Dispensing – Plural sources – compartment – containers and/or spaced jacket – Three or more diverse sources
Patent
1992-06-02
1994-09-13
Skaggs, H. Grant
Dispensing
Plural sources, compartment, containers and/or spaced jacket
Three or more diverse sources
222484, 222566, 222546, 222562, B67D 560
Patent
active
053460979
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a dispensing container having multiple compartments.
There are numerous applications in which a multi-compartment container would be useful to dispense different components of a mixed product simultaneously. For instance, German patent document DE 3220693A discloses a two-compartment bottle which is designed to dispense different liquid components of a mixed drink in a single pour.
In some cases, it would be desirable with such a multi-compartment container to prevent any mixing of the components stored in the different compartments until such time as they are actually dispensed into a receiving vessel. This would be particularly so where the components are intended to react with one another, physically or chemically, to produce a required mixed product. In the case of the German specification referred to above, the pouring necks of the two compartments are separated from one another solely by a common dividing wall and there is a strong possibility of one component contaminating the other at the neck during pouring and even thereafter as the bottle is righted again and drops of liquid at the mouth flow back, possibly into the wrong compartment.
The present invention provides a dispensing container which includes:
a) a moulded bottle formed in one piece and comprising at least two distinct compartments for accommodating different fluent materials, each compartment having an outlet at an operatively upper end thereof, the compartments having equal total volumes and also having equal cross-sectional areas at each level of the bottle;
b) a pouring spout communicating with each of the compartment outlets, the pouring spouts being spaced apart from one another with the centres of the pouring spouts lying on an imaginary straight line, each pouring spout being defined by a continuous circumscribing wall which is spaced apart from the circumscribing wall of any other pouring spout not shared by any other pouring spout; and
c) a single cap dimensioned to fit onto the operatively upper end of the bottle and having sealing means for sealing all the pouring spouts simultaneously when so fitted; and the design of the spout and bottle being such that when the cap is removed and the bottle is tilted away from an upright orientation with the imaginary straight line remaining horizontal, the contents of the compartments are dispensed simultaneously at equal flow rates and in distinct streams, from the compartments, without cross-contamination between adjacent streams, and when the bottle is thereafter returned to an upright orientation, fluent material originating from one compartments is prevented from flowing back into any other compartment and cross-contamination of the compartments is avoided characterised in that the container further includes:
d) an air vent associated with each compartment outlet which is also sealed by the cap when the cap is fitted onto the operatively upper end of the bottle; and furthermore wherein the provision of an air vent for each compartment outlet allowing air to enter each compartment as the contents of the compartments are dispensed, thereby ensuring that the contents of the compartments are dispensed smoothly in their distinct streams.
Preferably, the pouring spouts are directional pouring spouts. The pouring spouts may be provided by a one-piece spout member fitted to the outlets of the compartments. Alternatively, the pouring spouts are provided by a member fitted to the operatively upper end of the bottle and the cap is a flip-top cap formed in one piece with the member and joined to the member at a live hinge. In yet another alternative, the pouring spouts are formed in one piece with the bottle.
The bottle in one embodiment has three compartments each for accommodating a different fluent material. In this case, the bottle may have a central compartment and two outer compartments symmetrically arranged on opposite sides of the central compartment, the central compartment having a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape over at least a part of the heig
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patent: 3729553 (1973-04-01), Gold et al.
patent: 4148417 (1979-04-01), Simmons
Gay Clive H.
Melland Tristan G.
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