CLOSURE AND BOTTLE

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Ser. No. 63/730,205, filed Dec. 10, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as part of the present disclosure.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed generally to a bottle and a closure, and more particularly to a light-weight closure that is configured to seal a conically shaped bottle that includes an internal tube to store contents in an upright orientation therein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In traditional child-resistant closures, commonly, an outer closure is a single injection molded piece which is assembled to an inner closure to enable the child-resistant functionality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is directed to a light-weight closure and an associated bottle that includes a tube extending therein that is configured to hold a product upright within the tube thereby reducing impact to the product from the tube walls and making access to the item housed in the bottle easy with the exterior sidewall maximizing label and decorative surface area.

In an embodiment, the closure is made of two parts for design flexibility and materials optimization (weight reduction). With this construction different shapes and sizes for the outer can be developed for the closure that are lightweight and can be manufactured more efficiently and at a reduced cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a closure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the closure of FIG. 1 taken along A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the closure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the closure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the closure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the first housing member of the closure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the closure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the closure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the second housing member of the closure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a top view of the inner closure of the closure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is side view of the inner closure of the closure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a bottom view of the inner closure of the closure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a container according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a side view of the container of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the container of FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a top view of the container of FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 is a bottom view of the container of FIG. 13;

FIG. 18 is a first perspective view of a container according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19 is a second perspective view of a container of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a side view of the container of FIG. 18;

FIG. 21 is a side view of the container of FIG. 18;

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of the container of FIG. 18 taken along A-A of FIG. 20;

FIG. 23 is a top view of the container of FIG. 18;

FIG. 24 is a bottom view of the container of FIG. 18; and

FIG. 25 is another bottom view of the container of FIG. 18.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1-25, embodiments of a closure and container embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention will be described.

FIGS. 1-12 depict various views of a closure 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The closure 10 includes a first housing member 12, a second housing member 14, an inner closure 16 and a liner 18. The first housing member 12, which has a first or outer surface 20 and a second or inner surface 22, is dome shaped with a first dome portion 24 that is hemispherical in shape extends from an outer periphery of the first housing member 12 toward a center of the first housing member 12 and a second dome portion 26 that extends from the first dome portion 24 and has a more pronounced hemispherical shape than the first dome portion 24. Extending from the second surface 22 is a first flange 28 spaced from the outer periphery of the first housing member 12 and extending from the second surface 22 about an entire circumference of the second surface 22. The first housing member 12 further includes a plurality of projections 30 spaced from each other extending from the second surface 22 with holes 32 extending into the projections 30. A second flange 34 is spaced inward from the first flange 28 and extends from the second surface 22 about the circumference of the first housing member 12. The height of the second flange 34 does not exceed the height of the first flange 28 taken about a plane extending across the first flange 28. Meaning that while the second flange 34 has a taller sidewall in view of the shape of the first housing member 12, the overall height of the first housing member 12 across a plane taken from the first flange 28 is no greater than the height of the first flange 28. Recessed within the second flange 34 is a rim 36. About the rim 36 are a plurality of equally spaced protrusions 38 extend toward a distal end of the second flange 34.

The second housing member 14, which has a first or outer surface 40 and a second or inner surface 42, is dome shaped with a dome portion 44 extending from an outer periphery of the second housing member 14 toward a center of the second housing member 14 and being delimited at a neck or rim 46 extending from the dome portion 44 of the second housing member 14. The neck 46 has a lip 47 that extends inwardly toward a center of the second housing member 14 with an opening 45 internal of the lip 47.

Extending from an outer periphery of the second surface 42 of the second housing member 14 is a first flange 48 extending from the second surface 42 about an entire circumference of the second surface 42. The second housing member 14 includes a plurality of projections 50 that are spaced from each other and extend from the second surface 42. The first flange 48 of the second housing member 14 is configured to interact with the first flange 28 of the first housing member 12 with the flanges 28, 48 configured to aid in securing the housing members 12, 14 to each other. The projections 50 of the second housing member 14 are configured to interact with the projections 30 of the first housing member 12 and extend into the holes 32 of the projections 30 of the first housing member 12 to aid in securing the first housing member 12 to the second housing member 14.

A second flange 52 is spaced inward from the first flange 48 of the second housing member 14. The height of the second flange 52 does not exceed the height of the first flange 48 of the second housing member 14 as viewed from a plane extending across the first flange 48 of the second housing member 14. Meaning that while the second flange 52 of the second housing member 14 has a taller sidewall than the first flange 48 of the second housing member 14, the overall height of the second flange 52 across a plane taken from the first flange 48 of the second housing member 14 is no greater than the height of the first flange 48 of the first housing member 14. The second flange 52 of the second housing member 14 is configured to have the same or substantially the same internal and external diameter as the second flange 34 of the first housing member 12.

Nested within the second flange 34 of the first housing member 12 and the second flange 52 of the second housing member 14 is the inner closure 16 (see FIGS. 2, 10-12). The inner closure 16 includes a shell, which a cylindrical cap-like structure that has a top wall 56 and a sidewall 58 that has an external surface 60 and an internal surface 62 extending from the top wall 56 and forming a cavity 64. The cavity 64 extends from a distal end of the sidewall 58 toward the top wall 56. The internal surface 62 of the sidewall 58 has threading 66 extending therefrom. The top wall 56 includes a plurality of protrusions 68 that are spaced from each other and extend about the top wall 56 toward a center of the top wall 56. The plurality of protrusions 68 are configured to extend between and interact with the plurality of protrusions 38 extending from the rim 36 of the first housing member 12 to aid the inner closure 16 in being sealed and unseal from an associated container by preventing the inner closure 16 from rotating within the first housing 12 and second housing 12.

The disc linear 18 is configured to be arranged and in contact with the inner surface 70 of the top wall 56 of the inner closure 16. (see FIG. 2).

FIGS. 13-17 depict various views of a container 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. FIGS. 18-25 depict various views of a container 200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The difference between the container 100 and the container 200 is that the container 100 is comprised of an opaque material whereas the tube 100 is comprised of a translucent material.

As shown in FIGS. 13-17, the container 100 includes a conical housing 102 and cylindrical tube 104 that extends from and within the housing 102. A rim 106 extends between a first end 108 of the housing 102 and the tube 104. The housing 102 ha an outer surface 103 and inner surface 105 with a cavity 107 formed between the inner surface 105 and the tube 104.

As can be seen in FIG. 13, the cavity 107 extends about a space between an outer surface of the tube 104 and an inner surface 103 of the housing 102 with the distal end of the housing 102 being open from a base 110 of the housing 102 toward the rim 106.

The tube 104 does not extend beyond a base 110 of the housing 102. The tube 104 includes a sidewall 112 that is delimited at a base 114 to seal one end of the tube 100 forming a cavity 116 that extends from the opposite, open end of the tube 104 to the base 114. The tube 104 includes threading 118 that extends from a neck 120 of the tube 104 and is configured to interact with the threading 66 of the inner closure 16 of the closure 10 to seal and unseal the container 100.

As shown in FIGS. 18-25, the container 200 includes a conical housing 202 and cylindrical tube 204 that extends from and within the housing 202. A rim 206 extends between a first end 208 of the housing 202 and the tube 204. The housing 202 ha an outer surface 203 and inner surface 205 with a cavity 207 formed between the inner surface 205 and the tube 204.

The cavity 207 extends about a space between the inner surface 205 of the housing 202 and the tube 204 with the distal end of the housing 202 being open such that the cavity 207 extends from a base 210 of the housing 202 toward the rim 206.

The tube 204 does not extend beyond a base 210 of the housing 202. The tube 204 includes a sidewall 212 that is delimited at a base 214 to seal one end of the tube 200 forming a cavity 216 that extends from the opposite, open end of the tube 204 to the base 214. The tube 204 includes threading 218 that extends from a neck 220 of the tube 204 and is configured to interact with the threading 66 of the inner closure 16 of the closure 10 to seal and unseal the container 200.

Although the description above and accompanying drawings contains much specificity, the details provided should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments, but merely as describing some of the features of the embodiments. The description and figures should not to be taken as restrictive and are understood as broad and general teachings in accordance with the present invention. While the embodiments have been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that modifications and variations to such embodiments, including, but not limited to, the substitutions of equivalent features and terminology may be readily apparent to those of skill in the art based upon this disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.