FILLER PASTE CONTAINER

Abstract: A filler paste container (10) comprises a nozzle body (1) having side surfaces (2, 3) which define an eye shaped area, and a dispensing passage through said area. A flexible thermosealable sheet defining a generally elongate bag is provided with facing surfaces (11, 12, 13) that are sealed to form an open topped body. Facing surfaces (14) at a top edge surface of the open topped body are sealed with the nozzle body inserted to form a closed container having said dispensing passage.

Description: FILLER PASTE CONTAINER The present invention relates to a filler paste container. Filler paste is a material which is used in the construction and repair industry and is used in particular for filling dents and scratches etc in the automobile industry. Filler paste is a soft putty like substance having a high viscosity and stickiness. Using the Haake viscometer, for a shear rate (speed of rotation) of 7.22 s "1 , typical viscosity values are between 3,500 poise and 1,500 poise at 10 °C and 1,500 poise and 650 poise at 30 °C. The filler paste is typically dispensed onto a planar surface where it is mixed with a relatively smaller proportion of hardener in a prescribed proportion to start a chemical reaction which causes the mixture to eventually set or harden within a predetermined hardening time. The mixture produced immediately after mixing of the filler paste and hardener should be easily spreadable for application to an automobile, for example, but should not flow once applied to a repair. The set mixture should provide a smooth hard finish. In this way, for automobile repairs, the repair can be sanded to a surface sufficiently flat to blend in with surrounding metal and which can readily take paint. The hardening time is selected to provide a length of time which is usefully long to enable working with the mixture to make repairs and is not so long that a considerable wait is required before working on the hardened mixture. In order to obtain the aforementioned spreadability and final hardness within these time constraints, considerable expertise and care is employed when selecting the chemical components for the filler paste. As a result, filler paste has a high viscosity and contains strong chemical fumes which require special materials for the storage thereof. Consequently, storing and dispensing of the filler paste has been a considerable problem. For these reasons, filler paste has for many years been conventionally stored in special metal containers. In particular, for commercial use in which large amounts of filler are used, for example in garages, the metal containers take the form of cylindrical cartridges. An end cap is forced to slide into the cartridge by means of a special apparatus so that the filler paste is pushed out and dispensed at the opposing end through a nozzle which is sealable by a cap. For non-commercial use in which smaller amounts of filler are used, it is not really cost effective to use the above metal cylindrical cartridges because the container becomes prohibitively expensive in comparison to its contents. As a result, the metal containers take the form of small cylindrical tins with a lever lid. Filler paste is dispensed from the tin by dipping a knife into the filler paste therein. However, this is not really satisfactory because the filler paste tends to dry out, the user is exposed to the fumes and contamination of the filler paste can occur. Furthermore, during filling of the tin, air can be taken up by the filler paste resulting in bubbles in the final mixture. These bubbles then set and detract from the final finish that is obtained. As noted above, a problem with these containers is that their cost is quite high in comparison to the cost of the filler paste itself. This cost derives partly from the raw material cost of the container itself and partly from the storage requirement of the containers prior to filling with paste. It has been proposed to use a container made from plastics material. US-A-4 795 062 describes a bag like container in the form of two generally square two ply sheets of material which are fused together around the four edges to form four connected linear sealing flanges. A nozzle arrangement is then simply adhered to one sheet with that sheet surface closing the nozzle arrangement until use. Such a container is simpler than the aforementioned metal containers. However, it is difficult to open the container and the nozzle arrangement becomes very messy in use because of the high viscosity and stickiness of the filler paste. The nozzle arrangement can also sometimes come away from the sheet surface. Furthermore, a special dispensing apparatus needs to be made and purchased in order to use the container. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved and cost effective filler paste container. According to the present invention there is provided a filler paste container comprising:- a nozzle body having side surfaces which define an eye shaped area, and a dispensing passage passing through said area; and flexible thermosealable sheet defining a generally elongate bag having facing surfaces; wherein said facing surfaces are sealed to each other along a bottom edge of the elongate bag and wherein a respective facing surface is sealed to a respective said side surface of said nozzle body at a top edge of the elongate bag to form a closed container having said dispensing passage. In this way, a filler paste container can be simply made by the steps of sealing the facing surfaces to form the elongate bag, dosing the elongate bag with filler paste, and inserting the nozzle body and sealing the facing surfaces to the side surfaces thereof. Furthermore, once the dispensing passage is sealed, a strong closed container is formed. In addition, the use of such a container allows a technique of filling which results in little if any air being left in the sealed container. Thus, the problem of air in the filler paste is reduced. The sealing of a nozzle body into the container makes for a strong container which can be easily opened and closed and through which filler paste can be tidily dispensed notwithstanding the viscosity and stickiness of the filler paste. The simplicity of the present invention enables the filler paste container to be produced at a manufacturing cost which is more in proportion to the cost of the filler paste. Furthermore, the filler paste tends to be sucked back after squeezing of the container improving cleanliness and avoiding over dispensing. In one embodiment, said flexible thermosealable sheet comprises a pair of flexible thermosealable members having a generally rectangular configuration; wherein said facing surfaces are also sealed to each other along two side edges of the elongate bag. This enables simple manufacture. In another embodiment, said flexible thermosealable sheet comprises a single flexible thermosealable member folded in half to have a generally rectangular configuration; wherein said facing surfaces are also sealed to each other along one side edge of the elongate bag. This also enables simple manufacture. Preferably, the ratio of the width of the container over the length of the container is in the region of one half to two thirds. In this way, the container of the present invention can by used with the dispensing apparatus already used for dispensing filler paste from the above described metal cartridges. Conveniently, the container has a length of less than 25 centimetres. As a result, the container can accommodate a convenient volume of filler paste in a size which is practical to hold in a hand and can be manually squeezed. With the container of the present invention in a hand held form for non-commercial use, no special apparatus is required and moreover the advantages of the above described metal containers are maintained. Typically, the flexible sheet comprises two or three ply material. Thus, the sheet can be made impermeable to the fumes from the filler paste. One suitable material for providing a one ply impermeable sheet is nylon. Preferably, said side surfaces of said nozzle body define a planar portion and a cylinder portion extends perpendicularly from the upper surface of the planar portion; wherein the dispensing passage comprises a portion extending along the axis of said cylinder portion and linking with a portion extending through the planar portion. In one embodiment, the portion of the dispensing passage extending through the planar portion comprises a recess formed in the planar portion to have a volume which is greater than the volume of the portion of the dispensing passage extending along the axis of said cylinder portion. It is preferred that the axial length of the portion of the dispensing passage extending through said planar portion is substantially the same as the axial length of the portion of the dispensing passage extending through said cylinder portion. By having a large pre-opening recess and shortening the axial length of the portion of the dispensing passage extending through the cylinder portion, it is possible to have an optimally large flow of filler paste since the back flow is reduced. This facilitates good control of dispensing, especially when manual dispensing is taking place. Conveniently, the container further comprises a closure member having at one end a solid cylindrical section insertable into the portion of the dispensing passage extending in said cylinder portion of the nozzle body and having at the other end an annular recess capable of snugly fitting over the outer dimension of said cylinder portion. In this way, the dispensing passage can be easily sealed in a repeatable manner and each time the dispensing passage is sealed, the solid cylindrical section cleans the exit aperture of the dispensing passage thereby reducing contamination of the filler paste. In another embodiment, at least half of the area of the side surfaces of the nozzle body have grooves formed therein. The present invention also encompasses a filler paste container as hereinbefore defined containing filler paste. This assists in the sealing of the sheet to the nozzle body strengthening the overall container and reducing the likelihood of leakage of the filler paste or fumes thereof. Preferably, the filler paste has a viscosity of between 3,500 poise and 1,500 poise at 10 °C and between 1,500 poise and 650 poise at 30 °C for a shear rate (speed of rotation) of 7.22 s 1 using a Haake viscometer. An example of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 illustrates a top plan view of a nozzle body for use with the present invention; Figure 2 illustrates an underneath plan view of the nozzle body of figure 1; Figure 3 illustrates a side view of the nozzle body of figure 1; Figure 4 illustrates a plan view of an un-used filler paste container embodying the present invention with a closure member; Figure 5 illustrates a plan view of the filler paste container of figure 4 after use with the closure member inverted. Referring to figure 1, a nozzle body 1 has solid opposing side surfaces 2 and 3 which together define an eye shaped area generally identified by the reference numeral 4. A centrally located dispensing passage 5 is formed to pass through the area 4. As can be seen from figure 2, the dispensing passage 5 comprises a cylinder portion 6 which extends from the upper surface of the area 4 as illustrated. The eye shaped area 4 is formed with a centrally located internal recess 7 which links with the cylindrical portion 6 to define the dispensing passage 5. The remaining part of the eye shaped area is solid. As can be seen from figure 3, three grooves 8 are formed in the solid section of the side surfaces 2 and 3 which extend beyond the area corresponding to the internal recess 7. The nozzle body 1 is conveniently an integrally formed body made from plastics material. Referring to figures 4 and 5, a filler paste container 10 comprises two rectangular sheets of a suitably thermoplastic material or the like which have their facing surfaces sealed together along side seals 11 and 12 and along a bottom seal 13 to form an open topped body. This open topped body is then filled with a predetermined dose of filler paste. Thereafter, the nozzle body 1 is inserted into the open topped body and the facing surfaces of the two sheets at the top edge are sealed to the side surfaces 2 and 3 of the nozzle body and together where they extend beyond the nozzle body to form a top seal 14 which closes the filler paste container. The grooves 8 ensure a good seal between the side surfaces 2 and 3 and the facing surfaces of the sheets and reduce the likelihood of leakage from the container when pressure is applied thereto to dispense filler paste. The exit aperture of the dispensing passage 5 can have a removable foil seal (not shown) applied thereto to close the container. As an alternative or in addition, a cap 15 can be provided which has a cylindrical recess 16 which fits over the cylindrical portion 6 to cover the dispensing passage 5. Once the foil seal is removed, the dispensing passage 5 is sealed by inverting the cap 15 so that a solid cylindrical portion 17 thereof fits sealingly into the cylindrical portion 6. In addition to sealing the passage 5, the cap cleans the exit aperture thereof each time the cap is used thereby reducing contamination of the filler paste. The filler paste container 10 is made to be hand held. Thus, the container can be easily manipulated without special dispensing apparatus or a special knife. Furthermore, by simply applying pressure to the container of the present invention, filler paste is squeezed out neatly, easily, and conveniently through the dispensing passage 5. The internal recess 7 preferably has a volume which is larger than the internal volume of the cylindrical portion 6. In addition, the axial length of the internal recess 7 is preferably approximately the same as the axial length of the cylindrical portion 6. In this way, it is possible to obtain maximum flow of filler paste by reducing the back flow with a short dispensing passage. Thus, good control of dispensing is achieved. Furthermore, with the container of the present invention, paste tends to be sucked back after squeezing improving cleanliness and avoiding over dispensing. The container of the present invention can be manufactured simply from the nozzle body, the cap and the thermoplastic sheet thereby enabling simple, convenient and cost effective production in comparison with hitherto known filler paste containers. Moreover, because of the container and the technique for the manufacture thereof, it is possible to produce a filler paste container in which the filler paste is relatively air free so that the final hardened product after use can have a good finish. Furthermore, because the container compresses as filler paste is dispensed, air does not enter into the container so that drying out does not occur. This reduces the occurrence of lumps and also reduces the likelihood on pin holing in the final hardened product after use. Thus, an improved finish is obtained. The particular structure of the container of the present invention provides a container which is strong enough to withstand the pressures which are applied thereto to dispense what is a highly viscous material. It will be understood that the embodiment illustrated shows an application of the invention in one form only for the purposes of illustration. In practice, the invention may be applied to many different configurations, the detailed embodiments being straightforward for those skilled in the art to implement. For example, although the illustrated container has a rectangular shape, a generally elongate shape can be employed or a trapezoidal shape. Furthermore, the sheet of thermosealable material can take the form of single, two ply or three ply material. The cap can also be an integrally formed piece of plastics material. The size of the container can take many forms. For example, the length can be approximately 10 centimetres and the width can be approximately 10 centimetres.

Claims: Claims : 1. A filler paste container comprising:- a nozzle body having side surfaces which define an eye shaped area, and a dispensing passage passing through said area; and flexible thermosealable sheet defining a generally elongate bag having facing surfaces; wherein said facing surfaces are sealed to each other along a bottom edge of the elongate bag and wherein a respective facing surface is sealed to a respective said side surface of said nozzle body at a top edge of the elongate bag to form a closed container having said dispensing passage. 2. A filler paste container according to claim 1, wherein the flexible thermosealable sheet comprises a pair of flexible thermosealable members having a generally rectangular configuration; wherein said facing surfaces are also sealed to each other along two side edges of the elongate bag. 3. A filler paste container according to claim 1, wherein the flexible thermosealable sheet comprises a single flexible thermosealable member folded in half to have a generally rectangular configuration; wherein said facing surfaces are also sealed to each other along one side edge of the elongate bag. 4. A filler paste container according to any preceding claim, wherein the ratio of the width of the container over the length of the container is in the region of one half to two thirds. 5. A filler paste container according to any preceding claim, wherein the container has a length of less than 25 centimetres. 6. A filler paste container according to any preceding claim, wherein the flexible thermosealable sheet comprises two or three ply material. 7. A filler paste container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the flexible thermosealable sheet material comprises a one ply impermeable nylon sheet. 8. A filler paste container according to any preceding claim, wherein the side surfaces of said nozzle body define a planar portion and a cylinder portion extends perpendicularly from the upper surface of the planar portion; wherein the dispensing passage comprises a portion extending along the axis of said cylinder portion and linking with a portion extending through the planar portion. 9. A filler paste container according to claim 8, wherein the portion of the dispensing passage extending through the planar portion comprises a recess formed in the planar portion to have a volume which is greater than the volume of the portion of the dispensing passage extending along the axis of said cylinder portion. 10. A filler paste container according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the axial length of the portion of the dispensing passage extending through said planar portion is substantially the same as the axial length of the portion of the dispensing passage extending through said cylinder portion. 11. A filler paste container according to any one of claims 8 to 10, further comprising a closure member having at one end a solid cylindrical section insertable into the portion of the dispensing passage extending in said cylinder portion of the nozzle body and having at the other end an annular recess capable of snugly fitting over the outer dimension of said cylinder portion. 12. A filler paste container according to any preceding claim, wherein at least half of the area of the side surfaces of the nozzle body have grooves formed therein. 13. A filler paste container according to any preceding claim, wherein the container contains filler paste. 14. A filler paste container according to claim 13, wherein the filler paste has a viscosity of between 3,500 poise and 1,500 poise at 10 °C and between 1,500 poise and 650 poise at 30 °C for a shear rate (speed of rotation) of 7.22 s" 1 using a Haake viscometer.

Inventors: DAVID BERNARD JACQUES, DAVID COLIN MICHAEL, DAVID, BERNARD, JACQUES, DAVID, COLIN, MICHAEL
Applicants: DAVID BERNARD JACQUES, DAVID COLIN MICHAEL, DAVID, BERNARD, JACQUES, DAVID, COLIN, MICHAEL
Application year: 1996
Main classification: B65D75
IPC codes: B65D33, B65D75