U.S. patent application number 11/955392 was filed with the patent office on 2009-06-18 for drainable cap for invertible containers.
Invention is credited to Kelce S. Wilson.
Application Number | 20090152286 11/955392 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40751862 |
Filed Date | 2009-06-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090152286 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wilson; Kelce S. |
June 18, 2009 |
DRAINABLE CAP FOR INVERTIBLE CONTAINERS
Abstract
A system is described for storing liquids. The system comprises
a cap configured to couple to a container. The cap comprises a base
surface configured to provide a base for a coupled container; a
flip-open lid positioned to enable access to an interior of a
coupled container; a first cavity having a floor defined by a
portion of the cap and a sidewall defined by a portion of the cap;
and a drainage port sized to enable water to drain from the first
cavity. By providing one or more drainage ports for the hollow
portions of invertible container caps, the tendency of water to
pool and stagnate within the caps can be reduced. This can reduces
the growth of harmful mold in showers.
Inventors: |
Wilson; Kelce S.; (Murphy,
TX) |
Correspondence
Address: |
KELCE WILSON
1205 TERRACE MILL DRIVE
MURPHY
TX
75094
US
|
Family ID: |
40751862 |
Appl. No.: |
11/955392 |
Filed: |
December 13, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/810 ;
215/235 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 81/261 20130101;
B65D 51/249 20130101; B65D 47/0804 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/810 ;
215/235 |
International
Class: |
B65D 51/04 20060101
B65D051/04 |
Claims
1. A system for storing liquids, the system comprising: a cap
configured to couple to a container, the cap comprising: a base
surface configured to provide a base for a coupled container; a
flip-open lid positioned to enable access to an interior of a
coupled container; a first cavity having a floor defined by a
portion of the cap and a sidewall defined by a portion of the cap;
and a drainage port sized to enable water to drain from the first
cavity.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the first cavity comprises: a ramp
configured to direct water toward the drainage port.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the drainage port is disposed on
the base surface.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the base surface comprises: a
water channel configured to allow water to pass from the drainage
port to an edge of the base surface when the base surface abuts an
approximately flat surface.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the drainage port is disposed on
the flip-open lid.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the flip-open lid comprises: the
entirety of the base surface.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the flip-open lid comprises: a
portion, less than the entirety, of the base surface.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the first cavity has a top side
defined by a portion of a coupled container.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the cap further comprises: a
second cavity having a floor defined by a portion of the cap and a
top side defined by a portion of the cap.
10. The system of claim 1 wherein the first cavity has a top side
defined by a portion of the cap.
11. The system of claim 1 further comprising: a container coupled
to the cap.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the container comprises at least
one selected from the list consisting of: a flexible-sided bottle
and a flexible-sided tube.
13. The system of claim 11 further comprising: a liquid within the
container.
14. The system of claim 1 wherein the drainage port is disposed on
the sidewall of the cavity.
15. The system of claim 1 wherein the drainage port is disposed
near an intersection of a sidewall of the cap and the base
surface.
16. The system of claim 1 wherein the cap further comprises: a
plurality of drainage ports.
17. A system for storing liquids, the system comprising: a
flexible-sided container; a cap coupled to the container, the cap
comprising: a base surface configured to provide a base for the
container; a flip-open lid positioned to enable access to an
interior of the container; a first cavity having a floor defined by
a portion of the cap and a sidewall; and a plurality of drainage
ports sized to enable water to drain from the cavity.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein the cavity is further defined on
a top side by a portion of the container, wherein the flip-open lid
comprises a portion, less than the entirety, of the base surface,
wherein the cavity sidewall is defined by a sidewall of the cap,
and wherein at least one of the plurality of drainage ports is
disposed on the base surface.
19. The system of claim 17 wherein the cavity is further defined on
a top side by a portion of the cap, wherein the flip-open lid
comprises the entirety of the base surface, wherein the cavity
sidewall is defined by a portion of the flip-open lid, and wherein
at least one of the plurality of drainage ports is disposed near an
intersection of the sidewall of the cavity and the base surface.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Many toiletries product containers are stored in shower
stalls between episodes of use. For example, plastic bottles for
shampoo, conditioner, skin treatment, and other personal hygiene
liquids are often left in the shower until used up. Often, these
liquids are thick and move slowly, so to reduce the amount of time
that it requires a consumer to obtain the liquid from the
containers, the caps are coupled to the containers that enable the
containers stand in an inverted position, i.e. opening-side or
cap-side down. This design enables gravity to pull the liquids
toward the container opening between uses, so that the liquids are
readily-available at the opening when a portion of the cap, such as
a flip-open lid, is opened.
[0002] Typically, caps designed to permit inverted storage, have
common features. These include a flat, or inwardly arced, base
surface suitable to balance the container under normal storage
conditions, such as on a relatively flat shelf-top surface, and a
flip-open lid that enables access to the contents in the interior
of the container. For some of these caps, the majority of the base
surface covers a portion of the exterior of the container in
addition to the covering the opening, and further, the caps often
have vertical sides for added strength, but are hollow for weight
and material savings. This results in a relatively closed cavity
between a portion of the exterior of the container and a portion of
the interior of the cap.
[0003] Unfortunately, due to manufacturing constraints, there is
often a water-permeable gap between the sides of a typical cap and
the shoulders of the container, i.e. the portions of the container
that narrow toward the opening, where the cap is attached. Further,
the sides of the container are typically more flexible than the
cap, so that liquids may be squeezed out, while the cap remains
strong enough to prevent the container from tipping over. This
provision for container deformation often necessitates the gap
between the shoulders of the container and the sides of the
cap.
[0004] Other caps, for example, caps for certain flexible tubes,
are designed such that the entire base surface is part of the
flip-open lid, but yet only a relatively small portion of the cap
allows access to the interior of the flexible tube. These caps may
additionally have interior cavities within the flip-open lid, in
addition to any possible cavities between the cap and the tube.
Water can sometimes enter the inside of a cavity in a flip-open lid
through gaps on the sides of the cap. Caps may connect to a tube by
a threaded coupling spanning nearly the full width of the tube, or
else spanning just the width of an opening that is appreciably
smaller than the full width of the tube.
[0005] Unfortunately, it is well known that standing water in
high-moisture environments can contribute to the growth of mold. A
sad reality is that water splashing against the exterior of an
inverted container may run down the side of the container, through
a gap, and pool inside the cap. This can contribute to the growth
of mold or other fungus, which can be hazardous. Since mold is
typically not a cash crop, anyone wishing to avoid becoming an
inadvertent mold farmer may need to turn invertible containers
cap-side up, to drain collected water from the caps, prior to
departing a recently-used shower stall.
[0006] Since it is so well known that continual moisture in shower
stalls fosters mold growth, an assertion that a reasonably
cost-efficient and effective system for draining the interior of
invertible container caps is obvious, or was already known to the
toiletries industry, is effectively an assertion that the
toiletries industry has deliberately chosen to sell products that
contribute to mold-growth problems and thus risk harming consumers,
instead of using reasonable care to reduce the danger.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] By providing one or more drainage ports for the hollow
portions of invertible container caps, the tendency of water to
pool and stagnate within the caps can be reduced.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] For a more complete understanding of the present invention,
reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a drainable system for
storing liquids;
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of a drainable system
for storing liquids; and
[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a drainable cap for an
invertible container.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a drainable system 10
for storing liquids. In system 10, container 101, holding a liquid
102, such as shampoo, is coupled to cap 103. Container 101 may
comprise a bottle or tube, and be made of plastic or another
material. Further, container 101 may hold another liquid, or an
amount of a solid or even gaseous material. A gap 104 exists
between cap 103 and a shoulder 105 of container 101. In the
embodiment illustrated, gap 104 is water-permeable, which allows
water splashed against container 101 to run into cap 103, where it
can pool and stagnate.
[0013] An opening 106 of container 101 is shown facing downward,
indicating that container 101 is illustrated as inverted. Cap
coupling section 107 couples to container 101 by snap-fit 108,
although another coupling method may be used, such as threads,
adhesives, or melting. Cap 103 may be removable from container 101,
or else permanently attached.
[0014] A cavity 109 is shown inside cap 103, which provides a place
for water to pool, stagnate, and foster mold growth. Cavity 109 is
defined by portions of cap 103 and container 101. Cavity floor 110
is within cap 103 and, in the illustrated embodiment, cavity
sidewall 111 is the sidewall of cap 103. The top side of cavity 109
is defined by a portion of container 101, including the portion
between shoulder 105 and opening 106. In some applications,
sidewall 111 is more rigid than sidewall 112 of container 101, to
allow container 101 to be squeezed, while cap 103 retains
structural strength to bear the weight of container 101 and liquid
102.
[0015] Cap 103 further comprises base surface 113, which is sized,
shaped, and constructed in a manner that enables system 10 to
balance on an approximately flat and level surface, with the center
of gravity above cap 103. Base surface 113, therefore, provides a
base for container 101 to stand inverted. A flip-open lid 114 is
positioned approximately aligned with opening 106 to enable access
to liquid 102 in the interior of container 101. Flip-open lid 114
is illustrated as comprising part, but less than the entirety of
base surface 113.
[0016] The illustrated embodiment shows three drainage ports 115 in
cap 103. Drainage ports are sized large enough that the surface
tension of the water within cavity 109 will typically not prevent
the water from passing through. One drainage port 115 is shown
disposed on base surface 113. Another drainage port 115 is shown
disposed on sidewall 111, and yet another drainage port is shown
disposed near the intersection of sidewall 111 and base surface
113. A ramp 116, within cap 103, is oriented to direct water toward
at least one of the plurality of drainage ports 115.
[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a drainable system 20
for storing liquids. In system 20, container 101 is coupled to cap
203 by threads 208. For cap 203, flip-open lid 214 spans nearly the
entire width of cap 203, such that it comprises the entirety of
base surface 213. Since flip-open lid 214 is arced inward, base
surface 213 forms an oval ridge in cap 203, that is wide enough
such that container 101 can stand inverted.
[0018] Cap 203 has a second cavity 209, below cavity 109. Cavity
209 is has a floor and sidewalls defined by portions of flip-open
lid 214, and a top side defined by another portion of cap 203.
Water can enter cavity 209, either by a gap 204 and/or a drainage
port 115 that drains water from cavity 109 above. In some
embodiments, cavity 109 may not have any drainage ports, or may
have a drainage port in sidewall 111. Further, in some embodiments,
only cavity 209 is present, and cavity 109 does not exist. For
example, some invertible caps are only wide enough to cover opening
106, so that cap coupling section 107 and sidewall 111 are the same
piece. In such an arrangement, opening 106 spans approximately the
width of container 101, in order to provide a suitably wide base
surface 213. Cavity 209 in flip-open lid 214 is illustrated as
having two drainage ports 115 disposed near base surface 115. The
interior arced shape of flip-open lid forms a ramp 116, which
directs water toward drainage ports 115.
[0019] FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a drainable cap 303 for
an invertible container. Cap 303 comprises drainage ports 115 on
base surface 313, on opposite sides of flip-open lid 314. Water
channels 317, which form recesses in base surface 313, enable water
to pass from each drainage port 115 to the edge nearby sidewall 311
of cap 303, when cap 303 sits on an approximately flat surface,
such as a shelf ledge inside a shower. Water channels 317 thus
prevent a shelf ledge from trapping water inside cap 303, by
blocking drainage ports 115.
[0020] Although the present invention and its advantages have been
described above, it should be understood that various changes,
substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the
appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is
not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments described
in the specification.
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