Fig. l;
Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the fitment of Fig. 3,
the sectional line of Fig. 3 being shown at 3-3 in
Fig. 4;
Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view, similar to the
sectional portiorl of Fig. 1, to show a modification;
and
Fig. 5A is an enlarged fragmen-tary sec-tional view
to show greater detail for a part of Fig. S.
In Fig. 1, a cap 10 has an in-ternally threaded
outer flange or skirt 11 securely engaged to an external
thread 12 on the neck 13 of a bottle 14. The threaded
advance of this engagement is limited by a direct circum-
ferentially continuous axial abutment, involving compres-
sion of a radially outward seating flange 15 of a fitment
16; the compression is between the upper axial end of
bottle 14 and an abutment-stop formation }7 which is an
integral inner part of cap 10.
More specifically, and referring additionally to
Fig. 2, the abutment-stop formation 17 is shown as an
annular flange integrally formed with and depending from
the web 18 which defines the upper closure wall of cap 10.
Another annular flange 19 depends integrally from web 18,
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in radially spaced relation within flange 17, both
flanges 17 and l9 being concentric wi.th the axis of the
helix of the thread formation in skirt ll.
Further specifically, and referring addition-
ally to Figs. 3 and 4, the fi-tment 16 is seen to
comprise an outer dependent integral skirt 20 with
an internal bead formation 21 which has self-retain-
ing engagement over a circumferential end bead 22
(Fig. 1) of the bottle neck 13. Fitment 16 further
integrally includes an upper tubular portion 23
which projects upwardly from the seating flange 15
and which has a circumferentially continuous drip-
resis-tant outward lip 24 at its upper end. As seen
in Fig. ]., the radial width of lip 24 ma~ be less
than the space between cap flanges 17-l9, but the
outer surface of flange 19 and the inner surface of
:~ tubular portion 23 have frictional telescoping engage-
ment. Preferably, these frictionally engaging surfaces
are slightly tapered, the inner telescope surface of
tubular portion 23 being convergent downward, and the
outer telescope surface of inner flange 19 being also
convergent downward; the dimensions and proportions
of these tapers are such that frictional engagement
develops with increasing magnitude in the course of
flange l9 entry into tubular portion 23.
Still further, the fitment 16 is shown to
comprise a pattern of angularly spaced integral radial
struts 25 at the base or seating end of tubular portion
23. The nature of the pattern and the number of struts
25 will depend on the size of the openings defined
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therebetween, but the openings are large enough
to permit proper flow of dispensed liquid, yet
small enough to deny rodent access. Preerably,
the axial extent ~ of struts 25 exeeds the thick-
ness of seating flange 15 so that struts 25 mayprovide a degree of enhanced stiffening of the
base end of tubular portion 23, thereby improving
the permanence and reliability of the described
frictional engagement.
E'inally! the upper surface of seating flange
15 is shown with an integral circumferentially
continuous axially upward ridge 26 withi~ the locus
of radial register with the intermediate or abutment
flan~e 17. This ridge 26 will be understood to be
sufficiently yieldable under compression Erom flange
17 that both secure torsional friction and circum-
ferentially continuous seal action are there developed,
when cap 10 is in secured position on neck 13. It
will be understood that in this secured relation, the
relative axial extents of flanges 17 and 19 will
assure direct axial compression only via 1ange 17,
with flange 19 having preferably no contact with
struts 25.
It will be understood that proper coaction of
parts 10-16 requires a cer-tain difference in their
stiffness or compliance properties. Preferably each
of these parts is a single product of injection
molding of plastic. And present preference is for
the use of polypropylene, the stiffer material, for
cap 10, and for the use of polyethylene, the more
yieldable material, for fitment 16.
In practice, the parts 10 and 16 are separately molded
in production quantity, and they are preassembled with retained
frictional engagement at telescoped overlap of formations 19
and 23. Each such preassembly is applied to the neck of a filled
bottle by conventional handling machinery with capability of
imparting threaded engagement, such manipu]ation being favoured
by the downwardly divergent taper shown for cap s`.~irt 11 and
by the flutings shown on the outer surface of shirt 11. At
conclusion of the threaded advance, bead 21 will have snapped
over the neck bead 22, to establish permanently retained
assembly of fitment 16 to neck 13; as is apparent from Figure 1,
a radial clearance exists between the outer diame-ter of -the
skirt 20 and the base of cap skirt 11, thus permit-ting the
transient deformation involved in itment bead 21 snapping over
the neck bead 22. Thereafter, cap unthreading disengages the
cap from the fitment, and liquid contents are dispensed without
drip, via lip 24. To recap the bottle, inner flange 19 develops
first a liquid-clearing and circumferentially spreading wipe
action with the outer end of tubular portion 23, and as the
telescoping fit progresses so also does the degree of mutual
compression and sealing effectiveness between these wiping
surfaces. ~nd even if a drop of liquid should remain at lip 24
in the course of completing a closure, the direct compressional
abutment at 17-26 assures against leakage. It should also be
observed that since intermediate flange 17 provides a dam against
loss of such liquid as may have adhered to walls of the inner
volume defined by flange 19; this of course assumes the un-
likely event that the bottle 14 was stored on its side until just
before use, and it further assumes that cap 10 was placed upside
down (i.e., web-side down) while dispensing liquid contents.
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Since no part of the fitment 16 extends wi-thin
the bo-ttle neck, there is no way ~o trap undispensed
liquid. Therefore the described construction enables
ull dispensing of bottle contents.
While the irivention has been descr:Lbed in detail
for a preferred form, it will be understood that modi-
fications may be ~ade without departing from the scope
of the invention. For example, and as shown specifi-
cally in Figs. 5 and 5A, the flange 17 which is an
integral part of the cap 10 (of stiffer material) may
be integrally formed at its lower end face wi-th two
concentric downwardly projecting ribs 17, radially
spaced to the extent ~R, and having circumerentially
extending indenting contact with the flat upper surface
lS o the seating ~lange 15 of fitment 16 (o~ the more
yieldable material). The thickness of the flange 17
of Fig. 5 should be sufficient for spacing ~ R to
enable such self-stabilizing axial loading of the double
seal at ribs 17' that no leakage can occur, for a closed
and filled container. As shown in Fig. 5A, the preferred
contouring of ribs 17' is as convergent cones at +
approximately 45 to the longitudinal axis of the closure,
and having a gently rounded apex at the region of rib (17')
contact with the seating flange 15; for a household-size
container closure, the axial extent of ribs 17' may be in
the order of 0.005 inch, and the rounded apex in each case
may be of 0.002 inch radius.
