Abstract:
A dosing bottle closure ( 24; 320 ) has a body ( 26; 326 ) and a lid ( 27; 327 ). The body ( 26 ) has: a sidewall ( 50 ) extending from a lower rim ( 54 ) to an upper rim ( 62 ); and means ( 58 ) along the sidewall ( 50 ) for engaging a container body ( 22 ). The lid ( 27 ) is hinged relative to the body for articulation between a closed condition and an open condition. The body defines an internal upwardly open chamber ( 25 ) at least partially covered by the lid in the closed condition. The body defines a feed passageway ( 100 ) having an outlet ( 110 ) to the chamber ( 25 ) and spaced above a bottom ( 72 ) of the chamber.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    Benefit is claimed of U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/844,167, filed Jul. 9, 2013, and entitled “Dispenser and Methods”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety as if set forth at length. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The invention relates to dispensing of home and garden granules/powders and liquids (flowable materials) such as detergents, fabric softeners, insecticides, fertilizers and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to dosing bottles. 
         [0003]    Exemplary flowable materials are laundry detergent, fabric softener, and home and garden chemicals (e.g., fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides). 
         [0004]    Conventionally in such fields, dosing may be achieved via providing a combined cap and measuring cup. Exemplary such caps/cups have installed conditions screwed onto a spout fitment to close/seal a bottle. 
         [0005]    One recently-proposed dispenser is found in International Patent Application No. PCT/US12/20471, “Dispenser and Methods”, filed Jan. 6, 2012, of inventors: Alex S. Szekely and Richard H. Seager. 
         [0006]    In other fields, a number of dosing bottles have been proposed. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    One aspect of the invention involves a dosing bottle closure that has a body and a lid. The body has: a sidewall extending from a lower rim to an upper rim; and means along the sidewall for engaging a container body. The lid is hinged relative to the body for articulation between a closed condition and an open condition. The body defines an internal upwardly open chamber at least partially covered by the lid in the closed condition. The body defines a feed passageway having an outlet to the chamber and spaced above a bottom of the chamber. 
         [0008]    The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a view of a container having a first closure. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a central transverse vertical sectional view of the container of  FIG. 1  taken along line  2 - 2 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view of the container of  FIG. 1  taken along  3 - 3 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a view of the first closure in an open condition containing a charge of material. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a top view of the closure of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view of the closure of  FIG. 5 , taken along line  6 - 6 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a central vertical transverse sectional view of the closure of  FIG. 5  taken along line  7 - 7 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view of a second closure in a closed condition. 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a central vertical longitudinal cutaway view of the second closure in an open condition. 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view of the second closure in a charging condition. 
           [0019]      FIG. 11  is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the second closure in a drainback condition. 
           [0020]      FIG. 12  is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view of the second closure upon opening after the drainback. 
           [0021]      FIG. 13  is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view of the second closure during pouring/discharge. 
       
    
    
       [0022]    Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    Two embodiments of a closure are disclosed which may otherwise operate in a similar fashion and may otherwise be manufactured similarly. Exemplary closures may be used in identical fashion. The first closure is a one-piece closure; whereas the second closure is a two-piece closure. Additionally, as is discussed further below, passageway inlet features of the two closures may differ. 
         [0024]    An exemplary container  20  comprises a bottle body or container body  22  and a closure  24 . The exemplary bottle body has an interior  23  ( FIG. 2 ) forming a reservoir containing a body  400  of flowable material. The closure defines a dosing chamber  25  which may, in various stages of operation, receive, hold and dispense a dose or charge  402  of the flowable material. 
         [0025]    The closure comprises a body  26  and a lid, cap, or cover  27 . Exemplary bottle body, closure body, and closure lid materials are molded plastics such as various polyethylenes and polypropylenes. 
         [0026]    The  FIG. 1-7  embodiment closure lid and body are unitarily molded as a single piece with a living hinge  150  ( FIG. 3 ) such as a conventional butterfly hinge (or a hinge such as in PCT/US11/53858 (the disclosure if which is incorporated by reference in its entirety as if set forth at length), filed Sep. 29, 2011, “Living Hinge” of inventor H Stephen Quinn). The  FIG. 8  embodiment closure  320 , lid  327 , and body  326  are shown as separate pieces forming respective halves of a hinge  330 . 
         [0027]    An exemplary bottle body (injection blow molded)  22  ( FIG. 2 ) has a neck  28  extending upward from a shoulder  29  about a central longitudinal/vertical axis  500  to a rim  30  defining an open mouth  32 . The neck has an external thread  34  (or other feature) for mounting the closure body. The exemplary thread  34  is a double lead thread. An exemplary closure body (injection molded)  26  screws onto the bottle neck/mouth and may lock with a lug or detent (not shown) thereon to prevent counter-rotation and extraction. 
         [0028]    The exemplary closure body  26  comprises an outer wall  50  (sidewall) ( FIG. 3 ). A lower portion  52  of the wall  50  extends upward from an upper rim  54  and has an interior (inner diameter (ID)) surface  56  bearing an internal thread  58  for engaging the bottle body thread  34 . An upper portion  60  of the wall  50  extends upward to a rim  62 . A transverse web  70  ( FIG. 6 ) has a perimeter at a junction of the wall portions  52  and  60 . An upper surface  72  (or a portion thereof) of the web  70  forms an underside of the chamber  25  containing the dose  402  of material. Laterally, the chamber  25  is partially bounded by the upper wall portion  60  and partially bounded by a transverse wall  80 . In the exemplary embodiment, a central portion of the wall  80  extends upward from the web  70  to an upper edge  90  to separate the chamber  25  from a feed passageway  100 . Edge  90  is recessed below the rim  62  to create a gap  110  ( FIG. 4 ). The gap  110  forms an outlet of the feed passageway  100  during charging. In the exemplary embodiment, a partial flowback is permitted through the gap  110  over the edge  90  (which serves as a weir) to determine the height of the upper surface  410  ( FIG. 6 ) of the dose/charge  402  when the container is uprighted after charging. 
         [0029]    An inlet  120  ( FIG. 6 ) to the feed passageway  100  may be formed at a lower end of the feed passageway  100 . 
         [0030]    Exemplary dose volume is one fluid ounce (30 ml), more broadly 5-75 ml or 15-50 ml. Exemplary bottle interior volume is about 32 fluid ounces (one liter, more broadly, 0.4-4.0 liter or 0.4-2.0 liter) (e.g. sufficient to contain that much flowable material).  FIG. 3  also shows an exemplary bottle as having a sidewall extending upward to the shoulder from a base or bottom (which may support the bottle in a standing condition). 
         [0031]    For providing a seal of the closure body to the bottle body, the closure body and bottle body may have complementary sealing surfaces which engage each other in the installed condition. A first sealing surface of the bottle body is formed by the rim  30 . Its complementary first sealing surface of the closure body member is formed by a peripheral annular portion of the underside  130  ( FIG. 6 ) of the web  70 . 
         [0032]      FIG. 6  furthers shows the lid  27  connected to the closure body by a living hinge  150 . The exemplary lid and body have interfitting sealing and locking features. For sealing, an uppermost portion  160  of the sidewall upper portion  60  is received within a sidewall portion  170  of the lid in the closed condition. Exemplary detented locking in the closed condition may be provided by interfitting features (e.g., projections  180  and  182  of the lid and body). 
         [0033]      FIG. 6  also shows a partial annular dead chamber  200  alongside of and behind the feed passageway  100  and separated therefrom by an arcuate wall  202 . The dead chamber  200  may be separated from a head space above the dosing chamber  25  by lateral portions  220  ( FIG. 4 ) of the wall  80  above the central portion  90  of the upper edge (above a central portion  224  ( FIG. 5 ) of the wall  80 ). The upper edge  203  of the wall  202  and the upper edges  221  of lateral portions  220  extend upward to meet with the underside  225  of the lid in the closed condition to seal off the dead chamber in the closed condition. The lower extreme of the dead chamber is bounded by an annular segment of an upper surface  72  of the web  70 . 
         [0034]    In an exemplary charge/discharge sequence illustrated with the hinged embodiment, the lid is initially closed and the bottle upright (e.g., the  FIG. 8  empty closure condition). The bottle is then fully or partially inverted (e.g., a full inversion to the  FIG. 10  condition). Material flows from the bottle interior downward through the inlet  120  into the passageway  100  and out the outlet  110  into dosing chamber  25 . The bottle is then uprighted (e.g., to the  FIG. 11  condition) and any excess material in the closure will return (return flow shown in  FIG. 11 ) through the outlet  110  over the weir  90  and back into the bottle interior leaving a desired volume for the charge  402  in chamber  25  (e.g., the first embodiment  FIG. 3  condition). Thereafter, the lid may be opened ( FIG. 12 ) and the bottle tilted to pour ( FIG. 13 ). To facilitate pouring, the sidewall upper portion  60  at the front is angled outward to form a partial spout, thereby, reducing the angle by which the bottle the must be tilted to pour from the chamber  25 . This facilitates the prevention of any further material passing through the feed passageway during pouring. The second embodiment contains a baffle  350  along the forward portion of the feed passageway below the web  70  to shift the feed passageway inlet  360  to the rear of the closure, and, thereby, relatively high during pouring to prevent material from entering the inlet. 
         [0035]    After pouring, the bottle is re-uprighted and the lid closed (in any order). Thereafter, the process may be repeated by inverting to charge. 
         [0036]    One or more embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the nature of the particular product to be dispensed may influence details of any particular embodiment. The bottle body may be based on the overall configuration of an existing or yet-developed conventional bottle for such product. Tamper-evident features may also be included. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.