Bottles and jars – Closures – With means to facilitate closure removal
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-13
2001-10-30
Newhouse, Nathan J. (Department: 3727)
Bottles and jars
Closures
With means to facilitate closure removal
C215S253000, C215S254000, C220S229000, C141S351000, C141S364000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308849
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field
The subject invention is in the field of caps for containers for liquids, particularly caps for bottles which contain drinkable liquids and which are inverted when being installed on and removed from dispensers specifically designed to accommodate such containers. A typical and preferred container has a neck which, when the container is inverted fits into an opening in the top of the dispenser. A capped tube, known as a probe or liquid supply tube is part of the dispenser and, when a container is installed in the dispenser, extends upward into the neck of the container. Caps are commercially available for use on the necks of such containers to limit leakage while the container is being installed on and removed from the dispenser. Such caps have an outer cylindrical portion, which fits snugly over the neck and holds the cap in place and an inner cylindrical portion which engages the probe. The free end of the inner cylindrical portion is made closed, is opened as the probe passes through the inner cylindrical portion and closes again when the probe is removed from the inner cylindrical portion when the container is removed from the dispenser. The subject invention is an improved configuration of the opening/closing end of the inner cylinder of the type of cap described.
2. Prior Art
There are two basic types of caps made for the purpose described above: two part caps as typified by the cap described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,939, Hidding et al and one part caps as typified by the cap described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,867, Lamoureux. The subject cap is a one-piece cap and the Lamoureux patent is the closest known prior art to the subject invention. The free end of the inner cylinder of the Lamoureux cap is conical and frangible and projects out of the inner cylinder, termed the guiding portion in that patent. The Lamoureux end projects in the direction in which the probe moves through it when a container is installed on a dispenser. Experience has shown that the Lamoureux cap does not close as consistently and reliably as desired and allows tolerable but undesired leakage when a container still containing some liquid is removed from a dispenser. Accordingly, the primary objective of the subject invention is to provide, for containers used on drinking water dispensers, a cap having improved sealing capability when the container is removed from a dispenser.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention is a cap for containers used on drinking water dispensers. The cap prevents leakage when the container is being installed on and removed from a dispenser. The cup has the basic shape of a cylindrical cup and has an inner cylindrical portion extending into the cap from the closed end. The cylindrical wall of the cup is sized and shaped to fit on the neck of a container and engage features on the neck to hold the cap securely In place on the container. The inner cylinder is sized to fit closely on the probe of a liquid dispenser and its free end (i.e. its end away from the closed end of the cap) is closed off by a frangible portion and the subject invention lies in the configuration of the frangible portion. The frangible portion comprises a flat rim, a first frusto-conical portion extending into the cylindrical portion, a second rim, a second frusto-conical portion extending into the first frusto-conical portion and an end. There are radial grooves in the frangible portion so that when it is broken open by contact with the probe of a dispenser it breaks predictably into a plurality of petals. The frangible portion is turned “inside out” when the probe extends through the cap and into the container. When the container is removed, the retraction of the probe from the cap tends to restore the frangible portion to its “right side out” configuration. However, the restoration is partial, with the petals pressed firmly against each other, providing a reliable, consistent seal. The partially restored petals tend to lie in a plane but bulge somewhat toward the container. The result of this is that the static pressure of liquid remaining in the container increases the contact pressures between the petals, reinforcing the sealing.
The invention is described in more detail below with reference to the attached drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4022258 (1977-05-01), Steidley
patent: 4874023 (1989-10-01), Ulm
patent: 5259534 (1993-11-01), Lynd
patent: 5687867 (1997-11-01), Lamoureux
patent: 5937921 (1999-08-01), Guglielmini
Jenny Robert W.
Newhouse Nathan J.
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