U.S. patent application number 10/644444 was filed with the patent office on 2005-02-24 for measuring cup and cap for liquid dispensing package.
Invention is credited to Darr, Richard C..
Application Number | 20050039821 10/644444 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34080756 |
Filed Date | 2005-02-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050039821 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Darr, Richard C. |
February 24, 2005 |
MEASURING CUP AND CAP FOR LIQUID DISPENSING PACKAGE
Abstract
A measuring cup adapted to serve as a closure for a package for
liquids and a package for liquids including a container, a
transition collar and a measuring cup adapted to serve as a
closure. The measuring cup has a closed base and an open mouth,
with an upper wall portion surrounding said open mouth. A side wall
portion extends between the closed base and upper wall, wherein the
side wall is disposed outwardly of the upper wall to provide an
increased volume measuring cup.
Inventors: |
Darr, Richard C.; (Medina,
OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROBERT H. BACHMAN
59 Richard Sweet Drive
Woodbridge
CT
06525
US
|
Family ID: |
34080756 |
Appl. No.: |
10/644444 |
Filed: |
August 20, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
141/381 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 41/26 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
141/381 |
International
Class: |
B65B 001/04 |
Claims
1-18. (CANCELED)
19. A measuring cup adapted to serve as a closure for a package,
which comprises: a closed base and an open mouth, with a
substantially straight upper wall portion surrounding said open
mouth and oriented at an angle of substantially 90.degree. with
respect to said closed base; fastening means formed on the external
surface of said upper wall; a substantially straight side wall
portion extending between the closed base and upper wall and
oriented at an angle of substantially 90.degree. with respect to
said closed base, with an outwardly extending connecting wall
portion connecting said side wall and upper wall, said connecting
wall being outwardly oriented with respect to said upper wall at an
angle of less than 90.degree., whereby the side wall is disposed
outwardly of the upper wall in a substantially straight line
between the upper wall and closed base to provide an increased
volume measuring cup without increasing the height of the measuring
cup.
20. A measuring cup according to claim 19, wherein the side wall
portion has a greater length than the length of the upper wall
portion and connecting wall portion combined.
21. A measuring cup according to claim 20, including an outwardly
extending shoulder on the upper wall portion located between the
fastening means and connecting wall portion.
22. A measuring cup according to claim 20, wherein said fastening
means comprise a threaded portion which surrounds said open
mouth.
23. A measuring cup according to claim 20, wherein said angle of
the connecting wall is from 5.degree. to 45.degree..
24. A measuring cup according to claim 20, including an angled wall
portion connecting said closed base and side wall portion.
25. A measuring cup according to claim 20, including longitudinal
striations on the external surface of said side wall portion.
26. A measuring cup according to claim 24, including longitudinal
striations on the external surface of said angled wall portion and
side wall portion.
27. A measuring cup according to claim 20, wherein said measuring
cup is blow molded.
28. A measuring cup according to claim 20, wherein the side wall is
disposed outwardly of the upper wall portion to provide an
increased volume measuring cup without increasing the size of the
upper wall portion.
29. An improved package for liquids, which comprises: a container
for housing a liquid having an upwardly extending finish provided
with a dispensing orifice; a transition collar mounted on the
exterior of said container finish, said collar having an outwardly
projecting pouring spout and a circumscribing wall, wherein the
pouring spout extends above the circumscribing wall; a measuring
cup adapted to serve as a closure for said package, including a
closed base and an open mouth, with a substantially straight upper
wall portion surrounding said open mouth and oriented at an angle
of substantially 90.degree. with respect to said closed base,
fastening means formed on the external surface of said upper wall,
and a substantially straight side wall portion extending between
the closed base and upper wall and oriented at an angle of
substantially 90.degree. with respect to said closed base, with an
outwardly extending connecting wall portion connecting said side
wall and upper wall, said connecting wall being outwardly oriented
with respect to said upper wall at an angle of less than
90.degree., whereby the side wall is disposed outwardly of the
upper wall in a substantially straight line between the upper wall
and closed base to provide an increased volume measuring cup
without increasing the height of the measuring cup.
30. An improved package according to claim 29, wherein the side
wall portion of said measuring cup has a greater length than the
length of the upper wall and connecting wall portions of said
measuring cup combined.
31. An improved package according to claim 30, wherein said angle
of the connecting wall is from 5.degree. to 45.degree..
32. An improved package according to claim 30, wherein said
measuring cup includes an angled wall portion connecting said
closed base and side wall portion.
33. An improved package according to claim 30, including
longitudinal striations on the external surface of the side wall
portion of the measuring cup.
34. An improved package according to claim 32, including
longitudinal striations on the external surface of said angled wall
and side wall portions of said measuring cup.
35. An improved package according to claim 30, wherein said
measuring cup is blow molded.
36. An improved package according to claim 30, wherein said
transition collar includes a drain back shoulder having a frusto
conically configured upper surface, an inclined drain back
partition and vent hole.
37. An improved package according to claim 36, wherein said
container includes a hand hold means, and wherein said vent hole is
generally radially aligned with said hand hold means when the
transition collar is tightened onto the container.
38. An improved package according to claim 30, wherein the pouring
spout is spaced from and extends above the circumscribing wall of
the transition collar, is coaxial with the circumscribing wall of
the transition collar, and the height of the pouring spout is sized
to fit within the measuring cup when the measuring cup is disposed
as a closure.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to an improved measuring cup
adapted to serve as a closure for liquid products and a package for
liquids including the measuring cup.
[0002] Considerable effort has been directed to packages for
liquids including a container housing the liquid, a transition
collar having a pouring spout mounted on the container outlet, and
a measuring cup which serves as a closure for the container. For
example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,862 shows a liquid product pouring and
measuring package having a measuring cup which also serves as the
closure for the package. The package includes a container including
a container body with an upwardly extending finish and a dispensing
orifice. A transition collar is mounted on the container finish and
has a pouring spout and a circumscribing wall with fastening means
on its interior surface. A measuring cup serves as a closure for
the package and includes outwardly disposed fastening means adapted
to mate with the inwardly facing fastening means on the transition
collar to attach the measuring cup in the inverted position to the
transition collar and thereby provide a closure for the
package.
[0003] However, it would be desirable to provide an improved
package including the container, transition collar and measuring
cup, and an improved measuring cup for use with said package, with
the measuring cup having a more versatile configuration.
[0004] It is therefore a principal object of the present invention
to provide an improved package for liquids including a container
for housing liquids, a transition collar having a pouring spout
mounted on the container outlet, and a measuring cup which serves
as a closure for the container.
[0005] It is also a principal object of the present invention to
provide an improved measuring cup which serves as a closure for a
container-transition collar combination as aforesaid.
[0006] Further objects and advantages of the present invention will
appear hereinbelow.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In accordance with the present invention the foregoing
objects and advantages are readily obtained.
[0008] The measuring cup of the present invention is adapted to
serve as a closure for a package for liquids and comprises: a
closed base and an open mouth, with an upper wall portion
surrounding said open mouth; fastening means formed on the external
surface of said upper wall; a sidewall portion extending between
the closed base and upper wall with an outwardly extending
connecting wall portion connecting said side wall and upper wall,
said connecting wall being outwardly oriented with respect to said
upper wall at an angle of less than 90.degree. with respect to said
upper wall so that the side wall is disposed outwardly of the upper
wall to provide an increased volume measuring cup. Desirably the
fastening means are a threaded portion which surrounds the open
mouth, and desirably the outwardly disposed angle of the connecting
wall is from 5.degree. to 45.degree.. Also, preferably an outwardly
extending shoulder is provided on the upper wall located between
the fastening means and connecting wall. The side wall is
substantially larger than the upper wall and connecting wall
combined so that the side wall represents the major wall portion of
the measuring cup to provide a desirable large volume capacity.
[0009] In addition to the foregoing, the present invention provides
an improved package for liquids including the foregoing measuring
cup in combination with the following: a container for housing a
liquid having an upwardly extending finish provided with a
dispensing orifice; and a transition collar mounted on the exterior
of said container finish, said collar having an outwardly
projecting pouring spout and a circumscribing wall with fastening
means formed on its interior surface to cooperate with the
fastening means on said measuring cup, wherein the pouring spout
extends above and is spaced from the circumscribing wall.
[0010] Further features of the present invention will appear
hereinbelow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The present invention will be more readily understandable
from a consideration of the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, exploded, perspective view of a
prior art package for holding and dispensing liquids including a
container, transition collar and measuring cup which acts as a
closure;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the prior art
measuring cup shown in FIG. 1;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, vertical cross-sectional view of
the prior art package of FIG. 1 during the initial dispensing
operation with the measuring cup performing its measuring
operation;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the measuring cup of the
present invention; and
[0016] FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the measuring
cup of the present invention as shown in FIG. 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1-3 represent a prior art
package as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,862. The prior art package
10 includes a liquid product container 12, a transition collar 14
to be mounted on the container 12, and a measuring cup 16.
[0018] The container 12, which is typically constructed of a
moldable polymeric material such as polyethylene or polypropylene,
has a body portion 74, an upwardly extending finish 72 and, as
shown in FIG. 1, a flat annular lip 70 on the upper surface of the
finish 72 defining orifice 80. The balance of the body portion 74
which is not shown in FIG. 1 provides a closed-end chamber suitable
for containing the product to be dispensed. The body portion 74
desirably has an integrally molded handle 74a to provide a
prominent or recognizable gripping or hand hold means to facilitate
dispensing and to properly orient the transition collar 14 during
pouring of the product.
[0019] An interlock means, comprising a plurality of locking teeth
82, is desirably located at the base of the container finish 72.
These locking teeth 82 are disposed in two diametrically opposed
groups of several juxtaposed ratchet-type teeth molded around the
base of the container finish 72 adjacent and below the thread
convolutions 75. The locking teeth 82 are designed to mate with
locking teeth on the inner surface of transition collar 14 (not
shown) when the transition collar is assembled onto container 12 as
shown in FIG. 3.
[0020] Transition collar 14, which is typically injection molded of
a thermoplastic material, such as polypropylene or the like, is
slightly harder than the material of either the container 12 or the
cup 16. This variance in hardness provides better sealing between
the collar and the container, and the cup and the collar.
[0021] Transition collar 14 has a circumscribing cylindrical outer
wall portion 50, an outwardly projecting tubular pouring snout 52,
a drain-back shoulder 57 having a frusto conically configured upper
surface and an inclined drain back partition 55. The drain back
partition 55 and shoulder 57 essentially create a transverse
partition which separates the outer wall portion 50 into top and
bottom sections and has a hole 54 which serves as both a vent and a
drain extending through the lowermost portion of drain back
partition 55.
[0022] Threads 64 on the inside of transition collar 14 (see FIG.
3) cooperate with threads 75 on the outside of container finish 72
as shown in FIG. 1. As shown in the prior art embodiment of FIGS.
1-3, the threads 64 of collar 14 and threads 75 of container 12 are
designed and matched so as to mount the transition collar 14 onto
container 12 and to orient the vent-drain hole 54 so that it is
generally radially aligned with and substantially adjacent to the
hand hold means 74a when tightened.
[0023] Also, in the prior art embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, the
upwardly extended pouring spout 52 is coaxial with the transition
collar 14. The diameter of the pouring spout 52 should be sized for
convenience in pouring the particular liquid involved, as liquid 90
shown in FIG. 3. The height of pouring spout 52 is sized to fit
within the inverted cup 16 in the sealed position, the orientation
of which is shown in FIG. 1.
[0024] The measuring cup 16 of the prior art embodiment is shown in
FIG. 2 as being generally cup-shaped with a bottom wall 34, a
depending skirt-like side wall 36, and an open mouth 37 terminating
in a lip 39. The cup 16 is typically injection molded of a fairly
dense polymer, such as medium to high density polyethylene, for
compressive strength. Lip 39 is formed as a drip-prevention lip for
cup 16 when the same is used as a measuring cup, and to be an inner
seal in contact with annular interior wall 53 of the collar 14 when
cup 16 is used as the closure for the package 10. Adjacent lip 39
on the external surface of said cup is an outwardly facing
fastening means, as threads 40, adapted to cooperate with the
inwardly facing threads 58 of collar 14.
[0025] A coaxial shoulder 38, located below the threads 40 spaced
from the lip 39, projects outwardly from the exterior surface of
side wall 36 and provides a sealing surface 35 adapted to contact
sealing ring 59 on the upper surface of circumscribing wall 50 of
collar 14 when the measuring cup 16 is fastened in inverted
condition on the collar 14. In the prior art embodiment of FIG. 2
side wall 36 is coaxial with the upper portion of measuring cup 16
containing threads 40, as clearly shown.
[0026] FIG. 3 shows the prior art package of FIG. 1 during a
dispensing cycle for liquid 90 housed in container 12. The
removable cup 16 used as a closure for container 12 is being
utilized as a measuring receptacle. When cup 16 is filled to the
desired level container 12 is brought to an upright position. Once
cup 16 has been emptied, the empty cup is returned to its former
position as closure for container 12 in the inverted position as
shown in FIG. 1.
[0027] FIGS. 4-5 show the improved cup 116 of the present invention
which advantageously is used as a closure for container 12 and as a
measuring cup.
[0028] Similar to cup 16 in FIG. 2, cup 116 in FIGS. 4-5 is
generally cup shaped with a closed base or bottom wall 134, a
depending skirt-like side wall 136 and an open mouth 137
terminating in a lip 139. The exact dimension of the outwardly
extending lip 139 may vary, and in the embodiment shown in FIGS.
4-5 it is somewhat smaller than lip 39 in the prior art embodiment
of FIG. 2, but the function is the same. Also, similar to cup 16,
cup 116 is generally formed of a fairly dense polymer, as medium to
high density polyethylene.
[0029] Cup 116 has an upper wall portion 200 surrounding open mouth
137 with outwardly facing fastening means, as threads 140 on the
upper wall portion to cooperate with the inwardly facing threads 58
of collar 14 in the prior art embodiment of FIGS. 1-3. A coaxial
shoulder 138 is located on the upper wall below threads 140 and
spaced from lip 139, projecting outwardly from the exterior surface
of the upper wall serving the same function as shoulder 38 in the
prior art embodiment of FIG. 2.
[0030] However, in the present invention an outwardly extending
connecting wall portion 202 is provided connecting the side wall
136 with the upper wall 200. Connecting wall 202 is outwardly
oriented with respect to upper wall 200 at an angle of less than
90.degree., and generally at an angle of from 5.degree. to
45.degree. with respect to upper wall 200. As clearly shown in
FIGS. 4-5, the outward orientation of the connecting wall 202
provides that the side wall 136, which is substantially larger than
the upper wall 200, is disposed outwardly of the upper wall,
providing an increased volume measuring cup without increasing the
size of the upper wall portion. This enables container 116 to
desirably and advantageously have an increased volume than the
prior art measuring cup at the same height and with the same upper
wall size configuration. This represents a considerable advantage
in the art since it is desirable to provide such increased capacity
with the same height to accommodate market shelf configurations,
and to utilize the same upper wall size configuration to
accommodate existing products.
[0031] In the embodiment of FIGS. 4-5, a curved or angled wall
portion 204 is provided connecting base 134 and side wall 136, and
longitudinal striations 206 are provided on the external surfaces
of at least side wall 136 and preferably also angled wall 204 to
provide an aesthetically pleasing design.
[0032] The improved measuring cup of the present invention can be
formed by direct injection molding, or desirably by injection
molding a prior art type measuring cup and using the resultant cup
as a preform to form the cup of the present invention by blow
molding. In the blow molded embodiment the upper wall portion would
remain unchanged from the injection molded configuration, and the
preform would be heated to blow molding temperature in accordance
with standard procedure.
[0033] The particular embodiment of FIGS. 4-5 is representative
only. The side wall portion could, if desired, be formed so that it
is disposed outwardly of the upper wall portion an increased
distance to provide a greater volume than that shown in FIGS. 4-5,
if desired, or a smaller distance to provide a lesser volume than
that shown, if desired.
[0034] It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to
the illustrations described and shown herein, which are deemed to
be merely illustrative of the best modes of carrying out the
invention, and which are susceptible of modification of form, size,
arrangement of parts and details of operation. The invention rather
is intended to encompass all such modifications which are within
its spirit and scope as defined by the claims.
* * * * *