Cream Dispenser With Pleated Walls And Lip Type Opening

Abstract

A cream dispenser in the form of a container of flexible material such as plastic having generally flexible top and bottom walls and pleated, collapsible sidewalls, an opening in one sidewall in the form of an elongated slit, flexible lips along the opposite sides of the slit, the lips normally closing the slit but being deflectable outwardly to permit discharge of the contents upon pressure being applied to container to collapse the same and said lips being deflectable inwardly upon insertion of a nozzle to recharge the dispenser and a removable closure for the opening.

Description

This invention relates to dispensers and more particularly to dispensers for cream products such as soap, shaving cream, tooth paste and the like and to such dispensers which when empty may be readily refilled by the user.

It is an object to provide a dispenser of the character stated which is compact and neat in appearance.

It is another object to provide a dispenser which may be economically manufactured.

A still further object is to provide such a dispenser which has a self closing discharge opening which will automatically open when pressure is applied to the container portion thereof to permit discharge of the contents but will, of itself, close when pressure is released.

An additional object is to provide a dispenser which may be readily recharged when empty and capable of repeated discharge and charge.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent as this description proceeds and reference is had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification.

In said drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dispenser according to my invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the discharge end of the dispenser showing details of the valve in the discharge opening and the outer cap;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 as it appears when hand pressure is applied thereto;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the discharge end of the dispenser with a recharge nozzle inserted therein;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 taken at right angles thereto and substantially on line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view with the outer cap removed from the discharge opening.

Referring now to the drawing in more detail the device comprises a container portion generally indicated 10 and a spout portion 11.

The container portion 10 is composed of relatively flat top and bottom panels 12 and 13 respectively, connected on all sides with accordion pleated sidewalls 14. The container is made of relatively flexible material such as plastic. Although not necessary, the top and bottom panels may be made slightly more rigid than the pleated sidewalls to help retain the shape of the container and to this end ribs 15, which may be ornamentally arranged, can be used on the top and bottom panels as shown in FIG. 1.

The spout portion 11 is formed as a thickened portion 16 formed integral in one of the pleated sidewalls and is provided with an opening in the form of an elongated slit 17. Positioned within this slit and extending inwardly from opposite walls thereof are a pair of flexible lips 18 which normally meet at the center of the slit and function to close the same as shown in FIG. 2. These lips however may be deflected outwardly if the container is pressed and the contents may be expelled. They will however return to their closed position when the pressure on the container is released.

As above briefly stated and as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 the dispenser may be refilled when empty. This is accomplished by the use of a stock container 19 having a spout 20. The spout is inserted in the slit and in this case the lips 18 are deflected inwardly and the contents from the stock container expelled through the spout and into the container 10 of the dispenser.

A cap 21 may be utilized to cover the slit 17. This cap is generally channel shaped with inturned side flanges 22 which are slidably received in grooves 23 in the member 16. The cap may thus be removed or replaced by a simple sidewise sliding motion.

Claims

Having described my invention what I claim as new is:

1. A cream dispenser comprising:

a. a container having substantially flat end walls and pleated sidewalls rendering the container expansible and collapsible;

b. an outwardly extending thickened portion forming a spout integral with a pleated sidewall, said thickened portion being rectangular in shape and having an elongated opening therethrough;

c. a pair of flexible lips extending inwardly from opposite sidewalls of said opening and contacting each other along a line between said sidewalls and closing said opening, said flexible lips being deflectable outwardly to allow discharge of the contents of the container therebetween and being deflectable inwardly to permit insertion of a spout to fill the container;

d. a pair of parallel grooves in opposite sides of the thickened portion forming the spout; and

e. a cover having opposed inturned flanges slidably positioned in said grooves to removably attach said cover to said spout.