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Description  |
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RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS
None.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to closures for containers and relates in particular
to a removable closure assembly intended to be received on the lid of a
container containing tissues or similar materials which are dispensed
through a central aperture in the lid.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known in the art to provide moisturized towels or tissues for the
convenience of various users. Such items, often referred to as towelettes,
can be found in many places, such as commercial aircraft, restaurants,
medical facilities, etc., and are impregnated with various cleaning and/or
sterilizing materials. Similar products are also marketed in the infant
care field. These towelettes are packaged in a number of different ways
ranging from individual packages containing one towelette to upright
cylindrical containers in which a roll of towelettes is provided and
wherein the towelettes are pulled through the top of the container and
then tom off to be used individually.
In the prior art, it is known to provide such a cylindrical container,
which normally has a removable top lid, with the towelettes or other
materials being disposed within the body of the container in a roll. These
tissues or towelettes are perforated at appropriate intervals and intended
to be drawn through the lid of the container and tom off for individual
use.
In the prior art, generally the container lid is removable so that the roll
of towelettes may be inserted and then is reaffixed to the top of the
container body in substantially airtight condition so as to maintain the
moisture of the towelettes.
In such an arrangement, various types of slits or other openings are
provided in the lid so that the towelette may be pulled through and tom
off for use. An example can be seen in Doyle U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,002.
The prior art also discloses closures which can be inserted into a
preformed aperture in the center of the lid. The lids may be removably
attached to the containers or otherwise affixed thereto. The closures are
normally provided with an aperture or slot in their centers through which
the towels may be removed. They normally are connected to the lid by
opposed locking tabs and, in that regard, the central aperture in the lid
itself generally has opposed slots which can receive these tabs. The
closures are simply flexed and the tabs snapped into place to hold the
closure in place against inadvertent removal during removal of the
towelettes. In this form of the prior art, a cap is normally provided to
close off the top of the closure so as to attempt to maintain the airtight
condition of the interior of the container and prevent the towelettes from
drying out.
While the prior art just described is presumably adequate for the purposes
for which it has been designed, there are several problems which Applicant
has noted.
First, the towelettes are stored in the container in the form of a roll
with each individual towelette separated from the next by perforations. As
the leading towelette is pulled out through the lid and closure, the
towelettes are intended to unwind from the roll. However, in practice,
this does not always happen as ideally designed and there is the
possibility that the strip of towelettes will become twisted. At that
point, when a towelette is pulled through the closure opening, it is
possible that the added tension required will cause either premature
separation of the towelettes or dislodgement of the closure and, inasmuch
as the towelette is being pulled upwardly at this time, the closure can
often be pulled away from the lid.
A further difficulty with the prior art observed by Applicant is that the
manner of locking the closure to the lid requires fairly close
manufacturing tolerances. In some of the prior art, the closures are
circular in plan and are dropped into the lid opening and rotated.
Specifically, this is generally accomplished by providing diametrically
opposed radially extending locking tabs or flanges which are dropped into
the slots in the container lid and then rotated so as to underlie the lid.
In that fashion, of course, a direct vertical or axial pull on the closure
will not dislodge it because the planar faces of the tabs or flanges will
engage the inner surface of the lid. The difficulty is, however, that
unless the space between the flange of the closure and the locking tabs is
held to a close tolerance approximating the thickness of the lid, this is
a very loose and insecure fit. It is very difficult to hold tolerances to
these exacting demands in practice. However, as noted above, when the
towelettes become twisted, the extraction movement may rotate the closure
to the unlocked condition.
It is, therefore, believed desirable to provide a closure member of the
type described herein which can be securely locked in place and against
inadvertent rotation and removal and which can also accommodate varying
thicknesses of lids.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It accordingly becomes a principal object of this invention to provide a
closure assembly which can be positioned on the lid of a container of the
type above described and locked in place against inadvertent removal. It
is a further principal object of the invention to provide such a closure
member which will accommodate varying thicknesses of lids while insuring a
snug fit between the closure and the lid so as to be usable with virtually
any commercially available container lid.
It has been found that these objects can be achieved by providing a closure
having a main flange portion larger than the basic diameter opening of the
lid and a connecting portion which depends from the flange portion and has
diametrically opposed locking and locating tabs which extend radially
outwardly from the walls of the connecting portion for engagement with the
lower surface of the lid and with the edge surface thereof.
It has been found that the principal objects of the invention can be
further achieved by providing a first pair of diametrically opposed flat
tabs which fit beneath the bottom surface of the lid and a second pair of
diametrically opposed angled tabs which will engage the edge surface of
the aperture in the lid and the bottom surface of the lid, thereby
assuring that the closure will be firmly secured in the lid against
inadvertent removal by rotation of the closure.
Accordingly, production of an improved closure assembly of the type above
described becomes the principal object of this invention, with other
objects thereof becoming more apparent upon a reading of the following
brief specification considered and interpreted in view of the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the improved closure assembly and lid
in place on the top of a container;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the improved closure assembly in its "as
molded" condition;
FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the improved closure assembly in its "as
molded" condition;
FIG. 5 is a partial bottom plan view showing the closure assembly in its
assembled position on the container;
FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the closure assembly;
FIG. 7 is a side elevational view partially in section showing the closure
assembly in place on the container in its first locked position; and
FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a typical lid with slots for the closure
member provided.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring first to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the container, generally
indicated by the letter C and only partially illustrated, is a cylindrical
member with a hollow interior which is intended to receive a roll of
towelettes T. The invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 in its open,
ready-to-use condition. It should be noted here that, while a cylindrical
container is illustrated, the container could well have other
configurations.
Still referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that a lid 11 is received on the
top of the container. This lid has a top wall 12 and a circumferential
skirt 13 and can be attached to the container C either by providing
threads in the skirt or sidewall 13 thereof to mate with threads on the
outer surface of the container, or by being press-fit thereon or even
hingedly attached. Any conventional way of affixing the lid 11 to the
container C to maintain a substantially airtight seal, when closed, will
be contemplated in this invention.
Still referring to FIGS. 1, 5, 7 and 8 of the drawings, it will be seen
that the lid 11 has a through central aperture 14 in top wall 12 thereof,
and that aperture has two radially extending and substantially
diametrically opposed slots 11a, 11a for initial insertion of the closure
member as will be described. The through central aperture 14 may be formed
in lid 11 during the molding process or subsequently cut therein.
Referring next then to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that
the closure assembly, generally indicated by the letters CA, includes a
closure 20, a cap 30 and a connecting strap 40 which interconnects the
closure and the cap.
The closure 20 has a flange portion 21, the diameter of which is greater
than the diameter of the opening in the top wall 12 of the lid 11 so that,
when assembled, it will rest on the top or outer surface of top wall 12 of
the lid 11 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7.
The body portion of closure 20 is essentially cup shaped and includes upper
and lower body sections 22 and 23. The lower body section 23 is cup shaped
and has a bottom wall 23a with a through central aperture 23b from which
slots 23c extend radially. It is intended that the towelette T will be
threaded through the aperture 23b and pulled from the container C through
that aperture. The particular aperture design, e.g., the radiating slot
arrangement, is only one of many which may be selected, depending on such
factors as the towelette material and the thickness of the towelette
material and the perforation sensitivity. Finally, ribs or drive dogs 23d
project upwardly from bottom wall 23a and can be used to assemble the
closure 20, as will be subsequently described.
Still referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings for a further
description of closure 20, it will be seen that the upper body section 22
extends above the flange 21 and is essentially an extension of the
substantially cylindrical wall of lower body section 23. This upper body
section 22 serves as a seat for the cap 30 and provides for the snap
connection therebetween, as can be seen in FIG. 7. The cap 30 also has a
finger engaging lip 31 so that it can be closed, as shown in FIG. 7 of the
drawings, and is securely and permanently attached to the closure 20 by
strap 40. Of course, the cap can be opened by simply engaging lip 31 and
snapping cap 30 off the top of upper body section 22. Also, when the
container is not in use, the cap 30 can be moved to the closed position in
FIG. 7, thereby maintaining the substantially airtight seal in the
container C and maintaining the moisture content of the towelettes. It
should be noted, from FIG. 6, that the wall 22a of upper body section 22
tapers downwardly and inwardly to facilitate the secure engagement of
skirt or wall 32 of cap 30 therewith.
Depending on the material used to fabricate the closure assembly CA, when
the cap 30 is in the position of FIG. 7, there may be a tendency for strap
40 to lift the edge of the cap closest to the strap off the closure 20.
Therefore, cap 30 has an undercut portion 33 extending around a portion of
the inner wall of cap 30 and this is intended to engage a complemental
bead 22a on the outer wall of upper body section 22 (see FIG. 2) to insure
that cap 30 stays in place. Finally, lip 31, which is angled upwardly (see
FIG. 7), is preferably dimensioned so that, when the cap is in position on
closure 20, it projects beyond the wall of the closure member and skin 21,
as shown in FIG. 7, for easy access by the user when it is desired to
disengage the cap.
Referring next then to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings for a further
description of the lower body section 23 of the closure 20, it will be
seen that it includes diametrically opposed locking tabs 24,24. These tabs
extend outwardly from the cylindrical wall of section 23 and, as can be
seen in FIG. 6 of the drawings, are ramped or tapered downwardly so as to
be spaced from and lying in a plane below the plane of the flange portion
21. It is contemplated that, in assembly, these would be registered with
and fit through the two substantially diametrically opposed slots 11a, 11a
in the lid 11. Rotation of the same about the central axis of the closure
20 will bring these tabs into underlying relationship with the bottom
surface of the top wall 12 of the lid 11, as can be seen in FIG. 7 of the
drawings, and thereby prevent inadvertent removal or disengagement of the
closure member 20 by movement in a vertical direction during removal of
the towelettes from the container.
However, as previously noted, one of the difficulties with these types of
dispensers is that the roll of towelettes tend to get twisted during use
or users pull them out from different angles and, in pulling them out
through the aperture 23b, the entire closure 20 often tends to rotate. In
the conventional construction, the possibility exists that this would
bring the tabs 24,24 back into alignment with the slots 11a, 11a in the
lid 11 and permit the entire closure 20 to be pulled out.
Accordingly, as can be seen in FIGS. 4 through 6 of the drawings, a second
set of antirotation locking tabs 25,25 are provided. These tabs are
arranged in substantially diametrically opposed condition and,
alternately, 90.degree. from the locking tabs 24,24. These tabs 25,25
include opposed, angularly disposed wall surfaces 25a, 25a which taper
from the radially outermost edges of the tabs 25,25 upwardly toward the
flange 21 and finger engaging projections 25b,25b.
Rotation of the closure, once it has been inserted in the lid, will bring
the wall surfaces 25a,25a into engagement with the edges of the slots 11a,
11a in the lid 11 to securely lock the closure in place with sufficient
security to prevent inadvertent removal by rotation.
The spacing between the locking tabs 24,24 and the flange 21 is
substantially the same as the thickness of the top wall 12 of the lid 11
so that a secure lock and seal may be achieved, but the fit is often not
sufficiently tight so as to resist any turning movement imparted by
extraction of the towelettes T to the closure 20. However, the provision
of the antirotation tabs 25,25, and particularly the angularly disposed
surfaces 25a,25a, insures that regardless of the degree of the fit just
described, such turning movement will be strongly resisted and will
prevent inadvertent removal of the closure member 20. In this fashion, a
significant range of manufacturing differences, intentional or
unintentional, in the thickness of top wall 12 of lid 11 can be
accommodated.
In use of the improved closure, it is simply necessary to align locking
tabs 24,24 with the slots 11a, 11a in the lid and drop them through the
slots, followed by turning the closure with the help of ribs or dogs 23d
to engage the locking tabs 24,24 and antirotation tabs 25,25 with the top
wall 12 of lid 11. The locking tabs will engage the lower surface of top
wall 12 and trap it between themselves and flange 21 to prevent axial or
vertical disengagement. Further rotation permits antirotation tabs 25,25
to drop through to slots in the lid and engage the edges of the lid
aperture to prevent inadvertent rotational disengagement. Insertion of
antirotation tabs 25,25 may be assisted by projections 25b,25b.
While a full and complete description of the invention has been set forth
in accordance with the dictates of the patent statutes, it should be
understood that modifications can be resorted to without departing from
the spirit hereof or the scope of the appended claims.
Thus, it will be noted that "towelettes" have been referred to herein for
simplicity of description. However, it will be apparent that other
articles could be dispensed using the closure of this invention.
Further, while a snug, substantially airtight fit may be obtained by the
mechanical structure just described, and while that structure is adequate
to provide the required resistance to inadvertent removal, the sealing
properties can be further enhanced by permanently securing the closure to
the lid by various means, such as by sonic welding, adhesives, heat
sealing or other expedients. To that end, a circumferential bead 21a is
provided which can provide a high point for an ultrasonic seal.
Also, while the closure assembly has been illustrated and described as
including connecting strap 40 between cap 30 and closure 20, it could, if
desired, be a separate member.
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