Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to closures and has been
developed primarily for use with collapsible dispensing tubes
or other containers. Although the invention will be
described hereinafter with reference to dispensing tubes, it
will be appreciated that it is not limited to this particular
field of use. It may, ~or example, also be applied to other
forms of containers such as cans or drums.
With known tube closures, dif~iculties are encountered
in resealing the tube after use. The tube contents
frequently adhere to the container necX and closure causing
an unsightly build-up of deposits which interfere with the
closure and often result in contamination of the product~
Hinged, snap-locking closures have been used but these
also leave deposits adjacent the tube or container neck.
Furthermore, the hinged closure interferes with dispensing,
is difficult to construct and relies on the flexing of a
plastics hinge which is then subject to fatigue failure.
~hese closures are often difficult to assemble onto the
container during automatic processing.
Pressure activated, automatic resealing closures have
also been proposed but these have been found to be expensive
to cons-truct and unsatisfactory in service.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
closure which does not re~uire a removable cap and where the
dispensing nozzle is concealed when not in use.
According to the invention there is provided a container
closure comprising a body adapted for attachment to a
container mouth and including an inlet passag
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communication with s~id ~outh, a cap attached to said bod~
or rotation about an axis, said cap llaving a top wall and a
side wall, said side wall including a gate aperture therein,
a closure element including an inlet port, a dispensing
nozzle and a dispensing passage extending from said inlet
port to said dispensing noz~le, said element being restrained
by said body so as to be slidable with respect thereto along
a path be~ween a dispensing and a closed position, thereby to
bring said inlet port into dispensing register with said
inlet passage when in said dispensing position and to move
said inlet port away from said inlet passage, thereby to
close said inlet passage when in said closed position, said
cap being rotatable between a first position wherein said
gate aperture is in dispensing register with said nozzle and
,
a second p~sition wherein said gate aperture is out of
dispensing register with said nozzle, said cap and element
being mutually engaged to permit only simultaneous movement
such that said first position of said cap corresponds with
said dispensing position of said element and said second
position of said cap corresponds with said closed position of
said element and said path being defined by mutually
interengaging parallel formations on said element and said body,
thereby to lock said element to said body against mutual
separation under the effects of pressure from within said
container.
Three preferred embodiments of the invention will now be
described, by way of example only, with reference to the
accompanyiny drawings in which:
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Figure 1 is a plan view of the first embodiment of the
closure according to the invention, shown in the closed
position.
Figure 2 is a sectional side elevation of the first
closure taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.
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Figu~e 3 is a plan view of the first closure, similar to
Figure 1 but illustrating the closure in the open or
dispensing position.
Figure 4 is a sectional side elevation of the first
closure taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a sectional side elevation of the first
closure taken on line 5-5 of Figure 2.
Figure 6 is a plan view of the second embodiment of the
closure according to the invention, shown in the closed
position.
Figure 7 is a plan view of the second closure, similar
to Figure 6 but illustrating the closure in the open or
aispensing position.
Figure 8 is a sectional side elevation of the second
closure, taken on line 8-8 of Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a sectional side elevation of a closure
similar to Figure 8 but illustrating a different means of
connectin~ the closure to the container.
Figure 10 is a plan view of the third embodiment o the
closure according to the invention, shown in the closed
position.
Figure 11 is a plan view of the third embodiment of the
closure, similar to Figure 10 but illustrating the closure in
the open or dispensing position.
Figure 12 is a sectional side elevation of the third
closure, taken on line 12-12 of Figure 11.
The operation of the three embodiments is basically
similar and, wherever possible, corresponding reference
numerals have been used for ease of description.
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Referring to the drawings, the closure in all three
cases includes a body 1 ada~ted for attachment to a container
such as a plastics or extruded aluminium dispensing tube or
can (not shown). The body can be attached to the container
by any suitable means such as by an internally screw-threaded
sleeve 2 (see Figures 8 and 9) arranged to screw onto an
externally threaded tube neck piece, or the body may include
a peripheral flange or other attachment device for securing
the closure to a laminated tube. Again, the body may include
a snap-locking feature which locks the body onto
complimentary formations on the container.
The body 1 is provided with a peripheral groove 3 for
snap-locking engagement with a complimentary peripheral rib 4
on a rotatable cap 5, thereby permitting the cap to rotate
about an axis 6.
A separate closure element 7 is transversely slideable
with r0spect to the body 1 along a path 8 between a closed
configuration as illustrated in figures 1, 2, 5, 6 and 10 and
an open configuration as shown in igures 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11
and 12.
The body 1 includes an inlet passage 9 which
communicates with the contents of the container. In the
closed configuration, this inlet passage is sealed by the
lower wall lO of the closure element 7. In the open
configuration, a downwardly opening inlet port 11 in
theclosure element is brought into dispensing register with
the inlet passage 9 so that the material to be dispensed can
flow out o the container through the inlet passage 9, then
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through the inlet port 11 into a dispensing passage 12 in the
closure element, terminating in a dispensing nozzle 13. The
passayes 9, 11 and 12 may, of course, have any desired
cross-sectional shape.
In the case of the first embodiment of Figures 1 to 5,
the direction 14 of the path 8 is inclined with respect to
the axis 6. It is also identical to the direction 15 of the
dispensing passage 12. With the second and third embodiments
of Figures 6 to 9 and 10 to 12 respectively, the direction 15
of the dispensing passage is inclined with respect to the
direction 14 of the path ~3.
In the case of the first and second embodiments, sliding
movement of the closure element 7 is effected by a
finger-grip portion 16~which projects upwardly from the
closure element, through a camming aperture 17 formed in the
top wall 19 of the cap 5.
In the first embodiment of Figures 1 to 5, it will be
noted that the camming aperture 17 is substantially L-shaped
in form, whereas in the second embodiment of Figures 6 to 9,
the cammin~ aperture is linear. In both cases, as finger
pressure against the finger-grip portion 16 moves the closure
element from the closed position of Figures 1 and 6 towards
the open position of Figures 4 and 7, the camming action of
the finger-grip portion against the side walls of the camming
aperture 17 causes the cap 5 to rotate such that a gate
aperture 20 formed in the side wall 21 of the cap 5 is
brought into dispensing register with the nozzle 13. This
enables the dispensing nozzle 13 to pro~ect through the gate
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aperture 20 and slightly beyond the cap in the open
configuration shown in figures 3 and 7. It will be observed
that the opening direction of cap rotation is clockwise in
the case of the first embodiment and anti-clockwise with the
second.
To seal the closure, the finger grip portion is pushed
in the opposite direction, causing the closure element to
retract and, in so doing, to rotate the cap in the reverse
direction such that the dispensing nozzle 13 is concealed by
the cap. It will be observed that the geometry o the
illustrated arrangement is such that the gate aperture 20 is
brought into its operative dispensing position ahead of the
arrival of the closure element such that mini~al clearance is
required to permit the dispensing nozæle to protrude through
the gate aperture.
As best shown in figure 2, the closed configuration is
defined when the rearmost wall 22 o the closure element 7
comes into contact with the adjacent inner surface 23 of the
cap side wall 21. The open position is defined when the
leading face 2~ of the finger grip portion 16 comes into
contact with an opposing ace 25 on the body. In the closed
configuration, the gate aperture 20 is sealed against an
adjacent wall 26 on the body 2.
The operation of the second embodiment is essentially
similar to that of the first emboaiment except that it will
be observed that ~ovement of the closure eIement from the
closed to the open position causes the cap 4 to rotate in an
anti-clockwise direction. As in the case of the first
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embodiment, the closed configuration as shown in Figure 6 is
defined when the rearmost wall 22 of the closure element
comes into contact with the adjacent inner wall 23 of the
cap. The open position of Figure 7 is defined when the
forward face 27 of the closure element comes into contact
with the inner wall 28 of the body.
It will be observed from Figure 8 that the closure
element 7 includes an enlarged head portion 29 closely
adjacent the undersurface 30 of the cap top wall 19. The
enlarged head portion 29 serves to seal the camming aperture
17.
The sliding path 8 of the closure element in the second
and third embodiments is defined by a pair of outwardly
directed parallel rail flanges 31 formed on the body 1 and
engaged by a corresponding pair of inwardly directed grooves
32 on the closure element.
The operation of the third embodiment illustrated in
Figures 10 to 12 is basically similar to that of the first
two except that in this instance, instead of movement of the
closure element causing rotation of the cap, the reverse is
true. In this embodiment, the closure is operated by rotating
the cap ~hich then causes the closure element to slide
between the closed and dispensing positions.
Sliding movement of the closure element 7 is effected by
a cam follower pin 33 which projects upwardly from the
closure element into engagement with a camming recess 17
defined by flanges 34 extending downwardly from beneath the
top wall 19 of the cap 5.
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In order to move the closure from the closed to the open
confiyuration, the cap is rotated in a counter-clockwise
direction from the position shown in Figure 10 until the
dispensin~ position of Figure 11 is reached. Clockwise
rotation of the cap will then return the closure element to
the closed position of Figure 10. Apart from this
modification, the structure of the third embodiment is
virtually identical with the second.
Although the invention has been described with reference
to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled
in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other
forms.
