Container cover assembly

A snap cover hinged to the neck of a collapsible tube such as a tube of toothpaste. The cover is hinged by a plurality of hinge members located to apply spring bias to the cover in both the open and closed positions of the cover so as to maintain the cover in the manually set position. A sleeve collar projects from the top inside face of the cover of a size to fit about the neck of the tube in the closed position so as to restrain contents of the tube from spreading along the inside face of the cover beyond the sleeve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Our invention is a snap cover mounted on a collapsible tube such as a 
dispenser of toothpaste which is mounted by two sets of hinge members to 
the neck of the tube so as to seal the mouth of the tube opening in the 
closed position and to maintain the tube opening in the open position of 
the cover. 
A first set of hinge members is formed of two short members that remain in 
relatively constant length during the rotation of their common hinge axis. 
The other set of hinge members consists of an angle section formed of two 
joined legs of resilient material hinged at their opposed ends to the 
cover and the neck respectively, with the legs of the angle section 
stretching in length or rotating about their common juncture, or both, as 
the angle section is pivoted from the open to the closed position of the 
cover so that the angle section maintains spring bias to maintain the 
cover sealed relation with the neck opening in the closed position of the 
cover or to bias the cover in an open position after the cover has been 
pivoted to the open position. 
The cover is formed with a shaped collar section of a size to fit about the 
neck of the tube in the closed position, with the collar section 
projecting from the inside top face of the cover, so that paste in the 
tube cannot spread about the inside face of the cover beyond the collar if 
the collapsible tube is inadvertently squeezed in the closed position of 
the collar. Consequently, when the cover is pivoted to the open position, 
and the mouth of the tube pointed downwards from ejecting some of the tube 
contents onto a toothbrush, any toothpaste on the inside face of the cover 
is retrained from flowing by the collar, such that upon closure of the 
cover, no such toothpaste is extruded beyond the sealing surfaces of the 
cover. 
Preferably, the cover collar is formed with an inside surface of a curved 
convex shape in cross-section and the external surface of the neck is 
formed of a curved concave shape of a slightly greater radius of curvature 
than that of the convex surface of the collar. The top rim of the neck is 
in the form of a thin flexible projecting annular flange that maintains an 
interference fit with the convex surface of the collar so as to wipe the 
inner surface of the collar and to force any contents of the tube about 
the mouth of the neck back into the tube when the cover is hinged to the 
closed position. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION: 
Collapsible paste dispensers have traditionally been fitted with threaded 
caps or with snap caps and some such containers have been fitted with 
captive means to retain the cap in the open position. Such devices are 
described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,921,716; 3,404,816; 3,369,720; and in 
Canadian Pat. Nos. 552,797; 615,280; and 472,739. 
A liquid container is presently marketed with spring-biased hinges as shown 
in FIG. 6, and fitted with a detent that projects from the inner face of 
the cover so as to project inside and engage the walls of the opening of 
the neck of the container cover. 
However, as described herein, there is no suggestion of combining in a 
collapsible container, a cover mounted by springbias hinges to the neck of 
the container, with the cover fitted with means to prevent spread of the 
contents of the dispenser about the inside face of the cover so as to 
prevent such contents from spilling from the cover when the dispenser is 
inverted, as in applying toothpaste from such a dispenser to a toothbrush, 
nor is there any suggestion of a shape or cover and of tube neck which 
provides the means of wiping contents of the tube from the surface of the 
cover.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT: 
FIG. 6 illustrates a hinged cover cap assembly of the prior art adaptable 
for a liquid dispenser. Cap 100 is fitted with a screw thread for 
attachment to a bottle of a liquid. Cover 110 is fitted with a hollow peg 
111 that projects from the inside face of cover 110 for plugging an 
opening 101 in the cap 100 in the closed position. Cover 110 is mounted by 
first hinge 103 to the upper part of cap 100 and by an angle member 105 
hinged to the cover and to the cap at pivot points 106 and 107 
respectively. The angle A of the angle member 105 expands at the mid-point 
of pivoting the cover from the open to the closed position or back, with 
the angle member applying spring bias to maintain the cover in the open or 
closed position based on the elasticity of the angle member to return to 
its original size and shape. Sealing action of the prior art cover is 
dependent upon manual action to push the cover to the fully closed 
position after the peg 111 snugly engages the walls of opening 101 of the 
cap. 
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, the invention of the applicant is a cover 
assembly 10 of semi-flexible plastic material fastened about the neck of a 
collapsible container 20, such as a toothpaste container. Cover assembly 
10 includes neck section 17 which is fastened to container 20 and cap 
section 11. 
A central mouth opening 18 in neck section 17 is bounded by an upraised 
sleeve section 15 that extends from an annular flange 25 that forms an 
external end face of neck section 17. 
Cap 11 is joined to a neck section 17 by a two spaced first hinge sets 8 of 
hinge members 8A, 8B, with members 8A fixed to the cap and members 8B 
fixed to the neck section and each member 8A pivotally joined to a 
respective section 8B by a pivot section 8C of reduced cross-sections. 
Except at pivot section 8C, these hinge members are relatively short and 
inflexible. A second set 9 of hinge members consists of an angle section 
formed of leg members 9A and 9B oriented at an angle E to each other and 
located between the sets 8 of hinges. Leg 9A is pivotally joined by a 
reduced section 7 to cap 11 and leg 9B is similarly joined at 28 to neck 
section 17, with legs 9A and 9B joined at angle E to form a right angle in 
the relaxed position. 
Projection 12 extends from cap 11 to serve as a manual grip. 
The hinge arrangement of the cover assembly of the prior art shown in FIG. 
6 and the hinge arrangement of the assembly 10 of the invention function 
in a similar manner to apply spring bias to maintenance of the cap in the 
fully open or fully closed position. As shown in FIG. 2, the cap rotates 
about the axis of hinges 8, with the reduced section 7 consequently 
rotating along arc 4. However, to maintain angle E as a right angle, 
section 7 would have to rotate about arc 5 centered at the axis of reduced 
section 28. Consequently the set 9 of hinge members are elastically 
deformed to result in an increase in the amount of angle E or an increase 
in length of legs 9A and 9B or both during rotation between the open and 
closed positions of the cap. 
A sleeve 16 in the form of a collar extends from the inner face of cap 11 
and is of a size to fit about sleeve section 15 of the cover as the cap is 
rotated into the closed position. Preferably sleeve 16 is formed with an 
internal lip 36 that engages and rides past an external lip 35 on sleeve 
section 15 as the cap is closed so as to provide a deformable interference 
fit between lips 35 and 36 just short of the closed position. Lips 35 and 
36 do not necessarily engage each other in the final closed position, with 
the shape and size of the hinge set 9 such as to provide additional spring 
bias to force the inner flat face 31 of cap 11 that lies within sleeve 16 
into sealing engagement with the flat face of top rim 32 of sleeve 16. 
Consequently, in the closed position of the cap 11, the container is 
positively sealed by the action of the spring bias of the hinges. Should 
the collapsible container 20 be inadvertently compressed in the closed 
position of the cap so as to counter the spring bias of the hinges, and to 
tend to open the cap, the cap would rotate only to the point of 
interference between internal lip 36 and external lip 35. 
Thus the closed cap can furnish an air-tight seal during the lifetime of 
use of the container since the seal is effected by hinge spring bias 
forcing the inner face 31 of the cap against exterior face 32 of the 
cover, with an absence of wear such as occurs by abrasion of surfaces that 
snugly slide past each other or engage in interference fits to provide the 
latch engagement of lips 35, 36. 
The cover assembly is preferably molded of an elastic-deformable resilient 
plastic material and is molded in the open position of the cap. 
As shown in FIGS. 7, and 8a-8f, the alternative embodiment is a cover 
assembly 210 of semi-flexible plastic material fastened about the neck of 
a collapsible container 20, such as a toothpaste container. Cover assembly 
210 includes neck section 217 which is fastened to container 20 and cap 
section 211. 
A central mouth opening 218 in neck section 217 is bounded by an upraised 
sleeve section 215 that extends from an annular flange 225 that forms an 
external end face of the neck section 217. 
Cap 211 is joined to a neck section 217 by a two spaced first hinge sets 8, 
and by the second set 9 of hinge members, as shown in FIG. 5. 
Projection 12 extends from cap 211 to serve as a manual grip. 
The hinge arrangement of the cover assembly 210 function to apply spring 
bias to maintenance of the cap in the fully open or fully closed position. 
A sleeve 216 in the form of a collar extends from the inner face of cap 211 
and is of a size to fit about sleeve section 215 of the cover as the cap 
is rotated into the closed position. Sleeve 216 is formed with an internal 
surface 260 that is shaped as a convex curve, in cross-section, with the 
external surface 270 of neck section 217 shaped, in cross-section as a 
concave curve, preferably of a radius of curvature slightly greater than 
the radius of curvature of the convex curve of the cross-section of 
surface 260. The tip rim 232 of sleeve section 215 is flat and in a 
horizontal plane perpendicular to the vertical axis of mouth opening 218 
in the upright position of the assembly as illustrated. Rim 232 extends 
outwardly as a projecting annular flange 233 which snugly nests inside of 
an annular slot 235 in the cap unit 211 so as to be held as a latch in the 
closed position of cap 211. The spring bias of the hinge assembly forces 
the inside flat surface 236 of the cap against flat top rim 232 to seal 
the cover assembly in the closed position. 
The cover assembly 217 is molded of a semi-flexible plastic material to 
enable the cap section 211 to bend as it is rotated about the hinge axis 
into or out of the closed position by manual pressure applied to the 
projection 12. 
As shown in FIGS. 8a-8c, the rim 232 projecting from the flange of sleeve 
section 215 wipes against the convex internal surface 260 of cap section 
211 as the cap section is rotated into the closed position to force any 
paste contents such as toothpaste 265 projecting beyond sleeve mouth 
opening 218 back into opening 218 and into the interior of the container 
in which cover unit 210 is fixed. The latching action of rim 232 engaged 
in annular slot serves to also form a seal so as to prevent any exposed 
contents 265 from drying out in or around mouth opening 218, when the cap 
section is in the closed mode shown in FIGS. 7 or 8d. 
The engaging convex curved cap surface 260 and concave curved sleeve 
surface are readily separated when the cover is to be manually opened, as 
shown in FIGS. 8d-8f. 
Upward opening torque applied to projection 12 causes the cap section to 
bend about the center 280 of the cap section so as to rotate the portion 
216N of the cover sleeve 216 nearer to projection 12 away from engagement 
with neck sleeve section 215N. After this section 216N of cover sleeve 216 
has been lifted beyond engagement with the neck sleeve section 215, the 
opposite cover sleeve sections 216D slides against neck sleeve section 
215D with the radius of curvature of the surfaces of sections 216D and 
215D lying in the direction of the axis of hinge 8. The flexibility of the 
material of the assembly enables the sleeve sections to flex to accomodate 
the slipping into or out of engagement. 
The degree of torque required against projection 12 is a function of the 
flexibility of the material of the assembly and the actual dimension 
selected. Thus the minimum torque opening required can be designed so as 
to be greater than that likely to be provided by a child to prevent the 
closed cover from being opened by a child. 
Since obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the 
invention described herein, such modifications being within the spirit and 
scope of the invention claimed, it is indicated that all matter container 
herein is intended as illustrative and not as limiting in scope.