Special receptacle or package – Combined or convertible – Packaged assemblage or kit
Patent
1999-10-01
2000-12-26
Fidei, David T.
Special receptacle or package
Combined or convertible
Packaged assemblage or kit
215 48, 215 49, 215399, B65D 6900
Patent
active
061644501
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bottle, particularly to a bottle useful for medical appliances such as eyewash bottles, and to a container adapted to hold such bottles.
2. Prior Art
Previous designs of eyewash dispensers for emergency or first aid use generally comprise squeezable wash bottles which are located in an easily-accessible container or eyewash station. The eyewash bottles are filled with sterile saline or other sterile liquid suitable for irrigating the eye(s) of a patient during treatment. The eyewash bottle is designed for single use only and generally bears instructions to discard any used or opened bottles, including any excess liquid contained therein. However, despite such warnings, it is frequent practice for open and partially used eyewash bottles to be replaced in the container. The remaining contents of an opened eyewash bottle are of course no longer sterile and can become infected, thereby constituting a medical hazard for subsequent users.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a non-resealable bottle wherein said bottle has a head portion which is located within a cap, and whereby twisting of said cap relative to said bottle causes twisting and at least partial removal of said head portion thereby opening said bottle.
An important preferred feature of the bottle is that once the cap has been twisted to move the head portion and open the bottle, the head portion and the cap cannot be re-applied to the bottle. Preferably, in this regard, the cap has a slot or channel into which the head portion fits. Optionally the head portion fits tightly into the slot or channel and is retained therein by friction thereby holding the cap onto the bottle.
Alternatively, the cap may be designed to snap onto the bottle; the inner surface of the cap and outer surface of the neck of the bottle having suitable co-operating ridges and/or indentations to produce a snap fit. Thus, twisting the cap relative to the bottle also twists the head portion of the bottle, preferably removing it entirely from the bottle, and preventing reattachment of the cap to the bottle since there is no means of reattaching the head portion to the remainder of the bottle.
The cap is not generally responsible for sealing the bottle as usually the bottle is sealed by the head portion and is opened once the head portion is removed from the bottle.
The present invention also provides a container for a non-resealable bottle, the container having means to support the bottle by a portion which is attached to the unopened bottle but is removed therefrom when the bottle is opened.
The bottle may be described as above. Conveniently, the portion Consists of a projection or lip on the cap of the unopened bottle which engages a support means on the container. Thus, since twisting the cap to open the bottle prevents the cap being reapplied to the bottle, once the bottle is opened it cannot be properly re-located in the container.
Alternatively, the head of the bottle may be moulded to include the projection or lip; the bottle being opened by simply snapping the head off from the bottle.
Alternatively, the container may comprise a cap-like portion able to engage with the head of the bottle as previously described. In this embodiment the cap-like portion forms an integral part of the container but may be rotatable and/or detachable to facilitate easy removal of a detached head portion of an opened bottle. In this embodiment the cap-like portion of the container can be considered to be the "support means" referred to above.
Without the co-operation of the bottle portion and the support means of the container, the bottle cannot be held correctly in the container. Generally therefore the container and/or the bottle are shaped so that the bottle cannot be simply stood up on the lower surface of the container. Thus, for example, the non-capped end of the bottle may be rounded and/or the lower surface of the container may be rounded (i.e scoop shaped)
REFERENCES:
patent: 363690 (1887-05-01), Sleeper
patent: 512101 (1894-01-01), Eastes
patent: 1512981 (1924-10-01), Gordon
patent: 4509639 (1985-04-01), Thompson
patent: 4620638 (1986-11-01), Schmidt
patent: 4740206 (1988-04-01), Allander
patent: 4881283 (1989-11-01), Liautaud
patent: 4928830 (1990-05-01), Brewer
patent: 5158213 (1992-10-01), Latraix
patent: 5203838 (1993-04-01), Schneider
patent: 5228593 (1993-07-01), O'Meara
patent: 5878900 (1999-03-01), Hansen
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