U.S. patent application number 13/157512 was filed with the patent office on 2012-02-09 for plastic two-piece dosing cap.
This patent application is currently assigned to ROBERT BOSCH GMBH. Invention is credited to Dan Barron.
Application Number | 20120033898 13/157512 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44260012 |
Filed Date | 2012-02-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120033898 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Barron; Dan |
February 9, 2012 |
PLASTIC TWO-PIECE DOSING CAP
Abstract
A two-piece dosing cap (10) comprised of a base part (2) and a
closure part (3). Both parts (2 and 3) can be displaced in relation
to one another in the axial direction by means of suitable threads
(20, 30). Above a cylindrical part (22), the base part (2) has a
head part (23) comprising an outer wall (24), which is closed on
top by a top surface (25). A plurality of outlet orifices (21) is
integrally formed in the outer wall (24). The closure part (3)
includes a mirror-inverted truncated cone (33), the outer wall (34)
of which is completely closed, and therefore rests in the closed
state with the interior surface thereof on the exterior surface of
the outer wall (24) of said base part (2). Both parts comprise
sealing means which are matched to one another.
Inventors: |
Barron; Dan; (Schaffhausen,
CH) |
Assignee: |
ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
Stuttgart
DE
|
Family ID: |
44260012 |
Appl. No.: |
13/157512 |
Filed: |
June 10, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
383/61.1 ;
220/288 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 47/242
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
383/61.1 ;
220/288 |
International
Class: |
B65D 33/16 20060101
B65D033/16; B65D 41/04 20060101 B65D041/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 10, 2010 |
DE |
10 2010 029 908.1 |
Claims
1. A plastic two-piece dosing cap (1) for solid or flexible
containers, comprised of a base part (2) which can be mounted on
the receptacle and a closure part (3) held thereon so as to be
movable in a screw-like fashion, wherein the two parts (2, 3) can
be displaced relative to one another in the axial direction and can
be brought from a closed position to an open position and vice
versa by means of the screw-like movement, wherein the base part
(2) has external thread (20) and at least one outlet orifice (21)
arranged above the same, said closure part having on the other hand
interior thread (30) and a central outlet orifice (32'), and
wherein said base part (2) comprises a cylindrical region (22)
having external thread (20) and a head part (23) having an external
contour in the form of a truncated cone above the latter. The head
part (23) has a conical outer wall (24), which has at least one
outlet orifice (21) and is closed by a top surface (25) of said
head part (23), said closure part (3) on the other hand being
configured as a mirror-inverted truncated cone (33) above the
interior thread (30) thereof, which is positioned in a cylindrical
section (31) of said closure part, characterized in that the top
surface (32) of the truncated cone (33) is at least approximately
completely open and in the closed state, the conical exterior
surface of the outer wall (24) of said base part (2) and a conical
interior surface (32) of said closure part (3), which likewise
comprises a conical outer wall (34), come to rest in a sealing
manner one on top of the other, wherein the conical outer wall (34)
of said closure part (3) is bent toward the center on the upper
edge thereof and the closed top surface (25) of said base part (2)
has a shoulder (28) extending toward the center, wherein the bend
(36) on the upper edge (35) rests in a sealing manner against the
vertical section of the shoulder (28) in the closed state of the
dosing cap.
2. A dosing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the at
least one outlet orifice (21) extends approximately over the entire
height of the outer wall (24), which is shaped like a truncated
cone.
3. A dosing cap according to claim 2, characterized in that the
base part has at least three outlet orifices (21) and said orifices
make up at least 50% of the surface area of the conical outer wall
(24).
4. A dosing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that a
sealing bead (37) is integrally formed on the upper edge (35) and a
mirror-inverted sealing groove (29), in which the sealing bead (37)
engages in the closed state of the cap (1), extends in the vertical
section of the shoulder (28).
5. A dosing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that a
sealing groove is formed in the bend (36) of the upper edge (35)
and a sealing bead is integrally formed on the vertical section of
the shoulder (28), said sealing bead engaging in a sealing manner
in the sealing groove in the closed state of the dosing cap
(1).
6. A dosing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that sealing
beads (38) are disposed on the inner surface of the conical outer
wall (34) of the closure part (3), said sealing beads being
dimensioned in form and size in such a way that in the closed state
of the dosing cap (1), said sealing beads rest so as to encircle
the edges of the outlet orifices (21) in a sealing manner.
7. A dosing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the
base part (2) comprises a circumferential, outwardly directed
flange (26), which is adjoined at the end thereof by the
cylindrical region (22).
8. A dosing cap according to claim 7, characterized in that a
circumferential retaining collar (27) is integrally formed on the
base part below the exterior thread (20) and spaced apart from the
flange (26).
9. A dosing cap according to claim 8, characterized in that at
least one retaining hook (39) connected to the outer wall (34) of
the closure part (3) is integrally formed thereon, said retaining
hook catching on the retaining collar (27) in a maximum open
position of the dosing cap (1).
10. A dosing cap according to claim 9, characterized in that in the
cylindrical region (31) of the closure part (3), recesses (40) are
provided in the outer wall, in which downwardly extending spring
tongues (41) are molded, on which the retaining hook (39) is
integrally formed.
11. A dosing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the
cylindrical section (31) of the closure part is provided with means
(42) for increasing adhesion.
12. A dosing cap according to claim 11, characterized in that the
exterior surface of the cylindrical section is polygonal
shaped.
13. A dosing cap according to claim 1 for use on plastic
collapsible bags.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a plastic two-piece dosing
cap for solid or flexible containers, particularly for the use on
plastic collapsible bags, comprised of a base part, which can be
mounted on the receptacle, and a closure part held thereon so as to
be movable in a screw-like fashion, wherein the two parts can be
displaced relative to one another in the axial direction and can be
brought from a closed position to an open position and vice versa
by the screw-like movement, wherein the base part has external
thread and at least one outlet orifice arranged above the same, the
closure part having on the other hand interior thread and a central
outlet orifice, and wherein said base part comprises a cylindrical
region having external thread and a head part having an external
contour in the form of a truncated cone above of the latter. The
head part has a conical outer wall, which has at least one outlet
orifice and is closed by a top surface of said head part. The
closure part on the other hand is configured as a mirror-inverted
truncated cone above the interior thread thereof, which is
positioned in a cylindrical section of said closure part.
[0002] Dosing caps made from plastic having the construction, which
is relative in this case, are known from prior art since the
1950's. The British patent publication GB-726756-A shows a typical
example. This cap, which, for example, is suited to be placed on
tubes, comprises a screw cap as the closure part, which has a
conical outer wall, and a spring-loaded sealing peg is located
inside of said closure part. The sealing peg is moved downwards
when the internal pressure is raised and thereby unblocks the
opening in said closure part.
[0003] Whereas in the aforementioned solution, the closure part
contributes a functional share to the dosed dispensing of fluids,
the British patent publication GB-1399840 depicts a solution which
is considerably more complex and is provided with an actual valve
plate, wherein in this instance the closure part does not have any
influence on the dosing action of the cap. Pursuant to the British
patent publication 1187081-A, the closure part performs a closing
and dosing function in the form of a screw cap. In this case, an
orifice is eccentrically disposed in the top surface and said
orifice is closed by the container neck or a base part, which in
the closed position engages in said orifice. This solution is by
design extremely simple, is, however, suited as a dosing cap only
for dispensing small amounts. Typically such dosing caps are placed
on containers for cosmetics.
[0004] The majority of solutions, which apply in this case, usually
comprise a closure part having an upper orifice positioned
centrally in the top surface and a sealing peg, which is indirectly
or directly connected to a base part, wherein these two parts can
be moved upwards and downwards in relation to one another by a
screw-like movement; thus enabling the fluid to flow around the
sealing peg. The German patent publication DE 9204076 U depicts a
typical example of such a solution.
[0005] The German patent publication DE-A-2839284 is considered to
be the most relative prior art. Said publication relates to a
plastic two-piece dosing cap for solid and flexible containers,
comprised of a base part which can be mounted on the receptacle and
a closure part held thereon so as to be moved in a screw-like
fashion, wherein the two parts can be displaced in relation to one
another in the axial direction and can be brought from a closed
position into an open position and vice versa. In so doing, the
base part comprises exterior thread and at least one outlet orifice
disposed above the same, the closure part on the other hand
comprising interior thread and a central outlet orifice, wherein
said base part has a cylindrical region with exterior thread and a
part having an outside contour in the shape of a truncated cone,
which is disposed above the latter.
[0006] In principle, two-piece dosing caps of the above mentioned
type have been known in similar design from prior art for quite
some time. An example of these older caps is a tube cap pursuant to
the German patent publication DE 636805. Caps based on the same
principle, namely having a bottom part of truncated cone shape and
a conical part which can be displaced in relation to the latter,
have been known for a long time from prior art. Said caps, however,
are conceived as tube caps and the base part is in this case
virtually configured as a solid body. Even the proven, most
relevant prior art comprises a bottom part, which is virtually
manufactured from a solid body and the orifices are virtually
configured as canals. A tube cap is also known from the German
patent publication DE-A-1863157. In this case, however, instead of
a truncated cone, two conical parts are aligned with one another.
This arrangement of course allows for only a small outlet orifice
and this opening has to be centrally disposed above the point of
the lower cone, whereas in the bottom part, the orifices are formed
in the conical wall.
[0007] The present two-piece dosing cap according to the invention
is however configured and designed for containers having large
capacities and correspondingly larger quantities to be dosed.
Considerably larger outlet orifices are thus closed. In such
systems, bottom parts, which for all intents and purposes are
designed from a solid body, are no longer ecologically and
economically feasible. The material usage is thereby much too
large. A suitable thin-walled solution to the bottom part as well
as to the top part in order to thereby save material would seem
logical to the specialist in the field. Such a solution, however,
cannot be realized in an obvious way due to the forces which
thereby arise. This results from the fact that a one to one
implementation of the conventional solutions to date would lead to
impermeability deficiencies, which would result from the
thin-walled parts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It is therefore the aim of the present invention to improve
a two-piece dosing cap of prior art mentioned above such that a
large dosing cap can be produced in a thin-walled and thereby
material saving manner and at the same time be capable of
withstanding a correspondingly higher internal pressure.
[0009] This aim is met by a two-piece plastic dosing cap of the
kind mentioned at the beginning of the application. The base part
is hereby to have a head part disposed above a cylindrical region
having exterior thread, wherein the at least one outlet orifice is
positioned in the conical outer wall and the top surface of the
head part is closed. The closure part on the other hand is designed
as a mirror-inverted truncated cone above the interior thread
thereof, which is positioned in a cylindrical section of said part.
In so doing, the top surface of the truncated cone is at least
almost completely open; and in the closed state, the conical
exterior surface of the outer wall of the base part and the conical
interior surface of the closure part come to rest in a sealing
manner one on top of the other.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] Additional advantageous embodiments of the subject matter of
the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims and the effect
and relevance of said embodiments are explained in the following
description with reference to the accompanying drawings. The
following are shown:
[0011] FIG. 1 an exploded view of the dosing cap according to the
invention in perspective depiction having the two main components,
namely the base part and the closure part, arranged in alignment
one above the other;
[0012] FIG. 2 the same dosing cap as in FIG. 1 in the assembled
state in an open position, once again in perspective depiction,
whereas
[0013] FIG. 3 a vertical partial section shows again the same
dosing cap in the closed state, and
[0014] FIG. 4 the same view as pursuant to FIG. 3, wherein the
dosing cap is depicted here in the open state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] It can be clearly seen in FIG. 1 that the dosing cap, which
as a total entity is denoted by the reference number 1 and can be
as such in FIG. 2, comprises two main components, namely the base
part 2 and the closure part 3. Said base part 2 allows for the
direct mounting on a container, in the example depicted here for
mounting on a plastic bag. For this purpose, the base part 2 has a
circumferential, outwardly directed flange 26, which is adjoined at
the end thereof by a cylindrical region 22. This cylindrical region
22 has exterior thread 20. The cylindrical region 22 is in turn
adjoined by a part, which as a total entity is designated as the
head part 23. Said head part 23 comprises a conical outer wall 24.
A top surface 25 closes said head part 23 from above. The top
surface 25 is therefore completely closed.
[0016] At least one outlet orifice 21 is formed in the conical
outer wall 24. A plurality of outlet orifices 21 are, however,
preferably disposed in said outer wall. The outlet orifices 21 can
be dimensioned here practically so large that only narrow webs
remain between the individual outlet orifices 21. In the preferred
exemplary embodiment depicted here, three outlet orifices 21 are
formed in the outer wall 24, which in total make up about 50% of
the surface area of said conical outer wall 24. The outlet orifices
21 are likewise preferably configured height-wise such that they
extend at least approximately over the entire height of said
conical outer wall 24. This embodiment is particularly suited to
fluids, of which a large volume is to be dispensed each time. If
the subject matter relates more to pourable products, as, for
example, salt, the outlet orifices are to be dimensioned so large
that practically only narrow webs remain between the individual
outlet orifices. In so doing, practically no material can remain on
the outer surface of the conical outer wall 24, which has now been
reduced to very few webs, when the dosing cap is closed.
[0017] The conical outer wall 24 is adjoined from above, as
previously mentioned, by the completely closed top surface 25. Said
top surface is preferably embodied having a material thickness such
that the wall thickness of said top surface 25 is virtually twice
as thick as the conical outer wall 24 of the head part 23. A
circumferential shoulder, which forms a ledge 28, is formed in the
edge area of said top surface 25. The height of this ledge 28
corresponds approximately to the thickness of said conical outer
wall 24 of the head part 23. In addition, a circumferential sealing
groove 29 is formed in the vertical section of the ledge 28. This
can be seen best in FIG. 4.
[0018] The closure part, which has already been mentioned, can be
screwed onto the base part 2. Said closure part 3 is designed such
that the interior surface thereof rests in the closed state against
the exterior surface of the base part in a sealing manner. Said
closure part 3 has accordingly likewise a cylindrical section 31.
The interior thread 30 of said closure part 3 is formed on the
interior side of said cylindrical section 31. Said interior thread
can only be seen in the sectional drawings of FIGS. 3 and 4. The
cylindrical section 31 of said closure part 3 is also adjoined here
by a truncated cone 33. The outer wall 34 of the truncated cone 33
is completely closed. In contrast, the top surface 32 of said
truncated cone 33 is completely open except for an upper edge 35
and forms the outlet orifice 32' of said closure part 3. Said
cylindrical section 31 has on the outer side thereof means 42 for
increasing adhesion. These means can, for example, be configured as
ribs running vertically or, as is depicted here, in the shape of a
polygon, similar to a polygonal nut.
[0019] Depending upon how high the cylindrical region 22 or the
cylindrical section 31 of the closure part are configured, the
greater is the relative, axial mobility of said closure part in
relation to the base part 2 and the remaining clearance between the
truncated cone 23 of the base part 2 and the truncated cone 33 of
said closure part 3 is respectively correspondingly large. For the
use of pourable products, said cylindrical region 22 or the
cylindrical section 31 should preferably be configured longer than
would be the case for a dosing cap suitable for fluids.
[0020] The required impermeability for such a cap is of course
correspondingly higher for applications using liquid media than for
applications on receptacles, which contain pourable media. In FIGS.
3 and 4, a preferred embodiment of different sealing options for a
dosing cap for liquid media is depicted. In principle, the sealing
takes place as a result of the truncated cone 23 of the base part 2
engaging in a positive-locking manner in the outlet orifice 32' of
the top surface 32 of the closure part 3. For this purpose, said
base part 2 comprises, as already described, a circumferential
shoulder 28 and the outer wall 34 of the truncated cone 33 of said
closure part 3 is configured such that said outer wall 34 is bent
towards the inside at the end thereof and thus forms the stated
bend 36. Said bend 36 comes to rest in a positive-locking manner in
and on the shoulder 28, which bounds the top surface 25 by
projecting inwardly from the margins of the top surface 25. In
order to increase the impermeability, said bend 36 is preferably is
provided with a sealing bead 37, which is directed towards the
center, at the end which extends vertically. This sealing bead
basically relates to a short, inwardly directed lip having a
thickness of only a few tenths of a millimeter. It is useful to
introduce a sealing groove 29, which matches the sealing bead 37 in
a positively-locking manner, into the vertical section of the
shoulder 28. In the completely closed state, said sealing bead 37
thus engages in the corresponding sealing groove 29.
[0021] Provision is made here for a further sealing option by
sealing beads 38 being integrally formed on the interior side of
the conical outer wall 34. These sealing beads 38 project
vertically from said conical outer wall 34 and the extension
thereof is matched to the form of the outlet orifices 21. In the
completely closed state of the dosing cap, said sealing beads 38
rest against the edges of the outlet orifices 21 in a sealing
manner. As a result, a tactile engagement in the closing position
arises because said sealing beads 38 already bear on the exterior
surface of the conical outer wall 24 before reaching the end
position and in the process practically clean said conical outer
wall. The user consequently hears and feels if he completely closes
the dosing cap, and in the same manner said user has to overcome an
increased resistance before he can open said dosing cap.
[0022] It is of course useful and particularly for the dosed
dispensing of liquid media if the orifice region is bounded and the
user cannot mistakenly screw the closure part completely off of the
base part. In order to prevent this, a retaining collar 27 is
integrally formed on the base part 2. This retaining collar 27 runs
below the exterior thread 20 of said base part 2, i.e. practically
in the region between the flange 26 and said exterior thread 20 in
the cylindrical region 22. Retaining hooks 39 are accordingly
integrally formed on the closure part 3, which catch when said
closure part 3 is maximally screwed onto said retaining collar 27.
Said retaining hooks 39 can be directly molded on extensions or
integrally formed on the bottom edge of the cylindrical section 31.
In the especially preferred embodiment depicted here, said
retaining hooks 39 are molded on spring tongues 41. These spring
tongues 41 are molded into recesses 40 in the outer wall of the
cylindrical section of said closure part 3. This embodiment has two
advantages, namely on the one hand that assembly is hereby
facilitated and on the other hand said retaining hooks 39 prevent
any damage being done to the threads during assembly. The threads
thereby retain the sealing effect thereof. The spring tongues 41
are configured to be longer than the height of the cylindrical
section 31 and therefore project downwards. This can, for example,
be seen in FIG. 2, however, also in FIGS. 3 and 4. Such spring
tongues 41 cannot be seen in FIG. 1 because in this instance the
retaining hook 39 is configured as a circumferential bead on the
interior side of the cylindrical section 31 of said closure part
3.
* * * * *