Packaged Liquid Containers

Abstract

A packaged liquid container comprises a closed flexible plastic bag, a liquid within the closed bag, and an emptying tube completely disposed within the closed bag and having an end able to pierce the wall of the bag from the inside, for emptying the liquid from the bag. In one disclosed form, particularly for containing beverages, the emptying tube is a drinking tube, preferably in the form of a drinking straw removably attached to a bead. The bead may be formed with one or more recesses and projections enabling a plurality of them, after their respective bags have been emptied and the beads removed, to be assembled together for amusement purposes. In other disclosed forms, useful for liquids to be poured out of the container, the emptying device is a funnel or a bullet-shaped pouring spout.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to packaged liquid containers, and particularly to cheap and expendable containers which may be opened and the liquid removed, in a simple and convenient manner.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A number of expendable liquid containers have been devised. One form in wide use today is simply a one-time-use glass bottle. Another form is made of plastic-coated cardboard. A further form is a metal can including a pulltab for opening it. All such containers, however, are relatively expensive to produce. Also while the user may drink from them directly, it is more common for the user to empty the contents into a glass before drinking same, or to insert a straw into the opened container. This requires an external drinking device. In addition, they, particularly the metal can containers and the glass bottles, create serious litter and/or disposal problems.

An object of the present invention is to provide new forms of packaged liquid containers having advantages in the above respects.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

According to a broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a packaged liquid container comprising a closed flexible bag, preferably of transparent plastic material, a liquid within the closed bag, and an emptying tube completely disposed within the closed bag. The emptying tube is manipulatable externally of the bag by flexing the bag and has an end able to pierce the wall of the bag from the inside, for emptying the liquid from the bag through the emptying tube.

In one disclosed form of the invention, the emptying tube is a drinking tube. In accordance with a further important aspect of the invention, directed to this form, the drinking tube may comprise a drinking straw and a separable bead, one end of the drinking straw being adapted to pierce the bag wall, and the opposite end of the drinking straw being removably inserted into the bead. The bead may be formed with one or more recesses, one of which is for the reception of the straw, and with one or more projections adapted to seat within the recesses of another like bead. This enables a plurality of such beads, after their respective bags have been emptied and the beads removed, to be assembled together for amusement purposes.

In other disclosed forms of the invention, the emptying tube may be a funnel or a bullet-shaped pouring spout, such forms being particularly for use with respect to liquids which are to be poured out of their containers.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates one form of packaged liquid container made in accordance with the invention, this form being particularly applicable for drinking liquids such as beverages:

FIG. 2 illustrates the liquid container of FIG. 1 being readied by the user for drinking;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the drinking tube used in the container of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates another form of emptying tube that may be used, namely a funnel for emptying the liquid by pouring;

FIGS. 5-8 are fragmentary views (FIG. 6 being in section) illustrating variations in the construction of the drinking tube of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view illustrating the use of a protective cap over the upper, piercing end of the emptying tube; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a further variation of the container including a bullet-shaped pouring spout for the emptying tube.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The container illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is particularly for use with a drinking beverage. It includes a closed flexible bag 1 of transparent plastic material (e.g., polyethylene hosing) closed by heat sealing at its upper and lower ends, 2 and 2'. If hosing is not used, the sides of the bag would of course also be heat-sealed. Disposed with the liquid within the bag, before the bag is closed, is a rigid drinking tube 3, enlarged at its lower end by means of a knob or bulbous thickening 4. The upper end 3' of tube 3 is pointed, as by cutting same at a bias, and the knob 4 is formed with an opening 4' in communication with the passageway through tube 3. Tube 3 may be formed integrally with knob 4 of plastic material. It is freely movable within the closed bag and may be moved therein by external manipulation of the bag.

When the user desires to drink the liquid in the container, he moves tube 3, by externally manipulating the flexible bag, to cause the pointed end 3' of the tube to pierce the bag. This manipulation is facilitated by knob 4, and the tube is sufficiently stiff so that pushing knob 4 upwardly will apply a sufficient force to cause end 3' to pierce the bag (FIG. 2). The user may then drink the liquid by drawing same through tube 3.

For liquids which are to be emptied by pouring, such as motor oil to be poured into a vehicle engine, the emptying tube would be in the form of a funnel 5, shown in FIG. 4. The upper, smaller-diameter end 4' of the funnel is pointed, and the lower end is enlarged by the provision of a rim 6, to facilitate manipulation of the funnel within the tube.

FIGS. 5-8 illustrate variations in the drinking tube of FIG. 3. In all these variations, the drinking tube is made of two parts, namely a drinking straw 10 and a separable bead e.g. 12 in FIG. 5. Drinking straw 10 is pointed at its upper end 10' for piercing the bag wall, and its lower end is removably seated within bead 12. The latter includes a bore 12' in alignment with the passageway through straw 10. The variations illustrated in FIGS. 5-8 are advantageous not only in simplifying the manufacture of the drinking tube, but also in enabling part of the drinking tube, namely the separable bead part, to be used as an amusement device, as will be described more fully below.

In FIG. 5, bead 12 is spherical in shape and is formed with a cylindrical recess 14 removably receiving, by a press-fit, the lower end of straw 10. After use, the straw may be removed, and bead 12 may be used as a marble for playing marble games, or it may be strung on a string to form a set of beads, etc.

In FIG. 6 (shown in section), the bead 22 is formed with a cylindrical recess 24 for receiving the lower end of the straw, and at its opposite end, with a projection 26 of the same size and shape as recess 24 so as to be received, preferably with a snap-fit, into a recess 24 of another like bead. Thus, after the container is used, and the beads removed, a plurality of them may be assembled together in a chain without string. In addition, projection 26, at the lower end of the bead and through which bore 22' passes, more effectively reaches all the corners of the bag and thus facilitates the complete emptying of the bag.

In FIG. 7, the bead 32 is formed with a plurality of recesses 34 and with a plurality of projections 36. When used in a container, one recess 34 receives the lower end of the straw 10, but after the liquid has been consumed, a plurality of beads 32 may be assembled in different configurations and arrangements, in the nature of interlocking building blocks. As an example, each bead 32 may include three recesses 34 and three projections 36.

FIG. 8 illustrates a similar construction as in FIG. 7, except that the bead 42 is cubical. Other shapes may also be used, and in fact it is contemplated that different containers may include different shape beads to enable a wide variety of constructions to be assembled. Bead 42 of FIG. 8 includes a recess 44 on three of its faces and a projection 46 on its remaining three faces.

It is further contemplated that the beads could take other shapes, for example simulating different animals. As one illustration, the bead could be in the form of an elephant with the bore passing through the trunk, to simulate an elephant drinking through its trunk. Also, the straw may be press-fitted on a projection rather than in a recess of the bead.

The drinking straw 10, in the embodiments of FIGS. 5-8, need not be as rigid as tube 3 in FIG. 3. For safety purposes it could be bendable and collapsible by force, but it nevertheless should be sufficiently stiff so as to permit its pointed end to pierce the bag wall when pushed from the bead end. Drinking straws made of stiff polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride tubing, 0.2 mm in thickness and 4 mm external diameter, have been found satisfactory. Also, such drinking straws, with the bead attached, float in the liquid, and it has been found that filled bags may be packed horizontally with little danger of accidentally puncturing the bag.

FIG. 9, however, illustrates a variation for preventing accidental puncturing, wherein a protective cap 50 is applied over the pointed end 52' of the emptying tube 52. The latter may be any of the forms described herein. Cap 50 is preferably formed with a stiff enlarged head 50' to enable the cap to be easily removed by the user from the outside of the bag before moving the pointed end 52' to pierce the bag.

FIG. 10 illustrates further variations.

For one, the flexible bag 60 is closed by heat-sealing at the top and bottom, as in FIGS. 1 and 2, but at the top the heat-sealing line 62 is below the upper edge so as to form a marginal strip 64 of plastic above the upper end of the bag compartment. This has been found to greatly facilitate the handling of the bag, and may also be used for removably holding a small clamp(not shown) that may be provided for temporarily closing the pierced opening in the bag when the contents are only partly to be emptied at any one time. This of course may also be provided in the other embodiments.

In addition, the emptying tube in FIG. 10, is in the form of a bullet-shaped pouring spout 66. Spout 66 is formed with a pointed end 66' for piercing the bag, and with an enlarged rim 68 at the opposite end. It is further formed with a longitudinal bore 70 terminating in a plurality of openings 72 at the sides of the tip 66', the tip being solid to facilitate its penetration of the bag. In use, spout 66 is manipulated to pierce the bag and is then forced through it until its enlarged rim 68 limits against the inner surface of the bag. The opened bag is placed over the container (not shown) receiving the liquid, with the spout suspended within the container. The spout is preferably sufficiently long and weighty so that it steadily holds the bag in position on the container while the liquid flows downwardly through bore 70 and openings 72 into the container.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides new forms of packaged liquid containers which are cheap, expendable, substantially avoid the litter and disposal problem of other containers, and which may be opened and emptied in a simple and convenient manner, on the spot and without the need for extraneous devices.

Many other variations and applications of the invention will be apparent.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A packaged liquid container, comprising, a closed flexible bag, liquid within the closed flexible bag, and a drinking tube completely disposed within the bag and manipulatable therein by manipulating the flexible bag, said drinking tube including a drinking straw and a bead formed with a through-going bore removably receiving the drinking straw and facilitating the manipulation of same externally of the closed flexible bag.

2. A container according to claim 1, wherein said bead is of spherical shape.

3. A container according to claim 1, wherein said bead is of cubical shape.

4. A container according to claim 1, wherein one end of said straw is received in said bead, the opposite end of the straw being pointed and adapted to pierce said closed flexible bag from the inside.

5. A container according to claim 1, when said flexible bag is of transparent plastic material, the upper end of the bag being heat-sealed along a line space from the upper edge of the bag to provide an upper marginal strip.

6. A container according to claim 1, wherein said bead is formed with at least one projection adapted to seat within the bore of another like bead, enabling a plurality of such beads, after their respective bags have been emptied and the beads removed, to be assembled together for amusement purposes.