Bottle With External Compartment

Abstract

A bottle having an integrally formed, recessed, exterior storage compartment provided in its sidewall. A hinged cover is provided for the storage compartment.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to containers, in particular to bottles having an external storage compartment.

2. Description of the Prior Art

At the present time there are many powdered and liquid products that are packaged in bottles which require additional apparatus before the products can be utilized. Among these are baby oil which might require cotton swabs; waving lotion requiring end papers; liquid waxes requiring a polishing cloth; and cosmetics, such as makeup base, requiring an applicator pad. This list is by no means inclusive, but it does give an insight into the problem -- the requirement of additional apparatus, usually carried in separate containers, to fully utilize the product packaged in the bottle. Thus, it is evident that there is a need for a bottle having the means to retain with the bottle apparatus which is used to apply the product container in the bottle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a bottle having an external storage compartment.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a bottle with an external storage compartment that is closed by a one-piece cover.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a bottle with an external storage compartment which presents a pleasing appearance.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a bottle with an external storage compartment which may be readily and economically produced in large quantities.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a bottle with an external storage compartment which is suitable for packaging many different products.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a bottle with an external storage compartment which can be fabricated from a number of different materials.

The foregoing and additional objects are realized in a bottle having an external, recessed compartment which includes the combination of a bottle sidewall, a bottom wall attached to the lower end of the bottle sidewall, and a top wall attached to the upper end of the bottle sidewall. An integrally formed neck structure extends outwardly from the top wall. A recessed compartment is formed in an area of the bottle sidewall defined by a compartment sidewall attached to the bottle sidewall and extending into the interior of the bottle. A compartment back wall is attached to the compartment sidewall. A cover overlies the recessed compartment and is movably attached to the bottle sidewall.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The drawings illustrate some of the present preferred embodiments of the invention in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective, elevational view of one embodiment for a bottle constructed in accordance with the present invention showing the hinged cover removed;

FIG. 2 is a perspective, elevational view of the bottle of FIG. 1 with the hinged cover attached to the bottle and in the open position;

FIG. 2A is an enlarged, broken, perspective view showing one of the pintles on the hinged cover, together with the recessed area on the container face for receiving the pintle;

FIG. 2B is a view taken along line 2B--2B of FIG. 2 and enlarged to show the pintle engaged in the recessed area;

FIG. 3 is an elevational, front view of the hinged cover of the bottle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a left-hand side view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a right-hand side view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a top view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a top view, partially in section, of the bottle of FIG. 2 with the cover in the closed position;

FIG. 8 is a front, elevational view of the bottle of FIG. 7 with the lower portion of the cover broken away;

FIG. 9 is a right-hand side view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective, elevational view of another embodiment for a bottle construction in accordance with the present invention showing the hinged cover removed;

FIG. 11 is a perspective, elevational view of the bottle of FIG. 10 with the hinged cover attached to the bottle and in the open position;

FIG. 11A is an enlarged, broken, perspective view showing one of the pintles on the hinged cover, together with the recessed area on the container face for receiving the pintle;

FIG. 11B is a view taken along line 11B--11B of FIG. 11 and enlarged to show the pintle engaged in the recessed area;

FIG. 12 is an elevational, front view of the hinged cover of the bottle of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a left-hand side view of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a right-hand side view of FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a top view of FIG. 12;

FIG. 16 is a top view, partially in section, of the bottle of FIG. 12 with the cover in the closed position;

FIG. 17 is a front, elevational view of the bottle of FIG. 16 with the upper portion of the cover broken away; and

FIG. 18 is a right-hand side view of FIG. 17.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is directed to a container or bottle having two separate compartments. The bottle has an internal compartment to hold a liquid or dry particulate product. A recessed, external storage compartment is provided in the sidewall of the bottle which may be used to store accessory material. The external compartment is closed by a hinged cover. The face of the hinged cover, when in the closed position, forms a portion of the sidewall of the container, and, according to which embodiment is chosen, it may also form a portion of the side of the container. The hinged cover has a pintle which extends outwardly from the top and bottom of one of its edges in the same plane as the face of the cover. The container sidewall is provided with two slots or recesses adjacent one sidewall of the compartment sidewalls to receive the pintles. The compartment sidewall is joined to the sidewall of the bottle preferably by a shoulder or a ledge which receives the cover in abutment so that the face of the cover is flush with the bottle sidewall when the cover is closed. The pintle on the hinged cover snaps into these slots to swingably mount the cover to the container. Preferably, the pintles are assembled into the slots in the container wall by a snapping action wherein either or both the walls of the slot and the pintles are elastically and resiliently deformed outwardly to admit the pintle and thereafter return to their original position to substantially enclose the pintles and provide a bearing surface for rotation of the pintles. The hinged cover has a rib on the inside of the edge opposite from the hinged edge which communicates with a groove in the container sidewall so that the cover may be held in the closed position. There is also provided an opening or finger grip or tab which can be grasped and used to separate the rib of the hinged cover from the container groove and thereby swingably open the cover.

The bottle of the present invention may be made from metal, glass or plastic. The cover for the storage compartment may be made from metal or plastic. Suitable plastics for the bottle are polyethylene (low, medium or high density), polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyacrylates or methacrylates, acrylonitrile graft polymers and others. The cover may be formed from such plastics as medium and high density polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonates, polystyrene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene graft polymers, polyacetals and others. The bottle of the present invention is preferably formed by blow molding a suitable thermoplastic such as medium density polyethylene, or polyvinyl chloride, and forming the cover by injection molding a thermoplastic material, such as high density polyethylene. However, the bottle may be formed from glass by blowing and an injection molded plastic may be used for the cover.

The bottle may be of any desired configuration, round, rectangular or tapered and of any desired size.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 1, 2, 2A and 2B, the container or bottle, generally designated 30, is rectangular in shape and has a swingably mounted, hinged cover, generally designated 31. The container has a neck structure 32 extending upwardly from a top wall 32A, two opposed sidewalls 33--33, a bottom wall 34, a back wall (not shown) and a front wall 35. The neck structure 32 has an opening 36 which gives access to the inner compartment of the container. The neck 37 has a raised, integral, helical thread 38. The thread 38 is adapted to engage a helical recess in a closure cap (not shown) so that the opening 36 may be closed.

The exterior recessed compartment, designated generally 39, is formed by an integral recess in the front wall 35 and is defined by a compartment back wall 40, a compartment sidewall 41, a compartment top wall 42 and a compartment bottom wall 43. The right-hand, downturned portion of the hinged cover 31 provides the other compartment sidewall 44 and a compartment front wall 45.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6, the hinged cover 31 has in inwardly projecting, short rib 46 which is centrally located on the inside of sidewall 44. When the cover 31 is in the closed position, the rib 46 is received in a groove 47 (see FIGS. 7, 8 and 9) provided in one sidewall 33 and holds the cover in a closed position. There is also provided on the cover 31 a raised finger grip 48 which can be grasped and used to open the compartment 39 by pivoting the cover 31.

On the opposite side of the cover 31 from the lip 48 there are pintles 49 and 50 which are coplanar and integral with the hinging edge 101 of the cover 31. As shown in FIGS. 1 through 9, and particularly in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the pintles 49 and 50 are received in slots 51 and 52 provided in the front wall 35. The slots are of sufficient size to allow the pintles 49 and 50 to pivot freely. When the bottle is made of plastic, the pintles 49 and 50 are retained in the slots 51 and 52 by resilient, opposed, retaining ledges 53--53 which bend inwardly as the pintle is being snapped into place and then recoil outwardly as the pintle passes to form a barrier against the possibility of the pintles 49 and 50 coming out of the slots 51 and 52 (see FIG. 2B). If the bottle is made of glass and the cover of plastic, the pintle will compress to enter the slots and then expand to be retained therein.

As shown more clearly in FIGS. 2A and 7, the container face 35 is provided with recessed ledges or shoulders 54 surrounding the recessed compartment 39. The ledges are of sufficient depth to receive the edges 55 of the hinged cover 31. This allows the cover 31 to become an integral part of the front wall 35 and sidewall 33 of the bottle 30 to provide a flush, continuous, front face for the bottle when the cover 31 is in the closed position, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9.

FIGS. 10-18 illustrate another embodiment of the bottle or container of the present invention wherein the container, generally designated 60, has a generally rectangular, swingably mounted, hinged cover, generally designated 61. The container has a neck structure 62 attached to top wall 62a, two opposed sidewalls 63--63, a bottom wall 64, a back wall (not shown) and a front face or wall 65. The neck structure 62 has an opening 66 which gives access to the inner compartment of the container. The neck 67 has helical shaped threads 68 transversing its entire length which are adapted to mate with a helical recess in the inner wall of a closure cap (not shown) so that the opening 66 may be closed.

A generally rectangular, exterior, recessed compartment, designated generally 69, is provided in the front wall 65 of the container and is composed of a back compartment wall 70, side compartment walls 71--71, a top compartment wall 72 and a bottom compartment wall 73. The hinged cover 61 provides a front wall 75 which, together with the front wall 65 of the bottle, provides a continuous front surface for the bottle when the cover 61 is in the closed position.

Referring to FIGS. 12--15, the hinged cover 61 has a short locking rib 76 centrally located and extending out from closure edge 100. When the cover 31 is in the closed position, the rib 76 is received in a groove 77 (FIG. 16) and holds the cover 61 in a closed position. There is also provided on the cover 61 a finger grip 78 which can be grasped and used to open the compartment 69 by pivoting the cover 61. On the edge 102 of the cover 61 are pintles 79 and 80 coplanar and integral with the hinging edge.

As shown in FIGS. 10, 11A, 11B and 17, the pintles 79 and 80 snap into slots 81 and 82 provided in the front face 65, which slots are of sufficient size to allow the pintles 79 and 80 to pivot freely. The pintles 79 and 80 are retained in the slots 81 and 82 by resilient retaining ledges 83--83 which bend inwardly as the pintle is being snapped into place and then recoil outwardly as the pintle passes to form a barrier against the possibility of the pintles 79 and 80 coming out of the slots 81 and 82 (see FIG. 11B).

As shown in FIGS. 11A and 16, the container face 65 has recessed edges or shoulders 84 surrounding the compartment 69 which shoulders are of sufficient depth to receive the thickness of the hinged cover 61 when its edges are in abutment with the shoulders. This allows the cover 61 to be an integral part of the face 65 of the bottle 60 and provides a smooth surface for the bottle when the cover is in the closed position as shown in FIGS. 16 and 18.

While the two embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawing have their exterior compartments located on the front wall of the container, it is understood that the exterior compartment may be provided on either the back or the sidewall of the bottle if desired. Also, it is within the scope of the present invention to provide the bottle with more than one compartment, e.g., a compartment on both the front and back faces of the bottle. While the embodiments depicted are shown to have a threaded neck structure, it is understood that the containers may be provided with any other suitable closure.

While there has been disclosed preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is understood that there will be many obvious modifications which will occur to those skilled in the art. It is intended that the subject invention be limited only by the scope of the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a bottle having an external recessed compartment, the combination comprising:

a. said bottle being generally rectangular in shape and having a front wall, a back wall, and two opposed sidewalls;

b. a recessed compartment formed in said front wall and one of said sidewalls defined by

i. a compartment bottom wall having one side attached to said one of said sidewalls,

ii. a compartment sidewall attached to said compartment bottom wall and to said front wall,

iii. a compartment back wall attached to said bottom wall, to said one of said sidewalls and to said compartment sidewall, thereby providing said compartment with a top and side opening;

c. a plurality of recessed shoulders being provided in said front wall and said one of said sidewalls at the junction of the walls of said recessed compartment with said front wall and said one of said sidewalls;

d. said front wall being provided with opposed slots extending out from the recess defined by said front wall and said compartment back wall;

e. a cover for said recessed compartment, said cover including,

i. a front portion adapted to cover the top opening of said compartment,

ii. an integrally formed, downturned side portion adapted to cover the side opening of said compartment,

iii. a pair of opposed pintles extending outwardly from the edge of said front portion of said cover which is opposite said integrally formed side portion; and

f. said pintles being received in said slots to hingedly attach said cover to said bottle whereby the edges of said cover are in abutment with said recesses when said cover is in the closed position.

2. In the bottle of claim 1 wherein said cover for said recessed compartment has a thickness substantially equal to the depth of said recesses whereby said cover and said front face are flush with each other when said cover is in the closed position.