U.S. patent application number 12/520743 was filed with the patent office on 2010-04-22 for packaging with improved removing element.
This patent application is currently assigned to BIN INNOVATIONS. Invention is credited to Agnes Leoni Desiree Brantenaar, David Marinus Harry, Santos Rui Medeiros, Patrick Bernardus Johannes Schneider.
Application Number | 20100098479 12/520743 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38190774 |
Filed Date | 2010-04-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100098479 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Brantenaar; Agnes Leoni Desiree ;
et al. |
April 22, 2010 |
PACKAGING WITH IMPROVED REMOVING ELEMENT
Abstract
A packaging for a liquid substance, in particular a cosmetics
product such as nail varnish, includes a container which is
accessible via a neck, a closure which interacts with the neck of
the container by element of a screw connection, as well as a brush
which is attached to the closure and which extends into the
container when the closure is screwed on, which brush is attached
to the closure in such a manner that it can be displaced. The brush
by element of a screw connection interacts with the closure.
Inventors: |
Brantenaar; Agnes Leoni
Desiree; (Hoofddorp, NL) ; Harry; David Marinus;
(Den Haag, NL) ; Schneider; Patrick Bernardus
Johannes; (Delfgauw, NL) ; Medeiros; Santos Rui;
(Delft, NL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
YOUNG & THOMPSON
209 Madison Street, Suite 500
Alexandria
VA
22314
US
|
Assignee: |
BIN INNOVATIONS
Delft
NL
|
Family ID: |
38190774 |
Appl. No.: |
12/520743 |
Filed: |
December 7, 2007 |
PCT Filed: |
December 7, 2007 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/NL2007/050632 |
371 Date: |
July 29, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
401/129 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 51/32 20130101;
A45D 34/045 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
401/129 |
International
Class: |
A46B 11/00 20060101
A46B011/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 8, 2006 |
NL |
2000363 |
Claims
1-11. (canceled)
12. A packaging for a substance in a liquid, particulate or pasty
state, for example a cosmetics product such as nail varnish,
comprising a container (1) which is accessible via a neck (2), a
closure (4) which interacts with the neck (2) of the container (1)
by means of a screw connection (3, 5), as well as a removing
element attached to the closure (4), such as a brush (9), pipette
or scoop, which removing element extends into the container (1)
when the closure (4) is screwed onto the neck (2) and interacts
with the closure (4) by means of a screw connection (5, 7; 20, 21),
wherein the screw connection (5, 7) between the removing element
and the closure and the screw connection (3, 5) between the closure
(4) and the neck (2) have a substantially similar diameter, or in
that the screw connection (5, 7; 20, 21) between the removing
element and the closure has a diameter which is larger than the
screw connection (3, 5) between the closure (4) and the neck (2),
characterized in that retaining means (14, 15) are provided in
order to prevent rotation of the nut (6) and the neck (2) with
respect to one another.
13. The packaging as claimed in claim 12, in which the screw
connection (3, 5) between the closure (4) and the neck (2) and the
screw connection (5, 7) between the closure (4) and the brush (9)
have similar properties, such as similar diameters and similar lead
angle or pitch.
14. The packaging as claimed in claim 12, in which the closure (4)
has an internal screw thread (5) and the removing element (9) has a
handle (8) provided with a nut section (6) which interacts with
said internal screw thread (5) of the closure (4).
15. The packaging as claimed in claim 14, in which the closure (4)
has an internal screw thread (5) which interacts both with the neck
(2) and with the nut section (6).
16. The packaging as claimed in claim 14, in which the nut section
(6) and the neck (2) are sealed with respect to one another by
sealing means (10).
17. The packaging as claimed in claim 14, in which the retaining
means have mating shapes (14, 15) which can be brought into
engagement with one another by placing the closure (4) on the neck
(2).
18. The packaging as claimed in claim 16, in which the retaining
means comprise at least one recess (15) or projection of the nut
(6), as well as a projection (14) or recess on the container
(1).
19. The packaging as claimed in claim 18, in which the sealing
means comprise a sealing element (10) attached to the neck, which
sealing element (10) comprises the projection (14) or the
recess.
20. The packaging as claimed in claim 19, in which the nut section
(6) and the sealing element (10) comprise sealing surfaces (12, 13)
which can be made to interact with one another.
21. The packaging as claimed in claim 12, in which the retaining
means comprise a friction element (34) provided on the nut section
(6), which friction element can be made to interact with the neck
(2).
22. The packaging as claimed in claim 15, in which the nut section
(6) and the neck (2) are sealed with respect to one another by
sealing means (10).
23. The packaging as claimed in claim 12, in which the retaining
means have mating shapes (14, 15) which can be brought into
engagement with one another by placing the closure (4) on the neck
(2).
24. The packaging as claimed in claim 12, in which the retaining
means comprise at least one recess (15) or projection of the nut
(6), as well as a projection (14) or recess on the container (1).
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a packaging for a substance in a
liquid, particulate or pasty state, for example a cosmetics product
such as nail varnish, comprising a container which is accessible
via a neck, a closure which interacts with the neck of the
container by means of a screw connection, as well as a removing
element attached to the closure, such as a brush, pipette or scoop,
which removing element extends into the container when the closure
is screwed onto the neck and interacts with the closure by means of
a screw connection.
[0002] Such a packaging in the form of a nail varnish bottle is
known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,157,905. The closure in the form of a
cap can be screwed onto the neck of the bottle by means of a
threaded connection. The removing element, which is designed as a
brush, has a handle with an external screw thread, which is in turn
screwed into a hole in the cap which is provided with respective
internal screw thread. These threaded connections have identical
pitch angles and identical directions, so that when the cap is
unscrewed and the brush is prevented from turning, the latter
remains stationary with respect to the bottle. As a result, the
brush can even remove the last remaining contents from the
bottle.
[0003] The brush is retained by means of a separate disk which is
provided on the inside of the bottle. Such a design is complicated
to produce and is also expensive. In addition, the internal disk
forms an obstruction in the interior of the bottle, which renders
insertion of the brush more difficult. The fact that the threaded
connection between the brush and the cap has dimensions which are
so small, in particular has such a small diameter that failures may
easily occur, is a further drawback. The functioning of such a
threaded connection with a small diameter leaves something to be
desired, which adversely affects the ease of use.
[0004] A further packaging in the form of a nail varnish bottle is
known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,154. With this known nail varnish
bottle, the handle of the brush is constantly kept pressed against
the bottom of the bottle by means of a spring, which is provided in
the cap of the nail varnish bottle. When the cap of the bottle is
unscrewed, the brush remains pressed against the bottom. This makes
it possible to remove even the last remaining drops of nail varnish
from the bottle with the brush. After all, the handle is pushed so
far outwards with respect to the cap that the brush can still touch
the bottom, even if the cap is removed completely from the bottle.
In said state, the nail varnish can be removed almost completely by
scraping the bottom of the bottle using the brush.
[0005] This results in an improvement with respect to the nail
varnish bottles which have a brush which is fixedly connected to
the cap, whose brush can only reach the vicinity of the bottom if
the cap is fully screwed onto the bottle. However, as soon as the
cap is unscrewed from the bottle, the distance of the brush to the
bottom increases. When the cap is completely unscrewed, the brush
can only be inserted into the bottle up to a relatively large
distance from the bottom in order to remove the nail varnish from
the bottle. This inevitably means that a relatively large amount of
remaining nail varnish can then not be reached and has to be
disposed of together with the bottle.
[0006] Although, in this connection, the above-described nail
varnish bottle with a sprung brush already represents an
improvement, it still has drawbacks attached to it. A first
drawback is the limited ease of use of a cap with sprung brush.
During application of the nail varnish, the brush can slide back,
against the spring force of the spring. This could be overcome by
using a relatively strong spring, but this has the drawback that
the pushing back of the brush when screwing the cap back onto the
bottle is then rendered difficult. In addition, the brush is
relatively unstable due to the sprung suspension.
[0007] Furthermore, a spring mechanism has the drawback of a
relatively high cost price, which is due to the production,
material and assembly costs. A further drawback could be that the
brush is kept pressed against the bottom on account of the pressing
action in such a manner that the shape of the spring becomes bent.
Over time, said bent shape of the brush will become permanent and
will also persist when the cap with the brush has been unscrewed
from the container. However, such a bent brush results in drawbacks
during the application of the nail varnish.
[0008] It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a
packaging, in particular a nail varnish bottle, which ensures, on
the one hand, that virtually the entire substance contents, such as
nail varnish, can be used, while the brush retains its normal shape
in connection with the application of the nail varnish. It is a
further object to provide a packaging which can be produced
relatively inexpensively and which nevertheless offers a high
degree of ease of use and is not susceptible to failures. These
objects are achieved by the fact that the screw connection between
the removing element and the closure and the screw connection
between the closure and the neck have a substantially similar
diameter, or that the screw connection between the removing element
and the closure has a diameter which is larger than the screw
connection between the closure and the neck.
[0009] Such a ratio between the threaded connections offers various
advantages. A set of screw connections of approximately similar
diameter, in particular an identical set of screw connections,
offers the advantage that production thereof is relatively
inexpensive. In addition, the structure can be assembled in a
relatively simple manner. In addition, the functioning of identical
screw threads is much more reliable than with a relatively small
threaded connection. After all, a relatively small threaded
connection results in failures, such as jamming and defects, more
quickly as the surfaces thereof which interact with one another are
small and thus exposed to high material stresses.
[0010] In addition, the packaging according to the invention no
longer has a spring to keep the brush pushed outwards with respect
to the closure. As a result, the problem that the brush is kept
pressed against the bottom in a bent position when the closure has
been fitted does not occur. Instead, a screw connection is provided
between the brush and the cap, in such a manner that displacement
with respect to one another is possible by turning the brush and
cap with respect to one another. When the cap has been placed on
the container, but not yet been screwed onto the container, the
brush reaches as far as the bottom. When the cap is subsequently
screwed onto the container, the brush moves into the cap. As the
cap moves in the direction towards the bottom when it is being
screwed on, the position of the brush with respect to the bottom
remains constant. This means that, when the closure is being
screwed on, which action causes a movement in the direction towards
the bottom of the container, the brush is no longer pushed against
the bottom, but rather remains standing on it in a more or less
constant position.
[0011] Such an effect can be achieved in particular if the screw
connection between the closure and the neck and the screw
connection between the closure and the brush have similar
properties, such as similar diameters and similar lead angle or
pitch. Screw connections having a similar lead angle or pitch are
understood to mean screw connections which have equally large
displacements in the longitudinal direction when the nut and the
screw are turned one complete revolution with respect to one
another. With the above-described embodiment of the packaging, a
revolution of the closure with respect to the container and with
respect to the brush results in identical displacements, so that
the inserted brush can be kept at a constant position with respect
to the bottom, also when screwing the closure further onto the
container. The position of the brush is preferably chosen such that
it just or almost touches the bottom.
[0012] In a preferred embodiment, the closure has an internal screw
thread and the brush has a handle which comprises bristles at one
end and has a nut at the other end which interacts with said
internal screw thread of the closure. In particular, the closure
may have an internal screw thread which interacts both with the
neck and with the nut.
[0013] In order to properly seal the packaging according to the
invention, the nut and the neck may be provided with sealing means.
Retaining means may be provided in order to prevent rotation of the
nut and neck with respect to one another and to make the desired
rotation of the closure and brush with respect to one another
possible. These retaining means may have mating shapes which can be
brought into engagement with one another by placing the closure on
the neck. By way of example, retaining means are mentioned which
comprise at least one recess or projection of the nut, as well as a
projection or recess on the container.
[0014] In an alternative embodiment, the retaining means may also
be based on friction, for example as provided by a friction element
which may be provided either on the neck or on the nut of the
brush.
[0015] In a particularly efficient embodiment, the sealing means
may also comprise a sealing element which is attached to the neck,
which sealing element comprises the projection or the recess. In
this connection, the nut and the sealing element may comprise
sealing surfaces which can be made to interact with one
another.
[0016] The invention will be described in more detail below with
reference to an exemplary embodiment illustrated in the figures, in
which:
[0017] FIG. 1 shows a first variant of the packaging according to
the invention.
[0018] FIG. 2 shows a second variant.
[0019] FIG. 3 shows an exploded view in perspective of the variant
from FIG. 2.
[0020] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the brush container
turned upside down.
[0021] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the end cover turned
upside down.
[0022] The figure shows a part of a packaging according to the
invention, which represents a nail varnish bottle provided with a
container 1. The top side of the container 1 has a neck 2, which is
provided with an external screw thread 3. Furthermore, the closure
4 has been screwed onto the container 1, which closure comprises a
cap 16 which has an internal screw thread 5.
[0023] The cap 16 comprises a nut section 6, having an external
screw thread 7 which is in engagement with the internal screw
thread 5 of the cap 16. A handle 8 is attached to the nut section
6, which handle 8 extends into the container 1. On the underside of
the handle 8, the brush 9 is provided. In the figure, the brush 9
is just above or just on the bottom 17 of the container 1.
[0024] On the top side of the neck 2 of the container 1, a sealing
ring 10 is provided which has a collar 11 which extends into the
neck 2. The sealing ring 10 has a top surface 12, on which the
bottom surface 13 of the nut section 6 rests. In addition, the
sealing ring 10 is provided with lugs 14, which protrude upwards
with respect to the top surface 12. On the bottom surface 13, the
nut section is provided with recesses 15 which are formed and
positioned in accordance with the lugs 14.
[0025] When placing the closure 4 on the container 1, it has to be
ensured that the nut section 6 is unscrewed as far as near the
bottom end of the cap 16. In this position, the handle 8 with the
brush 9 protrudes as far as possible with respect to said cap 16.
Subsequently, the bottom surface 13 of the nut section can be
placed on the top surface 12 of the sealing ring 10, with the lugs
14 and recesses 15 interacting with one another. The nut section 6
is then locked against rotation. At the subsequent rotation of the
cap 16, the latter moves downwards with respect to the nut section
6, with the internal screw thread 5 of the cap 16 coming into
engagement with external screw thread 3 of the neck 2. The cap 16
can be tightened until it hits the nut section 6, so that the nut
section 6 is firmly pressed onto the sealing ring 10.
[0026] When the nut section 6 is being screwed on, the handle 8 and
brush 9 always remain in the same position with respect to the
bottom 10 of the container 1, so that the brush 9 is not deformed.
Conversely, the handle 8 and brush 9 also remain in said position
when the nut section 6 is unscrewed. As a result, the brush 9 can
be moved over the bottom 17 of the container 1 when the cap 16 is
completely unscrewed in order to also remove the last remaining
drops of nail varnish.
[0027] With the variant illustrated in FIGS. 2-5, the nut section 6
to which the handle 8 and the brush 9 are attached is provided with
an external screw thread 20, while the cap 16 has an internal screw
thread 21 at that location. The diameter of these screw threads 20,
21 is larger than that of the screw threads 3, 5 between the neck 2
and the cap 16. The advantage of this embodiment is that the
functioning of both screw threads is excellent. The diameter of the
screw threads 20, 21 between the nut section 6 and the cap 16 is
even relatively greater than that of the variant from FIG. 1, as a
result of which a very light and reliable screwing movement is made
possible.
[0028] A significant advantage of the nut section 6 with a
relatively large diameter (required for the relatively large
diameter of the screw threads 20, 21) is also that it creates space
for the apron-shaped seal 22 which is injection-molded onto the
transition 23 which conically narrows from the nut section 6 to the
handle 8. When the closure 4 is placed on the neck 2, this
apron-shaped seal 22 is brought into contact with the top side of
said neck 2. This ensures that the substance which is present
inside the container 1 cannot penetrate into the region with the
various threaded connections.
[0029] Furthermore, on the apron-shaped seal 22, there are recesses
24, which engage with corresponding projections 23 on the top side
of the neck 2 in such a manner that said section 6 is locked
against rotation.
[0030] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the closure 4 consists of the
above-described nut section 6 and the associated parts, the cover
25 and the sleeve 32. The cover 25, which is also shown upside down
in FIG. 5 for the sake of clarity, has a stop 26 which is formed at
the end of a threaded elevation 27. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the
nut section has a corresponding stop 26, on a corresponding helical
elevation 29. The cover has opposite projections 30, while the
sleeve has corresponding recesses 31.
[0031] When assembling the closure 4, the nut section 6 is first
screwed into the screw thread 21 of the sleeve 32. Subsequently,
the cover 25 is placed, with the projections 30 thereof coming to
lie in the recesses 31. The purpose of the stops 26, 28 will be
explained next.
[0032] If, for any reason whatsoever, the nut section 6 is rotated
outwards over some distance with respect to the sleeve 32, so that
the brush 9 projects relatively far outside, the closure 4 can
nevertheless be placed correctly on the container 1 in the
following manner. As soon as the grooves 24 engage with the
corresponding projections 33 at the top side of the neck 2, the nut
section 6 is locked against rotation. The sleeve 32 can now be
rotated further, with the sleeve 32 moving in the direction of the
container 1, as a result of the interaction between the screw
threads 20, 21 of the nut section 6 and the sleeve 32. Gradually,
the screw thread 5 of the sleeve 32 comes into contact with the
screw thread 3 of the neck 2, as a result of which the cap 16
becomes secured to the container 1. When the sleeve 32 and the
cover 25 attached thereto have eventually been rotated so far that
the stops 26, 28 are in contact with one another, the closure 4 has
been tightened completely. The bottom of the sleeve 32 may in this
case still be situated at a distance from the top wall of the
container 1.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0033] 1. Container
[0034] 2. Neck
[0035] 3. External screw thread (neck)
[0036] 4. Closure
[0037] 5. Internal screw thread (cap)
[0038] 6. Nut section
[0039] 7. External screw thread (nut section)
[0040] 8. Handle
[0041] 9. Brush
[0042] 10. Sealing ring
[0043] 11. Sealing ring collar
[0044] 12. Top surface (sealing ring)
[0045] 13. Bottom surface (nut section)
[0046] 14. Sealing ring lug
[0047] 15. Recess (nut)
[0048] 16. Cap
[0049] 17. Bottom (container)
[0050] 20. External screw thread (nut section)
[0051] 21. Internal screw thread (cap)
[0052] 22. Apron-shaped seal
[0053] 23. Conical transition
[0054] 24. Recess (apron-shaped seal)
[0055] 25. Cover
[0056] 26. Stop (cover)
[0057] 27. Helical elevation (cover)
[0058] 28. Stop (sleeve)
[0059] 29. Helical elevation (sleeve)
[0060] 30. Projection (cover)
[0061] 31. Recess (sleeve)
[0062] 32. Sleeve
[0063] 33. Projection (neck)
[0064] 34. Friction element (nut section)
* * * * *