PACKAGE FOR CARPET-TREATING SOLIDS

Abstract: A package for carpet-treating pulverulent solids including a container body (12) with a wide opening (16) and a cup-shaped closure (14) attached to the body (12) and movable between closed and raised positions relative to the opening (16), the closure (14) having a plurality of apertures (38) and intervening break-up bars (40) adjacent to its upper end. The package of this invention is particularly useful for breaking up and dispensing curdy carpet-treating solids evenly at a high rate upon shaking.

Description: PACKAGE FOR CARPET-TREATING SOLIDS Field of the Invention This invention relates to packages for dispensing pulverulent solids. In particular, it relates to a package for dispensing large quantities of pulverulent solids for cleaning and/or otherwise treating carpets. Background of the Invention Commercially available liquid compositions for cleaning carpets have well-known problems which render them unacceptable to many consumers. Therefore, many consumers strongly prefer dry carpet cleaning co positions. Although a variety of cleaning methods are used with dry carpet cleaning compositions, all or nearly all of such methods begin by shaking the dry compositions onto the carpet surface from a hand-held container and end by vacuuming the solids from the carpet. A variety of dry carpet cleaning compositions have been used, but these may be broadly classified into two types of compositions. One type of dry carpet cleaning composition, which will be referred to herein as "the free-flowing type," uses inorganic salts as carriers for perfumes and/or for light solvent cleaners. United States Patent No. 4,161,449 discloses an example of the free-flowing type of dry carpet cleaning compositions. Another type of dry carpet cleaning composition, which will be referred to herein as the "curdy type," uses light, fibrous materials, such as wood flour, cellulose powder, or other absorbent materials, as carriers for perfumes and/or cleaners such as sodium aluminum silicates, hydrocarbon solvents and/or organic surfactants. United States Patent Application Serial No. 251,564, which was filed on April 6, 1981 by Francis E. Chapman and Robert Blaine Harris, is a particularly useful example of the curdy type of dry carpet cleaning composition. Such patent application Is incorporated herein by reference. The curdy type of dry carpet cleaning composition has certain significant advantages over the free-flowing type. For example, the curdy type of composition has a greater tendency to adhere to carpet fibers high in the carpet pile where cleaning is often most important, while the free-flowing compositions may quickly sink deep into the pile and later be hard to retrieve by vacuuming. However, while the curdy type of dry carpet cleaning compositions may have certain advantages, they are much more difficult to spread quickly and evenly on carpet surfaces than are the free-flowing type. This invention is directed to solution of the problems of spreading dry carpet cleaning compositions of the curdy type on carpet surfaces. Container-dispensers of the prior art have exhibited substantial problems in the dispensing of curdy dry carpet cleaning compositions. For example, prior containers have dispensed such curdy carpet cleaning compositions at an unacceptably slow rate. Thus, to cover a carpet surface has taken an inconveniently long period of time. Furthermore, such prior packages have not dispensed such carpet cleaning compositions evenly at an acceptably high dispensing rate. In some cases prior containers have dispensed such compositions unevenly on the carpet such that the material is wasted or the cleaning effect is uneven across the carpet surface. Some prior container-dispensers for dry carpet cleaning compositions are complex and expensive, requiring three or more parts. In some cases prior packages are difficult to open and close, and thus do not easily lend themselves to repetitive opening and closing during carpet cleaning. In summary, there has been a need for an improved container-dispenser for dry carpet cleaning compositions, particularly compositions of the curdy type. Summary of the Invention The package of this invention overcomes the disadvantages and problems mentioned above. The device is a hand-held dispenser which is simple in construction, easily opened and closed, and can dispense even the curdy type of dry carpet-treating pulverulent compositions at a high rate evenly over carpet surfaces with good break-up of the composition on dispensing. The package of this invention includes a container body having a wide opening at its dispensing end such that it is substantially non-restrictive to product flow. The package includes a cup-shaped closure having a side wall attached to the container finish and an end wall for sealing the wide container opening. The side wall and the container finish have interengaging means thereon for adjustment of the position of the closure between closed and raised positions relative to the container opening. The closure end wall has means thereon for sealing the opening when the closure is in its closed position with respect to the container body. The closure includes a plurality of apertures and intervening break-up bars in the side wall thereof adjacent to the end wall. When the closure is raised to its open position, substantial amounts of solids can pass through the container opening and be dispensed through the apertures in the closure side wall. The solids will be broken into smaller particles as they are shaken through the side wall apertures, such breaking being facilitated by the break-up bars which are between the apertures. In some preferred embodiments, the apertures and intervening break-up bars extend along substantially the entire perimeter of the end wall, and the apertures have a total area of sufficient extent to be substantially non-restrictive to product flow. In certain preferred embodiments, the total area of the side wall apertures exceeds the area of the container body opening. In certain preferred embodiments, the container finish and the closure side wall are cylindrical and the interengaging means include screw threads and a plurality of projections engaging and riding on the screw threads. Such embodiments also include stop means on the screw threads to define the raised position of the closure. The screw threads and stop means are preferably on the container finish and the projections are preferably on the side wall. In certain highly preferred embodiments, the screw threads and projections are dimensioned and constructed to allow capping of the container body, such as immediately after product filling, by relative axial movement of the closure and container body without the rotation normally required to follow the screw threads. In some preferred embodiments, the sealing means on the end wall includes an annular groove defined therein which is dimensioned to sealingly receive the edge of the container body which forms the wide container body opening. Objects of the Invention It is an object of this invention to provide a container-dispenser for dry carpet cleaning compositions overcoming certain problems of prior packages used for such compositions. Another object of this invention is to provide a dispensing package particularly advantageous for dispensing the curdy type of dry carpet cleaning compositions. Another object of this invention is to provide a dispensing package for curdy dry carpet cleaning compositions which is simple in construction and operation. Still another object of this invention is to provide a package for dispensing dry carpet cleaning compositions of the curdy type at a high rate. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a package for dispensing dry carpet cleaning compositions of the curdy type evenly and with good break-up over a large surface. These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following description and from the drawings showing preferred embodiments of the invention. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of this invention. Figure 2 is a side elevation of the device of Figure 1 with the closure removed. Figure 3 is a side sectional view of the closure forming a part of this invention. Figure 4 is a side elevation of the package of this invention with the closure in closed position. Figure 5 is a side elevation as in Figure 4, but with the closure in raised dispensing position. Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments Referring now in detail to the drawings, a package 10 for containing and dispenser carpet-treating pulverulent solids is shown. Package 10 is an improvement in packages for carpet-treating solids of the type having a container body with a dispensing end, a closure, and apertures at the dispensing end through which the pulverulent solids are dispensed. Package 10 has just two parts, a container body 12 and a cup-shaped closure 14. Container body 10 is a cylindrical body having at its dispensing end a wide opening 16. Opening 16 is substantially non-restrictive to the flow of carpet-treating pulverulent solids, both during loading of the package with closure 14 removed and during dispensing of solids as will be discussed in detail later. Wide opening 16 is formed by an upper edge 18. Adjacent to wide opening 16 and upper edge 18 is the container finish 20, which, like the main portion 22 of container body 12, is generally cylindrical in shape. On container finish 20 are screw threads 24 which are used for the raising and lowering of closure 14 as will be described later. Cup-shaped closure 14 has a side wall 26 which is generally cylindrical in shape and an end wall 28. Closure 14 is dimensioned to receive container finish 20. On the Inside 30 of side wall 26 are four equally spaced projections 32 which engage and ride on screw threads 24 so that closure 14 can be raised to its open position and lowered to its closed position. Stops 34 are formed on screw threads 24 on container finish 20. Stops 34 are engaged by projections 32 of closure 34 to define the raised position of closure 14. End wall 28 provides a means for covering and sealing wide opening 16 when closure 14 is in its lowered, closed position. End wall 28 includes an annular groove 36 which is dimensioned to sealingly receive upper edge 18 of container body 12 when closure 14 is in its lowered, closed position. In side wall 26 and extending along the entire perimeter of end wall 28 are apertures 38 and intervening break-up bars 40. The total area of apertures 40, through which the pulverulent carpet-treating solvents are dispensed, is sufficient to be substantially non-restrictive to the outflow of such solids when closure 14 is in or nearly in its fully raised position, as illustrated in Figure 5. Indeed, the total area of apertures 38 exceeds the area of wide-opening 16 at the top of container body 12. Break-up bars 40 extend a substantial distance along the length of closure 14 and are spaced sufficiently such that the available dispensing area of apertures 38 is sufficient for dispensing at a high rate. The break-up bars, however, are closely enough spaced to allow break-up of large clumps of carpet-treating solids as the dispensing is carried out by shaking package 10. The placement of apertures 38 around the top of closure 14 allows even dispensing of solids over a wide angle. The carpet-treating solids may be applied from package 10 by holding main portion 22 of container body 12 and shaking the dispensing end from side to side, rather than using a "salt shaker" motion as is typically used with many other packages for dispensing carpet-treating solids. The rate of dispensing can be controlled by the extent to which closure 10 is raised. Dispensing will be carried out at the fatest rate when closure 14 is in its fully raised position as illustrated in Figure 5. In the packaging of pulverulent carpet-treating solids, the solids may be quickly filled into container body 12 through wide opening 16 before closure 14 is placed thereon. Closure 14 may easily thereafter be applied to container body 12 by locating closure 14 on container body 12 and by applying relative axial movement of closure 14 with respect to container body 12 without relative rotation to follow screw threads 24. Screw threads 24 and projections 32 are dimensioned and constructed to allow capping in this convenient manner. The relative axial movement during such capping is terminated when upper edge 18 is received within annular groove 36. In a preferred embodiment, a cylindrical body 12 has a diameter of about 7.5 cm., while wide opening 16 has a diameter of about 5.1 cm. Closure 14 is made to mate with the finish of such container body and has 30 apertures which are about 1.9 cm. high and about 0.6 cm. wide. The apertures are spaced 12° apart all around closure 14. O Container body 12 is made of low-density polyethylene, although a variety of other materials can be used. Closure 14 may be made of high-density polyethylene or polypropylene, or a variety of other materials. A wide variety of acceptable materials would be known to those skilled in the art. While in the foregoing specification this invention has been described in relation to certain preferred embodiments and many details have been set forth for purposes of illustration, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein can be varied considerably without departing from the principals of the invention. ( O

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A package for carpet-treating pulverulent solids of the type having a container body with a dispensing end, a closure, and apertures at the dispensing end through which the pulverulent solids are dispensed, the improvement comprising: -a container body having at its dispensing end a substantially non-restrictive opening and a container finish adjacent thereto; -a cup-shaped closure attached to the body and having a side wall and an end wall, the side wall and finish having interengaging means thereon for adjustment of the position of the closure between closed and raised positions relative to the opening, and the end wall having means to seal the opening; and -a plurality of apertures and intervening break-up bars in the side wall adjacent to the end wall; whereby when the closure is raised substantial amounts of solids can pass through the opening and be dispensed through the apertures in broken form upon shaking. 2. A package of claim 1 wherein the apertures and intervening break-up bars extend along substantially the entire perimeter of the end wall. 3. A package of claim 1 wherein the apertures have a total area of sufficient extent to be substantially non-restrictive to product flow. 4. A package of claim 3 in which the total area of the apertures exceeds the area of the container body opening. 5. A package of claim 1 wherein the finish and the side wall are cylindrical and the interengaging means include screw threads and a plurality of projections engaging and riding on the screw threads, and further including stop means on the screw threads to define the raised position of the closure. 6. A package of claim 5 wherein the screw threads and stop means are on the finish and the projections are on the side wall. 7. A package of claim 5 wherein the screw threads and the projections are dimensioned and constructed to allow capping of the container body by relative axial movement of the closure and body without rotation to follow the screw threads. 8. A package of claim 7 wherein the screw threads and stop means are on the finish and the projections are on the side wall. 9. A package of claim 8 wherein the sealing means includes an annular groove defined in the end wall and dimensioned to sealingly receive the edge which forms the container body opening. 10. A device of claim 9 wherein the apertures and intervening break-up bars extend along substantially the entire perimeter of the end wall. 11. A device of claim 10 wherein the apertures have a total area of sufficient extent to be substantially non-restrictive to product flow. 12. A device of claim 11 in which the total area of the apertures exceeds the area of the container body opening. '

Inventors: VAN DER HEIJDEN JOHANNES, VAN DER HEIJDEN, JOHANNES
Applicants: JOHNSON & SON INC S C, S. C. JOHNSON & SON, INC.
Application year: 1982
Main classification: B65D25
IPC codes: B65D47