Closure with dispensing valve and separate releasable internal shipping seal

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A closure on a container having an interior, said closure comprising:

a body extending from said container and defining a discharge aperture communicating with said interior; and

a housing disposed on said body for movement between a lowered position and a elevated position, said housing defining a dispensing passage aligned with said body discharge aperture for establishing communication between said body discharge aperture and the exterior of said housing, said housing including a dispensing valve disposed in said dispensing passage for opening to dispense fluid therethrough and for closing to occlude flow, said housing including an occlusion member aligned with said discharge aperture and said dispensing passage between said valve and said body discharge aperture to prevent flow from said discharge aperture into said dispensing passage below said valve when said housing is in said lowered position and to permit flow into said dispensing passage when said housing is in said elevated position.

2. The closure in accordance with claim 1 in which said body defines a snap-fit bead below said discharge aperture for engaging a mating snap-fit bead on said container.

3. The closure in accordance with claim 1 in which said body defines a helical female thread below said discharge aperture for engaging a mating male thread on said container.

4. The closure in accordance with claim 1 in which said housing comprises (1) an outer shell, (2) said valve, and (3) a valve holder clamping said valve against said outer shell.

5. The closure in accordance with claim 1 in which said closure body includes a rib projecting inwardly for engaging a structure on said container to prevent relative rotation between said container and said closure body.

6. The closure in accordance with claim 1 in which said body is formed separately from, but mounted to, said container.

7. A closure on a container having an interior, said closure comprising:

a body extending from said container and defining a discharge aperture communicating with said interior, said body defining a deck around said discharge aperture; and

a housing disposed on said body for movement between a lowered position and an elevated position, said housing defining a dispensing passage for establishing communication between said body discharge aperture and the exterior of said housing, said housing including a dispensing valve disposed in said dispensing passage for opening to dispense fluid therethrough and for closing to occlude flow, said housing including an annular wall that defines said dispensing passage and that is movable with said housing toward and away from said deck, said housing including an occlusion member between said valve and said body discharge aperture to prevent flow from said discharge aperture into said dispensing passage below said valve when said housing in said lowered position and to permit flow into said dispensing passage when said housing is in said elevated position, said housing occlusion member including a disk-like member that is supported by arms extending inwardly from said annular wall and that defines a lower peripheral sealing surface for engaging said deck around said discharge aperture when said housing is in said lowered position.

8. The closure in accordance with claim 1 in which said body is formed separately from, but mounted to, said container.

9. A closure on a container having an interior, said closure comprising:

a body extending from said container and defining a discharge aperture communicating with said interior, said body having at least one projecting abutment member; and

a housing disposed on said body for movement between a lowered position and an elevated position, said housing defining a dispensing passage for establishing communication between said body discharge aperture and the exterior of said housing, said housing including a dispensing valve disposed in said dispensing passage for opening to dispense fluid therethrough and for closing to occlude flow, said housing including an occlusion member between said valve and said body discharge aperture to prevent flow from said discharge aperture into said dispensing passage below said valve when said housing is in said lowered position and to permit flow into said dispensing passage when said housing is in said elevated position, said housing being rotatable on said body, said housing having at least one projecting stop member for being engaged by said abutment member at one of said lowered position and elevated position.

10. The closure in accordance with claim 9 in which said body is formed separately from, but mounted to, said container.

11. The closure in accordance with claim 9 in which said housing and body define an engaged guide system for moving said housing axially between said lowered and elevated positions-when said housing is rotated.

12. The closure in accordance with claim 11 in which said guide system includes a helical thread on said housing and an engaged helical thread on said body.

13. The closure in accordance with claim 12 in which said body thread is a male thread and said housing thread is a female thread.

14. The closure in accordance with claim 12 in which said body thread is a female thread and said housing thread is a male thread.

15. A closure on a container having an interior, said closure comprising:

a body extending from said container and defining a discharge aperture communicating with said interior;

a housing disposed on said body for movement between a lowered position and an elevated position, said housing defining a dispensing passage for establishing communication between said body discharge aperture and the exterior of said housing, said housing including a dispensing valve disposed in said dispensing passage for opening to dispense fluid therethrough and for closing to occlude flow, said housing including an occlusion member between said valve and said body discharge aperture to prevent flow from said discharge aperture into said dispensing passage below said valve when said housing is in said lowered position and to permit flow into said dispensing passage when said housing is in said elevated position, said outer shell having a transverse top wall defining a through slot with and an adjacent, upwardly facing shoulder; and

said valve holder defining an upwardly projecting resilient arm with a downwardly facing lip at the upper distal end whereby said arm can be elastically deformed as it is inserted through said slot and can spring back to its original undeformed orientation to position said lip over, and in engagement with, said shoulder for retaining said valve holder on said outer shell with said valve clamped between said outer shell and valve holder.

16. The closure in accordance with claim 15 in which said body is formed separately from, but mounted to, said container.

17. A closure on a container having an interior, said closure comprising:

a body extending from said container and defining a discharge aperture communicating with said interior, said body having a helical thread; and said body having at least one projecting abutment member; and

a housing on said body and having a helical thread that is threadingly engaged with said body thread whereby rotation of said housing effects movement of said housing between a lowered position and an elevated position, said housing defining a dispensing passage for establishing communication between said body discharge aperture and the exterior of said housing, said housing having at least one projecting stop member for engaging said body abutment member to terminate rotation of said housing at one of said lowered position and elevated position, said housing including a dispensing valve that is disposed in said dispensing passage for defining an orifice which opens to permit fluid flow therethrough in response to increased pressure within said container and closes to shut off fluid flow therethrough upon removal of the increased pressure, said housing including an occlusion member between said valve and said body discharge aperture to prevent flow from said discharge aperture into said dispensing passage below said valve when said housing is in said lowered position and to permit flow into said dispensing passage when said housing is in said elevated position.

18. The closure in accordance with claim 17 in which said body is formed separately from, but mounted to, said container.

19. The closure in accordance with claim 17 in which

said body defines a deck around said discharge aperture;

said housing includes an annular wall that defines said dispensing passage and that is movable with said housing toward and away from said deck; and

said housing occlusion member is a disk that is supported by arms extending inwardly from said annular wall and that defines a lower peripheral sealing surface for engaging said deck around said discharge aperture when said housing is in said lowered position.

20. The closure in accordance with claim 17 in which said body thread is a male thread and said housing thread is a female thread.

21. The closure in accordance with claim 17 in which said body thread is a female thread and said housing thread is a male thread.

22. The closure in accordance with claim 17 in which said body defines a snap-fit bead below said discharge aperture for engaging a mating snap-fit bead on said container.

23. The closure in accordance with claim 17 in which said body defines a helical female thread below said discharge aperture for engaging a mating male thread on said container.

24. The closure in accordance with claim 17 in which said housing comprises (1) an outer shell, (2) said valve, and (3) a valve holder clamping said valve against said outer shell.

25. The closure in accordance with claim 24 in which

said outer shell has a transverse top wall defining a through slot with and an adjacent, upwardly facing shoulder; and

said valve holder defines an upwardly projecting resilient arm with a downwardly facing lip at the upper distal end whereby said arm can be elastically deformed as it is inserted through said slot and can spring back to its original undeformed orientation to position said lip over, and in engagement with, said shoulder for retaining said valve holder on said outer shell with said valve clamped between said outer shell and valve holder.

26. The closure in accordance with claim 17 in which said closure body includes a rib projecting inwardly for engaging a structure on said container to prevent relative rotation between said container and said closure body.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to container closures. The invention is particularly suitable for use with a squeeze-type container dispensing closure having a valve which opens to dispense a fluid product from the container when the container is squeezed and which automatically closes when the squeezing pressure is released.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS POSED BY THE PRIOR ART

A variety of packages, including dispensing packages or containers, have been developed for personal care products such as shampoo, lotions, etc., as well as for other fluid materials. One type of closure for these kinds of containers typically has a flexible, self-closing, slit-type dispensing valve mounted over the container opening. The valve has a slit or slits which define a normally closed orifice that opens to permit fluid flow therethrough in response to increased pressure within the container when the container is squeezed. The valve automatically closes to shut off fluid flow therethrough upon removal of the increased pressure.

Closure designs have been proposed for such valves, and examples are illustrated in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,531. Typically, the closure includes a base mounted on the container neck to define a seat for receiving the valve and includes a retaining ring or housing structure for holding the valve on the seat in the base.

The closure can be provided with a hinged lid for covering the valve during shipping or when the container is packed for travel (or when the container is otherwise not in use). See, for example, FIGS. 31-34 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,531. The lid can keep the valve clean and/or protect the valve from damage. However, the presence of the lid when opened may be objectionable to some users in some applications.

Typically, it is intended that the lid be opened initially by the user and then be left open. The slit valve remains sealed closed unless and until the container is squeezed with sufficient force to cause the valve to open and dispense some of the container contents.

A conventional lid can also be designed to prevent leakage through the valve under container pressurization conditions when the lid is closed. For example, the lid disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,531 has a valve-engaging member, and the lid can be closed so that the valve-engaging member acts directly on the exterior of the flexible slit-type valve for generally preventing the valve from opening (e.g., during shipping or storage when the container is subjected to impacts or squeezing forces).

Some consumers notice the valve-engaging member on the lid and understand how the lid provides an exterior sealing of the valve when the lid is closed. Such consumers may then think that they should always close the lid after use rather than leave the lid open. Such consumers consequently fail to enjoy the convenience of leaving the lid open and relying solely on the self-closing valve during normal use. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved closure system that could be sealed against overpressure conditions during shipping but that would not require a lid with a visible special structure for engaging the exterior of the valve.

There is another reason why it would be desirable to eliminate the need for an exterior lid to seal a slit-type valve closed against overpressure conditions. Specifically, from a manufacturing standpoint, it can be difficult to make a low cost, mass produced closure wherein the lid can always effectively seal the slit-type valve closed against overpressure conditions without a slight leakage. Although such a lid is designed to engage the exterior of the valve to hold the valve closed, the interior surface of the valve remains subjected to the container contents and pressure. Thus, the container contents can still be forced against, and contact, the interior surface of the valve. In some cases, depending upon the design and/or manufacturing tolerances, there nevertheless may be some small amount of leakage of the container contents through the valve slits and against the closed lid owing to overpressure conditions during shipping.

Further, with some closure and valve configurations, it may not be commercially practicable to design a lid which can hold the exterior of the valve closed. Also, in some applications it may be desirable to avoid long-term contact between the container contents and the inside surface of the valve during shipping and during warehouse storage (e.g., where such long-term contact might result in a slight deleterious chemical or physical change in the valve material).

It would be desirable, therefore, to provide an improved closure system that could be even more conveniently used with a dispensing valve and that eliminates the need for a hinged, exterior lid.

It would also be desirable to provide an improved closure wherein the valve can be effectively sealed off from contact with the container contents during shipping or when otherwise desired.

Additionally, it would be beneficial if the closure components could be provided with an improved system for readily accommodating the assembly of the components during manufacture of the closure.

Also, it would be desirable if such an improved closure could be provided with a design that would accommodate efficient, high quality, large volume manufacturing techniques with a reduced product reject rate.

Further, such an improved closure should advantageously accommodate its use with a variety of conventional containers having a variety of conventional container finishes, such as conventional threaded or snap-fit attachment configurations.

The present invention provides an improved closure which can accommodate designs having the above-discussed benefits and features.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a closure is provided for an opening to a container interior. The closure provides a leak-tight seal which is especially useful when the container is shipped or packed by a user for travel.

The invention is especially suitable for use with closures having a dispensing valve because the closure seal can be disposed between the valve and the container contents. This prevents the valve from being exposed to any of the hydraulic pressures in the container until the container is ready for use. The container remains securely sealed during shipping and when it is packed for travel. Because the sealing system is internal and not visible to the user, the user, once having initially unsealed the container to permit operation of the valve, will be more likely to subsequently leave the container in the unsealed condition for more convenient dispensing by action of the self-closing valve alone.

The closure includes a body for mounting to the container at the opening. The body defines a discharge aperture for communicating with the opening.

A housing is disposed on the body for movement between a lowered position and an elevated position. The housing defines a dispensing passage for establishing communication between the body discharge aperture and the exterior of the housing. The housing includes a dispensing valve disposed in the dispensing passage for opening to dispense fluid therethrough and for closing to occlude flow.

The housing also includes an occlusion member or plug between the valve and the body discharge aperture to prevent flow from the discharge aperture into the dispensing passage below the valve when the housing is in the lowered position. However, flow is permitted into the dispensing passage when the housing is in the elevated position.

When the housing is in the lowered position, the dispensing valve is effectively sealed from the container contents by the occlusion member. This establishes a shipping or storage condition that prevents the dispensing valve from being subjected to hydraulic pressures. When the closure housing is in the lowered, sealing, storage position, the container may be packed for travel. When it is again desired to dispense contents from the container, the housing is raised to the elevated position. The container can then be squeezed to establish sufficient pressure in the container below the valve to open the valve for dispensing the container contents.

Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings forming part of the specification, in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a closure of the present invention shown with the housing in the lowered, closed position and with a disposable, external seal cover in place;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the closure shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 also shows portions cut away to illustrate interior detail;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the closure illustrated in FIG. 1, but the closure is shown in FIG. 3 with the external seal cover removed;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the plane 4--4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the plane 5--5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the closure illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 3, but FIG. 7 shows the closure housing rotated nearly 360.degree. to an elevated, unsealed orientation;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the plane 8--8 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the plane 9--9 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the closure of the present invention shown with the housing in the lowered, closed position and with no external seal cover;

FIG. 11 is an exploded, perspective view of the closure shown in FIG. 10, and FIG. 11 also shows portions cut away to illustrate interior detail;

FIG. 12 is a top plan view of only the housing shell of the closure illustrated in FIG. 10, and FIG. 12 omits the housing valve, the housing valve holder, and the closure body;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken