U.S. patent application number 11/151774 was filed with the patent office on 2005-12-15 for package comprising shrink label for personal care products.
Invention is credited to McCutchan, Michael Dean.
Application Number | 20050274687 11/151774 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34971939 |
Filed Date | 2005-12-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050274687 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
McCutchan, Michael Dean |
December 15, 2005 |
Package comprising shrink label for personal care products
Abstract
A package for a personal care composition comprising: (a) a
bottle; (b) a cap, wherein the cap is attached to the bottle; and
(c) a shrink label, wherein the shrink label covers at least a
portion of the bottle and a portion of the cap, and wherein the
shrink label covers a gap between the bottle and the cap. The
package can prevent water from accumulating between the cap and
bottle when the package is used in a wet environment, such as the
shower or bath, which can lead to the formation of mold and/or
mildew between the cap and bottle. The package also can dissuade
consumers in a retail store from unscrewing or otherwise removing
the cap from the bottle, which can lead to leakage of the personal
care composition onto the store shelves.
Inventors: |
McCutchan, Michael Dean;
(Hamilton, OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DIVISION
WINTON HILL TECHNICAL CENTER - BOX 161
6110 CENTER HILL AVENUE
CINCINNATI
OH
45224
US
|
Family ID: |
34971939 |
Appl. No.: |
11/151774 |
Filed: |
June 14, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60579405 |
Jun 14, 2004 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
215/12.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 23/0878 20130101;
B65D 81/26 20130101; B65D 1/0223 20130101; B65D 41/62 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
215/012.2 |
International
Class: |
B65D 055/02; B65D
023/00; B65D 023/02 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A package for a personal care product, said package comprising:
a bottle; a cap, wherein said cap is attached to said bottle; and a
shrink label, wherein said shrink label covers at least a portion
of said bottle and a portion of said cap, and wherein said shrink
label covers a gap between said bottle and said cap.
2. The package of claim 1, wherein said package is a tottle.
3. The package of claim 1, wherein said shrink label is continuous
or non-perforated.
4. The package of claim 1, wherein said shrink label is a
shrink-sleeve label.
5. The package of claim 1, wherein said shrink label is a
continuous shrink-sleeve label.
6. The package of claim 1, wherein said gap between said bottle and
said cap is from about 0.01 to about 5 millimeters.
7. The package of claim 1, wherein said shrink label comprises an
oriented film material.
8. The package of claim 7, wherein said oriented film material is
selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride,
polyethylene, polypropylene, other polyolefins and copolymers,
polyesters, polystyrene, and combinations thereof.
9. The package of claim 8, wherein said oriented film material is
polystyrene.
10. The package of claim 7, wherein said oriented film material has
a thickness of from about 30 to about 100 microns.
11. The package of claim 10, wherein said oriented film material
has a thickness of from about 40 to about 50 microns.
12. The package of claim 1, wherein said shrink label is
non-removable.
13. The package of claim 1, wherein said shrink label is sealed to
said cap.
14. The package of claim 1, wherein said cap does not comprise a
vent or drain hole.
15. The package of claim 1, wherein said package is stored and/or
used in a wet environment.
16. The package of claim 8, wherein said wet environment is a
shower or bath.
17. The package of claim 1, wherein said package contains a
personal care composition.
18. The package of claim 17, wherein said personal care composition
is a body wash or in-shower body moisturizing composition.
19. The package of claim 17, wherein said personal care composition
is a shampoo or hair conditioner composition.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60,579,405, filed Jun. 14, 2004.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a package for personal care
compositions, such as shampoos, hair conditioners, shaving lotions,
body washes, and in-shower body moisturizers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Packages that comprise personal care compositions, such as
shampoos, hair conditioners, shaving lotions, body washes, and the
like, often comprise a plastic bottle and cap. The caps usually
screw or snap onto the bottle to form the package. The caps are
often flip-top dispensing caps, such that the consumer can readily
flip open the cap to expose the dispensing oriface from which the
personal care composition is dispensed.
[0004] One problem with such packages is that there is usually a
gap formed between the side wall(s) of the cap and the wall(s) of
the bottle. When the package is stored and/or used in a wet
environment, such as in the shower, water can accumulate between
the cap and bottle, leading to the growth of mold and/or mildew
between the cap and bottle. This problem is especially a concern
with packages that are tottles or with packages that have been
stored in an inverted position in a wet environment by the
consumer.
[0005] A second problem with these packages is that consumers in
retail stores will often unscrew or otherwise remove the caps from
the bottles in order to smell the fragrance of the composition or
observe the color of the product. If the consumer does not properly
screw or otherwise re-attach the cap to the bottle, the packages
can end up leaking the personal care compositions onto the retail
store shelves.
[0006] There has thus been a desire to produce a package that can
prevent mold and/or mildew from forming between the cap and bottle
of the package and that can dissuade consumers from removing caps
from bottles in the store to prevent package leakage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention relates to a package for a personal
care composition comprising: (a) a bottle; (b) a cap, wherein the
cap is attached to the bottle; and (c) a shrink label, wherein the
shrink label covers at least a portion of the bottle and a portion
of the cap, and wherein the shrink label covers a gap between the
bottle and the cap. The package is preferably used to contain a
personal care composition, such as shampoo, hair conditioner,
shaving lotion, body wash, in-shower body moisturizer, or the like,
and is typically stored in a wet environment, such as the shower or
bathtub. In covering the gap between the bottle and the cap, the
shrink label can prevent water from accumulating in between the
bottle and cap, which can lead to the formation of mold and/or
mildew between the bottle and cap. Also, the package of the present
invention can dissuade consumers in a retail store from removing
the cap from the bottle, which can lead to leakage of the
composition onto retail store shelves if the consumer does not
properly re-attach the cap to the bottle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of one embodiment of the package
of the present invention showing a shrink-sleeve label and a bottle
with a flip-top dispensing cap attached to the bottle, before the
shrink-sleeve label is applied to the bottle and cap.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a front view of the embodiment of the package as
shown in FIG. 1 after the shrink-sleeve label has been applied to
the bottle and cap.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the package of
FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0011] As used herein, the term "tottle" means a package comprising
a bottle and a cap attached to the bottle, wherein the package is
designed to rest on its cap. Many shampoos, hair conditioners,
shaving lotions, body washes, in-shower body moisturizers, and
other products used in the shower or bath are contained in
tottles.
[0012] Package
[0013] The package of the present invention comprises (a) a bottle;
(b) a cap, wherein the cap is attached to the bottle; and (c) a
shrink label, wherein the shrink label covers at least a portion of
the bottle and a portion of the cap, and wherein the shrink label
covers a gap between the bottle and the cap.
[0014] The bottle of the present package can be provided in a
variety of forms or shapes. The bottle is typically made of a
plastic material. Examples of suitable plastic materials include
high density polyethylene ("HDPE"), low density polyethylene
("LDPE"), polyethylene terephthalate ("PET"), polypropylene ("PP"),
polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, nylon, and fluorinated ethylene
propylene. The bottle can be made via a number of various processes
known in the art, such as blow molding, injection molding, and the
like. Preferred bottles of the present invention are made of HDPE
or PP via an extrusion blow molding process, or PET via an
injection blow molding process.
[0015] The bottle will typically comprise an opening through which
the contained composition can be dispensed. The bottle will also
typically comprise an attachment structure to which a cap can be
attached, such as screw-threads, snap-fit collar, or the like.
[0016] The cap of the present package can be provided in a variety
of forms or shapes, such as a flip-top, tube-top, or disc-top
dispensing cap. The cap is typically made of a plastic material,
including those materials discussed above which are suitable for
making the bottle of the present invention. Non-limiting examples
of suitable dispensing caps are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
4,854,473 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,916.
[0017] The cap will typically comprise an opening through which the
contained composition can be dispensed. The cap will also typically
comprise an attachment structure adapted to attach the cap to the
bottle of the present invention, such as a screw-thread receptacle,
snap-fit collar receptacle, or the like.
[0018] The cap is attached to the bottle by engaging the attachment
structure of the bottle with the attachment structure of the cap.
For example, when the bottle has screw-threads and the cap has a
screw-thread receptacle, the cap is screwed onto the bottle until
tight. A gap will generally be formed between the side wall(s) of
the cap and the wall(s) of the bottle. It can be important to have
this gap between the bottle and the cap in order to allow enough
manufacturing tolerances for both the bottle and the cap to provide
a tight fit between the attachment structures on the bottle and cap
and to prevent leakage of the composition from the package. The
size of the gap between the bottle and the cap (measured as the
shortest distance between the side wall(s) of the cap and the
wall(s) of the bottle) will typically be from about 0.01 to about 5
millimeters, preferably from about 0.1 to about 1 millimeter, and
more preferably about 0.2 to about 0.6 millimeters.
[0019] The shrink label of the present package generally comprises
a film label printed on an oriented plastic sheet or tube, which,
when heat is applied to the label, conforms to the contour of the
container that it surrounds. There are generally two types of
shrink labels known in the art: (1) shrink-sleeve labels, and (2)
roll-fed, wrap-around labels. A shrink-sleeve label is a preferred
shrink label of the present invention. A shrink-sleeve label is
generally a tubular structure defining a longitudinal direction and
a transverse direction and made of a heat shrinkable film and
having an open top and an open bottom.
[0020] The shrink-sleeve label is generally sized such that the
diameter of its tubular structure is great enough to slip over the
bottle and cap to which it is intended to be applied. The length of
the tubular structure is long enough to cover at least a portion of
the bottle and a portion of the cap after the shrink label is
shrunk onto the bottle and cap. Once the shrink-sleeve label is
slipped over the bottle and cap, heat is then applied to shrink the
shrink label to the bottle and cap.
[0021] The shrink label is typically made of an oriented film
material. An oriented film material is generally a film material
having the greatest shrinkage in a defined direction, usually the
transverse direction in a shrink-sleeve label and perpendicular to
the longitudinal direction of the shrink-sleeve label. Non-limiting
examples of suitable film materials include polyvinyl chloride,
polyethylene, polypropylene, other polyolefins and copolymers,
polyesters, polystyrene, and combinations thereof (e.g. a laminated
film material). A preferred film material for the shrink label of
the present invention is polystyrene.
[0022] The thickness of the film material for the shrink label is
generally from about 30 to about 100 microns, preferably from about
40 to about 50 microns. A preferred film material for the shrink
label of the present invention has a thickness of 50 microns.
[0023] A preferred film material for the shrink label of the
present invention is available from American Fuji Seal, Inc. under
the trade name FVK-350.
[0024] The film material for the shrink label can be pre-printed
with graphics, text, etc. at any desired location on the film
material. A variety of printing methods can be utilized to print
graphics onto the shrink labels, including gravure (or rotogravure)
printing and flexographic printing. A preferred printing method is
gravure printing.
[0025] The film material can also be coated with protective layers,
such as varnishes, for scuff resistance or to control the
coefficient of friction of the film material to facilitate the
slipping of the shrink label onto the bottle and cap.
[0026] The shrink label can be perforated to facilitate applying
the shrink label to uniquely shaped bottles. The shrink label can
also be perforated to facilitate removal of the shrink label after
the product is used up, to allow for proper recycling of materials.
However, the shrink label of the present invention is preferably
not perforated to facilitate removal of the shrink label by a
consumer before use of the product. For example, the shrink label
is preferably not perforated around the entire perimeter of the
shrink label and preferably not perforated across an entire surface
parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shrink label.
[0027] In one embodiment of the present invention, the shrink label
is made of a continuous and/or non-perforated film and is
non-removable (i.e. the shrink label is not intended to be removed
by a consumer before use of the product). This embodiment is in
contrast to packages that comprise tamper-evident shrink bands that
are perforated and that are removed by consumers before use.
[0028] In one embodiment of the present invention, especially
wherein the package is a tottle, the shrink label does not extend
over the top wall of the dispensing cap because the package will
tend to be unstable sitting on the shelf due to gathering of the
shrink label along the top wall of the dispensing cap during the
process of applying the shrink label to the bottle and cap.
[0029] In one embodiment of the present invention, the shrink label
is sealed to the side wall(s) of the cap. The shrink label can be
sealed to the side wall(s) of the cap by adhesives (e.g. pressure
sensitive adhesives) or by heat sealing.
[0030] In one embodiment of the present invention, the cap does not
comprise a vent or drain hole. Since the shrink label of the
present invention can prevent water from accumulating between the
bottle and the cap, it can be unnecessary to incorporate a vent or
drain hole in the cap.
[0031] The following is a description of the process for applying a
shrink-sleeve label to a bottle and cap of the present invention.
As discussed above, most shrink labels are made of oriented plastic
films that shrink around a container when heat is applied. They can
be made of flat film material that is stretched (oriented) and
seamed, or from tubular film material that is stretched in the
blowing process. The degree to which a shrink label shrinks is
determined when the film material is stretched. In effect,
stretching the film material programs "memory" into the material.
That memory is recalled by applying heat after the shrink label is
slipped onto the container and the film material shrinks.
Shrink-sleeve labels can be supplied as individual, pre-cut sleeves
or in continuous rolls which are then cut automatically before
being applied to the container.
[0032] In the process of applying a shrink-sleeve label to a bottle
and cap, the shrink-sleeve label is placed loosely around the
article. The shrink-sleeve label is sized just large enough to
allow it to be placed over the length of the article, either
manually or by automated high-speed application machinery. The film
material of the shrink-sleeve label shrinks as the article passes
through a heat tunnel, where heat is applied via, for example, hot
air or steam or other similar method (e.g., radiant heat). In the
heat tunnel, the film material softens, causing it to seek its
original, smaller dimensions, and, in the process, to shrink
tightly around the article. Different time and temperature profiles
are required for different shrink film materials, thicknesses, and
bottle and cap shapes and materials. The heat tunnels may have
several "zones" where heat (e.g., hot air or steam) is directed
sequentially to different parts of the container at different times
and temperatures in order to effectively apply the shrink-sleeve
label to the bottle and cap.
[0033] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a shrink-sleeve label 1 and a
bottle 2 with a flip-top dispensing cap 3 attached to the bottle 2.
After the cap 3 has been attached to the bottle 2, a gap 4 is
formed between the bottle 2 and the cap 3. The shrink-sleeve label
1 is made of polystyrene, has a thickness of 50 microns, and has a
generally tubular structure. The width of the tubular structure of
the shrink-sleeve label 1 corresponds to the greatest width of the
bottle 2. The length of the tubular structure is long enough such
that it covers at least a portion of the bottle 2 and a portion of
the cap 3 when applied to the bottle 2 and cap 3. The shrink-sleeve
label 1 is applied to the bottle 2 and cap 3 by slipping the
shrink-sleeve label 1 over the bottle 2 and cap 3, then passing the
article through a steam heat tunnel.
[0034] FIG. 2 is a front view of the package of the present
invention as shown in FIG. 1 after the shrink-sleeve label 1 has
been applied to the bottle 2 and cap 3. The shrink-sleeve label 1
covers the gap 4 between the bottle 2 and the cap 3. This package
is a tottle, wherein the package rests on the top wall 5 of the
dispensing cap 3.
[0035] FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the package of
FIG. 2 showing a wall 6 of the bottle 2, a side wall 7 of the cap
3, and the shrink-sleeve label 1, wherein the shrink-sleeve label 1
covers the gap 4 between the bottle 2 and the cap 3.
[0036] Personal Care Compositions
[0037] The packages of the present invention can be utilized to
contain a variety of personal care compositions, such as shampoos,
hair conditioners, shaving lotions, body washes, in-shower body
moisturizers, and the like. Non-limiting examples of shampoos are
described in US RE34,584, U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,203, and U.S. Pat.
No. 5,935,561. Non-limiting examples of hair conditioners are
described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,090 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,681.
Non-limiting examples of shaving lotions are described in U.S. Pat.
No. 5,248,495, U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,396, and U.S. Pat. No.
6,682,726. Non-limiting examples of body washes are described in
U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,948, U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,707, and U.S. Pat. No.
6,194,364. Non-limiting examples of in-shower body moisturizers are
described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,488, U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,511, U.S.
2003/0049282 A1, and U.S. 2003/0054019 A1.
[0038] All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the
Invention are, in relevant part, incorporated herein by reference;
the citation of any document is not to be construed as an admission
that it is prior art with respect to the present invention.
[0039] While particular embodiments of the present invention have
been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those
skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can
be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims
all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of
this invention.
* * * * *