Abstract:
A dispensing closure for a vessel comprising a base member engageable with the vessel and a flip top spout member defining a flow channel. The spout member engaged with the base member and pivotable relative to the base member for dispensing fluid from the vessel. The spout member including a rupture membrane and the base member having an actuator for rupturing the rupture membrane during pivoting of the spout member to define a flow opening in the base member in fluid communication with the flow channel and to permit fluid flow through the flow opening. The spout member defining a vent positioned to be in communication with the flow opening when the spout member is pivoted to the flow position to permit air to pass through the vent channel. The rupture member configured to prevent fluid from passing into the vent channel.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This Application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. Nos. 61/437,992 filed Jan. 31, 2011, and is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/875,862 filed Sep. 3, 2010. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Dispensing closures have been employed with a wide variety of products, including water, juices, condiments, and detergents. These dispensers allow the closure to be opened and closed without removing or separating any portion of the closure from the vessel. 
     There are several styles of dispensing closures currently commercially available. Pull/push, screw type and flip top are some common variations. These popular designs typically include a base and a spout assembled together. These designs rely upon multiple sealing surfaces to create an airtight closure for distribution and handling of the product. There are disadvantages associated with such designs. For example, upon dispensing the fluid from the vessel, a negative pressure condition or vacuum is created. Therefore, in order to dispense fluid, the vessel must be squeezed to force the fluid out. A portion of the contents exits the vessel upon squeezing, and upon release of the vessel, air re-enters to displace the fluid that has been dispensed. This cycle must be repeated numerous times to empty the contents of the vessel. Another disadvantage may be that the sealing assembly is not consistent because of manufacturing tolerances, slight burrs, and other manufacturing and assembly irregularities. 
     Bottling companies prefer to pressurize their products prior to shipment, which prevents damage to the product during transit. Additionally, pressurization would allow the bottler to reduce the wall thickness of the dispensing bottle, and rely on internal pressure to support the product during transit and handling. Current designs cannot hold adequate pressure to satisfactorily accomplish these needs. In addition, carbonated beverages and solutions cannot be marketed in these closures, because they would rapidly lose their carbonation and be rendered useless to the consumer. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure is directed to a dispensing closure for a plastic bottle or other vessel containing fluid. The dispensing closure comprises a base member engageable with the vessel and a spout member defining a flow channel. The spout member may be a flip top spout or be in any other form. The spout member is pivotally secured to or otherwise engaged with the base member and is pivotable relative to the base member from a closed position to a flow position for dispensing fluid from the vessel through the flow channel. Either the base member or the spout member includes a rupture membrane and the other of the base member and the spout member has an actuator for rupturing the rupture membrane during pivoting of the spout member to the flow position to define a flow opening in said one of the base member and the spout member in fluid communication with the flow channel and to permit fluid flow through the flow opening and into the flow channel. 
     The spout member also defines a vent channel in communication with the flow opening when the spout member is pivoted to the flow position to permit air to pass through the vent channel. The vent channel includes two openings defined by the spout member. One of the openings is in communication with the vessel when the spout member is pivoted to the flow position. The spout member may include an engaging portion that includes a circular or other arcuate portion to facilitate pivoting and a neck portion, and the actuator may be being disposed on the arcuate portion. The vent channel may be defined by the engaging portion and said one of the openings may be defined by the actuator. The vent channel may include a first channel portion that extends substantially parallel to the neck portion and a second channel portion that extends perpendicular to the first channel portion. The diameter of the first channel may be less than a diameter of the second channel. 
     The rupture membrane is hingedly attached to a portion of the base member after the rupture membrane has been ruptured. It may be positioned adjacent said one of the openings and is configured to function as a check valve to prevent fluid from passing from the vessel into the vent channel when the spout member is pivoted to the flow position. Areas of reduced thickness may be disposed about the rupture membrane configured to be broken when the spout member is pivoted to the flow position to rupture the rupture membrane. 
     Features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and the accompanying drawings described below, wherein embodiments of the disclosure is described and shown, and in part will become apparent upon examination of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure and advantages thereof will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of an illustrated embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a dispensing closure in accordance with an illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, shown secured to a bottle and shown in a closed position; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the dispensing closure of  FIG. 1  shown in an open or flow position; 
         FIG. 3  is a bottom perspective view of the dispensing closure of  FIG. 1 , shown in an open or flow position; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the base member and the spout member of the dispensing closure of  FIG. 1  shown separated for illustrative purposes; 
         FIG. 5  is a section view of the dispensing closure of  FIG. 1  in the closed position; 
         FIG. 6  is a section of the dispensing closure of  FIG. 1  in the open position; 
         FIG. 7  is a top perspective view of the base member of the dispensing closure of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 8  is an other top perspective view of the base member of the dispensing closure of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a bottom perspective view of the base member of the dispensing closure of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 10  is an other perspective view of the spout of the dispensing closure of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     While the present disclosure may be susceptible to embodiment in different forms, there is shown in the drawings and slides, and will be described herein in additional detail, one or more embodiments with the understanding that the present description is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the disclosure and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the details of construction and the arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings and slides. 
       FIGS. 1-10  illustrate a dispensing closure  10  in accordance with an illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure comprising a spout member  12  and a base member  14 . The illustrated spout member  12  is in the form of a flip top spout, pivotally secured to the base member  14  and pivotable relative to the base member between a closed position and an open or flow position. With reference to  FIG. 1 , the dispensing closure  10  is for securing to a vessel in the form of a bottle  16  or the like containing a beverage, a condiment or any other form of liquid product. The bottle  16  or other vessel is constructed of any suitable plastic or the like or alternately may be constructed of glass or any other suitable material. The bottle  16  or other vessel may have any suitable construction and defines an open end for dispensing contents through the dispensing closure  10  as described below. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the spout member  12  is generally “b-shaped” (or “d-shaped” depending on the view) and includes a circular engaging portion  24  and a neck  26  extending from the engaging portion  24 . The neck  26  includes a lip  28  at its lead end to facilitate pivoting of the spout member  12  from the closed position to the open position. The spout member  12  defines a fluid flow channel  32  extending through the engaging portion  24  and through the neck  26 . The illustrated fluid flow channel  32  includes parallel segments  34 ,  36  connected by an angular segment  38  to complement the configuration of the spout member  12 . The engaging portion  24  includes a pair of sides  40  and an arcuate surface  42  extending perpendicular to, and interconnecting, the sides for facilitating pivoting movement. The arcuate surface  42  includes an actuator  44 . The sides  42  are illustrated with cut out portions for manufacturing economies. 
     The engaging portion  24  also defines a vent channel  50  for permitting air to flow therethrough including a first portion  52  and a second portion  54 . The first portion  52  extends generally parallel to the neck  26  and terminates in an open end. The second portion  54  extends substantially perpendicular to the first portion  52  and extends through the actuator  44  and terminates in an open end defined by the actuator  44 . The open end faces a direction perpendicular to segments  34 ,  36  and to the neck  26 . The engaging portion  24  may have any other configuration and include any other form of arcuate surface  42  or other arcuate portion to facilitate pivoting of the engaging portion in accordance with other embodiments of the present disclosure. The spout member  12  also includes a pin  60  on each of its sides for engaging the base member  14  as hereinafter described. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the base member  14  is comprised of a top  70  and a lower skirt  72  extending around the perimeter of the top  70 . The top  70  comprises engaging structure  80  for engaging the spout member  12  including a pair of opposed wedged shaped walls  82 , an arcuate back wall  84  and an arcuate front wall  86  that define a cavity  90  for receiving the spout member  12 . The spout member engaging structure  80  also includes a floor configured to complement the configuration of the spout member  12  comprising a neck floor  102  and a arcuate floor  104  to complement the configuration of the arcuate surface  42  of the engaging portion  24 . The arcuate floor  104  includes a cam formed by a rupture membrane  110 , a rupture support structure  112  and areas or lines of reduced thickness  114  interconnecting the rupture membrane  110  and the rupture support structure  112  configured to be broken. The inside surfaces  120  of the opposed wedge shaped walls  82  define a pair of recesses  122  and includes a pair of dimples  124  for engaging the pins  60  by snap fit to secure the spout member  12  to the base member  14 . The base member  14  seals the bottle  16  and prevents fluid flow from the bottle when the spout member  12  is in the closed position. The inside surface of the skirt  72  is threaded to threadingly engage the bottle or may have any other construction to engage to any variety of bottle or other vessel. 
     During the initial assembly process the spout member  12  is snapped into place over the base member  14  by aligning the pins  60  of the spout member with the recesses  122  of the base member  14  and applying pressure straight down so that the pins  60  of the spout member snap into the dimples  124  defined by the inside surfaces  120  of the base member  14 . Since at this time, the rupture membrane  110  has not been ruptured, the base member  14  provides an airtight closure when assembled onto the bottle  16 . No liquid can be dispensed at this time. 
     To activate the closure and allow dispensing of fluid, the dispensing closure  10  uses a pivoting actuation design rather than a pull/push or a screw type activation. By pivoting the spout member  12  relative to the base member  14 , the actuator  44  engages the rupture membrane  110 , causing the lines of reduced thickness  114  to break and causing the rupture membrane to separate from the rupture support structure  112  but remain hingedly secured to the base member  14  by a living hinge. The continued pivoting of the spout member  12  to a full 90 degrees causes the actuator  44  to travel into the opening defined by the separation of the rupture membrane  110  from the rupture support structure  112 , and into the open end of the bottle  16 . The fluid flow channel  32  is in communication with the bottle  16 . The actuator  44  causes the rupture member  110  to pivot downward. The vent channel  50  now has two open ends, one of which is now open to atmosphere and the other of which is in communication with the vessel  16  through the opening created by the ruptured membrane. The ruptured membrane  110 , in its open position, creates a loose seal against the opening of the vent channel in the spout member  12 , which creates a check valve and prevents fluid from leaking through the vent channel  50  while allowing air to freely enter the bottle  16 . 
     As fluid is dispensed from the bottle  16 , air re-enters through the vent channel  50  to maintain equilibrium. After dispensing the desired fluid, the spout member  12  can then be pivoted to its closed position. This action causes the arcuate surface  42  of the base member  14  to close the open ends of the fluid flow channel  32  and the vent channel  50 . 
     The dispensing closure  10  may be constructed of any suitable plastic or other material, and may have any suitable construction and configuration in accordance with other embodiments of the present disclosure. Similarly, the spout member  12  and base member  14  may be constructed of any suitable plastic or other material, and may have any suitable construction and configuration in accordance with other embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     The dispensing closure  10  in accordance with an illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure may provide several advantages. For example, the dispensing closure  10  in its assembled state can withstand pressure equal to a conventional flat cap closure. Further, the dispensing closure  10  can be used with vessels containing carbonated beverages. Additionally, pressure can be applied to non-carbonated products to reduce bottle weight, and additional packaging, which results in cost savings. With the present disclosure, the rupture membrane design can be tailored in size and geometry to provide desired flow rates. Further, with the present disclosure, the dispensing closure  10  does not need to be removed from the bottle  16  to activate or operate. Further, the venting feature allows continuous dispensing of fluid without stopping to displace the volume in the vessel. Further, in the closed state, the vent feature is closed automatically and sealed from atmosphere. 
     While embodiments have been illustrated and described in the drawings and slides and foregoing description, such illustrations and descriptions are considered exemplary and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only illustrative embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the disclosure are desired to be protected. There is a plurality of advantages of the present disclosure arising from various features set forth in the description. It will be noted that alternative embodiments of the disclosure may not include all of the features described yet still benefit from at least some of the advantages of such features. Those of ordinary skill in the art may readily devise their own implementations of the disclosure and associated methods, without undue experimentation, that incorporate one or more of the features of the disclosure and fall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.