U.S. patent number 3,677,429 [Application Number 05/115,597] was granted by the patent office on 1972-07-18 for nipple assembly and package.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Aluminum Company of America. Invention is credited to Robert L. La Barge.
United States Patent |
3,677,429 |
La Barge |
July 18, 1972 |
NIPPLE ASSEMBLY AND PACKAGE
Abstract
An elastic dispensing nipple is provided which has an inwardly
open annular recess in its base and a sealing disc disposed in the
nipple base with the peripheral edge portion of the disc seated in
the recess, the recess having a plurality of radially extending
ribs on the undersurface of its top wall and on the upper surface
of its bottom wall, and the disc having a plurality of radial ribs
and a circumferential rib in its peripheral edge portion. An
assembly of such nipple and disc is adapted to be sealed on a
container entrance mouth with a shroud thereover to seal the
contents in a container, and to dispense the contents of the
container through the nipple after the shroud has been removed.
Inventors: |
La Barge; Robert L. (Ben Avon,
PA) |
Assignee: |
Aluminum Company of America
(Pittsburgh, PA)
|
Family
ID: |
22362345 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/115,597 |
Filed: |
February 16, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
215/11.6;
215/11.5; 215/11.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61J
11/045 (20130101); A61J 11/04 (20130101); A61J
11/02 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61J
11/00 (20060101); A61J 11/02 (20060101); A61J
11/04 (20060101); A61j 011/02 (); A61j 009/00 ();
B65d 051/16 () |
Field of
Search: |
;215/11R,11A,11B,11C,11D,40 ;128/252 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Leclair; Joseph R.
Assistant Examiner: Marcus; Stephen
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In an assembly of an elastic dispensing nipple and a disc
therein adapted for securement on the entrance mouth of a rigid
container to form a sealed package, the nipple having a discharge
end with an orifice therein and a hollow open-end base for sealing
securement against a sealing surface of the container entrance
mouth and an inwardly open annular recess in the nipple base for
overlying an upwardly facing sealing surface on the container, and
said disc being disposed transversely across the nipple with an
annular rim portion of the disc supported in the said nipple
recess, the improvement comprising:
said nipple having a plurality of radial ribs on the undersurface
of the top wall of the annular recess in the nipple base and
extending inward from the outer wall of the nipple, and said disc
having an annular rib and a plurality of radial ribs of lesser
height in its annular rim portion,
whereby, the nipple base can be axially compressed on a container
entrance mouth to seal the disc in the nipple recess and, upon
release of the axial compression, the radial ribs on the nipple
recess and disc will provide passageways for flow of the contents
of the container between the disc and the nipple recess to be
dispensed through the orifice in the discharge end of the
nipple.
2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which radial ribs are
provided on the upper surface of the bottom wall of the nipple
recess extending inward from the outer wall of the nipple.
3. In a tamperproof hermetically sealed package including a rigid
container for enclosing liquid contents and having upper and lower
upwardly facing sealing surfaces adjacent the entrance mouth
thereto, an elastic dispensing nipple having a discharge end with
an orifice therein and a hollow open-end base permanently sealingly
secured against the lower sealing surface of the container, and an
inwardly open annular recess in the nipple base overlying the upper
sealing surface of the container, a disc transversely disposed
across the nipple with an annular rim portion of the disc supported
in the nipple recess, and a substantially inelastic shroud
enclosing the base of the nipple and secured to the container, said
shroud engaging the exterior surface of the container in axial
compression of the nipple base to seal said disc in the nipple
recess, the improvement comprising:
said nipple having a plurality of radial ribs on the undersurface
of the top wall of the annular recess in the nipple base and
extending inward from the outer wall of the nipple which
configuration promotes elimination of molding defects in this
critical area during molding of the nipple, and said disc having an
annular rib and a plurality of radial ribs of lesser height in its
annular rim portion,
whereby upon release of the axial compression of the nipple base,
the radial ribs on the nipple recess and disc provide passageways
for flow of the container's contents between the disc and the
nipple recess to be dispensed through the orifice in the discharge
end of the nipple.
4. A package as set forth in claim 3 in which radial ribs are
provided on the upper surface of the bottom wall of the nipple
recess extending inward from the outer wall of the nipple.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known to provide a package for storing and dispensing
individual portions or servings of liquid such as formula for
infact consumption in which the container has a dispensing nipple
thereon and a removable protective shroud thereover as is described
in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,335,890 and 3,516,564. These packages have
worked well for the intended purpose, but some difficulty has been
experienced in molding the nipples for the packages. Compression
molded nipples have sometimes been defective, and defective nipples
result in defective packages. Accordingly, it is desired to provide
a dispensing nipple for such a package which can be molded in large
quantities with few or no defects in the nipples.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a molded elastic dispensing nipple which has
an inwardly open annular recess in its base with a plurality of
radially extending ribs on the undersurface of the top wall and on
the upper surface of the bottom wall of the recess, and which may
have a sealing disc seated in the annular nipple recess, which disc
has a plurality of radial ribs and a circumferential rib in its
peripheral edge portion. When the nipple and disc are sealed on a
container entrance mouth with a shroud thereover, the disc is
sealed in the annular recess in the nipple so that the contents of
the container cannot escape around the disc, and so that upon
removal of the shroud the seal will be released for dispensing the
contents of the container through the nipple.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an improved
dispensing nipple and sealing disc for affixation to a container
entrance mouth to form a hermetically sealed tamperproof
package.
Another object of the invention is to provide a dispensing nipple
which has an inwardly open annular recess in its base with a
plurality of radial ribs on the undersurface of the top wall of the
recess which are aligned with the direction of material flow during
molding of the nipple to ensure that the nipple can be molded in
large quantities with no defects in the molded nipples.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be
more fully understood and appreciated with reference to the
following specification and drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a nipple of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the nipple taken along line
II--II of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the nipple taken along line
III--III of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a disc element for assembly with a
nipple;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the disc element taken along
line V--V of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view compositely illustrating, to the
left of center, a closure assembly comprising a nipple, disc and
shroud affixed to a container and, to the right of the center, a
package in authorized opened condition thereof.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An exemplary embodiment of a unitized closure assembly of the
invention includes a contents dispensing member, such as a flexibly
resilient or elastic infant feeding nipple, adapted to be
permanently affixed against upwardly directed, axially and radially
stepped sealing surfaces of a rigid container and an imperforate
disc adapted to sealably separate the interior of the container
from an interior cavity in the nipple and a fragibly removable
cup-shaped outer protective shroud provided with a closure affixing
locking ring engagable with the dispensing member and the exterior
surface of the container to form therewith a hermetically sealed
tamperproof closure-container package.
Referring to the appended illustration, FIGS. 1 through 3
illustrate a flexibly resilient infant-feeding nipple 10 made of
elastic material and including a substantially vertical upstanding
teat portion 12 and a radially outwardly directed axially stepped
hollow base. Teat portion 12 terminates in a generally spherically
shaped mammilla 16 having a discharge orifice 18 therein. The base
of nipple 10 is configurated to provide upper and lower outwardly
stepped annular flanges 20 and 22 respectively with annular
recesses 24 and 26 in the upper faces of the flanges. The outer
surfaces of these flanges are tapered slightly to facilitate
assembly of the nipple with a protective shroud adapted to be
assembled over the nipple. The base also includes upper and lower
substantially vertically disposed cylindrical wall or web sections
28 and 30 respectively with lower web section 30 having an annular
groove 29 therein. The nipple base further has a relatively thin
interior inwardly directed annular flange 32 terminating in a
downwardly and inwardly directed flap portion 33 which is adapted
for disposition against an upper surface of an underlying
container. Small radially extending ribs or grooves, now shown, may
be provided in the undersurface of flap portion 33 to improve
venting of a package capped with such a nipple. Flange 32 in
combination with the interior undersurface of step flange 20 forms
therewith an inwardly open annular recess 34 for receiving the
radial edge or rim of a substantially circular disc such as that
illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.
In the nipples described in Pat. No. 3,516,564, the lower interior
flange of the nipple is provided with a plurality of small upwardly
extending buttons, and the undersurface of the upper flange is
provided with one or more annular beads for sealing against the
peripheral edge portion or rim of a disc positioned in the nipple
recess. Although these buttons and beads have functioned well when
properly molded, difficulty has been experienced in compression
molding such formations on the surfaces of the recess. Because of
the shape and orientation of the buttons and beads they have
sometimes not been formed or, if formed, were formed with missing
portions in them. With improperly formed nipples of this kind, the
packages sealed with such nipples may not function properly.
It is a feature of this invention that the undersurface of flange
20 and the upper surface of flange 32 be provided with a plurality
of radially extending ribs 38 and 36 respectively which can be
molded with nipples 10 without producing defective nipples. When
the package is opened ribs 36 hold the disc away from the upper
surface of flange 32 and ribs 38 hold the disc away from the
undersurface of flange 20 thereby providing communication between
the container and the teat cavity of nipple 10. Ribs 36 and 38
extend inward from the outer wall of the nipple, and are aligned
with the direction of material flow during molding of nipple 10 so
that almost absolute assurance can be had that the ribs and the
flat sealing surfaces between the ribs will be properly formed
during molding. With the buttons and annular beads which have
heretofore been formed on such nipples, the material which was
injected into the mold had to change directions of flow in order to
form the buttons and beads. This required direction change makes
molding more difficult and has sometimes resulted in improperly or
missing buttons and beads. Since the sealing between the nipple and
disc occurred at the extremity of the annular bead, minor defects
in the annular bead resulted in defective sealing performance. With
the present invention, however, improper molding seldom or never
happens. The present invention can also tolerate large defects in
the form of voids in the radial ribs without detrimental affect on
the performance of the package. Accordingly, nipples 10 of the
invention will, when sealed on containers, produce packages which
are almost completely free of defects.
As does the nipple disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,564 nipple 10
further includes a plurality of substantially vertical inwardly
extending ribs 42, or other inwardly projecting protrusions on the
interior inwardly disposed surface of web section 28 for providing
a centering means for a disc such as the one illustrated in FIGS. 4
and 5. In the form illustrated, nipple 10 has four such vertical
ribs 42 equally spaced around the circumference of the interior
surface of web 28. Additionally, a plurality of small projections
44 are provided on the interior inwardly disposed surface of lower
flange 22 of the nipple base. These projections 44 are designed to
center nipple 10 on a container entrance mouth prior to securement
of the nipple to the container. Seven such projections 44 equally
spaced around the nipple are illustrated in the preferred
embodiment. The base of nipple 10 further has at least one small
vent hole 46 through the nipple wall below interior annular nipple
flange 32 for providing communication between the interior of the
nipple below such flange 32 and the exterior of the nipple. Two
such holes, 180.degree. apart and having diameters of approximately
0.006 inch are employed in the preferred embodiment of the
nipple.
Turning to FIGS. 4 and 5, an imperforate disc 50, preferably made
of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, is illustrated for assembly with
a nipple 10 as seen in FIG. 6. Disc 50 is substantially round and
has a raised central portion with a horizontal upper wall 52 and a
substantially cylindrical side wall 54, and an annular rim portion
56 with a plurality of upwardly embossed flutes or radial ribs 58
and an upwardly embossed annular rib 59 which presses into ribs 38
and into the flat undersurface of flange 20 thereby providing a
seal which separates the upper cavity in the teat portion of a
nipple and a container in the sealed condition. In the form
illustrated, there are six equally spaced flutes 58 radially
extending over the width of the rim portion 56 of the disc. Ribs 58
prevent a seal between underside of disc 50 and the upper surface
of flange 32 which seal would be unbroken during opening of a
package thereby preventing communication between the container and
the teat of a nipple because atmospheric pressure acting on top of
the disc combined with vacuum in the container would act to
continue to hold the disc in a down and sealed position.
Circumferential rib 59 is higher than flutes 58 and has a
relatively sharp radius at its apex to insure penetration of ribs
38 to their full depth thereby insuring a seal between annular rib
59 and the underside of flange 20. Disc 50 is configurated and
dimensioned such that when assembled with nipple 10 and the
assembly is positioned in shroud, the outer rim diameter of disc 50
is slightly smaller than the transverse outer diameter of recess 34
in the nipple base to permit flow of product therebetween, and the
outer diameter of the raised central portion substantially
corresponds to the transverse dimension between the innermost
surfaces of opposed ribs 42 on the interior surface of nipple web
28 to ensure proper positioning of disc 50 in a package.
FIG. 6 illustrates a package comprising a nipple 10, a disc 50 in
the nipple and a shroud or closure member 60 over the nipple and
securing it to a container 80. Shroud 60 is illustrated in the form
of a drawn substantially inelastic metallic shell preferably made
of aluminum or an aluminum alloy. It comprises an upwardly
extending tubular body portion 62 terminating in a top panel 64,
and a laterally outwardly and axially stepped base including an
upper annular ring portion 66 and a lower annular ring or locking
band portion 68, with a curved valley 70 therebetween. Locking band
portion 68 preferably terminates in an annular curled bead 72
defining an open circular entrance mouth to the shroud 60, and a
frangible or rupturable circumferential zone not shown is located
in the curve valley 70 between the locking band and the upper ring
portion 66 of the shroud. Preferably, the frangible zone is
provided in the form of a plurality of arcuate slots or slits with
intermediate connecting bridges as described and illustrated in
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,335,890 and 3,516,564. This zone provides a means
for separating a top portion of the shroud to open a package as
will be described.
A container suitable for affixation of a nipple 10 and disc 50 of
the invention is illustrated in the form of a molded or blown
substantially rigid glass or plastic bottle 80 having an entrance
opening or mouth defined by an upwardly directed substantially
horizontal flat annular top sealing surface or finish 82 in
combination with a lateral or side finish 84 which preferably
diverges downwardly into slightly flared connection to a second
radially, outwardly and upwardly facing, annular sealing surface or
finish 86 providing a laterally projecting shoulder or lacking bead
88 therebelow.
A closure assembly may be formed by positioning a disc 50 in recess
34 in the hollow base of a nipple 10 and positioning the assembly
in a shroud 60. This assembly of a nipple and disc has been readily
accomplished by circumferential elastic stretching and widening of
the lower entrance of the nipple base for positioning the disc in
the base. Upon assembly of nipple 10, disc 50 and shroud 60, the
unitized closure assembly is positioned over the container entrance
mouth and affixed thereto by constriction of bead 72 under the
projecting shoulder 88 of the container.
FIG. 6 compositedly illustrates, to the left of center, a unitized
closure assembly following affixation to container 80, and to the
right of the center, a package after authorized opening thereof.
From this illustration, it is observed that nipple 10 has been
compressibly and elastically deformed from the original dimensional
configuration of its base as well as circumferentially and axially
restrained by substantially inelastic enclosing base configuration
of shroud 60 in the hermetically sealed tamperproof condition of
the closure assembly on its container. The hermetically sealed
condition of container 80 and nipple 10 is developed between the
surfaces of the elastically compressed and deformed nipple base in
continuous abutment against the upwardly directed stepped container
surfaces 82 and 86. Deformation of the nipple base in the closure
affixing operation further results in elastic deformation and
contacting abutment between the upper wall of recess 34
continuously with the annular rib 59 of disc 50 to develop a
hermetically sealed transverse partition between the interior of
the container and the interior of nipple 10. In this regard, the
ribs 38 (FIG. 1) on the surface of recess 34 and ribs 58 on the
disc 50 do not interfere with the continuous circumferential
hermetic sealing abutment between the upper surface of the recess
and the circumferential rib 59 on the disc. Beads 36 and 38 are not
distinguishable on the left side of FIG. 6 because they have been
elastically deformed against the rim of disc 50. Accordingly, as
shown to the left of center in FIG. 6, the axially applied pressure
of shroud 60 against nipple 10 completely seals the interior of
container 80 from the cavity in the teat portion 12 of nipple 10
and also compresses venting aperture 46 to a sealed condition
respecting the interior of the container.
It is a feature of the invention that the seal between the interior
of a container and a hollow nipple affixed thereto is effected by
rib 59 sealing against the undersurface of the top wall of the
nipple recess, and is not dependent upon annular beads in the
nipple recess as has been the case with prior art packages. In a
package of the prior art, annular beads on the nipple sealed
against the rim of the disc to provide a seal between the interior
of the container and the hollow nipple, and if these beads were not
properly formed, the package could be defective. In a package of
the invention, however, rib 59 on disc 50 provides this seal
between the interior of the container and the hollow nipple by
sealing against the undersurface of the top wall of the nipple
across ribs 38 and the flat surfaces between such ribs. Ribs 38 on
the nipple are not functional in providing this seal, but instead
function in the opened package to provide passageways for the flow
of formula around the disc as will be described. In their function
of providing passageways for the flow of formula, it is not
critical that ribs 38 be perfectly formed. It is the sealing rib 59
on disc 50 that must be accurately formed if defective packages are
to be avoided. Rib 59, however, can be mechanically formed on the
rim of disc 50 and can therefore be repeatedly formed without
defect. Consequently, packages of the invention can be produced in
large quantities with a minumum of functional defects therein.
Authorized opening of the tamperproof package is effected by
application of a breaking torque across the rupturable zone in
shroud 60 by restraining container 80 and applying force laterally
against one side of tubular body portion 62 of the shroud to
fracture the bridges in the circumferential frangible zone between
the lower secured locking band 68 and the remainder of the shroud
to separate the latter from the package. As illustrated to the
right of center of FIG. 6, authorized removal of the upper portion
of shroud 60 exposes nipple 10 in permanent attachment to the
container by the unremoved locking portion 68 of the shroud with
closure bead 72 secured under container locking bead 88, and lower
nipple flange 22 sealed against the upwardly directed lower
container finish 86.
Removal of the upper portion of the shroud 60 permits the elastic
nipple base to resiliently return to its original uncompressed and
unconfined condition above the permanently secured and sealingly
compressed lower nipple flange 22. This releases compressive
restraint of disc 50 within recess 34 and destroys or breaks the
hermetic seal between annular rib 59 of the disc 50, and the
undersurface of the top wall of the nipple recess 34. Inner
communication between the interior of nipple 10 and container 80 is
thereby established radially outwardly between ribs 36 which
separate undersurface of disc 50 from lower surface of recess 34,
then through annular clearance between the periphery of the disc
and the circumferential wall of recess 34, and then radially inward
across the top of the disc between ribs 38 which separate the upper
surface of the disc from the upper surface of recess 34. The radial
ribs 36 and 38 on the upper and lower surfaces of recess 34 and
ribs 58 on disc 50 aid in relieving any tendency of surface
adhesion between the surfaces of disc 50 and the abutting surfaces
of the nipple following authorized opening of the package, thereby
ensuring that the previously described passageways for
communication between the container and the inner space of the
nipple will open properly. With the nipples previously known,
missing or defective buttons or beads on the walls of the recess
resulting from improper molding would sometimes produce continued
surface adhesion between the disc and surfaces of the nipple in the
opened package, and formula could not flow around the disc in the
package as desired. However, with nipple 10 of the invention, the
nipple is almost invaribly properly molded and those defects which
do occur are unlikely to cause malfunctioning of the package.
As seen in the right hand side of FIG. 6, removal of the upper
portion of shroud 60 relieves the compression of flange 32 against
the underlying surface 82 of container 80 and leaves a
circumferential space 92 therebetween, with flap 33 bearing against
the curved container surface 90. Flap portion 33 of the flange 32,
in the uncompressed or opened condition, is designed to have a
slight interference with curved container surface 90 and may
actually conform thereto, and is relatively flexible and is
responsive to an internal vacuum in container 80 produced by an
intermittent flexure action exerted on the nipple mammilla 16 to
provide a flutter seal with the curve container surface 90 under a
slight compressive pressure. In this regard, the flutter valve
action of the resilient and flexible flap 33 reacts to make and
break circumferential sealing contact with curved container surface
90 responsive to differential pressures between the interior of
container 80 and ambient pressures outside the container. Small
ribs or grooves not shown on the undersurface of the flap 33 help
to assure that the circumferential contact between the flap and
container surface can be broken with a relatively low pressure
differential. Ambient air is thereby permitted to enter container
80 through such flutter valves.
It is therefore seen that an improved nipple is provided which has
ribs on the surfaces of an annular recess in the nipple base which
extend radially inward from the wall of the nipple to facilitate
molding the nipple, and which nipple is adapted to be assembled
with an imperforate disc for affixation to a container to form a
package that can be fabricated on a production basis with few or no
defects.
Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been
illustrated and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled
in the art that various modifications can be made therein without
departing from the scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *